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Essential Economics
Here is the essence of economics, arranged alphabetically for easy reference and written with the clarity and authority for which "The Economist is renowned. "Essential Economics contains the substantive information that those in business, finance, and other professions need to understand. For many, "the joy of economics is a contradiction in terms. Yet in a compelling introduction, Matthew Bishop, business editor at "The Economist, offers a lively explanation of what economics is about and covers its applicability in modern business. This is followed by an expansive A--Z with several hundred entries that explain the essentials of economics as well as some of its more-arcane aspects. Packaged attractively in a paperback with flaps, "Essential Economics is a clear, concise reference that complements any business library.
282 pages, Paperback
First published February 19, 2004
4 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Bishop
76 books8 followersMATTHEW BISHOP is the US Business Editor and New York Bureau Chief of The Economist, and the co-author, with Michael Green, of several acclaimed books, including "Philanthrocapitalism: How Giving Can Save the World" and "The Road From Ruin". His first e-book, again written with Mr Green, is "In Gold We Trust? The Future of Money in an Age of Uncertainty", which will be published by Amazon and The Economist in March 2012.
"The Road from Ruin" set out a bold agenda for improving capitalism following the crash of 2008 and subsequent economic downturn. It was described as "provocative and refreshing" by the New York Times. According to Professor Robert Shiller of Yale, "The Road from Ruin" will be "remembered as a serious, highly readable book of the broadest intellectual scope. Its insights will help all of us reshape the future and enable both citizen and policy maker alike to separate real reform from the grandstanding bluster so prevalent today."
"Philanthrocapitalism: How Giving Can Save the World" described the new movement that brings together the business and social sectors to solve some of the world's most pressing problems. With lots of original interviews with the leaders of this movement, including Bill Gates, George Soros, Pierre Omidyar, Bono and Angelina Jolie, "Philanthrocapitalism" has been described as "terrific" by The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and as "the definitive guide to a new generation of philanthropists who understand innovation and risk-taking, and who will play a crucial part in solving the biggest problems facing the world," by New York's Mayor and leading philanthropist Michael Bloomberg. According to former U.S President Bill Clinton, "This is an important book. Our interdependent world is too unequal, unstable, and, because of climate change, unsustainable. We have to transform it into one of shared responsibilities, shared opportunities, and a shared sense of community. Bishop and Green show us how to do it."
"In Gold We Trust? The Future of Money in an Age of Uncertainty" is a lively look at the history and future of money, taking in the rise, fall and rise of gold, the crisis of the Euro, the seeming inability of America's politicians to tackle the country's ballooning deficit, the rising risk of inflation, the contrasting ideas about money of famous economists such as Keynes and Hayek, and the attempt by some of the world's leading innovators to invent the best ever technology of money using algorithms and sophisticated online games.
Mr Bishop is also the author of "Essential Economics", the official Economist guide to economics. He has also written several of The Economist's special report supplements, including most recently The Great Mismatch, about the future of jobs; A Bigger World, which examines the opportunities and challenges of the rise of emerging economies and firms; The Business of Giving, which looks at the industrial revolution taking place in philanthropy; Kings of Capitalism, which anticipated and analyzed the boom in private equity; and Capitalism and its Troubles, an examination of the impact of problems such as the collapse of Enron.
A regular participant in events such as the World Economic Forum and the Clinton Global Initiative, Mr Bishop is in demand around the world as a speaker, and has a growing following on Twitter, where he tweets as @mattbish
"The Road from Ruin" set out a bold agenda for improving capitalism following the crash of 2008 and subsequent economic downturn. It was described as "provocative and refreshing" by the New York Times. According to Professor Robert Shiller of Yale, "The Road from Ruin" will be "remembered as a serious, highly readable book of the broadest intellectual scope. Its insights will help all of us reshape the future and enable both citizen and policy maker alike to separate real reform from the grandstanding bluster so prevalent today."
"Philanthrocapitalism: How Giving Can Save the World" described the new movement that brings together the business and social sectors to solve some of the world's most pressing problems. With lots of original interviews with the leaders of this movement, including Bill Gates, George Soros, Pierre Omidyar, Bono and Angelina Jolie, "Philanthrocapitalism" has been described as "terrific" by The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and as "the definitive guide to a new generation of philanthropists who understand innovation and risk-taking, and who will play a crucial part in solving the biggest problems facing the world," by New York's Mayor and leading philanthropist Michael Bloomberg. According to former U.S President Bill Clinton, "This is an important book. Our interdependent world is too unequal, unstable, and, because of climate change, unsustainable. We have to transform it into one of shared responsibilities, shared opportunities, and a shared sense of community. Bishop and Green show us how to do it."
