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The Undercover Economist #1
The Undercover Economist
With over one million copies sold, The Undercover Economist has been hailed worldwide as a fantastic guide to the fundamental principles of economics. An economist's version of The Way Things Work , this engaging volume is part Economics 101 and part exposé of the economic principles lurking behind daily events, explaining everything from traffic jams to high coffee prices.
New to this edition : This revised edition, newly updated to consider the banking crisis and economic turbulence of the last four years, is essential for anyone who has wondered why the gap between rich and poor nations is so great, or why they can't seem to find a decent second-hand car, or how to outwit Starbucks. Senior columnist for the Financial Times Tim Harford brings his experience and insight as he ranges from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the United States to reveal how supermarkets, airlines, and coffee chains--to name just a few--are vacuuming money from our wallets. Harford punctures the myths surrounding some of today's biggest controversies, including the high cost of health-care; he reveals why certain environmental laws can put a smile on a landlord's face; and he explains why some industries can have high profits for innocent reasons, while in other industries something sinister is going on.
Covering an array of economic concepts including scarce resources, market power, efficiency, price gouging, market failure, inside information, and game theory, Harford sheds light on how these forces shape our day-to-day lives, often without our knowing it. Showing us the world through the eyes of an economist, Tim Harford reveals that everyday events are intricate games of negotiations, contests of strength, and battles of wits. Written with a light touch and sly wit, The Undercover Economist turns "the dismal science" into a true delight.
New to this edition : This revised edition, newly updated to consider the banking crisis and economic turbulence of the last four years, is essential for anyone who has wondered why the gap between rich and poor nations is so great, or why they can't seem to find a decent second-hand car, or how to outwit Starbucks. Senior columnist for the Financial Times Tim Harford brings his experience and insight as he ranges from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the United States to reveal how supermarkets, airlines, and coffee chains--to name just a few--are vacuuming money from our wallets. Harford punctures the myths surrounding some of today's biggest controversies, including the high cost of health-care; he reveals why certain environmental laws can put a smile on a landlord's face; and he explains why some industries can have high profits for innocent reasons, while in other industries something sinister is going on.
Covering an array of economic concepts including scarce resources, market power, efficiency, price gouging, market failure, inside information, and game theory, Harford sheds light on how these forces shape our day-to-day lives, often without our knowing it. Showing us the world through the eyes of an economist, Tim Harford reveals that everyday events are intricate games of negotiations, contests of strength, and battles of wits. Written with a light touch and sly wit, The Undercover Economist turns "the dismal science" into a true delight.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
About the author
Tim Harford
41 books1,766 followersTim Harford is a member of the Financial Times editorial board. His column, “The Undercover Economist”, which reveals the economic ideas behind everyday experiences, is published in the Financial Times and syndicated around the world. He is also the only economist in the world to run a problem page, “Dear Economist”, in which FT readers’ personal problems are answered tongue-in-cheek with the latest economic theory.
--from the author's website
--from the author's website
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,370 reviews
October 25, 2008
There was a point at the start of this book when I thought I wasn’t going to make it to the end – or even past the start. It was when the market economy was described as The World of Truth. ‘Oh god’, I thought, ‘this can only mean one thing…’
But I was wrong. This was a much better book than I thought it was going to end up. It was quite slow at the start when he was talking about Starbucks and pricing policies – but my interest picked up when he discussed two computer printers made by IBM in which the only difference between them was that a chip was added to the cheaper one to make it run more slowly. That is, of the two printers the expensive one was cheaper to produce and was then nobbled to make it run more slowly and this surreal exercise was so as to create a price comparison between the two models.
After explaining why the market is magnificent he does then modify this by explaining that the market does have problems and blind spots and some ways incentives can be created to force the market to address these blind spots. There is an interesting discussion of game theory and a very comprehensive discussion of externalities which I found fascinating.
I kept comparing this book with Sowell’s Basic Economics. Both writers are very keen ‘the market is great’ types – but Harford is much less of a fundamentalist than Sowell.
I’m looking at getting hold of a Teaching Company introduction to Economics. I need to learn more about comparative advantage as advanced by Ricardo. Basically, the idea is that free trade doesn’t do all the bad things people think it does, because free trade encourages countries to focus on their comparative advantage. This was something that Sowell also discussed, but I found him so rabidly pro-market and pro-free trade that all I could hear was his playing with numbers. The idea is actually quite an interesting one.
Let’s say workers in the US can make both shoes and televisions, as can workers in Australia. The US workers can make 1000 shoes in an hour and 50 televisions. The workers in Australia can make 500 shoes and 5 televisions in an hour. Ricardo says that even though the US workers can make more of both products than the Australian workers can they would be better off making just televisions and trading with Australia for shoes – as Australia has a comparative advantage in making shoes over Australia making televisions and if both countries do what they do ‘best’ then both will be better off. It doesn’t seem to make sense – but both Sowell and Harford show clearly that when countries play to their comparative advantages they are, in fact, better off.
In both books this also leads to the idea that I should give up my self imposed ban on Nike products – as despite the horrible, sweatshop conditions that Nike creates and profits from, those conditions are better for the workers in third world countries than the existing conditions outside of those workshops are. I’m going to have to read more about this.
Harford isn’t as smug as Sowell, but that has meant he has made me think about things much more than Sowell was ever likely to. For example, he talks about the nexus between environmental destruction and economic progress. This is something my friends and I talk about quite often over an Indian lamb curry. The problem is that we know that we consume a disproportionate share of the world’s resources. We know that the rest of the world can’t possibly share our lifestyle. So, then what? Should we actively stop the third world from developing? Are we ever likely to live simpler, more environmentally sustainable lives in the West? Well, it seems very unlikely. Where Sowell simply denies there is a problem, Harford proposes ways of addressing these issues which are not just saying ‘there’s no place like the market’ over and over again while clicking your heels together.
Central to these are ways of manipulating the ‘pure’ operation of the market so as to take into consideration market failures, such as ecological collapse. He proposes that this be done by putting a value on the production of CO2 or other pollutants and allowing the market to then adjust to that cost.
As he says at the end of the book – morally, development seems to be the only possible solution. I just wish I could believe that when confronted with a choice between a bigger television set and the end of the world that people would make the right choice. Given the number of SUVs on the streets (and despite the cost to run them) I have no reason for any such confidence.
I really need to read a leftwing guide to basic economics that deals with these issues in a comprehensive way.
But I was wrong. This was a much better book than I thought it was going to end up. It was quite slow at the start when he was talking about Starbucks and pricing policies – but my interest picked up when he discussed two computer printers made by IBM in which the only difference between them was that a chip was added to the cheaper one to make it run more slowly. That is, of the two printers the expensive one was cheaper to produce and was then nobbled to make it run more slowly and this surreal exercise was so as to create a price comparison between the two models.
