Synopses & Reviews
A former White House director of economic policy makes the outrageous argument that we don't really want to relax-we want to compete. We think we will be happy when we have some downtime-when we can finally go on vacation, disconnect, shut down. But in this provocative book, Todd Buchholz will convince you that what you really want is to chase your tail-even if you never catch it.
Weaving in everything from neuroeconomics to evolutionary biology to renaissance art to General Motors, Buchholz will convince you that the race to compete has not only made us taller and smarter, it's what we love and need. Among the book's many counterintuitive takeaways are:
* Put off retirement-it can make you stupid.
* We all need to be control freaks.
* In-house competition is actually great for morale.
* Never let the ninth place team take home a trophy.
Witty, breezy, and very funny, Todd Buchholz shows that it's the race itself that literally delivers the rush, even if we never reach the finish line.
Review
“Wicked smart.” -Neil Cavuto, host of FOX's Your World
Review
“Surprising, intelligent, and entertaining.” -Leonard Mlodinow, author of The Grand Design
Review
“I found myself nodding so hard... that I almost cricked my neck.” -Lucy Kellaway, Financial Times
Synopsis
Relaxation makes us stupid
You think that downtime will make you happy. You may even dream about getting out of the rat race for good. But Todd Buchholz—a former White House director of economic policy, award-winning teacher at Harvard, hedge fund director, and co-producer of a Tony Award-winning Broadway hit show—wants you to know that you’re wrong. It’s the race that delivers the rush. So forget about retirement, zen retreats, and making everyone feel like a winner; human beings are hard-wired to compete. Interweaving entertaining stories and cutting-edge research from neuroeconomics to evolutionary biology to Renaissance art to General Motors, Buchholz draws the counterintuitive—yet wholly convincing—conclusion that competition has not only made us taller and smarter, it’s what we love and need.
About the Author
Todd G. Buchholz is an internationally acclaimed economist who advises ABC News, as well as some of the world's leading investment funds. He has served as a director of economic policy at the White House and is a contribuiting editor for Worth magazine. Buchholz holds advanced degrees from Cambridge University and Harvard Law School and was awarded the Allyn Young Teaching Prize by Harvard University's Department of Economics.