An Economics Book Worth the Struggle: Economics: The User's Guide

Economics: The User's Guide

by Ha-Joon Chang

After hours spent searching our library, browsing online, and skimming economics books, I have found our high school economics text.

The User's Guide presents multiple schools of economic thought: Classical, Neoclassical, Marxist, Developmentalist, Austrian, Schumpeterian, Keynesian, Institutionalist, and Behaviouralist. Unlike every other book I found, Chang's descriptions include both advantages and disadvantages for each school. He advocates throughout the book for the use of multiple schools, arguing that each restricts the solutions to any economic problems by the questions they pose and that a combination of perspectives will provide the most robust policies.

In the very beginning, Chang addresses the all-important question: "Why do you need to learn economics?"

There are many different types of economic theory, each emphasizing different aspects of complex reality, making different moral and political value judgements and drawing different conclusions. Moreover, economic theories constantly fail to predict real-world developments even in ares on which they focus, not least because human beings have their own free will, unlike chemical molecules or physical objects.

We should all learn the basics of economics, therefore, so we can properly assess economic plans and theories proposed in government and by politicians. They are making assumptions we may refute both about the economic situation and about our goals as individuals and as a society.

The fact is, we all need to know something about diverse approaches to economics if we are not to become passive victims or someone else's decision. Behind every economic policy and corporate action that affects our lives -- minimum wage, outsourcing, social security, food safety, pensions and what not -- lies some economic theory that either has inspired those actions or, more frequently, is providing justification of what those in power want to do anyway. 

The book is divided into two main parts. In the first half, "Getting Used to It," he presents the general terms and concepts of modern economics: what it is, a history of capitalism, schools of economic thought, and economic actors (individuals, corporations, organizations, governments).

In the second part, he explores socioeconomic problems and considers each in light of different economic theories, questioning the assumptions made by some current economic policies and encouraging the reader to also consider non-economic aspects of problems like the value of work beyond a salary. This part includes chapters on topics like production, modern financial products, poverty, unemployment, the role of the state, and international economics.

While Chang is not a man of faith, his treatment of issues like poverty and meaningful work presents a picture of the world that allows discussions of our responsibilities as individuals and communities to care for those who are suffering and to provide an economic environment in which all can flourish.

The author does not hide his own opinions. For example, he argues for a greater emphasis in the economic considerations for production (the manufacturing of actual goods) and for greater regulation of the financial services industry. His biases are clearly indicated within the text, however. He uses the pronoun "I" and says what he thinks without presenting it as if there were no other side to the debate or as if it were a consensus argument of all modern economists.

Acknowledging the difficulties involved in changing the economic status quo should not cause us to give up the fight to create an economy that is more dynamic, more stable, more equitable and more environmentally sustainable than what we have had for the last three decades.

With a few exceptions, I agree with his recommendations and overall assessments of our current economic situation (national and international). Not everyone is as radical and anti-establishment as I am, though. If you are unsure, I recommend (at least) reading his concluding remarks for each chapter before assigning this book to your student. (There are also a few instances of crude language.)

This is a meaty text. The author claims it is written for anyone with a secondary education. It is bursting with footnotes, endnotes, real-life examples (and the numbers to support them), and recommended additional reading for each chapter. Many of the chapters include minutiae of details that will not need to be remembered exactly for the main point to be understood but which could easily overwhelm a student. The first part is especially dense because it focuses intently on the economic schools of thought and a large number of economic ideas that a high school student may be encountering for the first time.

A high school student with a history of reading and narrating substantial books will be able to handle this text, if it is read slowly. It is certainly one worth the time and effort. I intend to assign this book over two years, probably twice a week, to limit the length of the readings and prevent overload from the data.