Hate the Game: Economic Cheat Codes for Life, Love & Work

by Daryl Fairweather

The secret insights of economics, translated for the rest of us.
 
Should I buy or rent? Do I ask for a promotion? Should I tell people I'm pregnant? What salary do I deserve? Should I just quit this job? Common anxieties about life are often grounded in economics. In an increasingly win-lose society, these economic decisions—where to work, where to live, even how to live—have a way of feeling fixed and mistakes terminal.
 
Daryl Fairweather is no stranger to these dynamics. As the first Black woman to receive an economics PhD from the famed University of Chicago, she saw firsthand how concepts of behavioral economics and game theory were deployed in the real world—and in her own life—to great effect. Hate the Game combines Fairweather's elite knowledge of these principles with her singular voice in describing how they can be harnessed. Her great talent, unique among economists, is her ability to articulate economic trends in a way that is not just informative, but also accounts for life's other anxieties.
 
In Hate the Game, Fairweather fixes her expertise and service on navigating the earliest economic inflection points of adult whether to go to college and for how long; partnering, having kids, both, or neither; getting, keeping, and changing jobs; and where to live and how to pay for it. She speaks in actionable terms about what the economy means for individual people, especially those who have the sneaking suspicion they're losing out. Set against her own experiences and enriched with lessons from history, science, and pop culture, Fairweather instructs readers on how to use game theory and behavioral science to map out options and choose directions while offering readers a sense of control and agency in an economy where those things are increasingly rare.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction, Self Help, Psychology, Audiobook, Business, Finance

278 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 11, 2025

Reviews

[Sarah Cupitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

meh read

concept: people feel like they’re playing catch-up in a system designed to keep them one move behind. In reality, these challenges follow patterns that can be understood and navigated – if you know how to think strategically.

negotiation, decision-making, and even relationships can be understood as strategic games.

notes:
- we make better decisions when we understand what game we're playing
- we play games for different reasons. Some are played for rewards, like promotions or money. Others are played simply for enjoyment: think of dancing or the social game of friendship. And some are played for the lessons they teach us: these help us grow skills and knowledge, often referred to in economics as human capital
- A job might not pay much now, but it could teach skills that lead to better opportunities down the line. A risky investment might fail, but the lessons could set you up for success next time.
- Negotiations don’t always reward power or fairness – they reward information
- Never walk into a negotiation assuming all players value the same things. Gather information. Understand your opponent’s goals, limits, and alternatives.
- make peace with uncertainty and it'll be easer to make smart calls
- Overthinking doesn’t guarantee better performance – in fact, it often leads you in circles
- look for the “good enough” decision. Think carefully, but not endlessly. Know when to stop digging. Often, the first well-reasoned answer is just as good – or better – than the answer you’d arrive at after hours of analysis. Make peace with uncertainty, make your best move, and move on.
- choosing empathy over ego

[Mihira · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up at the airport excited to find a book on game theory applied to real life. I studied Econ in college and love Freakonomics and devour all kinds of applied economics media on a regular basis. This book, though, was a disappointment.

I appreciated Fairweather’s attempt at weaving in personal experience with real data to showcase her points. The stories from her personal life were compelling as she has a unique family history and marriage dynamic.

I wish she’d leaned into those more and just written a memoir because the game theory aspect of this fell flat for me. The tactics she recommends and the examples she walks the reader through are too obvious and common knowledge at this point.

Even if you haven’t read Freakonomics (which she compares her work to), or Malcom Gladwell, or listened to popular podcasts that often deal with themes like this like This American Life, Invisibilia, etc, you will have likely come across most of what this book covers simply by existing in the world.

I would recommend this book to very young adults or teenagers interested in how data can be applied for real life circumstances. Otherwise, I don’t think it’s worth your time.

[Utsah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok I am going to leave this old review here for documentation sake but I have a revised opinion: this book isn’t that good. I just hadn’t read enough other books. There are better books that teach you the same things and give you better research and are written more cleverly and humorously. For example: Misbehaving- the book that led to this revision. That being said it’s still a great starter and I was genuinely very excited about it at the time.


