A simple introduction to economics and how it shapes people's lives combines examples of everyday life with a global approach and reveals how economics can give insight to humans' most intractable problems--and provide solutions to them as well.
Dasgupta (economics, U. of Cambridge, UK) provides a concise introduction to economics that focuses on the reasoning that economists use to understand the social world and problems of humanity. He uses the disparate lives of his two grandchildren--one a secure American child and the other who lives in poverty in Ethiopia--to explore the underlying causes behind different conditions of life, the role of institutions, the concept of mutual trust, markets and communities, the role of science and technology, households and firms, sustainable economic development, and social well-being and democratic government. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Why are some lives and some countries so wealthy, and others so deprived? This apparently simple question is the starting point of Partha Dasgupta’s contemporary, intelligible introduction to economics and how it shapes our lives. Combining examples from everyday life with a global approach that considers not just the economics of the West but that of the world’s 2.4 billion poor, Dasgupta reveals how economics can give us deep insight into some of our most intractable problems and provide solutions to them, too.
