New Releases by Tim Harford

Adapte-se e vença os obstáculos do imprevisível mundo de hoje Entrelaçando habilidosamente psicologia, biologia evolucionária, antropologia, física e economia com histórias persuasivas de lições duramente aprendidas na prática, Harford mostra uma nova e inspiradora abordagem para resolver os mais urgentes problemas de nossas vidas e explica como transformar o fracasso em sucesso. Harford argumenta que os desafios de hoje não podem ser resolvidos com soluções prontas e opinião de especialistas; o mundo tornou-se imprevisível demais e profundamente complexo. Precisamos aprender a nos adaptar.

A provocative and lively exploration of the increasingly important world of macroeconomics, by the author of the bestselling The Undercover Economist. Thanks to the worldwide financial upheaval, economics is no longer a topic we can ignore. From politicians to hedge fund managers to middle-class IRA holders, everyone must pay attention to how and why the global economy works the way it does. Enter Financial Times columnist and bestselling author Tim Harford. In this new book that demystifies macroeconomics, Harford strips away the spin, the hype, and the jargon to reveal the truth about how the world’s economy actually works. With the wit of a raconteur and the clear grasp of an expert, Harford explains what’s really happening beyond today’s headlines, why all of us should care, and what we can do about it to understand it better.

Dentro de diez años, ¿seremos más ricos o más pobres? ¿Por qué no funciona la austeridad? ¿O sí que funciona? ¿Se encuentra la economía fuera de control? El primer libro de Tim Harford, El economista camuflado, fue un fenómeno mundial que vendió más de un millón de ejemplares. En él, Harford analizaba el mundo a través del prisma de la microeconomía, desde el coste de un capuchino hasta la forma en la que los supermercados exponen sus productos. Un tiempo después, en un mundo completamente transformado a raíz de la crisis global, regresa el economista camuflado. En este libro Tim Harford amplía el foco para ayudarnos a entender cómo funciona en realidad la economía del mundo, prescindiendo de terminologías huecas. Este libro plantea respuestas a cuestiones como: ¿qué sucedería si se cancelara la deuda de todo el mundo?, ¿por qué los bancos continúan pagando unos bonus de escándalo?, ¿cómo se crea realmente empleo?, o ¿llegarán los países emergentes a controlar la economía mundial? Con los conocimientos de un auténtico experto y la claridad expositiva de un divulgador, Harford explica lo que está pasando de verdad, más allá de los grandes titulares, y cómo podemos entenderlo. Reseñas: «La publicación de un nuevo libro de Tim Harford es una gran noticia. Harford consigue que una ciencia árida parezca realmente divertida.» Malcolm Gladwell, autor del bestseller Fueras de serie «Tim Harford es un hombre valiente por escribir un libro sobre macroeconomía para lectores no expertos. Afortunadamente también es un hombre divertido.» Wall Street Journal «Harford aporta vigor e incluso humor a temas generalmente duros, y claridad a aspectos que solo suelen ser comprendidos por una minoría.» Publishers Weekly «Harford se aleja de la polémica que envuelve a la macroeconomía y ofrece las claves para entender todos estos debates, utilizando ejemplos que van desde casos extraídos de campos de prisioneros de la Segunda Guerra Mundial hasta la crisis del petróleo de los años setenta. Harford desentraña el tema con enorme claridad e inteligencia.» The Times «Leer a Harford es tan divertido como conversar con el tipo más gracioso de una fiesta. Resulta tan entretenido que los lectores llegarán a dominar la macroeconomía sin haberse dado cuenta.» Financial Times

In Tim Harford''s new book The Undercover Economist Strikes Back, he sets out to explain how the whole world economy works. In this, the first chapter from the book, Harford provides a user''s manual to show the nuts and bolts of what makes an economy tick. Readers should note that this ebook is just one chapter from the new book. The full book will be released on August 29. A million readers bought The Undercover Economist to get the lowdown on how economics works on a small scale, in our everyday lives. Since then, economics has become big news. Crises, austerity, riots, bonuses - all are in the headlines all the time. But how does this large-scale economic world really work? Find out in The Undercover Economist Strikes Back.

In Tim Harford''s new book The Undercover Economist Strikes Back, he sets out to explain how the whole world economy works. In this, the ninth chapter from the book, Harford looks at the importance of management in how economies function. Readers should note that this ebook is just one chapter from the new book. The full book will be released on August 29. A million readers bought The Undercover Economist to get the lowdown on how economics works on a small scale, in our everyday lives. Since then, economics has become big news. Crises, austerity, riots, bonuses - all are in the headlines all the time. But how does this large-scale economic world really work? Find out in The Undercover Economist Strikes Back.

