Summary An Economic way of looking at life by Gary Becker - Essay Example

Summary “An Economic Way of Looking at Life” by Gary Becker April 10, Summary “An Economic Way of Looking at Life” by Gary BeckerGary Becker in “An Economic Way if Looking at Life” postulates that economic way of looking at life echoes the relationship between day to day economy and human behavior; their way of thinking and reasoning when handling social aspects such as crime, family, marriage, discrimination among others. Economic way of looking at life covers a scope of various methods of economic analysis.

It raises individuals into a different thinking level during decision making and the understanding of the today’s economic market and society in general. Simply put economics helps in analyzing different human behaviors and especially on monetary issues (Becker, 1993).Economic way of looking at life helps individuals to know moral pathways and how to be ethical in economics. In chapter 7, social issues that are discussed are termed as labor supply, which in it you find household production, the family, and the life cycle which can be well analyzed by economic way of looking at life.

In making household decisions, certain factors have to be in mind. Some of these factors are, the economy, time, income and individuals involved. In household decision making, one of the key attribute is the size. For instance the size of the family and number of children dictate the economic way of living of that family. Often, women in society have a role in bearing and raising a certain number of children and carrying out farm works as opposed to men who work in outside jobs in various offices.

Economic analysis of this kind of decision shows that the labor force is low compared to the size of the family. This is because, the income from the couple would be more compared to when only the male individual is working. If the latter is used it would mean poor living standards as the family is growing.As regards to whether families uses more by consuming purchased goods as opposed to home made goods also differs if we analyze using our knowledge on economic way of looking at life. Although there is no such a big difference between the two, if things such as labor and the time spent to produce the home made goods are considered, economic wise consuming household good will carry the day since leisure is achieved and no supervision when producing them.

In a later age, household decision on when to retire comes in. The topic about taking care of yet grown up children and on the other hand, older children taking care of the aged parents is dominant. These two are interconnected and each of them is crucial and important. Analysis of this economically will show a relationship between the two hence keen decisions are importantly made. It’s therefore advised that parents should make investment in their children by giving them the best education, instilling them with the good morals and behavior for they will pay better in future than savings in the bank.

In conclusion, the understanding of the economic way of looking into life is an important aspect because it gives knowledge and skills in decision making when handling economic matters.ReferencesBecker, G. S. (1993). The economic way of looking at life. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Law School.