"Will delight and inform anyone who enjoys rigorous thinking and the unexpected conclusions it delivers." -- Jamie Whyte, author of Crimes Against Logic "This ingenious gallop through the mind of Steven Landsburg enables you to think like an economist without incurring a Keynesian headache or a huge student loan. You may even end up 'smarter than Google.' But you will not readily put down this exhilarating adventure in ideas." -- George Gilder, author of Knowledge and Power and Life After Google Can you outsmart an economist? Steven Landsburg, acclaimed author and professor of economics, dares you to try. In this whip-smart, entertaining, and entirely unconventional economics primer, he brings together over one hundred puzzles and brain teasers that illustrate the subject's key concepts and pitfalls. From warm-up exercises to get your brain working, to logic and probability problems, to puzzles covering more complex topics like inferences, strategy, and irrationality, Can You Outsmart an Economist? will show you how to do just that by expanding the way you think about decision making and problem solving. Let the games begin "Entertaining as well as edifying. Read it, expand your mind, and have fun "-- N. Gregory Mankiw, Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics, Harvard University

This unique book will help master your problem-solving skills. It contains more than 200 Non-Standard-Problems (NSP), puzzles, and tests, which can be solved by using creative thinking instead of formulas or predefined steps. For most problems, you do not need to know any advanced mathematics or have any specialized knowledge. For a few of the problems that are about the chances of something happening, you might need some limited knowledge about probabilities, provided for your convenience in the Appendix. This book will help you develop and master your critical, "out of the box" thinking. Most problems are new, but some were inspired by well-known problems. The book includes jokes and funny tests that make it enjoyable to read not only for adults but for children as young as 10. It is written in a fashion that is easy to understand. Don't give up quickly, but if you are out of ideas on how to solve particular problems, check out the solutions sections for comments and useful hints. As you work through the book, this will help you solve the next round of problems. Dr. Alexander Tetelbaum is a well-known scientist, inventor, educator, and entrepreneur, who has honed his own problem-solving skills over the years. Natalie Heroux is a well-known industry executive who has wide experience in applying NSP solving to real-life business problems. We wish to express our gratitude to our friend Dr. Theodore Bickart for his constructive input. We want to praise Lauren Bickart for her superb editing of the book.