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50 Ideas You Really Need to Know
50 Economics Ideas You Really Need to Know: A complete introduction to the key concepts of finance and economics
In a series of 50 accessible essays, Ed Conway introduces and explains the essential economic concepts needed to understand booms and busts, bulls and bears, and how economics influences every aspect of our lives, whether buying a house or what you ate for breakfast this morning.
From Adam Smith's invisible hand to supply and demand, stocks and shares to communism, 50 Economics Ideas You Really Need to Know is a complete introduction to the most important economics concepts in history.
From Adam Smith's invisible hand to supply and demand, stocks and shares to communism, 50 Economics Ideas You Really Need to Know is a complete introduction to the most important economics concepts in history.
283 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 127 reviews
October 30, 2015
The book is like a slightly expanded and selective index of common economic ideas. Useful for a quick glance. This index-of-an-index is for reference:
01. The invisible hand
the condensed idea: Self-interest is good for society
02. Supply and demand
the condensed idea: Something is perfectly priced when supply equals demand
03. The Malthusian trap
Useful Quote:
‘Malthus has been buried many times, and Malthusian scarcity with him. But as Garrett Hardin remarked, anyone who has to be reburied so often cannot be entirely dead.’
~ Herman E. Daly, US economist
the condensed idea: Beware relentless rises in population
04, Opportunity cost
Useful Quote:
‘The cost of something is what you give up to get it.’
~ Greg Mankiw, Harvard economics professor
the condensed idea: Time is money
05. Incentives
Useful Quote:
‘Call it what you will, incentives are what get people to work harder.’
~ Nikita Khrushchev
the condensed idea: People respond to incentives
06. Division of labour
the condensed idea: Concentrate on your specialities
07. Comparative advantage
Useful Quotes:
‘Name me one proposition in all of the social sciences which is both true and nontrivial.’
~ Stanislaw Ulam, mathematician
‘Comparative advantage. That it is logically true need not be argued before a mathematician; that it is not trivial is attested by the thousands of important and intelligent men who have never been able to grasp the doctrine for themselves or to believe it after it was explained to them.’
~ Paul Samuelson, US economist, in response to mathematician Stanislaw Ulam
the condensed idea: Specialization + free trade = win-win
08. Capitalism
Useful Quote:
‘The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.’
~ Winston Churchill
the condensed idea: The least worst way to run an economy
09. Keynesianism
the condensed idea: Governments should spend to prevent deep recessions
10. Monetarism
the condensed idea: Control the growth of money
11. Communism
the condensed idea: An egalitarian, entirely state-run society
12. Individualism
Useful Quote:
‘Once it has been perceived that the division of labour is the essence of society, nothing remains of the antithesis between individual and society. The contradiction between individual principle and social principle disappears.’
~ Ludwig von Mises, Austrian economist
the condensed idea: Individual human choices are paramount
13. Supply-side economics
the condensed idea: Higher taxes mean lower growth
14. The marginal revolution
the condensed idea: Rational people think at the margin
15. Money
the condensed idea: Money is a token of trust
16. Micro and macro
the condensed idea: Micro for businesses, macro for countries
17. Gross domestic product
the condensed idea: The key yardstick of a country’s economic performance
18. Central banks and interest rates
Useful Quote:
‘In central banking as in diplomacy, style, conservative tailoring, and an easy association with the affluent, count greatly and results far much less.’
~ John Kenneth Galbraith
the condensed idea: Central banks steer economies away from booms and busts
19. Inflation
Useful Quotes:
‘Inflation is the one form of taxation that can be imposed without legislation.’
~Milton Friedman
‘The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists.’
~ Ernest Hemingway
the condensed idea: Keep prices rising slowly
20. Debt and deflation
the condensed idea: Falling prices can cripple an economy
21. Taxes
the condensed idea: As inevitable as death
22. Unemployment
the condensed idea: Zero unemployment is impossible
23. Currencies and exchange rates
the condensed idea: The barometer of a country’s standing
24. Balance of payments
the condensed idea: The ledger of a country’s international economic relations
25. Trust and the law
the condensed idea: The irreplaceable foundations of society
26. Energy and oil
the condensed idea: Deal with oil shortages through innovation
27. Bond markets
the condensed idea: Bonds are the basis of government financing
28. Banks
Useful Quote:
‘What is robbing a bank compared with founding a bank?’
~ Bertolt Brecht
the condensed idea: Banks connect borrowers with lenders
29. Stocks and shares
the condensed idea: Stock markets sit at the heart of capitalism
30. Risky business
the condensed idea: Pass risk to those more willing to take it
31. Boom and bust
the condensed idea: Boom and bust are inevitable
32. Pensions and the welfare state
the condensed idea: Beware promising money you can’t give
33. Money markets
the condensed idea: Money markets make the financial world go round
34. Blowing bubbles
the condensed idea: Humans are addicted to bubbles
35. Credit crunches
Useful Quote:
‘The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.’
~ John Maynard Keynes
the condensed idea: Economies seize up as credit dries up
36. Creative destruction
the condensed idea: Companies must adapt or die
37. Home-owning and house prices
the condensed idea: House prices go down as well as up
38. Government deficits
the condensed idea: Governments are addicted to debt
39. Inequality
the condensed idea: The wealth gap will destabilize nations
40. Globalization
the condensed idea: Globalization is the adrenaline of capitalism
41. Multilateralism
the condensed idea: Nations can achieve more by working together
42. Protectionism
Useful Quote:
‘When goods cannot cross borders, armies will.’
~ Frédéric Bastiat, 19th-century French economist
the condensed idea: The biggest threat to world peace and prosperity
43. Technological revolutions
the condensed idea: Technology is economic fuel
44. Development economics
the condensed idea: Aim to pull the bottom billion out of poverty
45. Environmental economics
the condensed idea: Act now to avoid terrible environmental costs
46. Behavioural economics
the condensed idea: People are predictably irrational
47. Game theory
Useful Quote:
‘Do not do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Their tastes may be different.’
