Economics for Everyone

JULY 24 2008: My good pal Marc Lee, crusading economist for the CCPA and the third chairperson of the Progressive Economics Forum, posted these very kind words about Economics for Everyone on the PEF's awesome blog-site:

"Jim has outdone himself on this one. So many times I have had people ask me for a straightforward book that explains economics, and I’ve usually had to refer them to an intro textbook or one of Paul Krugman’s books, but usually with some trepidation. No longer. Jim has literally written the book, making economics accessible for a wide audience, along with a healthy serving of Jim’s wit and wisdom. In fact, calling a 339-page book “short” demonstrates Jim’s unique sense of humour right on the book’s cover."

Thanks so much Marc!  Yes, a 339-page "short" book is funny alright.  But think what could have happened.  Perhaps the closest comparator to my book is Hugh Stretton's monumental Economics: A New Introduction, also published by Pluto, in 1999.  (Hugh is a progressive economist, and generally wonderful person, from Australia.)  Hugh also tried to condense everything he knew about economics and economic policy, from a progressive perspective, into one book.  The only difference is his is 868 pages long (and his pages are a lot bigger than mine, with two columns!). So it could have been worse.  Much worse.

So think of e4e as the Reader's Digest version.

Besides, Tony Biddle's cartoon on p. 42 condenses a 4-year course in economic history into one awesome illustration.