Economics

Very Short Introductions #156

by Partha Dasgupta

Why are some lives—and some countries—so wealthy, and others so deprived? This apparently simple question is the starting point of Partha Dasgupta’s contemporary, intelligible introduction to economics and how it shapes our lives. Combining examples from everyday life with a global approach that considers not just the economics of the West but that of the world’s 2.4 billion poor, Dasgupta reveals how economics can give us deep insight into some of our most intractable problems—and provide solutions to them, too.  

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction, Business, Politics, Finance, Science, History

224 pages, Hardcover

First published February 2, 2007

About the author

Professor Sir Partha Sarathi Dasgupta (born November 17, 1942), FBA, FRS, is the Frank Ramsey Professor of Economics at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge; Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; and Professor of Environmental and Development Economics at the University of Manchester. Research interests have covered welfare and development economics; the economics of technological change; population, environmental, and resource economics; social capital; the theory of games; and the economics of malnutrition.

He was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, then in India, and is the son of noted economist A.K. Dasgupta. He is married to Carol Dasgupta, who is a psychotherapist. They have three children, Zubeida Dasgupta-Clark (an educational psychologist), Shamik (a philosophy professor) and Aisha (who works on reproductive health in poor countries).

Reviews

[The Conspiracy is Capitalism · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Liberal) Economics: as tragedy and as farce...

The Tragic:
1) Hope for real-world economics?:
--Given my rock-bottom expectations for mainstream (Neoclassical) economics, I was intrigued with Oxford University Press picking Dasgupta to write its introduction to the much-maligned "dismal science".
--After all, here was an economist with some real-world applicability in:
i) "development economics" (i.e. Global South exists)
ii) "social capital"
iii) environmental economics
...How will this play out?
--Dasgupta sets out to use “economics” to explain the differences in standard of living between Becky (American) and Desta (Ethiopian). Imagine that, a question of real-world social concern, and here I am thinking (mainstream) “economics” is the field of selfish individuals abstracted from social context, simply bartering to maximize utility, resulting in harmonious equilibrium. And it is this glimmer of hope that makes the rest of the book a tragedy.

2) Liberalism's false hope:
--I use "liberal" in the sense of cosmopolitan capitalism:
a) Rhetorically ("socially liberal"):
--"Multiculturalism" rhetoric (while banally exploiting global poverty), "progress", "economic development"...
--Mainstream "politics" distracts us with this rhetorical layer ("liberals" vs. "conservatives"), thus the "political theatre": Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies
b) Materially ("economically liberal"):
--Relying on the global division of labour inherited from colonialism. Capitalism has always relied on cheapened labour (be it cheap migrant workers, or "brain drain" of educated foreign workers where all their education costs were paid by their home countries) and cheapened nature.
--"Free market"/"free trade" mean freedom for capitalist needs (profits/rent/financing/infrastructure/bailouts/waste disposal/security) over social needs, where capital can traverse the globe in nanoseconds while labour (humans) struggle to keep up (esp. the poor, who face militarized borders).
--So, we journey far and wide in the world of mainstream economics, searching for answers. The world is reduced to a poorly-lit alley and the author only examines what is under the street light: economic growth (GDP), standard of living (HDI), demography (population growth, ugh...), trust (how to model it), communities, markets (including the central planning vs. free market "debate", market failures, etc.), institutions (in particular science and technology), households and firms (including property rights, risk), modelling "sustainable" economic development, modelling social well-being, and even the game theory of voting (framed as if this is an adequate intro to “democracy”, how liberal reformist can we get?!).

The Farcical:
1) Obscuring Classical Liberal findings:
--So... is liberal economics even meant to answer the question of global inequality, or is it designed to obscure not only the answers but how we frame the question?
--Admittedly, the Classical liberal economists (Adam Smith/David Ricardo etc.) did try to understand their world from their ivory towers, thus the Classical framework featured:
i) Class divisions
ii) Labour theory of value (focus on Production)
iii) Crisis theory (Tendency for the rate of profit to fall)
iv) Rent theory (esp. critiquing feudalism's land rent/usury)
--It was Marx who spent so much effort (in his Capital project) seriously investigating Classical liberal economics and its contradictions, that we now associate the above Classical framework list (especially the first 3 items) to Marx rather than Smith/Ricardo etc.!
--Classical liberals theorized "capitalism" during the rise of industrial capitalism; industrialists sought to reduce their cost of production, which included rent costs. So, there were some compromises with organized labour's struggles resisting capitalist dispossession (see later) by rebuilding the social Commons.
...These social Commons involved socializing costs of physical infrastructure (public infrastructure/public housing) and social infrastructure (public health/public housing/emergency services/welfare, etc.). These also benefited industrial capitalists.
--Eventually, industrial capitalism's contradictions squeezed profits via industrial production. The wealthy needed new means of profit-seeking, thus returned to rent-seeking (financial usury/land rent).
--Conveniently, pro-capitalist economics consolidated around a new framework (Marginalist Revolution, spawning "Neoclassical" and "Austrian" economics) which inverts the Classical framework:
i) Selfish individuals (hides Class)
ii) Making "voluntary exchanges" (hides Production)
iii) Resulting in harmonious equilibrium (hides Crisis theory, or at least rejects non-market interventions/alternatives)
iv) Obscure distinctions of rent vs. profit.
...Resulting in a utopia more fanciful than communism. This is the theory behind today's "mainstream economics". To quote "Austrian" economics:

