Book Description
In this fascinating book, New Yorker business columnist James Surowiecki explores a deceptively simple idea: Large groups of people are smarter than an elite few, no matter how brilliant–better at solving problems, fostering innovation, coming to wise decisions, even predicting the future.
With boundless erudition and in delightfully clear prose, Surowiecki ranges across fields as diverse as popular culture, psychology, ant biology, behavioral economics, artificial intelligence, military history, and politics to show how this simple idea offers important lessons for how we live our lives, select our leaders, run our companies, and think about our world.
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The Wisdom of Crowds
I
If, years hence, people remember anything about the TV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, they will probably remember the contestants' panicked phone calls to friends and relatives. Or they may have a faint memory of that short-lived moment when Regis Philbin became a fashion icon for his willingness to wear a dark blue tie with a dark blue shirt. What people probably won't remember is that every week Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? pitted group intelligence against individual intelligence, and that every week, group intelligence won.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was a simple show in terms of structure: a contestant was asked multiple-choice questions, which got successively more difficult, and if she answered fifteen questions in a row correctly, she walked away with $1 million. The show's gimmick was that if a contestant got stumped by a question, she could pursue three avenues of assistance. First, she could have two of the four multiple-choice answers removed (so she'd have at least a fifty-fifty shot at the right response). Second, she could place a call to a friend or relative, a person whom, before the show, she had singled out as one of the smartest people she knew, and ask him or her for the answer. And third, she could poll the studio audience, which would immediately cast its votes by computer. Everything we think we know about intelligence suggests that the smart individual would offer the most help. And, in fact, the "experts" did okay, offering the right answer--under pressure--almost 65 percent of the time. But they paled in comparison to the audiences. Those random crowds of people with nothing better to do on a weekday afternoon than sit in a TV studio picked the right answer 91 percent of the time.
Now, the results of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? would never stand up to scientific scrutiny. We don't know how smart the experts were, so we don't know how impressive outperforming them was. And since the experts and the audiences didn't always answer the same questions, it's possible, though not likely, that the audiences were asked easier questions. Even so, it's hard to resist the thought that the success of the Millionaire audience was a modern example of the same phenomenon that Francis Galton caught a glimpse of a century ago.
As it happens, the possibilities of group intelligence, at least when it came to judging questions of fact, were demonstrated by a host of experiments conducted by American sociologists and psychologists between 1920 and the mid-1950s, the heyday of research into group dynamics. Although in general, as we'll see, the bigger the crowd the better, the groups in most of these early
experiments--which for some reason remained relatively unknown outside of academia--were relatively small. Yet they nonetheless performed very well. The Columbia sociologist Hazel Knight kicked things off with a series of studies in the early 1920s, the first of which had the virtue of simplicity. In that study Knight asked the students in her class to estimate the room's temperature, and then took a simple average of the estimates. The group guessed 72.4 degrees, while the actual temperature was 72 degrees. This was not, to be sure, the most auspicious beginning, since classroom temperatures are so stable that it's hard to imagine a class's estimate being too far off base. But in the years that followed, far more convincing evidence emerged, as students and soldiers across America were subjected to a barrage of puzzles, intelligence tests, and word games. The sociologist Kate H. Gordon asked two hundred students to rank items by weight, and found that the group's "estimate" was 94 percent accurate, which was better than all but five of the individual guesses. In another experiment students were asked to look at ten piles of buckshot--each a slightly different size than the
Customer Reviews:
Smart, Interesting and Easy to Read.......2007-09-21
This book was a surprise hit for me. I didn't expect to like it, but ended up loving it so much I just had to have a copy on my shelf. Surowieki is very convincing, in part because he takes such care to bring up alternative arguments and respond to each. He also keeps his focus fairly narrow, so the arguments aren't all over the place. I was especially fascinated by his discussion of experts. We rely on them so heavily these days, but now I know to question their expertise. This book has changed the way that I make decisions and the way I evaluate good decision-making in my elected representatives. I recommend this book to anyone interested in making good decisions. It is a smoothly-written book and you won't have any trouble following the arguments or staying 'into' it.
Don't expect a textbook.......2007-09-19
I really like the Wisdom of Crowds because Surowiecki succeeds in explaining complicated and sophisticated ideas in ways that educated people can not only grasp but also incorporate into their own thinking. This is quite an achievement, one that critics of the book have overlooked. This topic has not been open until now to such a wide audience.
Surowiecki never shies from even difficult and abstract statistical concepts. He draws liberally upon academic journals and scholarly books, writing in a style that is at once journalistic and educated.
