Rating: 
Summary: Nonrational Economics Explained
Review: People don't act like computers when making economic decisions. This book is full of examples that show why people make miseconomic decisions. The basic point is that we have rules of thumb learned in daily life that we apply to economic decisions, and the results are costly.This book reminds me of Robert Cialdini's excellent book, Influence, that explains the psychological biases that harm us as consumers and how to protect ourselves against unethical sellers. If you read and apply them both, you will have much more prosperity in your life. Here are some examples: We are all more careful about saving money in some areas than in others. For instance, I'll go to great lengths to save money on air travel, but frequently buy expensive wines in restaurants (not a great value). Most of us are more concerned about avoiding losses than in making gains. This often translates into holding stocks with losses, rather than selling them, even if there is not much chance of a rebound. I know I'm guilty of this. Another example is assuming that we have knowledge that we really don't have. Someone who is good in math may not take the time to mathematically evaluate the choices. For instance, a 15 year mortage on your home is only a little more costly per month than a 30 year mortgage. The different in the cost of the total interest you pay is enormous, yet almost everyone gets a 30 year mortgage. Almost everyone has the skill to compare the two choices, but few take the time to do so. This kind of stalled thinking can be irresistible, and your wallet will inevitably be lighter as a result. When you discover that you have a weakness in one of these areas, you can then be more cautious in avoiding your biases in the future. This book is very helpful in this regard because each chapter explore one bias and begins with a question to test your instincts. In answering that question, you will probably find (if you are like me) that you make the wrong choice. This book will return its cost in time and money hundreds of times over the rest of your life. Be sure to read and apply it!
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Summary: Proust has nothing on Belsky.
Review: Proust has nothing on Belsky. This book has changed my life amd how I deal with the greatest unknown variable: money. This one is brilliant and essential.Like the bible, this tome is eternal
Rating: 
Summary: Frustrating, but an easy read, and covers the concepts
Review: The book covers a number of phenomena related to "mental accounting" (the tendency to treat money differently depending on its source) and prospect theory (differences in the pain of loss versus the please of gain, for the same amount). It's a very easy read, although the offered explanations for investment and spending behavior seem self-contradictory at times--they explain both why people hold on to a dog too long, and why people sell out of an investment too soon. For a brief, pleasant introduction to behavioral economics, this book is not bad.
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Summary: Must be good if G. Belsky wrote it.
Review: The one-line review says it all. by Labels Fable
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Summary: Great book - anyone will find it useful
Review: This book covers in a short but sufficient space the kinds of practical problems people have when managing money and investments. I found several things I was doing wrong and the book explained why and what to do about it. Each section has a description of the problem, a quiz to test whether you are falling into the problem and what to do about it. This is not a theoretical text; it is full of useful material you can use yourself.
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Summary: Sound advise on money!
Review: This book is a must for anyone who wants to improve his/her financial life. The authors introduce technical terms pert to behavioral economics in so skilled a manner and with so many anectodes to help understanding, that this book is a very easy read. It is extremely easy to identify oneself with many (if not all) of the financial situations described in the book. The fallacies of discriminating money based on its source, the aversion we have to losses, the over-confidence on the part of the common investor are all highlighted with solid research findings to support their conclusions. After reading this book I realised many of the errors I have made in the past while handling money. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, irrespective of financial status, who is interested in self improvement. This is a must read!
Rating:
Summary: Watch Out for Rules of Thumb That Raid Your Wallet!
Review: This book is one of the 10 best investing books of 1999 and 2000. People don't act like computers when making economic decisions. Our minds act much more like broken-down wheels stuck in muddy ruts, instead. This book is full of examples that show why people make miseconomic decisions. The basic point is that we have rules of thumb learned in daily life that we apply to economic decisions, whether these are good rules or not, and the results are costly to us. This book reminds me of Robert Cialdini's excellent book, Influence, that explains the psychological biases that harm us as consumers and how to protect ourselves against unethical sellers. If you read and apply both books, you will have much more prosperity in your life. Here are some examples: We are all more careful about saving money in some areas than in others. For instance, I'll go to great lengths to save money on air travel, but frequently buy expensive wines in restaurants (not a great value). I could drink better wines at home for less money. Now, how dumb is that? Most of us are more concerned about avoiding losses than in making gains. This often translates into holding stocks with losses, rather than selling them, even if there is not much chance of a rebound. I know I'm guilty of this. Another example is assuming that we have knowledge that we really don't have. Someone who is good in math may not take the time to mathematically evaluate the choices. For instance, a 15 year mortage on your home is only a little more costly per month than a 30 year mortgage. The different in the cost of the total interest you pay is enormous, yet almost everyone gets a 30 year mortgage. Almost everyone has the skill to compare the two choices, but few take the time to do so. This kind of stalled thinking can be irresistible, and your wallet will inevitably be lighter as a result. When you discover that you have a weakness in one of these areas, you can then be more cautious in avoiding your biases in the future. This book is very helpful in this regard because each chapter explore one bias and begins with a question to test your instincts. In answering that question, you will probably find (if you are like me) that you make the wrong choice. This book will return its cost in time and money hundreds of times over the rest of your life. Be sure to read and apply it! I also suggest that you examine where you have rules of thumb in noneconomic areas. When you are busy and someone in the family wnats your attention, what do you do? Your choices may be costing you closer relationships and effectiveness. Take the time to make good decisions and at least adopt better rules of thumb!
Rating: 
Summary: It answers some of the whys but does not tell how
Review: This book is quite a smart blending of economics, financial management and trading psychology that targets at the average investors who are supposed to be not knowlegable in the above aspects. In 203 pages and 7+2 chapters, the authors tell 1) how mental accounting can help you save or cost you money 2) how loss aversion and the sunk cost fallacy lead you to throw good money after bad 3) how the status quo bias (resistance to change) and the endowment effect make financial choices difficult 4) how ignorance about math and probabilities can hurt you 5) why important decisions are based on unimportant information 6) how costly it can be of overconfidence 7) how dangerous it is to rely on tips and the financial moves of others. The authors on the average spend 3/4 or even 4/5 of each chapter to tell a problem, and the rest to give a summary and several points on the means of correction, which I believe those to be far from helpful. (I always have the opinion that for improvement in behavioral psychology, a systematic approach that guide the readers step by step and in great detail is a must). To echo on my review, I would like to quote what's written on the first sentence of the conclusion chapter. -----"Life would be a lot simpler if we could summarize the ideas presented in this book with a set of prescriptive nuggest - "The top ten mental moneys secret" or "The seven habits of financially effective people." Unfortunately, there are no easy fixes for many of the issues we've touched upon. Change is often hard won..----My dear authors, you intended to make it happen in this book, but you failed. I am afraid that you had made your readers worse off by reading your book, coz you had already led them into the status quo bias and anchoring you described in chapter 3 and 5.
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Summary: So good that I didn't buy it!
Review: This book mainly teaches you to think sensibly about money -- for example, not to make purchases with a credit card that you wouldn't if you had to pay cash instead. Well, I guess it must be a good book because I took its message to heart and after reading through it at a Barnes & Noble, I put it back on the shelf!
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Summary: Great book to learn about yourself and money
Review: This is a really good book, that is worth the money you pay for it. The authors are one economist and one psychologist and they take you to discover this new science, behavioral economics, that allows to explain why you react in a irrational way in several, everyday money issues. It's very useful to be able to understand yourself and save some money next time you shop for a used car or you buy stocks.
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