With this in mind, what is the “Austrian” view of the rentier [rent-seeker]? First, it should be pointed out that the rentier participates in voluntary exchange, thereby benefiting not only himself but also others. Second, due to his relatively low time preference, the rentier can amass a large amount of capital. This capital is then invested and used to increase the productivity of workers, thus contributing to higher wages and a higher standard of living. Contrary to Keynes, then, the rentier, far from being a villain, is actually (in the spirit of Walter Block) a hero. [Source: https://mises.org/mises-wire/keynes-a...]

...This utopia makes total sense when you consider today's 1% make their wealth not from industrial production profits/wage income, but through passive income of speculative asset prices (Classical: "economic rent"). All the social Commons and the real economy (industry/labour) has been submerged in rent-seeking's private debt overhead:
-Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism
-The Bubble and Beyond: Fictitious Capital, Debt Deflation and Global Crisis
-Why Can't You Afford a Home?
-The Production of Money: How to Break the Power of Bankers
...This is why critical economists today (like Michael Hudson and Anwar Shaikh) refer to "Neoclassical" as "anti-Classical".

2) Inheriting Classical Liberal biases:
--Meanwhile, Dasgupta bypasses this Western history, and it could not save him from liberalism's global shadow anyways: Classical liberals (many being ivory tower intellectuals of the British empire) were predictably biased with imperialism, so imagine using their ideology to address American vs. Ethiopian standards of living!?
...Classical liberals often directly supported colonialism (i.e. as a stage of development) or indirectly by supporting “free trade” (which actually means leading countries “kicking away the ladder” because lower countries cannot nurture their infant industries from global competition):
-Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism
-The Agrarian Question in the Neoliberal Era: Primitive Accumulation and the Peasantry
...Yes, we are considering real-world history, with all its power relations and violence. Not models of abstract individuals, where inconvenient results can be tossed into the catch-all “human nature” or “imperfection” in the models or "state intervention".
--Dasgupta writes:

That Becky’s world shouldn’t create roadblocks in Desta’s (through trade restrictions, domestic agricultural subsidies, and so on) is also obvious and proximate. What is neither obvious nor proximate – the elusive bird we would all wish to catch for Desta – is for communities in her world to discover how to shape new avenues to do business with one another so as to increase their inclusive wealths. [Emphases added]

...Look up “mealy-mouthed” and you'll find a liberal. Funny, I didn't realize imperialism was so “obvious” you can just omit it. Last time I checked, most people have little idea of the structural mechanisms of US dollar hegemony, World Bank/IMF structural adjustment programs/debt traps, WTO intellectual property (TRIPS), etc. , which a book like this has the responsibility to explain. See: The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and its Solutions
...Ah yes, all the poor need to do is “do business” and this magically produces wealth which magically distributes to the poor to uplift their standard of living. Because Western Europe just did business for 300 years (1500-1800) before their domestic (yes, let's not even consider the colonies/slaves) masses recovered enough from the capitalist dispossession (enclosures from access to land, creating the labour market: The Origin of Capitalism: A Longer View) to actually improve their standard of living (which it turns out was mostly from collective resistance to capitalist dispossession by (re)building social Commons, esp. public health/sanitation: Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World
...Colonialism/imperialism is directly mentioned once:

Why didn’t the poor world take advantage of their resource endowments to enrich themselves in the same way?

