What I’ve proposed for many years now, as you know, is that we scrap the income tax and replace it with a much more steeply progressive tax on consumption spending. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. . How I wish every member of Congress, if not every voter, could read Under the Influence, Warning - don't waste your money - Antithetical to Liberty, poorly reasoned, and lazy writing, Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2020. M. Whaples, Choice, "Brilliant, fun, and profound. First, it is antithetical to liberty and enlightenment principles and promotes control of individuals by the government as preferable to education and ethical personal behavior. It is the example and pressure we face from each other that has made social distancing so effective, so fast. Many of our ebooks are available for purchase from these online It is the example and pressure we face from each other that has made social distancing so effective, so fast. "—George Akerlof, Nobel Laureate in Economics, "Call this book 'the mother of all cognitive illusions' meets 'the mother of all suicidal delusions.' Please try again. and without overall tax increases or rigid regulations that curtail personal liberty. Robert Frank on Under the Influence | Princeton University Press Skip Nav Which reminds us that economics cannot be a merely technocratic discipline. . . "—David Wallace-Wells, author of The Uninhabitable Earth, 41 William Street The human 'herd instinct' has consequences ranging from how we regulate tobacco to how we can avert a climate catastrophe. People would feel less pressure to spend more on themselves and it would be completely painless to avoid the next round of escalation on those types of expenditures. It was always just Trump. Robert Frank shows exactly why. "—Daniel Gilbert, Harvard University, "Under the Influence is a brilliant, necessary corrective to the narrow and often debilitating conventional wisdom of economics applied to the biggest crises of our time. Please consider making a contribution to Vox today. . ", "Brilliant, fun, and profound. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, © 1996-2020, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. "—Ezra Klein, Vox, "Throughout his career, in influential books . If policy-makers have any sense, this book will be as important a manual in the 2020s as Nudge was in the 2010s. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. United Kingdom . We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Robert Frank shouldn't just change the way we think about those challenges, but how we respond to them, too. Frank's own wisdom is on view in every paragraph of this book, with its brilliant perspective on—and solution to—the problems of our times. But social influence is a two-way street―our environments are themselves products of our behavior. Vox’s work is reaching more people than ever, but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn. Read this book―everyone else is going to!". Chip in as little as $3 to help keep it free for everyone. We are watching a version of Frank’s thesis play out right now, in real time. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower you through understanding. Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2020, A lucid, engaging, easy-to-read overview of how "behavioral contagion" influences behaviors ranging from smoking to carbon emissions . What’s happened since the early 1970s is that virtually all of the income growth in the United States has gone to people at the top of the income ladder. "—Anthony Ingraffea, Cornell University, "Economists are learning that human behavior is more than just a series of cost/benefit calculations. So they build bigger too. One house in a neighborhood getting solar panels makes it that much more likely that another house will as well. Unable to add item to List. But for that very reason, the book is extraordinarily timely: It’s an effort to show that the economics of social contagion could reshape the world, solving our hardest problems — from climate change to income inequality — and offering new ways to think about the power we have as individuals. It is poorly reasoned, imprecise in its arguments, and lazy writing. There's a problem loading this menu right now. And the dollars that we would save in the process are dollars that we could spend on decarbonizing the economy, for instance — or research for pandemic viral diseases and vaccine development. . Read this book—everyone else is going to! Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. There are lots and lots of situations where what is in my interests to do as an individual is absolutely not in our collective interests. Beijing 100016, P.R. Under the Influence: A Guide to the Myths and Realities of Alcoholism, The Economic Naturalist: In Search of Explanations for Everyday Enigmas, Behavioral Insights (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series), The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone's Mind, The Darwin Economy: Liberty, Competition, and the Common Good, Success and Luck: Good Fortune and the Myth of Meritocracy, Radical Uncertainty: Decision-Making Beyond the Numbers, Not Born Yesterday: The Science of Who We Trust and What We Believe, The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous, Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism, "Frank's points . So if you’re if you’re the median earner and your ambition is to send your kid to a school of average quality, just average quality, what must you do? But social influence is a two-way street—our environments are themselves products of our behavior. Do you want to talk about the idea of a highly progressive consumption tax and why you think that’s a good idea? You'll see most of my reviews are quite positive. Phone: +1 609 258 4900 It's been a pleasure hosting him at NYU. Then, people in the middle see the pictures of the yachts and the and the mansions, and they now feel like they need bigger. But it would be very easy to create the incentives. Listen to our first episode. Please try your request again later. What’s a good school? As a parent, it’s naturally near the top of our list of things that we care about that our kids get to go to good schools. "—John R. Platt, The Revelator, "An invaluable new book. It’s a school that’s better than other schools in the area. Phone: +86 10 8457 8802 Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Directions, Princeton Asia (Beijing) Consulting Co., Ltd. What’s changed is that other people like you are spending more; if you don’t spend more too, then you don’t get the house in the median school district. . There are problems in the world that will take large scale social change, but it is important to be aware of the degree to which convincing just one person to alter their behavior can create measurable ripple effects that generate progress towards that large scale change beyond that one person. In the face of stakes that could not be higher, the book explains how we could redirect trillions of dollars annually in support of carbon-free energy sources, all without requiring painful sacrifices from anyone.Most of us would agree that we need to take responsibility for our own choices, but with more supportive social environments, each of us is more likely to make choices that benefit everyone. "—Cass R. Sunstein, author of On Freedom, "An important and thought-provoking examination of how key individual choices are shaped by social context and fashion—and a clarion call for policies that better respond to that insight.