Product Description

If you think economics is a complicated discipline that’s reserved for theorists and the intellectual elite and has nothing to do with you, think again. Economics impacts every aspect of our lives, from what we eat, to how we dress, to where we live. Economics might be complicated, but it has everything to do with you.

Economics For Dummies helps you see how your personal financial picture is influenced by the larger economic picture. When you understand how what happens on Wall Street affects Main Street and how policies emanating from the White House impact the finances in your house, you’ll be able to:

• Learn how government economic decisions affect you and your family
• Make better spending decisions and improve your personal finances
• Maximize your business profits
• Make wiser investments

Written by Sean M. Flynn, PhD, Assistant Professor of Economics at Vassar College, Economics For Dummies covers all the basics of micro– and macroeconomic theory. The next time you need to understand an economic theory or calculation, whether it’s on the nightly news or on a spreadsheet at work, you’ll no longer be in the dark. Economics For Dummies covers all the history, principles, major theories, and terminology, including:

• How economics affect governments, international relations, business, and even environmental issues like global warming and endangered species
• How the government fights recessions and unemployment using monetary and fiscal policy
• How and why international trade is good for you even if you don’t appreciate French champagne, Irish crystal, or Swiss watches
• How the law of supply and demand can explain the prices of everything from comic books to open heart surgeries
• How the Federal Reserve controls the money supply, interest rates, and inflation
• Basic theories such as Keynesian economics, the Laffer Curve, and Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand

Presenting complex theories in simple terms and helping you decode the jargon, understand the equations, and debunk the common misconceptions, Economics For Dummies could be a big boon to your personal economy!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #205277 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

From the Back Cover
Demystify the science of how people make choices

Learn how economics affects you — and almost everything else!

In a world of limited resources, how do people maximize their happiness? That′s what economics is all about, and Economics For Dummies tackles the topic in terms you can understand. This handy guide explains both macro– and microeconomics so you can comprehend the economic forces that shape our world.

Discover how to

• Decipher consumer behavior
• Use the model of supply and demand
• Recognize what causes recessions
• Identify factors that lead to inflation
• Understand fiscal and monetary policies
• Appreciate the importance of international trade

About the Author
Sean Flynn earned his Ph.D. in Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, studying under Nobel Prize winners George Akerlof and Daniel McFadden.

He is a member of the American Economic Association, the American Finance Association, the Economic Science Association, and the Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics.

His research focuses on the often puzzling and seemingly irrational behavior of stock market investors, but he’s also investigated topics as wide–ranging as the factors that affect customer tipping behavior at restaurants and why you see a lot of unionized workers only in certain industries. He’s also a leading expert on closed–end mutual funds.

Customer Reviews

Well written and explained...
Unlike some of the for dummies guides, this book is very well written and very well explained. With a variety of diagrams and tables this book is definately a good one to start with.

The only down side is a little bit of economic knowledge might be helpful when reading this as some of the diagrams maybe hard to get your head around.

The book is split into a number of sections whic are then split into chapters. It is pretty easy to read and understand as pages are broken down into smaller paragraphs which make it easier to digest. As well as an indepth glossary in the back of the book, this book is very good at explaining specific points and also uses 'real world' examples in its case studies and explanations.

A very good book for a beginner an intermediate economic student, however more advanced students maybe left wanting a little more.

You can see the joins...
A reasonable intro to economics with one major problem. It is clearly little more than the American edition with a few British references thrown in (and this is supposed to be the 'UK Edition' as it says on the spine).

The two authors write in very different ways and it shows. Sean Masaki Flynn, the American author is very 'MTV' and tries far too hard to be conversational and informal with the result that he is rather annoying. His bits talk about the joys of peanut butter cookies and Ben and Jerry's fudge sundaes in ways that are unlikely to appeal to Brits.

In contrast, Peter Antonioni's sections are authoritative, evenly written and don't try to constantly be your 'buddy'. Every time the text switches between the two authors it is rather jarring. Indeed, readin the acknowledgements at the beginning it is clear that they have very different styles, ages, temperaments and opinions of themselves. Masaki Flynn is simply annoying. Maybe it's suitable for a US audience - but this should not be marketed as a British edition just because Antonioni gets to make a fw asides about Arsenal (or was it Spurs?).

In retrospect I wish I had bought one of the older single-author editions of Economics for Dummies which I imagine blows less hot and cold.

On a more positive note, I took the option of buying Investing for Dummies at the same time, and this is a far superior book. In fact it's rather better at explaining the essentials of economic theory than Economics for Dummies is, even though it only does it in passing.

Good book for getting started in Economics
This book gives lots of nice easy examples of things you can relate to to help you understand some really complicated ideas. However every now and again the pace goes shooting forwards and you've suddenly got lots of graphs that are difficult to get to grips with and I get a bit lost. On the whole, though, the writer deserves really good marks for putting a frighteningly difficult subject within relatively easy reach. Good price too.