Arguing About Tastes

David Kreps’ Arguing About Tastes masterfully delves into the concept of endogeneity of tastes. He takes his readers on an insightful journey which challenges conventional wisdom with refreshing perspective on the dynamic forces that shape our choices. -- George Akerlof, Nobel Laureate in Economics, 2001 Arrow and Debreu told us where to go to see how reality differs from perfect markets; Kreps's book tells us how to get there by mapping out a clear route to the place where preferences are formed. -- Oriana Bandiera, The London School of Economics Kreps, a brilliant economic theorist, shows how to bring intrinsic motivation, self-perception, and identity into thinking about contracts and organization. A persuasive argument for why intrinsic motives and identity should be part of economic modeling . -- Colin Camerer, California Institute of Technology Should economists deal with tastes? Or should de gustibus non est disputandum continue to reign? In Arguing About Tastes, David Kreps compellingly argues that it is time to pay attention to the formation and transformation of tastes to increase the realism and scope of economic theory. A nuanced, critical, and eye-opening book. -- Gerd Gigerenzer, Max Planck Institute for Human Development Arguing About Tastes is a bold venture into scantily charted territory in microeconomics - the land of endogenous preferences - but I can think of no better guide than David Kreps. Professor Kreps brings energy, humor and joy to the theory-building work that make this book a pleasure to read. -- Matthew Nagler, The Graduate Center, CUNY