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With two days of snow, not a lot but enough that I had to shovel when I got home from work, and then some evening obligations, my time for blogging got cut way short. As a result, it has taken me all that time to write this post. Sigh. That’s a big, I’m tired of winter sigh in case you were wondering.
I managed to finish a second book about economics in 2016. This one is a bit more unusual as it is graphic nonfiction. Economix: How Our Economy Works (And Doesn’t Work) by Michael Goodwin is a most excellent and easy to follow lesson in the history of economics. We learn about capitalism, communism, socialism, mercantilism, Adam Smith, Marx, Keynes, David Ricardo and classic political economy and all kinds of really interesting stuff. And it is all drawn in fun and often entertaining black and white comic panels by Dan Burr.
Before he wrote the book, Goodwin didn’t know much at all about economics. He had questions and so did some reading. But the reading was unsatisfactory because it just provided little pieces of information and no big picture. So he went back to the original sources and started putting all the pieces together. He decided that while it was complicated, no one part of it was that hard to understand and people should know about it. Since he wrote comics, a “comic book” on the history of the economy seemed like a good idea because:
We’re citizens of a democracy. Most of the issues we vote on come down to economics. It’s our responsibility to understand what we’re voting about.
And so Economix was born. It is not an Econ 101 textbook and has no intention to be that. What it does do is focus on history and basic principles to provide a means to understand the economy and how we got to where we are today. While the history is pretty global, the focus is ultimately on the United States economy.
There is theory too, obviously, but it is pretty easy to understand. One of the big things I learned is that David Ricardo, someone I have never heard of, is pretty much responsible for changing economics from a practical, reality-based approach to abstract modeling and maths. Why might this matter you ask? Because, since Ricardo, when economists talk about the economy everything is based on an abstract model that makes massive assumptions about pretty much everything. In my mind it is kind of like Plato’s theory of Forms. There is the actual chair you are sitting on and then there is this theoretical ideal chair that doesn’t, and can never, actually exist. Current economics is based on that theoretical chair. It’s no wonder economists get things so wrong sometimes.While the book covers all the major moments and ideas and, in my view, does it really well, you should know that Goodwin has a definite opinion. Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes are rah! rah! And Ricardo and Milton Friedman are boo! boo! Goodwin comes down in favor of mixed economies and a Keynesian approach to economics.
Learning what I have so far, I share his opinion so I had no problem with his taking sides. If, however, you are a Friedman fan or think Marx got it all right, you might be irked by Goodwin’s position. Should you have no idea about anything to do with economics, don’t let Goodwin’s conclusions keep you from reading the book. I don’t think they will get in the way of you deciding for yourself what you think about the information he provides.
In addition to the comic, there is a glossary of terms, an index and a couple pages of source material if you want to launch out into further reading from here. If you find the very idea of economics intimidating, Economix is a pretty good place to start slaying the beast.
Since reading up on neoliberalism is part of my plans for this year (always so ambitious…) this is going on my list. Thank you 🙂
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This sounds a really interesting book and necessary too. Riccardo, Adam Smith…I suppose the dreaded Ayn Rand should be in there if only because of her influence on the likes of Alan Greenspan.
We have just had our first real bite of winter…nothing compared to Minnesota but some difficult travelling conditions.
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Ian, heh, Ayn Rand didn’t make the cut. Probably because she isn’t an economist even though she has had a lot of influence.
Nice that you’ve gone so long without winter having much bite. I hope the roads and conditions improve soon!
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Iris, you bet! If you don;t know about it, Neoliberalism: A Very Short Introduction is really good too, and short! 🙂
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In the 1980s, I worked for Boston’s largest independently owned investment company. I had great faith in our investing process, which included the president of the company travelling the world to see firsthand the economies of different countries. Our researchers and account managers visited companies and read financial reports and consulted with the company’s president to decide if a company was solid enough to invest our clients’ money in. This was before all the computer modeling and theoretical projections, Beta this and R that. I have no faith in today’s investment world.