Colonization is a possible answer. Historians have shown that, from the 16th century, European powers have extracted natural resources from the colonies – including cheap (read, slave) labour – but have mostly invested the proceeds domestically. Of course, one should ask why it is that the Europeans managed to colonize the tropics; why colonization didn’t take place the other way round. As noted earlier, Jared Diamond has offered an answer. That said, many of the most prominent of those ex-colonies have been politically independent for decades now. During that time real income per head in the rich world has increased over and over again. With the exception of a few striking examples in South and South East Asia, though, most of the ex-colonies have either remained poor or become poorer still. Why? [Emphasis added]

...This then goes on to analyze the productivity of institutions (smells like Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty).
...Yes, we get the vague history of Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. As in, that stuff that happened a long, long time ago, but there is no modern history because we now have the science of (liberal) economics and political "independence"/ "democracy"!
--Class analysis remain forever opaque in (modern) liberal economics (remember, this was actually present in Classical political economy), with 2 inconsequential mentions:
i) “our leisure habits by our class”
ii) “Middle-class behaviour can also be the trigger for change”: Ah, yes, “middle-class”, the only class vocalized by liberal politicians to justify inequality (i.e. there is still social mobility if you earn it, thus capitalism remains a meritocracy). Nothing about power, where the capitalist class is organized with power to bribe all major institutions in contrast to labour.

There are always alternatives:
--It’s difficult to explain how limited liberal economics is when you do not have the words to describe the real world. Here are some words:
1) Intros:
-“What is Politics?” video lectures
-Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: or, How Capitalism Works—and How It Fails
2) Dives:
-Perilous Passage: Mankind and the Global Ascendancy of Capital: an Indian economist, sharing Dasgupta’s famous economist father’s name, in a majestic work of political economy/history
-Debt: The First 5,000 Years
-Capital and Imperialism: Theory, History, and the Present
3) Alternatives:
-Another Now: Dispatches from an Alternative Present
--Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World
-Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist
-A People’s Green New Deal

[Amira Mahmoud · Rating 1 out of 5]

مرة أخرى أشعر بغباء حين اقرأ في هذه المقدمة!
الأسوأ أن عدد صفحات كل مقدمة يبدأ من ال100 صفحة فيما فوق، لكنه لا يتخطى ال200 صفحة.
في هذه المقدمة وكي يستمر التعذيب طويلاً؛ اقترب عدد صفحات هذه المقدمة الخاصة بعلم الأقتصاد من ال300 صفحة
بداية فالعنوان مُضلل، الكتاب لم يشرح المبادئ الأساسية للأقتصاد
بل بدأ رأسًا بتقسيم المجتمعات إلى مجتمعان غنية وفي غاية التقدم (مثلها بعالم طفلة أمريكية تُدعى بيكي) ومجتمعات فقيرة بدائية تقريبًا (مثلها بطفلة من جنوب إفريقيا تُدعي دستا) وبغض النظر عن هذه التقسيمة التي تتجاهل الطبقات/الدول/الفئات المتوسطة.
فإنه سيتناول من خلالها الفروق والمشكلات التي تواجه اقتصاد كل مجتمع، والتي ستكون بالطبع في العالم الفقير أكبر وأضخم.
رغم كل ذلك، فالكتاب فوضوي لا تعلم ما الذي يود أن يناقشه بالظبط
تارة تشعر أنه كتاب في علم الاجتماع، تارة أخرى تشعر أنه كتاب عن البيئة أو الأقتصاد البيئي، وأحيانًا يتحول إلى كتاب احصاء أو يتماهى جزء الاحصاء مع الجزء الاقتصادي في الكتاب.
والحقيقة أنه ليس لديّ مشكلة أن اقرأ كتاب وأنا أعتمد على انطباعات مسبقة من خلال العنوان، فاكتشف أنه يحتوي على أشياء أخرى تختلف عن انطباعاتي
طالما أنها مكتوبة بشكل ممتع ومفيد، فلا بأس.
الخلاصة أنه كتاب سيء، من حيث كل من المحتوى، اسلوب الطرح والشرح، وحتى أقسام الكتاب.
كل ما استفدته منه هو أن منحنيات العرض والطلب هذه التي دائمًا ما ندرسها تُسمى منحنيات مارشال نسبة إلى مخترعها.

هناك كتب كثيرة أفضل للبدء في قراءة الاقتصاد، ربما أفضل بداية خفيفة وسهلة هي قراءة كتاب خطواتك الأولى نحو فهم الاقتصاد
ثم لقراءة مبسطة أيضًا ولكن أقوى وأكثر أعمق دروس مبسطة في الاقتصاد

تمّت

[robin friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Economics In The Very Short Introductions Series

The Very Short Introductions series of Oxford University Press provides succinct introductions to more subjects than a person can reasonably hope to know. Parath Dasgupta offers a brief, pointed look at Economics in this 2007 volume in the series. Dasgupta is the Frank Ramsey Professor of Economics at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge. Dasgupta was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his work in economics and has written many important books and studies.

