How Economics Can Save the World

Reviews

This wonderful book demystifies economics and explains the practical tools it provides for thinking about challenges we all face in everyday life - from getting small children to go to sleep to doing what we can to tackle climate change. A clear guide into how economic reasoning can filter through noise and identify solutions for problems, big and small. [T]his book is a success, bucking the trend by prescribing practical solutions to humanity's biggest challenges and explaining the economic rationale behind them with refreshing - and highly readable - clarity A brilliantly clear explanation of how, in the right hands, the insights of Economics can be used to make the world a better place This optimistic new voice offers useful rules to help understand the world around us, and how to make it a better place. Angner's writing is refreshingly human, filled with intellect and dry humour, this book is as enjoyable to read as it is serious about inspiring change Provides an optimistic outline for improving society and our lives. With pristine clarity, good humor, and solid authority, Angner sketches solutions to the most stubborn problems, both small and large, from poor retirement planning to poverty itself. The same simple yet bracing themes run through all of the success stories: Rely on data, use the economist's methodological toolkit, and have a more experimental attitude toward fixing our most difficult problems. His prescriptions even contain norm-changing hints of how to get ordinary folks to implement his recommendations. Whether or not we show the good sense to comply with its lessons, How Economics Can Save the World exposes the decision-making structures that cause persistent threats to our happiness and well-being, and provides readers with the tools, knowledge, and hopeful impulse to disable these threats' Angner blends economic history, theory and practice wonderfully to draw out how powerful economics can be. Written in an accessible and engaging way, this book is full of lessons to show how economics can practically make your life, and the world around you, a better place A fun and engaging read, designed to help us make better choices, lead better lives, and make a better world. Angner teaches us how to understand the life-defining realities of our world as economics, from sleep-training a baby, choosing between jobs, or building a community. He then teaches us how to manages those realities-including how to save and invest-- by applying the tools and insights learned from economic theory and behavioral research How Economics Can Save The World makes the convincing case that economics is about so much more than money ... whether that means helping people make better decisions about how to spend our limited time, or developing a more effective way to encourage organ donations, or figuring out how to sift through contrary parenting advice and find the approach that works. All these things, Angner painstakingly explains, are economics in action. And what's more, we can use these principles in our own lives to make the world a better place. Did you know that economics has a lot to say about building communities, figuring out how to avoid fooling ourselves, and may even possess the key to being happy in life? Angner makes a case for all these points and more. He is the perfect tour guide to economics A fascinating, playful approach to a subject that can so often seem complicated and unrelated to the challenges of everyday life. With an engaging, entertaining style, Angner blends the practical and theoretical to leave the reader informed and inspired to put this way of thinking into practice A book brimming with beautiful explanations of important ideas and surprising discoveries An excellent book for people who want to know what economists do. A fun and highly informative read A really nicely done introduction to economics and what it can do. It’s a great book for a young adult/teenager considering studying economics, or perhaps an adult who has always wanted to know what economics is but never quite dared to find out Angner shows that economics is a deeply moral endeavour that should give us hope that many of our most pressing problems can be solved. Expand reviews