Books by Brendan O'Flaherty

Crime and punishment occur under extreme uncertainty. Offenders, victims, police, judges, and jurors make high-stakes decisions with limited information under severe time pressure. With compelling stories and data on how people act and react, O'Flaherty and Sethi reveal the extent to which we rely on stereotypes as shortcuts in our decision making.

The first full-scale economic analysis of homelessness, Making Room provides answers quite unlike those offered so far. Focused on six cities in America and Europe, Brendan O'Flaherty discusses the new homelessness as a response to changes in the housing market which is linked to a widening gap in the incomes of the rich and the poor.

This introductory textbook on the economics of cities is for students of urban and regional policy and of undergraduate economics. It deals with standard topics, including transportation, pollution, housing, and education, but also discusses topics such as segregation, water supply, sewerage, garbage, homelessness, crime, and economic development.

Brendan O'Flaherty brings the tools of economic analysis-incentives, equilibrium, optimization-to bear on racial issues. From health care, housing, and education, to employment, wealth, and crime, he shows how racial differences powerfully determine American lives, and how progress in one area is often constrained by diminishing returns in another.