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Narrative Economics
Book

Narrative Economics

How Stories Go Viral and Drive Major Economic Events

Princeton UP, 2019 more...


Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Eye Opening
  • Hot Topic

Recommendation

Prominent economist Robert J. Shiller argues that, to truly understand the economy, he and his fellow dismal scientists need to look beyond the usual data points. Stories are what really drive economic activity, the Nobel laureate contends in this important and insightful text. He says that economists pay too much attention to hard facts while giving too little heed to the stories that consumers and investors tell themselves and each other. Shiller breaks down how narratives work through examples spanning the Great Depression to the bitcoin craze. So if you're looking for a good story, pull up a chair...

Take-Aways

  • Stories, not data, are the most powerful force in economic behavior.
  • Like diseases, economic narratives are contagious.
  • Determining which stories will go viral and which will disappear is a difficult task.

About the Author

Robert J. Shiller is a Nobel Prize-winning economist, the author of the New York Times bestseller Irrational Exuberance, and the co-author of Animal Spirits. He is a professor of economics at Yale University.