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WTF?!: An Economic Tour of the Weird
Step right up! Get your tickets for WTF?! An Economic Tour of the Weird! That's right! This rollicking interactive tour through the museum of social oddities is guaranteed to house the world's weirdest practices--sure to make you say "WTF?!" Did you know that "pre-owned" wives were sold at auction in early modern Britain? Or that accused criminals in Liberia drink poison to determine their fate? How about the fact that, for 250 years, Italy criminally prosecuted cockroaches and crickets? Do you wonder why? Then this tour is just for you!
Join WTF?!'s cast of colorful characters to navigate the museum with guide and economist Peter T. Leeson. As you wander from exhibit to exhibit and overhear Leeson's riotous exchanges with the patrons, you'll learn how economic thinking reveals the hidden sense behind seemingly senseless human behavior. Leeson demonstrates that far from "irrational" or "accidents of history," humanity's most outlandish rituals are ingenious solutions to pressing problems--developed by clever people, driven by incentives, and tailor-made for their time and place. As the tour teaches: what varies isn't people, but the environments and constraints within which they operate. Along the way, you'll learn how to use an economic lens to uncover the logic behind any weirdness you encounter in your own life. Can you handle getting schooled by the strange? Better hurry, the tour is about to start!
Join WTF?!'s cast of colorful characters to navigate the museum with guide and economist Peter T. Leeson. As you wander from exhibit to exhibit and overhear Leeson's riotous exchanges with the patrons, you'll learn how economic thinking reveals the hidden sense behind seemingly senseless human behavior. Leeson demonstrates that far from "irrational" or "accidents of history," humanity's most outlandish rituals are ingenious solutions to pressing problems--developed by clever people, driven by incentives, and tailor-made for their time and place. As the tour teaches: what varies isn't people, but the environments and constraints within which they operate. Along the way, you'll learn how to use an economic lens to uncover the logic behind any weirdness you encounter in your own life. Can you handle getting schooled by the strange? Better hurry, the tour is about to start!
232 pages, Hardcover
First published October 17, 2017
91 people are currently reading
432 people want to read
About the author
Peter T. Leeson
16 books29 followersPeter T. Leeson is the BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism in the Department of Economics at George Mason University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
October 29, 2017
"WFT?!" is one of those books that makes me fall back in love with Economics. Underneath all the math and statistics, Economics is a powerful lens to view the world and to understand humanity. And with that understanding we can become more modest and understanding.
Leeson does a phenomenal job taking a handful of "weird" practices and shows the reader how incentives and constraints make the practices very rational. In fact, he shows that we would all behave very similarly if we had the same restraints and incentives. And if we can understand why believing in oracles, curses, and trial by combat are rational, we should be able to see why modern "weird" practices like conservatism, veganism, childbearing, and polyamory are rational choices for the people advocating for them.
Leeson does a phenomenal job taking a handful of "weird" practices and shows the reader how incentives and constraints make the practices very rational. In fact, he shows that we would all behave very similarly if we had the same restraints and incentives. And if we can understand why believing in oracles, curses, and trial by combat are rational, we should be able to see why modern "weird" practices like conservatism, veganism, childbearing, and polyamory are rational choices for the people advocating for them.
January 1, 2023
Lo confieso, si con Stoner intencionalmente intentaba ralentizar mi velocidad de lectura para no acabarlo y desprenderme de su excelsa redacción brillante, con este libro sentí el mismo impulso pero por razones diferentes. No quiero quejarme de la pluma de Peter T. Leeson o su simpático sentido del humor, pero la razón real estriba en las enormes cantidades de nostalgia y caras de mi vida universitaria que vi desfilar a través de sus paginas. El propósito del autor es enseñarnos la "racionalidad" detrás del sinsentido visible, la atemporalidad y universalidad de los incentivos económicos: ¡ Vaya si lo logró!
