Dimensions
135 x 216 x 21mm
The Price of Everything starts with a simple premise: there is a price behind each choice that we make —individual or collective. Whether we’re deciding to buy a cheeseburger, go to church, or enact health care reform, everything has its price. Eduardo Porter sets out to uncover the hidden logic of price and value that drives all our actions.
The connections he uncovers are anything but simple—they are unexpected, sometimes shocking, always interesting, and ultimately highly enlightening. Porter’s inquiry takes him in some rather counterintuitive directions, such as:
* Assigning a price tag to women and tracking how their rise in value relates to economic growth and development.
* Comparing the cost-per-vote in corrupt São Tomé to the supposedly less-corrupt (and less efficient) campaign spending of U.S. politicians
* Explaining why McDonald’s burger menu pricing encourages irrational behaviour
The Price of Everything shows readers how prices, both explicit and unspoken, move people and societies. Porter’s wide-eyed approach brings new life to his subject, and his broad perspective leads him to draw unexpected connections bridging disparate disciplines and cultures. In this fascinating and elegant narrative, Porter proves just how important prices are, both to our individual lives and the general course of civilization.
