Economics through Everyday Stories from around the World: An introduction to economics for children or Economics for kids, dummies and everyone else

by Elena Fernandez Prados

Overview

An original and entertaining introduction to economics for kids...and parents!

A fun and easy-to-understand introduction to economics packed with real life examples. This collection of stories from around the world provides an overview of economics 101 in a simple and appealing way which can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. Boost your child's financial literacy and discover the world with this hands-on guide to economics. Find out:

• How competition among businesses makes you better off
• Why the price of the things you buy goes up and down over time
• What happens when the economy grows or slows down
• How governments pay for schools, roads and hospitals
• What interest rates are and how they affect the choices we make
• And much more!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781523296415
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	01/20/2016
Series:	Financial Literacy for Kids , #1
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	675,873
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Elena Fernandez Prados was born in Spain where she attended the French School of Murcia. Elena holds a B.A. in Business Economics and International Relations from Brown University (USA). She started her career working as an investment banking financial analyst at Morgan Stanley in London, before becoming a portfolio manager and investment director at Standard Life Investments in Edinburgh. Elena currently works as a consultant and lives in London.

Editorial Reviews

2020-05-01
Economic concepts explained for young readers, featuring an international cast of characters.

In this debut children’s nonfiction book, Prados covers economic and financial terms, from international trade to tax policy and cost of goods sold to interest rates, through a series of short vignettes centered on characters engaged in financial activities around the world. A Colombian academic—who trades literary analysis for taking over the family farm—offers a lesson in supply, demand, and agricultural prices. A carpenter in Spain discovers that free trade means that Chinese companies can produce furniture more cheaply than he can, but at the same time, his sick cousin can get a life-saving drug from a foreign pharmaceutical maker (“While your prayers must have helped, we also need to give thanks to international trade!”). Each vignette concludes with a bulleted summary of the concepts it dramatizes, presented in simple language: “We live in a globalized world where economies have become more interconnected. As a result, economic developments in one country can have knock-on effects on other nations.” While the book does a good job of breaking complex topics into their essential components, at times, it takes the simplification too far, as in the account of an Afghan farmer who has success planting an imported variety of pistachio seeds and spreads prosperity throughout his village. The chapter celebrates the productivity gains without addressing the negative economic and environmental effects that also accompany agricultural advancements. The diverse characters add an engaging element to the book’s lessons, but the prose remains on the didactic side: “ ‘Perhaps now that my business is larger,’ Chandrika tells herself, ‘I can afford to take on a loan and open a third Montessori nursery!’ ” Still, the language is far more readable than an economics textbook, and the book offers a good starting point for parent-child conversations that go into more detail and for young readers looking to improve their understanding of the global economy.

A well-considered series of economic concepts in simplified form told via stories of individuals from around the world.

Kirkus Reviews