Praise for The Mind of the Market
“[A] captivating raconteur of all the greatest hits of behavioral, evolutionary and neuropsychology, [and] provider of wonderful cocktail party material . . . Fascinating.”
—Los Angeles Times Book Review
“Compelling . . . Take[s] us on an intimate tour of the best of the last half-century’s work in behavioral economics and neuroscience.”
—New York Post
“The book has no end of conversation starters, from capitalism as modern Darwinism to neuroeconomics that show that—biochemically, at least—a human brain is shockingly similar during smooth business deals and sex.”
—The Boston Globe
“Extremely interesting . . . Shermer is a fantastic presenter.”
—Steven D. Levitt, The New York Times Freakonomics Blog
“Michael Shermer brilliantly shows that the real experts of Homo economicus are often found in psychology, biology, even primatology.”
—Frans de Waal, author of Our Inner Ape
“Have you ever wondered how people develop trust and live together peacefully? Michael Shermer’s new book uses psychology and evolution to examine the root of these human achievements. . . . [He] has earned the right to our attention.”
—The Washington Post Book World
“Drawing from research, and injecting his own wit, Shermer explains why people make bad decisions about money, why wealth can’t buy you happiness, and why we love cooperating.”
—Psychology Today
“Written with his customary verve and flair, The Mind of the Market is Michael Shermer at his best.”
—Dinesh D’Souza, author of What’s So Great About America
“[Shermer] does a bang-up job knitting together the complexities of science and the frail psychology of human beings to explain the unpredictable postmodern world of trade and finance. . . . An informative, inventive, broad-spectrum analysis of what makes modern man tick, starting with his wallet.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Economists who understand Charles Darwin are almost as rare as biologists who understand Adam Smith. Yet the two were essentially saying the same thing—that order emerges unordained from competition and innovation. Michael Shermer brilliantly brings the two insights together to explain how the human mind creates the human market.”
—Matt Ridley, author of The Origins of Virtue
“Using fascinating examples . . . Shermer explores the evolutionary roots of our sense of fairness and justice, and shows how this rationale extends to the market. . . . Offers much insight into human behavior and rationales regarding money.”
—Publishers Weekly
“The Ripley’s Believe It or Not of behavioral economics, or why people act the way they do in a capitalistic marketplace . . . Shermer applies his wide-ranging knowledge of science and its rigorous investigatory discipline to uncover the answers and make connections between trade and emotion—in essence, popularizing neuron-economics.”
—Booklist