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The Instant Economist: Everything You Need to Know About How the Economy Works
The Only Economics Book You Will Ever Need.
Economics isn't just about numbers: It's about politics, psychology, history, and so much more. We are all economists-when we work, save for the future, invest, pay taxes, and buy our groceries. Yet many of us feel lost when the subject arises. Award-winning professor Timothy Taylor tackles all the key questions and hot topics of both microeconomics and macroeconomics, including:
• Why do budget deficits matter?
• What exactly does the Federal Reserve do?
• Does globalization take jobs away from American workers?
• Why is health insurance so costly?
The Instant Economist offers the knowledge and sophistication to understand the issues- so you can understand and discuss economics on a personal, national, and global level.
Economics isn't just about numbers: It's about politics, psychology, history, and so much more. We are all economists-when we work, save for the future, invest, pay taxes, and buy our groceries. Yet many of us feel lost when the subject arises. Award-winning professor Timothy Taylor tackles all the key questions and hot topics of both microeconomics and macroeconomics, including:
• Why do budget deficits matter?
• What exactly does the Federal Reserve do?
• Does globalization take jobs away from American workers?
• Why is health insurance so costly?
The Instant Economist offers the knowledge and sophistication to understand the issues- so you can understand and discuss economics on a personal, national, and global level.
260 pages, Paperback
First published January 31, 2012
161 people are currently reading
743 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
October 13, 2012
I admire an author who can take a basic and relevant discipline and make it comprehensible in short, cleanly written prose. That's what Timothy Taylor has done in The Instant Economist: Everything You Need to Know About How the Economy Works.
This is not exactly a beginning college course in economics -- it is a paperback book after all -- it's shorter, less detailed, but the highlights of basic microeconomics (first half)and macroeconomics (second half) are all there for those of us who want an economics foundation or a refresher course to understand more clearly the world we all live in. For those folks, I highly recommend this book.
The chapters are short, so a reader can take his or her time -- or skip to topics of special interest. There is also an index. For anyone who prefers learning by listening -- instead of or in addition to reading -- please check out the author's audio and video lectures through The Great Courses company.
This is not exactly a beginning college course in economics -- it is a paperback book after all -- it's shorter, less detailed, but the highlights of basic microeconomics (first half)and macroeconomics (second half) are all there for those of us who want an economics foundation or a refresher course to understand more clearly the world we all live in. For those folks, I highly recommend this book.
The chapters are short, so a reader can take his or her time -- or skip to topics of special interest. There is also an index. For anyone who prefers learning by listening -- instead of or in addition to reading -- please check out the author's audio and video lectures through The Great Courses company.
April 7, 2014
With some caveats, this is a good book to learn the basics of micro- and macroeconomics without stumbling over complicated equations. Taylor writes lucidly and covers pretty much what would be covered in a college introduction to economics course, from competitive markets to externalities, public goods, poverty and inequality, economic growth, fiscal policy, trade, money and banking, monetary policies among many other topics. The theory and practice of economics as he presents it is, as he asserts, generally agreed upon by mainstream economists on both the left and the right. What he means, of course, is that orthodox economics is pretty much the settled view, and the settled view is neoclassical, with its emphasis on the primacy of and over-reliance on markets and, while acknowledging the importance of government in providing public goods and ensuring a level playing field in the economic realm, sees optimal government involvement as a constraining one. He too often discusses economics in terms of the ideal rather than the actual. For instance, he makes the blanket statement that prices are determined by markets, not producers. While this is usually the case, in monopolistic or near-monopolistic situations producers can indeed dictate prices.
Nevertheless, this is a good book to keep on hand for reference.
One startling comment he makes is that economics is not a science. This claim, I’m sure, will come as a complete surprise to most practicing economists. The Nobel Prize in economics (which, BTW, is not given by the Nobel committee in Norway but by a bank in Sweden) selects its winners among those with a neoclassical bent who produce some kind of model or equation that can be used to make predictions about economic behavior or outcomes. Yet Taylor does not shirk from citing economic evidence when applicable.
