Gary S. Becker

Economists generally accept as a given the old adage that there’s no accounting for tastes. Nobel Laureate Gary Becker disagrees, and in this lively new collection he confronts the problem of preferences and how they are formed and how they affect our behavior. He argues that past experiences and social influences form two basic capital personal and social. He then applies these concepts to assessing the effects of advertising, the power of peer pressure, the nature of addiction, and the function of habits. This framework promises to illuminate many other realms of social life previously considered off-limits by economists.

On December 5, 2004, the still-developing blogosphere took one of its biggest steps toward mainstream credibility, as Nobel Prize–winning economist Gary S. Becker and renowned jurist and legal scholar Richard A. Posner announced the formation of the Becker-Posner Blog. In no time, the blog had established a wide readership and reputation as a reliable source of lively, thought-provoking commentary on current events, its pithy and profound weekly essays highlighting the value of economic reasoning when applied to unexpected topics. Uncommon Sense gathers the most important and innovative entries from the blog, arranged by topic, along with updates and even reconsiderations when subsequent events have shed new light on a question. Whether it’s Posner making the economic case for the legalization of gay marriage, Becker arguing in favor of the sale of human organs for transplant, or even the pair of scholars vigorously disagreeing about the utility of collective punishment, the writing is always clear, the interplay energetic, and the resulting discussion deeply informed and intellectually substantial. To have a single thinker of the stature of a Becker or Posner addressing questions of this nature would make for fascinating reading; to have both, writing and responding to each other, is an exceptionally rare treat. With Uncommon Sense, they invite the adventurous reader to join them on a whirlwind intellectual journey. All they ask is that you leave your preconceptions behind.

Human Capital is Becker's classic study of how investment in an individual's education and training is similar to business investments in equipment. Recipient of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Economic Science, Gary S. Becker is a pioneer of applying economic analysis to human behavior in such areas as discrimination, marriage, family relations, and education. Becker's research on human capital was considered by the Nobel committee to be his most noteworthy contribution to economics.This expanded edition includes four new chapters, covering recent ideas about human capital, fertility and economic growth, the division of labor, economic considerations within the family, and inequality in earnings."Critics have charged that Mr. Becker's style of thinking reduces humans to economic entities. Nothing could be further from the truth. Mr. Becker gives people credit for having the power to reason and seek out their own best destiny."— Wall Street Journal

From economics Nobel Laureate Gary Becker and historian Guity Nashat Becker comes this collection of the economist's popular BusinessWeek columns. These 138 essays have fueled numerous debates, touching on hot-button issues from crime to organization of sports. The Beckers' surprising--and uncompromising--positions on drugs ("legalize them"), immigration ("auction off immigration slots"), welfare ("curtail it sharply"), and other topics provide a provocative commentary on our times.

Since his pioneering application of economic analysis to racial discrimination, Gary S. Becker has shown that an economic approach can provide a unified framework for understanding all human behavior. In a highly readable selection of essays Becker applies this approach to various aspects of human activity, including social interactions; crime and punishment; marriage, fertility, and the family; and "irrational" behavior."Becker's highly regarded work in economics is most notable in the imaginative application of 'the economic approach' to a surprising breadth of human activity. Becker's essays over the years have inevitably inspired a surge of research activity in testimony to the richness of his insights into human activities lying 'outside' the traditionally conceived economic markets. Perhaps no economist in our time has contributed more to expanding the area of interest to economists than Becker, and a number of these thought-provoking essays are collected in this book."— ChoiceGary Becker was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Science in 1992.