In Tim Harford''s new book The Undercover Economist Strikes Back, he sets out to explain how the whole world economy works. In this, the second chapter from the book, Harford shows what we can learn from one particular recession that began in the early 1970s and was entirely created on Capitol Hill, the heart of American government. Readers should note that this ebook is just one chapter from the new book. The full book will be released on August 29. A million readers bought The Undercover Economist to get the lowdown on how economics works on a small scale, in our everyday lives. Since then, economics has become big news. Crises, austerity, riots, bonuses - all are in the headlines all the time. But how does this large-scale economic world really work? Find out in The Undercover Economist Strikes Back.

With over one million copies sold, The Undercover Economist has been hailed worldwide as a fantastic guide to the fundamental principles of economics. An economist''s version of The Way Things Work, this engaging volume is part Economics 101 and part exposé of the economic principles lurking behind daily events, explaining everything from traffic jams to high coffee prices. New to this edition: This revised edition, newly updated to consider the banking crisis and economic turbulence of the last four years, is essential for anyone who has wondered why the gap between rich and poor nations is so great, or why they can''t seem to find a decent second-hand car, or how to outwit Starbucks. Senior columnist for the Financial Times Tim Harford brings his experience and insight as he ranges from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the United States to reveal how supermarkets, airlines, and coffee chains--to name just a few--are vacuuming money from our wallets. Harford punctures the myths surrounding some of today''s biggest controversies, including the high cost of health-care; he reveals why certain environmental laws can put a smile on a landlord''s face; and he explains why some industries can have high profits for innocent reasons, while in other industries something sinister is going on. Covering an array of economic concepts including scarce resources, market power, efficiency, price gouging, market failure, inside information, and game theory, Harford sheds light on how these forces shape our day-to-day lives, often without our knowing it. Showing us the world through the eyes of an economist, Tim Harford reveals that everyday events are intricate games of negotiations, contests of strength, and battles of wits. Written with a light touch and sly wit, The Undercover Economist turns "the dismal science" into a true delight.

Some people think the best way to give aid is through grants. Others advocate aid embedded in subsidized loans. Mostly, incentive effects on donors and recipients are ignored in this debate. But grants and loans carry different incentives and in some settings can be complementary. Donors should offer a wider menu of options, including ongoing forgiveness of loans, unbundled subsidies, and loans combined with output-based grants. Donor agency staff should be rewarded for outcomes, not volume of funds out the door.

This Note reviews trends in official development assistance, focusing on volumes, sources, forms, and recipients. Several patterns emerge. First, a long-term trend of official flows taking the form of hard loans rather than grants and soft loans, with low interest and long maturities, has been reversed in the past five years. Second, both grants and loans are increasingly aimed at middle-income countries rather than the poorest. And third, official flows have fallen relative to rich-country income by 30 percent in the past 30 years.

Somalia has lacked a recognized government since 1991. In extremely difficult conditions the private sector has demonstrated its much vaunted capability to make do. To cope with the absence of the rule of law, private enterprises have been using foreign jurisdictions or institutions to help with some tasks, operating within networks of trust to strengthen property rights, and simplifying transactions until they require neither. Somalia''s private sector experience suggests that it may be easier than is commonly thought for basic systems of finance and some infrastructure services to function where government is extremely weak or absent.

This note considers the future of aid from the perspective of the 2005-2030 time frame. It offers a possible scenario for the future, with responses of the aid industry to falling numbers of people in absolute poverty and to the growing ability of poor countries to borrow from the market. A companion note (report 32124) offers a second scenario. The notes were written in the spirit of plausible stories about the future to encourage thinking about possible responses.

«Estar dispuesto a fracasar es el primer paso esencial para aplicar las ideas de este libro a la vida cotidiana.» En un mundo cada vez más complejo y cambiante, el economista Tim Harford nos descubre un camino revolucionario para resolver por nosotros mismos los grandes problemas que acechan al mundo de hoy: el método de ensayo-error, que implica que detrás de cada éxito siempre existe una serie de fracasos que lo han hecho posible. La experimentación, la búsqueda de nuevas ideas, la valentía de asumir el riesgo de equivocarnos y la habilidad de aprender de cada fracaso determinan nuestra capacidad de adaptación y posibilitan el hallazgo de soluciones a cada obstáculo que se interpone en el desarrollo de la sociedad o de nuestro día a día. Partiendo de este sencillo pero esencial e innovador método, Tim Harford analiza diversos temas de la actualidad, desde la crisis bancaria hasta el cambio climático, pasando por los conflictos armados o la lucha contra la pobreza, y nos ofrece las claves de cómo se afrontan estas dificultades, qué tienen en común y por qué cuando se resuelven nos parece que se ha producido una especie de milagro. Este libro trata sobre estos milagros y cómo conseguir que sucedan más a menudo.

