The Price of Everything
Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do
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Narrated by:
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Walter Dixon
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By:
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Eduardo Porter
About this listen
Many of the prices we pay seem to make little sense. We shell out $2.29 for a coffee at Starbucks when a nearly identical brew can be had at the corner deli for less than a dollar. We may be less willing to give blood for $25 than to donate it for free. Americans hire the cheap labor of illegal immigrants to fix the roof or mow the lawn and vote for politicians who promise to spend billions to keep them out of the country. And citizens of the industrialized West pay hundreds of dollars a year in taxes or cash for someone to cart away trash that would be a valuable commodity in poorer parts of the world.
The Price of Everything starts with a simple premise: there is a price behind each choice that we make, whether we're deciding to have a baby, drive a car, or buy a book. Eduardo Porter uncovers the true story behind the prices we pay and reveals what those prices are actually telling us. He takes us on a global economic adventure, from comparing the relative prices of a vote in corrupt São Tomé and in the ostensibly aboveboard United States to assessing the cost of happiness in Bhutan to deducing the dollar value we assign to human life. His unique approach helps explain:
- Why polygamous societies actually place a higher value on women than monogamous ones
- Why someone may find more value in a $14-million license plate than in the standard-issue $95 one
- Why some government agencies believe one year of life for a senior citizen is four times more valuable than that of a younger person
Porter weaves together the constant - and often unconscious - cost and value assessments we all make every day. While exploring the fascinating story behind the price of everything from marriage and death to mattresses and horsemeat, Porter draws unexpected connections that bridge a wide range of disciplines and cultures. The result is a cogent and insightful narrative about how the world really works.
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Since Alexis de Tocqueville, restlessness has been accepted as a signature American trait. Our willingness to move, take risks, and adapt to change have produced a dynamic economy and a tradition of innovation from Ben Franklin to Steve Jobs. The problem, according to legendary blogger, economist, and best-selling author Tyler Cowen, is that Americans today have broken from this tradition - we're working harder than ever to avoid change.
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MUST READ
- By RJW on 05-06-17
By: Tyler Cowen
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The Undercover Economist
- By: Tim Harford
- Narrated by: Robert Ian Mackenzie
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Author of the extremely popular "Dear Economist" column in Financial Times, Tim Harford reveals the economics behind everyday phenomena in this highly entertaining and informative book. Can a book about economics be fun to read? It can when Harford takes the reins, using his trademark wit to explain why it costs an arm and a leg to buy a cappuccino and why it's nearly impossible to purchase a decent used car.
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Everyone needs to know this.
- By Paul Norwood on 04-24-06
By: Tim Harford
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Reason
- Why Liberals Will Win the Battle for America
- By: Robert B. Reich
- Narrated by: Robert B. Reich
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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From Robert B. Reich, passionate believer in American democracy and public servant, Reason is a guide to confronting and derailing what he sees as the mounting threat to American liberty, prosperity, and security posed by the radical conservatives, Radcons as he calls them.
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Reason
- By Ron Green on 03-13-05
By: Robert B. Reich
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The New Geography of Jobs
- By: Enrico Moretti
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Today, there are three Americas. At one extreme are the brain hubs with workers who are among the most productive, creative, and best-paid on the planet. At the other extreme are former manufacturing capitals that are rapidly losing jobs and residents. The rest of America could go either way. For the past 30 years, the three Americas have been growing apart at an accelerating rate. This divergence is one the most important developments in the history of the US and is reshaping the very fabric of our society. But the winners and losers aren't necessarily who you'd expect.
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Almost Stopped Listening
- By R. Hartley on 03-29-19
By: Enrico Moretti
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The Impulse Society
- America in the Age of Instant Gratification
- By: Paul Roberts
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Paul Robert digs down to the economic roots of the problem, shows how it has metastisized to affect every facet of our lives and our ability to navigate the future. In clear, cogent prose that mixes illuminating analysis and vibrant reporting, Roberts not only tells the fascinating story of how the impulse society came to be, but shows how, perhaps, a healthier society may still be possible.
