Economics Is Everywhere

by Daniel S. Hamermesh

The purpose of Economics Is Everywhere by Daniel S. Hamermesh is to illustrate the wide range of daily activities to which an economic way of thinking can be applied. The 400 vignettes were inspired by news stories, television shows, movies, music, family events, and other facets of daily life. Some vignettes were suggested by students or colleagues. The book is organized into three parts to follow the topical arrangement of a typical introductory microeconomic textbook. These vignettes apply what students learn in their introductory microeconomics textbook. They focus on the student's ability to apply formal analysis with myriad of examples that come out of their daily activities. After studying this applications/issues book, students will be able to read a newspaper or magazine and understand their own daily activities in a new, economic way--and as a result, understand the economics at work around them.

Genres: Economics, Social Science

264 pages, Paperback

First published March 23, 2005

Reviews

[Martin Perez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illustrative of the concepts in economics that students may struggle with.

[Remo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Psé. Divulgación sobre economía en forma de píldoras que ilustran un aspecto concreto de la microeconomía como el coste de oportunidad, la elasticidad de la demanda, las curvas de oferta y demanda, los mercados, el mercado laboral en concreto... Un montón de temas. El planteamiento es interesante pero el libro aburre un poco. El dividirlo en píldoras de uno o dos párrafos no deja muchas veces alcanzar un grado de explicación razonable, y todas las píldoras acaban con una pregunta que si se deja sin responder no aporta nada. Algo decepcionante, la verdad.

What’s an efficient size for a church or synagogue? If there were economies of scale throughout, with all the Baptists in a big Texas city such as Austin, we’d see just one giant Baptist church. With 15,000 Jews in Austin, we’d see just one big synagogue. But we don’t see either: There are many churches in each denomination, as well as many synagogues. As the city has expanded, more and more different kinds of Baptist churches, Jewish synagogues, and other churches have been organized. It’s not just that each one serves a local area. People drive a long way to the church or synagogue of their choice even when another one is closer. They like the peculiarities of a leader’s ministry, the type of service, and even the particular social interactions of a congregation. With one big house of worship, these choices would be lost. Statistical studies of the long-run average cost curves of churches suggest that this is true:
There are economies of scale up to some size, but as the church or synagogue begins growing beyond a certain size, diseconomies of scale set in—it becomes less efficient.

Q: What would cause there to be diseconomies of scale in churches and synagogues? List some of the cost and production factors that limit the growth of an individual church or synagogue.

[Gertrude Carrington · Rating 1 out of 5]

End my suffering. I cannot believe a nation of economists think this is acceptable to be taught. Offensive, insensitive and downright ridiculously stupid. The analogies and examples he uses are so bourgeoisie and high class (i.e. demand curves of fine european wines, incentives for trips to the Bahamas, price control on luxury vehicles) that it becomes completely inaccessible to anyone who gives a damn about poor people.
The author is a trash excuse of a professor and of a human being. Certifies capitalist economics as the joke of high education. If youre wondering why everyone thinks youre a snake for being a business major, look up from this book. Heinous.

There are two kind of economists: smart ones and capitalists.