~ George Bernard Shaw
the condensed idea: People behave differently in games
48. Criminomics
Useful Quote:
‘Since the science of economics is primarily a set of tools, as opposed to a subject matter, then no subject, however offbeat, need be beyond its reach.’
~ Steven Levitt
the condensed idea: Economics can apply to everything
49. Happynomics
the condensed idea: Economics is not all about money
50. 21st-century economics
the condensed idea: Intervene when people are not rational
February 4, 2018
I came to this book grudgingly, as an unwilling traveller facing her last port of call, before heading home to shut the door on economics forever.
For about a year I had been making a concerted effort to try to understand more about economics. I came to it from a position of gross ignorance. I'd never knowingly invested in the stock market, the thought of national debt gave me palpitations (it still does), and job of central banks was was completely murky to me (and I admit the murk has yet to be fully lifted....).
One year later, I had made vague, waffly inroads, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Time and time again I'd been wrestled to the ground by my own limitations..... I am a small-brained critter, and economics was just too darn difficult.
And then my brother offered to lend me this book, and I thought 'what the heck', it looked very basic and clearly set out, so I thought I would give it a go. I am so very delighted that I did. It describes things with fantastic clarity. The book has a series of chapters, all about 3-5 pages long, each discussing different aspects of economics. All sorts of ideas that had so far evaded me started dropping into place.
I don't plan to take my investigations with economics any further - it is too difficult a subject - but in future I will be reading newspapers with more understanding. Ye gods, I've even got some sort of insight into the reasoning behind the futures market 0_0 !
Final verdict? I have bought my own copy of this book. I very seldom buy books nowadays, but I had to have this one.... Not only has it clarified tons of things for me, but I have no doubt it will serve me as a great reference book in the years to come.
For about a year I had been making a concerted effort to try to understand more about economics. I came to it from a position of gross ignorance. I'd never knowingly invested in the stock market, the thought of national debt gave me palpitations (it still does), and job of central banks was was completely murky to me (and I admit the murk has yet to be fully lifted....).
One year later, I had made vague, waffly inroads, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Time and time again I'd been wrestled to the ground by my own limitations..... I am a small-brained critter, and economics was just too darn difficult.
And then my brother offered to lend me this book, and I thought 'what the heck', it looked very basic and clearly set out, so I thought I would give it a go. I am so very delighted that I did. It describes things with fantastic clarity. The book has a series of chapters, all about 3-5 pages long, each discussing different aspects of economics. All sorts of ideas that had so far evaded me started dropping into place.
I don't plan to take my investigations with economics any further - it is too difficult a subject - but in future I will be reading newspapers with more understanding. Ye gods, I've even got some sort of insight into the reasoning behind the futures market 0_0 !
Final verdict? I have bought my own copy of this book. I very seldom buy books nowadays, but I had to have this one.... Not only has it clarified tons of things for me, but I have no doubt it will serve me as a great reference book in the years to come.
October 7, 2020
Un gran libro para ilustrarte las bases más básicas de la economía para todos aquellos que desconocemos por completo el tema y nos llama la atención y esa es otra gran virtud del libro, la sencillez con que se explican los temas resulta muy sencillo para quien tiene un poquito de interés en comprenderlos. Sumamente recomendado como ese primer paso al tema de la economía.
December 2, 2021
Unfortunately, it seems that the interesting things in economics require math and multiple hours of crying. Externalities aren't interesting until you see the math involved in fixing them. Keynes is cool when you see *why* certain policies might increase welfare (the T, it's all about the T). Game Theory is only neat when you realize how to logically work your way to a Nash equilibrium.
I started reading this book before my degree as a way to see whether I'd enjoy economics. Now, nearly done with economics (!!!), I can say that this simply isn't a very good book for economic knowledge.
I felt that this book was way below anything near academic level. I mean, seriously, can you even explain economics without using integrals? How can you talk about the stock market without any formulas? At best, I assume this book might allow you to get through an economics newspaper with more understanding. There's no real advantage to this book over Wikipedia and Investopedia (my one true love in this life).
Moreover, for the general public that has wisely decided not to study economics, this felt a little dull. You will finish this book with maybe a bit more understanding of the terminology but I don't think it's possible to learn a field through terms. The terms simply aren't the juicy parts. You learn a little bit about each term but without any real context, it's just not very interesting.
To conclude, for people interested in economics, this isn't the right book. I recommend reading books that apply economic knowledge to real life situations. Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty does an amazing job of taking economic concepts to the world of poverty. Climate Matters: Ethics in a Warming World uses economics to prove philosophical arguments about the climate. Both of these books are friendly for beginners and will show the interesting parts of economics without being too dry (and with just a bit of math, not too much).
what i'm taking with me
- I have two more economics credits before I'm done, heck yes
- and like 40 Business credits but let's not think about that
- speaking of, i am struggling so much between deciding to major in strategy or in organizational behavior. like, both open different doors. do i want to work in consulting or in more management positions? organizational behavior is by far easier, especially as someone who's studying philosophy and politics, like organizational behavior doesn't hold a candle to what we go through in philosophy in terms of analytical thinking. however, strategy is challenging and you all know me, i have a tendency to go through the path of maximum pain. At the same time, all the courses seem boring and i did tell myself i'd study things i enjoy. But strategy also seems very handy, like yeah, let's learn how to gain capital for my initiatives, that might be more useful in the future than the vague pseudo psychology of organizational behavior.
- And I haven't solved my MBA problem yet, I seem to have gone, "this will be a problem for next semester" instead. Excellent adulting.
--------------
The last 24 hours can be summed up as:
"I'm going to quit the MBA"
"No, I can't quit. I'm going to swallow my pride and try to make the most out of those two years by writing a thesis and hey, maybe even getting an adult job/ another masters."
"Absolutely not, I will do 30+ credits next semester, suffer my way through 9 credits of Finance and finish it the way I planned, even if it means giving up on student exchanges and more statistics. I can do it."
"Nope, I'm gonna quit the MBA."
I am exhausted and I can't wait until I figure this out and this problem will seem insignificant.
