Books

Books : reviews

Peter T. Leeson.
The Invisible Hook: the hidden economics of pirates.
Princeton University Press. 2009

Peter T. Leeson.
WTF?!: an economic tour of the weird.
Stanford University Press. 2017

Step Right Up!

Get your tickets for WTF?!: An Economic Tour of the Weird! This rollicking tour through a museum of the world’s weirdest practices is guaranteed to make you say, “WTF?!” Did you know that “preowned” wives were sold at auction in nineteenth century England? How about the fact that, for 250 years, Italy criminally prosecuted cockroaches and crickets? Wonder why? Then this tour is just for you!

Join a cast of colorful characters as they navigate the museum, led by guide and economist Peter T. Leeson. From one exhibit to the next, you’ll overhear Leeson’s riotous exchanges with the patrons and learn how to use economic thinking to reveal the hidden sense behind seemingly senseless behavior—including your own. Leeson shows that far from “irrational” or “accidents of history,” humanity’s most outlandish rituals are ingenious solutions to pressing problems—developed by clever people, driven by incentives, and tailor-made; for their time and place. Can you handle getting schooled by the strange? Better hurry; the tour is about to start!