The Economic Naturalist：In Search of Explanations for Everyday Enigmas

Whydothekeypadsondrive-upcashmachineshaveBrailledots?Whyareround-tripfaresfromOrlandotoKansasCityhigherthanthosefromKansasCitytoOrlando?Fordecades,RobertFrankhasbeenaskinghiseconomicsstudentstoposeandanswerquestionsliketheseasawayoflearninghoweconomicprinciplesoperateintherealworld-whichtheydoeverywhere,allthetime.Onceyoulearntothinklikeaneconomist,allkindsofpuzzlingobservationsstarttomakesense.Drive-upATMkeypadshaveBrailledotsbecauseitscheapertomakethesamemachineforbothdrive-upandwalk-uplocations.TravelersfromKansasCitytoOrlandopaylessbecausetheyareusuallyprice-sensitivetouristswithmanychoicesofdestination,whereastravelersoriginatingfromOrlandotypicallychooseKansasCityforspecificfamilyorbusinessreasons.TheEconomicNaturalistemploysbasiceconomicprinciplestoanswerscoresofintriguingquestionsfromeverydaylife,and,alongtheway,introduceskeyideassuchasthecost-benefitprinciple,thenocashonthetableprinciple,andthelawofoneprice.Thisisasdelightfulandpainlessawaytolearnfundamentaleconomicsasthereis.