Review to come!
I started reading this book before my degree as a way to see whether I'd enjoy economics. Now, nearly done with economics (!!!), I can say that this simply isn't a very good book for economic knowledge.
I felt that this book was way below anything near academic level. I mean, seriously, can you even explain economics without using integrals? How can you talk about the stock market without any formulas? At best, I assume this book might allow you to get through an economics newspaper with more understanding. There's no real advantage to this book over Wikipedia and Investopedia (my one true love in this life).
Moreover, for the general public that has wisely decided not to study economics, this felt a little dull. You will finish this book with maybe a bit more understanding of the terminology but I don't think it's possible to learn a field through terms. The terms simply aren't the juicy parts. You learn a little bit about each term but without any real context, it's just not very interesting.
To conclude, for people interested in economics, this isn't the right book. I recommend reading books that apply economic knowledge to real life situations. Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty does an amazing job of taking economic concepts to the world of poverty. Climate Matters: Ethics in a Warming World uses economics to prove philosophical arguments about the climate. Both of these books are friendly for beginners and will show the interesting parts of economics without being too dry (and with just a bit of math, not too much).
what i'm taking with me
- I have two more economics credits before I'm done, heck yes
- and like 40 Business credits but let's not think about that
- speaking of, i am struggling so much between deciding to major in strategy or in organizational behavior. like, both open different doors. do i want to work in consulting or in more management positions? organizational behavior is by far easier, especially as someone who's studying philosophy and politics, like organizational behavior doesn't hold a candle to what we go through in philosophy in terms of analytical thinking. however, strategy is challenging and you all know me, i have a tendency to go through the path of maximum pain. At the same time, all the courses seem boring and i did tell myself i'd study things i enjoy. But strategy also seems very handy, like yeah, let's learn how to gain capital for my initiatives, that might be more useful in the future than the vague pseudo psychology of organizational behavior.
- And I haven't solved my MBA problem yet, I seem to have gone, "this will be a problem for next semester" instead. Excellent adulting.
--------------
The last 24 hours can be summed up as:
"I'm going to quit the MBA"
"No, I can't quit. I'm going to swallow my pride and try to make the most out of those two years by writing a thesis and hey, maybe even getting an adult job/ another masters."
"Absolutely not, I will do 30+ credits next semester, suffer my way through 9 credits of Finance and finish it the way I planned, even if it means giving up on student exchanges and more statistics. I can do it."
"Nope, I'm gonna quit the MBA."
I am exhausted and I can't wait until I figure this out and this problem will seem insignificant.
Review to come!
December 27, 2017
Like reference books, texts meant to introduce the reader to a concept are tricky to rate. Does it pioneer a concept? Does it give dazzling insights? No, it's only meant to provide a solid grounding on a topic, which will provide the foundation for further information.
This book introduces the reader to basic economic concepts marvellously well. It is short, immensely readable and not bogged down in rhetoric. I was, admittedly, a bit sceptical when I saw it was written by a Newspaper Editor, bemoaning that it might prove more informative had it been written by a professor or economist: this was before I read the book.
I was also relieved by how unbiased the book was, neither right or left-wing agendas are expressed, and most theories usually precede 'however...'. His discussion of monetarism is such an example, illustrating how Thatcher and Reagan seemingly used the theory to bolster the economy, though there is a chance it may have contributed to later financial woes.
I'd note that if you're an aspiring writer, wanting to underpin your world with a sense of realism, these basic economic ideas will help enrich your world - whether real or fantastic. This are also concepts people should know to navigate real life, where economic issues have a very profound effect. on everyday people.
Newspapers are often written for maximum readability, and the editor's experience in clear communication visibly pays off for a book that sets out to introduce the fundamentals of a topic. As such, Conway achieves the prime purpose of his book.
This book introduces the reader to basic economic concepts marvellously well. It is short, immensely readable and not bogged down in rhetoric. I was, admittedly, a bit sceptical when I saw it was written by a Newspaper Editor, bemoaning that it might prove more informative had it been written by a professor or economist: this was before I read the book.
I was also relieved by how unbiased the book was, neither right or left-wing agendas are expressed, and most theories usually precede 'however...'. His discussion of monetarism is such an example, illustrating how Thatcher and Reagan seemingly used the theory to bolster the economy, though there is a chance it may have contributed to later financial woes.
I'd note that if you're an aspiring writer, wanting to underpin your world with a sense of realism, these basic economic ideas will help enrich your world - whether real or fantastic. This are also concepts people should know to navigate real life, where economic issues have a very profound effect. on everyday people.
Newspapers are often written for maximum readability, and the editor's experience in clear communication visibly pays off for a book that sets out to introduce the fundamentals of a topic. As such, Conway achieves the prime purpose of his book.
January 4, 2018
I think a lot of the more negative reviews are coming from those who expected something far denser. It is by no means a university textbook! But with a title like '50 Economics Ideas' , what on earth were you expecting!? Conway 's book serves as both an excellent lay-reference book (read: coffee table) and a solid introduction to the basics of economics. I'm no economist but I found this both fascinating and enlightening. Extra points that bumped this title up to my first 5-star review for 2018 were for the book's wonderful creative designs and layout. Economics is a murderously dry subject at the best of times and I highly commend those who put in the hard-yards to make the layout of this book so 'engulfing' for the reader. Any book on economics that I deem a 'page turner' comes highly recommended from me always.
July 31, 2021
I thoroughly enjoyed this quick "refresher course" on basic economics. Conway does a brilliant job at condensing often complex economic theories and concepts into 2-4 pages. Would recommend this book to any lay-reader interested to learn the fundamentals of modern economics.
August 27, 2025
I wanted a bit of a recap of my A Level economics as I’ve been reading/am going to read some books dealing on the subject and I needed to be better read first. It’s pretty good, 50 concepts each with about 4 pages on that element. It’s not groundbreaking, it’s designed more for the layman/woman in mind but as that’s exactly what I am I’m pretty satisfied. 3.9/5, rounded up.
