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In preparing for this assignment, think about the ideas that Rodrik presents. The book is filled with insights related to the economic way of thinking. How do incentives guide behavior in ways we can only predict by using economics? And what do you learn from his insights and results? Do you agree or disagree with his claims? What is your own take on his examples? Finally, how are his ideas related to the topics discussed in class? These are the sorts of questions you should be asking yourself as you go through the book.For the book review, you will need to write a 3-5 page paper that offers a critical review of Economics Rules. In this assignment, I expect you to cover the following items at a minimum:
1) Your take on what Rodrik is trying to show the reader and how successful you think he is in doing so. You should provide plenty of examples and references from the book as evidence towards your synopsis.
2) Evaluate the work presented by Rodrik by investigating secondary sources on his claims. This is a new and fairly popular book so you should be able to find lots of commentary on the book itself. Look online to see what others are saying about him and his writing. You can also find commentary on the topic itself. The closer the material you find to the topics discussed in the book, the more you will be able to improve your critical review.
3) Finally, give me your evaluation of the overall book. Did you find his examples compelling? Did it make you think about economics, the workplace, or even broader human behavior differently? Here you need to rely exclusively on your own ideas and impressions that occurred to you as you read through the book. Note that your journal entries can be quite helpful in developing your own perspective as you read the book.