Jason Furman's Reviews > The Little Book of Economics, Revised and Updated: How the Economy Works in the Real World

I had not read this book when it came out under the assumption that I knew most of it already. Recently I was asked to recommend five books on economic policy issues for the New York Times book review and I was missing a primer on mainstream macro issues. A colleague recommended I looked at this and thought it was perfect as a primer--and I personally learned some good ways to explain and link macro concepts as well.

Below is my short write up of this book for the NYT, check the review for the other four books.
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The best way to understand things like the causes of recessions and inflation and the consequences of public debt is to take an introductory economics course and do all the problem sets. The second-best way? Read “The Little Book of Economics.” Don’t be fooled by its compact form and breezy writing: This book, by the Wall Street Journal chief economics commentator Greg Ip, manages to pack in just about everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask about the gross domestic product.

Ip is not trying to sell you policy recommendations; instead, he is just trying to teach you the mainstream economic perspective. Suddenly you will know why the Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell looks a little nervous when he tells the press that the neutral rate of interest might have gone up.

The book does contain one obvious misstatement. It should be “The Little Book of Macroeconomics.” For more of the rich diversity of what economic studies has to offer at other scales you might want to also consider what’s below.