An Economist Walks into a Brothel

And Other Unexpected Places to Understand Risk

By: Allison Schrager

Narrated by: Holly Palance

Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

A Financial Times Book of the Month pick for April!

Is it worth swimming in shark-infested waters to surf a 50-foot, career-record wave?

Is it riskier to make an action movie or a horror movie?

Should sex workers forfeit 50 percent of their income for added security or take a chance and keep the extra money?

Most people wouldn't expect an economist to have an answer to these questions - or to other questions of daily life, such as who to date or how early to leave for the airport. But those people haven't met Allison Schrager, an economist and award-winning journalist who has spent her career examining how people manage risk in their lives and careers.

Whether we realize it or not, we all take risks large and small every day. Even the most cautious among us cannot opt out - the question is always which risks to take, not whether to take them at all. What most of us don't know is how to measure those risks and maximize the chances of getting what we want out of life.

In An Economist Walks into a Brothel, Schrager equips listeners with five principles for dealing with risk, principles used by some of the world's most interesting risk takers. For instance, she interviews a professional poker player about how to stay rational when the stakes are high, a paparazzo in Manhattan about how to spot different kinds of risk, horse breeders in Kentucky about how to diversify risk and minimize losses, and a war general who led troops in Iraq about how to prepare for what we don't see coming.

When you start to look at risky decisions through Schrager's new framework, you can increase the upside to any situation and better mitigate the downside.

©2019 Allison Schrager (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"In this delightful book, financial economist and risk expert Allison Schrager shows us that the same principles employed by multi-billion dollar pension funds can help us improve risk management in our own lives. She teaches these principles while entertaining us with a series of off-the-beaten-path case studies. By creating distance from our own experiences, she allows us to better understand the principles of risk. It works! Whether a complete novice or a seasoned risk professional, the reader is in for a treat: Bon Appetit!" (Robert C Merton, distinguished professor of finance, MIT Sloan School and Nobel Laureate)

“Prostitution seems like a long stretch from the risks most of us deal with, such as outliving our retirement funds, but Schrager inventively extracts five life lessons from her interviews with practitioners of the so-called oldest profession, as well as others who’ve chosen unusual career paths.” (Bloomberg Businessweek)

“If you want to understand risk better, you have to go into some unconventional settings. In the tradition of Freakonomics, that’s what Allison Schrager does as an economist, and her book is not just informative - it’s an entertaining read too.” (Adam Grant, New York Times best-selling author of Originals and Give and Take)

Basic concepts Brothel byte the high kite

Worthy. Wish it would have covered deeper range of economics. Good primer of basic fire and wood analogies.

Doesn't clearly convey the underlying theme

Although the book is filled with examples from different fields, it ends up getting wound up in the details and detours from the central underlined theme of risk. The lessons therefore become less pertinent to the general audience.

Entertaining and Educational

An insightful book on economy and managing risk presented in a delightful way with many stories to enjoy and great points to make. very enjoyable

Risk made entertaining.

I loved the way that the author gave a new perspective to rather dry risk concepts. Fun to listen to and fun to discuss with friends.

Thank you!

Interesante pero nada del otro Mundo

Sí me gustó el libro y sus ejemplos son genuinos y entretenidos. No es difícil de entender porque no pretende ser muy técnico, al contrario, está claramente redactado para que cualquier persona NO-economista lo podamos entender. Sin embargo siento que sí se quedó corto en su objetivo de dar enseñanzas prácticas y tangibles de estrategias para afrontar los riesgos. Creo que sí le hizo falta un capítulo mucho más extenso y sólido de conclusiones.

Solid Intro into the Basics of Risk Assessment

Solid introduction into the fundamentals of risk assessment. There are some fun anecdotes, but ultimately the connections back to the main concepts are overly superficial with too much repetition of basic ideas and definitions. The title oversells the product.

The narrator could have been more interesting, but her voice did grow on my after a while. It was just a little too easy to zone out and have to rewind. Part of that could have been some of the repetitious writing and oversimplification of simple concepts.

Easy to understand

These were interesting ways to think about risk. Perfect for someone newer to the concept of economic risks.

Fun book on Risk Management!

Great book on unusual occupations and how they handle risk management. I would recommend to anyone that analyses risk. Bravo!

Makes Risk Fun

Allison Schrager highlights different occupations and people who manage risk in their own ways, whether or not that’s how they thought about it that way. Prostitution, gambling, and sports.

nothing earth shattering

It wasn't bad but doesn't do near as good of a job articulating risk and risk management as Nassim Nicholas Taleb does. She has only really studied risk but has not truly taken risk. She talks about her course of study as being risky but I don't see that as being "risky." This is the normative take on risk, not something new. Like getting risk management from your investment person... Average.