Customer Reviews

The Cartoon Introduction to Economics: Volume One: Microeconomics

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I just finished this book and was surprised by how naturally Bauman and Grady link various topics together with a balance of serious focus and light humor.

Once I started, I found it hard to put down, since each chapter leads comfortably into the next, as if it were woven into a single, coherent story. At surprisingly frequent intervals, Bauman and Grady decorate the discussion with humorous comments about economics and economists which also tends to keep reading fun, even when discussing serious topics.

Another interesting feature is the way the book boils down the work of recent Nobel laureates in economics: the book visually demonstrates the idea. You'll soon find yourself comfortable with the new "big ideas" of economics in ways that allow you to see the world with additional insights (not to mention being able to discuss adverse selection in casual conversation with your friends...).

A final feature I found useful was a visual glossary that explains key concepts and echo the visual treatment of the concept in the book. Throughout the glossary are images that convey the meaning of economic concepts. If you're a visual learner, you will really enjoy this book.

For those who want to make sure that serious economics concepts are truly covered in this book, I've included a short list below. The book is organized into 3 main sections:

- The Optimizing Individual (one person)
This section covers decision trees, the time value of money and it's use in decision making, decision making under risk (diversification, expected value, adverse selection, etc), and trade (efficient market hypothesis, Coase Theorem, etc).

- Strategic Interactions (one person to some people)
This section covers cake cutting, Pareto efficiency, simultaneous-move games, auctions, and larger markets (competition and monopolies).

- Market Interactions (some people to many people)
This section covers supply and demand, taxes, margins, elasticity, competitive markets and externalities.

The table of contents I've listed above doesn't adequately convey the manner in which the content is covered. For example, imagine pirates discussing "maarrhginal analysis" or two siblings working on cake cutting. The topics are surprisingly full of opportunities for humor.

Bauman and Grady have found a way to make learning economics easy and fun.

I preordered my copy, and was happy to find out that Amazon had shipped it early enough so that it would arrive at my home on the release date.

I have quite enjoyed reading it, and if you're looking for an easy-to-digest introduction to the topic, this might be the book for you. One thing that makes it a nice introduction is that

Yoram Bauman is definitely a funny guy: search for "stand up economist" on youtube, or enjoy this presentation where he translates the 10 Principles of Economics into layman's terminology. If you like this presentation you will like the book.

[...]

This book is amazing and hilarious! I first came across Yoram Bauman on []
and I have visited his blog regularly ever since. I pre-ordered the book because I knew from seeing his stand-up that it would not dissappoint and it's hasn't.
I'm a Economics undergraduate student in Sydney Australia. The content in this book summarises the basic information I learnt in my first year at university but, it's done in a really smart, easy to understand and funny way.
I recommend this book to who ever enjoys economic theory or any parent who has a child who is struggling with micro-economic theory.

I can't wait for Volume 2!!!!

Mon
Sydney, Australia

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Cartoon Introduction to Economics. The fundamental ideas in Microeconomics are presented in a clear and intelligent manner, with many humorous but thoughtful examples and analogies. The organization of the book is clean and logical, moving from the "optimizing individual" to "strategic interactions" of small groups to "market interactions" involving many people. A wide variety of topics are distilled down to their essence (decision trees, risk, pareto efficiency, auctions, trade, supply and demand, taxes, elasticity, etc.). Klein's whimsical and funny illustrations add a great deal to the text, and hold the reader's interest while at the same time helping to explain the various concepts and examples. This book is appropriate for many different ages and backgrounds, from high school or college students studying econ to the average adult seeking a little more knowledge and understanding of basic economic principles. I've read parts of it several times, and find that I get a deeper understanding of some of the more complicated and nuanced concepts the second time through. My one (minor) complaint is that this otherwise quick read bogs down a bit in some of the later chapters (e.g. margins and elasticity) with too much theory (and not enough jokes?). But this is a minor issue, and on the whole I enthusiastically recommend this book for both econ students and for people who just want to learn more about the topic (and have fun doing it).

I teach high school economics so I bought this as a resource to help my students grasp some of the concepts involved in the subject. I loved reading the book & will definitely use some extracts in class. My only beef is that the terminology isn't always what we use in Australia, & particularly in the NSW syllabus. But this can't be helped & is a small price to pay for a truly original, amusing & engaging book which does indeed make economics more accessible.

Organized in good textbook fashion, "The Cartoon Introduction to Economics" is divided into three major units: 1)'The Optimizing Individual,' 2)'Strategic Interactions,' and 3)'Market Interactions.' Within these major units the authors provide adult treatment of important topics like decision trees, Pareto thinking, taxes, supply and demand, and many others. The material is cute, funny, and easy to understand. The only problem: How will students memorize all those cartoons and learn to quickly reproduce them on an exam?

I'm looking forward to Volume Two: Macroeconomics, when they show us how to fix the economy and bring back our jobs from Asia.

Students will be drawn in by the lighthearted approach and Bauman's explanations will clarify points that don't always come through from a graphical analysis. At under $8 it's a steal relative to economics texts. Recommend recommending it to an Intro Micro class as a complement to one of the usual texts. In case you haven't seen it yet - Bauman's parody of Mankiw's ten principles of economics at [...] is hilarious.

So you have a friend who thinks he/she takes econ, he/she'll be up to his/her alligators in graphs and calculus. This book is a great way to reassure 'em.

And it's a pretty good microecon refresher.

Had I written this, I think *I* would have been a whole lot more impolite with people who structure their economic world around the fallacy of wishful thinking ("x" is true because I want it to be true). But, WTH, maybe I'll write my one book some day!

I wanted to understand economics better, can't say I still get it, but I now know the words a bit! We have other books by this author and find him interesting and amusing.

This is a really special book that delivers textbook-level content, yet fulfills it's "cartoonish" promise. Although I'd picked up a bit here and there, I'd never actually taken an economics class nor read a textbook. There cannot possibly be a more enjoyable, entertaining, easy-breezy way to ramp up than reading this book. It's like "buttah" - it just melts in your brain. I learned a great deal, effortlessly, and I got a huge kick out of it. Funny, poignant and fascinating.

Eric Siegel, Ph.D.
Conference Chair, Predictive Analytics World and President, Prediction Impact, Inc.