ECONOMICS
BY HA-JOON CHANG
The User’s Guide
Contents
What’s it about?
We use economics to better understand the value of money
As the world changes, its economy changes
There are nine distinct economic schools of thought: Part one
There are nine distinct economic schools of thought: Part two
There’s no one right way to think about economics
Banks need the public’s confidence to run as intended
Understanding the role actors play is key to understanding markets
We can use three metrics to determine a market’s health
Advancements in production can transform a country’s development
Historical recessions can provide insight on how politics has the power to resolve financial crises
Final summary
Now read the book
What’s it about?
What on earth is “economics?” Put simply, economics is the study of wealth and wealth transfer, and it’s usually considered pretty inaccessible by the average person. Despite affecting our jobs, the way we buy and sell products, and many other aspects of the world directly around us, we often think of the field as a boring, dry subject best left to people who specialize in it. We think of it as a solved science where the layperson’s opinion isn’t relevant, but author and economist Ha-Joon Chang disagrees.
In his Economics: The User’s Guide, Chang reveals multiple schools of economic thought, from the very fundamental to the most complex, breaking them down for all to understand. Aiming to be as objective as possible, Chang pays equal attention to each theory, giving you the tools to arrive at your own conclusions.
Economics isn’t an inaccessible science. It’s an important part of our domestic culture, and the culture of the world around us, and it may not be as hard to understand as you think!
We use economics to better understand the value of money
To understand economics, you first have to understand how people think. It’s true that economics is the study of how money moves, but funds don’t move around by themselves. They’re shifted and transferred by people, and understanding how people think and interact with the world is key to predicting what they’ll do with their money. In some ways, this means that economics is a study of human nature.