Muy al estilo de Steven D. Levitt y Stephen Dubner , el libro nos introduce una serie de conceptos y teorías económicas tales como: riesgo moral, cazadores de rentas, discriminación imperfecta, selección adversa, costos de transacción, teorema de Coase etc. Todos ellos contextualizados en situaciones inesperadas pero muy ilustrativas. No pude evitar recordar mis seminarios de Economía institucional , teoría de juegos y teoría de la firma, así como a ciertos profesores icónicos en mi memoria, en varias de sus paginas.
La narración toma la forma de una autentica función circense de fenómenos siendo el propio Leeson el maestro de ceremonias quién nos invita a observar críticamente una serie de instituciones informales y prácticas draconianas de diversas sociedades humanas con una razonable, y en algunos casos moralmente beneficiosa, justificación detrás. El autor hace uso además de diversos espectadores los cuales cumplen su rol de personificar las diversas caras del escepticismo y la incredulidad que podrían experimentar los propios lectores. No lo negaré yo mismo me vi representado por uno u otro en algún capítulo.
¿Qué no te crees que durante el inestable periodo de Ludovico Pio los miembros de la iglesia recurrían a la palabra de Dios para amenazar con maldiciones sangrientamente explicitas a los vikingos invasores que osaban saquearlos? Pues ahí tienes a un cura indignado en el público tan deseoso de glorificar su institución y la moralidad altruista de sus miembros. ¿ Qué no te crees que la compra-venta de esposas en la época victoriana era en realidad mucho más empoderante y respetuosa del consentimiento femenino de lo que parece? Pues ahí tienes a una feminista furibunda de tintes woke dispuesta a acusar a Leeson de "lavar la cara al patriarcado" y "cerdo capitalista" en el acto. ¿Crees que los ejemplos históricos, particularmente difíciles de analizar con datos abundantes y modelos formales , no están a la altura de su intención? Pues cuentas con un representante quisquilloso del formalismo matemático en el economista (alias "Doctor Spock").
Muy recomendado, especialmente si consideras la economía como un asunto "aburrido" de gente en traje hablando de la bolsa y variables macroeconómicas * bosteza pesadamente de solo pensarlo*.
Muy al estilo de Steven D. Levitt y Stephen Dubner , el libro nos introduce una serie de conceptos y teorías económicas tales como: riesgo moral, cazadores de rentas, discriminación imperfecta, selección adversa, costos de transacción, teorema de Coase etc. Todos ellos contextualizados en situaciones inesperadas pero muy ilustrativas. No pude evitar recordar mis seminarios de Economía institucional , teoría de juegos y teoría de la firma, así como a ciertos profesores icónicos en mi memoria, en varias de sus paginas.
La narración toma la forma de una autentica función circense de fenómenos siendo el propio Leeson el maestro de ceremonias quién nos invita a observar críticamente una serie de instituciones informales y prácticas draconianas de diversas sociedades humanas con una razonable, y en algunos casos moralmente beneficiosa, justificación detrás. El autor hace uso además de diversos espectadores los cuales cumplen su rol de personificar las diversas caras del escepticismo y la incredulidad que podrían experimentar los propios lectores. No lo negaré yo mismo me vi representado por uno u otro en algún capítulo.
¿Qué no te crees que durante el inestable periodo de Ludovico Pio los miembros de la iglesia recurrían a la palabra de Dios para amenazar con maldiciones sangrientamente explicitas a los vikingos invasores que osaban saquearlos? Pues ahí tienes a un cura indignado en el público tan deseoso de glorificar su institución y la moralidad altruista de sus miembros. ¿ Qué no te crees que la compra-venta de esposas en la época victoriana era en realidad mucho más empoderante y respetuosa del consentimiento femenino de lo que parece? Pues ahí tienes a una feminista furibunda de tintes woke dispuesta a acusar a Leeson de "lavar la cara al patriarcado" y "cerdo capitalista" en el acto. ¿Crees que los ejemplos históricos, particularmente difíciles de analizar con datos abundantes y modelos formales , no están a la altura de su intención? Pues cuentas con un representante quisquilloso del formalismo matemático en el economista (alias "Doctor Spock").
