Uncommon Sense: Economic Insights, from Marriage to Terrorism

This is a very interesting book, as I will try to illustrate. The authors are Gary Becker, a Nobel-prize winning economist, well-known author (including a widely-read monthly Business Week article at one time) and professor at the University of Chicago; and Richard Posner, a legal scholar, federal appellate judge and prolific author. In December of 2004, these two individuals started a blog, the Becker - Posner Blog, where they post weekly entries on a variety of topics. The typical format for their opinion blog is that one of the authors posts a short essay on a topic of widespread general interest, which is followed by the other author posting an even shorter comment. This book includes their essays and comments from the first 2-plus years of their blog, grouped by subject matter, along with some more recent "afterthoughts."

Before I get any further, please understand this: The topics covered, which can be generally construed as being contemporary economic issues, are nevertheless topics with a fair amount of controversy within our society (and other societies). I would bet that there are few people who would agree with all of either author's comments. But agreement is not the point of the book. Before each reader picks out and attacks the essays he or she most disagrees with, please recognize that the point of this book is to present rational and thought-provoking essays that stimulate readers to think, sometimes in new ways. Unfortunately, most of the reviews of this book that I have read focus on one topic the reviewer disagrees with, and then the book "review" becomes a rebuttal.

Here are the eight broad topic areas addressed in the book (each topic typically has about a half-dozen essays and comments), with an illustrative essay for each: There's (1) Sex and Population, with one essay on the "Putin Population Plan" (I didn't realize how fast the population of Russia has been declining); (2) Property Rights, with "Orphan Drugs, Intellectual Property, and Social Welfare" (this includes good discussions of relevant opportunity costs and possible external benefits for orphan drug support); (3) Universities, with an essay entitled "Tenure" (both authors are cool to the concept, despite Becker having tenure as a professor and Posner as a federal judge); (4) Incentives, with "Libertarian Paternalism" (which is not an oxymoronic title, and which occupies a whole new book [Nudge] by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein); (5) Jobs and Employment, with "CEO Compensation" (the authors do not rush to support or hang CEOs); (6) Environment and Disasters, with "Post-Catastrophe Price Gouging" (they do an excellent job on a very touchy subject); (7) Crime and Punishment and Terrorism, with "Internet Gambling" (though I disagree with both authors, they provide--as always--rational arguments); and (8) The World, with "World Inequality" (it is such a relief to read discussions on equality and inequality without a lot of name-calling).

Rational, effective, common sense is anything but common, especially in what often seems to be a hyper-political world. It would be helpful if thoughtful people just sat and gave some real thought to intelligent discussions on a wide variety of everyday subjects. In this vein, Uncommon Sense, while not intended to be the definitive work on the world's issues, represents one step in the right direction. I'd suggest that the reader can best use this book as a helpful sharpening tool to refine his or her thought process.

If you have followed Becker & Posner's Blog, no need to buy this.

If not, Common Sense is a very insightful set of brief and intelligible position papers on controversial topics that are debated as gentlemen are intended to argue their positions.

There are 49 `current topics' that are adroitly argued with facts and insights. The topics are sharply distinguished as controversial, left and right, for or against, matters of the heart or otherwise. Whether you are for or against the argument, for the sake of the argument, Common Sense is effective and interesting.

This collection is certainly one of the best for serving up both sides of the issue. Quite interesting all around.