"A little learning is a dangerous thing"; and a "very short introduction" does not have to be easy. Dasgupta's book is not written "for dummies" and it does not present its subject in the manner of an introductory textbook. Instead, Dasgupta offers the lay reader an example of how economists define problems and issues and try to solve them. In other words, the book offers the reader an example of how to "think like an economist". This gives the book a dense character. Dasgupta develops his own way of approaching and his position of questions of economics, neither of which might be fully shared by all members of his profession.

At the outset, Dasgupta makes two broad worth noting. First, he ties in economics with politics and, especially with ethics. Unlike some scientists who might try to minimize ethical, philosophical questions, Dasgupta is quite clear that ethical commitments are a driving force behind economics and politics. The second point involves Dasgupta's approach to economic questions. He rejects a historical, "narrative" approach because of the difficulty of supporting one proposed "narrative" over another. Dasgupta's approach is heavily analytical and quantitative, relying on mathematical modeling, statistics, and game theory. He tries to identify and weigh the factors involved in economic growth.

The material is daunting, but Dasgupta presents it well, if briefly. He enlivens his account by telling a story. Dasgupta introduces the reader to two fictitious girls, , Becky, 10, who lives with her parents in the American Midwest and Desta, 10, who lives with her family in a village in tropical southwest Ethiopia. Becky's father is a successful attorney in a law firm while Desta's father is a subsistence farmer on a small plot. The family is heavily involved in the farming. Becky's family is prosperous, and she has dreams of excelling in school and becoming a doctor. Desta lives at subsistence level. She knows she will marry at a young age at the behest of her parents and be expected to continue in essentially the same harsh life in which she was raised.

Dasgupta tries to show why the circumstances in which Becky and Desta find themselves differ so markedly. He writes: "Economics in great measure tries to uncover the processes that influence how people's lives come to be what they are. The discipline also tries to identify ways to influence these processes so as to improve the prospects of those who are hugely constrained in what they can be and do. The former activity involves finding explanations, while the latter tries to identify policy prescriptions. Economists also make forecasts of what the conditions of economic life are going to be; but if the predictions are to be taken seriously, they have to be built on an understanding of the processes that shape people's lives; which is why the attempt to explain takes precedence over forecasting."

Dasgupta examines the economic factors that shape Becky's and Desta's lives in a series of chapters that include local, national, and international considerations. He begins with the concept of "trust" in economic activities between people which he develops using game theory modeling. In subsequent chapters, he considers communities, markets and households, trying to develop and explain factors common to both the United States and the Ethiopian village. He presents an important chapter on science and technology and on the institutional structures which allow their development. The book becomes broader in scope and probably more controversial in the latter chapters as Dasgupta describes hidden environmental costs, human capital, and natural resources such as air, water, and the ocean fishery in ways that the author claims are not usually followed by other economists. He discusses inequities in the distribution of wealth between the two countries he considers in addition to growing disparities between rich and poor in the United States and other developed nations. He also tries to tie economics in to politics and to the structure of government, based on the virtues of democracy and majority rule.

The book shows an economist thinking and practicing his discipline in a way a lay reader can, with effort, understand rather than offering an overview. The book helped me understand how an economist works. Dasgupta helped me see different ways of thinking about important matters, which is a worthwhile accomplishment and the goal of a "very short introduction".

Robin Friedman

[Riku Sayuj · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first VSI. The concept really fascinates me. Dasgupta falls woefully short. Will read more VSIs for sadistic pleasure.

[Yasiru · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must confess that I have trouble seeing where the objections in some of the other reviews come from. This is most definitely a balanced account (though in being so it takes care to investigate the economic concerns of an often ignored, but certainly not insignificant segment of the population, leading naturally to the idea of sustainable development), never mind the 'woe is me, I'm being manipulated by the author's agenda' crowd, and is one of the best introductions to economics you can find.

Dasgupta covers the subject broadly, as is appropriate for a short monograph of this sort, with the narrative held together by contrasting the circumstances of two similar imaginary girls on opposite ends of the world's economic landscape. Central arguments are nicely illustrated and reinforced and because of this the difficulty level (brought up by other reviewers) isn't something to be put off by (at most you'll have to flip back a few pages for a definition or take a moment to work through an argument in your head). Going from the machinery to the applications and back again to refine what he's set up obviously makes a great deal of sense and gives Dasgupta more mileage to handle the social issues he delves into, particularly in the last two chapters (since, after all, economics is a social science that requires models to align with an informed view of human affairs). This contrasts with the preoccupation with particulars common to other primers for the lay person, but ultimately allows the reader much more confidence, ease and most importantly insight as the account progresses.

I am now reading Global Economic History also from the Very Short Introductions series and I highly recommend both. I now have a better appreciation for my textbook (Economics For Business) thanks to these.