Yet, Surowiecki never talks down to his reader. Instead he invites the reader to accompany him through an arcane (and dimly lit) maze of statistical practice as it has been developed and utilized for decades by social scientists and economists. The reader is rewarded again and again because Surowiecki points to a partially hidden jewel, holds it up for examination, hands it to the reader and then leaves it in plain sight (often for reference later in the book).
Thus, this book is a remarkable example, a model, for readers (and writers) who wish to bridge the gaps between educated professionals.
My criticism is along different lines. In this extremely visual era, the editors could have widened the audience for the Wisdom of Crowds much further if suitable images could have been commissioned to throw additional light on Surowiecki's prose. But, paper and ink are so much more expensive than artists these days, one can understand the limitations and constraints Doubleday (Random House) were under. On the other hand, why not put up a web site?
Crowds Oh Wisdom.......2007-09-19
Good book and I thought the pace moved along extremely well. There are some significant things in the book that are a bit dated, but overall this is a very interesting book. I also recommend "Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing" by Lois Kelly published 2007 to couple with this book. Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Food for thought.......2007-08-21
I found this book full of sweeping claims, generalizations and is confusing in its presentation. However it made me think. Overall the writer is saying that people independently working on a problem can in a fair vote be more accurate then the smartest individual. He then quotes examples for such behaviour and examples of when the crowds got it wrong when they acted not independently but in mass. I suspect that much of his arguments are sound.
How much I am not sure for example if I asked the average person independently if they believe there was much truth in astrology, I am sure that over 50% would say yes.
However since the book is making much comments, I hope to see some better studies coming forward.
Having said all this it has changed my views on decision making and how to do it.
Surowiecki is a gifted teacher.......2007-08-08
At first I was afraid that "The wisdom of crowds" was going to be a 250 page restatement of the law of large numbers for dummies. In the beginning it looks that way, because Surowiecki takes a lot of time to explain that the more people trying to guess the solution to a problem, each adding their own bit of information, the more accurate the average guess. Not very revolutionary at all (although possibly counterintuitive at first). But as the book moved on I got more and drawn in and impressed by the presentation, which is rigorous and supremely readable at the same time.
The book describes how crowds can solve problems of cognition, coordination and cooperation. It gives the conditions under which crowds are good and not good at doing so. The author illustrates with a myriad of interesting problems and case studies, some rather obvious choices (why do investment bubbles emerge?, why do political stock markets predict so well?), others more arcane (why did the gangsters in reservoir dogs fail?, why is it often easy to cut a line?). What binds these studies together is the way groups handle information and the good and bad institution designed to make them do so.
Throughout all the diversity, it is the great scholarship of Surowiecki that makes everything naturally fall into place. Being familiar with a lot of the material in academic form, I know how conceptually daring some of it is, but Surowiecki effortlessly reduces it to bite-size portions, without compromising much or exaggerating anywhere. Great reading!
Amazon.com
In an effort to determine why people buy, Paco Underhill and his detailed-oriented band of retail researchers have camped out in stores over the course of 20 years, dedicating their lives to the "science of shopping." Armed with an array of video equipment, store maps, and customer-profile sheets, Underhill and his consulting firm, Envirosell, have observed over 900 aspects of interaction between shopper and store. They've discovered that men who take jeans into fitting rooms are more likely to buy than females (65 percent vs. 25 percent). They've learned how the "butt-brush factor" (bumped from behind, shoppers become irritated and move elsewhere) makes women avoid narrow aisles. They've quantified the importance of shopping baskets; contact between employees and shoppers; the "transition zone" (the area just inside the store's entrance); and "circulation patterns" (how shoppers move throughout a store). And they've explored the relationship between a customer's amenability and profitability, learning how good stores capitalize on a shopper's unspoken inclinations and desires.
Underhill, whose clients include McDonald's, Starbucks, Estée Lauder, and Blockbuster, stocks Why We Buy with a wealth of retail insights, showing how men are beginning to shop like women, and how women have changed the way supermarkets are laid out. He also looks to the future, projecting massive retail opportunities with an aging baby-boom population and predicting how online retailing will affect shopping malls. This lighthearted look at shopping is highly recommended to anyone who buys or sells. --Rob McDonald
Book Description
Is there a method to our madness when it comes to shopping? Hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as "a Sherlock Holmes for retailers," author and research company CEO Paco Underhill answers with a definitive "yes" in this witty, eye-opening report on our ever-evolving consumer culture. Why We Buy is based on hard data gleaned from thousands of hours of field research -- in shopping malls, department stores, and supermarkets across America. With his team of sleuths tracking our every move, from sweater displays at the mall to the beverage cooler at the drugstore, Paco Underhill lays bare the struggle among merchants, marketers, and increasingly knowledgeable consumers for control.
