Everyday Economics: A User's Guide to the Modern Economy

2017 | Business & Finance

What role does the individual play in the economy? An odd question, perhaps...After all, national economies are simply agglomerations of the activities of millions of people, so inquiring about an individual's role within it is surely like describing the characteristics of a forest by reference to a leaf on one of its trees. But framing the question this way offers an illuminating perspective on the economy, one that is not usually adopted by analysts of economic life. Indeed, to pose the question slightly differently - how does an individual experience the economy - is to turn much conventional thinking about economics on its head. Most economics is a top-down analysis that simplifies and reduces the huge varieties between individuals to a predictable range of characteristics that lend themselves to systematic analysis. The financial crisis blew apart the idea that economics is anything but predictable and increasingly economists and social scientists are questioning the dominance of this model of analysing and understanding the economy.What is needed, therefore, is an account of economic life that combines explanatory power and simplicity with a focus on economic activity from the ground up.

In other words, a book about "everyday economics". Everyday Economics: A User's Guide to the Modern Economy provides an accessible but comprehensive and sophisticated survey of how modern economies function. While placing the individual front and centre in its analysis, the book also considers how the things we experience, need and consume fit into the fast-changing and interdependent global economic setting. It analyses and explains the latest theories from economists and political economists and shows how these have evolved, as well as their shortcomings. It examines the role of government, markets and welfare in shaping our lives, building on the latest economic research and data to provide an overview of the workings of the economy that takes as its starting point the interface between the individual and the system overall.

Steve Coulter (Author)