Get the summary
Subscribe today and dramatically increase your business knowledge in your own time and at an affordable rate. Our summaries will update your skills, jump-start your career and put you ahead of the pack. Learn how to thrive in every aspect of your professional life.
getAbstract rating
Overall  |
|
(8)Applicability |
|
Innovation |
|
Style |
|
(6)
(9)| Level of Expertise |
|
In this summary you will learn
- Why the public tends to overreact to minuscule risks
- Why misunderstood risk can lead to costly decisions
- Why cost-benefit analysis helps clarify your thinking
Why you should read Risk and Reason
Although this excellent book largely concerns government policy-making, the introductory chapters are must-reading for everyone who reads newspapers, watches television, participates in the political process or ventures an opinion on health risks, environmental risks or other risks. Author Cass R. Sunstein shows that most people view risk through a grossly distorted lens. People often see small risks as big and big risks as small, and they often advocate solutions whose risks are even greater than those of the problems they purport to solve. Democracies are particularly susceptible to costly, dangerous missteps caused by a flawed view of risk, so citizens must understand what they are doing when they demand regulation or freedom from regulation. Sunstein’s approach to cost-benefit analysis suggests that it can help people agree on practices, even if they disagree on principles. getAbstract.com recommends this must-read book, despite the somewhat dry and legalistic nature of the latter chapters. If you do not care to follow the workings of the Environmental Protection Agency in as much detail as the author, read the early and concluding chapters to derive much of the book’s value.
About the author
Cass R. Sunstein is the Karl N. Llewellyn Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. His most recent books are Republic.com and Designing Democracy. His many awards include the Goldsmith Book prize and, three times, the award for the best scholarship in administrative law from the American Bar Association. He contributes frequently to the New Republic and The New York Times.
If you wish to purchase 20 or more copies of this title (not the summary, but the actual book), please contact us at info@getAbstract.com. Make sure you include the title of the book and your phone number.
getAbstract makes it easy for you to access the summary of Risk and Reason any time or any place. Once registered, you can choose from a variety of download formats: PDF for your computer, BlackBerry, iPhone, Kindle, PDA or other handheld devices. You can even obtain the audio version of many of our summaries.
Subscribe today to gain access to this summary as well as many other compelling titles!