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Joan, yeah, while I think computers can be really useful tools when it comes to finance and all that, I think they are being relied on far too much. Models are only as good as the information that goes into creating them and while humans aren’t perfect, I would much rather have a human looking after my financial interests than a computer.
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great review! thanks.
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Thanks booksandbuttons!
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do you think president elect Trump might benefit from this? Or does he already think its a fraud/stitch up/fake etc
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BookerTalk, heh, he probably would but since people like him aren’t portrayed very favorably he would no doubt declare it fake.
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So glad you found this useful 😀 I felt pretty much the same way about it.
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Ana, yay! It was useful and I feel so much smarter now and much less intimidated by economics in general.
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Must get this one!! Gosh…seeing David Ricardo on your post, brought back all memories of my grad school which was one progressive, egalitarian liberal university and every thing was open to debate and nothing sacrosanct per se! I like Keynes too…don’t kill me!!
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cirtnecce, you probably know everything in this book already! That’s cool that everything was open for debate. Oh I like Keynes very much so you don’t have anything to worry about from me!
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Oh boy, Economics was not my favorite subject in college but this might make it more interesting for sure!
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Iliana, interesting and pain-free and sprinkled with some good jokes 🙂
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I’ve always meant to try and understand economics better, but been far too lazy to bother. This would be ideal! Thank you Stefanie, I’d never have heard of this without your review. (Haven’t visited Ana’s site recently though.)
Sorry about the snow. We had about five minutes of it here, and for the first four minutes I was happy, I love the snow, oh how pretty and what amazing light, and then in the last minute I actually had to leave the house…
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Helen, yes! This is a great place to start with economics, though it is US-centric it still covers all the bases.
It’s not so much the snow, I love the snow, but the cold, cold, cold. Getting dressed to go out takes a long time and having to do it every day wears on a person. As does not getting much in the way of fresh air and sunshine!
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Oh excellent! This will be great! I want to learn more about economics this year if possible (we’ll see), so I’m trying to compile myself a mini-reading list. Ana over at Things Mean a Lot reviewed a book a while back called “23 Things They Don’t Tell You about Capitalism,” which she said was extremely accessible and cogent.
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Jenny, yes, I put that book on my library list after Ana wrote about it! I am working my way there through a varied pile on books on economics. The comic is great and breaks it all done into basics making it much less intimidating and really understandable.
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I love the point that “We’re citizens of a democracy. Most of the issues we vote on come down to economics. It’s our responsibility to understand what we’re voting about.” So true, and yet so difficult to understand, so I try to go for the party that most broadly represents my economic world view which would be a sort of small-l-liberal-socialist approach. Hmmm, does that make sense?
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whisperinggums, totally makes sense! Turns out though with the right approach, economics isn’t as difficult as I thought 🙂
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Shovelling does cut into reading time, but it also fills the gap for exercise nicely. (Unless one opts to exercise and shovel, I suppose.) Graphic non-fiction is something that I want to make a point of exploring before long; first, I’m getting back into graphic novels, though (or, is that something I’m telling myself so that I can postpone the whole read-more-NF thing). Hmmm.
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buried, since I opt to exercise and shovel, I joke about shoveling being cross training for my cycling 🙂 Well, you know graphic books and nonfiction, this one meets both your requirements! 🙂
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I’m going to note this one down as I love graphic nonfiction! And I really should understand the economy more than I do… sounds like a very good place to start.
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Danielle, it is very good on history and the basics. Definitely a good place to start.
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I loved that book. Totally bought it as a joke and couldn’t put it down.
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Drew, it’s surprisingly good, isn’t it? If only more complicated subject could be done like this!
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Hi, I’m Guntash. The book seems really interesting, thanks for sharing it with us. I’ll put it on my reading list! I’ve just started my blog and funnily enough its called ‘Everyday Economix’ – the book seems perfect for me!!
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