If I had to recommend one economics book to read: it would be this. If I ever became the head of a cult or religion: this would be the gospel/guide. If I could date a book, this would be THE ONE.
I’ve been living my life and making decisions using many of the frameworks/concepts in this book. I’ve never felt more seen by a book. This book makes the way I think everybody should make decisions in life seem logical and rooted in facts and research. I’ve been trying to say what this book does for a long time but the way I say it makes it seem like I am mentally unwell. The way she describes it makes it sound a lot better and makes a lot more sense.
Did this book change my worldview? Is it the most influential economics book I’ve read? No, but that’s because I’ve always been thinking like this. It just affirmed me and gave me the correct language and terms to explain my thought process. It’s basically a self help book but based on learning’s from economics. I’ve always said that I like economics because it makes sense and explains how humans make decisions. This book is a very well researched, intelligent complication of the ways we can make better decisions and understand what’s going on around us using economics. I have several follow ups and notes on the pages about things I’ve thought about more than the average person. That is to say I don’t think it’s a complete book and might be oversimplified at times but it’s a very very very good start and I have decided to gift this book to as many people as I can (is this how propaganda starts? Maybe? Idk? I just believe that this book is a very helpful way to think)
This is just me showing off: I have a signed copy and I met the author and she might be the coolest person I’ve ever met.

[Simona · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Some interesting statistics and economic data on big life choices like buying or renting a house, having children, negotiating salary, moving to a new city, and more.

It was particularly interesting to read about the housing market trends before and after the pandemic.

Still, super sad to see that, statistically, women continue to earn less and are at a disadvantage in the job market overall, especially for positions requiring the highest education.

It was also interesting to read about the author’s personal experience working at Amazon in a leadership role and how the company optimizes everything to maximize profits. The described competitive culture didn’t shock me either.

All in all, this book offers contemporary solutions, supported by economic data, to the same old life problems.

[Reed Schwartz]

Fairweather is great on twitter but I should have read the blurb - this is a self-help book and doesn't have much about the housing market. However though I am not an expert in the genre I imagine Rich Dad Poor Dad or whatever includes less advocacy for land value taxes, so overall thumbs up.

[Riccardo Tedesco · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the book a bit shallow and too focused on personal experiences. I was expecting something more analytical, with a deeper look into each topic, but it mostly stays on the surface. Some ideas are interesting, but overall it felt more like a personal essay than a thoughtful exploration.

[Emma Greenfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

most meh book read to date. Feels very trite- she is trying to have the same impact of Freakonomics but without any compelling stories. A weird mix of economics and life/career advice but fails to achieve either

[Jung]

In "Hate The Game: Economic Cheat Codes for Life, Love, and Work", Daryl Fairweather explores how economic and game theory can offer a practical guide for navigating life’s most difficult decisions. From the challenges of finding a stable career to the intricacies of relationships and financial struggles, Fairweather argues that many of life’s frustrations stem not from individual failure but from misunderstanding the rules of the games we’re playing. Through a mix of accessible economic concepts and real-life examples, she encourages readers to think strategically, recognize patterns, and shift from feeling powerless to being intentional players in their own lives.

At the core of the book is the idea that life is full of 'games' – not necessarily in the playful sense, but in the structured sense, where choices have consequences, incentives shape outcomes, and strategies matter. Whether you’re choosing a career path, negotiating a contract, or managing a household budget, these are competitive environments where decisions shape future possibilities. Fairweather draws on game theory to show how identifying the type of game – cooperative or competitive, zero-sum or win-win – can dramatically improve your ability to make sound choices.

A key point she makes is that we all have internal utility functions – subconscious or conscious assessments of what brings us value. But we’re not always great at identifying what we truly want. Unlike animals, who mostly act on instinct for survival or reproduction, humans make decisions for reasons that range from practical rewards to emotional fulfillment to skill development. The clearer we are on our own values and long-term goals, the better we can choose which games are worth our time and effort. Sometimes a low-paying job might offer skills that open doors later, while other times a flashy opportunity could be all risk with no learning. Thinking in terms of 'strategic returns' instead of just short-term wins can lead to much better long-term positioning.

