Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science / Edition 1

by Charles Wheelan

Overview

Finally! A book about economics that won't put you to sleep. In fact, you won't be able to put this one down.

Naked Economics makes up for all of those Econ 101 lectures you slept through (or avoided) in college, demystifying key concepts, laying bare the truths behind the numbers, and answering those questions you have always been too embarrassed to ask. For all the discussion of Alan Greenspan in the media, does anyone know what the Fed actually does? And what about those blackouts in California? Were they a conspiracy on the part of the power companies? Economics is life. There's no way to understand the important issues without it. Now, with Charles Wheelan's breezy tour, there's no reason to fear this highly relevant subject. With the commonsensical examples and brilliantly acerbic commentary we've come to associate with The Economist, Wheelan brings economics to life. Amazingly, he does so with nary a chart, graph, or mathematical equation in sight—certainly a feat to be witnessed firsthand. Economics is a crucial subject. There's no way to understand the important issues without it. Now, with Charles Wheelan's breezy tour, there's also no reason to fear it. "Explains our global economy in a way that is—gasp!—actually entertaining."—Book "Translates the arcane and often inscrutable jargon of the professional economist into language accessible to the inquiring but frustrated layman....Clear, concise, informative, [and] witty."—Chicago Tribune "Wheelan has an anti-Midas touch. If he touched gold he would turn it to life."—Burton G. Malkiel, from the foreword

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393049824
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	09/17/2002
Edition description:	1ST
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	368,937
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.60(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Charles Wheelan is the author of the best-selling Naked Statistics and Naked Economics and is a former correspondent for the Economist. He teaches public policy at Dartmouth College and lives in Hanover, New Hampshire, with his family.

Table of Contents

Foreword Burton G. Malkiel ix

Introduction xvii

Acknowledgments xxvii

1 The Power of Markets: Who feeds Paris? 3

2 Incentives Matter: Why you might be able to save your face by cutting off your nose (if you are a black rhinoceros) 31

3 Government and the Economy: Government is your friend (and a round of applause for all those lawyers) 57

4 Government and the Economy II: The army was to get that screwdriver for $500 83

5 Economics of Information: McDonald's didn't create a better hamburger 108

6 Productivity and Human Capital: Why is Bill Gates so much richer than you are? 131

7 Financial Markets: What economics can tell us about getting rich quick (and losing weight, too!) 154

8 The Power of Organized Interests: What economics can tell us about politics 182

9 Keeping Score: Is my economy bigger than your economy? 198

10 The Federal Reserve: Why that dollar in your pocket just a piece of paper 225

11 International Economics: How did a nice country like Iceland go bust? 250

12 Trade and Globalization: The good news about Asian sweatshops 277

13 Development Economics: The wealth and poverty of nations 302

Epilogue: Life in 2050: eight questions 325

Notes 337

Index 351

What People are Saying About This

Burton G. Malkiel

Wheelan has an anti-Midas touch. If he touched gold he would turn it to life. —Burton G. Malkiel, from the foreword

Introduction

Malkiel, Burton G.

Editorial Reviews

"I recommend this book to anyone who wants to gain an understanding of basic economics with little pain and much pleasure."

Gary Becker

"Bravo, Charles Wheelan, for doing the impossible: making the study of economics fascinating, comprehensible, and laugh-out-loud funny."

Deborah Copaken Kogan

Translates the arcane and often inscrutable jargon of the professional economist into language accessible to the inquiring but frustrated layman. . . . Clear, concise, informative, [and] witty.

Chicago Tribune

Wheelan has an anti-Midas touch. If he touched gold he would turn it to life. —Burton G. Malkiel, from the foreword

Burton G. Malkiel

Explains our global economy in a way that is—gasp!—actually entertaining.

Book