He makes other questionable claims that sound good but are left on the wash line to dry when compared to the data or experience. For example, in his discussion about financial markets, he assumes all households, or at least most households, invest money in the stock and/or bond markets. This is nonsense. Those making less than the median income only own 0.5% of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds in 2007. Compare this to the top 1% who own 51%.
He also argues, as any orthodox economist would, that markets always ‘know’ the correct price of goods, services, and labor. But is this always the case? Without delving into cases and instead looking at the claim on its face, ascribing such epistemic infallibility to markets suggests that markets possess a godlike nature that is nigh blasphemous: markets are all-knowing, all-powerful, all-good, perfect representations of reality, and just (though not very merciful!). If one is rich, than you have been blessed by the markets and deserve to be rich; you’ve earned it. Those who are poor have been damned by the markets and their suffering is the consequence of their ignorance of the law of markets or of their market agnosticism or, worse, their disbelief in the power and justice of markets. Skeptical remarks concerning the efficacy of markets are duly treated as heresy, and those with the temerity to introduce such doubts and alternatives are subsequently banished, as were the Gnostics and Arians in the early centuries of Christianity, from serious consideration. Thankfully, thus far no inquisition has been instituted to silence such heretics.
Taylor also repeats the standard economic claim that rising wages accompany rising productivity, a claim that has been shown to false by the failure of wages to keep pace with productivity in the last forty years. His discussion insisting that poverty and inequality are separate and not intertwined seemed weak; while they can be separated for analytic purposes, conceptually and practically separating them into mutually exclusive categories seems wrong headed. His discussion of corporate governance also takes place in a platonic realm, assuming that directors and shareholders assume the responsibility for the overall guidance of large corporations. Perhaps in some cases, but recent history put the lie to such assumptions, showing that it has been CEOs and other upper level management officers whose decision have decided the fate of the organizations they run.
On a more positive note, Taylor does acknowledge that limitations of using gross domestic product as the bellwether for measuring how well off a society is.
Still, in general a useful book that I intend to dip into when confronted with some feature of the economy I don’t fully understand.
Nevertheless, this is a good book to keep on hand for reference.
One startling comment he makes is that economics is not a science. This claim, I’m sure, will come as a complete surprise to most practicing economists. The Nobel Prize in economics (which, BTW, is not given by the Nobel committee in Norway but by a bank in Sweden) selects its winners among those with a neoclassical bent who produce some kind of model or equation that can be used to make predictions about economic behavior or outcomes. Yet Taylor does not shirk from citing economic evidence when applicable.
He makes other questionable claims that sound good but are left on the wash line to dry when compared to the data or experience. For example, in his discussion about financial markets, he assumes all households, or at least most households, invest money in the stock and/or bond markets. This is nonsense. Those making less than the median income only own 0.5% of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds in 2007. Compare this to the top 1% who own 51%.
He also argues, as any orthodox economist would, that markets always ‘know’ the correct price of goods, services, and labor. But is this always the case? Without delving into cases and instead looking at the claim on its face, ascribing such epistemic infallibility to markets suggests that markets possess a godlike nature that is nigh blasphemous: markets are all-knowing, all-powerful, all-good, perfect representations of reality, and just (though not very merciful!). If one is rich, than you have been blessed by the markets and deserve to be rich; you’ve earned it. Those who are poor have been damned by the markets and their suffering is the consequence of their ignorance of the law of markets or of their market agnosticism or, worse, their disbelief in the power and justice of markets. Skeptical remarks concerning the efficacy of markets are duly treated as heresy, and those with the temerity to introduce such doubts and alternatives are subsequently banished, as were the Gnostics and Arians in the early centuries of Christianity, from serious consideration. Thankfully, thus far no inquisition has been instituted to silence such heretics.
Taylor also repeats the standard economic claim that rising wages accompany rising productivity, a claim that has been shown to false by the failure of wages to keep pace with productivity in the last forty years. His discussion insisting that poverty and inequality are separate and not intertwined seemed weak; while they can be separated for analytic purposes, conceptually and practically separating them into mutually exclusive categories seems wrong headed. His discussion of corporate governance also takes place in a platonic realm, assuming that directors and shareholders assume the responsibility for the overall guidance of large corporations. Perhaps in some cases, but recent history put the lie to such assumptions, showing that it has been CEOs and other upper level management officers whose decision have decided the fate of the organizations they run.
