Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception

Akerlof is University Professor at Georgetown University and the winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize. Akerlof and Shiller are also the authors of Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism (Princeton). Robert J. George A. Shiller is Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale Un

Ian Mann said as if “by an invisible hand … [each person] pursuing his own interest” also promotes the best interest of everyone. Akerlof and Shiller are both American Nobel Laureates for their work in economics. I mention this first because the book has a breeziness and humour that can overwhelm the profound economic insight it proposes.The father of economics, Adam Smith, wrote in his book, The Wealth of Nations, that in free markets, as if “by an invisible hand … [each person] pursuing his own interest” also promotes the best interest of everyone. The baker sells and distributes bread less expensively and conveniently than a householder could do for herself, so more lives are enr. Caveat emptor Steven Peterson Many of us are aware of the concept of “phishing.” Wikipedia defines this notion thus: “Phishing is the attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and sometimes, indirectly, money), often for malicious reasons, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. The word is a neologism created as a homophone of fishing due to the similarity of using a bait in an attempt to catch a victim.” This book notes that phishing is also done, using different tools, by businesses—incl. A Concerned Citizen said The authors argue that economic models must include the manipulation and deception of real world markets to be useful. Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation & Deception. George A. Akerlof and Robert J. Shiller. "The authors argue that economic models must include the manipulation and deception of real world markets to be useful" according to A Concerned Citizen. Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation & Deception. George A. Akerlof and Robert J. Shiller. 2015.The authors, both Nobel laureates in economics, argue that the common economic model of a free market with assumed perfect conditions is woefully inadequate for formulating policy in the real world. Although free markets have contributed greatly to prosperity, they have also included many failures such as unfair distribution of income, inadequate social protections, and externalities like pollution that are mitigated by government intervention. Phishing for phools i. 015.The authors, both Nobel laureates in economics, argue that the common economic model of a free market with assumed perfect conditions is woefully inadequate for formulating policy in the real world. Although free markets have contributed greatly to prosperity, they have also included many failures such as unfair distribution of income, inadequate social protections, and externalities like pollution that are mitigated by government intervention. Phishing for phools i

As long as there is profit to be made, sellers will systematically exploit our psychological weaknesses and our ignorance through manipulation and deception. The financial system soars, then crashes. 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. 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 w

It may also be a radically important one."--Fortune"Entertaining, readable and provocative."--John Lanchester, London Review of Books"I highly recommend this, even for those who might disagree with the authors' outlook. Their case studies are illuminating, and their insights on the way markets work are fascinating. They are intellectual renegades. It takes many of our scattered findings about humanity's blind spots--both psychological weakness and a lack of perfect information--and weaves them into a comprehensive framework that has the potential to be devastating for free market fundamentalists."--Victoria Finkle, Washington Monthly"Its central idea is an important one and merits more attention."--Emran Mian,