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Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much by [Mullainathan, Sendhil, Shafir, Eldar]

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Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much Kindle Edition

by Sendhil Mullainathan (Author), Eldar Shafir (Author)

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A surprising and intriguing examination of how scarcity—and our flawed responses to it—shapes our lives, our society, and our culture

Why do successful people get things done at the last minute? Why does poverty persist? Why do organizations get stuck firefighting? Why do the lonely find it hard to make friends? These questions seem unconnected, yet Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir show that they are all examples of a mind-set produced by scarcity.

Drawing on cutting-edge research from behavioral science and economics, Mullainathan and Shafir show that scarcity creates a similar psychology for everyone struggling to manage with less than they need. Busy people fail to manage their time efficiently for the same reasons the poor and those maxed out on credit cards fail to manage their money. The dynamics of scarcity reveal why dieters find it hard to resist temptation, why students and busy executives mismanage their time, and why sugarcane farmers are smarter after harvest than before. Once we start thinking in terms of scarcity and the strategies it imposes, the problems of modern life come into sharper focus.
Mullainathan and Shafir discuss how scarcity affects our daily lives, recounting anecdotes of their own foibles and making surprising connections that bring this research alive. Their book provides a new way of understanding why the poor stay poor and the busy stay busy, and it reveals not only how scarcity leads us astray but also how individuals and organizations can better manage scarcity for greater satisfaction and success.

Length: 302 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
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Product details

File Size: 1028 KB
Print Length: 302 pages
Publisher: Times Books (September 3, 2013)
Publication Date: September 3, 2013
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B00BMKOO6S
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

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Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Not Enabled
Screen Reader: Supported

Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled

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- #56 in Books > Medical Books > Psychology > Applied Psychology

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Customer Reviews

180

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2 star		4%
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Top Customer Reviews

Ecomic Study on Human Behavior

BySteven Stamon December 11, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

In Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much, Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir explore the implications of scarcity, a condition that occurs when you have less than you feel you need. Scarcity comes in all shapes and sizes—we see it in money, sleep, work, packing, time with our kids, addictions to email and social media—no matter what the item, people are constantly battling between conditions of abundance and scarcity. For example, when college students are assigned a term paper a month before it is due, few rush out and get to work, yet at the last minute they become frantic and paper obsessed. Gone are the wasted moments brought on by procrastination, in is the condition of tunneling where every second counts, where the worker suddenly appears dissatisfied, where there cognitive ability (bandwidth) is taxed either for the benefit of the paper and the detriment of all else or perhaps for collective detriment in general.

While the text has a slightly academic tilt at first, as it progresses Mullainathan and Shafir take a Freakencomics twist and creatively explore the world of scarcity. Whether it is the effects of being paid once a year on sugar cane farmers or the consequences of checking your email prior to starting on an unrelated project, the authors explore the unexpected consequences of scarcity. In terms of the former, an annual payment requires the farmer to budget an entire year from harvest point on, something that becomes increasingly taxing as their funds become scarce while checking that email before your child’s bath or personal writing time deteriorates said quality time for even if you don’t respond, your mind becomes taxed by the bandwidth required to ignore the email. In each instance, Mullainathan and Shafir explore situations in a way that moves beyond common sense and in an effort to find novel solutions to eliminate scarcity traps in favor of creating a productive, driven situation. Further, they dive into why, when given the opportunity to create a buffer from said scarcity, people often find themselves in the very same traps as before.

11 comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

An intriguing work from the field of behavioral economics

ByStephan C Schlotteron December 29, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This book by behavioral economist Sendhil Mullainathan and psychologist Eldar Shafir explains the cognitive difficulties people encounter when faced with managing a crucial scarce resource (e.g. money, time). The authors argue that scarcity creates a mindset that results in myopia and adversely affects fluid intelligence, resulting in flawed decisions concerning matters related and unrelated to the scarce resource. Scarcity results in temporary cognitive impairment that makes people focus on the immediate pressures of scarcity at the expense of long-range planning. For example, a cash-strapped person might take out a high-interest payday loan to relieve scarcity in the present moment, only to find cash-scarcity is even worse later on. A busy executive under time pressure may "borrow" time from future projects (by delaying them) only to find the time pressure increasing in the long run. Scarcity becomes a causal loop...scarcity breeds scarcity. The authors refer to this self-defeating behavior as the "scarcity trap." The poor stay poor, the busy stay busy. Furthermore, cognitive functioning necessary for all other decisions, where scarcity is not a factor, is compromised.

A common criticism of this book is that the authors are frequently making elaborate demonstrations of the obvious. While the observation is fair to some extent, the circular-causation theory of perpetual scarcity presented in the work is intriguing and fills out our understanding self-perpetuating scarcity, espcially with respect to money. I've usually been a little skeptical of the usefulness/relevance of finding of behavioral economics, but I find this work to be an exceptional case; I gladly recommend it.

0Comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Bringing Sociology to an Economic concept

ByDaniel Esteson September 3, 2013

Format: Hardcover

There's a passage from the introduction where the authors tell a colleague about their research for this book, and the colleague replies, "There's already a science of scarcity. You might have heard of it. It's called economics." The authors then go on to defend why their particular focus is unique, though I must admit I was skeptical too. I just didn't see how this subject would go from the abstract to something nearer to my own experience. Fortunately, my concern was unfounded. Some fancy-sounding words are thrown about (tunneling, bandwidth and slack, for example, sound more mathematical than not) but how they're applied in real life is what makes the study of scarcity practical and familiar.

I've had a saying for years now, "When you're up and life's going your way, the choices are easy. It's the choices you make when you're down on your luck or in failure's grip that says the most about your character--about who you really are." This book is a partial scientific explanation about why this is true. The sections on poverty, especially, demonstrate just how limited the choices are for the poor. Certain groups of people--those in positions of power, the wealthy, the well-educated--they simply have more resources to weather the bumps in life.

I recommend this one. The playing field may never be leveled though that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. What's important is that in the process of doing so we need to be aware that everyone faces life's problems from different starting points and often with a wide variety of advantages and disadvantages.

0Comment 108 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most Recent Customer Reviews

Good book over all

It provides deep insights on how scarcity impacts our lives. If it could provide more on solution, I would like to read it again.

Published 1 month ago by Shuai

One of the best books I've read in a very long time

One of the best books I've read in a very long time. The book has re-framed how my wife and I think about life and getting things done, just by introducing one new term into our...Read more

Published 3 months ago by Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Great book!

Published 4 months ago by NMR

It is a great that can explain why people are more anxious

It is a great that can explain why people are more anxious, busier and more depressed than those before

Published 4 months ago by CDj

Three Stars

good introduction to the field of behavioral economics

Published 5 months ago by Albert_sc

boring book. if you dont need this book for ...

boring book. if you dont need this book for school then do not read it, i repeat do not read it.

Published 5 months ago by catalina

Five Stars

Insightful reading into why people do what they do. Essential for anyone that cares about curing poverty.

Published 5 months ago by Amazon Customer

A Clear Easy to Read Explanation of an Aspect of the Human Condition.

This is a very interesting study that examines in detail a condition of human existence. The idea of scarcity is one of the most basic concepts in Economics but it is usually...Read more

Published 6 months ago by Lionel S. Taylor

Five Stars

everything ok thanks!

Published 6 months ago by Ismael Cervantes

Five Stars

Well worth reading. Gives some idea why the solutions to poverty prove to be so elusive.

Published 6 months ago by Mary

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