Journal of Economic Literature
Book Reviews
2026-09-01
Ming Hsu of University of California, Berkeley reviews “Midbrain Mutiny: The Picoeconomics and Neuroeconomics of Disordered Gambling: Economic Theory and Cognitive Science” by Don Ross, Carla Sharp, Rudy Vuchinich, David Spurrett,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Examines different economic models of disordered gambling, using the frameworks of neuroeconomics and picoeconomics, and drawing on empirical evidence about behavior and the brain. Discusses whether there is such a thing as addiction; gambling in scientific focus; picoeconomics, impulsive consumption, and disordered gambling; behavioral and psychological investigations of disordered gambling; the neuroeconomics of addiction; addictive gambling as the basic form of addiction; clinical evidence and implications; and the microexplanation of disordered gambling. Ross is Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Economics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Professor of Economics at the University of Cape Town. Sharp is Assistant Professor in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine. Vuchinich is Professor of Psychology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Spurrett is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Cognitive Science Program at the Howard College Campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Index.”