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A Must-Listen for Millenials
- By Doug - Audible on 03-31-15
By: Paul Roberts
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American Dreams
- Restoring Economic Opportunity for Everyone
- By: Marco Rubio
- Narrated by: Ricardo Suri
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Marco Rubio's parents came to the United States in 1956. The country they found was truly a land of opportunity, where hardworking people with grade school educations could afford a home, a car, and college for their kids. A country where maids and bartenders could raise doctors, lawyers, small-business owners, and maybe even a US senator. That was the American Dream - our country's central promise to its people.
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Comprehensive and compelling path for renewal.
- By gary on 06-03-15
By: Marco Rubio
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Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy
- By: Tim Harford
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy paints an epic picture of change in an intimate way by telling the stories of the tools, people, and ideas that had far-reaching consequences for all of us. From the plough to artificial intelligence, from Gillette's disposable razor to IKEA's Billy bookcase, best-selling author and Financial Times columnist Tim Harford recounts each invention's own curious, surprising, and memorable story.
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Thought provoking
- By Paul Norris on 09-10-17
By: Tim Harford
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Arguing with Idiots
- How to Stop Small Minds and Big Government
- By: Glenn Beck
- Narrated by: Glenn Beck, Pat Gray, Steve "Stu" Burguiere
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Idiots can't be identified through voting records, they can be found only by looking for people who hide behind stereotypes, embrace partisanship, and believe that bumper-sticker slogans are a substitute for common sense. If you know someone who fits the bill, then Arguing with Idiots will help you silence them once and for all with the ultimate weapon: the truth.
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Great Book
- By Stacy on 09-22-09
By: Glenn Beck
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Plutocrats
- The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else
- By: Chrystia Freeland
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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There has always been some gap between rich and poor in this country, but in the last few decades what it means to be rich has changed dramatically. Alarmingly, the greatest income gap is not between the 1 percent and the 99 percent, but within the wealthiest 1 percent of our nation-as the merely wealthy are left behind by the rapidly expanding fortunes of the new global super-rich. Forget the 1 percent; Plutocrats proves that it is the wealthiest 0.1 percent who are outpacing the rest of us at break-neck speed.
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Good Storytelling but ... analysis is "eh'
- By Susan on 11-04-12
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Capitalism in America
- A History
- By: Alan Greenspan, Adrian Wooldridge
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 16 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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From the legendary former Fed Chairman and the acclaimed Economist writer and historian, the full, epic story of America's evolution from a small patchwork of threadbare colonies to the most powerful engine of wealth and innovation the world has ever seen.
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Explains a lot
- By Scott on 02-18-19
By: Alan Greenspan, and others
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A Little History of the World
- By: E. H. Gombrich
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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E. H. Gombrich's world history, an international best seller now available in English for the first time, is a text dominated not by dates and facts but by the sweep of experience across the centuries, a guide to humanity's achievements, and an acute witness to its frailties.
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an enlightening book; very well read
- By A.B.Oxford on 06-03-06
By: E. H. Gombrich
What listeners say about The Price of Everything
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Joshua Kim
- 06-10-12
Higher Ed and 'The Price of Everything'
What is it about economics (behavioral and classical) and psychology that generates great books for non-academic readers? Where is the sociology? (although I guess Venkatesh did okay). Where is the demography? Where is the educational technology?
According to Porter, the reason we have more popular books about economic research is that people are willing to pay for popular books on economic research. The higher "price" (or demand), drives the supply of these books.
The Price of Everything: Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do, by Eduardo Porter, synthesizes a large body both classical and experimental (behavioral) economics research. Porter strikes a good balance between illustrating economic concepts around prices with stories about people and stories about events. We learn about when prices fail, such as the housing bubble, as well as when they succeed (such as the incredible growth of prosperity in Asia that came with market reforms).
