I have a hard time explaining the type of business and economics books that I’m interested in; I really enjoy explanations for the unpredictability of human behavior and science-based thinking about the irrationality of people on an individual and group scale. I’m not opposed to hard data, but prefer the quirkier parts. I just keep thinking about this comic:
I may not love economics, but I definitely look at its butt when it walks by.
Since I’m a dilettante in the field, it’s hard to separate the kind of economics books I love (Expecting Better, Freakonomics, Made to Stick) from the ones that are written for CEOs to give their workers after a conference and are written at a 4th grade reading level or the ones that are nothing but data and dry as bone.
This wasn’t terrible, but it definitely reads like a book written for a freshman high school class, which is possibly secondary to it being a decade old; many of its revelations feel like old talking points. One such “dead idea” that Miller challenges is the idea that companies should take care of their employees long term; given that a modern adult changes jobs 7 times in their career, the cradle-to-grave employer protection is a long-dead idea by my reckoning. The rest of the book is kind of like that; nothing in it felt revolutionary, and a book challenging the status quo and “dead ideas” probably should have a few moments that take the reader aback. I do like the structure of the book, and it was a brisk read, but I think it was probably a book I would have enjoyed more upon its release instead of ten years later.