The Undercover Economist

By: Tim Harford

Narrated by: Robert Ian Mackenzie

Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Author of the extremely popular "Dear Economist" column in Financial Times, Tim Harford reveals the economics behind everyday phenomena in this highly entertaining and informative book. Can a book about economics be fun to read? It can when Harford takes the reins, using his trademark wit to explain why it costs an arm and a leg to buy a cappuccino and why it's nearly impossible to purchase a decent used car. Supermarkets, coffee houses, airlines, insurance companies, and more are sucking money from our wallets. To protect ourselves and our bank accounts, we must better understand why companies do what they do.

©2006 Tim Harford (P)2006 Recorded Books, LLC.

Critic reviews

"The book is unequaled in its accessibility and ability to show how free market economic forces affect readers' day-to-day." (Publishers Weekly)

Required reading for voters!

Harford explains lucidly how the free market determines how resources are allocated, why it seems to work well much of the time, why it fails under some circumstances, and what sort of government actions would appropriately address those failures. Much of the latter half of the book is devoted to the effects of increased global trade, including a whole chapter on the miraculous success of China. I didn't find all of it well argued; for example, his argument that globalization is not significantly harmful to the environment was painted in broad strokes and not well-supported. But overall, this book is an enjoyable elucidation of the world's dominant economic model, and should be read by anyone who... well, votes.

The dismal science made a little less dismal

Making the dismal science a little less dismal is something the Undercover Economist has accomplished. As a fan of boring books, I found this one a little less boring. The biggest problem is that the recording was completed in 2005. Many aspects related to economics changed greatly post-recession of 2008 and therefore seem a little less realistic. The reader is excellent. I could listen to him read the phone book!

Entertaining and so very relevant

It gave me broad and objective understanding of how the world actually works and why shit is the way it is and how all of us are so fucking wrong. It was beautiful.

New Information in here!

I have read a lot of books that are the same old thing and to be honest this book does have some of that. It does have some concepts that I never got before though. Really worth while.

Knowledgeable, interesting, and comprehensible! Hartford gives a fantastic explanation into the world of economics.

Fantastic book!

I’ve taken political economy classes before, but never a full economics course. My knowledge in the field of economics is scattered, but I heard this book was a great source for understanding a variety of economic ideas.

I’m grateful for choosing this book, Hartford does a wonderful job detailing a wide range of important economic ideas. Hartford uses real life examples that each person knows and understands. He then uses these examples to explain and economic theory.

There’s a lot to learn from this book, I suggest you check it out!

Still scratching my head

If you are looking for innovative ways the government can use economic ideas to equalize results, this book is for you. If you are interested in understanding why the governments promises never live up to their results this book will help.

My 2-year-old gives better insight

While a few of the points are valid, most of the book is complete nonsense. Examples: the part about buying a used car or health insurance are so far off the mark from reality. To borrow a quote from Billy Madison, everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it.

Not For High School Graduates

I was very disappointed in this book and want my 10 hours back....you can keep the money! was embarrassed for anyone who listens to this who doesn't know that supply and demand are basic to economics which is lectured about over and over again in this book. I was pulled in by the idea that essays were going to clue me in to stuff I didn't already know but this was not the case. Honestly, I was appalled at the dumb-downedness of this book and could have overlooked this if there were more than just a few interesting facts about products and how they are sold. Disappointed.

Poor thought meet bad writing

I had heard that this book offers clear insights into economic theory. Nope, no insights, but that's largely because the author couldn't hold a critical thought in his head if his life depended upon it. I've read econ textbooks with more verve than this.

All this book offers is the disproven and simplistic pop theory called "supply side economics" but he adds the insult of political posturing badly masked as research. The narrator has a voice that will bore you to tears, then send you searching for a blunt object to pound the life out of your iPod. The insanely circular logic and the flat sentence syntax are not the machines' fault, but the author is probably in hiding. If not he should be, if only out of embarrassment at publishing this mess.

Disappointing

Showed a little promise early on about pricing but it soon turned into a long, slow, tedious, dull fizzle.