March 24, 2015
An excellent introduction to the main themes of economics. Well explained for the novice but with enough information to allow you to understand why we are in such a financial mess.
June 18, 2020
Paranın tüm kötülüklerin kökeni olduğunu düşünüyorsun. Peki, paranın kökeninin ne olduğunu hiç düşündün mü? -Ayn Rand
Finansal okuryazarlığa giriş olarak okunması gerektiğini düşündüğüm muhteşem bir kitap. Olabildiğince objektif bir biçimde Malthus Kapanı, Karşılaştırmalı Üstünlük gibi temel kavramlar, Keynesçilik, Komünizm gibi hareketler, enflasyon, vergiler gibi ekonominin temel yapı taşları, davranışsal iktisat ve oyun teorisi gibi ekonominin biraz daha alternatif, farklı alanları dörder sayfalık bölümler hâlinde anlatılıyor. Her bölümde anlatılan konu ile alakalı kısa bir zaman çizelgesi, birkaç tane alıntı ve konunun en can alıcı yönlerine değinilen metinler yer alıyor. Ekonomiye ilginiz olsun olmasın, para ile biraz da olsa ilginiz varsa bu kitabı okumalısınız.
Finansal okuryazarlığa giriş olarak okunması gerektiğini düşündüğüm muhteşem bir kitap. Olabildiğince objektif bir biçimde Malthus Kapanı, Karşılaştırmalı Üstünlük gibi temel kavramlar, Keynesçilik, Komünizm gibi hareketler, enflasyon, vergiler gibi ekonominin temel yapı taşları, davranışsal iktisat ve oyun teorisi gibi ekonominin biraz daha alternatif, farklı alanları dörder sayfalık bölümler hâlinde anlatılıyor. Her bölümde anlatılan konu ile alakalı kısa bir zaman çizelgesi, birkaç tane alıntı ve konunun en can alıcı yönlerine değinilen metinler yer alıyor. Ekonomiye ilginiz olsun olmasın, para ile biraz da olsa ilginiz varsa bu kitabı okumalısınız.
May 20, 2017
Q:
«Раньше я думал, что если есть такая штука, как реинкарна-
ция, в следующей жизни я хочу стать президентом, Папой
Римским или хиттером, отбивающим четыре мяча из деся-
ти, — говорил Джеймс Карвилл, отвечавший за кампанию экс-
президента США Билла Клинтона. — Но сейчас я хочу стать
рынком облигаций. Его боятся все на свете».
(c)
Q:
Кривая доходности. Лучше всего значимость рынка облигаций подчер-
кивает то, что «поведение» облигаций — это ключ к будущему данной
экономики. Кривая доходности показывает, как менялись ставки процента
по множеству разных типов облигаций во времени. При прочих равных
условиях ставки по облигациям, срок действия которых подходит к концу,
должны быть ниже ставок по облигациям, которые действительны еще
много лет, — при таком раскладе экономика в будущем станет расти, при
этом вырастет инфляция. Случается, что кривая доходности меняет форму,
и тогда ставки по облигациям, которые вот-вот будут погашены, оказывают-
ся выше, чем ставки по облигациям, срок которых наступит не скоро. Это
верный признак того, что экономика движется к рецессии: ставки процен-
та и инфляция в ближайшие годы упадут, то и другое связывается с эконо-
мическим спадом. Вот еще один пример того, что экономическая судьба
каждого из нас неразрывно связана с положением дел на рынке облигаций.
(c)
«Раньше я думал, что если есть такая штука, как реинкарна-
ция, в следующей жизни я хочу стать президентом, Папой
Римским или хиттером, отбивающим четыре мяча из деся-
ти, — говорил Джеймс Карвилл, отвечавший за кампанию экс-
президента США Билла Клинтона. — Но сейчас я хочу стать
рынком облигаций. Его боятся все на свете».
(c)
Q:
Кривая доходности. Лучше всего значимость рынка облигаций подчер-
кивает то, что «поведение» облигаций — это ключ к будущему данной
экономики. Кривая доходности показывает, как менялись ставки процента
по множеству разных типов облигаций во времени. При прочих равных
условиях ставки по облигациям, срок действия которых подходит к концу,
должны быть ниже ставок по облигациям, которые действительны еще
много лет, — при таком раскладе экономика в будущем станет расти, при
этом вырастет инфляция. Случается, что кривая доходности меняет форму,
и тогда ставки по облигациям, которые вот-вот будут погашены, оказывают-
ся выше, чем ставки по облигациям, срок которых наступит не скоро. Это
верный признак того, что экономика движется к рецессии: ставки процен-
та и инфляция в ближайшие годы упадут, то и другое связывается с эконо-
мическим спадом. Вот еще один пример того, что экономическая судьба
каждого из нас неразрывно связана с положением дел на рынке облигаций.
(c)
July 2, 2017
El libro, en la línea de la serie “50 cosas”, dedica varios capítulos a revisar diversos conceptos sobre modelos económicos y particularidades financieras. En todo momento parte de un enfoque muy centrado en el mundo anglosajón y sus evoluciones económicas, así como en la crisis del 29 y la recesión económica actual.
Quizás lo más positivo es que se aclaran muy acertadamente conceptos básicos como la ley de oferta y demanda, la ventaja económica o el coste de oportunidad. Sin embargo, el aprovechamiento de conceptos más difíciles, como el riesgo o el mercado de valores, no resulta tan didáctico y llamativo. Se echan en falta ejemplos más claros y numéricos sobre muchos de los conceptos expuestos a partir de la segunda mitad del libro. También el libro intenta imponer una objetividad desde el punto de lo que funciona en la economía, dando gran peso a la globalización y a la libertad de mercado.
Quizás lo más positivo es que se aclaran muy acertadamente conceptos básicos como la ley de oferta y demanda, la ventaja económica o el coste de oportunidad. Sin embargo, el aprovechamiento de conceptos más difíciles, como el riesgo o el mercado de valores, no resulta tan didáctico y llamativo. Se echan en falta ejemplos más claros y numéricos sobre muchos de los conceptos expuestos a partir de la segunda mitad del libro. También el libro intenta imponer una objetividad desde el punto de lo que funciona en la economía, dando gran peso a la globalización y a la libertad de mercado.
