The Undercover Economist

Next up is The Undercover Economist, which I should finish on the flight home tomorrow. From what I gather it's in the same vein as Freakonomics. From the intro:

Your coffee is intriguing to the economist for another reason: he doesn't know how to make a cappuccino, and he knows that nobody else does either. Who, after all, could boast of being able to grow, pick, roast, and blend coffee, raise and milk cows, roll steel and mold plastics and assemble them into an espresso machine, and, finally, shape ceramics into a cute mug? Your cappuccino reflects the outcome of a system of staggering complexity. There isn't a single person in the world who could produce what it takes to make a cappuccino.

The economist knows that the cappuccino is the product of an incredible team effort. Not only that, there is nobody in charge of the team. Economist Paul Seabright reminds of us of the pleas of the Soviet official trying to comprehend the western system: "Tell me ... who is in charge of the supply of bread to the population of London?" The question is comical, but the answer -- nobody -- is dizzying.

I like it already!