Daryl Fairweather, Chief Economist at Redfin and the first Black woman to earn an economics PhD from the University of Chicago, dives into the practical application of economic principles in everyday life. She shares actionable insights on navigating relationships and careers, emphasizing the importance of understanding economic systems. From behavioral biases in home buying to leveraging game theory in personal negotiations, Fairweather advocates for a strategic approach to decision-making. Her focus on social justice and economic fairness reshapes how we think about property taxes and community engagement.
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Economic Cheat Codes for Life
Use economics principles to achieve life goals, in career or personal life.
Focus on these principles to steadily progress and gain control.
insights INSIGHT
Practical Economics vs. Freakonomics
Fairweather’s book focuses on everyday life decisions unlike Levitt's broader look at economics in unexpected places.
Her book offers practical advice for personal situations.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Fairweather's Journey
Daryl Fairweather, first Black woman with a Chicago economics PhD, uses personal experiences to illustrate economic principles.
She transitioned from academia to the private sector using economic intuition.
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A Backstage Tour of What the Music Industry Can Teach Us About Economics and Life
Alan B. Krueger
Rockonomics explores the economics of the music industry, highlighting how technological changes have transformed revenue streams, with live concerts becoming a primary source of income for artists. The book also delves into broader economic concepts such as superstars, inequality, and the gig economy, using the music industry as a case study. Krueger discusses how musicians can succeed in the digital age and how economic lessons from the music industry apply to other sectors.
Freakonomics
A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Andrea Montero Cusset
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Freakonomics is a collaboration between economist Steven D. Levitt and journalist Stephen J. Dubner that delves into the riddles of everyday life, from cheating and crime to parenting and sports. The book argues that economics is fundamentally the study of incentives and how people get what they want or need, especially when others want or need the same thing. It covers various topics such as the inner workings of a crack gang, the truth about real estate agents, and the secrets of the Ku Klux Klan, using forceful storytelling and wry insight to challenge conventional wisdom.
Lean In
Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
Sheryl Sandberg
In 'Lean In,' Sheryl Sandberg combines personal anecdotes, hard data, and compelling research to address the challenges women face in their careers. The book encourages women to 'sit at the table,' seek challenges, take risks, and pursue their goals with gusto. Sandberg provides practical advice on negotiation techniques, mentorship, and building a satisfying career, while also discussing the importance of work-life balance and equal partnership in household responsibilities. The book aims to change the conversation from what women can’t do to what they can, and it recognizes the structural and internal barriers that women face in achieving leadership roles[2][4][5].
Hate the Game
Economic Cheat Codes for Life, Love, and Work
Daryl Fairweather
In 'Hate the Game', Daryl Fairweather applies high-level economic concepts such as game theory and behavioral economics to everyday life decisions, offering strategies for navigating career, relationships, and personal choices. The book combines personal anecdotes with historical and pop culture references to make economics accessible and empowering for readers.
The secret insights of economics, translated for the rest of us. Should I buy or rent? Do I ask for a promotion? Should I tell people I’m pregnant? What salary do I deserve? Should I just quit this job? Common anxieties about life are often grounded in economics. In an increasingly win-lose society, these economic decisions—where to work, where to live, even how to live—have a way of feeling fixed and mistakes terminal. Daryl Fairweather is no stranger to these dynamics. As the first Black woman to receive an economics PhD from the famed University of Chicago, she saw firsthand how concepts of behavioral economics and game theory were deployed in the real world—and in her own life—to great effect.
Hate the Game: Economic Cheat Codes for Life, Love, and Work (U Chicago Press, 2025) combines Fairweather’s elite knowledge of these principles with her singular voice in describing how they can be harnessed. Her great talent, unique among economists, is her ability to articulate economic trends in a way that is not just informative, but also accounts for life’s other anxieties. In Hate the Game, Fairweather fixes her expertise and service on navigating the earliest economic inflection points of adult life: whether to go to college and for how long; partnering, having kids, both, or neither; getting, keeping, and changing jobs; and where to live and how to pay for it. She speaks in actionable terms about what the economy means for individual people, especially those who have the sneaking suspicion they’re losing out. Set against her own experiences and enriched with lessons from history, science, and pop culture, Fairweather instructs readers on how to use game theory and behavioral science to map out options and choose directions while offering readers a sense of control and agency in an economy where those things are increasingly rare.
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