An Economist Walks into a Brothel
Whether we realize it or not, we all take risks large and small every day. Even the most cautious among us cannot opt-out—the question is always which risks to take, not whether to take them at all. An Economist Walks into a Brothel equips readers with five principles for dealing with risk, principles used by some of the world's most interesting risk-takers. When you start to look at risky decisions through this book’s new framework, you can increase the upside to any situation and better mitigate the downside.
Praise for An Economist Walks into a Brothel
"In this delightful book, financial economist and risk expert Allison Schrager shows us that the same principles employed by multi-billion dollar pension funds can help us improve risk management in our own lives. She teaches these principles while entertaining us with a series of off-the-beaten-path case studies. By creating distance from our own experiences, she allows us to better understand the principles of risk. It works! Whether a complete novice or a seasoned risk professional, the reader is in for a treat: Bon Appetit!"
— Robert C. Merton, Distinguished Professor of Finance, MIT Sloan School & Nobel Laureate
“Allison Schrager offers a highly readable, yet nuanced, guide to navigating the risks inherent in today’s increasingly complex world. A must-read for anyone seeking to command, to govern, or to teach.”
— General Stanley McChrystal, New York Times bestselling author of Team of Teams
“If you want to understand risk better, you have to go into some unconventional settings. In the tradition of Freakonomics, that’s what Allison Schrager does as an economist, and her book is not just informative—it’s an entertaining read too.”
— Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take
"Allison Schrager's An Economist Walks Into a Brothel is the best, most readable, most informative, most adventurous, and most entertaining takecon risk you will find."
— Tyler Cowen, Professor of Economics at George Mason University
“Prostitution seems like a long stretch from the risks most of us deal with, such as outliving our retirement funds, but Schrager inventively extracts five life lessons from her interviews with practitioners of the so-called oldest profession, as well as others who’ve chosen unusual career paths.”
— Bloomberg Businessweek
“The genius of An Economist Walks into a Brothel is that Schrager takes theories and research from retirement economics and applies them to other areas of life.”
— Inside Higher Ed