On a more positive note, Taylor does acknowledge that limitations of using gross domestic product as the bellwether for measuring how well off a society is.
Still, in general a useful book that I intend to dip into when confronted with some feature of the economy I don’t fully understand.
March 3, 2012
This was not an easy read. However it was very informative. It's a book that someone can go back to several times. It teaches you about the federal reserve, the cost of health insurance and how even groceries can affect our own Economic future. It is a book that everyone should read.
September 17, 2025
I started reading this as a supplement to my Econ classes in management school, and I finished reading while writing my master’s thesis on how inflation is affecting strip clubs- incredible how useful it was to me!
December 30, 2020
Timothy Taylor's The Instant Economist provides an overview of micro and macro economics. We should all aspire to read books like these, even if, speaking from personal experience, they are dull enough that they take weeks to finish.
The most useful idea I encountered in The Instant Economist is trade-offs. One policy almost always has a trade off, which seems pretty obvious. But I suspect we do a lot of rationalizing to pretend away these trade offs. American conservatives often argue that their government should tax wealthy coastal states to subsidize unproductive agricultural states. People who have less are unfortunate and would benefit from help. An economist in this moment might point out that if American farms are so inefficient, propping them up reduces innovation. I note in reading Michael Lewis's The Fifth Risk that "The more rural the American, the more dependent he is for his way of life on the U.S. government" but their state politicians often ask the federal government to pretend that they aren't subsidizing those states. In the words of one local politician: "‘Can you not mention that the government gave this?’" Rather than considering the trade offs of this policy, the discourse will almost immediately spin into questions of what's "right" or comparisons of suffering/ need. Once one sees these rhetorical dynamics in one subject, it's almost impossible not to see it in others.
Taylor is not a heterodox economist, but he does have a chapter on externalities. I didn't love it. Taylor explains that:
Finally, I have often struggled when politicians like Bernie Sanders or AOC state that the economy should not produce billionaires. What does "produce billionaires" mean? But I now understand that economists think about the economy like this all the time. If we don't want the economy to produce inflation, there are policies we can pursue. If we want the economy to produce more unemployment, we can make that happen. If we want to decrease trade with other countries, there are levers to pull. In more ways than I realized, the economy is an expression of cultural values. If we are willing to label extreme income inequality a problem, there are policies that can be pursued and trade offs that can be either accepted or mitigated.
I often judge the value of a book by its ability to inspire greater curiosity in me about its subject. Having read The Instant Economist, I realize I'd be happy to read more economics and more of these Subject 101 books.
The most useful idea I encountered in The Instant Economist is trade-offs. One policy almost always has a trade off, which seems pretty obvious. But I suspect we do a lot of rationalizing to pretend away these trade offs. American conservatives often argue that their government should tax wealthy coastal states to subsidize unproductive agricultural states. People who have less are unfortunate and would benefit from help. An economist in this moment might point out that if American farms are so inefficient, propping them up reduces innovation. I note in reading Michael Lewis's The Fifth Risk that "The more rural the American, the more dependent he is for his way of life on the U.S. government" but their state politicians often ask the federal government to pretend that they aren't subsidizing those states. In the words of one local politician: "‘Can you not mention that the government gave this?’" Rather than considering the trade offs of this policy, the discourse will almost immediately spin into questions of what's "right" or comparisons of suffering/ need. Once one sees these rhetorical dynamics in one subject, it's almost impossible not to see it in others.
