“Cassidy clearly knows a great deal of economics, and he tells the story extremely well . . . Many of his chapters—on the development of general equilibrium theory (how everything in the economy systematically depends on everything else), for example, or marginalism (why prices are determined by what we’re prepared to pay for the very last item of something we buy, rather than the whole amount is worth to us)—would make useful supplementary reading in an undergraduate economics course."—Benjamin Friedman, The New York Times Book Review

“The theme of Michael Shermer’s new book is a graceful paradox. Decades of study of behavioral psychology, neuroscience and genetics, layered over more than a century of evolutionary studies, proves that we’re not completely rational in making economic choices. But an understanding of our fascinating limitations, which Shermer provides, makes us freer than we were before we knew of them . . . The most compelling chapters of Shermer’s book take us on an intimate tour of the best of the last half-century’s work in behavioral economics and neuroscience . . . Shermer notes that we must consciously choose freedom—all more important since the temptation, in light of the weird decisions we sometimes make in the marketplace, is to surrender to someone who must know better.”—Nicole Gelinas, The New York Post

has much to offer from a rich career in research, academia and global policymaking.”—The Economist

"Bold . . . Interesting."—The Economist