The Undercover Economist

  • Author Tim Harford
  • Narrator Cameron Stewart
  • Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
  • Run Time 8 hours and 16 minutes
  • Format Audio
  • Genre Sociology and anthropology.
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What to expect

Who makes most money from the demand for cappuccinos early in the morning at Waterloo Station? Why is it impossible to get a foot on the property ladder? How does the Mafia make money from laundries when street gangs pushing drugs don't? Who really benefits from immigration? How can China, in just fifty years, go from the world's worst famine to one of the greatest economic revolutions of all time, lifting a million people out of poverty a month?

Looking at familiar situations in unfamiliar ways, THE UNDERCOVER ECONOMIST is a fresh explanation of the fundamental principles of the modern economy, illuminated by examples from the streets of London to the booming skyscrapers of Shanghai to the sleepy canals of Bruges. Leaving behind textbook jargon and equations, Tim Harford will reveal the games of signals and negotiations, contests of strength and battles of wit that drive not only the economy at large but the everyday choices we make.

Critics Review

  • As lively and witty an introduction to the supposedly ‘dismal science’ as you are likely to read

    THE TIMES

  • Required reading … It brings the power of economics to life

    Steven D. Levitt, author of FREAKONOMICS

  • Reading this book is like spending an ordinary day wearing X-ray goggles

    David Bodanis, author of ELECTRIC UNIVERSE

  • An excellent Undercover Introduction to Economics. If you think that sounds boring, you probably ought to read it

    FT

  • Economists do indeed think differently from the rest of us. This book gives an excellent introduction as to quite why they do

    TELEGRAPH

  • An eye-opening bestseller…the first page hooks you on the science involved … Harford is explaining nothing less than how the world works in a language we can all understand

    Daily Sport

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