Economics: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

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So... is liberal economics even meant to answer the question of global inequality, or is it designed to obscure not only the answers but how we frame the question? Up-to-date and progressive, this short book is written by an internationally recognized authority in the field. Michelle Baddeley, Professor in Economics and Associate Dean (Research and Development), University of Technology Sydney

Colonization is a possible answer. Historians have shown that, from the 16th century, European powers have extracted natural resources from the colonies – including cheap (read, slave) labour – but have mostly invested the proceeds domestically. Of course, one should ask why it is that the Europeans managed to colonize the tropics; why colonization didn’t take place the other way round. As noted earlier, Jared Diamond has offered an answer. That said, many of the most prominent of those ex-colonies have been politically independent for decades now. During that time real income per head in the rich world has increased over and over again. With the exception of a few striking examples in South and South East Asia, though, most of the ex-colonies have either remained poor or become poorer still. Why? [Emphasis added]...This then goes on to analyze the productivity of institutions (smells like Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty). Admittedly, the Classical liberal economists (Adam Smith/David Ricardo etc.) did try to understand their world from their ivory towers, thus their theories featured: As for calling this an 'economics' book, I really think that is open to interpretation. It was abundantly clear to me that the author had an agenda when writing this book and was not shy about it. I don't necessarily agree or disagree with her viewpoints, but books that are supposed to be references to technical subjects like economics shouldn't have the facts clouded with opinion and rhetoric. Middle-class behaviour can also be the trigger for change”: Ah, yes, “middle-class”, the only class vocalized by liberals to justify inequality (i.e. there is still social mobility if you earn it, thus capitalism remains a meritocracy). Nothing about power (esp. political bargaining power).

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My only criticism is that some parts of the book may be too technical for the broad audience intended by the publishers and could avail from the inclusion of more supporting diagrams. The section on game theory is particularly guilty of this.

Yes, sarcasm; the world is reduced to a poorly-lit alley and the author only examines what is under the street light: economic growth (GDP), standard of living (HDI), demography ( population growth, ugh...), trust (how to model it), communities, markets (including the central planning vs. free market "debate", market failures, etc.), institutions (in particular science and technology), households and firms (including property rights, risk), modelling sustainable economic development, modelling social wellbeing, and even the game theory of voting (framed as if this is an adequate intro to “democracy”, how liberal reformist can we get?!).

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A little learning is a dangerous thing"; and a "very short introduction" does not have to be easy. Dasgupta's book is not written "for dummies" and it does not present its subject in the manner of an introductory textbook. Instead, Dasgupta offers the lay reader an example of how economists define problems and issues and try to solve them. In other words, the book offers the reader an example of how to "think like an economist". This gives the book a dense character. Dasgupta develops his own way of approaching and his position of questions of economics, neither of which might be fully shared by all members of his profession. It was Marx who spent so much effort seriously investigating Classical liberal economics and exposing its contradictions, that we now associate the above list (especially the first 3 items) to Marx rather than Smith/Ricardo etc.! The contradictions became so severe that pro-capitalists economics had to throw out the Classical framework entirely, only keeping its pro-capitalist conclusions! The book shows an economist thinking and practicing his discipline in a way a lay reader can, with effort, understand rather than offering an overview. The book helped me understand how an economist works. Dasgupta helped me see different ways of thinking about important matters, which is a worthwhile accomplishment and the goal of a "very short introduction".