"In Gold We Trust? The Future of Money in an Age of Uncertainty" is a lively look at the history and future of money, taking in the rise, fall and rise of gold, the crisis of the Euro, the seeming inability of America's politicians to tackle the country's ballooning deficit, the rising risk of inflation, the contrasting ideas about money of famous economists such as Keynes and Hayek, and the attempt by some of the world's leading innovators to invent the best ever technology of money using algorithms and sophisticated online games.
Mr Bishop is also the author of "Essential Economics", the official Economist guide to economics. He has also written several of The Economist's special report supplements, including most recently The Great Mismatch, about the future of jobs; A Bigger World, which examines the opportunities and challenges of the rise of emerging economies and firms; The Business of Giving, which looks at the industrial revolution taking place in philanthropy; Kings of Capitalism, which anticipated and analyzed the boom in private equity; and Capitalism and its Troubles, an examination of the impact of problems such as the collapse of Enron.
A regular participant in events such as the World Economic Forum and the Clinton Global Initiative, Mr Bishop is in demand around the world as a speaker, and has a growing following on Twitter, where he tweets as @mattbish
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 13, 2019
Handy, accessible, readable
Economics is not an exact science. Neither is it the "dismal science" that Thomas Carlyle claimed it was back in the days when Britannica still ruled the waves. Economics is a social science, a "historical" science, a science that can seldom rely on experiment to test its theories but must make do with observation. We do not know whether a tax cut for the rich, for example, will be good for the economy as a whole. It can be tried and when the results are in some years or decades down the road, we may come to some conclusion; but because we could not also see what would have happened had there been no tax cut or a different sort of tax cut, we really cannot be sure that it was the tax cut for the rich that led to economic growth or (as the case may be) revolution.
Nonetheless, while the knowledge we receive from a rigorous and disciplined observation of facts and events gives us nothing like certainty, it does lead us to know how to place our bets. And in an uncertain world that is really all we can expect. Even in closed systems like mathematics there are things unknown and not fully understood; and even in the most rigorous of the sciences such as physics, there is no presumption to absolute knowledge.
This attractive pint-sized publication from The Economist includes an opening essay entitled "The Joy of Economics" by Matthew Bishop that summarizes the current thinking of economists and presents a report on the state of the art. Unlike many essays written by economists, it is easy to read and directed at a general (but, of course, educated) readership. It serves admirably not only as an introduction to this volume but to current economic thought as well. I especially like his point that "better measures of economic success or failure" than "a purely monetary measure" such as GDP are needed, most clearly some measure that takes "environmental and other non-monetary factors into account." (pp. 8-9) Also good is his question about what effect the information explosion will have on economic thought and practice.
After Bishop's essay there follows hundreds of mini-essays and definitions arranged alphabetically on matters economic. If one compares these entries to those in the similar, but larger Dictionary of Economics also put out by The Economist, one quickly sees that there are fewer entries here but they are presented in a more readable fashion. This is then a less technical publication and not as inclusive; yet for most readers I would say it makes the ideas of economics more accessible.
Furthermore, Matthew Bishop, who wrote the entries has a slightly different slant on some economic ideas than those of the editors of the Dictionary of Economics. For example, on "adverse selection" Bishop concentrates on the market failure likely to be experienced by insurance companies selling insurance to, e.g., "55-year-old male smokers" while the Dictionary of Economics zeroes in on what it calls "the lemon problem." In both cases the problem is that one side of the transaction has an advantage that results in an adverse selection for the other side. In the former case, the insurance company that sells insurance to someone who is in poor health is at a disadvantage; and in the latter case the buyer of the poorly-made or maintained car is at a disadvantage.
In another example, the "prisoner's dilemma" of game theory is explained and related to the problem experienced by oligopoly (that of setting prices) in perhaps two hundred words. In the Dictionary of Economics twice as many words are used and a table is included. How to choose between the two explanations? The answer is the same for choosing between the two books: simply how technical do you want your explanations, and how readable?
