Scarcity

Why Having Too Little Means So Much

by Sendhil Mullainathan , Eldar Shafir

Number of pages: 304

Publisher: Times Books

BBB Library: Economics and Investment

ISBN: 9780805092646



About the Authors

Sendhil Mullainathan : Mullainathan is a professor of economics at Harvard University, and conducts

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Eldar Shafir : Shafir is a Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs at Princeton

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Editorial Review

Mullainathan and Shafir discuss how scarcity affects our daily lives, recounting anecdotes of their own foibles and making surprising connections that bring this research alive. Their book provides a new way of understanding why the poor stay poor and the busy stay busy, and it reveals not only how scarcity leads us astray but also how individuals and organizations can better manage scarcity for greater satisfaction and success.

Book Reviews

"The overall result is a rather odd but ultimately humane and very welcome book." -The Guardian

"One of the important public-policy lessons of “Scarcity” is that tweaks, not massive sea changes, can accomplish a lot." - Boston Globe

"The book’s unified theory of the scarcity mentality is novel in its scope and ambition."—The Economist

"A pacey dissection of a potentially life-changing subject."—Time Out London

"Mullainathan and Shafir discuss how scarcity affects our daily lives, recounting anecdotes of their own foibles and making surprising connections that bring this research alive." -Harvard

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Wisdom to Share

When we told an economist colleague that we were studying scarcity, he remarked, “There is already a science of scarcity. It’s called economics.

Economics is the study of how we use our limited means to achieve our unlimited desires; how people and societies manage physical scarcity.

Focusing on one thing means neglecting other things. We’ve all had the experience of being so engrossed in a book or a TV show that we failed to register a question from a friend sitting next to us.

The power of focus is also the power to shut things out.

No matter the size of the suitcase, you obviously cannot fit every possibly useful item.

In a world of scarcity, long deadlines are a recipe for trouble. Early abundance encourages waste, and by the time the deadline approaches, tunneling and neglect settle in.

Like investing in a smoke alarm or setting up a college savings account for your new baby, a singular moment of insight can have lasting benefits.