After explaining why the market is magnificent he does then modify this by explaining that the market does have problems and blind spots and some ways incentives can be created to force the market to address these blind spots. There is an interesting discussion of game theory and a very comprehensive discussion of externalities which I found fascinating.
I kept comparing this book with Sowell’s Basic Economics. Both writers are very keen ‘the market is great’ types – but Harford is much less of a fundamentalist than Sowell.
I’m looking at getting hold of a Teaching Company introduction to Economics. I need to learn more about comparative advantage as advanced by Ricardo. Basically, the idea is that free trade doesn’t do all the bad things people think it does, because free trade encourages countries to focus on their comparative advantage. This was something that Sowell also discussed, but I found him so rabidly pro-market and pro-free trade that all I could hear was his playing with numbers. The idea is actually quite an interesting one.
Let’s say workers in the US can make both shoes and televisions, as can workers in Australia. The US workers can make 1000 shoes in an hour and 50 televisions. The workers in Australia can make 500 shoes and 5 televisions in an hour. Ricardo says that even though the US workers can make more of both products than the Australian workers can they would be better off making just televisions and trading with Australia for shoes – as Australia has a comparative advantage in making shoes over Australia making televisions and if both countries do what they do ‘best’ then both will be better off. It doesn’t seem to make sense – but both Sowell and Harford show clearly that when countries play to their comparative advantages they are, in fact, better off.
In both books this also leads to the idea that I should give up my self imposed ban on Nike products – as despite the horrible, sweatshop conditions that Nike creates and profits from, those conditions are better for the workers in third world countries than the existing conditions outside of those workshops are. I’m going to have to read more about this.
Harford isn’t as smug as Sowell, but that has meant he has made me think about things much more than Sowell was ever likely to. For example, he talks about the nexus between environmental destruction and economic progress. This is something my friends and I talk about quite often over an Indian lamb curry. The problem is that we know that we consume a disproportionate share of the world’s resources. We know that the rest of the world can’t possibly share our lifestyle. So, then what? Should we actively stop the third world from developing? Are we ever likely to live simpler, more environmentally sustainable lives in the West? Well, it seems very unlikely. Where Sowell simply denies there is a problem, Harford proposes ways of addressing these issues which are not just saying ‘there’s no place like the market’ over and over again while clicking your heels together.
Central to these are ways of manipulating the ‘pure’ operation of the market so as to take into consideration market failures, such as ecological collapse. He proposes that this be done by putting a value on the production of CO2 or other pollutants and allowing the market to then adjust to that cost.
As he says at the end of the book – morally, development seems to be the only possible solution. I just wish I could believe that when confronted with a choice between a bigger television set and the end of the world that people would make the right choice. Given the number of SUVs on the streets (and despite the cost to run them) I have no reason for any such confidence.
I really need to read a leftwing guide to basic economics that deals with these issues in a comprehensive way.
July 29, 2009
Harford says he's going to tell you how the world really works, how economics provides insight into our activity. What he really tells you is how awesome the world would be if it was run by economists and everybody always acted rationally, if by 'rationally' you mean the economics jargon of 'assigning a monetary value to every single action/object in life' and not the common usage of 'according to the rules of logic'.
You can also find out how poverty is easy to fix (you just move the starting blocks, dummy!), sweatshops are not evil (because workers there earn more money than if they'd stayed on the farm, silly!) and fair trade is useless (because it only solves a problem for the people who participate in it, not for the whole world).
It's not that he's wrong about these things, because in a limited sort of way he's entirely correct. It's that he's completely blind to the underlying assumptions that economic theory makes. He provides anecdotes to prove his point, instead of data. And he never acknowledges the difficulties involved in implementing his 'solutions'.
It's not a bad book, it's just naive. And given the recent global financial crisis, the bragging and smugness of his worldview are particularly galling - financiers acted exactly as 'rationally' as economists predicted, and look what that got us.
Why did I keep reading this annoying book? Because I'm a glutton for punishment, apparently.
You can also find out how poverty is easy to fix (you just move the starting blocks, dummy!), sweatshops are not evil (because workers there earn more money than if they'd stayed on the farm, silly!) and fair trade is useless (because it only solves a problem for the people who participate in it, not for the whole world).
It's not that he's wrong about these things, because in a limited sort of way he's entirely correct. It's that he's completely blind to the underlying assumptions that economic theory makes. He provides anecdotes to prove his point, instead of data. And he never acknowledges the difficulties involved in implementing his 'solutions'.
It's not a bad book, it's just naive. And given the recent global financial crisis, the bragging and smugness of his worldview are particularly galling - financiers acted exactly as 'rationally' as economists predicted, and look what that got us.
Why did I keep reading this annoying book? Because I'm a glutton for punishment, apparently.
January 23, 2013
قبل كتابة الريفيو فى ملاحظة بسيطة
اولا الكتاب ده حقق مبيعات عالية فى كذا دولة و مترجم لأكثر من لغة و لما دخلت على صفحة الكتاب لقيت أكثر من 370 صفحة من بين ريفيوهات و تقييمات و لما دخلت على نسخة الكتاب العربية لقيت صفحة واحدة و فيها 3 ريفيوهات .. و إن دل على شىء يدل أننا مجتمع معندوش أى وعى اقتصادى و مش بيحلم أنه يكون عنده وعى اقتصادى
ده مش دليل قوى .. ممكن يكون الناس بتقرا كتب اقتصادية تانية . مع انى أشك الصراحة فى كده
غالبية المثقفين العرب مبيهتموش الا بالروايات اللى بيتكلم عن العالم المثالى اللى مش موجود اصلا
المهم ان الكتاب للمعلومات اللى اتعلمتها منه يستحق خمسة من خمسة .. معلومات جديدة كليا بالنسبالى بداية بالاقتصاد الى يهم الفرد العادى لما يدخل اى محل عشان يبدأ السباق بينه و بين البائع اللى عايز يديك اسوأ سلعة بأعلى سعر و انتا عايز احسن سلعة بأقل سعر و غالبا بيكون البايع هو الكسبان لكسل المشترى انه يجادل معاه شوية
مرورا بالنظام الاقتصادى عموما اللى بين فيه الكاتب نظريات لمفكرين اقتصاديين كبار بجمل بسيطة و تجارب دول و عرض وجهة نظره فى ضريبة التأثير الخارجى اللى اقتنعت بيها نسبياً
و افضل فصول الكتاب بالنسبالى لما اتكلم عن الكاميرون و سر فقر الدول الفقيرة عموماً ، و اللامبالاة اللى من النظام الكاميرونى و الشعب على حد سواء تجاه الفشل الاقتصادى و السبب كالتالى
و الفصل الأخير اللى بيتكلم عن الصين اللى كانت فى خمسينيات القرن الماضى أفقر من الكاميرون و لما بدأت النمو الاقتصادى فى عهد ماوتسى بدأت من أسوأ نقطة بداية تسببت فى مجاعة راح ضحيتها أكتر من 30 مليون شخص !!
لكن بعد ماوتسى و سياسياته العقيمة بخمس سنين بالظبط فى عهد الزعيم دينج بقت الصين دولة غنية و أسرع الدول فى النمو الاقتصادى فى التاريخ البشرى كله !! ممكن تعرف ازاى لما تقرا الكتاب
بس الكاتب رجع االسبب الأساسى وراء النمو الاقتصادى السريع ده للى قاله فى الفصل الثامن
و اللى زار الصين التسعينات و زارها بعدها بعشر سنوات زى ما عمل الكاتب مش تبقى على لسانه الا جملة واحدة زى م قال الكاتب برضه " يا للعجب ، يا إلهى " !! " عموما لازم نفتح عقولنا على أفكار جديدة و منقراش نوع واحد بس من الكتب
* الكتاب يحتاج قراية بتأنى
اولا الكتاب ده حقق مبيعات عالية فى كذا دولة و مترجم لأكثر من لغة و لما دخلت على صفحة الكتاب لقيت أكثر من 370 صفحة من بين ريفيوهات و تقييمات و لما دخلت على نسخة الكتاب العربية لقيت صفحة واحدة و فيها 3 ريفيوهات .. و إن دل على شىء يدل أننا مجتمع معندوش أى وعى اقتصادى و مش بيحلم أنه يكون عنده وعى اقتصادى
ده مش دليل قوى .. ممكن يكون الناس بتقرا كتب اقتصادية تانية . مع انى أشك الصراحة فى كده
غالبية المثقفين العرب مبيهتموش الا بالروايات اللى بيتكلم عن العالم المثالى اللى مش موجود اصلا
المهم ان الكتاب للمعلومات اللى اتعلمتها منه يستحق خمسة من خمسة .. معلومات جديدة كليا بالنسبالى بداية بالاقتصاد الى يهم الفرد العادى لما يدخل اى محل عشان يبدأ السباق بينه و بين البائع اللى عايز يديك اسوأ سلعة بأعلى سعر و انتا عايز احسن سلعة بأقل سعر و غالبا بيكون البايع هو الكسبان لكسل المشترى انه يجادل معاه شوية
مرورا بالنظام الاقتصادى عموما اللى بين فيه الكاتب نظريات لمفكرين اقتصاديين كبار بجمل بسيطة و تجارب دول و عرض وجهة نظره فى ضريبة التأثير الخارجى اللى اقتنعت بيها نسبياً
و افضل فصول الكتاب بالنسبالى لما اتكلم عن الكاميرون و سر فقر الدول الفقيرة عموماً ، و اللامبالاة اللى من النظام الكاميرونى و الشعب على حد سواء تجاه الفشل الاقتصادى و السبب كالتالى
و الفصل الأخير اللى بيتكلم عن الصين اللى كانت فى خمسينيات القرن الماضى أفقر من الكاميرون و لما بدأت النمو الاقتصادى فى عهد ماوتسى بدأت من أسوأ نقطة بداية تسببت فى مجاعة راح ضحيتها أكتر من 30 مليون شخص !!
لكن بعد ماوتسى و سياسياته العقيمة بخمس سنين بالظبط فى عهد الزعيم دينج بقت الصين دولة غنية و أسرع الدول فى النمو الاقتصادى فى التاريخ البشرى كله !! ممكن تعرف ازاى لما تقرا الكتاب
بس الكاتب رجع االسبب الأساسى وراء النمو الاقتصادى السريع ده للى قاله فى الفصل الثامن
و اللى زار الصين التسعينات و زارها بعدها بعشر سنوات زى ما عمل الكاتب مش تبقى على لسانه الا جملة واحدة زى م قال الكاتب برضه " يا للعجب ، يا إلهى " !! " عموما لازم نفتح عقولنا على أفكار جديدة و منقراش نوع واحد بس من الكتب
* الكتاب يحتاج قراية بتأنى
August 27, 2022
An insightful and accessible introduction to economical concepts. The trust in free markets feels a bit overly optimistic, but the overall mechanisms being explained by real life examples make this an enjoyable book
In a very accessible manner Tim Harford illustrate economic concepts, using coffee as a starting point, including the Power of scarcity, Bargaining power and Marginal (lands) underpinning all the prizes. I liked the accessibility and the tangible examples, but the elegance of the economic principles and ideas is seen in a bit too positive light by the author. Economics as a human science, leading to a world of truth, feels overly trusting. Still an interesting introduction to economics and a nice read.
Insights and notes
Green belt decreases alternatives to living in the vicinity of London, driving up housing prices.
Premium on scarcity (for instance service) leading to higher margins versus marginal service offerings.
Unions, associations, degrees and immigration influencing the wages of workers by influencing relative scarcity and stopping access to cheaper "options".
Tailoring of pricing based on the customer capacity to pay, instead of the price of production price, tapping excess demand for various consumer types.
Elasticity represents sensitivity to price, which could be dependent of location, income or group.
Price targeting, effecting what the consumer buys, being much more effective than overall higher price levels.
Sales (in the sense of being discounts) as a rotating system to trip up consumers to choose one or another supermarket.
Frighten the rich to choose the cheaper options, especially seen in airlines or making the supermarket brand ugly, to ensure max revenue.
Fungible goods make sales between groups of customers possible and limits possibility of price discrimination. More positively formulate, price targeting opening up new markets.
Transactions in a free market make buyers and sellers better off, or at least not worse off.
Signalling function of prices, where to invest in and how to adjust production.
Using lumpsum handouts and taxation to not disrupt markets, instead of adjusting overal tax rates.
Pricing externalities seem rather easy as an (elegant) concept and hard as a real world solution. That the theory could also be used to stimulate positive externalities was something I was not thinking of yet; a fresh perspective besides congestion pricing.
Information asymmetry requiring either signaling via expensive locations, brands or other signs of being bonafide or audits (agency theory) by third parties.
Access inside information (for instance by requiring a medical check up before getting health insurance) or setting an uncovered amount to make the insured aware.
Adverse selection and moral hazards are much well known from the financial crisis.
Random walk if all predictable share price movements have been incorporated into the share prices.
Long term price earning ratios being around 16, with a ratio of 30 only happened once in the 1900s.
Even the greatest railways of the 1800s never made exceptional returns for their shareholders.
Goldrush vision on economics, focussing on growth instead of efficiency and profit.
Game theory as a basis of modern day frequency auctions of governments.
Corrosive power of corruption on investments in development.
Comparative advantage chapter is very quaint on countries focussing on what they do best instead of taking into account geopolitical considerations and wish for autarky, however true it is that imports need to be paid by exports from countries.
A third of OECD farming revenue coming from government subsidies.
It’s hard to see where extra energy usage is coming from when we get rich enough - well tell that to Taylor Swift and her private jet usage
A lot feels like the message of Candide by Voltaire: we have the best world imaginable because of free markets. This seems excessively optimistic.
The last chapter, celebrating the rise of China with its embrace of worldwide trade, seems to ignore the catastrophic effects of the capitalistic system on the USSR in the 90s.
In a very accessible manner Tim Harford illustrate economic concepts, using coffee as a starting point, including the Power of scarcity, Bargaining power and Marginal (lands) underpinning all the prizes. I liked the accessibility and the tangible examples, but the elegance of the economic principles and ideas is seen in a bit too positive light by the author. Economics as a human science, leading to a world of truth, feels overly trusting. Still an interesting introduction to economics and a nice read.
Insights and notes
Green belt decreases alternatives to living in the vicinity of London, driving up housing prices.
Premium on scarcity (for instance service) leading to higher margins versus marginal service offerings.
Unions, associations, degrees and immigration influencing the wages of workers by influencing relative scarcity and stopping access to cheaper "options".
Tailoring of pricing based on the customer capacity to pay, instead of the price of production price, tapping excess demand for various consumer types.
Elasticity represents sensitivity to price, which could be dependent of location, income or group.
Price targeting, effecting what the consumer buys, being much more effective than overall higher price levels.
Sales (in the sense of being discounts) as a rotating system to trip up consumers to choose one or another supermarket.
Frighten the rich to choose the cheaper options, especially seen in airlines or making the supermarket brand ugly, to ensure max revenue.
Fungible goods make sales between groups of customers possible and limits possibility of price discrimination. More positively formulate, price targeting opening up new markets.
Transactions in a free market make buyers and sellers better off, or at least not worse off.
Signalling function of prices, where to invest in and how to adjust production.
Using lumpsum handouts and taxation to not disrupt markets, instead of adjusting overal tax rates.
Pricing externalities seem rather easy as an (elegant) concept and hard as a real world solution. That the theory could also be used to stimulate positive externalities was something I was not thinking of yet; a fresh perspective besides congestion pricing.
Information asymmetry requiring either signaling via expensive locations, brands or other signs of being bonafide or audits (agency theory) by third parties.
Access inside information (for instance by requiring a medical check up before getting health insurance) or setting an uncovered amount to make the insured aware.
Adverse selection and moral hazards are much well known from the financial crisis.
Random walk if all predictable share price movements have been incorporated into the share prices.
Long term price earning ratios being around 16, with a ratio of 30 only happened once in the 1900s.
Even the greatest railways of the 1800s never made exceptional returns for their shareholders.
Goldrush vision on economics, focussing on growth instead of efficiency and profit.
Game theory as a basis of modern day frequency auctions of governments.
Corrosive power of corruption on investments in development.
Comparative advantage chapter is very quaint on countries focussing on what they do best instead of taking into account geopolitical considerations and wish for autarky, however true it is that imports need to be paid by exports from countries.
A third of OECD farming revenue coming from government subsidies.
It’s hard to see where extra energy usage is coming from when we get rich enough - well tell that to Taylor Swift and her private jet usage
A lot feels like the message of Candide by Voltaire: we have the best world imaginable because of free markets. This seems excessively optimistic.
The last chapter, celebrating the rise of China with its embrace of worldwide trade, seems to ignore the catastrophic effects of the capitalistic system on the USSR in the 90s.
February 6, 2023
An upbeat version of Economics 101!
Using Ricardo's theory of rent seeking as a jumping off point, Tim Harford's THE UNDERCOVER ECONOMIST is an upbeat introduction to microeconomics couched in language that is accessible to the layman without being trite or boring for those that already have a solid grasp of the subject.
The first half of the books deals with a somewhat more modern version of standard theories of supply and demand, rent seeking, perfect and imperfect information, externalities and incentives. Modern examples such as the location of Starbucks and the cost of a double latte grande clarify the points completely.
In the second half of the book, Harford moves into the realm of macroeconomics dealing with issues such as taxation, government subsidies, incentives and disincentives related to externalities, the seemingly endless cycle of poverty in third world countries, the theory of comparative advantages, third world dictatorship and communist government policies as contrasted with democratic capitalist economies, education and so on.
Not quite a treatise on macroeconomics, Harford makes the subject infinitely more interesting by exploring the margins of the topic and explaining how such macroeconomic considerations drift into the world of microeconomics and affect such basics as pricing, supply, demand, production and incentives.
Perhaps the most interesting chapter in the entire book was Harford's brief explanation of the mathematics of game theory and how economic game theorists constructed a series of government auctions to attempt to sell frequencies for cellphone licences to the highest bidding communications companies. The devil was obviously in the details as one auction succeeded beyond the wildest expectations of the government policy wonks whereas another garnered less than 1% of the anticipated revenue for the sale. Another chapter that will raise more than a few eyebrows explained in some depth why the world should welcome the globalization of trade and the elimination of trade barriers entirely.
Informative and entertaining, somewhat more academic in approach than the likes of FREAKONOMICS, THE UNDERCOVER ECONOMIST is good reading for anyone who would like to have a deeper understanding of what makes the world's economies tick.
Paul Weiss
Using Ricardo's theory of rent seeking as a jumping off point, Tim Harford's THE UNDERCOVER ECONOMIST is an upbeat introduction to microeconomics couched in language that is accessible to the layman without being trite or boring for those that already have a solid grasp of the subject.
The first half of the books deals with a somewhat more modern version of standard theories of supply and demand, rent seeking, perfect and imperfect information, externalities and incentives. Modern examples such as the location of Starbucks and the cost of a double latte grande clarify the points completely.
In the second half of the book, Harford moves into the realm of macroeconomics dealing with issues such as taxation, government subsidies, incentives and disincentives related to externalities, the seemingly endless cycle of poverty in third world countries, the theory of comparative advantages, third world dictatorship and communist government policies as contrasted with democratic capitalist economies, education and so on.
Not quite a treatise on macroeconomics, Harford makes the subject infinitely more interesting by exploring the margins of the topic and explaining how such macroeconomic considerations drift into the world of microeconomics and affect such basics as pricing, supply, demand, production and incentives.
Perhaps the most interesting chapter in the entire book was Harford's brief explanation of the mathematics of game theory and how economic game theorists constructed a series of government auctions to attempt to sell frequencies for cellphone licences to the highest bidding communications companies. The devil was obviously in the details as one auction succeeded beyond the wildest expectations of the government policy wonks whereas another garnered less than 1% of the anticipated revenue for the sale. Another chapter that will raise more than a few eyebrows explained in some depth why the world should welcome the globalization of trade and the elimination of trade barriers entirely.
Informative and entertaining, somewhat more academic in approach than the likes of FREAKONOMICS, THE UNDERCOVER ECONOMIST is good reading for anyone who would like to have a deeper understanding of what makes the world's economies tick.
Paul Weiss
June 3, 2007
I'm a sucker for pop books about economics, and this is the best of the breed -- better, even, than that NYT bestseller Freakonomics. Why? Because Harford, unlike Levitt, actually explains the reasoning and the data he used to follow a problem from its formulation through to its conclusions. He also addresses classic economic problems--why is it hard to buy a used car? why do all the restaurants in Times Square suck? etc., as compared to why you should name your child "Tova". His chapter on health care and why it's so difficult to get a system that works is one of the clearest explanations of the problems and potential solutions that I've read anywhere.
January 15, 2009
Like a bad cup of coffee, I'm already struggling to force this down. As a former World Bank employee and Financial Times editor it will come as no surprise that Hardford thinks trade unions and free healthcare are bad, sweatshops are good and the free market will fix everything. There's something to be said for knowing your enemy, but The Undercover Economist's smug, patronising tone and Harford's self-avowed preference for armchair reasoning will have you grinding your teeth in frustration.
December 10, 2021
An introduction to economics for the everyman and everywoman? I think the parts where they just explain how things are meant to work are fine, but when the book tips over to ideology which it does quite often, I'm not so sure. This book did feel like a softly-softly, but not that really softly promotion of American capitalism, which would work if we all behaved rationally right?
Still worth a read to see how it all works / meant to work in the United States, but I'm OK with free healthcare, organised unions etc. in the UK. 5 out of 12. DISCLAIMER - I wrote this short review 12 years after the reading the book.
2007 read
Still worth a read to see how it all works / meant to work in the United States, but I'm OK with free healthcare, organised unions etc. in the UK. 5 out of 12. DISCLAIMER - I wrote this short review 12 years after the reading the book.
2007 read
September 24, 2018
A long time ago I did an economics degree. Like most of the stuff I studied on my various degrees it has mostly passed back out of my brain through a lack of active use. I found this book to be a useful reminder of some basic economics packaged up in easy to understand every day concepts. I put this in that category of making complicated subjects easy to understand. Nicely written and not to difficult to follow.
The book was published in 2006 - and at some points it does feel a little quaint. Questioning Amazon's $40 share price, and explaining that the claim that one day there will only be 4 major internet portals is nonsense because there is no barriers to entry seem slightly amusing now. (Does anyone even use the term "internet portal" anymore?). On top of that, this is definitely in the school of free-market economics and if your philosophy/politics is more interventionist and less laissez-faire you might find a few arguments less convincing. Nevertheless a good read.
The book was published in 2006 - and at some points it does feel a little quaint. Questioning Amazon's $40 share price, and explaining that the claim that one day there will only be 4 major internet portals is nonsense because there is no barriers to entry seem slightly amusing now. (Does anyone even use the term "internet portal" anymore?). On top of that, this is definitely in the school of free-market economics and if your philosophy/politics is more interventionist and less laissez-faire you might find a few arguments less convincing. Nevertheless a good read.
September 7, 2012
كتاب رائع مليء بمعلومات جديدة ومفيدة، شرح جوانب عديدة من الإقتصاد بطريقة ممتعة نمّت شغفي لعلم الاقتصاد،
جاوب على تساؤلات كثيرة كانت تدور في ذهني.. أظن أنني سأعود لقراءته مرة أخرى..
ترجمة عربية ممتازة!
جاوب على تساؤلات كثيرة كانت تدور في ذهني.. أظن أنني سأعود لقراءته مرة أخرى..
ترجمة عربية ممتازة!
June 15, 2015
In the UK Tim Harford presents a radio show called "More or Less", which debunks the sort of dubious and selectively presented statistics peddled alike by governments, opposition politicians, NGOs and pressure groups. I occasionally catch the show and it was this knowledge of the author that led me to get this book. As a layman to the subject I found this a thought-provoking read. I didn't read it that quickly, mainly because I would often stop and think about the implications of something I had just read. My interest also waxed and waned across the various chapters but at its best this book was nothing short of fascinating. I didn't think beforehand that I was particularly naive about big corporations, but after reading this I see that I was! Most of all I was astonished at the revelations about IBM and Intel (which I won't describe to avoid spoilers). I also particularly enjoyed the section on the application of Game Theory to devise the format of the auction for 3G mobile phone licences in the UK, something that produced a massive boost for the UK taxpayer and a lot of tears and snotters from the operators of the mobile networks. Overall the author mounts a strong defence of free trade and the free market, so this might not please those with set political views to the contrary, but this book is very far from a paen to unbridled capitalism. Oh, and as promised by the blurb, I really do now know why someone like myself never ends up with a good deal when buying a second hand car!
July 29, 2018
An essential one for every economics students. The practical approach towards everyday walk of life. There are no any conventional ideas that can let you down or give you the feeling of reading a boring academic book.
June 3, 2012
Rereading it several years later, and with a bit more background in econ, I still find it informational and entertaining, but it highlights some of the frustrations I have with econ: great for revealing insights, a struggle when it comes to applying it to public policy. Sweatshops are better than the alternative, and given time (decades) lead to prosperity, but people are still suffering today, right now, so how do you address that without throwing off the progress over time? (Note: I don't know either! I'm just saying.)
***
Original review:
For me, the standard in "Economics for People Who Hate Economics" books is Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, which opened my mind to all the things economists studied besides just GNP and GDP. This is another entry in the field, and I liked it as much or more than Freakonomics.
Harford does a fantastic job of explaining basic economic theory in even more basic terms, using examples like Starbucks, the government of China, and traffic congestion to make his point. He's got a great sense of humor and a good turn of phrase. I still don't feel like I could carry on a conversation about economics, but after this book I feel like I could eavesdrop on one and follow along reasonably well.
Now, can someone find me a book like this that makes statistics seem fun and comprehensible? I would love you forever.
***
Original review:
For me, the standard in "Economics for People Who Hate Economics" books is Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, which opened my mind to all the things economists studied besides just GNP and GDP. This is another entry in the field, and I liked it as much or more than Freakonomics.
Harford does a fantastic job of explaining basic economic theory in even more basic terms, using examples like Starbucks, the government of China, and traffic congestion to make his point. He's got a great sense of humor and a good turn of phrase. I still don't feel like I could carry on a conversation about economics, but after this book I feel like I could eavesdrop on one and follow along reasonably well.
Now, can someone find me a book like this that makes statistics seem fun and comprehensible? I would love you forever.
May 27, 2010
From buying a used car to purchasing health insurance, Harford takes a look at a variety of situations that can have a real pratical impact on how we look at some of our everday activities. His take on health care, and how it is dealt with differently in Britain and the United States, was perhaps the most meaningful topic for me.
Growing up, I constantly heard how poor the health care was in socialized medicine and how we should protect our market system. The problem is that our health care system clearly isn't working for us. Millions of American citizens are uninsured and we still spend more money per citizen than Britain, and they offer universal health care. How is that possible?
Harford goes on to talk about how health care as a business, like the used car business, causes problems. Namely, the buyer doesn't know what he is buying. In health care, Blueshield is essentially a buyer who doesn't know if it is buying a lemon, an unhealthy person, or healthy person. This lack of knowledge screws up the pricing which has huge ramifications on our pocketbooks. Harford also talks about the problems associated with universal health care in Britain. All in all, you come out thinking that we still haven't figured out the ideal health care system...but that we definitely need to try another one.
Growing up, I constantly heard how poor the health care was in socialized medicine and how we should protect our market system. The problem is that our health care system clearly isn't working for us. Millions of American citizens are uninsured and we still spend more money per citizen than Britain, and they offer universal health care. How is that possible?
Harford goes on to talk about how health care as a business, like the used car business, causes problems. Namely, the buyer doesn't know what he is buying. In health care, Blueshield is essentially a buyer who doesn't know if it is buying a lemon, an unhealthy person, or healthy person. This lack of knowledge screws up the pricing which has huge ramifications on our pocketbooks. Harford also talks about the problems associated with universal health care in Britain. All in all, you come out thinking that we still haven't figured out the ideal health care system...but that we definitely need to try another one.
December 3, 2007
This book was a fantastic overview of (what I think is) basic economic theory, but told in a way that made it incredibly readable. Harford is a great writer and manages to frame his topics in a way that is both highly relevant to real life while being simple enough that anyone can understand. It ranges from the small (the economics of Starbucks and how to prevent traffic jams) to the huge (why poor countries stay poor and how china became rich). I imagine that someone with a serious background in economics might not learn much, and therefore might not be impressed by this book, but for me it was perfect. A grown up Freakonomics for those who care more about the world around them and less about narrow topics like baby names and drug dealers.
December 31, 2008
The best bits are at the start (price targeting in coffee) and at the end (China's economic success). Best-selling, but not particularly brilliany by any means. The book's success - as it's author might testify - is probably down to the supply and demand ratio for economics books that aren't bloody dull.
February 9, 2021
I was set against Tim Harford on the very first page of this book, where he details his habit of reading books he has not yet purchased in the bookshop cafe, to see if he'd like to buy them. He writes as if this is normal behaviour and not the antics of a psychopath. Get your croissanty hands off the nice new books, Tim.
My opinions on Tim Harford's unfortunate bookshop habits aside, this is an overly simplistic book which relies far too heavily on anecdote. The writing style is unbearably pompous, and it also legitimately contains the line "it is obvious that paying people to be unemployed encourages unemployment". No, that isn't obvious at all, actually. He concludes this section with the following creepy and uncritical endorsement of the idea of "the deserving poor": "If the government could really tell how hard unemployed people were looking for jobs then it would be possible to pay more generous benefits to genuinely deserving recipients." (p.127). Grim.
My opinions on Tim Harford's unfortunate bookshop habits aside, this is an overly simplistic book which relies far too heavily on anecdote. The writing style is unbearably pompous, and it also legitimately contains the line "it is obvious that paying people to be unemployed encourages unemployment". No, that isn't obvious at all, actually. He concludes this section with the following creepy and uncritical endorsement of the idea of "the deserving poor": "If the government could really tell how hard unemployed people were looking for jobs then it would be possible to pay more generous benefits to genuinely deserving recipients." (p.127). Grim.
April 28, 2010
Whoever calls Tim Harford a die-hard free market fanatic should really do some research. For an economist this guy is almost a communist!
Really decent book. Quite informative even it had me thinking "doh, I knew that" on a couple of occasions.
And now I don't feel cheap when buying Tesco value products. I feel smart!
Really decent book. Quite informative even it had me thinking "doh, I knew that" on a couple of occasions.
And now I don't feel cheap when buying Tesco value products. I feel smart!
June 23, 2010
Harford offers a decent little introduction to some of the more basic applications of economics. I finished it in two days and I read slowly. The Undercover Economist is a short, easy, but ultimately forgettable read.
Perhaps it's my own fault for reading essentially the same narrowly focused nonfiction book on economics over and over and over again, but I literally received no new information here. Thomas Sowell's "Basic Economics" covers the same ideas in more intellectual depth while Levitt's "Freakonomics" covers similar ideas in a more exciting and novel way.
It's hard for me to criticize or fault Harford because nearly everything he says is accurate and well put. His arguments that free markets consist of many people making voluntary choices that are mutually beneficial, that poor countries are poor because of unreliable government protection of property rights, that China's Great Leap Forward cost tens of millions of lives, that command economies are inherently inefficient without a price system, and that externalities are market failures which may sometimes justify government intervention are spot on. It's just that I've heard this story a thousand times before. He's pushing an open door with me.
Kudos to Harford for speaking the truth and getting the message out there for those who haven't heard it. If you haven't heard the message from Ayn Rand, Thomas Woods Jr., Thomas Sowell, John Stossel, Murray Rothbard, Ron Paul, Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek, or the countless other conservative and libertarian economists, this book may be worth your while. If you've read any of the above authors, you needn't waste your time here. Either way, I will summarize some of Harford's big points.
1. Economic value arises out of the combination of usefulness and scarcity. As the population of England grew, fertile land became scarce and, therefore, more valuable.
2. Coffee and sandwich prices are high in airports, terminals, and big cities because of the underlying scarcity of the land on which the shops are built. When land is scarce, the landlords have bargaining power and can demand higher rent, which, in turn, requires the lessees to charge prices high enough to cover the higher rent.
3. Traffic would be most efficiently decongested by putting an externality charge on each trip. The trip is what adds pollution, noise, and cars to the road. By charging for that externality, actors can alter their behavior at the margin and decide every moment if they believe the cost is worthwhile. England has something similar to this by charging higher rates for road usage during rush hour.
4. Poor countries are poor because of government corruption, stiflingly high taxes, and massive amounts of red tape. It's a very simple point: the more hassle it is to start a business, the more one has to pay in taxes, and the less likely one is to be secure in his property, the less incentive there is to exert effort and produce. People respond to incentives.
5. Some complain that a natural talent like Wilt Chamberlain or Tiger Woods is "unfair" because those individuals are born with some talent that earns them many millions of dollars while others will never be as good even if they work extremely hard. The problem with taxing income is that if the athletes do not enjoy the sport, they will stop working. Thus, the tax would not be received and the fans would be deprived of watching the sport. The solution, though completely impractical, would be to levy a large, one-time tax on those with talent. This would not alter their subsequent behavior and would result in a more even allocation of wealth. Of course, it's impossible to discern talent early enough to not alter behavior.
6. FDR levied an income tax of 79%--a level so high that only one individual paid it: John D. Rockefeller.
7. Some college degrees, like philosophy, that do not prepare a student with any tangible or technical skills nonetheless act as signals to employers that the holder of the degree is intelligent and hardworking.
8. There is a long-term pattern, shown by Yale economist Robert Shiller as stretching back to 1881, of stock prices hovering around a price-to-earnings ratio of 16. If the ratio is much below that, there is a signal to invest; if the ratio is much above that, there is a signal the economy is overheated and a crash may come soon.
9. Sweatshops are a symptom, not the cause, of poverty for the countries that have them. In fact, sweatshops, while horrible, are better than the alternatives available to the workers and act as a rung on the ladder of a progressing economy. South Korea’s economy, which used to be home to countless sweatshops, has largely made the transition to a higher tech economy producing cars, computers, and other electronics.
10. Tariffs are bad, free trade is good. In 1999, countries had the following average tariffs: U.S. 2.8%, European Union 2.7%, South Korea 5.9%, Argentina 10.7%, China 15.7%, India 29.5%, Cameroon 61.4%.
Memorable Quotes:
"All professions are conspiracies against the laity." - George Bernard Shaw
"Each model is useful for different things, but a 'model' that tried to describe the design, the engineering, the ecology, and the economics would be no simpler than reality itself and so would add nothing to our understanding...The truth is that it's simply not possible to understand anything complicated without focusing on certain elements to reduce that complexity."
"It is not polite to say so, but it is obvious that paying people to be unemployed encourages unemployment.”
“We learned in chapter 3 exactly why markets work: because our choices as consumers between competing producers gives them both the right incentives and the right information to produce the right amount of exactly what we want. And we’ve also learned that scarcity power, externalities, and inside information can each ruin the way markets do this.”
“Hours are long. Wages are pitiful. But sweatshops are the symptom, not the cause, of shocking global poverty. Workers go there voluntarily, which means—hard as it is to believe—that whatever their alternatives are, they are worse. They stay there, too; turnover rates of multinational-owned factories are low, because conditions and pay, while bad, are better than those in factories run by local firms…The solution to this poverty is not going to come by boycotting shoes and clothes made in developing countries. On the contrary, as countries like South Korea have opened up to multinational companies, slowly but surely they have become richer.”
Perhaps it's my own fault for reading essentially the same narrowly focused nonfiction book on economics over and over and over again, but I literally received no new information here. Thomas Sowell's "Basic Economics" covers the same ideas in more intellectual depth while Levitt's "Freakonomics" covers similar ideas in a more exciting and novel way.
It's hard for me to criticize or fault Harford because nearly everything he says is accurate and well put. His arguments that free markets consist of many people making voluntary choices that are mutually beneficial, that poor countries are poor because of unreliable government protection of property rights, that China's Great Leap Forward cost tens of millions of lives, that command economies are inherently inefficient without a price system, and that externalities are market failures which may sometimes justify government intervention are spot on. It's just that I've heard this story a thousand times before. He's pushing an open door with me.
Kudos to Harford for speaking the truth and getting the message out there for those who haven't heard it. If you haven't heard the message from Ayn Rand, Thomas Woods Jr., Thomas Sowell, John Stossel, Murray Rothbard, Ron Paul, Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek, or the countless other conservative and libertarian economists, this book may be worth your while. If you've read any of the above authors, you needn't waste your time here. Either way, I will summarize some of Harford's big points.
1. Economic value arises out of the combination of usefulness and scarcity. As the population of England grew, fertile land became scarce and, therefore, more valuable.
2. Coffee and sandwich prices are high in airports, terminals, and big cities because of the underlying scarcity of the land on which the shops are built. When land is scarce, the landlords have bargaining power and can demand higher rent, which, in turn, requires the lessees to charge prices high enough to cover the higher rent.
3. Traffic would be most efficiently decongested by putting an externality charge on each trip. The trip is what adds pollution, noise, and cars to the road. By charging for that externality, actors can alter their behavior at the margin and decide every moment if they believe the cost is worthwhile. England has something similar to this by charging higher rates for road usage during rush hour.
4. Poor countries are poor because of government corruption, stiflingly high taxes, and massive amounts of red tape. It's a very simple point: the more hassle it is to start a business, the more one has to pay in taxes, and the less likely one is to be secure in his property, the less incentive there is to exert effort and produce. People respond to incentives.
5. Some complain that a natural talent like Wilt Chamberlain or Tiger Woods is "unfair" because those individuals are born with some talent that earns them many millions of dollars while others will never be as good even if they work extremely hard. The problem with taxing income is that if the athletes do not enjoy the sport, they will stop working. Thus, the tax would not be received and the fans would be deprived of watching the sport. The solution, though completely impractical, would be to levy a large, one-time tax on those with talent. This would not alter their subsequent behavior and would result in a more even allocation of wealth. Of course, it's impossible to discern talent early enough to not alter behavior.
6. FDR levied an income tax of 79%--a level so high that only one individual paid it: John D. Rockefeller.
7. Some college degrees, like philosophy, that do not prepare a student with any tangible or technical skills nonetheless act as signals to employers that the holder of the degree is intelligent and hardworking.
8. There is a long-term pattern, shown by Yale economist Robert Shiller as stretching back to 1881, of stock prices hovering around a price-to-earnings ratio of 16. If the ratio is much below that, there is a signal to invest; if the ratio is much above that, there is a signal the economy is overheated and a crash may come soon.
9. Sweatshops are a symptom, not the cause, of poverty for the countries that have them. In fact, sweatshops, while horrible, are better than the alternatives available to the workers and act as a rung on the ladder of a progressing economy. South Korea’s economy, which used to be home to countless sweatshops, has largely made the transition to a higher tech economy producing cars, computers, and other electronics.
10. Tariffs are bad, free trade is good. In 1999, countries had the following average tariffs: U.S. 2.8%, European Union 2.7%, South Korea 5.9%, Argentina 10.7%, China 15.7%, India 29.5%, Cameroon 61.4%.
Memorable Quotes:
"All professions are conspiracies against the laity." - George Bernard Shaw
"Each model is useful for different things, but a 'model' that tried to describe the design, the engineering, the ecology, and the economics would be no simpler than reality itself and so would add nothing to our understanding...The truth is that it's simply not possible to understand anything complicated without focusing on certain elements to reduce that complexity."
"It is not polite to say so, but it is obvious that paying people to be unemployed encourages unemployment.”
“We learned in chapter 3 exactly why markets work: because our choices as consumers between competing producers gives them both the right incentives and the right information to produce the right amount of exactly what we want. And we’ve also learned that scarcity power, externalities, and inside information can each ruin the way markets do this.”
“Hours are long. Wages are pitiful. But sweatshops are the symptom, not the cause, of shocking global poverty. Workers go there voluntarily, which means—hard as it is to believe—that whatever their alternatives are, they are worse. They stay there, too; turnover rates of multinational-owned factories are low, because conditions and pay, while bad, are better than those in factories run by local firms…The solution to this poverty is not going to come by boycotting shoes and clothes made in developing countries. On the contrary, as countries like South Korea have opened up to multinational companies, slowly but surely they have become richer.”
April 7, 2020
Another of my walk-the-dog audiobooks. Interesting listening to this but it got old rather fast. The narrator sounds just like the tweed-jacketed econ professor from "Back to School" starring Rodney Dangerfield. The points made throughout the book were valid but my gosh... can you beat a dead horse any deader? The author could have made this book about half as long if he would have just:
1- got to the point
2- give an example or two
3- move on to the next point.