March 19, 2016
Great introduction of economics
October 1, 2018
في الحقيقة كنت أهيئ نفسي لتلقي مصطلحات دسمة يصعب فهمها، ونظريات كالرأسمالية، والكينزية، والشيوعية، لكن وجدت ضالتي في المواضيع الاقتصادية التي عادة ما نسمعها أو نقرأها في حياتنا اليومية، وأحيانا أخرى نرى آثارها على مجتمعاتنا إن كانت سلبا أو ايجابا كما هو الحال في الإزدهار أو الركود، التضخم أو الإنكماش ... الخ
بدأ المؤلف بترتيب منظم متحدثا في فصوله الأولى عن الأساسيات، والحركات والأنظمة الاقتصادية، وكيف يعمل الاقتصاد، مرورا بالتمويل والأسواق، ومنتهيا بالأنظمة الاقتصادية البديلة وقضايا أخرى كامتلاك المنازل وأسعار البيوت، التفاوت الإجتماعي، العولمة، الثورات التكنولوجية وغيرها .
عندما انتهيت من الكتاب، شعرت أني قادر على استيعاب الخمسين فكرة، كما كنت متوقع أن مواضيعها مناسبة لعموم القُرّاء.
ليس الأفضل من بين الكتب التي قرأتها سابقا، إلا أني وجدته مدخلا بسيطا لأساسيات مهمة، الكتاب يحتوي على لمحات تاريخية على هيئة شريط زمني لأبرز الأحداث الاقتصادية التي عصفت في العالم.
لا يسعني إلا أن أقول ... الاقتصاد رائع ..
بدأ المؤلف بترتيب منظم متحدثا في فصوله الأولى عن الأساسيات، والحركات والأنظمة الاقتصادية، وكيف يعمل الاقتصاد، مرورا بالتمويل والأسواق، ومنتهيا بالأنظمة الاقتصادية البديلة وقضايا أخرى كامتلاك المنازل وأسعار البيوت، التفاوت الإجتماعي، العولمة، الثورات التكنولوجية وغيرها .
عندما انتهيت من الكتاب، شعرت أني قادر على استيعاب الخمسين فكرة، كما كنت متوقع أن مواضيعها مناسبة لعموم القُرّاء.
ليس الأفضل من بين الكتب التي قرأتها سابقا، إلا أني وجدته مدخلا بسيطا لأساسيات مهمة، الكتاب يحتوي على لمحات تاريخية على هيئة شريط زمني لأبرز الأحداث الاقتصادية التي عصفت في العالم.
لا يسعني إلا أن أقول ... الاقتصاد رائع ..
February 14, 2024
Honestly just the book I needed. A perfectly concise and well explained introduction to economics (mainly macroeconomics). Financial times podcasts... be scared!
It's not dumbed down enough to the point where its useless, and its not so full of jargon that I need another glossary just to read it. This book finds a balance.
This book has done more for me in 10 days than what five whole months of economipedia and FT newsletters could have ever done...
Honestly just a fully utilitarian book, I give it a 5/5 as concerns how much it has and is going to serve me.
Only issues are that some scenarios / realities have changed since this was published; and that, at times, it's a little too up EE.UU's ass. I "like" capitalism as much as anyone else but can we be fr for a second here.
Other than that, slay! I feel ready to tackle a finance bro and I finally know what central banks do <
It's not dumbed down enough to the point where its useless, and its not so full of jargon that I need another glossary just to read it. This book finds a balance.
This book has done more for me in 10 days than what five whole months of economipedia and FT newsletters could have ever done...
Honestly just a fully utilitarian book, I give it a 5/5 as concerns how much it has and is going to serve me.
Only issues are that some scenarios / realities have changed since this was published; and that, at times, it's a little too up EE.UU's ass. I "like" capitalism as much as anyone else but can we be fr for a second here.
Other than that, slay! I feel ready to tackle a finance bro and I finally know what central banks do <
December 19, 2023
(4.5*) - Brilliant and concise refresher on key economic concepts - made very engaging through short essays. The key takeaway as always is that decision making lies at the heart of everything economics related - why, how and when we make these decisions is what it attempts to address.
Also a great text to identify areas that take your interest - for me: bond markets as a key source of government financing and the importance of a bond’s yield, Happynomics as an economic indicator that shouldn’t be ignored, and the centrality that energy and oil has and will play in economic development.
Also a great text to identify areas that take your interest - for me: bond markets as a key source of government financing and the importance of a bond’s yield, Happynomics as an economic indicator that shouldn’t be ignored, and the centrality that energy and oil has and will play in economic development.
December 23, 2019
Nothing new or deep here but a nice refresher on the concepts that have shaped the economy.
August 26, 2018
Good and useful overview, for non-economists.
September 28, 2020
El contenido del libro resume de forma bastante clara lo que he visto en mis materias de economía los últimos dos años, lo que lo vuelve perfecto para recomendar e introducir a todo aquel que no tenga mucha idea sobre dicha ciencia.
Altamente recomendando.
Altamente recomendando.
