The Price of Everything: A Parable of Possibility and Prosperity

I had to buy this book for a class in college. Therefore, I went in with very low expectations. Fortunately, my expectations were vastly exceeded and I've recommended this book to family and friends outside of the classroom.This is NOT a book for an economist. This is a book for the average person trying to learn the basics of economics. It's great for anyone wanting to understand how the US Economy works.The learning component is somewhat masked by a plot that keeps the book interesting. This certainly isn't a textbook. You follow some accessible stories and learn concepts along the way. Whatever you already think about the economy, this book will have you questioning it.Worth a read—it doesn't take very long to get through. I have the hardcover version and it has a great feel, but I've seen and liked paperback copies as well. I would get whichever is more affordable. The recommended retail price on the hardcover is $24.95, so if it is selling for any less, you have a good deal.Please let me know if this review is helpful.

You've likely heard of the pop economics genre, but did you know that there is econ-fiction too? Perhaps econ-fiction is a merely a branch of pop economics, but either way, it makes for a great way to teach basic economics to inquiring young (and old) minds alike. And as far as I'm concerned, Russ Roberts (a professor at George Mason University) writes some of the most powerful didactic fiction about economics around.His book, The Price of Everything, is a parable that engages readers and nudges them to think deeply about the economic concepts that we encounter in our everyday lives. The two main characters in the story are Ramon Fernandez, a budding tennis prodigy who is studying at Stanford, and an economics professor named Ruth Lieber. At one point in the story, Professor Lieber poses the following question: "Don't you think it's strange that in America, the country where the greatest economic revolution in history has taken place, the average citizen has no idea why we're richer?" I would add that it's not only strange, it's very strange. Attempting to answer this question in intelligible and non-dull terms was (I suspect) Roberts' impetus for writing this book.At the beginning of the story, we learn that an earthquake has just rocked the Bay Area. In the wake of the disaster, Ramon and his girlfriend are on a quest to purchase some flashlights. Ever the champion for social justice, Ramon becomes outraged to find out that Big Box (a fictional mega-store) is selling flashlights at double the price of a Home Depot, which is fresh out of flashlights. While waiting in line to purchase the pricey flashlights at Big Box, Ramon becomes distraught when he sees a poor woman waiting in line who realizes that she can't afford baby food and diapers because of the store's post-disaster price hike. She only has $20, but needs $35 worth of food and diapers. Ramon asks: "How could she have known that Big Box would gouge her with doubled prices?" We then learn that Ramon collects money from other store patrons and is soon using a megaphone in front of the store to rile people up about this perceived injustice.Not long after this debacle at Big Box, we learn there is a planned protest against Big Box on the Stanford campus. This is where Ramon meets Ruth Lieber, a university provost and economics professor. They chat about the protest and slowly end up developing a relationship that unfolds throughout the rest of the book. The economic lessons contained within the book largely play out through their many conversations.In one such lesson, Ruth explains to Ramon how free-market price signals allow an economy to operate more efficiently than centrally planned ones. She goes on to elucidate (in a Hayekian vein) about the knowledge problem in economics, which Friedrich Hayek himself put this way: "The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design."At one point in the parable, Professor Lieber is in the middle of a discussion with Ramon and we get the sense that she's feeling a bit rattled by a questioning Ramon. She collects herself and then shares some profound wisdom about economics by saying the following: "Oscar Wilde said that a cynic is someone who understands the price of everything and the value of nothing. Clever people like to say the same thing about economists, as if we were soulless calculators in green eyeshades, obsessed with prices and money. We're mercenaries, it is said, weighing costs and benefits down to the last penny. But economics is not about prices and money. Economics is about how to get the most out of life."If there is only one thing to learn from this book (or about economics in general), I believe it is this last point. The beauty of Roberts' writing (and his podcasting) is that his ideas get in your bones. Accordingly, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about the dismal science, I mean economics.

I have read all of Russ Roberts books and thoroughly enjoyed The Price of Everything. I think I liked the Invisible Heart more overall but the was especially taken with his delivery on prices and markets in this book. I also liked that the book covered themes & topics from the EconTalk podcasts. If you've never listened to EconTalk, do yourself a favour and check it out - intelligent, direct, understandable and very interesting most weeks.

"The Price of Everything" is the first book I've read by Mr. Roberts. It is both (primarily) an introduction to the fascinating concept of emergent order (order that arises by human action but not guided by anything other than the "unseen hand") and (secondarily) a pretty darn moving novel. For the first few pages I was concerned that the story would get in the way of the information, but that's not the case at all: after a bit, I came to care about the characters as much as in any popular fiction. It is, after all, a parable.Russell Roberts also hosts EconTalk ([...]), absorbing, detailed, but vastly entertaining interviews on relevant economics subjects, usually around an hour long; those podcasts (some of which the author points to in the "Further Reading" section of the book) are well worth listening to, especially the one that addresses at a little more detail the economics and positive benefits of price gouging after emergencies, something a resident of the Florida panhandle is sure to be interested in! Remember, a "free market" means no one's forced to buy or sell, it's a mutually beneficial transaction."The Price of Everything" should be mandatory reading for politicians, but as Mr. Roberts mentions in a podcast regarding the book itself, politicians have their own agenda to pursue and fluency in the market forces driving our economy (sadly) don't fit into those agenda.Very highly recommended as an easy, quick introduction to pricing and free markets.

Es una equivocación exigir que escribamos tanto si no queremos. Consiguen que no evaluemos muchas compras. Es un error en sus relaciones con sus clientes

Won't say much about what's inside. But if economics as an academic subject terrified you or sort of left you indifferent, here's a book that'll thrill you.

Russell Roberts is a masterful educator and proves himself brilliant in the rediscovered art of the parable. Teaching through storytelling is an easy and compelling way to learn that should be more broadly used across a range of subjects. Reading an economics textbook is hard and, because I am not particularly engaged, I tend to forget much of the content quickly. Reading a novel is easy and I'll bet I remember the lessons in this one forever. Other books like The Phoenix Project (https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Business/dp/0988262592) and The Goal (https://www.amazon.com/Goal-Process-Ongoing-Improvement/dp/0884271951/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1472521367&sr=1-1&keywords=the+goal) use a similar technique well and I would love to see more educators use the same technique.Thankyou, Dr Roberts for making the world a better place.