[Margaret · Rating 1 out of 5]

A brutal read, and not particularly helpful either. Perhaps I need a "for dummies" edition.

[Amin Tallan · Rating 2 out of 5]

موضوعاتی داخل کتاب هست با عنوان کتاب یکی نیست!
این کتاب در نگاه اول مثل بقیه کتاب های سری مختصر و مفید نشر ماهی این رو در ذهن تداعی می‌کنه که میخواد مقدمات موضوع مربوطه رو برای شما بگه. در بقیه کتاب هایی که از این سری من خوندم همین بود ولی این کتاب نه! این کتاب هیچ ربطی به مقدمات اقتصاد نداشت و بیشتر مربوط به توسعه بود.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is awful. One might presumptuously suppose that a book entitled Economics: A Very Short Introduction encompasses a concise introduction to the field of economics. Nothing could be further from the truth. While the author ambles through a few pertinent paragraphs in the first half of the book, the second half is almost completely divorced from the subject matter. While many worthwhile topics are discussed in Partha's confused narrative, they seem more of a reflection of what the author wants to talk about rather than what the book is supposed to be about. Why, for example, are the last six pages of the book devoted to a discussion of voting methods? And why does 90% of the book have nothing to do with economics? The abysmal quality of this book reflects poorly not just on the author but on this series as a whole. What editor could look at this and fail to notice the discrepancy between the actual subject matter and the title? No one should waste what little time it takes to read this 160 page failure. Overall it's an awful, awful book and a very poor reflection on the Very Short Introductions series.

[Maverick Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Economics: A Very Short Introduction by Partha Dasgupta is not a textbook. It doesn't show you how to interpret indifference curves or construct IS-LM models. The supply and demand curve doesn't even make an appearance until midway through the book. Instead, it gives a brief but incredibly insightful overview of the language and logic of economics. In the author's words, the book attempts to offer an account of the reasoning economists apply in order to understand the social world around us and how that reasoning might be used to tackle some of the most urgent problems faced by humanity today.

In 160 pages, Dasgupta very competently introduces readers to a wide array of concepts including institutions, trust, risk, externalities, social well-being, and sustainable development. The book makes use of a fictional narrative involving two girls as a literary device. Becky and Desta represent the starkly contrasted socioeconomic and political realities of the developed and developing worlds respectively; their story serves to concretize the ideas presented in the book by fixing them to tangible impacts and outcomes.

The exposition is erudite, well-balanced, and draws from a clear interdisciplinary background. History, law, political science, and ecology are all touched upon to enrich the illustration of economic ideas and concepts. Chapter 5, which deals with science and technology, is markedly fascinating as it sheds light on the critical historical innovations that have shaped the modern academic and research establishments.

My only criticism is that some parts of the book may be too technical for the broad audience intended by the publishers and could avail from the inclusion of more supporting diagrams. The section on game theory is particularly guilty of this.

Overall, a very worthy read that would benefit readers of all stripes. As Dasgupta himself remarks in the very beginning of the book, "one way or another we are all economists".

[Yousif Al Zeera · Rating 1 out of 5]

For some reason, I didn't like the book. I have studied "economics" 2 or 3 courses in university and liked the subject. Or maybe, to give the book the benefit of the doubt, the translation may be bad. I read the Arabic version (or rather listened to it as an audiobook). So the Arabic audiobook version is at least not recommended from my part at all.

[Hla · Rating 5 out of 5]

من أجمل ما كتب في الاقتصاد . يشرح بشكل مبسط كيف نتأثر و نؤثر بالاقتصاد.

تمنيت أنني قرأته في وقت ابكر لأفادني بدراستي .

[Bibliomantic · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is easily the worst installment in the brief introductions series that I have read so far. A few stimulating passages here and there, but overall just aimless droning that did not add an iota to my analytical toolbox. It has been said (by an economist) that economists really don't know anything; they try their techniques on problems in fields and areas of enquiry without bothering to put in the required time to learn about the subjects first. So they will use their regression analysis to determine why, for example, there are proportionally fewer women than men in this country or that, isolating variables, maybe it's infanticide, no not that, maybe government policy, ah no, farming technology, that's it!, kind of like a man trying to identify an object in the dark by feel through what his hands tell him the object isn't. Sadly, this book does not shed much light even on the subject of the supposedly ignorant economists, but it does dab in a variety of asides on its way to nowhere.

[Rizgar Haji · Rating 2 out of 5]

"علم الاقتصاد مقدمة قصيرة جدا" عنوان مُضلل فالكتاب لم يشرح المبادئ الأساسية للاقتصاد وإنما زادها تعقيدا. الكتاب فوضوي جدا والأفكار متداخلة وسيئة التنسيق .
رغم محاولة الكاتب بدايةً تبسيط مفاهيم الكتاب عبر طرح امثلة من الحياة اليومية بتقسيم المجتمعات إلى مجتمعات غنية متقدمة ومجتمعات فقيرة بدائية عاقدا مقارنة بين الطفلتين 'بيكي' الطفلة أمريكية و 'دستا' الطفلة الأثيوبية. أحسست خلالها بتشابه كبير مع كتاب اقتصاد الفقراء. لكن بعد ذلك يدخل الكاتب متاهات من فوضى تراتبية الأفكار والسرديات الطويلة والولوج بمجالات أخرى على حساب الفكرة الاساسية.
كنت أحاول العثور على كتاب يساعدني على فهم مبادئ الاقتصاد بسهولة لكنني لم أوفق بالاختيار.

[Sijing · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is clear that the author favors state intervention in terms of economic policies and possibly deliberately leaves out certain economic schools of thought. I was looking for a relatively comprehensive introduction to economic theories that this book does not offer.

[Mehmet]

Bu kitap bir "iktisada giriş" değil, daha çok "iktisat felsefesi" üzerine. Temel iktisadi meseleleri, arka planlarında yatan felsefi boyutlarıyla ele almış. Kitapta karmaşık görünecek hiçbir şey yok. Daha çok "neden?" sorusuna yanıt aranmış.


M. B.
01.02.2022
Ankara

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed parts of this book, found others long winded and unnecessary, and was occasionally surprised, sometimes pleasantly, by its choice of material. But then, I have a degree in economics, a Masters in economic history, and work as an economist professionally. If I was coming to the subject cold and wanted a book to give me an idea of what it is that economists do, I don't think this would help much. It might, in fact, be of more use for someone progressing from standard introductory micro and macro classes to intermediate stuff or even post-graduate study as it does a reasonable job of showing where the frontiers of the discipline currently are. That is not, however, what you'd be looking for from a book in this series.

[Anthony J. Toumazatos · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is false marketing for this book to have the title "Economics" despite being an enjoyable read. It is slightly more structured than a stream of conscious by the author, and it is wide ranging in disciplines and topics covered. I am almost confused how it was allowed through by the Oxford press...LOL

At times the conversation was interesting, especially the brief moment where he mentioned aspects of the growth economics literature, but there are many better introductory short books for economics if that is what one is looking for. My suggestion, though with a candid bias towards free-market economics, would be Henry Hazlitt's Economics in one basic lesson.

[ahmad arslan · Rating 3 out of 5]

قرأته ليكون عندي اطلاع على هذا الجانب المهم وتعرفت فيه على بعض المصطلحات التي نسمعها مثل ( التجارة الحرة - التنمية المستدامة - اسعار الظل - القواعد الانتاجية ) كما يشرح اسباب تفاوت نسبة الذكور والاناث من مكان لمكان واضرار التجارة الحرة وازدياد نسبة الكربون في الهواء ومفهوم رأس المال الطبيعي ويتطرق للقواعد الانتخابية :)

كنت اتوقع منه افضل، ولكنه بالتأكيد مدخل جيد الى علم الاقتصاد

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really what I was looking for - which was more clarity on some of the fundamentals of practical economic theory at government level. I suppose it was a relatively interesting if a little doting introductory view of the conceptual field in which economics sits. Needless to say, it failed to convert me to the merits of modeling / quantifying human behaviour

[izzy h · Rating 2 out of 5]

not very helpful

[nilan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A not very introductory level introduction to economics as there was very little explanation on many economic concepts such as scarcity, profit-mac and rationality. Despite finding it quite difficult at times, it was certainly useful in regards to introducing me to certain concepts.

Macroeconomic history covers the circumstances, events and innovations that contribute to economic development as well as concepts such as total factor productivity and its effects on economic developments. While simultaneously showing there is no single driving force behind economic growth, rather, there is an accumulation of manufactured capital and human capital; the innovation, spread and use of new scientific and technological ideas along with many other factors contributing to economic developments. Bribery and its negative effects on economies was also covered



Trust is described as the basis of cooperation. It is demonstrated that for two parties to continue cooperating it must be in their interest to keep their word under the condition that all party members keep their word: this is the nash equilibrium. Regardless, there must be external enforcement involved in ensuring that both parties don’t break the agreement; factors such as as laws and social norms are most commonly the external factors that ensure neither party forgoes their agreement. Money is explained to be “as a medium of exchange enables people to do business with one another even in the absence of a double-coincidence of wants”, and it is also explained that the value of a currency is depend on the the confidence in its performance and usage.

Communities and the different ways in which cooperation leads to economic development are covered. Networks are shown to include civic engagements and communal activities which heighten the disposition to cooperate. Trust generates further trust and therefore leads to positive feedback within networks. Strong ties among families and relatives also develop trust as a result of familiarity; inherited networks are also covered.

The efficiency of ideal markets is covered with elaboration on the Pareto efficiency. With X being a feasible allocation, it is pareto efficient if there is no other feasible allocation all households would choose over it. Market failure is covered including factors that lead to it including free-riding problems, an absence of law, and environmental services. Other factors such as a lack of producers can also lead to market failures. Another main factor is considered to be transaction verifiability.

“Moral hazard and adverse selection prevent markets from being formed, which is why few forward and contingent markets exist in the world we know.“

Science and technology are covered as institutions. Knowledge itself is considered to be a public good with research and development being inputs in the production of knowledge. To prevent immoral contributions to science, piece rates or rules of priority are used to encourage publications of scientific discoveries while also giving the researches their moral possession as they are awarded for discoveries. Where research and discovery, science, is limited since no one truly knows what the commodity to be produced is until it has been produced; nor does anyone really know in advance how to produce it. If society wants to ensure that a wide portfolio of
scientific and technological problems is on the table, it should encourage activity not only in Science, but also in a parallel institution, where discoveries and inventions are privatized. Let us call that institution, *Technology.* In regards to technology, it is covered that secrecy creates profit.
**Behavior in technology institutions are market-driven and enforces by law; Science institutions are community ridden and therefore enforced by social-norms. Both produce norms, but technology is considered a private good whereas science as a public good.

Transaction needs of households including insurance; borrowing, saving, and investing are covered. Risk aversions are also covered along with the law of large numbers and discount rates. This chapter was slightly more difficult for me make sense of, and I still have more questions that answers. The topic of "Limited liability and joint stock companies” is another i will have to do further reading on.

Economic growth often supports democracy and vice-versa. Authoritarianism is loved because it is capable of offering strict governance. Authoritarianism has many forms but certain regimes have enforced laws and allowed citizens to prosper: Singapore offers a great example. Nevertheless, democracy doesn’t guarantee economic progress. Rather, it offers citizens the opportunity to coordinate themselves, allowing the government to enforce laws and provide necessary public services. Democracy means many things at once – regular and fair elections, government transparency, political pluralism, a free press, freedom of association, freedom to complain about degradation of the natural environment, and so on. It is unclear which aspects are essential in bringing about sustainable development. We should favor democracy because (i) it is innately a good thing and (ii) it isn’t known to hinder economic progress and may possibly even help to bring it about. Human interests are to be protected and promoted in regards to merit goods; however, an enthusiasm for seeing merit in goods can be a code for paternalism, even authoritarianism. The distribution of goods and services is a matter of government concern. However, if we revert to T. H. Marshall’s three-way classification of well-being, it is an interesting fact that people today regard it axiomatic that everyone has an equal right to civil and political liberties, but don’t make the same claim over the distribution of wealth. It may be because generally speaking respecting the civil and political liberties of others doesn’t cost anyone anything directly, whereas redistributing wealth costs those having to give up some of their wealth. Unlike wealth, democracy doesn’t have to be created, it has only to be protected. An excessive government zeal to equalize wealth by means of taxes and subsidies could reduce household incentives to produce wealth to such an extent that everyone’s interest is hurt.

[W · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book because I wanted to understand in concise and authoritative terms some of the basic concepts and features within economics - national debts, credit ratings, interest rates etc. Although I have had some familiarity with these ideas, I thought it would be helpful to go over them in an isolated, introductory format in order to gain a better image of how economic systems function and are labelled.

In that respect, I was disappointed. The book is more about exampling processes of investigating economics. The author tells us in his introduction that he wants to convey how economists think and how they approach problems and this is achieved to a degree. However, passages vary frequently in their intelligibility. After some sections it is necessary to just shake your head and move on. The account of grim strategy is intriguing but doesn't appear really complete. The descriptions of markets and communities are probably the highlight of the book and show excellently that methods from the discipline can be versatile and illuminating. On the other hand, the overall effect of this book is to suggest that economics is confused and confusing - not so much an informative, coherent body of knowledge as a collection of attempts to analyse society.

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I probably would not have been as disappointed with this book as I was had the title not included such misleading words as "Introduction" and "Economics".

As an 'introduction', this book is an extremely heavy read for anyone not already intimately familiar with economics (and even then, it would probably still be a tough book to get through). The author covers such a wide array of topics so fast, that it's difficult to see how they might possibly tie together. Even the examples the author gives require a double-take (at least in my case they did).

