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Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception
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Published:
Princeton University Press 2015
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Available from OverDrive
Description

Why the free-market system encourages so much trickery even as it creates so much good
Ever since Adam Smith, the central teaching of economics has been that free markets provide us with material well-being, as if by an invisible hand. In Phishing for Phools, Nobel Prize–winning economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller deliver a fundamental challenge to this insight, arguing that markets harm as well as help us. As long as there is profit to be made, sellers will systematically exploit our psychological weaknesses and our ignorance through manipulation and deception. Rather than being essentially benign and always creating the greater good, markets are inherently filled with tricks and traps and will "phish" us as "phools."
Phishing for Phools therefore strikes a radically new direction in economics, based on the intuitive idea that markets both give and take away. Akerlof and Shiller bring this idea to life through dozens of stories that show how phishing affects everyone, in almost every walk of life. We spend our money up to the limit, and then worry about how to pay the next month's bills. The financial system soars, then crashes. We are attracted, more than we know, by advertising. Our political system is distorted by money. We pay too much for gym memberships, cars, houses, and credit cards. Drug companies ingeniously market pharmaceuticals that do us little good, and sometimes are downright dangerous.
Phishing for Phools explores the central role of manipulation and deception in fascinating detail in each of these areas and many more. It thereby explains a paradox: why, at a time when we are better off than ever before in history, all too many of us are leading lives of quiet desperation. At the same time, the book tells stories of individuals who have stood against economic trickery—and how it can be reduced through greater knowledge, reform, and regulation.

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Format:
Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Street Date:
09/22/2015
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781400873265
ASIN:
B00WAM14RE
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Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

George A. Akerlof. (2015). Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception. Princeton University Press.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

George A. Akerlof. 2015. Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception. Princeton University Press.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

George A. Akerlof, Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception. Princeton University Press, 2015.

MLA Citation (style guide)

George A. Akerlof. Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception. Princeton University Press, 2015.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
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Phishing for Phools
fullDescription

Why the free-market system encourages so much trickery even as it creates so much good
Ever since Adam Smith, the central teaching of economics has been that free markets provide us with material well-being, as if by an invisible hand. In Phishing for Phools, Nobel Prize–winning economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller deliver a fundamental challenge to this insight, arguing that markets harm as well as help us. As long as there is profit to be made, sellers will systematically exploit our psychological weaknesses and our ignorance through manipulation and deception. Rather than being essentially benign and always creating the greater good, markets are inherently filled with tricks and traps and will "phish" us as "phools."
Phishing for Phools therefore strikes a radically new direction in economics, based on the intuitive idea that markets both give and take away. Akerlof and Shiller bring this idea to life through dozens of stories that show how phishing affects everyone, in almost every walk of life. We spend our money up to the limit, and then worry about how to pay the next month's bills. The financial system soars, then crashes. We are attracted, more than we know, by advertising. Our political system is distorted by money. We pay too much for gym memberships, cars, houses, and credit cards. Drug companies ingeniously market pharmaceuticals that do us little good, and sometimes are downright dangerous.
Phishing for Phools explores the central role of manipulation and deception in fascinating detail in each of these areas and many more. It thereby explains a paradox: why, at a time when we are better off than ever before in history, all too many of us are leading lives of quiet desperation. At the same time, the book tells stories of individuals who have stood against economic trickery—and how it can be reduced through greater knowledge, reform, and regulation.

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        October 15, 2015

        Nobel Prize-winning economists Akerlof (economics, Georgetown Univ.) and Shiller (Sterling Professor of Economics, Yale Univ.), who previously collaborated on Animal Spirits, here look at the concepts of manipulation and deception from the idea that markets give and take away. Narratives in this impressive book tell how to avoid being tricked by means of better enforcement and being told of pending scams. The authors show how money is spent up to the limit and the resulting concern about meeting the next month's bills. They also provide a useful explanation for the Great Recession. Actions of rating agencies such as Moody's and Standard & Poor's, explain the authors, have been built up over a century and generally do a good job of evaluating the probability of a default of bonds. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, however, the agencies took on the job of assessing more complex securities that were almost impossible to rate accurately, yet the public still relied on the assessments. VERDICT As one of the few titles dealing with fraud in the marketplace, this should be a part of any collection strong in business and economic holdings. A background in economics is presupposed. Readers might also consult Scambusters! by Ron Smith.--Claude Ury, San Francisco

        Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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Why the free-market system encourages so much trickery even as it creates so much good
Ever since Adam Smith, the central teaching of economics has been that free markets provide us with material well-being, as if by an invisible hand. In Phishing for Phools, Nobel Prize–winning economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller deliver a fundamental challenge to this insight, arguing that markets harm as well as help us. As long as there is profit to be made, sellers will systematically exploit our psychological weaknesses and our ignorance through manipulation and deception. Rather than being essentially benign and always creating the greater good, markets are inherently filled with tricks and traps and will "phish" us as "phools."
Phishing for Phools therefore strikes a radically new direction in economics, based on the intuitive idea that markets both give and take away. Akerlof and Shiller bring this idea to life through dozens of stories that...

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tableOfContents

PREFACE vii
INTRODUCTION Expect to Be Manipulated: Phishing Equilibrium 1
PART ONE Unpaid Bills and Financial Crash
CHAPTER ONE Temptation Strews Our Path 15
CHAPTER TWO Reputation Mining and Financial Crisis 23
PART TWO Phishing in Many Contexts
CHAPTER THREE Advertisers Discover How to Zoom In on Our Weak Spots 45
CHAPTER FOUR Rip-offs Regarding Cars, Houses, and Credit Cards 60
CHAPTER FIVE Phishing in Politics 72
CHAPTER SIX Phood, Pharma, and Phishing 84
CHAPTER SEVEN Innovation: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 96
CHAPTER EIGHT Tobacco and Alcohol 103
CHAPTER NINE Bankruptcy for Profit 117
CHAPTER TEN Michael Milken Phishes with Junk Bonds as Bait 124
CHAPTER ELEVEN The Resistance and Its Heroes 136
PART THREE Conclusion and Afterword
CONCLUSION: EXAMPLES AND GENERAL LESSONS New Story in America and Its Consequences 149
AFTERWORD The Significance of Phishing Equilibrium 163
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 175
NOTES 181
BIBLIOGRAPHY 233
INDEX 257

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