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I have a burning need to know stuff and I love asking awkward questions.

Thursday, January 01, 2015


Just Finished Reading: Economics: The User’s Guide by Ha-Joon Chang (FP: 2014)

Economics is something I really don’t know much about. But then again I’m not alone in this – it seems that the people supposedly running the world’s economies don’t know much either. One of the things the author explains in regards to this is that, contrary to what many economists tell you, economics is not a science and probably never will be. Attempts to make it into a scientific subject fail because of the false constraints humans are put under – perfect knowledge, purely self-seeking individuals and so on – fail because they are removed so much from reality (spherical chickens in a vacuum come to mind). Economics is, I agree with the author, politics by another name especially when you discover that the original name for the field was political economy (truly a duh! moment).

Once you dismiss this oft repeated fallacy things become clearer. In fact the author argues very well that looked at in the correct fashion – or actually a host of different mostly correct fashions to see every corner, nook and cranny of the problem being addressed – economics is 95% common sense. He uses such sense, sadly not all that common, to explain the modules that make up economics: Output, Income, Production, Finance, Poverty, Work, Unemployment and the role of the State. Set out with clear examples and lots of figures (sometimes I little too many I thought) he provides a basis to understand, or at least appreciate, exactly what’s going on in the world, why things aren’t working as advertised, and the need to not let politicians and economists pull the wool over our eyes by bullshitting about there being no alternative. With some of the information in this book you can start saying (at least to yourself) maybe so – but what about this…. and this….. and how country X did this…… It’s a start and, I think, a good move in the right direction.

Although a little dry in places, a little too detailed in others and virtually virgin territory to me this was an interesting and informative read. So much so that I’ve already purchased another book by him. I think that the most surprising aspect of reading it was the reaction I had at work. When they saw me reading a book on Economics they asked why I was reading it. Because it’s a subject I know very little about I explained. But, they replied, why do you want to learn about things you know nothing about? I have to admit that particular comment kind of stumped me. I presumed that being ignorant of a subject is a pretty good reason to find out at least something about it – especially a subject that affects our lives on a daily basis. I started some months again reading the Economics section in the Business pages of my Sunday paper and have ‘graduated’ into books like this. I certainly see that as a good and positive thing. Much more economics/politics to come – though after a fairly chunky digression coming soon…..

8 comments:

Stephen said...

From other reviews, it seems mostly focused on macroeconomics; is that the case?

CyberKitten said...

He spends a lot of time looking at the 'big picture' stuff - history of Capitalism, the different ideas of what Capitalism is (there's much more than the present neo-Liberal idea out there!), the world of 'high' finance and so on, but he does try to make as much of it as possible relevant to the real world down at the shallow end of the pool where most of us live. That's one of the main reasons for the book - to show that Economics isn't just something that happens in the Stock Exchange and the major Banks but is something that affects us all (2008 Crisis etc..) and it something we should all know at least something about if we're to make sense of the world.

Stephen said...

Definitely a macro approach, then. I used to think economics was just about business and finance, but I've realized it's a kind of social science, of studying how humans respond to the finiteness of any resource -- including time! Even weighing whether we'd prefer to be reading a book or playing a game is a study in economics, because we're deciding on how to 'spend' our time, as it were. Have you ever read "Freakonomics"? It may have gotten me started in this direction.

CyberKitten said...

Actually the author says very strongly that Economics is *not* the study of everything - as some claim.... [grin]

Oh, and New Year = New Name? Are you 'outing' yourself?

Stephen said...

Hah, not in full. So many commentators use names instead of nicknames these days that the nicknames stand out more. I still carry that 1990s paranoia with me into the internet -- even Amazon doesn't know my name! When YouTube forced me to start using Google+ to comment, I made a new Google+ account using a name from a Call of the Wild novel. I figure a first name on blogger won't hurt me TOO much -- but if people start referring to me as "Steve" instead of SC, I'll switch back. It's a trial run at the moment...I just want to see how it feels.

I can abide many things, but not the nickname 'Steve'!

CyberKitten said...

I'll be keeping my 'secret identity' for now I think - until Google out me or the Government make aliases illegal or something! [lol]

Stephen said...

Yours is certainly safe -- didn't people used to think you were a woman because of the kitten? ;-)

CyberKitten said...

Yes, I always thought that was passing strange. After all kittens can be both boys or girls.... right?

It got so bad that I had to 'come out' as a boy.... Funny really but I know it annoyed some people for a while.