Description
Book SynopsisWhere does wealth come from? How is it different from money? Does government intervention prevent or create crises? What is the most effective way to protect the environment?
In Economics Without the Boring Bits, Oxford-trained economist Tejvan Pettinger takes readers on an enlightening tour of the powerful, counter-intuitive and frequently startling insights of economic research, showing us that middlemen are good, recycling is bad (sometimes) and why some people get rich and others don't.
This clear, compelling and engaging book breathes life into big concepts such as debt, finance, trade, money, taxation, supply, demand and all the other economic issues that worry us all yet relatively few truly understand.
This is your guide to understanding economics – without the boring bits.
Table of ContentsECONOMIC ERRORS: Lump of labour fallacy • Luddite Fallacy • Broken window fallacy • Sunk cost fallacy • Fallacy of composition • Zero-sum games • This time it's different (why bubbles reoccur) POLITICAL QUANDRIES: Tax cuts • Government debt • Immigration • Presidents responsibility • Trickle-down • Inflation • Exchange rates • Bail-outs • Recessions WHAT YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW ABOUT…: Division of labour • Raw materials • Economic forecasting • Farming and agriculture • Rational consumers • Deflation • Free riders • Monetary policy ECONOMISTS: Adam Smith • John Maynard Keynes • Milton Friedman • Gary Becker • Paul Krugman YOU'LL NEVER GET RICH BY INDULGING IN…: Fighting wars • Trade wars and trade retaliation • Propping up farming or heavy industry • Cutting inflation too much • Acquiring lots of money • Free trade • Eating too much chocolate cake ECO BOMBSHELLS: Nature • Shared resources • Air travel • Markets and global warming • Fat taxes are fair • Protecting the environment will create jobs, not destroy them • Recycling is good BUSINESS MYTHS: Ticket touts are bad • There is greater value on diamonds than fresh water • Workers are only motivated by money • It is unfair that airlines keep changing the price of tickets • The UK and US economies should be more balanced • Consumer boycotts of sweatshop factories • Are multinationals the great wealth creators?
