The Little Book of Economics

How the Economy Works in the Real World

By: Greg Ip

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

After the global financial panic and recession of 2007–2009, you don’t have to be president or a hedge fund manager to know that “It’s the economy, stupid.” Yet while the economy dominates the headlines, how it works and who influences it remain a mystery to most people. In The Little Book of Economics, Greg Ip, an award-winning journalist renowned for making complex economics easy to understand, walks you through how the economy really works.

You’ll learn:

How psychology and the Federal Reserve drive business cycles
• How a financial crisis can transform a recession into a depression
• The surprising effects of fertility rates, lawyers, and ideas on economic growth
• Whether the United States faces a lost decade like Japan did in the 1990s
• The causes of inflation, how it destabilizes society, and why deflation is even worse
• How government debt can sometimes help end a recession but, other times, bring on disaster—and how to tell the difference
• The symptoms of financial crises and why they often occur in election years
• What goes on inside the Federal Reserve, what it does when interest rates are zero, and why its power to print money has made it the world’s financial fireman

You can’t understand the American economy without recognizing the growing influence of the rest of the world. So The Little Book of Economics digs into globalization, how it made America’s mortgage crisis possible, how it’s exploited by China to spur growth, and how it makes the United States richer even as it widens the gap between winners and losers. One side effect of the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression is that it has ignited a fresh desire among citizens and investors to better understand the economy.

©2010 Greg Ip (P)2010 Gildan Media Corp

Critic reviews

“Finally, an economics book that is neither dull nor inscrutable and that won’t put you to sleep. Greg Ip gives us a lucid and entertaining understanding of ‘the dismal science’ and reveals how economic concepts and institutions affect our daily lives. This little gem can turn all of us into sophisticated and educated citizens.” (Burton G. Malkiel, Professor of Economics, Princeton University; author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street and The Elements of Investing)

simple explanation but alot to take in

its a book that is worth reading/listening to if you have an interest or need. this is not something you sit down and enjoy for an afternoon.

Somewhat disappointing

Any additional comments?

While this book was an interesting overview of the way the economy works, it was a considerable disappointment to hear the author extole the virtues of an increasing population. This poor world has more than enough people and what we need is planning that will enable us to accommodate a stable or even decreasing population. Anyone who thinks, at this point in the earth's history, that we need more humans on the planet hasn't been paying attention.

Who knew economics could be entertaining?

Excellent naration. Well written. Breaks down complicated economic theory into well organized easy to understand chunks.

Not a bodice ripper ...

... but the information was current, relevant and conveyed in a concise, straightforward manner.

Recommended for both serious and curious readers.

Views on how society and economics go hand-in-hand.

I appreciated the simplistic approach to economics. I didn’t realize how much I found economics interesting, and was fascinated about the unpredictability, but predictability of how things may go or patterns from the past.