About this item
A surprising and intriguing examination of how scarcity--and our flawed responses to it--shapes our lives, our society, and our cultureWhy do successful people get things done at the last minute? Why does poverty persist? Why do organizations get stuck firefighting? Why do the lonely find it hard to make friends? These questions seem unconnected, yet Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir show that they are all examples of a mind-set produced by scarcity.Drawing on cutting-edge research from behavioral science and economics, Mullainathan and Shafir show that scarcity creates a similar psychology for everyone struggling to manage with less than they need. Busy people fail to manage their time efficiently for the same reasons the poor and those maxed out on credit cards fail to manage their money.
About the Author
Sendhil Mullainathan is Professor of Economics at Harvard University. His real passion is behavioral economics, understanding what makes people tick - whether a senior executive in New York or a farmer in rural Tamil Nadu.
He enjoys having written but is of a mixed mind about writing.
He also occasionally enjoys doing: he helped co-found a non-profit to apply behavioral science (ideas42) ; and has worked in government.
Much to the surprise of who know him well, he is a recipient of the MacArthur "genius" award.
His hobbies include basketball, googling and fixing-up classic espresso machines. He also enjoys speaking about himself in the third person, which works well for bios but less well in daily life.
