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From Here to Economy: A Shortcut to Economic Literacy

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"From Here to Economy: A Shortcut to Economic Literacy" by Todd Buchholz, presents a broad overview of contemporary (as of 1995) economic theory. It explains in simple terms the basic principles of contemporary macroeconomics, microeconomics, international economics, investment, and the history of economic philosophy. The target audience for this book is a specific demographic - people who are interested in understanding how the economy works in all respects, but are only really interested in a surface-level understanding of the central issues. This book is not appropriate reading material for economists or students of economics who wish to gain real insight into the nitty-gritty reality of economic theory. If you want to learn about economics, but don't want to spend more than six hours doing so, this is a great book for you to read. The tone of the book is largely informal, frank, and occasionally somewhat humorous. This is not your typically dry economics textbook.

*From Here to Economy* is a concise and entertaining (if you like the author's sense of humor) introduction to economics. Since the book is only about 250 pages long, the coverage of any given topic is not deep, but the author does touch on the key concepts and explain them at a level appropriate for the literate novice. The book divides the subject into 5 sections: macroeconomics, microeconomics, international trade and finance, personal finance and investing, and schools of economic thought. The section on personal finance and investing will, I think, be particularly useful to the average reader, since it ties the broader economic concepts discussed in the rest of the book into the economic questions that most of us face every day. This section is also the one that struck me as dated, in that it does not mention all the investment information (both good and bad) that is now readily available on the Internet. However, that's a minor flaw in an otherwise very useful work. Readers may also want to look at Sowell's *Basic Economics* -- Sowell gives a fuller discussion of microeconomics, but he's also much more tendentious than Buchholz, is not so good on international topics, and does not discuss personal finance or the history of economic theory.

Before reading this book, I had so many basic questions about economics. This book has given me a satisfying level of insight and intuition about economics in general. The style is extrememly digestable. Each section is only a couple of pages, and if I ever forget what "Monetary Policy" is, I just have to look it up and read those two pages. It seems to flow very well, and yet the sections can also be read independently. I highly recommend this book to anybody who is interested in developing a basic "feel" for economics.

I was asked to teach economics this year for the first time in several years. Thank goodness for this book, because without it I do not think I could teach the class. The great thing about this book is that it makes understanding economics easy and fun. Is this book for everyone. Of course not, I do not recommend economics for everyone. However, if you are in the postion where you must learn economics whether as a teacher, student, college student, or who ever this is the book to turn to. Anyone who needs to learn economics will be well off to purchase and read this book. I also highly recommend the authors other book Lessons from Dead Economists. Like this book, it is again highly usefull and extremely readable for the economically challenged. For those of us who need to know economics thank goodness for this book.

This book is an apology to the voters for Bush I's economic policies, including supply-side economics. It says something that not a single well-known economist wrote a blurb for this book's cover. After all, when Wheelan wrote "Naked Economics" he was able to get some. Krugman (himself a very well-respected economist) was able to. Why only this guy can't? Hmmmmmm.

It's because a bit of the information here isn't completely accurate, and he is always biased. He will not consider the role of government seriously, and of course tax-cuts and deregulation are the ultimate panacea. (Of course government has its fingers where they shouldn't be. But why not bother to consider where they should be and shouldn't be, like a real economist?)

On other matters, where there's no room for politics, he's accurate. Which only draws more attention to the difference when politics are involved.

Also, things are just poorly explained. He tries to explain how the Fed's interest rates affect economic growth, inflation and unemployment. But if I hadn't understood that already, there's no way I would have understood his presentation. That kind of thing occurs throughout the book.

Two other, less serious, criticisms. First, a lot of interesting stuff has happened in economics since this book was written. The Asian tigers crashed, currency crises in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Russia, the internet stocks and the bubble of the 90s crashing, China and India coming online, and the consequences of Bush II's economic policies. Not covering any of those events is no fault of the author's, but it just means the book is too old.

Second, the writing is not that great, and the humor is terrible. His idea of "humor" is, "Let's say Helen buys bananas."

Really, if you want to learn about economics, my first recommendation is "Naked Economics," Charles Wheelan. That's the book this one is trying to be, and failing. Or check out Krugman (start with "The Return of Depression Economics"). If you want a decidedly conservative perspective, head for Milton Friedman. I also recommend Nobel Prize winners Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz. All much better.

In these days of economic downturn and stock market flux, all of a sudden everybody seems to become an financial expert, rattling off jargons with ease and confidence. But do they really know what "sub-prime" is? Do they even know why US dollar is "hard currency?" What about the different "indexes," "stats" and "rates"? Do they have any sense of how the economy of today evolved from that of yesterday? This wonderful book provides a much needed and timely primer for basic concepts about economy in layman's language imbued with humor. Read this book three times, and you won't PRETEND to know what you are talking about. However, because it was published more than a decade ago, an updated version is in urgent need. We need a clear and detailed explanation of such popular phenoms as "hedge fund," "sub-prime," "foreclosure," "credit swap," not to mention systems and concepts resulting from globalization. So if the author is reading this, please come up with a revised and updated edition now. The book is due yesterday!

I went looking for a big text book on economics but am glad I found this instead. A Harvard Economics instructor and former White House advisor spoon-feeds it to you but keeps it interesting. It's loaded wall-to-wall with excellent analogies. If at first something doesn't quite click, it's lucidly spelled out in plain language in the following sentence. If you can read, you can understand economics.

There are also some witty pearls such as: "That is why some people have compared the federal government to an infant: it has a limitless appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other."

This was published in 1995 before the advent of the Euro and the World Trade Organization, but it discusses what led to those. In some places he writes "Recently..." or "In the last fifteen years," so those statistics are dated, but the lion's share of the book is timeless essentials well worth reading today.

The role of politicians is discussed throughout as a nature-of-the-beast phenomenon. He occasionally names particular politicians in brief (one- or two-sentence) examples, and good decisions and boners alike by BOTH major parties are mentioned --but only reviewers who read beyond the first chapter would know that.

It covers macro- & micro-economics, education, health care (yes, it can be understood), environmental issues, banking and "The Fed," international trade, sanctions, the Great Depression, economics for individual investors(!), and includes a detailed index. Classical Economics (Adam Smith, Maynard Keynes, etc.) and proper academic terminology are referenced throughout.

If you want to learn about the economy then this is the book for you! It's a great start if you know nothing about the economy. And even if you did some time ago, this book would still be a good refreshing resource.

I recommend this book for basic knowledge of the economy.

This book came before all other that I ordered. I was very greateful and appreciative. Thanks

This is witty and well written. I loved it, it was a great way to learn about the economy while having fun. A++++++++++++!!