May 15, 2023
ရှုပ်ထွေးပွေလီ လှတဲ့ ခေတ်မှီ စီးပွါးရေး စနစ်ကြီးဟာ ယုံကြည်မှု ဆိုတဲ့ fragile ဖြစ်လှတဲ့ အရာလေး တစ်ခုနဲ့ တည်ဆောက်ထားတယ် ဆိုရင် မှားမယ်မထင်ဘူး။ classic economist တွေက လူတွေဟာ ကြောင်းကျိုးဆီလျော် မှု ရှိတဲ့ ဆင်ခြင်တုံတရား လက်ကိုင်ထားကြသူတွေ ဖြစ်သလို အရင်းရှင်စီးပွါးရေး စနစ်ကြီးကိုလည်း မမြင်ရတဲ့ လက်ကြီးက အလိုလို ထိန်းကျောင်းပေးနေတာ ဆိုပြီး မှတ်ယူခဲ့ကြပေမယ့် နှစ်ဆယ်ရာစု နဲ့ နှစ်ဆယ့်တစ်ရာစု အတွင်းကြုံခဲ့ ရတဲ့ စီးပွါးရေး ပျက်ကပ်တွေက အဲဒီအယူအဆတွေဟာ လွဲမှားနေကြောင်း သက်သေပြနေတယ်။ communism ရဲ့ ပတ်သက်ပြီး တစ်ခန်း ရေးသားထားပေမယ့် အရင်းရှင်စီးပွါးရေး ကျမ်းတစ်ခု ကနေ ဘာများမျှော်လင့်စရာ ရနိုင်မလဲ။ မာ့က်စ် အရင်းကျမ်း ရေးသား ခဲ့တဲ့ အရင်းရှင် စနစ် လည်ပတ်ပုံ နဲ့ ခေတ်ပြိုင်မော်ဒန် အရင်းရှင်စနစ် ဟာ ကွာခြားသွားပြီ ဆိုတာတော့ ငြင်းလို့မရဘူး။ ခေတ်ပြိုင် လက်ဝဲတွေလည်း mainstream economy ကို စောဖေ နှောကြေအောင်လေ့လာသင့်တယ်လို့ မြင်တယ်။(like what Marx did during his contemporary capitalist economy) Das Kapital ကို holy bible လို စွဲကိုင်ပြီးအရာရာ ကို တိုင်းထွာနေရင်တော့ တခုခုဆို ကျမ်းကိုးကျမ်းကား နဲ့ ကိုင်ပေါက်တတ်တဲ့ ဘာသာရေးသမားတွေနဲ့ ဘာကွာ တော့မှာလဲ။(Marxism has the potential of pitfalling into personality cult)Irony ကတော့ ဇိဇက်ပြောသလိုဘဲ ကွန်မြူနစ်တရုတ်က အရင်းရှင်စီးပွါးရေးစနစ်ကို ကောင်းကောင်းကိုင်တွယ် နိုင်တဲ့ မန်နေဂျာ တစ်ယောက်ဖြစ်နေတယ်ဆိုတာဘဲ(cheap labour market ဖြစ်နေတဲ့ ကွန်မြူနစ်တရုတ်က အရင်းရှင်တွေ ဂုတ်သွေးစုတ်လို့ ကောင်းတဲ့ စားကျက်မြေ မဟုတ်ပေလား) တကယ်တော့ ကွန်မြူနစ်တရုတ်တွေလည်း marxism ကို အယုံအကြည်မရှိကြတော့ပါဘူး။လစ်ဟာနေတဲ့ ideology နေရာမှာ အတိတ်က ရွှေထီးဆောင်းခဲ့တဲ့ ကွန်ဖြူးရှပ်ဝါဒ နဲ့အစားထိုးပြီး အမျိုးသားနိုင်ငံရေး ဆောင်ပုဒ်ကို ကြွေးကြော်နေလေရဲ့။နိုင်ငံရေးစကားလို ပြောရရင် marxism ဟာ အတိုက်အခံနေရာကနေတက်မလာသေးဘူး။Mainstream ဖြစ်လာဖို့ရာ marxism ဟာ ဒိုင်ယာလက်တစ်ဆန်ဆန် update ဖြစ်လာရမယ်လို့ မြင်တယ်။
July 29, 2021
Ótimo para introduzir conceitos e noções básicas de economia, com vocabulário muito acessível e exemplos muito pertinentes.
October 28, 2017
light short book : 50 Economics idea explained in a simple way.
some quote and interesting idea from the book :
By the invisible hand: by perusing his own gain, he promotes gain of the society than when he really wants to intend it. ( two negative make positive)
Price elastic: increase price reduce demand.
Price inelastic: reducing rapidly ( producing banana )
Malthusian Trap: food expand linearly and population expand exponentially
Neo Malthusian Trap: oil, energy sources.
Opportunity cost: alternative use of time and cash. ( value of money, value of time ).
Incentives: turn down a well-payed job: for free time to enjoy, spend time for makeup to be nice. It’s not only money.
Disincentive tax on alcohol or tobacco.
Division of labor Eye pencil: no one on earth can or knows how to produce it on his own. Take it to next level city and globalization.
Comparativement advantage: do what you are best at: to optimise the system and buy the stuff you are not good at.
Trading is win-win results: the country has finite hours. ( Ricardo theory: specialization + free trade = win-win )
Devote your time to things that generate more cash.
Capitalism: company & capital is owned by private |( the people not the state). it's the people who define the market, not the state.
USA spending 10% 1929, 36% 2012 economy output : ( warfare to welfare)
Keynes theory: The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and money: stats taxation and spending should be a tool to control economy ( fiscal policy )
Against Jean Baptiste: Say's law: the notion that supply creates its own demand.
The multiplayer effect 10b spend by state help economy by 1.5x or ?x
short-term matters more, if you are killed in short term, long term doesn't matter.
Keynes: priority is unemployment vs inflation.
Monetarist: problem tuning the economy there is a big time lag between recognizing the need and action: the law to be drafted and passed by the parliament and time to give its effect: it's too late and makes matter worst.
Created macroeconomy: for country ( top-down), microeconomics for business ( bottom up)
Monetarist: always fight inflation, all other will take care of itself. controlling amount money printed: independent central bank to control the economy ( vs politician ) ( the problem you can’t know the amount of money in circulations )
All gods fail, if one believes too much.
Marx: boom and bust, rise of monopoly, the cult of individualism
A commodity is worth time to make it.
The only field Russia exited in it is military & aerospace => where she was in competition with the west.
Australian: cult of individualism, economy is an art more than Science, personal behave need to be counted: value, understanding of reality, ... => state can’t get all information needed to make decisions
Supply-side economics: private all, abolishing monopoly, cutting high tax rate: it avoids working less hard and avoid tax avoidance: Laffer curve tax.