Muy recomendado, especialmente si consideras la economía como un asunto "aburrido" de gente en traje hablando de la bolsa y variables macroeconómicas * bosteza pesadamente de solo pensarlo*.
May 2, 2018
If the content was covered in a more traditional style, this would have been an easy 4-star. However, the author chose to use a framing that allowed him to make a bunch of straw-man characters which he mocked throughout the book. Instead of providing comedy, it just seemed mean-spirited, unfunny, and out of place.
June 16, 2019
這些年讀了一些經濟普及讀物之後，發現用所謂的「經濟學」來研究人類社會的現象，就彷彿是在用「演化生學」的另一種面相來分析一樣。雖然經濟學可以用一大堆數學符號來讓圈外人看得眼花瞭亂（其實我們這群被特殊函數給折磨過的理科生覺得沒什麼大不了……），但真正在「解釋」上，卻意外地容意讓人接受。可以說，用經濟學的觀點來切入人間社會的各種行為與現象，都有著「誘因」來驅動的本源。
這本《WTF（什麼鬼）？！一趟不可思議的經濟學之旅》是由美國學者「彼得．利森（Peter T. Leeson）」所著，內容是解釋幾項歐洲歷史上曾經出現過的怪異習俗，若以經濟角度分析來看，在當時當地的情境之下，其實都有「降低整體社會成本」、「減少浪費」的特性，是十分聰明與合理的的作法。神判法、拍賣妻子、迷信禁忌規範、神職人員的詛咒、對雞下毒解決爭端、對害蟲的審判、雇人決鬥來贏得審判，若將其各自的施行細節與案例成效認真地研讀統計之後，便會發現許多我們現代人對過去的嘲諷（也就是本書書名中會令人乍聽之下發出 WTF 的驚訝），其實一點都不公平。
然而，雖然我覺得本書帶給我不少有用的新知識，也很喜歡這本書；不過或許是我個人的閱讀脾胃吧，我並不喜歡作者的書寫方式，將整部作品的內容搞成「劇情片」的方式進行。本書像是在講述一則長篇小說一樣，由作者本人作為主角，帶領一大群人去參觀某家博物館，然後和當中的團員們插科打諢一番來推動對白的進行。我並不在意一本知識性的書籍用詞輕挑，但畢竟是有傳達硬核學問的 Non-Fiction，當中還要夾雜很長篇幅的「刻板角色」的「刻板交流」，總是讓我覺得效率很差。（是的，這也是先前我讀那本《考古偵探》的同意感想……）當我想再回頭翻查先前本書曾經談過的主題，我會發現「非常難找」，因為那些資訊與探討的文句，全都散落在那堆沒什麼意思的虛假情節鏡頭當中了。
---
此外，本書前面兩章的編輯方面有非常嚴重的失職︰文章中莫名其妙地出現了「右括號）」，代表本書的前兩章並沒有作完校對便付印。而第七章關於「害蟲審判」裡，本書的譯者似乎沒有搞清「異教（Pagan）」和「異端（Heresy）」兩者的差異而處處混用。照本書的討論來看，歐洲中古時期的「異端」（即本書所統稱的「瓦勒度派（Vaudois、Waldenses）」勢力成長，而他們也自稱為基督教信仰，因此天主教會要對這群內部的怙群之馬的「異端」來開刀。至於要去對付所謂的「異教」，那就屬於發動聖戰去攻打外部的穆斯林的行為了。兩者區分非常明顯。
可以一讀的書。
這本《WTF（什麼鬼）？！一趟不可思議的經濟學之旅》是由美國學者「彼得．利森（Peter T. Leeson）」所著，內容是解釋幾項歐洲歷史上曾經出現過的怪異習俗，若以經濟角度分析來看，在當時當地的情境之下，其實都有「降低整體社會成本」、「減少浪費」的特性，是十分聰明與合理的的作法。神判法、拍賣妻子、迷信禁忌規範、神職人員的詛咒、對雞下毒解決爭端、對害蟲的審判、雇人決鬥來贏得審判，若將其各自的施行細節與案例成效認真地研讀統計之後，便會發現許多我們現代人對過去的嘲諷（也就是本書書名中會令人乍聽之下發出 WTF 的驚訝），其實一點都不公平。
然而，雖然我覺得本書帶給我不少有用的新知識，也很喜歡這本書；不過或許是我個人的閱讀脾胃吧，我並不喜歡作者的書寫方式，將整部作品的內容搞成「劇情片」的方式進行。本書像是在講述一則長篇小說一樣，由作者本人作為主角，帶領一大群人去參觀某家博物館，然後和當中的團員們插科打諢一番來推動對白的進行。我並不在意一本知識性的書籍用詞輕挑，但畢竟是有傳達硬核學問的 Non-Fiction，當中還要夾雜很長篇幅的「刻板角色」的「刻板交流」，總是讓我覺得效率很差。（是的，這也是先前我讀那本《考古偵探》的同意感想……）當我想再回頭翻查先前本書曾經談過的主題，我會發現「非常難找」，因為那些資訊與探討的文句，全都散落在那堆沒什麼意思的虛假情節鏡頭當中了。
---