In his quest to discover what makes the contemporary consumer tick, Underhill explains the shopping phenomena that often go unnoticed by retailers and shoppers alike, including:
- How a well-placed shopping basket can turn a small purchase into a significant sale
- What the "butt-brush factor" is and how it can make sales plummet
- How working women have altered the way supermarkets are designed
- How the "boomerang effect" makes product placement ever more challenging
- What kinds of signage and packaging turn browsers into buyers
For those in retailing and marketing, Why We Buy is a remarkably fresh guide, offering creative and insightful tips on how to adapt to the changing customer. For the general public, Why We Buy is a funny and sometimes disconcerting look at our favorite pastime.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting.......2007-09-22
Interesting and insightful with some good tips for people setting up an interactive environment like a shop or a library. It seemed more like an ad for his services and/or his other books but it was a good introduction to the principles behind his business.
Good Retail Intro..........2007-09-16
A good read if you are a marketing or advertising professional who wants to get some insight into the retail psychology and its operations. However, there is no magic formula or scientific methodology given in this book.
Besides making a lot of publicity for his company, Paco Underhill gives a lot of very interesting & practical examples of the consumer's shopping psychology and how it all translates in the retail environment. Paco will tell you why shoppers intuitively steer to the right upon entering a store and how retail managers can use that information to increase their revenues. Overall, not an extraordinary book by any means, but full of interesting examples and stories that could come in handy for any business professional.
Excellent Example of Observational Market Research.......2007-07-21
Not only is this book interesting to the lay reader, it is a must read for retailers, marketers, and market researchers. There are gems within the pages!
Why We Buy is a must buy for retailers........2007-05-24
This book gives you concrete suggestions for increasing sales.
Interesting Findings.......2007-05-14
It was a really easy book to read and it gives you insides on strategies to set a retailing space, having a lot of things in mind, that might seem obvious when you read it, but they really aren't. It was a great; I highly recommend it for people on the retiling industry.
Book Description
This book presents a comprehensive anthology of readings, legal perspectives, and cases in ethics in business. Contrasting business ethics approaches, Regulation of business, Performance Monitoring. Genetic testing and screening. Third world issues. Federal sentencing guidelines. Ideal for business professionals interested in reviewing ethical issues in business.
Customer Reviews:
Biased, but a good primer on business ethics.......2006-02-24
This book is a good primer on business ethics, and it would be even better if the writer / editors hadn't shown their bias with their selections of included material.
Business ethics theories evolve, just like any other social phenomenon; however, just because a theory is new doesn't make it right. Especially in an ethics book! The authors are clearly biased against big business, against small government, and against "shareholder management" theory.
Does this make them right or wrong? No. The only "wrong" committed is the bias itself.
As you read this book, just keep your critical thinking skills sharp and your eyes open.
A Critical Compendium.......2002-07-20
This book is a critical reader, and it's probably the most highly used text in business ethics today. Those who reviewed this book negatively sound like people looking for a fun, non-academic overview of the field. If so, this book isn't it. These are articles published in top academic journals, edited for readability, by scholars who are addressing the fundamental issues in a wide range of topics. It's meant to expose the span of the field and still give students (not light readers) exposure to contemporary literature that touches on the most salient points. It's meant to be a starting point to deeper research in any given topic. As such, the book is a complete success. B & B do a great job (here as in other ethics compendiums) of providing a framework that makes it easy for a professor to expose her students to the field in one swoop. They do a fine editorial job, stripping the articles of padding, and they work hard to keep the offerings up to date (passing on older articles that are superceded by fresh insights that touch on contemporary challenges and technologies; look for something relating to the corporate scandals of this last year in the next edition). If you are a student looking for an overview on business ethics, this book is the correct starting point. If you are someone looking for light reading about corporate corruption, with illustrations and full-color photos, stick to People magazine.
A Good Anthology.......2001-06-23
I really enjoyed this anthology, especially the section on sexual harassment. Some of the subjects were hard going, but, it was a good introduction to business ethics.
In Defense of Beauchamp and Bowie.......2001-06-17
I teach business ethics at the college level, and have found Ethical Theory and Business to be very helpful. Basically, B and B attempt to do three things, or so it seems to me. First, they offer an introductory essay, covering some of the main distinctions in both meta-ethics (e. g. whether morality is objective or subjective) and normative ethics. This essay is the weakest part of the book, I think, because they seem to offer caracatures of most relativist leaning views (e. g. egoism), and do not adequately criticize Kantian moral philosophy. But even so, the essay does explain many useful distinctions in philosophical ethical thought. Second, B and B offer both classic readings in Business Ethics (e. g. Milton Friedman), as well as really up to date readings, by many of the leaders in the field (e. g. R. Edward Freeman). This is quite a good selection of readings, although they have omitted a few classic essays (like Galbraith's 'The Dependence Effect'), and a few subjects which might have been useful, such as the question of whether one can attribute moral agency to corporations at all. Even so, B and B include more than any course in Business Ethics could cover. Third, B and B provide a Web site with excersizes and instructor aids. Depending on how much one uses the Web, this may be helpful too. So generally speaking, although no anthology is perfect, Beauchamp and Bowie have put together an admirable collection. There is a seventh edition coming out soon. Perhaps that one will be as good as this one.
This Book is Whack!!!.......2001-05-11
Ethical Theory and Business by Beauchamp & Bowie is the worst academic book I have ever been required to read. I agree with the reader from Minnesota that this book is very dry and boring and if I could give this book zero stars I would. All of the chapters in the book do not flow together very well since this book is very unorganized and is nothing more than a collection of narrative articles. The book does not have an index or any illustrations in it and the companion website to the book [stinks]. I do not think I learned anything about business ethics from reading this book nor did I find the information in it helpful for me in my life. After I finished reading this book, I felt like throwing it away, but instead I sold mine back to the bookstore. So if you want to learn about business ethics and are not required to purchase this book for a class, do not purchase this book.
Book Description
The Science of Getting Rich is a classic inspirational and financial book authored by Wallace D. Wattles. This book works as a guide to individuals who are interested in uncovering the secrets of getting rich through strategies and case studies. A timeless title such as this one should not be passed up by anybody who is interested in learning how to become wealthy. This book has often been compared to the Napoleon Hill book, Think and Grow Rich, and works well as a companion to that title.
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This book will without any doubt change your life, by changing your mind about the concept of "money". So many of us were brought up with the idea of money as a finite resource, which you had to compete for. This book is desgined to release every preconcieved idea that is holding us all back from wealth. The basic premise of this book is that becoming wealthy is a science, that once understood, and replicated will create wealth in everyone's life. Wealth is as infinite as the creative mind. Create ideas, take action and abundance will flow.
Customer Reviews:
One of the Originals!.......2007-10-18
We all know that this book is what inspired the creation of The Secret. Well, rightfully so! This book is one of the first books to be written on the subject of how to bring wealth into your life. Wallace Wattles did a wonderful job, and I consider him an American Philosopher. This book is great at giving a glimpse into The Law of Attraction on the subject of money. w w w . theexecutiveleadershipcoach . c o m
The Science of Getting Rich.......2007-10-08
Obviously written about the turn of the century. If you can get past the outdated lingo and examples, the meat of the text is rich and rewarding. Women be warned, it was written in a time that we were not considered citizens. Again, if you can get past the lingo, the text is well worth the read.
Awesome book.......2007-10-08
This is a must have book. It was easy to read and I believe everyone should read this book if you are looking for keys to happiness.
This is it........2007-09-21
I have long experienced aspects of this teaching without ever realizing it. When you finally get into the whys and hows of this idea, you too should see very clearly what I am suggesting.
I particularly like the references to Christ and his teachings. It may seem contrary at first, stick to it. Jesus told us we could do these things if we only had the slightest bit of faith.
Enjoy.
"If your day is a failure...then you are a failure.".......2007-09-03
I am a huge Secret fan & good thing Byrne only took a few excerpts from this book/CD otherwise we would have people depressed convinced they are a failure. Not enlightening, not inspiring.
Book Description
With a strong empirical and market segmentation approach, this book focuses on how the Internet has changed the way people obtain information about potential purchases, giving readers the most up-to-date material on how technology is changing their lives as consumers. The Thirty-two mini-cases help readers learn by applying the theory, drawing on current business news to demonstrate specific consumer behavior concepts.
This edition now includes thirty-two Active Learning mini-cases. A clear consumer decision making model is set out in each chapter to facilitate learning—presented in the first chapter, this model serves as a structural framework for the concepts—the building blocks—examined in the following chapters. The book's final chapter ties all of these concepts together so readers see the interrelationships and relevance of individual concepts to consumer decision-making.
For those studying consumer behavior and/or marketing.
Book Description
An update of a classic book in the field, Modern Portfolio Theory examines the characteristics and analysis of individual securities as well as the theory and practice of optimally combining securities into portfolios. It stresses the economic intuition behind the subject matter while presenting advanced concepts of investment analysis and portfolio management. Readers will also discover the strengths and weaknesses of modern portfolio theory as well as the latest breakthroughs.
Customer Reviews:
Good mix between theory and practice.......2007-09-14
I was looking for a hands on book. It is a pity I had to buy also the software "The Investment Portfolio" which should be included, and also I missed the answers to chapter problems. After a couple of weeks I feel I could advise in making and managing a portfolio.
Solid, comprehensive textbook, but a little uneven.......2006-06-10
If you are looking for one textbook on financial investment, this book should be on the top of your list. It has very solid and comprehensive coverage of all the major topics in financial investment, from portfolio construction to CAPM to options to global investing. What I like the most is the detailed discussions on the various pros and cons of each model or technique people use in the real world. This book is a little light on math, but there's enough to satisfy casual readers who want some math but don't want to deal with things like linear algebra or stochastic processes. Another excellent feature is the large number of references the authors provide.
I cannot give this book 5 stars because, due to the multi-coauthorship, the chapters can be a little uneven in both readability and level of treatment. One chapter will give you two pages of algebra from the first grade, and the next chapter is packed with discussions that require a deep understanding of economic theory. The audience of this book is a college senior or a first-year master's or Ph.D. student, which may explain some of this unevenness. The book also tends to be wordy at times.
But overall, this is a good textbook that you can learn from as well as reference in the future.
Outstanding .......2005-10-01
I got what I expected at the time I was supposed to get it.
Excellent theoretical background.......2001-06-09
This was one of the texts I had to read for one of my MBA classes. It provides an excellent theoretical background in finance and the theories that link finance to macro and micro economics. It is not very practical however. Not much in the book can be applied. It is a must, however, for any serious student of finance. The coverage of option models is a little light, however. I highly recommend that people have a background in calculus, differential equations, probability theory, and linear algebra before reading this book.
Excellent coverage, friendly lingo.......2001-03-30
For a textbook, this is written in a reader-friendly style. You can almost see the author at the blackboard explaining the concepts AND math in plain English. And yet, very little handwaving at all. On the other hand, this may also present special readability challenges: you may find yourself constantly flipping between text and tables to follow the discussion.
From a pedagogical point-of-view, some of the developments might have been more intuitively presented. For example, the chapter on option-pricing theory should mention the expected-value interpretation. Over all, however, this text does very well on this score.
I particularly liked the survey of empirical studies at the end of each major concept, that discusses the imperfections that other researchers have looked into, and their findings.
This is one of the core reference texts I keep on my desk.
Book Description
This guide offers computer users who suffer from repetitive strain injury an effective program for self-care. It explains the symptoms, prevention, and treatment of RSIs and also addresses the often-overlooked root causes of RSIs. This holistic program treats the entire upper body with ergonomics, exercise, and hands-on therapy, increasing the likelihood that surgery and drugs may be avoided.
Customer Reviews:
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.......2007-10-21
Of the books that I bought, this is the best of the lot for information on Carpal Tunnel and all other repetiltion syndromes. Extremely helpfu.
If you want to buy just one book.......2007-01-12
If you want to buy just one book on this subject, then this is the one
Excellent book on RSI.......2006-11-10
This is by far the best source of information and guidance on RSI that I've ever seen. It's the only book (along with dr. Pascarelli's books) that explains the true causes of RSI symptoms. It will help you understand what's happening to you if you have RSI, and it will help you manage your symptoms and find appropriate treatment. It's a must-have book if you live in an area or country where RSI specialists are hard to find.
Career saving.......2006-07-13
When I was managing a software development group, a programmer on the team showed up at work one day with wrist braces. Turns out typing had become agony for him. He read this book, then diligently and conscientiously followed some of the recommended practices (strength training, yoga, serious workplace ergonomic changes). The wrist braces are gone, and his career has been saved.
You can't fix anything just by reading a book. You *can* fix things when you understand the problem and have some ways to combat it. This book can give you both.
Excellent Resource.......2006-02-20
I bought this book after all the glowing reports and am happy to say it lived up to my expectations. Just improving my posture (one of the suggestions) has helped with my RSI.
Book Description
Every day on eBay, millions of people buy and sell a vast array of goods, from rare collectibles and antiques to used cars and celebrity memorabilia. The internet auction site is remarkably easy to use, which accounts in part for its huge popularity. But how does eBay really work, and how does it compare to other kinds of auctions? These are questions that led Ken Steiglitz--computer scientist, collector of ancient coins, and a regular eBay user--to examine the site through the revealing lens of auction theory.
The result is this book, in which Steiglitz shows us how human behaviors in open markets like eBay can be substantially more complex than those predicted by standard economic theory. In these pages we meet the sniper who outbids you in an auction's closing seconds, the early bidder who treats eBay as if it were an old-fashioned outcry auction, the shill who bids in league with the seller to artificially inflate the price--and other characters as well. Steiglitz guides readers through the fascinating history of auctions, how they functioned in the past and how they work today in online venues like eBay. Drawing on cutting-edge economics as well as his own stories from eBay, he reveals practical auction strategies and introduces readers to the fundamentals of auction theory and the mathematics behind eBay.
