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…..