此外，本書前面兩章的編輯方面有非常嚴重的失職︰文章中莫名其妙地出現了「右括號）」，代表本書的前兩章並沒有作完校對便付印。而第七章關於「害蟲審判」裡，本書的譯者似乎沒有搞清「異教（Pagan）」和「異端（Heresy）」兩者的差異而處處混用。照本書的討論來看，歐洲中古時期的「異端」（即本書所統稱的「瓦勒度派（Vaudois、Waldenses）」勢力成長，而他們也自稱為基督教信仰，因此天主教會要對這群內部的怙群之馬的「異端」來開刀。至於要去對付所謂的「異教」，那就屬於發動聖戰去攻打外部的穆斯林的行為了。兩者區分非常明顯。
可以一讀的書。
September 29, 2023
Oh, how economists can be obnoxious! I should have read the blurb saying that this is "Freakonomics on steroids" -- i.e., a pedantic attempt to explain everything through the lenses of rational choice and utility maximization under constraints. At least 'Freakonomics' cares about things that currently matter, while this book offers revisions of bizarre historical practices using applied game theory and other microeconomics tools. I also hated the "tour of the weird" format, narrated by a smartypants that likes to throw jokes that only economists can find remotely fun.
December 31, 2020
Unterhaltsam. Peter T. Leeson nimmt die Leser/innen mit auf eine fiktive Museumsführung, in der er anhand verschiedener Stationen seine These von der Ratio hinter allen möglichen kulturellen Erscheinungsformen, die bei uns heute nur "WTF?!" auslösen, erläutert. Mich persönlich stört der arrogante Ton seines Erzählers/Museumsführers, wobei er damit ironisch spielt. Seine zum Teil gewagten Thesen hätte ich in dem Szenario lieber (auch) von wissenschaftlichem Publikum diskutiert gesehen, als nur durch eine zum Teil recht einfältige Besuchergruppe. Die machen es ihm natürlich leicht, seine Argumentation überlegen zu verteidigen. Dennoch: Sein Buch ist ein anschauliches Beispiel, wie man wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse ansprechend und auch noch lustig vermitteln kann. Gerne mehr davon. Eine meines Erachtens wichtige Anmerkung zum Schluss: Der Titel hat zumindest mich etwas in die falsche Richtung geführt: Tatsächlich geht es weniger um Ökonomie und Markthandeln in der Vergangenheit/unterschiedlichen Kulturen, sondern um gesellschaftliche Verhaltensökonomien.
May 4, 2018
I appreciate that Leeson tried to spice up the traditional academic book w humor and a tour-guide structure although it didn't add much to my enjoyment. Still he deserves credit for trying something new.
