The Economic Naturalist

"The Economic naturalist” is an interesting collection of students’ work in US. Since the 1980s, the author has been asking his students to find the strangest phenomena they encounter and explain them in economic terms.

Have you ever wondered:

(1) why do people in city tend to be rude and impatient and people in countryside are friendly and courteous?

(2) why do people tend to spend more in restaurants when they split the check?

(3) why are DVDs sold in much larger packages than CDs despite the size of the discs are the same?

(4) why do DVD formats differ from region to region, while CD formats are the same in all countries?

(5) why do female models earn so much more than their counterparts?

(6) why are waiters paid more than assistant chefs at high-end restaurants?

(7) why do talented independent musicians favour music file sharing while established stars tend to oppose it?

Although I have doubt about some answers, the book is fascinating and contains lots of fun. In fact, this is one of my favourite books.

The most interesting economics happens in the real world. So be eager to pose questions and enjoy exploring concepts. 



Want to know the possible reasons? Please read p.6, p.101-102, p.26, p.161, p.51-53, p.57 and p.64-65 respectively.

Frank, H. Robert (2007). The Economic Naturalist: in search of explanations for everyday enigmas. NY: Basic Book