Complete with exercises and a detailed appendix, this book is a must for sophisticated users of online auctions, and essential reading for students seeking an accessible introduction to the study of auction theory.
Customer Reviews:
Good read.......2007-08-27
This is a good book and I thought it was entertaining. Some may find it a bit dry because it is written more like a text book but it does have some interesting information, some interesting stories, and it has a lot of math in the back. We all love math right? The math is just for reference and is in the appenedix, it was a good book I thought. However, it was not so much about trading safely on ebay, it was more about how real life auction rings fix prices, some statistical analysis of online auctions etc.
This is a good book but if you are looking for something that explains ebay fraud and how to avoid it, look for Scams and Scoundrels, it describes more of what I thought this book would be about. While this is good, it does not have the information on identifying fraud auctions, fraud sellers, or how to protect yourself from ebay scams like Scams and Scoundrels does. Get them both, they are both good, just different takes on ebay criminals.
Enthralling. It gets better as it goes on........2007-07-08
I've never liked auctions, but that has not reduced the interest of this book in any way. It gives clear and engaging explanations of how different auctions work, both in theory and in practice. Special attention is given to eBay of course, and why it works the way it does.
The main text discusses strategies and the effects of different auction rules without resorting to any math, allowing the reader to gain an excellent grasp of the issues without concentrating on technical details. But the underlying theory is not shortchanged in any way by this, since the math is contained in substantial appendices, where it is laid out with complete, easy-to-understand explanations.
I highly reccommend this book both as an introduction to eBay, and to auction theory. For me, it's both.
Engaging, informative, and entertaining!.......2007-07-03
Snipers, Shills, and Sharks is an instant classic that will appeal to anyone interested in understanding why ebay works the way it does and how it relates to a beautiful economic theory developed over the past few decades. How do English, Dutch, and Vickrey auctions work? Why do experienced ebayers snipe? When should a seller set a secret reserve? Why is ebay a second-price instead of first-price auction? Why does ebay post the second highest bid and not the highest one? These answers and much more are crisply explained and supported by real-world and laboratory experiments. I opened the book knowing next to nothing about auctions and ebay (other than as a participants), and now I feel that I understand a great deal.
Steiglitz begins in Chapter 1 with classic auctions, including English and Vickery. He explains the theory underlying each auction, including the seminal result that bidders should be truthful in a second-price auction such as Vickery or English (with a few caveats). Chapter 2 motivates ebay as a natural evolution of the English auction where bidders participate over time, with a fixed deadline. Chapter 3 analyzes real bidding histories on ebay and other experimental results. He explains when practice agrees with the theory, but also when it doesn't on account of human behavior. It also explains the benefits of sniping. Chapter 4 explains why ebay is not a first-price auction; Chapter 5 discusses strategies for the seller, including how to set the opening bid and secret reserve; Chapter 6 discusses strategies for the bidder, including how much to bid and when. Chapter 7 describes various ways that participants cheat and the theory underlying it.
The theory is inherently mathematical, but Steiglitz does a masterful job of replacing the math with easy-to-understand intuition in the main text and deferring the technical details to the appendices. That being said, the appendices are definitely a worthwhile read if you remember single variable calculus. The theory is extremely elegant. Appendix A treats the class Vickrey results; Appendices B and C cover various extensions. Appendix D describes a number of experimental results. Numerous references are provided for further study.
One of the most charming features of the book is the author's conversational tone and his personal anecdotes, both as an avid coin collector and as a professor who performs classroom experiments. For example, Steiglitz illustrates the "winner's curse" via a classroom experiment where he auctions off a jar of nickels to the highest bidder.
Not terribly substantive, and not even that fun to read.......2007-05-01
I picked this book up with great anticipation after hearing about it from Marginal Revolution. As an avid ebay user for the past 5 years and an economics major back in college, I was hoping that I'd find some insightful nuggets on the inner workings of auction economics and psychology.
What I found instead was a somewhat tired text that did not have a whole lot to offer. The introductory chapters on various auction types were the best and mildly entertaining, but it went slowly downhill from there. It read more like a textbook than a book you'd want to read for pleasure. There is no math in the main text, by design. The author has chosen this to keep it readable to everyone, and keeps the formulas in the appendix. That's fine by me, and I wouldn't take off stars for that. The thing that boggs this book down is that there isn't much substance. He cites a few small studies here and there that aren't very conclusive and don't give me much insight on what works and doesn't work on ebay.
