How to Think Like an Economist

An entertaining collection of biographical portraits of history's most influential and inspiring economists – from Aristotle to Keynes, and Karl Marx to Friedrich Hayek – and what they can teach us about understanding the world.

We all live in the economy, whether we know it or not. The current cost-of-living crisis is an economic problem. Brexit might be a political project, but it has already changed how much money we have to spend and which products we can buy. Climate change may seem to be an ecological, social, or technological problem, but it is also an economic problem because its solution will transform the structure of the global economy.

How to Think Like an Economist provides a readable and entertaining guide to the great thinkers who help us understand how economics works. It looks at how Aristotle invented the household budget, why Adam Smith wanted to abolish rent, and how modern Nobel prize winners shape the world around us. From the Greeks and Romans to the thinkers behind Enron and the financial crash of 2008, this is the ultimate guide to the greatest economists of the human age, and what their extraordinary thinking can teach us about how to see the world.

Robbie Mochrie also discusses why economics is so Western, White, and male – and how economics is beginning to become more diverse in its representation. He brings the everyday impact of complex economics thinking to life and shows how the great ideas in this book are a practical tool we can all use in our day-to-day existence.