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Lunch » Tags » Book » Reviews » False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World

False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World

1 rating: 3.0

A book by Alan Beattie

Financial Timesworld trade editor Beattie combines economic history, psychology and political analysis to identify the factors that predispose economies to sickness or health. The author takes a human interest,Freakonomics-style approach to such economic … see full wiki

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Author: Alan Beattie

Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover

1 review about False Economy: A Surprising Economic History...

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A book to open your mind

Nov 19, 2009

by rhaden
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

Rating:

Have you ever wondered why the United States has been more economically successful than Argentina, when they were in just about the same position a century ago? Has it ever occurred to you that countries which import food are really importing water or land?

Me neither. But that's what I loved about this book --it brings up notions that had really never occurred to me, and explores them in a thorough and satisfying way. It looks at history -- and at current issues, too -- in very different ways.

This isn't a witty book, or one with lots of interesting characters. At one point, Beattie assures us that "an economist's idea of paradise (pitiful but true) is one governed by the law of one price, where the prices of similar goods in different markets converge such that inefficiencies are driven out of the system."

Yes, that is in fact pitiful.

But given that you're not looking for thrills and you don't mind a helping of math with your history, this is a fascinating book. It looks into political corruption, natural resources, religion, and why pandas are so useless. Along the way, Beattie reveals a collection of counter-productive patterns and behaviors that turn up in failing nations and civilizations around the world, and proposes that we might be able to learn from their mistakes and not do the same thing ourselves.

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