Negotiation, one of the book’s standout themes, is framed as an 'information game.' Fairweather emphasizes that power in negotiation isn’t just about money, confidence, or status—it’s about who knows more. The side with greater insight into both parties’ positions and priorities usually wins. She gives an example from the music industry, where two members of Destiny’s Child attempted to oust their manager, not realizing he’d already prioritized Beyoncé’s solo career. Their bluff failed because they misjudged the value of their own position and underestimated their opponent’s clarity of vision. The lesson is clear: never enter a negotiation without understanding what the other side values and what their options are. Emotional assumptions and misplaced confidence can lead to strategic missteps.

But the book doesn’t stop at tactical advice; it also acknowledges the limits of strategy. Overthinking, for instance, can be just as harmful as underthinking. Drawing on behavioral economics, Fairweather explains how trying to predict what others are predicting—like in a financial market or a 'beauty contest' game—can lead to mental paralysis. She shows that in many scenarios, especially those with layers of human judgment and uncertainty, there’s a sweet spot: think deeply, but don’t overanalyze. Pursuing perfect information is often counterproductive. The goal should be a good-enough decision, made with confidence and self-awareness, rather than a perfect one made too late.

The marriage section of the book is particularly striking, offering a nuanced look at how long-term relationships function as both commitment and negotiation games. Fairweather unpacks how spouses must constantly make joint decisions, and how the health of a marriage often hinges on whether both parties believe they’re better off inside the relationship than outside it. She also discusses the common mistake of assuming our preferences won’t change—a concept known as projection bias. Just as people invest in home gyms they never use, they may enter marriage expecting permanent emotions. But preferences evolve, and preparing for that reality through honest conversations or even prenuptial agreements is a form of strategic foresight, not pessimism.

Brinkmanship—constant power struggles and ultimatums—is identified as a toxic dynamic that often signals deeper instability. In game theory terms, this is the 'chicken game,' where both sides escalate until someone backs down. In relationships, however, winning the standoff usually means losing trust. Fairweather stresses the importance of teamwork and empathy over winning arguments. The healthiest marriages, like successful partnerships in business, rely on long-term alignment and a shared sense of value—not just legal ties or romantic optimism.

The book also turns its lens on money. Fairweather uses the economic concept of 'corner solutions' to explain why some people make seemingly extreme financial choices. If your car breaks down and you can’t afford to fix it or get a loan, you’re stuck with what’s left – even if it’s inconvenient or inefficient. In these cases, people aren’t being irrational; they’re just responding to limited options. She connects this to the broader idea of scarcity, not just as a lack of money but as a mental state. Scarcity narrows focus and impairs long-term thinking, often leading to decisions that provide short-term relief but worsen financial insecurity.

In these situations, Fairweather suggests, saving should not be the immediate goal. Instead, people should concentrate on reducing stress and increasing income. The mental burden of trying to save while barely surviving can do more harm than good. Once a person’s income stabilizes, they can focus on building an emergency fund, then graduate to long-term investments like retirement savings. She advises practical tools like index funds for building wealth and recommends cutting back on status-driven spending. If your environment is draining resources without providing value, consider relocating or making a bold lifestyle change.

Across all these domains—work, love, money—Fairweather comes back to a simple but powerful message: understand the game you’re in, know what you want from it, and learn when to walk away. Not every game is worth playing, and not every loss is a failure. Sometimes, quitting a rigged or unrewarding game is the smartest move. The real power comes from seeing the system clearly and adjusting your strategy accordingly.

In conclusion, "Hate The Game" is a compelling reminder that while we can’t always choose the rules of life, we can choose how we play. By blending economic principles with real-world insights, Fairweather offers readers a toolkit for making smarter, braver decisions. Whether you’re in a dead-end job, an unbalanced relationship, or financial stress, this book encourages a shift in mindset: from helplessness to strategy, from frustration to understanding. Life may be an uneven playing field, but with the right tools, it’s possible to play smarter, grow stronger, and ultimately, win on your own terms.

[Feng Ouyang · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Hate the Game” is a “Freakonomics”-type book that applies academic theories and principles to understanding—and, ideally, mastering—everyday life. It was written by Daryle Fairweather, an African American woman economist who currently serves as chief economist at Redfin, an online real-estate transaction facilitating firm. Drawing heavily on game theory and economic reasoning, Fairweather seeks to help readers make critical decisions about life, careers, and professional relationships in the context of economic optimization. The subtitle promises “economy cheat codes,” and the book delivers on that promise in some respects while falling short in others.

One of the book’s most distinctive qualities is that it goes beyond simply teaching readers how to “win a game.” Instead, Fairweather examines life choices at several different layers, moving from tactical decisions within a game to the much deeper question of what games are worth playing in the first place.

At the outermost layer are strategies within a given game. The book explores cognitive biases we should avoid, information asymmetries that we should either guard against or take advantage of, and different types of games that we should learn to recognize. These ideas are comparable to tactical patterns in chess: once a player has mastered them, that player possesses a distinctive advantage even though the formal rules are the same for everyone. It may be difficult to memorize, much less fully appreciate, every strategic principle presented in the book. Still, simply knowing that such patterns exist is useful. That awareness can make us more careful when entering a game and more attentive to what we can learn from experience.

The next layer involves understanding the rules themselves. Unlike chess, where the rules are clearly defined, the rules governing real-life games are often hidden and must be discovered. If you want to earn a promotion, for example, it helps to understand who the kingmaker is, what you can do that is most valuable to that person, and what leverage you may have. Fairweather also points out that discrimination in the workplace is a fact of life. For minorities and women, recognizing prejudice and deciding how best to respond to it can therefore become part of navigating the game. The same principle applies to buying or selling a house: people need to understand the market forces that affect housing prices rather than relying solely on their own preferences and perceptions of value.

Fairweather then goes one step further by stressing the importance of choosing which game to play. Just because you are participating in a game does not mean you have to keep playing it. In this context, the book emphasizes two important concepts.

The first is “outside options”: What alternatives do you have if you quit a job, walk away from a negotiation, or decide not to complete a deal? Outside options play an important role in shaping the “inside choices” available to both you and your opponent. It is therefore important not only to understand your own “outside options” clearly, but also to manage what your opponent knows about those options. The existence, quality, and perceived credibility of alternatives can substantially affect bargaining power.

The second concept is relative advantage. You do not have to accept the default game; ideally, you should choose the game that you are best positioned to play. Fairweather traces some of her own “unusual choices” to this way of thinking, including leaving academia after earning a Ph.D. from a prestigious university and arranging her family life around having a “stay-at-home dad.” Neither outside options nor relative advantage is a particularly rare or unfamiliar concept, and many people already practice them intuitively. What is more valuable is the broader “look beyond the current game” mindset that Fairweather encourages readers to cultivate.

At the deepest level, however, the book argues that life choices depend on staying connected to one’s core personal values. Personal values determine the “reward function” in the games we play, and the reward function is fundamental to game theory. Playing a game skillfully is not worth much if the reward we are pursuing is misguided from the beginning. A successful life, from this perspective, requires deciding how to compromise among competing life goals and allocating our limited resources to the games that matter most to us. Ultimately, all of these decisions hinge on personal values.

In this sense, “Hate the Game” addresses something much broader than “cheat codes.” It does not merely teach readers how to win a particular game. More importantly, it emphasizes the choices that exist beyond any individual game: choosing games based on available alternatives and comparative advantages, and choosing reward functions that are aligned with personal values.

At the same time, the book is more valuable for elaborating principles than for providing concrete tricks or shortcuts to success. Fairweather does offer some tactical strategies, including advice on setting housing prices and handling compensation discussions. But the book provides relatively little evidence that these particular tactics are superior to the many alternative approaches advocated elsewhere. Readers who pick up the book expecting sure-fire “cheat codes” may therefore be disappointed; the book's strength lies more in providing frameworks for thinking than in supplying guaranteed tactical recipes for winning.

There is also an interesting tension between the book’s critique of conventional self-help literature and its own method of persuasion. Although Fairweather cites research findings throughout the book, she relies primarily on personal stories to illustrate and support the principles she discusses. This makes “Hate the Game” engaging, accessible, and easy to follow. Yet the approach may itself be vulnerable to the “survival bias” that Fairweather criticizes in other self-help books, including Sheryl Sandberg’s bestseller “Lean In.”

Fairweather argues that when a highly successful person explains success through personal experience, it is difficult to determine whether those experiences were actually responsible for the success. It is even harder to know whether another person could duplicate the same outcome by following similar choices. Yet Fairweather herself is a highly successful person. At a relatively young age, she has achieved outsized compensation and influence, and the stories she shares in the book generally end with positive results. That raises a question the book never entirely resolves: To what extent are these stories evidence for her principles, and to what extent might they themselves be examples of survival bias?

The book also handles issues of social justice and equity skillfully. Given Fairweather’s background and her enthusiasm for social justice, it is natural that these subjects appear throughout the book. Her discussions are grounded both in personal observation and in broader research. At the same time, she generally maintains a neutral, rational tone and keeps the book focused on a much wider range of economic and strategic questions. This balance makes her discussion feel authentic without allowing social justice issues to overwhelm the book’s broader purpose, helping “Hate the Game” remain accessible to a wide audience.

As a piece of writing, the book is strong. Each chapter generally revolves around a particular principle and a corresponding story from Fairweather’s life, giving abstract economic ideas a concrete and memorable context. The chapter summaries are also useful, reinforcing the main lessons and making the book’s many concepts easier to retain.

The audiobook, however, provides a less-than-optimal experience. Fairweather reads the book herself, and her voice is clear and professional. Yet the narration can sound mechanical and emotionally distant. An author-read audiobook often carries the expectation of greater energy, personality, and enthusiasm because the author has a direct personal connection to the material. In this case, the narration does not always take full advantage of that potential.

Overall, “Hate the Game” is an insightful guide to strategic thinking, particularly for younger professionals. Its most valuable lesson is that success depends on more than playing well: we must also decide which games deserve our time and what rewards are worth pursuing. The book can serve as insightful guidance, especially to young people starting their professional lives.

[Cori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read Harder Challenge 2025: 1. Read a 2025 release by a BIPOC author.

What intrigued me: I heard Kimberly Adams interview Daryl Fairweather on NPR's Marketplace and bought the book immediately.

What I liked: I love game theory and found the sections on the workplace the most enlightening. The inside/ outside option terminology was new to me, and is a great way to think about negotiations.

I also really like the format of the book, and the Game Recaps at the end of every chapter.

What I didn't like: N/A

Favorite quote: "Think of it this way: if you keep playing a losing game because that's what's familiar, you automatically forfeit every other game you could play instead." p. 52

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cross between Freakenomics and Lean In. But Daryl Fairweather seems like she's trying to give more honest, practical advice than Sheryl Sandberg.

[Brittiany Foley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Common sense. Didn't learn anything from this book.

[Akita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basic.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know what I hate about self-help business books?

It's mostly nonsense. Personal anecdotes supported by survivorship bias. Most successful people don't really know how they got there. In exercise physiology, they teach athletes to have external focus. Don't think about your tendons and muscles, but rather keep your eye on the ball!

So, too, with the business books. Their advice may have worked for their experience. Yes, everybody works hard, but not everybody who worked hard succeeds. What about all the other failures who also did the same thing? The only way to really know is by careful, representative samples, and causal analytical methods. We need an economist.

Daryl Fairweather, the chief economist at Redfin and all-around great contributor to public economic discourse on the news and social media, writes a brief tour through economic principles and how they can help us navigate a complex and often unfair world.

She writes an engaging memoir. And unlike other business books, she pauses frequently to reflect on the peer-review research that can explain the game. For example, while we've made progress over the generations on equal treatment in the workplace for women, unfair inequalities still remain. Allyson Felix, a multiple Olympic gold medalist track athlete saw her Nike contract get cancelled due to her pregnancy. After taking Felix exposed this rejection to the press, Nike began offering maternity leave to its sponsored athletes by 2019. And this isn't just one anecdote. Lundborg, Plug, and Rasmussen (2017) using natural experimental evidence comparing IVF patients which resulted in a birth those who didn't find motherhood leaves negative, large, and long-lasting impacts on women's earnings.

Economics studies decision making, incentives, and how rules affect social interactions. Knowing these rules is crucial for your success. When do you reveal your preferences? When is it better to stay silent? How to choose a major, land interviews, purchase a house, balance family and career, handle workplace conflict, negotiate a raise, and all the other big life crossroads in our first decade of adulthood.