Puede que un economista no sea la primera persona en la que piensas cuando necesitas un consejo sobre la educación de tus hijos, las complejidades del protocolo o las oscuras artes de la seducción pero la antigua imagen de los economistas como seres inasequibles, antisociales e incapaces de identificarse con las preocupaciones del común de los mortales ha dejado paso a una nueva raza de economistas que son capaces de aunar la ciencia económica y las inquietudes más comunes de la sociedad. Durante los seis años que lleva publicándose la columna Dear Economist en el Financial Times, Tim Harford (o más bien su alter ego, el Economista Camuflado) ha contestado todo tipo de preguntas atendiendo a los lectores a través de las teorías de la «elección racional» capaces de explicar el comportamiento humano.En este libro, organizado en capítulos sobre diferentes temas como las relaciones amorosas, el ocio, el trabajo o la economía familiar, se recogen las mejores respuestas a cuestiones como si es correcto fingir un orgasmo, cómo se puede llegar a ser feliz, cuánto se debe pagar a una asistenta o cómo conseguir que un niño de 10 años deje de pegar a su hermano pequeño... Cuestiones del día a día resueltas por la economía de las pequeñas cosas.

The Undercover Economist - famed for his explanations - now offers solutions. Tim Harford introduces a new way of thinking about how to solve the world''s most urgent problems, from climate change to terrorism, African poverty to global finance - even the problems we encounter in our own daily lives. When faced with such challenges, we instinctively look to leaders, experts, and gurus to provide us with pre-chewed solutions. Harford argues that the world has become too unpredictable and complex for that. Instead, we must adapt - improvise rather than plan, work from the bottom up, take baby steps. Adapt draws on exciting new work by passionate young economists and on innovative ideas from across the sciences. It looks at how and why innovation really comes about, extolling the value of trial and error and arguing that we should learn to embrace failure. Above all, Adapt applies hard-won lessons learned in the field, from a spaceport in the Mojave Desert to the street of Iraq, from a blazing offshore drilling rig to the frozen tundra of Siberia. The book shows that it''s up to individuals - us - to change the world.

Un libro brillante, affascinante, acuto e intelligente. Se volete saperne di più su come funziona il mondo in cui viviamo non c''è guida migliore di Harford.

Molts cops ens sembla que la vida no segueix cap tipus de lògica: l''amor, les addiccions, les guerres... tot plegat, tenim la sensació que no hi ha res que regeixi les accions que prenem en la nostra vida diària.Tanmateix, el reconegut economista Tim Harford ens ensenya en aquesta entenedora, amena i divertida obra que, al capdavall, la vida sí que segueix unes normes lògiques.La lògica oculta de la vida ens descobreix que tots actuem d''acord amb la lògica econòmica i que tenim en compte en tot moment les conseqüències i els beneficis futurs que una acció pot comportar, fins i tot sense ser-ne conscients.Una lectura magnífica per entendre la lògica de tot allò que ens envolta. «Recomano moltíssim la lectura d''aquest llibre, sobretot a aquelles persones que volen que l''economia, a més a més de ser una part important de les seves vides, sigui també una part divertida.»GARY S. BECKER, Nobel d''Economia.

A dazzling application of new economic theories to the world around us - by the author of THE UNDERCOVER ECONOMIST

Cuando el precio de la Coca-Cola sube, la gente bebe más Pepsi. Es lógico. Y por el mismo motivo, cuando las leyes se endurecen y las penas son mayores, la delincuencia disminuye; tan lógico como que un trabajador con incentivos a cambio de resultados, se esforzará más. Estos cambios de comportamiento se pueden explicar a partir de teorías económicas, y no porque tengan que ver con el dinero sino porque la economía es el estudio del comportamiento racional y la gente racional responde a las compensaciones y a los estímulos. Cuando los costes o los beneficios de algo cambian, la gente modifica su comportamiento. Pero, ¿podría trasladarse esta simple teoría a todos los ámbitos de nuestras vidas? El sexo, la sociedad, la guerra, el amor, el racismo, las relaciones laborales, la política o el juego: todo con lo que convivimos diariamente tiene para Tim Harford una lógica basada en los principios económicos más elementales. Tras vender más de 600.000 ejemplares de su primer libro, El economista camuflado, Harford nos presenta la nueva economía del todo, que pretende arrojar luz sobre aquellas regiones oscuras del ser humano. Escuchemos lo que la economía tiene que decir de nuestras vidas.«Si no entendemos la racionalidad de las decisiones que inspiran nuestro comportamiento, no seremos capaces de entender el mundo en el cual vivimos.» Tim Harford

This timely volume offers - in an accessible and engaging style - digestible surveys on some of the hottest topics in the aid industry today, Klein and Harford examine the supply of aid and the demand for loans, the "grants versus loans" debate, debt restructuring in developing countries, aid effectiveness, and the role of the private sector. The authors also present two scenarios for the future of the aid industry: a world of booming private remittances and nongovernmental aid flows put to innovative uses? Or a world with falling numbers of people in absolute poverty, where aid agencies are forced to cooperate to survive? The authors argue that the aid industry is changing, old models of aid are under pressure, and both donors and recipients will ask more and more of aid agencies in future. The chaos of competition and the search for new ideas is frightening to some, and risks harming the people who the industry is supposed to benefit. Yet at the same time, there is a tremendous opportunity to harness competition to improve performance and find better ways of helping the poor.