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The Undercover Economist
Then this is just the book for you. I read it in one sitting and entirely agreed with Steven D Levitt’s bold endorsement on the book that calls it "Required Reading." If the author of Freakonomics says that, who am I to disagree? What makes The
Undercover Economist such an amazingly easy read is Tim Harford’s
ability to break complex economic issues into bite-sized nuggets. He
could have done it any other way. After all, he works for the World
Bank, pens the ‘Dear Economist’ So you get the picture, the book could have been complex, if Harford didn’t have his reader in mind. He obviously does, otherwise why else would a book that deals with the tough economic issues of our times, begin with the price of the cappuccino. Simply reading it brought the heady brew alive. As did all that talk of expensive flats being decked out in horrendously cheap furniture. Expectedly, it’s the ones that are furnished with the cheap stuff that happen to be the first to be leased out. Put the brands in and it’s likely only the landlord would be staring at his expensive walls. Sounds cookie? Not when you read on to understand all the basics and more of economic theories at work. Nothing misses Harford’s sharp eye. That includes the joy of owning, driving and creating traffic jams for the rest of the world. Trust me, you’ll find yourself smiling at the examples. And if you are a normal human being, you’ll see a whole lot of ‘you’ in the book — I did. There are tips aplenty. The one that works to perfection for me happens to be this one: "If you want a bargain, don’t try to find a cheap store. Try to shop cheaply. Similar products are, very often, priced similarly. An expensive shopping trip is the result of carelessly choosing products with a high mark-up, rather than wandering into a store with ‘bad value’, because price-targeting accounts for much more of the difference between prices." There you are, you have some answers that explains the economics of the way things work. An engaging read, The
Undercover Economist enlightens, entertains and educates at the same
time. So before downing that cup of cappuccino, head to a book store and
put your money where the
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IF
you have been wondering: Why your boss is hugely overpaid and you can’t
share their pain when they get a pay cut? Why some people are doomed
losers in the property market? Why is it that the rich nations get
richer, the poor, what else but poorer? What is it that the supermarkets
don’t want you to know? Most significantly, why does your cappuccino
cost the horrendous amount that it does? How China grew rich?