Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science

Written by Charles Wheelan

Narrated by Kerin McCue

International bestseller

At last! A new edition of the economics book that won’t put you to sleep. In fact, you won’t be able to put this bestseller down. In our challenging economic climate, this perennial favorite of students and general readers is more than a good read, it’s a necessary investment—with a blessedly sure rate
of return. This revised and updated edition includes commentary on hot topics such as automation, trade, income inequality, and America’s rising debt. Ten years after the financial crisis, Naked Economics examines how policymakers managed the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Demystifying buzzwords, laying bare the truths behind oft-quoted numbers, and answering the questions you were always too embarrassed to ask, the breezy Naked Economics gives you the tools to engage with pleasure and confidence in the deeply relevant, not so dismal science.

"Clear, concise, informative, [and] witty."—Chicago Tribune

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 25, 2010
• ISBN: 9781449814465

Reviews for Naked Economics

[spyderella · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Macroeconomics is really world politics; if you understand markets, incentives, and government and meta-government entities like the Federal Reserve and the International Monetary Fund, then you'll understand the news of current events. _Naked Economics_ is a readable, logical, and lucid explanation of these topics.Don't be put off by the jacket blurbs. I was concerned that an economics book touted as "laugh-out-loud funny" would be another one of those fluff armchair-economics books that try to divert you by presenting one confounding and counter-intuitive puzzler after another (a la _Freakonomics_ and _More Sex is Safer Sex_). Those books can be entertaining, but I haven't found that they improve or deepen my understanding of politics and world events. _Naked Economics_, on the other hand, drives exactly at that deeper understanding. A side effect of being authored in 2001, it is eerily prescient about topics like auto-industry bailouts and courting deflation when you push interest rates around too much.No, I wouldn't say this book is "funny." Instead, it's like getting a clear explanation of some obtuse topics from your cool, hip friend, in a way that makes you feel smarter when you've finished.

[shope01 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great read. Wheelen’s approachable and conversational style made this a fun read.

[themulhern · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Facile and shallow. However, it did remind me that I want to dig into that more substantive work, "Economism", by James Kwak.

[nmarun-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I picked up this book after reading Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data by the same author. I truly enjoyed that book and this one is no different. This book is really good for people like me who are not Economists by profession. I got familiarized with the basics of economics and am now curious for more.

The author emphasizes the importance of free trade and although this might mean loss (to some extent) to the United States (his home country), he still pushes for this as it as a positive global impact in the long run.

I could easily assimilate the concepts like GDP per capita, how interest rates affect us and what affects them, inflation and deflation and their implication on the global market. The author puts them in elementary language which makes it easy to grasp.

[spaceyacey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazingly, the author does not show strong ideological bias, for an economics book this is very strange. I now know what 'The Fed' does, also he has converted me wholly to free-trade (previously I was uncommitted).

[joyce.leung · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I started reading this book feeling I was reasonably clever, and I finished this book realizing that I wasn't even fit for extremely stupid. Not that this book isn't good - it's too good, that's the problem, I think.

This book simplifies a lot of concepts, but still, with my slow mind, I had to keep going over bits, re-reading paragraphs to finally absorb it.

Now I've finished the book, I've got mixed feelings; I'm feeling guilty about feeling relieved that I've finished this book after 1 month and 2 days, but I'm kind of feeling like I should read more books like this one so that, eventually, I might be able to read it would pausing and re-reading.

[tjsjohanna_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found Mr. Wheelan's discussions of government policy and economics to be very enlightening. And his discussions of international trade and world poverty were also very interesting. This was a very readable look at basic economic principles applied to real life world issues.

[barlow304 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very good, "no-tears" approach to basic economics. Although it discusses markets, the book spends most of its time on macro-economics, monetary policy, international trade, and development. Well written and amusing, but also thoughtful and accurate.

[alexnihilo_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a great general-public book on economics. With humor and simple words, it explains the basis of economy : free-trade and state regulation, human capital, interest rates and inflation, etc. It is not written like an academic book with highly detailed outlines and a bunch of theoretical references, and it is nice and easy to read. It is a real good basis for economics 101 and even gives some notes to go further. Moreover, it is written by a Chicago-based correspondent for the Economist, so it is full of examples from Chicago life.

The author is sometimes described as a moderate liberal but to my point of view, he is really in favor of free-trade and speaks badly about left-wing activists and antiglobalization groups. He believes that social actor is fully rational and that the free-trade is fair for all : he seems to forget about cheating, insiders tradings, disinformation and others capitalist tricks and evils. So it is a great book for basic understanding of economic process but you’d better think twice about the big figure of capitalism and wars for profit.

[kasualkafe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I gave it a 4 for an economics book which is saying something , but this is not equivalent to a 4 for ....say ....an ANNE Rice novel. But as an economics book , this easily digestible primer , is not only informative but mildly amusing. The author explains the theories and tenets of economics without boring you to tears. I believe I have more of a complete understanding of economics as some of the blanks in my comprehension of this subject has been filled. I recall one of my first book adventure capitalist as a fun economics book that tauted free trade , but this book truly explains why it works.

[eurydice_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lucid and amusing, Naked Economics provides an excellent, engaging introduction to the subject for the novices, math-phobes, and lovers of good writing among us. It's perfect for providing some conceptual understanding to those, like me, who remain curious about the workings of the world, yet whose formal education didn't take in what it should have. (Or who didn't take in what we should have, during them!) As the title playfully suggests, this is economics stripped of the impeding charts, equations, and graphs, leaving essential, exciting concepts visible in all their naked glory. They're bared to a point of great liveliness and accessibility.

I finished feeling a sense of comprehension I wish I could pay Wheelan for, far beyond the price of the book. Never again will my eyes glaze at a mention of the Federal Reserve; nor will I be confounded by the failure of certain bright and altruistic ideas I wanted to work; nor the success of peculiar, minor special interest groups; nor the continued dominance of McDonald's, to the detriment of the intriguing place next door (not that this one flummoxed me, but he does dissect it beautifully, in 'The Economics of Information'). Never again will I approach an economy dogged by the vague, yet dispiriting sense that within each only a fixed number of jobs does or could exist. And so on, ad infinitum.

I thought the chapter 'Trade and Globalization' especially illuminating, as Wheelan makes an excellent case for the benefits of international trade running both ways, even when they look disadvantageous to the poorer countries, or involve lost jobs in the wealthier. It's not without genuine downsides in the short term, and for individuals, which is neither minimized or overlooked; but he puts his points about the overall, long-term benefits with great clarity and good sense. I found that, like much else, not only lucid but bracing.

Much as I'll benefit by rereading (and reading other economics works), Naked Economics invites it, and lays enough groundwork that you can begin knowing nothing, and end not merely willing, but eager, to seek out more difficult books on the subject.