Can I outsmart the economist Steven Landsburg? I tried getting the answers right in his new book: Can You Outsmart an Economist?
The answer: No. I can’t.
Mr Landsburg’s book present us with 100+ puzzles to illustrate some principles of economics. The puzzles bleed into understanding the interpretation of those principles in statistics, law, math, science and philosophy. You can see the political implications of some of these puzzles as well.
The publisher provided me with a review copy and I felt ready for the challenge. I felt pretty good as I went through the warm-ups questions in chapter 1. I didn’t get them all correct, but I quickly realized my errors.
The questions got harder and more in depth. Sometimes I got the right answer. Other times I did not. But I learned quite a bit. The book is less about the quizzes than it is about the principles each question is trying to get across to the reader.
You can test yourself. Can You Outsmart an Economist? goes on sale September 25.