As for the topics- I liked them and their explanations. Having heard his podcast already on Economics Detective, I had the main points and didn't think the book had much more of interest. Perhaps that's because the quotes are hundreds of years old and therefore less compelling than some modern speech. But it also seemed like the book was a bit longer than necessary and I found myself skimming. I am an economist so maybe that's expected. I glanced at the appendix and liked what it had there but it's not for most.
Favorite explanation is of trial by combat and ordeals. Those chapters are worth a read. And the overall theme is great- I often tell my students that before concluding someone is an asshole or some situation is stupid, they should try to understand the constraints first.
As for the topics- I liked them and their explanations. Having heard his podcast already on Economics Detective, I had the main points and didn't think the book had much more of interest. Perhaps that's because the quotes are hundreds of years old and therefore less compelling than some modern speech. But it also seemed like the book was a bit longer than necessary and I found myself skimming. I am an economist so maybe that's expected. I glanced at the appendix and liked what it had there but it's not for most.
Favorite explanation is of trial by combat and ordeals. Those chapters are worth a read. And the overall theme is great- I often tell my students that before concluding someone is an asshole or some situation is stupid, they should try to understand the constraints first.
April 21, 2025
Nonfiction>anthropology x economics
What a creative approach to present the material. From page 1 the author is the narrator/guide on a museum tour. The museum is his book, the individual chapters are the exhibits, and he uses the imagined set of different people on the tour asking questions to move through his points. I love the presentation--very creative and well-done!
We move through some seemingly bazaar social customs and figure out why they actually make A LOT of sense from an economic standpoint--these strange customs basically account for some particular quirk in the economic fabric of the specific time and place they are occurring.
With a nice splash of humor sprinkled into the down-to-earth explanations of economic concepts, this is a very enjoyable read.
We learn how taxes, laws, and belief can come together to create some pretty outlandish cultural practices. From throwing witches in water to see if they sink, swearing an oath to tell the trust before testimony, auctioning off wives, putting mice and other pests on trial, monks adding curse clauses to property agreements, to trial by champion fighter--we find out how all of these things actually (sort of, kind of, in a way... in theory at least lol) MAKE SENSE. :)
"Incentives are the reason you're more likely to moon a stranger for $1000 than for a nickel, forget to feed your goldfish as opposed to your son, or eat pie over poop..."
"“Rules”—those pesky principles governing what’s permissible and what’s not, stipulating rewards or penalties for your compliance or noncompliance—affect your incentives. Rules can come from your government, employer, society, dominatrix."
"Secular judicial systems quickly abandoned ordeals where their religious trappings evaporated."
"To look at it, the practice of publicly auctioning wives to the highest bidder was misogynistic madness run amok, which is why just “looking at it” is a bad way of evaluating wife sales and other seemingly senseless social practices."
"For 250 years, French, Italian, and Swiss ecclesiastic courts tried insects and rodents for property crimes as legal persons under the same laws and according to the same procedures they used to try actual persons."
"...Edward Payson Evans compiled in his book The Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals."
"Ask yourself: Was Norman England’s judicial system, which decided property disputes by having litigants hire legal representatives to fight one another physically, less sensible than contemporary England’s judicial system, which decides property disputes by having litigants hire legal representatives to fight one another verbally?"
"Suppose you find yourself stranded in a treetop. Your problem: how to get down. You decide to shimmy down the trunk, cutting yourself badly along the way. Now suppose you find yourself in the same situation with one difference: you can fly. You decide to do that and land airily on your feet, not a scratch on you. Was your solution in the first case any less sensible than your solution in the second?"
What a creative approach to present the material. From page 1 the author is the narrator/guide on a museum tour. The museum is his book, the individual chapters are the exhibits, and he uses the imagined set of different people on the tour asking questions to move through his points. I love the presentation--very creative and well-done!
We move through some seemingly bazaar social customs and figure out why they actually make A LOT of sense from an economic standpoint--these strange customs basically account for some particular quirk in the economic fabric of the specific time and place they are occurring.
