Allison Schrager

An Economist Walks Into A Brothel

We often find ourselves trying to manage uncertainty, whether it's a big career move or a personal decision, and we instinctively look for safety nets, for rules, for insurance. But what happens when those structures aren't there? When the stakes are incredibly high, and the formal systems we rely on simply don't exist, or are actively avoided? Allison Schrager, an economist, steps into these extreme worlds – from brothels to professional poker tables, from stunt performers to exotic dancers – to observe how people actually navigate risk, incentives, and imperfect information. She uncovers the informal, often ingenious, economic systems that emerge when survival is on the line, revealing a universal human ingenuity in the face of chaos. This isn't about judging these worlds, but about seeing them as laboratories for understanding fundamental economic truths that apply to all of us, offering a sharper lens for our own decisions when the path ahead is unclear. It makes you wonder how much of our own 'rational' behavior is simply a response to the hidden currents of incentive.