Customer Reviews

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?: A Fast, Clear and Fun Explanation of the Economics You Need for Success in Your Career, Business and Investments (Maybury, Rick. "Uncle Eric" Book.)

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Absolutely marvelous and clearly explained! I am a science teacher certified to teach all the major science disciplines and have read many books concerning economics. This one trumps them all! Common sense is throughout.

I was hooked on Richard Maybury's series after reading "Are you Liberal or Conservative? Or Confused?" I immediately ordered the entire series and have not regretted it for an instant.

I began with number one and moved through them all in the correct order, or at least the recommended order by the author.

"Let's talk about Personal, Career and Financial Security" was the first and just wet the curiosity. It left you wanting to know more.

This book began the meat and potatoes of a series that is easy to read, written on an understandable level for everyone and enlightening to all concerning the many mysteries of historical, economic and governmental issues and interminglings that have to do with social, moral, political and so many other issues.

I would recommend this series as a Middle School Required reading text with in depth discussions and working groups for the youth of America to be better informed than they now are about the world and how it all works and fits together.

Mr. Maybury's elaboration of the various "Models" that people create for the world they try to live in was a very thought provoking exercise and explained a great deal about the great divide that currently separates the American consciousness.

Two down and still batting a thousand. Great job Mr. Maybury.

After having suffered through four college econ courses (Principles and Intermediate) I have come to the conclusion that most professional economists are nearly worthless ivory-tower eggheads whose theories are almost completely disconnected from the real world, and that "Ph.d" truly does mean "Piles high and deep." It is truly a shame that a reader can learn more from this marvelous little book than from getting a degree in economics. This book should be taught starting in junior high. It's clearly and simply written and very few of the concepts require a great deal of thought. After understanding it, you'll trust your own judgement over the babblers on tv and in the universities.

The great thing about this book is that it's a great explanation of inflation. The bad thing about this book is it's a great explanation of inflation. Yes, I said the same thing twice.

When it was first written-1978-inflation was the major thing in American economics. Today it is still a major threat-but the social urgency over it has declined as the rate of inflation has waned over the years. Yet, I still give this book a 5 star rating because understanding inflation requires explaining money. This book explains money better than any other book I've read.

Understanding money is VERY important. It is not only the key to explaining inflation, but it is the context in which almost all business activity plays out. A good understanding business requires understanding this context. This book does a great job a laying out that context.

The writing style is down to earth and simple. The book is short, very entertaining (for an economics book), and has clearly defined chapters. The author has some good illustrations. I don't really mean the expected graphical illustrations-although it has some of them too. I mean historical illustrations: stories of how societies have used (and abused) money in the past. These stories not only buttress the author's arguments, but also anchor the lessons in tangible human drama.

I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in learning economics and/or business.

I think this is the best book out there to help quickly spread a basic understanding of economics and therefore how the world works. The knowledge and importance per page ratio is the highest I have ever read. Even better than Harry Browne's intro to economics from his famous first 80 pages of "How you can profit from the coming devaluation" .


Pages 13 - 90 are the heart of the book. That is 77 pages that in less than 2 hours can take your average person from unfortunate ignorance to economic genius compared to your average economics college graduate.

Somehow someone needs to reach Bill Gates and Warren Buffet and get them to read this book and put a copy in every american household. That would really be the most charitable thing they could do.

Must reading for anyone who thinks understanding economics is beyond their reach. Richard Maybury explains economic "jargon" in anyone can grasp it terms. ex: debasing, Tanstaafl, Gresham's Law. Great crash course in economics and our free enterprise system. This is required reading in our homeschool.

Using LinkedIn I've recently connected with a friend from twenty years ago. We've exchanged some emails and will try to get together when he is back in town. When my friend learned that I had three daughters he recommended several books by Richard J. Maybury. I requested a couple from my library. The first one I got was What Happened To Penny Candy?

What Happened To Penny Candy? is a short book of 80 pages. It is a quick read. The book is structured as a set of letters from "Uncle Eric" to his nephew "Chris." In these letters the book explains the basics of economics. It does a good job. Over the last thirty years I've read dozens, maybe even hundreds, of books on economics. This book does a good job of covering the basics. I even learned a few things. For example I didn't realize that the reason quarters and dimes were lined with the little ridges on the side was to show if little pieces were clipped off the coin.

Richard Maybury, the author, writes from a strong Libertarian viewpoint. He explains why government manipulation causes problems. Someone who feels government is the solution to economic problems will not enjoy this book.

I'll return the book to the library and buy my own copy. I plan to have each of my daughters read this book. It is short enough that they won't fuss too much about having to ready a dry topic. Economics is an important subject, one that I want my daughters to master.

This book has been perfect for me to understand the current financial situation of the US and nationally. It is easy to understand at all ages and levels of interest. I would recommend everyone read it to prepare for the future.

Good introduction to the value of money; or what government does to decrease the value of money. Written to be accessible to youth and does a good job of putting economic ideas into readable prose.

After hearing this book widely recommended in the homeschooling world, I decided to give it a try and am glad I did. This book is aimed at ages 13 to adult and is written in the form of a series of letters from an uncle to a nephew. Each letter is 8 pages or less of relatively large text, so breaks the information into easily digestible chunks. Basic economic terms and concepts are well-explained, and a lot of relevant historical context is shared.

Topics covered include money: coins and paper, no such thing as a free lunch, inflation, legal tender, wages, price controls, recessions, boom & bust cycle, getting rich quick (a caution against this mindset), federal debt, government's influence on the economy and more. These are all explained quite clearly. In the back, there are further appendices with some more advanced information, further graphs, etc. There's also a list of recommended resources. Finally, an index makes it easy to locate a particular topic.

My husband, who is quite knowledgeable on economic matters, found this to be a very good basic primer. I'm less knowledgeable than he and learned quite a bit. My 9-year-old son (advanced reader) enjoyed reading this and learned a lot as well.

I would definitely recommend this as a fast and clear basic introduction to economics for middle school students up through adults.