With a nice splash of humor sprinkled into the down-to-earth explanations of economic concepts, this is a very enjoyable read.
We learn how taxes, laws, and belief can come together to create some pretty outlandish cultural practices. From throwing witches in water to see if they sink, swearing an oath to tell the trust before testimony, auctioning off wives, putting mice and other pests on trial, monks adding curse clauses to property agreements, to trial by champion fighter--we find out how all of these things actually (sort of, kind of, in a way... in theory at least lol) MAKE SENSE. :)
"Incentives are the reason you're more likely to moon a stranger for $1000 than for a nickel, forget to feed your goldfish as opposed to your son, or eat pie over poop..."
"“Rules”—those pesky principles governing what’s permissible and what’s not, stipulating rewards or penalties for your compliance or noncompliance—affect your incentives. Rules can come from your government, employer, society, dominatrix."
"Secular judicial systems quickly abandoned ordeals where their religious trappings evaporated."
"To look at it, the practice of publicly auctioning wives to the highest bidder was misogynistic madness run amok, which is why just “looking at it” is a bad way of evaluating wife sales and other seemingly senseless social practices."
"For 250 years, French, Italian, and Swiss ecclesiastic courts tried insects and rodents for property crimes as legal persons under the same laws and according to the same procedures they used to try actual persons."
"...Edward Payson Evans compiled in his book The Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals."
"Ask yourself: Was Norman England’s judicial system, which decided property disputes by having litigants hire legal representatives to fight one another physically, less sensible than contemporary England’s judicial system, which decides property disputes by having litigants hire legal representatives to fight one another verbally?"
"Suppose you find yourself stranded in a treetop. Your problem: how to get down. You decide to shimmy down the trunk, cutting yourself badly along the way. Now suppose you find yourself in the same situation with one difference: you can fly. You decide to do that and land airily on your feet, not a scratch on you. Was your solution in the first case any less sensible than your solution in the second?"
April 25, 2020
I just give it 5 stars because it is unfair how much bad reviews this book has for such banal things such as the characters. This book is not the traditional academic book that you may have readen in the university, nor the most insightful either, but definitely interesting and well written. What to expect of this book? Absolutely what the title says, a series of historical events analyzed from a economical and incentives perspective. So in short, it is highly readable and not academical. The aim of the book is to analyze things through and incentives scheme in order to explain something that at first didn’t make any sense.
Entertainment and worth reading, won’t take you long and without doubt will give more knowledge than you had before, as any book.
October 4, 2018
Rational Choice, for the Win
Aside from the obvious, and substantial, history and economics education this book provides, it provides something else. That something else is humility. People have a tendency to believe that their own practices make sense. Correspondingly, they tend to view historical practices, such as ordeals, wife sales, or vermin trials as if the practitioners were, to quote Bugs Bunny, "a bunch of maroons." This book illustrates why that's simply not true! (Now, one could argue that belief in the supernatural always leads to people becoming somebody's "mark," and I would agree, but that does not change the incentives, but only the rules. Great book!
Aside from the obvious, and substantial, history and economics education this book provides, it provides something else. That something else is humility. People have a tendency to believe that their own practices make sense. Correspondingly, they tend to view historical practices, such as ordeals, wife sales, or vermin trials as if the practitioners were, to quote Bugs Bunny, "a bunch of maroons." This book illustrates why that's simply not true! (Now, one could argue that belief in the supernatural always leads to people becoming somebody's "mark," and I would agree, but that does not change the incentives, but only the rules. Great book!
April 29, 2018
Interesting historical tour of what appear to be strange, irrational procedures or processes, such as ordeals to determine guilt/innocence, brawling over property rights disputes, auctioning wives, and a few more. They appear barbaric by today's standards but the author attempts to prove they were rational ways to solve problems. I found it compelling reading, and my only quibble is the chapters are too long, from providing too much information. A fun read.