The marginal utility: value given to thing is subjective: it depends on what people are willing to pay for it. Attractive, Affordable, reasonably priced compared to others products.
Money: it like a comment language of the market no need to translate.
Experiment: pricing a good and people took two to three item when it set to free people took only one.
Fiat money: from Latin let it be 1971.
M1: how much cash people they have.
M2: plus bank saving
M3: financial saving
The Central bank must act like it driving the economy looking at the back mirror ( as all changes need time to take effect ).
Falling price: deflation can cripple the economy: company fire to reduce the price, people mortgage fire up and can’t pay.
In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. Benjamin Franklin 1781: a is inevitable as death.
Thomas Sowell: Job security policies save the jobs of existing workers but at the cost of reducing the flexibility and efficiency of the economy by inhibiting creating new job for others workers
there is a negative correlation between unemployment and inflation: Philips curve.
Correlation between interest rate and currency as it provides high yield
Emerging economy control their currency to promote stability for investors.
Before floating the currency value is fixed by the amount of gold a country has in its volts.
Current account deficit will decrease currency and export becomes more competitive: so the system balances itself when currency is floating
In fixed currency country need to monitor and boost or slow down the economy.
Energy consumption per dollar declined 1.7% past 25 years.
Band market: the ability to raise money by the government show the health of a country, the interest rate and band price vary with risk ( 4% duration of life 20 years for example ) new band needs to meet current market rate.
Future contract: sell you products years before the yield day: avoid risk of the market fluctuations: someone loss and another win = it's zero-sum
Welfare system: prove to reduce productivity.
London interbank offered rate Libor index: money market borrow money in short term.
Creative destruction ( by Joseph Schumpeter ): when the bubble goes bust it kills the less productive company and free labor for the market.
The economy cycle can be good for the economy, negative side people will draw money to a safe investment, less risk: houses or cash.
solution by fed: Annonce a bubble, increase the interest rate, Be taught on bank and regulation
But it can be our nature that we are irrational and addictive to cycles
The Black Scholes formula: define price of options ( Nobel Price ) when price is low they will be attractive but it doesn’t work in panic
#1: displacement #2 boom #3 ufouria #4 smart investment start to sell #5 panic ( Harming Minsky )
House price increase 3% with no inflation since 1975: depends on value land evaluations: the more restriction council is the higher the price.
After war 2: 10% own their houses UK compared to 50% USA, Now it’s 70% in the UK: If renting is attractive: will be less boom and bust.
The incentive to buy a house will break the loop in the market and create bubbles.
Debt is not a problem if it grows less fast that the economy, debt can be killed by printing money and inflation, it’s not an issue if money is invested to yield higher tax in future.
Inequality: 1/10 of the population gain X16 USA, X25 Mexico, X5 Finland
Son incoming correlated to his father income.
Inequality is a boost in the underdeveloped world.
Small Inequality increase trust and reduce violence
Oscar adds +4 years in your life, double Oscar +6 years.
Globalisation: made market stable via low inflation, and make it difficult to go to war.
Multi literalism (multi-country organization): United Nation, WTO, IMF (Bank of the world), world trade organization, G7, G20.
Many studies show that protectionism is not good in the long run. the 1930 protectionism created WWII. the 1950 China economy self-efficiency strategy didn't work.
Climate change should be in the market loop to be fixed by the invisible hand.
Behavioural economy: study why humans are predictably irrational.
Nudge economic: manipulate people for there good: should people be protected from their irrationally and what about voting?
Regulate market to force people to not fail on there irrationally: intervene when people are not rational
Game theory :
Adam Smith: people are inherently selfish but when it’s channels in a market it becomes beneficial and a socially will be better off.
Everything has a cost: being racists or to break the law, it's like an added cost ( Nobel Price)
Once the basic needs are fulfilled 20k: we start measuring happiness by comparison to others: family, neighbors, friends.
some quote and interesting idea from the book :
By the invisible hand: by perusing his own gain, he promotes gain of the society than when he really wants to intend it. ( two negative make positive)
Price elastic: increase price reduce demand.
Price inelastic: reducing rapidly ( producing banana )
Malthusian Trap: food expand linearly and population expand exponentially
Neo Malthusian Trap: oil, energy sources.
Opportunity cost: alternative use of time and cash. ( value of money, value of time ).
Incentives: turn down a well-payed job: for free time to enjoy, spend time for makeup to be nice. It’s not only money.
Disincentive tax on alcohol or tobacco.
Division of labor Eye pencil: no one on earth can or knows how to produce it on his own. Take it to next level city and globalization.
Comparativement advantage: do what you are best at: to optimise the system and buy the stuff you are not good at.
Trading is win-win results: the country has finite hours. ( Ricardo theory: specialization + free trade = win-win )
Devote your time to things that generate more cash.
Capitalism: company & capital is owned by private |( the people not the state). it's the people who define the market, not the state.
USA spending 10% 1929, 36% 2012 economy output : ( warfare to welfare)
Keynes theory: The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and money: stats taxation and spending should be a tool to control economy ( fiscal policy )
Against Jean Baptiste: Say's law: the notion that supply creates its own demand.
The multiplayer effect 10b spend by state help economy by 1.5x or ?x
short-term matters more, if you are killed in short term, long term doesn't matter.
Keynes: priority is unemployment vs inflation.
Monetarist: problem tuning the economy there is a big time lag between recognizing the need and action: the law to be drafted and passed by the parliament and time to give its effect: it's too late and makes matter worst.
Created macroeconomy: for country ( top-down), microeconomics for business ( bottom up)
Monetarist: always fight inflation, all other will take care of itself. controlling amount money printed: independent central bank to control the economy ( vs politician ) ( the problem you can’t know the amount of money in circulations )
All gods fail, if one believes too much.
Marx: boom and bust, rise of monopoly, the cult of individualism
A commodity is worth time to make it.
The only field Russia exited in it is military & aerospace => where she was in competition with the west.
Australian: cult of individualism, economy is an art more than Science, personal behave need to be counted: value, understanding of reality, ... => state can’t get all information needed to make decisions
Supply-side economics: private all, abolishing monopoly, cutting high tax rate: it avoids working less hard and avoid tax avoidance: Laffer curve tax.