As for calling this an 'economics' book, I really think that is open to interpretation. It was abundantly clear to me that the author had an agenda when writing this book and was not shy about it. I don't necessarily agree or disagree with her viewpoints, but books that are supposed to be references to technical subjects like economics shouldn't have the facts clouded with opinion and rhetoric.

If you are an economist by nature or trade, you will probably find this book more enjoyable than I did. However, for those non-economists like myself out there, I honestly suggest you look elsewhere for an introductory economics book.

[John Frankham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I see that there are widely differing views of this book. I, for one, thought it an accomplished and thought-provoking look at the discipline of economics, showing how the analytical approach to the problems of wealth, distribution, roles of markets and communities allows one to consider the role of the state and the private sector, intergenerational concerns, etc, with knowledge and intelligence. It shows the importance of this subject for political decision-making in the modern world.

As an economist, this was an easy read, but even though it avoids any really technical expositions, it will require some effort for the lay reader to appreciate fully, although the general views will be easily apparent.

[Leland · Rating 3 out of 5]

An introduction to mainstream economics. Dasgupta gradually introduces jargon and concepts as he compares aspects of the socioeconomic context of a child who lives in a wealthy country against that of a child in a country which is poor. He makes a case for how economic models can not only help us interpret the conditions that determine society but improve it, proposing ways to integrate environmental concerns and social well-being which are all too often neglected in the literature. It leaves me with a picture of economics as a field which goes hand in hand with sociology, neither of which can be fully understood without the other.

[Zulhilmi Zakaria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Secara jujurnya, siri A Very Short Introduction Economics ini belum benar-benar mampu memberi 'pengenalan' yang sebenar tentang ekonomi kepada pembaca. Malah, penulis telah membawa pembaca yang sebenarnya tidak ada latarbelakang ekonomi langsung kepada teori ekonomi yang sukar. Misalnya, teori pertarungan (game-theory) yang memang kebanyakannya dipelopori oleh ahli ekonomi di Cambridge. Penulis Partha Dasgupta juga dari Cambridge. Kebanyakan pembaca (saya rasa) masih tidak biasa lagi dengan teori ini sebenarnya. Mungkin hanya mereka yang ad sedikit pendidikan ekonomi.

Saya tidak menghabiskan lagi bacaan buku ini. Saya tangguhkan dahulu untuk masa yang akan datang.

[Carlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting introduction to economics. One paragraph at the end stood out to me.

Just as circles can't be squared, ideal voting rules don't exist, ideal markets are a pleasant myth, and ideal governments can't be conjured up because governments are run by people. If all this feels overly depressing, let us acknowledge that the human losses we see round us aren't due to any of these analytical difficulties. Stunted and wasted lives aren't caused by the 'impossibility theorems' I have reported in this monograph. They happen because people have yet to learn how to live with one another.

[Abdulrahman · Rating 3 out of 5]

حسنا .. لو أنني فهمت ما لم أفهمه من الكتاب لاستحق أربع نجمات و نصف :) أظن أنني أحتاج إلى خلفية أكبر عن الاقتصاد لأفهمه و عنوان الكتاب جذبني لكي يكون هو البداية و قد كان جيدا و لكن ليس رائعا ، أعني بخصوص علم الاقتصاد أما بخصوص مواضيع أخرى كالقواعد الانتخابية و دولة القانون و قاعدة السلوك الاجتماعي فقد أفادني جدا و يستحق القراءة جدا لذلك ، استوقفتني الجملة التي أنهي بها القصل الأخير من الكتاب : " إن الحياة التي تتعطل و تهدر ليست نتيجة لمبرهنات الاستحالة ، التي أورتدها في كتابي هذا ، إنها تحدث لأنه ما زال يتعين على الناس أن يتعلموا كيف يعيش بعضهم مع بعض "! ، و ليتنا نعي ..

[mohsen pourramezani · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتاب با مقایسه زندگی دو بچه به اسم بکی و دستا شروع می شود
بِکی پسربچه ای است که به همراه پدر و مادرش در یکی از شهرهای امریکا زندگی می کند و وضعیت مالی نسبتا مرفهی داد
دستا به همراه پدر و مادر و خواهرها و برادرهایش در یکی از روستاهای اتیوپی زندگی می کند و زندگی فقیرانه ای دارند
کتاب سعی می کند با کمک علم اقتصاد نشان دهد چه چیزی باعث اختلاف جهان بکی و دستا شده است

[Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A broad overview that was quite current in approach and focus from other texts. The book takes two different families from very current economies and examines the factors behind the contrast. Good explanation of the broader economic role things like insurance, rule of law and so on.