Taylor is not a heterodox economist, but he does have a chapter on externalities. I didn't love it. Taylor explains that:
Zero pollution will mean shutting down most industry and most of the economy. All other policy options--both command-and-control and market-oriented environmental policies--involve allowing some pollution. Absolutely zero pollution is neither viable nor intellectually serious.I didn't find this a particularly charitable representation of greens--almost like he was engaging with the most convenient adversary. There is a lot to be done between where we are (~40 gigatons of CO2e added annually) and net zero emissions. When I read a work like Tyler Cowen's Big Business, I basically understand him as arguing that large corporations are undervalued. When I read a work about the environment, I often understand the writer as arguing that the planetary systems we have relied on to build civilization are undervalued. But if I was to treat Taylor's argument the way he does environmental arguments, I suppose I'd say that dismissing environmental concerns is not intellectually serious. Taylor goes on to write: "The reasonable policy goal is to balance the benefits of production with the cost of pollution, or, to put it another way, bring the social cost and social benefits of production in to align with each other." Because that alignment is nebulous, and because economics assigns very little value to the atmosphere, we quickly devolve into negotiations about tradeoffs.
Finally, I have often struggled when politicians like Bernie Sanders or AOC state that the economy should not produce billionaires. What does "produce billionaires" mean? But I now understand that economists think about the economy like this all the time. If we don't want the economy to produce inflation, there are policies we can pursue. If we want the economy to produce more unemployment, we can make that happen. If we want to decrease trade with other countries, there are levers to pull. In more ways than I realized, the economy is an expression of cultural values. If we are willing to label extreme income inequality a problem, there are policies that can be pursued and trade offs that can be either accepted or mitigated.
I often judge the value of a book by its ability to inspire greater curiosity in me about its subject. Having read The Instant Economist, I realize I'd be happy to read more economics and more of these Subject 101 books.
October 26, 2016
I didn't graduate from secondary school and high school. I didn't study much my entire life.
This book makes it easy to understand economy and how it works even for an uneducated jock like myself by providing short and concise explanation of theories coupled with insights and suggestions behind real-life government decisions and policies.
I will be coming back to this book often to recap and familiarize myself.
Having not much education before, the rewarding effect of this book has been very obvious. I can now make more sense from news and articles written on the topic of economy.
I look forward to further reading on the subject, and hope to continue to find discerning authors who could explain like Timothy Taylor.
This book makes it easy to understand economy and how it works even for an uneducated jock like myself by providing short and concise explanation of theories coupled with insights and suggestions behind real-life government decisions and policies.
I will be coming back to this book often to recap and familiarize myself.
Having not much education before, the rewarding effect of this book has been very obvious. I can now make more sense from news and articles written on the topic of economy.
I look forward to further reading on the subject, and hope to continue to find discerning authors who could explain like Timothy Taylor.
June 23, 2012
Timothy Taylor is a noted Economist who can simplify. This is a wonderful beginning for anyone interested in Economics. My only criticism is that he does not deal with the acceleration principal of money one of the basic concepts to understanding what money is and what causes recessions and inflation.
April 1, 2019
About as exciting as 250 pages on economics can possibly be
abandoned
September 26, 2020Let's be real this is an abandoned book that vies for my attention. I won't finish it for a long time.
November 7, 2025
It’s not a short book on economics as the author proclaims in the preface. Anything but…
I thought a quick review wouldn’t hurt me. I’m not so sure after persevering the whole length.
It’s true to the science. A weak three Goodread stars.
I thought a quick review wouldn’t hurt me. I’m not so sure after persevering the whole length.
It’s true to the science. A weak three Goodread stars.
Read
August 14, 2013The Instant Economist's title gives it away. This book gives reader a basic knowledge of a wide variety of economic topics almost overnight. I read this book in preparation for a business camp I attended in New York. There, words were thrown around that I would never have heard of if it weren't for this book. While The Instant Economist may not make you a professional economist, it provides a stepping stone to allow you to go where you want without being confused about the basic principles that make our economy work.
September 11, 2012
I LOVE Timothy Taylor's lectures. The book is an amazing "encyclopedia" out of these lectures. But the lectures are much more fun frankly (even though it'll take longer to listen to all instead of just flipping through the book).
June 11, 2016
An interesting albeit little right wing view, of the rules of economics. Large subject dealt in a concise way covering both micro and macro aspects of economics as well as short and long term implications in the globalized world.