The book is effortless to read. It's peppered with pop culture analysis and nature documentary animal anecdotes. Like any good memoir, I keep rooting for more success for the protagonist, and am excited to see economic principles of negotiation help pay off the hard work.

Economics, as a science, generally desires universal prosperity. We don't have that. The game is often unfair for many. As Daryl writes, "Despite the numerous issues with the rules, playing to win does not make you complicit in the system's flaws." Once one does succeed and gain influence, "let your hate of the game fuel your desire for change."

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Daryl Fairweather's book about applying economic game theory to major life decisions. It is clear that Dr. Fairweather was a student of Steven D. Levitt (Freakonomics Author). Her style is similar. It is easy to read, informative, and filled with interesting and relatable examples.

Dr. Fairweather points out that many business advice books are autobiographical, like Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. She shares what worked for her and how to do it yourself. But this book points out that what worked for Ms. Sandberg won't work for everyone all the time. So, I was a little surprised by the autobiographical nature of this book, but it works.

Hate the Game covers most of the concepts taught in an Econ 101 class, in a way that explains the principles but does not feel like a textbook at all. It explains how Dr. Fairweather used economics to make logical decisions about going to graduate school during the global recession, leaving the academic work and taking a consulting job, leaving that job and moving to Seattle, fighting for a promotion, buying a home, managing her marriage, having children, knowing your worth in the job market, selling a home, and optimizing your life.

The idea of thinking about each of these huge and emotional life decisions in a logical way that maximizing your well-being (utility) is an excellent tool for people looking for new ways of thinking. Each of these has an inside and outside option. Your inside option is what you are doing now (working in academia, being married, living in your current home) and the outside option is change (working in the private sector, getting divorce, moving). Looking at each life decision and evaluating the inside and outside options is a great skill.

This book uses economic principles to help understand the costs and benefits of both options. Everything for sunk-cost fallacy to references prices are included. It includes examples from Dr. Fairweather's personal life as well as pop culture references like why Destiny's Child broke up. Each of these examples explains the concept, but also makes the information stick- easy to remember and apply to your life.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC, this review is my honest opinion of the book.

[Alex DG · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would have really benefited from more real world references to back up some of the statements. She works at Redfin, and some of the anecdotes, especially around housing, would have come off stronger with stats from real world examples. This could have dates the book but I think would have packed a better punch.

“As I attempted to navigate the early stages of my career, I sought advice from books like Lean In and Never Split the Difference, but they proved to be less useful than what I had learned in my economics courses. While these works provided some entertaining insights, they didn’t seem to reflect my specific situation: they treated success as a natural result of engagement, as if boldness and brashness were the keys to victory. In my experience (and experience of many others, I believe), it is simply not always the case… So, I stopped reading career books for advice and resigned myself to reading them for what they truly were: memoirs and personal essays written by authors who didn’t understand the economic context that led to their success.”

“A winner is unlikely to perceive the rules as unfair, because that would tarnish their own success. Most people don’t want to believe they have benefitted from unfair advantages. That’s why it’s so important to pay attention to the probabilities. When choosing games, you can use those probabilities to assess whether a game will be fair to you. And, if you are in a position of power with the ability to change the rules, looking at the statistics can help you overcome the urge to believe that merit alone determines success.”

“The housing market is like a game of musical chairs, where each round, the number of people playing keeps increasing but the number of chairs stays the same. This makes the game difficult for any player, but existing players have an advantage. Each round, anyone who already has a seat has the option to keep their seat. Homeowners have already won the game.”

[Synthia Salomon · Rating 4 out of 5]

success depends significantly on picking games that offer opportunities for growth.

This starts with picking games that offer growth opportunities.

In specific situations, it means recognizing that better information is the key to winning negotiations and that overthinking actually weakens decisions, making careful, timely choices more effective.

This strategic understanding extends to personal life as well: marriage works best when partners proactively plan for change and stay committed, while navigating financial hardship often requires focusing on earning before saving.

Ultimately, smart players leverage this understanding to act effectively with what they have while building stronger options for the future.