June 10, 2019
A strange book. Written for the layperson with an annex for the hardcore economist. The former would not understand the annex, the latter would not want to read the main part of the book, which is quite repetitive. What is there on just shy of 200 pages could have been presented in under 100 also ... One star for the selection of indeed weird stories, one star for the novel form of presentation as a 'tourist tour', one star for the annex. You do the math ...
December 8, 2017
In this cute little book Leeson wants us to understand how seemingly bizarre customs and laws serve the various constituencies involved. Examples include wife selling, trial by ordeal and belief in oracles. Interesting stuff, and the author's use of a tour guide format with heckling tour members is amusing.
September 26, 2018
I enjoyed the non-traditional method of telling the story as a tour guide interacting some with tourists. The first few stops on the "tour" were interesting to me particularly about the use of religious ordeals and wife sales but the later stops went on too long and I felt like the book ended up with whimper.
June 4, 2021
Author: What if I write a book exploring some interesting historical traditions, like ordeals, and explain them through rational choice theory?
Publisher: Yea?
Author: And then I include a trope of me as a tour guide of a group of people that includes a redneck with a cowboy hat and a priest and have them ask questions as stereotypes?
Publisher: Sold!
Publisher: Yea?
Author: And then I include a trope of me as a tour guide of a group of people that includes a redneck with a cowboy hat and a priest and have them ask questions as stereotypes?
Publisher: Sold!
January 3, 2024
Intenté terminar de leer pero no pude. Porque la narración me pareció forzada, tediosa y por momentos aburrida. Pero si quieres conocer esas cosas raras y anecdóticas que hacen las personas por dinero, quizás debas leer el libro, si lo terminas, espero me cuentes que te parecieron los 4 últimos capítulos, que no logré terminar de leer.
October 29, 2018
Great book with a fun take on rational choice and how incentives shape our institutions and our actions. I enjoyed learning about the sense behind the seemingly senseless and the tour like format of this book which kept me engaged the whole way.
January 6, 2020
The author has a very quirky/fun way of presenting what is otherwise very boring material. Each of the WTF stories is interesting for its historical weirdness, and the author's analysis of incentives is clever and interesting, but I'm not sure I needed to know all the little details of each case.
November 11, 2021
The topics were interesting but I didn't like the writing style. Pretending to be a tour guide in a museum, with a bunch a characters you interact with to treat the topics and by trying to add some humor this way... made it difficult to keep on reading.
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March 2, 2022A window into different cultures practices that on the surface appears odd, but that have an underlying economic and perfectly valid logic. The books hits the point home, that not everything is always as it seems on the surface. A fun read with unusual twists and turns from history.
January 6, 2025
his book was a combination of history and economics. I was surprised to read that during the Industrial Revolution in England men sold their wife’s or in parts of France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Germany people actually tried vermin. This book was quite interesting to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2018
I enjoyed this book, however, I was hoping for more based on the recommendation I received from a trusted source. The writing style is equally quirky to topics covered.
March 30, 2018
Both fun and cute
June 17, 2018
Except for the last chapter, it's really just economics of faith and law. I wasn't a fan of the story telling approach.
August 6, 2018
Fun book covering how REASONABLE obviously unreasonable things can be: putting your hand in hot water to prove your innocence, poisoning chickens as an oracle, or putting vermin up for trial.
August 7, 2018
What a fascinating tour this is! The guide presents his knowledge in a really original and funny way, and boy, does he know some interesting facts. I can't recommend this tour highly enough.
September 16, 2018
A perfect mix of laughter and genuinely interesting anecdotes. Also a nice introduction to some concepts in economics.
January 31, 2019
Very fun book reminiscent of Freakonomics.
July 14, 2019
Espero no ser un lector chapado a la antigua, pero la forma de escritura de este libro, la falsa modestia del autor y los temas discutidos me aburrieron notablemente. Por supuesto, no lo recomiendo.
April 27, 2020
Le daría 4 pero aun no entendí el apéndice
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