I fully concur with Einstein that smart people can make difficult topic easy to understand for laymen. In this sense, Todd Buchholz is a smart economist. His being a smart and insightful economist is clearly manifested in this book.
Who can and should read this book.
This is book is for those who have finished Introduction to Economics or just know or heard about the demand and supply theory. Laymen can also capture his ideas but not without contemplation. It is not more difficult than economic topics you have read in various newspaper or magazine.
Students nowadays may take the theory of free trade for granted. Decades ago, it was a highly debatable subject. Hundreds of years ago, most people were against it. Lets not look too far away. During World War I and II, why superpowers spent tremendous amount of money and lives to invade other countries for natural resources and markets, the things that can be accessed easily today through free trades? This is a prime example of the new idea left behind by many dead economists who were philosophically alone in their time.
The encouragement of multi-corporation, international trades, WTO, World Bank, IMF, ADB you name it, are no more accomplishments than those of economists. Stimulus package, Quantitative Easing especially in the United States, Three-Arrow Policies of Shinzo Abe, Japanese Prime Minister, and one currency in EU are those of economists, although those ideas are against each other. Perhaps these differences in policies interest students of economics more if you try to know which school of thought you are in.
If you happen to have curiosities or questions similar to these, this book would be best for you.
A bit of the book
It explains theories, findings, imperfections etc. of the economists in the past as well as today. Ideas are very powerful, more powerful than ones can perceive. As Keynes put it at the end of his most famous book The General Theory:
“The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually slaves of some defunct economist.”
The Conundrum
This book presents you many theories in economics. Nevertheless, theories conflict in every disciplines. There are opposing schools of thoughts. Nobel Prize in Economics committee, for instance, tend to give the Prize to opposing recipients in the topic they deal with. In this book, the author does not or cannot opine what school of thought is right or explains the world more correctly. For those who need an answer to biggest debate in economics, Keynesianism vs. Non-Keynesianism, this book is not sufficient. ( I would suggest The Clash of the Century).
The book will make you more curious about economics, although my rating is only 4/5. Why not give it a try...
Author: Todd G. Buchholz, with foreword by Martin Feldstein.
Publisher: Plume, newest edition (April 6, 2007)