[Kai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! Brought me back to my behavioral Econ days! This book was a really good mix of behavioral economics and game theory! The author does a great job of explaining each aspect of economics she brings in and provides examples that relate well to each chapter. I also found this book reassuring as I recently moved to a new job and did a lot of the things she mentioned - really showing how much Econ sticks with you throughout life! I also really enjoyed the summaries at the end of each chapter, reminding us of what we just learned. Definitely a great read for anyone interested in learning more about how economics helps to shape our lives and how you can put yourself in the drivers seat!

[Luis Torres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! It reads like a memoir, sprinkled with behavioral economics concepts supported by anecdotes from pop culture and nature. What I loved about this book is how it makes economics game theory so accessible and easy to understand, but at the same time showing how mastery of game theory in our personal lives can have major real world implications. I personally loved the story of how she set out for a promotion as soon as she stepped foot at the Big Tech company, by immediately setting her eyes on the prize and devising a game plan by working backwards (called backward induction in game theory). I will try to apply that approach in my own personal/professional life :)

[Brigitte]

This was a fun and unexpected read. The book uses a casual tone with analogies involving the likes of Beyonce while blending
(1) a very candid memoir (even at points disclosing her salary and how much she sold her home for),
(2) a self-help/advice book (with practical career, home-buying, and relationship tips), and
(3) a pop science book on economics principles (eg, sunk costs, opportunity costs, and diminishing returns)

It helps that the author has an unusual and successful career path, having made bold moves along the way. I like how she uses her life experiences to explain economic concepts in an accessible way. Her references to games are fun too.

[Y T · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read on how events in life can be linked to economic theory.

The author writes of various topics she encountered in her life and how one can view them from an economic angle, e.g. dating, work, promotion, bullies, etc.

It was insightful into how she had to go through many hoops to secure her promotion at Amazon, which made me realise why it has been hard for myself to get them in my career.

I did skip through a few chapters which didn't interest me, but overall it was an interesting insight into how one would view life events through an economic lens.

[Brandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book! A self-help book that brings in economics… that’s new! As a financial analyst, I thought it was pretty cool and made a lot of sense - how to handle navigating the workplace, relationships, buying a house, keeping a family together. Enjoy the drive to action points at the end at each chapter.

Thanks University of Chicago Press and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this eARC!

[Jadrian Wooten · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was more of a memoir of her personal life with economic concepts sprinkled in to explain the relevance of her lived experiences. The premise of the book was really exciting, and she's engaging on social media, but I found it hard to connect with the story on a personal level.

I think it could have been better focused on the economic aspects of decision making in the "life games" we play, and less on her personal experience playing very different games than most of her readers face.

[Bill T. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wasn't really for me. I understand most of the concepts that were presented, or at least picked them up faster than she described them. Furthermore, I think I'm at the stage of my life where love, work, and house prices aren't things I need to worry about; Fairweather's book was cheat codes for millennials by a millennial.

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

i think this book would mostly only be helpful for someone in my current life stage & with my knowledge level of behavioural economics (low). has some pretty basic ideas but i still learned some new terminology and liked that it was an accessible read. will prob come back to this for the advice on homebuying and how to deal with corporate bs lol.

[Jing-Yi Tsui · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not for sophisticated economics reader. Felt like it was intended for people reading their first ever economics book. I got no information out of this even for the chapter about rent vs buying. Hard to fathom that her experience leading Redfin all these years did not leave her with any more insights than what could’ve fit into a TikTok video.

[K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good premise for a book but I was expecting something more in line with Freakonomics. Good reminder of statistics and probabilities especially when it comes to the different starting lines everyone has in society.

[Jodie · Rating 2 out of 5]

as someone who studied econ, most of the concepts/life advice were super basic and obvious to me. i mostly read this for the "memoir" type aspects which were kinda interesting but didn't go into that much detail

[Doug Cornelius · Rating 5 out of 5]

This offered the best, simple explanation of game theory and its application. There was also a dozen other economic principles but to use in Ms. Fairweather's personal life to practical effect. I was left wanting more, which is the hallmark of a great book.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Somebody come get her, she's talking about Beyoncé and birds again!"

Punchy little book explaining the myriad ways the lessons from economic research can be leveraged to supercharge your love life, career, housing and investments. And I say that as a professional economist!