Book review: The Economic Naturalist: In search of explanations for everyday enigmas

Why does it cost more money to transfer funds electronically than to send a check? Why don't school buses have seat belts? Why would a company give employees "free cars" instead of a cash bonus?

If you've ever wondered about questions like these -- or haven't but are now finding yourself curious about the answers -- Robert H. Frank's The Economic Naturalist is the book for you. It's a lot like Freakonomics -- and indeed was probably inspired by that book's success -- but has one key advantage: the explanations are shorter, which makes the book a quicker read, and allows space for answers to dozens of enigmas.

Here's my favorite: Why do women's clothes always button from the left while mens clothes always button from the right? According to Frank, it's because when buttons first appeared in the 1600s, only wealthy people could afford them. Back then, wealthy women were dressed by servants so it was easy for right-handed maid to button the lady's jacket from the left. Men dressed themselves and thus, for the average right-handed man, it was easier for garments to button from the right.

What does this have to do with economics? At its core, Frank argues, economics isn't about charts, graphs, monetary policy, or even business necessarily. It's about looking at the world in the context of cost-benefit analysis to try to understand why people do what they do.

If you hated high school or college economics -- and you have good reason, as these classes are generally incomprehensible and/or boring -- this book may just be the thing to turn you back on to a fascinating topic.