The marginal utility: value given to thing is subjective: it depends on what people are willing to pay for it. Attractive, Affordable, reasonably priced compared to others products.
Money: it like a comment language of the market no need to translate.
Experiment: pricing a good and people took two to three item when it set to free people took only one.
Fiat money: from Latin let it be 1971.
M1: how much cash people they have.
M2: plus bank saving
M3: financial saving
The Central bank must act like it driving the economy looking at the back mirror ( as all changes need time to take effect ).
Falling price: deflation can cripple the economy: company fire to reduce the price, people mortgage fire up and can’t pay.
In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. Benjamin Franklin 1781: a is inevitable as death.
Thomas Sowell: Job security policies save the jobs of existing workers but at the cost of reducing the flexibility and efficiency of the economy by inhibiting creating new job for others workers
there is a negative correlation between unemployment and inflation: Philips curve.
Correlation between interest rate and currency as it provides high yield
Emerging economy control their currency to promote stability for investors.
Before floating the currency value is fixed by the amount of gold a country has in its volts.
Current account deficit will decrease currency and export becomes more competitive: so the system balances itself when currency is floating
In fixed currency country need to monitor and boost or slow down the economy.
Energy consumption per dollar declined 1.7% past 25 years.
Band market: the ability to raise money by the government show the health of a country, the interest rate and band price vary with risk ( 4% duration of life 20 years for example ) new band needs to meet current market rate.
Future contract: sell you products years before the yield day: avoid risk of the market fluctuations: someone loss and another win = it's zero-sum
Welfare system: prove to reduce productivity.
London interbank offered rate Libor index: money market borrow money in short term.
Creative destruction ( by Joseph Schumpeter ): when the bubble goes bust it kills the less productive company and free labor for the market.
The economy cycle can be good for the economy, negative side people will draw money to a safe investment, less risk: houses or cash.
solution by fed: Annonce a bubble, increase the interest rate, Be taught on bank and regulation
But it can be our nature that we are irrational and addictive to cycles
The Black Scholes formula: define price of options ( Nobel Price ) when price is low they will be attractive but it doesn’t work in panic
#1: displacement #2 boom #3 ufouria #4 smart investment start to sell #5 panic ( Harming Minsky )
House price increase 3% with no inflation since 1975: depends on value land evaluations: the more restriction council is the higher the price.
After war 2: 10% own their houses UK compared to 50% USA, Now it’s 70% in the UK: If renting is attractive: will be less boom and bust.
The incentive to buy a house will break the loop in the market and create bubbles.
Debt is not a problem if it grows less fast that the economy, debt can be killed by printing money and inflation, it’s not an issue if money is invested to yield higher tax in future.
Inequality: 1/10 of the population gain X16 USA, X25 Mexico, X5 Finland
Son incoming correlated to his father income.
Inequality is a boost in the underdeveloped world.
Small Inequality increase trust and reduce violence
Oscar adds +4 years in your life, double Oscar +6 years.
Globalisation: made market stable via low inflation, and make it difficult to go to war.
Multi literalism (multi-country organization): United Nation, WTO, IMF (Bank of the world), world trade organization, G7, G20.
Many studies show that protectionism is not good in the long run. the 1930 protectionism created WWII. the 1950 China economy self-efficiency strategy didn't work.
Climate change should be in the market loop to be fixed by the invisible hand.
Behavioural economy: study why humans are predictably irrational.
Nudge economic: manipulate people for there good: should people be protected from their irrationally and what about voting?
Regulate market to force people to not fail on there irrationally: intervene when people are not rational
Game theory :
Adam Smith: people are inherently selfish but when it’s channels in a market it becomes beneficial and a socially will be better off.
Everything has a cost: being racists or to break the law, it's like an added cost ( Nobel Price)
Once the basic needs are fulfilled 20k: we start measuring happiness by comparison to others: family, neighbors, friends.
May 8, 2017
Tengo 50 razones para recomendarlo, que es por cada capítulo que contiene el libro que es muy fácil de leer, sin cálculos ni estadísticas ni gráficos complejos, será porque está escrito por un destacado periodista mas no un economista. Me ha dado luces para entender el porqué de las relaciones humanas con su entorno desde el punto de vista económico y a través de su historia. Puedo afirmar que el móvil que mueve a alguien en hacer negocio o empresa es el incentivo y los consumidores nos mueve el cubrir una necesidad o algo suntuario o simplemente por placer que no necesariamente es racional.
July 5, 2014
From the 25th item and upwards you have concepts that validate themselves or, in other words, the book explores concepts that are created by the current economic theory. A kind of "it is as it is". The start of the book, nevertheless, feels sound. It is well organized though and deserves a 2nd run.
April 20, 2013
This an excellent book which does a great job at outlining basic economic concepts. If you'd like to understand a bit more about the world we live in and the markets which dominate you can do much worse than this book.
April 22, 2013
Easy to read fairly solid overview of basic especially macro economic terms and concerns.
But slightly teasingly you could say that a sequel entitled '50 emerging economics ideas that probably will shape the 21st century' would be far more interesting ... and probably hopelessly wrong
But slightly teasingly you could say that a sequel entitled '50 emerging economics ideas that probably will shape the 21st century' would be far more interesting ... and probably hopelessly wrong
August 31, 2016
As the title reads, it provides a good overview of 50 economic key topics.
The chapters are briefly developed so the book allows to get the general idea of all concepts.
The book also gives authors and book references that can be used to explore in more details some of the topics.
The chapters are briefly developed so the book allows to get the general idea of all concepts.
The book also gives authors and book references that can be used to explore in more details some of the topics.
April 20, 2016
Great introduction to the fundamental ideas within economics
August 8, 2016
es resumido muy muy fácil de entender
September 4, 2018
Excelente livro. Um resumo da minha faculdade. Bem explicado, mas às vezes pode ter explicações muito vagas para alguém que nunca estudou economia.
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