Clearly this is the handier book. The type is a little larger. It takes up less space, and it does not cover the more esoteric ideas of economics that the non-specialists may profitably skip over. Furthermore, this quality paperback book has built-in front and end flaps that work as book marks for keeping your place. Cross references are in capital letters, which I think is the most straightforward way of pointing to them.
Bottom line: handy, accessible and just right for those of us who have degrees in something other than economics.
--Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”
Economics is not an exact science. Neither is it the "dismal science" that Thomas Carlyle claimed it was back in the days when Britannica still ruled the waves. Economics is a social science, a "historical" science, a science that can seldom rely on experiment to test its theories but must make do with observation. We do not know whether a tax cut for the rich, for example, will be good for the economy as a whole. It can be tried and when the results are in some years or decades down the road, we may come to some conclusion; but because we could not also see what would have happened had there been no tax cut or a different sort of tax cut, we really cannot be sure that it was the tax cut for the rich that led to economic growth or (as the case may be) revolution.
Nonetheless, while the knowledge we receive from a rigorous and disciplined observation of facts and events gives us nothing like certainty, it does lead us to know how to place our bets. And in an uncertain world that is really all we can expect. Even in closed systems like mathematics there are things unknown and not fully understood; and even in the most rigorous of the sciences such as physics, there is no presumption to absolute knowledge.
This attractive pint-sized publication from The Economist includes an opening essay entitled "The Joy of Economics" by Matthew Bishop that summarizes the current thinking of economists and presents a report on the state of the art. Unlike many essays written by economists, it is easy to read and directed at a general (but, of course, educated) readership. It serves admirably not only as an introduction to this volume but to current economic thought as well. I especially like his point that "better measures of economic success or failure" than "a purely monetary measure" such as GDP are needed, most clearly some measure that takes "environmental and other non-monetary factors into account." (pp. 8-9) Also good is his question about what effect the information explosion will have on economic thought and practice.
After Bishop's essay there follows hundreds of mini-essays and definitions arranged alphabetically on matters economic. If one compares these entries to those in the similar, but larger Dictionary of Economics also put out by The Economist, one quickly sees that there are fewer entries here but they are presented in a more readable fashion. This is then a less technical publication and not as inclusive; yet for most readers I would say it makes the ideas of economics more accessible.
Furthermore, Matthew Bishop, who wrote the entries has a slightly different slant on some economic ideas than those of the editors of the Dictionary of Economics. For example, on "adverse selection" Bishop concentrates on the market failure likely to be experienced by insurance companies selling insurance to, e.g., "55-year-old male smokers" while the Dictionary of Economics zeroes in on what it calls "the lemon problem." In both cases the problem is that one side of the transaction has an advantage that results in an adverse selection for the other side. In the former case, the insurance company that sells insurance to someone who is in poor health is at a disadvantage; and in the latter case the buyer of the poorly-made or maintained car is at a disadvantage.
In another example, the "prisoner's dilemma" of game theory is explained and related to the problem experienced by oligopoly (that of setting prices) in perhaps two hundred words. In the Dictionary of Economics twice as many words are used and a table is included. How to choose between the two explanations? The answer is the same for choosing between the two books: simply how technical do you want your explanations, and how readable?
Clearly this is the handier book. The type is a little larger. It takes up less space, and it does not cover the more esoteric ideas of economics that the non-specialists may profitably skip over. Furthermore, this quality paperback book has built-in front and end flaps that work as book marks for keeping your place. Cross references are in capital letters, which I think is the most straightforward way of pointing to them.
Bottom line: handy, accessible and just right for those of us who have degrees in something other than economics.
--Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”
May 28, 2011
Handy little book on economic terms. but ultimately useless as a reference book to anyone who has access to the internet. I found that some phrases were insufficiently explained, and others were completely missing. But great if you want to learn a little more about complex economic concepts in layman's alnguage. Everything is neatly placed and explained. Good investment for an econ student i must say.
October 24, 2011
A solid look at the basic terminology of economics.
February 7, 2016
Handy little book on economic terms, short and curved writings, best read for a starter , thanx to mathew bishop sir for his efforts and for his works.
February 23, 2016
Book covers basics of economist's vocabulary. It is a useful read to brush up one's memory.
It is written in "The Economist" style though, so be prepared ;)
It is written in "The Economist" style though, so be prepared ;)
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August 4, 2016The Science of Choices.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews