Traditional economics plays a key role in our understanding of the world and the economy that runs it. However, as authors George A. Akerlof and Robert Shiller attest in their book Animal Spirits, a major economic influencer is missing if one simply examines mainstream economics for problems facing the economy. . This missing element is animal spirits, which obviously inspired the title of their book. The so-called animal spirits consist of five main drivers: trust, fairness, corruption, financial illusion and stories. Essentially, the authors argue that mainstream economics views people as completely rational beings, which is just a fairy tale. Humans have emotions and we can be irrationally influenced by these emotions. The authors argue that the irrationalities humans possess are at the root of many of the problems we face in today's economic world, including the recent recession of 2008 and the staggering statistics behind minority poverty. In this book was chapter thirteen, entitled "Why is there particular poverty among minorities?" » This chapter addresses the question of why, in a world of supposed equality, there still seems to be a worrying level of inequality, particularly among African Americans. The facts and statistics are shocking and horrifying. While only about 10% of whites and Hispanics are unemployed, 25% of African Americans are unemployed (Shiller 163). “Astonishingly, a young black man's lifetime chance of entering prison exceeds 25 percent (Shiller 158).” The poverty rate for African Americans is triple that of whites (Shiller 157). By simply looking at these numbers, it is easy to see that something is hindering African Americans, and animal spirits are helping...... middle of paper ...... all statistics between blacks and whites can be attributed to the animal. minds, especially trust, fairness and stories. These animal spirits have served as an explanation for many problems that the world has faced, especially in economic terms. Recessions are caused by a lack of confidence or, as in the recent housing bubble crash, by overconfidence. Unemployment can occur due to perceptions of fairness. And, as seen in Boyz in the Hood, stories can lead people into unfortunate situations. When we consider animal spirits, we can begin to find the reasons why certain events occur. When using animal spirits, it is important to remember that humans are not rational beings. We have emotions, passions, and interests that can cause us to act irrationally. As irrational beings, we need animal spirits, not traditional economics.