Book of the week: Spousonomics by Paula Szuchman & Jenny Anderson
The authors, both financial reporters, manage their marriage by making decisions based on such concepts as loss aversion and hyperbolic discounting.
(Random House, $26)
Using principles from economics to manage your marriage “doesn’t sound very romantic,” said Lisa Bonos in The Washington Post. But financial reporters Paula Szuchman and Jenny Anderson have tried it, and they swear their home lives have been happier since they began making decisions based on such concepts as loss aversion and hyperbolic discounting. Because economics doesn’t care “who’s right and who’s wrong,” it makes a terrific arbiter of who should mow the lawn or whether it’s a good night to go out to a movie. Few of us, though, really need “fancy economic terminology” to spruce up our marriages, said Annie Lowrey in Slate.com. Most of the authors’ domestic tips could be arrived at through common sense. But if you look to this book less for its marital wisdom than for its breezy, cogent summary of behavioral economics, its practical value becomes unlimited. It’s loaded with “plenty of good, even adorable, advice.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Can Japan's new prime minister govern effectively?
Today's Big Question A 'popular gadfly' gets the top job
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
UK cedes Chagos Islands to Mauritius, minus US base
Speed Read Mauritius has long argued it was forced to give up the islands in 1965 in return for independence from Britain
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Liz Cheney campaigns with Harris in Wisconsin
Speed Read The pair does not agree on much politically, but they share an anti-Trump stance
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published