{"title":"Books by Bryan Caplan","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780691138732","title":"The Myth of the Rational Voter – Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies – New Edition","description":"The greatest obstacle to sound economic policy is not entrenched special interests or rampant lobbying, but the popular misconceptions, irrational beliefs, and personal biases held by ordinary voters. This is economist Bryan Caplan's sobering assessment in this provocative and eye-opening book. Caplan argues that voters continually elect politicians who either share their biases or else pretend to, resulting in bad policies winning again and again by popular demand. Boldly calling into question our most basic assumptions about American politics, Caplan contends that democracy fails precisely because it does what voters want. Through an analysis of Americans' voting behavior and opinions on a range of economic issues, he makes the convincing case that noneconomists suffer from four prevailing biases: they underestimate the wisdom of the market mechanism, distrust foreigners, undervalue the benefits of conserving labor, and pessimistically believe the economy is going from bad to worse.   Caplan lays out several bold ways to make democratic government work better--for example, urging economic educators to focus on correcting popular misconceptions and recommending that democracies do less and let markets take up the slack. The Myth of the Rational Voter takes an unflinching look at how people who vote under the influence of false beliefs ultimately end up with government that delivers lousy results. With the upcoming presidential election season drawing nearer, this thought-provoking book is sure to spark a long-overdue reappraisal of our elective system.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56294502203765,"sku":"9780691138732","price":28.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780691138732_47c5ee33-dd83-4989-b4c4-bba1c01e984e.jpg?v=1786014640"},{"product_id":"build-baby-build","title":"Build, Baby, Build","description":null,"brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57492183974261,"sku":"9781952223419","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781952223419.jpg?v=1786529009"},{"product_id":"selfish-reasons-to-have-more-kids","title":"Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn acclaimed economist reveals why good parenting is far less stressful—and far more fun—than you think\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Cheery and intellectually honest…. The bedrock of Caplan’s argument is solid: Modern parenting is insane.” —\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe’ve needlessly turned parenting into an unpleasant chore. Parents invest more time and money in their kids than ever, but the shocking discovery of recent twin and adoption research is that upbringing is much less important than genetics. The big lesson for parents: Mold your children less and enjoy your life more. Your kids will still turn out fine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith a new afterword, Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids asks the big questions: How can parents be happier? What can they change—and what should they just accept? Which worries can parents safely forget? Drawing on economics and scientific research, Caplan answers all these questions and more. Since its initial publication, this modern classic has inspired countless parents to embrace its pro-child, pro-fun philosophy—and even to grow their families. You will never see kids or parenthood the same way again.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57507698114933,"sku":"9781541607699","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781541607699.jpg?v=1787042822"},{"product_id":"unbeatable-1","title":"Unbeatable","description":"From economist and New York Times bestselling author Bryan Caplan, a provocative and powerful argument for ending the age of big government and embracing free markets as the best tool to foster prosperity for all.    “Markets do the good things that sound bad; governments do the bad things that sound good.” So begins the audacious argument from New York Times bestselling author Bryan Caplan in his essential treatise on modern economies, Unbeatable. Caplan’s case is not merely ideological: he shows compellingly that markets—by lowering prices, giving consumers what they want, and weighing risks—deliver the raw materials for human prosperity that history tells us are unbeatable by other means. Their more popular alternative, governments, focus on addressing crowd-pleasing complaints, incurring high costs and delivering dubious benefits. With this historical foundation, Caplan makes the case for unabashed support of free markets and fervent opposition to government intervention. Unbeatable imagines a world where markets are allowed in all the places where we think we don’t want them—schools, immigration, social care, and housing policy—and sketches the positive social and economic transformations that would follow from privatization. These include the miracle effects of giving people money instead of Medicare and Social Security; the ability of open borders to solve demographic and labor problems; and the universal benefits of less regulation. In prose that is uncoded and uncommonly honest, Caplan explains how our aversion to markets emerged from our shared wish to avoid wrestling with tradeoffs—the social desirability bias that leads us to favor bad things that sound good over good things that sound bad. Markets, it turns out, can save us from those disappointments, especially compared to the alternatives. Unlike many free-market economists, Caplan freely concedes the ugly downsides of the policies he favors—but argues that the policies should be evaluated on their overall performance rather than their emotional appeal. Unbeatable is the maximalist, politically unbeholden case for markets as tools for human flourishing. For readers with open hearts, it offers nothing short of an antidote to our economic discontents.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57680110879093,"sku":"9780226857107","price":24.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-bryan-caplan.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}