A rollicking guide to a lifetime of choices, the newest book from internationally bestselling author and economist Daniel Altman offers tips, tricks, and sharp advice for successful decisions, whether you're picking a restaurant for dinner or buying a house. Pre-order the book right now:
Stuck wondering whether to sell your house? Can’t get a good deal on a used car? Not to worry—economics can help. That’s because economics isn’t just about charts, markets, and prices. It’s also the science of decisions, full of pointers and principles for maximizing your wellbeing every day.
Bestselling economist Daniel Altman cracks open the vault of microeconomics, revealing razor-sharp thinking that is refreshingly, actually useful. Through thirty real-world decisions—from “what’s for dinner?” to “how many kids should we have?”—he shows how a small, accessible dose of economics can unlock big gains in time, money, and sanity.
The Best Decisions You’ll Ever Make is an essential toolkit for snapping out of decision paralysis and coming out ahead in every tradeoff. It’s an empowering, entertaining user’s manual that you’ll return to again and again—one that’ll supercharge every choice you make.
Daniel Altman is an economist and internationally bestselling author who brings rigorous analysis to the biggest questions in the global economy — and makes the answers accessible to everyone.
He began his career as the London-based economics correspondent for The Economist and went on to become one of the youngest-ever members of the editorial board of The New York Times. In between stints in journalism, he served as an economic advisor in the British government.
Daniel is the creator of the Baseline Profitability Index, ranking 100+ countries for attractiveness of foreign direct investment. He launched the index while working as senior editor for economics at Foreign Policy.
Daniel was most recently the chief economist at Instawork, an online labor market for hourly work, and previously served as director of thought leadership at Dalberg and head of strategy at Kaplan-Levien Sports Group. He founded smarterscout, the first public advanced analytics platform for soccer players, which was acquired by Vantage FC in 2023.
Inquire About Advisory WorkDaniel is represented by the American Program Bureau and speaks to audiences at investment conferences, corporate events, and policy forums around the world. He speaks in English, Spanish, and French.
Created by Daniel Altman, the BPI is the only benchmark that ranks countries for foreign direct investment based on proceeds that can actually be repatriated, not just in-country returns. The BPI combines generation of profit, preservation of value, and repatriation of capital into a single, actionable score based on empirically assessed risks.