Customer Reviews:
Helpful for CFP.......2007-06-29
I agree with a previous comment about the lack of editing and copyediting that was done with this book. There are quite a few mechanical errors. However, this book gives you the bare bones run done of what to expect in fundamentals for the Certified Financial Planner exam. My course used this book and I passed the exam on the first try. If you are interested in this book and becoming a CFP, I would also highly recommend the "Understanding Your Financial Calculator" workbook from BISYS.
perhaps the worst textbook I've ever read.......2006-09-26
***I would urge anyone considering taking a course in financial planning to avoid any class that uses this textbook -- it's THAT bad.***
I'm taking a financial planning class and this is the required textbook. I don't know why the instructors chose to use this book -- it's awful. Perhaps one of the worst textbooks I've ever seen. The instructors must be getting a kick-back from the publisher -- that's the only thing that would explain their selection.
At first glance, the book looks interesting and seems well put-together. Flip through and you'll find they have plenty of charts, graphs, and tables, and everything looks official and authoritative. However, once you actually start reading, you realize that the authors are *hacks* who don't know what they are talking about and have chosen to try to hide their own ignorance by being as evasive, wishy-washy and obscure as possible. Chapter 18 (on Ethics), consists entirely of legalese. There's no chance for a non-lawyer to make any sense of this section.
The other chapters are equally bad. Chapter 2 (a basic review of Econ 101) has references to the wrong figures, and many of the captions along the side of the page appear to have been accidentally cropped, so that they don't form a complete (or coherent) sentence. And it's clear the publishers didn't bother to hire an editor to do a basic mechanical check to make sure the document looked ok before sending it to print. I think they must have run a spell-check, because I'm not finding spelling errors, but I am finding that the spell-check didn't catch correctly-spelled words that are in the wrong place, thus creating sentences that make no sense. (A $10/hour editor would have caught this stuff.)
And the writing is also very poor. "Strunk & White's Elements of Style" is the bible that your high school English teacher probably gave you to help you avoid the basic pitfalls of composition. But it seems that these authors couldn't procure a copy because they violate just about every rule in the book.
- Passive voice? (yes!)
- over-use of jargon? (check!)
- long sentences that must be read many times before they make sense? (yes)
I'm looking to switch careers and get into financial planning. This course is required reading, thus I'm locked into 10 weeks with this awful book. That's about 800 pages of small print that I have to "master," Or about 80 hours of time devoted to this awful book. And I would gladly spend time reading something that was put together with care and concern, but these authors clearly have *no* respect for their audience.
I would urge anyone considering taking a course in financial planning to avoid any class that uses this textbook. I can't speak to the quality of the other books, but this one is absolutely awful. Being asked to read this book actually feels like an insult.
Book Description
An inspiring and profoundly enlightening exploration of one doctor’s discovery of how hope can change
the course of illness
Since the time of the ancient Greeks, human beings have believed that hope is essential to life. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Harvard Medical School professor and New Yorker staff writer Jerome Groopman shows us why.
The search for hope is most urgent at the patient’s bedside.
The Anatomy of Hope takes us there, bringing us into the lives of people at pivotal moments when they reach for and find hope--or when it eludes their grasp. Through these intimate portraits, we learn how to distinguish true hope from false, why some people feel they are undeserving of it, and whether we should ever abandon our search.
Can hope contribute to recovery by changing physical well-being? To answer this hotly debated question, Groopman embarked on an investigative journey to cutting-edge laboratories where researchers are unraveling an authentic biology of hope. There he finds a scientific basis for understanding the role of this vital emotion in the outcome of illness.
Here is a book that offers a new way of thinking about hope, with a message for all readers, not only patients and their families. "We are just beginning to appreciate hope’s reach," Groopman writes, "and have not defined its limits. I see hope as the very heart of healing."
Customer Reviews:
Gross Anatomy.......2007-08-07
Dissection is the act of "disassembling something to determine its internal structure and the function and relationships of its components."
Dr. Groopman tries to understand the source of hope by dissecting the doctor/patient relationship. The challenge of his approach is that his subjects are still warm and breathing. And the doctor attending to this surgery is also the object of the inquiry. Groopman succeeds at transparency but fails at impartiality and the resulting discussion feels more like a vivisection - painful and of limited value.
Groopman's heart is in the right place and his case studies are exquisite dioramas of people struggling to make physical, emotional and intellectual sense of confusing and complex diseases. And to communicate their hopes, dreams and fears to one another about that process.