This second edition of Gary S. Becker's The Economics of Discrimination has been expanded to include three further discussions of the problem and an entirely new introduction which considers the contributions made by others in recent years and some of the more important problems remaining.Mr. Becker's work confronts the economic effects of discrimination in the market place because of race, religion, sex, color, social class, personality, or other non-pecuniary considerations. He demonstrates that discrimination in the market place by any group reduces their own real incomes as well as those of the minority.The original edition of The Economics of Discrimination was warmly received by economists, sociologists, and psychologists alike for focusing the discerning eye of economic analysis upon a vital social problem—discrimination in the market place."This is an unusual book; not only is it filled with ingenious theorizing but the implications of the theory are boldly confronted with facts. . . . The intimate relation of the theory and observation has resulted in a book of great vitality on a subject whose interest and importance are obvious."—M.W. Reder, American Economic Review"The author's solution to the problem of measuring the motive behind actual discrimination is something of a tour de force . . . . Sociologists in the field of race relations will wish to read this book."—Karl Schuessler, American Sociological Review

Others might have called this book Micro Theory or Price Theory. Becker's choice of Economic Theory as the title for his book reflects his deep belief that there is only one kind of economic theory, not separate theories for micro problems, macro problems, non-market decisions, and so on. Indeed, as he notes, the most promising development in recent years in the literature on large scale economic problems such as unemployment has been the increasing reliance on utility maximization, a concept generally identified with microeconomics. Microeconomics is the subject matter of this volume, but it is emphatically not confined to microeconomics in the literal sense of micro units like firms or households. Becker's main interest is in market behavior of aggregations of firms and households. Although important inferences are drawn about individual firms and households, the author tries to understand aggregate responses to changes in basic economic parameters like tax rates, tariff schedules, technology, or antitrust provisions. His discussion is related to the market sector in industrialized economies, but the principles developed are applied to other sectors and different kinds of choices. Becker argues that economic analysis is essential to understand much of the behavior traditionally studied by sociologists, anthropologists, and other social scientists. The broad definition of economics in terms of scarce means and competing ends is taken seriously and should be a source of pride to economists since it provides insights into a wide variety of problems. Practically all statements proved mathematically are also provided geometrically or verbally in the body of the text.

On October 13, 1992, the Royal Swedish Academy announced the award of the Nobel Prize in economic sciences to Gary S. Becker, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and University Professor of Economics and Sociology at the University of Chicago. In announcing the award, Gary was cited for Extending "the domain of microeconomic analysis to a wide range of human behavior and interaction, including nonmarket behavior." In the lecture he delivered as part of the 1992 Nobel Prize award ceremony, Gary discussed four topics--discrimination against minorities, crime and punishment, the development and accumulation of human capital, and the structure of families--that are emblematic of his innovative approach to the economic analysis of social issues.

Book by Gary Becker, Thomas Sowell, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

How can market-based solutions help solve the challenges of immigration? Nobel Prize winner Prof. Gary Becker, in this IEA Occasional Paper, proposes a radical policy which, if implemented by the coalition government, could raise over �600 million a year. Prof. Becker proposes that visas to work in the UK should be sold off. The coalition's immigration cap scheme could be amended using this proposal to ensure that the most suitable immigrants are allowed in. The people willing to pay the most to live in the UK are likely to be the same people who would contribute most to our economy. Executive Summary: - Despite substantial economic growth in underdeveloped countries, there are still huge differences in wage levels between poorer and richer countries. - Low fertility, especially in Europe, is also likely to lead to pressures that will encourage migration in future decades. - Net migration has grown dramatically in recent years. In 1980, net migration to the UK was approximately zero and by 2005 the figure was 190,000 per annum. In the same periodnet migration to the USA more or less doubled to 1.1 million per annum. - There were very substantial migration flows in the late nineteenth century but the USA imposed restrictions from the 1920s onwards. Those restrictions are onerous and involve bureaucratic controls. - Given the extent of welfare states in countries with higher incomes, it would be difficult to go back to a policy of free migration. - There would be many advantages to a policy of charging immigrants a fee. If a fee of (say) $50,000 were charged, it would ensure that economically active migrants who had a real commitment to the country were most attracted. This fee could be used to lower other taxes. - Charging a fee would be a much more efficient way of controlling economic migration than the use of quotas and other bureaucratic systems of control. - Even a fee of $50,000 would allow people on relatively low earnings to enter the USA if there were skill shortages. Given the level of wage differentials, such a fee could be paid back in a few years or in a decade or so. - Certain categories of migrant might be allowed to benefit from a loans system to enable them to pay the fee over a period of years. This could operate rather like a student loans system in higher education. - One advantage of using a fee rather than administrative controls would be that illegal immigrants would have a strong incentive to regularise their status - and would be allowed to do so legally. Such people would have to pay the required fee but would then be free to choose much more remunerative occupations. As such, the use of the price mechanism in migration policy could alleviate the scourge of illegal immigration.

