| | |  | Business Basics | Home » » Economics For Dummies | | | | | | | Description: | | If you think economics is a complicated discipline that’s reserved for theorists and the intellectual elite and has nothing to do with you, think again. Economics impacts every aspect of our lives, from what we eat, to how we dress, to where we live. Economics might be complicated, but it has everything to do with you.Economics For Dummies helps you see how your personal financial picture is influenced by the larger economic picture. When you understand how what happens on Wall Street affects Main Street and how policies emanating from the White House impact the finances in your house, you’ll be able to: - Learn how government economic decisions affect you and your family
- Make better spending decisions and improve your personal finances
- Maximize your business profits
- Make wiser investments
Written by Sean M. Flynn, PhD, Assistant Professor of Economics at Vassar College, Economics For Dummies covers all the basics of micro- and macroeconomic theory. The next time you need to understand an economic theory or calculation, whether it’s on the nightly news or on a spreadsheet at work, you’ll no longer be in the dark. Economics For Dummies covers all the history, principles, major theories, and terminology, including: - How economics affect governments, international relations, business, and even environmental issues like global warming and endangered species
- How the government fights recessions and unemployment using monetary and fiscal policy
- How and why international trade is good for you even if you don’t appreciate French champagne, Irish crystal, or Swiss watches
- How the law of supply and demand can explain the prices of everything from comic books to open heart surgeries
- How the Federal Reserve controls the money supply, interest rates, and inflation
- Basic theories such as Keynesian economics, the Laffer Curve, and Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand
Presenting complex theories in simple terms and helping you decode the jargon, understand the equations, and debunk the common misconceptions, Economics For Dummies could be a big boon to your personal economy! | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Sean Masaki Flynn | | Paperback:
| 384 pages | | Publisher:
| For Dummies | | Publication Date:
| April 08, 2005 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0764557262 | | Product Length:
| 9.26 inches | | Product Width:
| 7.38 inches | | Product Height:
| 0.83 inches | | Product Weight:
| 1.27 pounds | | Package Length:
| 9.21 inches | | Package Width:
| 7.4 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.94 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.23 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 37 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 37 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
117 of 121 found the following review helpful:
 of the first waterMay 06, 2007
By Caraculiambro
This is probably the first and last review I'll ever do of a "Dummies" book, but I just had to give this book a plug. Whoever wrote it (I don't remember and I'm too lazy to scroll up and see) did a fantastic job. It's really good!
I confess that I was so impressed with the explanations and examples offered in this book that for a while I mulled over having our school switch from our current texts (Mankiw's "Principles of Macroeconomics" and Samuelson's "Economics") to this one.
But I soon thought better of it: the department would probably acquire a bad name in a big hurry if students were seen walking about with copies of a "Dummies" text under their arms as their official course text. And that would be bad for me.
But that's how good it is. Too bad I'm so self-interested! Now the students will just have to slog through inferior texts.
Don't think you're getting a free lunch, though: there are graphs, models, and equations you're gonna have to learn to wade through it.
But in my estimation, going through a layman's course in both micro- and macroeconomics could not be made more painless than here, unless your needs are so casual that you're looking to dispense with graphs and equations altogether.
In which case, good luck learning anything solid about economics!
71 of 72 found the following review helpful:
 A Good Introduction - But annoying at times...Dec 25, 2005
By Michael Spitzer
I got this book because I wanted to learn about the basics of economics and the multitude of terms associated with it. It did a very good job of explaining the major universal concepts of economics, and when the author did have to "dumb" parts down in order to avoid over-complications, he very clearly stated this, which I liked. The book certainly did not cover very advanced topics, and I did not expect it to. It gave a good simple framework on the basic principles, which is what I was looking for.
One of the things I did not like, which may be just because its part of the "for dummies" series, is that much of the book's content says things like: "In this chapter, I'm going to talk about such and such" or "Please refer to chapter 10 to learn about such and such". I just felt it got extreme at times and that these constant references detracted from the actual content at times. I also am not a fan of the constant joking in the text, especially when it comes in the middle of important content, but that just comes with the Dummies books I guess. If you can filter that out though, then I think this is a good introduction to basic economics and I got what I wanted from it.
35 of 35 found the following review helpful:
A great primerSep 20, 2006
By Dandy Fan
I bought this book as a primer for a micro economics class I'm taking for my MBA. It's been a while since I took economics as an undergrad, and I needed a refresher. This book was great. At a high level, it introduced me to the concepts I needed to know to succeed:
- supply and demand
- utility maximizing consumers
- profit maximizing companies
- the relationship between marginal and average cost
- consumer and producer surplus
- deadweight loss
- profitability and competitive markets
If you need a high-level intro without lots of algebraic equations and stuffy writing, then this is the book for you.
36 of 37 found the following review helpful:
Awesome: Easy to read and a great review.Nov 04, 2006
By Enigma
I took an economics course back in college in 1990. Even though I did get an A on the course, I had forgotten most of the concepts. I read this book for fun reading and as a life long learning refresher. Since it has been 16 years since I read an economics book, I cannot compare this book to other books. However, I thought that the book was easy to read and the information easy to digest.
24 of 24 found the following review helpful:
A Decent Economics FoundationJun 15, 2007
By Andrew Shaffer
"Author, Blogger"
Based on the other reviews on Amazon, I picked up this book to assist me with a graduate economics course after realizing that I was way in over my head. I'd never had an economics course before, so this book had to substitute for the undergraduate education that I was lacking. The verdict? I read it in one weekend, and caught up to speed in my grad class the next week. Definitely worth the investment.
See all 37 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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