This is another one of those books that would work for an intro econ course, something to give some life to the textbooks and the supply and demand curves. However, The Price of Everything should be read more widely than by economists and their students.
We could probably use an opportunity to think more critically about prices throughout campus.
Why is it, for instance, that we usually fail to put a price on our time - resulting in the "meeting culture" that dominates so much of higher ed?
When selecting a new ed tech platform or service to bring to campus do we think hard enough about opportunity costs, what we are not able to do with our resources (dollars and time) when making our selections?
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2 people found this helpful
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- Andrew
- 03-20-15
Somewhat interesting
This was an interesting examination of a few hard-to-value aspects of life as seen through the lens of economics. I had a hard time getting through the chapter on the environment and global warming. I kept losing interest. Otherwise, the book's not bad.
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- Anja Schmidt
- 10-27-12
Very interesting and enlightning
What made the experience of listening to The Price of Everything the most enjoyable?
Interesting facts explained. He made interesting connections between different influents. Connections that I had never considerer myself.
What does Walter Dixon bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Nothing special, but his voice is very adequate for this type op book.
Any additional comments?
The book seemed lenghty now and then but I kept listening and waiting for the next interesting thing. No disappointment but sometimes it needed a bit of patience.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Philo
- 11-03-12
A wide-ranging tour of trade-offs
This book extends the basic economics ideas of "opportunity costs" (trade-offs) and market thinking in many directions, looking at various societies, customs, etc. It spends some time in the financial services world but also illuminates, for example, choices surrounding marriage in societies of various wealth and mate-availability levels (including which family side pays more to cement marriage contracts); and choices of religious membership. Overall this is a sort of loosely-framed extended meditation on all kinds of price thinking. It is very non-technical, and in that sense pretty well thought-through but not terribly rigorous, but it is thought-provoking. One area that gets particular attention is the pricing of various possible scenarios and strategies with environmental laws and climate change, which opened my (novice) eyes about assigning numbers (and costs) to various choices, contingencies and human values (and, to the unavoidable and tough questions of dollar valuation of human lives involved).
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Andy
- 02-25-11
good value
Solid discussion of the dynamics of value and how it affects our everyday decisions. Porter covers a broad range of issues, from how many kids to have to the tragedy of the commons. Solid narration.
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Overall
- peter
- 03-18-11
arghh
This must have been the worst book I accidentally bought. The amount of fallacies is enormous. He is a spokeshole for fascism, provides an onslaught on freedom and promotes power of the few over the many. He does not realize that government is just a bunch of people pointing guns at other people justified by them wearing uniforms.
Prices are not always set correctly by the market (people making voluntary exchanges) which should be corrected by the few all knowing and all mighty in gvt coercing them 'right'. As evidence he claims bubbles which are all created by a coerced monopoly on money creating. How you can still in this day and age of tax slave funded bailouts of big banks say that the government is there to transfer money from the rich to the poor is beyond me.
How you can claim that the great depression was solved in stead of created by gvt intervention is beyond me (Roosevelt destroyed 6 million pigs while people were hungry and destroyed tons of cotton while they went unclothed). How you can claim Greenspan the big money printer in his gvt protected monopoly was in favor of freedom is beyond me. How you can say this crisis is caused by shrinking gvt of Reagan (who increased gvt by 2/3) and deregulation (regulation increased) is beyond me.
In his analysis of deploying X tax dollars for gvt program A or for program B and how much lives they both 'save', he completely omits the detrimental effects of those dollars first being forcibly taken from the tax slaves. He wants to save the environment by an organisation that drops bombs and depleted uranium. He claims to want to save the planet for future generations, by an organisation that made future generations debt slaves with enormous debts. He wants to tax fuel to reduce fuel use, forgetting that this will give gvt more money which will cause gvt programs to expand having the ruling few burn the fuel the tax slaves no longer can afford, doing nothing for total fuel consumption.
It goes on and on.
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6 people found this helpful