Imagine each family as a kind of little factory―a multiperson unit producing meals, health, skills, children, and self-esteem from market goods and the time, skills, and knowledge of its members. This is only one of the remarkable concepts explored by Gary S. Becker in his landmark work on the family. Becker applies economic theory to the most sensitive and fateful personal decisions, such as choosing a spouse or having children. He uses the basic economic assumptions of maximizing behavior, stable preferences, arid equilibria in explicit or implicit markets to analyze the allocation of time to child care as well as to careers, to marriage and divorce in polygynous as well as monogamous societies, to the increase and decrease of wealth from one generation to another.The consideration of the family from this perspective has profound theoretical and practical implications. For example, Becker’s analysis of assortative mating can be used to study matching processes generally. Becker extends the powerful tools of economic analysis to problems once considered the province of the sociologist, the anthropologist, and the historian. The obligation of these scholars to take account of his work thus constitutes an important step in the unification of the social sciences.A Treatise on the Family will have an impact on public policy as well. Becker shows that social welfare programs have significant effects on the allocation of resources within families. For example, social security taxes tend to reduce the amount of resources children give to their aged parents. The implications of these findings are obvious and far-reaching. With the publication of this extraordinary book, the family moves to the forefront of the research agenda in the social sciences.

A revealing collection from the intellectual titan whose work shaped the modern world. As an economist and public intellectual, Gary S. Becker was a giant. The recipient of a Nobel Prize, a John Bates Clark Medal, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom, Becker is widely regarded as the greatest microeconomist in history. After forty years at the University of Chicago, Becker left a slew of unpublished writings that used an economic approach to human behavior, analyzing such topics as preference formation, rational indoctrination, income inequality, drugs and addiction, and the economics of family. These papers unveil the process and personality—direct, critical, curious—that made him a beloved figure in his field and beyond. The Economic Approach examines these extant works as a capstone to the Becker oeuvre—not because the works are perfect, but because they offer an illuminating, instructive glimpse into the machinations of an economist who wasn’t motivated by publications. Here, and throughout his works, an inquisitive spirit remains remarkable and forever resonant.

Blogul Becker-Posner, lansat de laureatul Premiului Nobel pentru Economie, Gary Becker, și de celebrul jurist Richard Posner, a devenit cunoscut grație postărilor dinamice și incitante despre evenimente de actualitate și a eseurilor concise și pline de esență, în care sunt analizate subiecte dintre cele mai diverse, dintr-o perspectivă economică. Simțul ieșit din comun cuprinde unele dintre cele mai importante și inovatoare dezbateri postate pe acest blog, atent organizate pe diverse teme și actualizate în funcție de evenimentele care au pus subiectele dezbătute într-o lumină nouă. Indiferent că este vorba de analiza lui Posner asupra legalizării căsătoriilor între persoanele de același sex, a argumentelor aduse de Becker în favoarea vânzării de organe umane pentru a fi folosite, ulterior, pentru transplant sau despre comentariile celor doi autori referitoare la inutilitatea pedepsei colective, cartea abundă în informații valoroase, pline de dinamism. O carte excelentă... Pentru orice persoană interesată de un curs util și la îndemână despre modul de judecată al economiștilor din Chicago, cartea aceasta este perfectă, mai bine de atât nu se poate. Am citit-o aproape dintr-o suflare. New York Times, blogul Freakonomics Cel mai bun curs de economie al ceea ce este cunoscut drept „Scoala din Chicago", la care poți lua parte fără să plătești taxe de școlarizare. Chicago Tribune

