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A review by pkrez
The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford
4.0
Similar to Freakonomics, but with more basic economic concepts, including macro and micro. Tim Harford is witty and fun. He writes a very readable book that lay people can easily understand. The book packs in a lot into few pages, but still ends up being a short read.
A great defense of capitalism, this book addresses markets with easy to understand examples of coffee shops and grocery stores. Learn about how prices are discovered. Learn about traffic congestion pricing. Learn about healthcare. Learn about stock prices. Learn about game theory. Learn about poverty and globalization.
Overall much to learn about and enjoy in this book. However, there are a few downsides that kept it from being 5 stars. First, the author is from England, so several of the examples are about London, making it a little harder to grasp for the American reader. Second, the book is old (from 2005). So none of the examples include the great recession and its aftermath. Some of the writing about China and trade seem ancient in today's political climate of trade wars and warding off China as a great rival to the US.
Overall, I would certainly recommend this book.
A great defense of capitalism, this book addresses markets with easy to understand examples of coffee shops and grocery stores. Learn about how prices are discovered. Learn about traffic congestion pricing. Learn about healthcare. Learn about stock prices. Learn about game theory. Learn about poverty and globalization.
Overall much to learn about and enjoy in this book. However, there are a few downsides that kept it from being 5 stars. First, the author is from England, so several of the examples are about London, making it a little harder to grasp for the American reader. Second, the book is old (from 2005). So none of the examples include the great recession and its aftermath. Some of the writing about China and trade seem ancient in today's political climate of trade wars and warding off China as a great rival to the US.
Overall, I would certainly recommend this book.