Yet, Groopman betrays his bias by closing his book with "science, to my mind, is one of our greatest sources of hope." So it turns out that "how people prevail in the face of illness" is that science gives them that courage. No wonder alternative medicine, healers, roots, herbs, supplements and the like have gained favor in an American public sick of an ivory tower approach to wellness. For Groopman, it's as if there is only one path to health and it runs straight through the lab.
Humility or faith, to my mind, is one of our greatest sources of hope. Science hasn't figured out how to dissect and bottle that magic elixir. For a physician like Groopman, that's clearly the hope that still springs eternal.
Help When Needed.......2007-03-21
I read this book while I was going through chemo - it helped keep my spirits up, and my thoughts positive. I'm cancer-free for two years now.
a doctor who is not afraid to step outside the box.......2005-12-11
OK, so hope sounds too pollyanna for "serious medical students and stiff doctors". I'll tell you about hope. It's deeper and more complex than all the so called "only we know what is good for you, you peon." attitudes put together. All I could think about while reading this book was thank God a doctor with deep compassion had the courage to write it. Here we have a doctor who is not afraid to step outside the box to spend years thinking about the single most important part of any illness, in particluar cancer: hope. I've learned a lot about hope. Granted at 20 years old it was probably the last thing I was thinking and probably thought I had all the knowledge I needed. Now at age 62, I have lived longer than expected, and am a living example of hope. I've lived over three years with lung cancer (the last two as stage IV). I found a doctor with great skill whom I admire for his medical knowledge as a great doctor who does in fact treat people everyday with traditional medicine, but every time I am in his presence I feel an energy of profound hope. You can call it whatever "pop" name you want, it just shows you are not really in the trenches. I survived because of my good doctor and because of hope. Near the end of my life, I learned the greatest, most important and enduring things in life are the most simple, yet somehow complex, with hope being at the very top of the list. I can tell by reading Dr Groopman's book that he is a compassionate human being and knows the true meaning of life, and of hope, and was drawn to it by the title: The Anatomy Of Hope. I wish there were more doctors like my doctor, and like Dr Groopman.
Meaningful and Honest.......2005-11-09
I found this book to be both meaningful and honest, and was glad to see that it avoided so many of the pitfalls of the 'Self Help, Will YOurself to Get Well' books. One of the big messages from Dr. Groopman is summed up in a note on p. 220: 'There is no perfect or single way to provide clinical information to all patients under all circumstances - there is no one size fits all approach...In general, I follow the patient's lead..."
What a important observation; that each patient is an individual, and that it is the doctor's responsibility to impart information, as well as provide care, on an individual basis.
My one concern with the book is the use of the pronoun 'he' to describe each a patient, although half of the patients he speaks of are women. I would have preferred the use of 'he or she' or referring to patients in the plural when not speaking of a specific individual, or to sometimes refer to any patient as he, sometimes as she.
Still, the book is well worth reading.
Let Hope Live!!!.......2005-09-05
I was thrilled when I came across this book. I established a foundation with this name to do just that, keep hope live - called, "Let Hope Live!" My son had a brain tumor and what we faced was constant words of death and literally no possibility of hope anywhere. Aching and searching for hope and possibilities anywhere and everywhere. Everyone was negative.
A famous painting in London, titled Hope, depicts a woman obviously full of despair clinging onto one frail strand, a note of hope. Something to refect on, help the day know some sunshine. This book helps others bring that note to those so in need of hope.
The book is excellent and full of truth. Life's reality is sickness is a reality. I never realized how many sick children there are in the world until we entered the pediatric ward. Few do. Yes that reality is depressing, but this book offers a way to help transform this. My son was not one of the lucky ones. He needed help keeping hope alive. Not sympathy and help dying. Everyone needs the ammunition to help them win the battle... I encourage everyone to read this book. Please pass it on to anyone going through a difficult time. Help them know there is a possibly and they have a reason to fight. Make sure you make that personal visit even when its depressing for you. That medical visit of friendship as Dr Groopman so aptly wrote could save there life. Encourage your children to do this too. I do this as much as I am able with our visits and the children, I call warriors. I do not want anyone to ever experience what my son and I experienced. The prevailing attitude cancer means death needs to be eliminated. The Anatomy of Hope will be highly recommended reading to all I know as well as on our web site.
Thank you Dr Jerome Groopman for helping, "Let Hope Live!"
Kyle Bryce Andrew's mother
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- Truth, Lies and Advertising : The Art of Account Planning
- Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future
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- What Clients Love: A Field Guide to Growing Your Business
- What Customers Want: Using Outcome-Driven Innovation to Create Breakthrough Products and Services
- What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations
- Why We Buy: The Science Of Shopping
- Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny
- Working with Microsoft Dynamics(TM) CRM 3.0
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