Recommendations...

Today I had to turn in the choice and welfare essay...and last night Erica and I, after a day of writing, decided to get inspired and go to this movie.."In pursuit of happiness"...since it's so related to the topic we were writing about and since Will Smith has a Best Actor nomination for Oscar for it.

And I tell you..it was a good call...because last night, after seeing it I thought that this was one of the most meaningful movies (on the topic) I had seen since "La vida e bella". Just one of those movies that in some bits inspire you and kick you in the ass saying that happiness depends entirely on you and your attitude. I especially liked the dinosaurs scene in the movie...when you'll see it, you'll understand what I'm taking about. It was a wonderful movie...And the noodles from Guacamamma we sneaked into the cinema likewise...:P Thank you Erica :)

The second thing I put in my post is a book that was recommended to me...so I haven't read it yet, but I am getting it this week possibly. I have heard at least from 3 people that it's worthwhile reading. The book is called Freakonomics and you can find some words about it and the movie below.

The pursuit of happiness

Chris Gardner is a bright and talented, but marginally employed salesman. Struggling to make ends meet, Gardner finds himself and his five-year-old son evicted from their San Francisco apartment with nowhere to go. When Gardner lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, he and his son endure many hardships, including living in shelters, in pursuit of his dream of a better life for the two of them.
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thepursuitofhappyness/

About "Freakonomics"

Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime?

These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much-heralded young scholar who studies the riddles of everyday life-from cheating and crime to sports and child-rearing — and whose conclusions regularly turn the conventional wisdom on its head. He usually begins with a mountain of data and a simple, unasked question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: Freakonomics.

Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and co-author Stephen J. Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives - how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freakonomics, they set out to explore the hidden side of — well, everything. The inner workings of a crack gang. The truth about real-estate agents. The myths of campaign finance. The telltale marks of a cheating schoolteacher. The secrets of the Ku Klux Klan.

Freakonomics establishes this unconventional premise: if morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work. It is true that readers of this book will be armed with enough riddles and stories to last a thousand cocktail parties. But Freakonomics can provide more than that. It will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.

Just in case this sounds interesting to you, here is the blog of the authors: http://www.freakonomics.com/blog/