November 10, 2020
This is an excellent, balanced, and succinct introduction to a wide breadth of subtopics within Economics. Each chapter is 3-5 pages, and there's no fluff. It's difficult to recommend a non-academic book to get someone up-to-speed with the "economic way of thinking", but this book come close, and is probably the one I'd recommend going forward. This, along with Sowell's Basic Economics, and the 70 short Marginal Revolution University videos on Microeconomics would give anyone a quite solid grounding in economics as it's applied to modern problems and system of ideas, political or otherwise. Unlike some other works (such as Basic Economics, which is libertarian-slanted), this one fairly represents differing schools of thought in Economics and the nuance surrounding government policy as it is applied to markets, while still faithfully representing the strong consensus among Economists on various issues such as price controls and international trade and capital flows.
July 16, 2020
The author's stated goal is a clear easy explanation of multiple economic concepts, and that is mostly accomplished. It starts with microeconomics and builds in a logical fashion toward macroeconomics. Sections are short enough to prevent getting bogged down.
Sometimes there are weaknesses where something that is just economic thinking really needs to be tempered by a knowledge of history or sociology or psychology, where yes - that is how economists would see it, but there are flaws - but getting into that is probably beyond the scope of the book. So probably my main complaint is that with several references to the 2008 crash and ensuing recession, there is not enough about the oversight failures. Of course, that is its own topic, and has at least one excellent book on precisely that.
Sometimes there are weaknesses where something that is just economic thinking really needs to be tempered by a knowledge of history or sociology or psychology, where yes - that is how economists would see it, but there are flaws - but getting into that is probably beyond the scope of the book. So probably my main complaint is that with several references to the 2008 crash and ensuing recession, there is not enough about the oversight failures. Of course, that is its own topic, and has at least one excellent book on precisely that.
August 31, 2018
This is an excellent introduction (or refresher) on micro- and macroeconomics. Thorough but very accessible. The book is also well-organized. Each chapter is only a few pages and focuses on a specific topic, moving from basic microeconomics (supply and demand in individual markets) through macroeconomic issues such as currency exchange rates and globalization. This allows the reader to either read through the whole book and get an overview of economics or simply get an explanation for individual topics that are sources of confusion.
November 8, 2024
This book explains in simple terms almost all the necessary topics an economist needs to know. The special thing about this book is it explains economics in a way even an average knowledgable reader can easily understand. The narrative is simple and can be clearly followed. It covers everything from Fiscal Policy, Monetary Policy to Foreign Exchange starting from the basics of Demand and Supply. I recommend this book for everyone including an MBA graduate. You can brush up everything in a single read.
January 15, 2018
The author does an extraordinary job of explaining basic economic concepts in great detail and providing an array of examples for understanding. He keeps it simple and uses ideas/scenarios that anyone could understand.
January 12, 2022
I am no Economist but this book was a great introduction/refresher to the world of micro and macro economics. Uses good working examples to help understand the concepts. Good book if you're looking for one to just provide a overview of the complexity of the world economy.
August 16, 2017
good primer with no math, just enough on a broad range of topics. Contains Phillips curve and QE discussions.
December 12, 2018
it makes me feel economist is easy to understand
July 8, 2019
Good, easy-to-read, broad introduction to economics. If you know little-to-nothing about economics, this book is thoroughly worthwhile.
August 2, 2019
A great introduction to macro and micro economics for laymen.
March 2, 2020
A concise and comprehensive book on the basics of economics. I will probably come back to this book again if I want to revisit some of the economic concepts.
Read
April 6, 2020I guess I know how the economy works now! Good thing it's all being destroyed soon enough and I can go back to growing beets and foraging for nuts and fungi.
April 29, 2020
Explained economics in easy to understand terms.
June 16, 2020
Enabling a layperson like me to make sense of the current economic events!
June 21, 2020
Solid introduction to the field of economics for a beginner and a great refresher for those who have previously studied it.
November 10, 2020
译文读得太难受了。。。
January 10, 2021
Very easy to read and informative
I’m not a numbers person, so this really helped clarify things and didn’t get bogged down in minutiae. Great book.
I’m not a numbers person, so this really helped clarify things and didn’t get bogged down in minutiae. Great book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews