What Do Economists Know? (New Economics of Knowledge) - F. Garnett Robert Jr

Advantages: entertaining style of writing, many additional sources of information
Disadvantages: no mathematical coverage of topics

...for people you have not done much Maths in A-level or where this kind of knowledge is deeply buried in the back of your mind. I will briefly talk about the book's contents, so that you know what sort of topics you can expect to be covered. After that, I will examine one chapter in more detail to show how the book is organised and what kind of alternative sources are offered. *CONTENTS* Part A - Business and economics 1. The business environment and business economics 2. Economics and the world of business 3. Business organisations Part B - Business and markets 4. The working of competitive markets 5. Business in a market environment Part C - Background to demand 6. Demand and the consumer 7. Demand and the firm 8. Product, marketing, and advertising Part D - Background to supply 9. Cost of production 10. Revenue... Read review

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Advantages: Readable, informative
Disadvantages: Only an introduction

...have several possible behaviours; they can act randomly, they can repeat what they have done before and they copy others. Thus he argues the economy is made up of various firms and individuals. It is necessary to drop down to the level of these individuals and see what they will do in a given situation. Each will generally repeat what has worked in the past, or copy the behaviour of other successful firms and individuals. Occasionally some individuals will behave randomly, if successful they will repeat this new behaviour and others will copy. This book seeks to bring chaos theory into the field of economics. The title alludes to the famous butterly who flapping wings might cause a hurricane a thousand miles away. The subject matters (mathematics and economics) might scare of many potential reads. However the basic idea of the book... Read review

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Advantages: Thought provoking, Witty, Real life scenarios
Disadvantages: You need an interest in the subject matter

...was passed onto the consumer and not absorbed by the retailer. What don't the supermarkets want you to know? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Well in all fairness probably more then Harford shows here, but I don't think he would have been allowed to put more in. Supermarkets seem to crop up time and time again in economics circles. Harford compares two stores in the centre of London. These were both of the same company and were located only 500 metres apart. The only difference was that one was at a train station and one was not. Products purchased at the train station were, on average, 15% more expensive then the high street one. The main reason is that the train station accommodates more busy commuters who have scarcity of time and therefore are willing to pay more to get to work or home quicker... Read review

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