Yuan-Liou Publishing Company in general economic scholars accept preferences can not explain the ancient maxim. but the Nobel laureate in economics Gairuibeike do not agree with this argument. In the book. he bluntly face the issue of preference and preferences and value is formed? How they affect human behavior? For example. why two adjacent restaurants. the dishes. the price is almost the same. but a full house. another deserted? Why cigarette company in the decrease in cigarette consumption. but also to increase the price? Baker believes that most of the consumer choice behavior are not independent. but interrelated. His past experience with social impact into two basic capital stock - personal and social capital. and this framework to examine the habits. addiction. peer groups. social regulation

ESTADO DEL LIBRO Usado Encuadernació Pasta Blanda. NO. Número de pá 345 páginas. Medidas del 23 x 15 x 2.5 cm. Subrayados / NO. Manchas / NO. Apariencia general del El libro tiene ligero desgaste en portadas, tiene marcas de identificación perceptibles, pero son mínimas. En una escala del 1 al 10 estaría entre 8 y 9. Libro usado bien conservado. VER FOTOS. Funcionamiento del El libro funciona muy bien, las bisagras de las portadas están fuertes, las hojas del libro están bien pegadas, el lomo está saludable y robusto. Los interiores están completos. PARTICULARIDADES Sin otra particularidad que agregar.

The issue of migration has often divided political economists-even those of a broadly free-market perspective-and in this book, Nobel Laureate Gary Becker briefly discusses the benefits and some of the problems arising from migration. He then makes a radical proposal that immigrants should be charged to enter countries such as the United States and the UK. This might be regarded by some as an inappropriate way to deal with the problems caused by unlimited migration. However, the author lucidly presents his case, showing how it will help both migrants and the country they are entering while defusing debates surrounding migration. He makes a powerful case that his proposal will help ease the serious problem of illegal migration.

Pasjonujaca wymiana pogladów stworzona na podstawie ponad 100 tekstów i komentarzy zamieszczonych na blogu The Becker-Posner Blog.Gary S. Becker i Richard A. Posner udowadniaja, ze analiza ekonomiczna nie jest jedynie narzedziem dla naukowców i analityków rynku. Znajduja ekonomiczne wyjasnienie róznych, niekiedy kontrowersyjnych problemó- czy spoleczna odpowiedzialnosc biznesu to tylko wizerunkowa sztuczka?- jakie bylyby skutki zalegalizowania poligamii?- czy Stany Zjednoczone powinny wspierac finansowo i militarnie inne kraje?- jak rankingi uczelni wyzszych wplywaja na poziom edukacji?- czy demokracja sluzy wysokiemu poziomowi zycia, czy to wysoki poziom zycia sluzy demokracji?Czytelnik tej ksiazki bedzie mial okazje przekonac sie, jak jasno, precyzyjnie i zarazem przystepnie mozna pisac o bardzo róznorodnych, zawilych i czesto budzacych silne kontrowersje problemach wspólczesnego swiata.

Issue No. 2 from 1996 of the the Hoover DIgest, a quarterly journal form the Hoover Institution on War. Revolution and peace. With numerous articles on economic growth, tax reform, social welfare, health care, affirmative action, immigration, terrorism, history and culture plus interviews with Rose and Milton Friedman, Shelby Steel, and Alberto Fujimori plus profiles of Robert J. Barro, Gary S. Becker and Paul M. Romer. 176 pages.

Todas las cualidades de un buen curso académico, serio y accesible a un tiempo, se integran y armonizan en esta Teoría económica. La claridad de la exposición, el rigor y precisión de los conceptos, así como, la nitidez de la estructura intelectual de la disciplina que se estudia, son las cualidades de esta obra que posee, además, un método sencillo y expedito.

Mohou být ekonomické cíle životní filosofií? Podle teoretiků i ekonomického liberalismu, mezi něž autor této studie patří, je naše chování ekonomickými zřeteli přímo podmíněno. Motivace našich rozhodnutí je vázána na rozvrh našich preferencí.