Obviously this book was written for someone with more tolerance for fluff or perhaps less brain power than me. I'm not bragging but I got the point early on and the next 10-15 minutes of yak-yak-yak in his nasally British-accented voice was nearly intolerable. Fast forward was used often while I listened to this one- and I don't think I missed that much.
1- got to the point
2- give an example or two
3- move on to the next point.
Obviously this book was written for someone with more tolerance for fluff or perhaps less brain power than me. I'm not bragging but I got the point early on and the next 10-15 minutes of yak-yak-yak in his nasally British-accented voice was nearly intolerable. Fast forward was used often while I listened to this one- and I don't think I missed that much.
July 11, 2015
I know what you are thinking; Am I interested enough in this topic to pay $21.00 for this book? Will the benefits I will enjoy in the pleasure of the reading experience and the knowledge I will gain outweigh the loss of money? Will the benefit to the economy of Canada from my cash injection into publishing industry outweigh the growth to my personal debt levels? Should I borrow a copy from the library?
These are exactly the kinds of questions reading this will help you think your way through.
It is as engaging a read as you are likely to find on the dismal science.
These are exactly the kinds of questions reading this will help you think your way through.
It is as engaging a read as you are likely to find on the dismal science.
July 2, 2017
This book was good. Surprising. It is because it dealt mostly with coffee, beer, poker and game theory - some of the things I'm obsessed with. Tim did a great job revealing about Cameroon, Nepal, India and yeah China's economy. Every pop economics book that I've read have said something about China's rise, here there is a chapter dedicated to it.
A worthy read.
A worthy read.
March 4, 2018
Read it as a re-introduction to a few economic concepts I was introduced to at business school. Enjoyed it. Perhaps if the subject had been taught this way, I would have retained and used a lot more of what I had studied.
May 1, 2020
This is a nice light read for anyone interested in economics explained in Layman’s terms.
Tim Harford explains fundamental facts about free markets and decision-making.
These ideas are easy to grasp as he illustrates with an impressive number of examples, some of which include buying second-hand cars, game theory in auction settings, why healthcare works in very different ways among countries, the impact of corruption on growth etc.
This book will not make you into an economics expert, but, as it promises to, it will leave you thinking like an economist.
Let’s just say I walk into a supermarket with a very different view now 😉
Tim Harford explains fundamental facts about free markets and decision-making.
These ideas are easy to grasp as he illustrates with an impressive number of examples, some of which include buying second-hand cars, game theory in auction settings, why healthcare works in very different ways among countries, the impact of corruption on growth etc.
This book will not make you into an economics expert, but, as it promises to, it will leave you thinking like an economist.
Let’s just say I walk into a supermarket with a very different view now 😉
April 28, 2020
- enough with the free market propaganda!!
- the entirety of the second half was just harford writing about ‘oh poor little third world countries’ and ‘oh look how white countries have helped they world they’re so holy!!!!’ he legitimately said that the us singlehandedly has helped reduce pollution. get a grip!
- he defended sweatshops.
- oh also
- enoUGH with the free market propaganda
@white men, y’all really think you help everyone and know everything huh
- the entirety of the second half was just harford writing about ‘oh poor little third world countries’ and ‘oh look how white countries have helped they world they’re so holy!!!!’ he legitimately said that the us singlehandedly has helped reduce pollution. get a grip!
- he defended sweatshops.
- oh also
- enoUGH with the free market propaganda
@white men, y’all really think you help everyone and know everything huh
July 25, 2020
After stumbling across a dusty copy on my Old Man’s bookshelf, I thought I’d give it a gander and found it to be a pleasantly intriguing read.
June 12, 2022
"In the end, economics is about people. And economic growth is about a better life for individuals - more choice, less fear, less toil and hardship"
"Countries that are rich or rapidly growing have embraced the basic lessons of economics: fight scarcity power and corruption; correct externalities; try to maximize information; get the incentives right; engage with other countries; and most of all, embrace markets, which do most of these jobs at the same time".
June 11, 2022
a glorified intro micro and macro, mansplained in great detail. But I guess I learned a few things so thanks sir.
December 13, 2020
I picked this book up on a whim. I knew I would have to get myself into an economics frame of mind for the future, and this seemed like the perfect one to do it. The book is basically trying to get you to look at the world through the lens of economics. Does it succeed? Somewhat.
Tim Harford did do a good job of reiterating the fundamentals of some economic thought. Scarcity power, incentivization, margins, etc. - these were all locked away in my brain somewhere and this book brought them back into the light. The new concepts he tried to introduce were not as good. The chapter of Game Theory, while interesting, was not cohesive and lacked any kind of explanation as to what game theory actually says. I know its a hard topic but I would have appreciated a halfway decent attempt to translate the idea to the reader.
Tim Harford loves markets. He wants to marry them so badly. I have always been very sketchy of markets, and Tim did sell me on some of their positive aspects. Congratulations, I can't be a die-hard communist. On the other hand, he never really addresses criticisms of markets in a meaningful way, or when he did, his arguments were far less than convincing. Like his arguments on why globalization is green and externalities and the environment, these did little to reassure me, and I think that time has proved him misguided, if not completely wrong.
I don't really love books like this, where each chapter is an island. Sure, there are some light connections throughout, but there was no unifying theme, which made each chapter very hit or miss. I took notes during my reading of the book, and some of the chapters were brimming with my thoughts, while others had less than a paragraph.
Overall, if you are completely new to economics, this isn't a bad one to read. It introduces a lot of concepts in an understandable way, and will probably dispel many false notions that you had. If you are familiar with economics, this is most likely a waste of time.
Tim Harford did do a good job of reiterating the fundamentals of some economic thought. Scarcity power, incentivization, margins, etc. - these were all locked away in my brain somewhere and this book brought them back into the light. The new concepts he tried to introduce were not as good. The chapter of Game Theory, while interesting, was not cohesive and lacked any kind of explanation as to what game theory actually says. I know its a hard topic but I would have appreciated a halfway decent attempt to translate the idea to the reader.
Tim Harford loves markets. He wants to marry them so badly. I have always been very sketchy of markets, and Tim did sell me on some of their positive aspects. Congratulations, I can't be a die-hard communist. On the other hand, he never really addresses criticisms of markets in a meaningful way, or when he did, his arguments were far less than convincing. Like his arguments on why globalization is green and externalities and the environment, these did little to reassure me, and I think that time has proved him misguided, if not completely wrong.
I don't really love books like this, where each chapter is an island. Sure, there are some light connections throughout, but there was no unifying theme, which made each chapter very hit or miss. I took notes during my reading of the book, and some of the chapters were brimming with my thoughts, while others had less than a paragraph.
Overall, if you are completely new to economics, this isn't a bad one to read. It introduces a lot of concepts in an understandable way, and will probably dispel many false notions that you had. If you are familiar with economics, this is most likely a waste of time.
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