Timothy Taylor (4)

I picked up these lectures as I was slogging my way through Capital in the 21st Century, this year's surprise best seller by award winning economist Thomas Piketty. Where Capital was obtuse, hard to understand, rambling, these lectures were clear, focused, and enlightening. After finishing these lectures, my understanding of Economics, from basic principles like supply and demand, to more subtle issues, like government policy with regard to trade deficits, grew dramatically. Not only does he show more present the theories clearly and concisely, he gives current examples and adds in a touch of humor. Highly, highly recommended. I'm looking forward to listening to more lectures by this professor. show less

A perfectly useful compact guide to the ideas of economics, written in an easy style for the general reader, but managing to cover a very wide range of topics - in as many as 36 mercifully short chapters. This will serve as a good survey and revision text even for the graduate student, covering as it does both principles and applications to managing the economy at a country level, and in personal life. There is also a section on world trade and globalisation, about which the author is show more obviously optimistic; a little more recognition of the downsides of too much openness to capital flows and labor migration, for example, may be called for.

One lapse I noticed - he has left out inflation in the discussion on saving for one's retirement; so be sure to consult a specialist text on this (and maybe other topics). show less

An audio course that reviews the relevance of economic thinking in different sectors, from medical ethics to election finance and disasters.

The course feels dated because it does not adequately cover some of the issues with economic thinking that are most obvious today. Cryptocurrency, technological externalities of social media, path dependence of technological choices, the economics of information etc...

Overall pleasant and informative, just a bit out of date.

This was not an easy read. However it was very informative. It's a book that someone can go back to several times. It teaches you about the federal reserve, the cost of health insurance and how even groceries can affect our own Economic future. It is a book that everyone should read.