The price of everything
Subtitle: finding method in the madness of what things cost
By: Eduardo Porter
Edition: Pbk. ed.
Publisher: Portfolio Penguin
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 296
ISBN-13: 9781591844273
Subjects: Value; Values
Description: "Many of the prices we pay seem to make little sense. We shell out $2.29 for coffee at Starbucks when a nearly identical brew can be had at the corner deli for less than a dollar. We may be less willing to give blood for $25 than to donate it for free. And we pay someone to cart away trash that would be a valuable commodity in poorer parts of the world. The Price of Everything starts with a simple premise: there is a price behind each choice, whether we're deciding to have a baby, drive a car, or buy a book. We often fail to appreciate just how critical prices are as motivating forces. But their power becomes clear when distorted prices steer our decisions the wrong way. Eduardo Porter uncovers the true story behind the prices we pay and reveals what those prices are actually telling us."--Publisher's website.
Notes: Originally published: Portfolio/Penguin, 2011.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Prices are everywhere; title: The price of things; title: The price of life; title: The price of happiness; title: The price of women; title: The price of work; title: The price of free; title: The price of culture; title: The price of faith; title: The price of the future; title: When prices fail.