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    Introduction to Economics
    Introduction to Economics
    Introduction to Economics
    Ebook97 pages2 hours

    Introduction to Economics

    By Robert Jameson

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    About this ebook

    There are lots of people who pretend to understand Economics, but there are very few who really do understand Economics. If you dive into Economics and race towards your exams without taking the time to properly understand the key concepts at the heart of the subject, it will hardly be a surprise if you end up amongst the fakers rather than amongst the true experts.

    This book is intended for students who are considering studying Economics, for students who are soon to begin a course in Economics and for those who are already studying Economics but who would like to firm up their understanding of the key concepts at the heart of this fascinating and incredibly important discipline.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRobert Jameson
    Release dateMay 20, 2013
    ISBN9781501414602
    Introduction to Economics

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    • 1/5
      A v poor intro to economics for any new student

    Book preview

    Introduction to Economics - Robert Jameson

    Warning/Disclaimer

    This book shouldn't offend anyone - but, with so many ridiculously over-sensitive people around these days, there's always a danger that it will. Please note, therefore, that you read this book at your own risk. Furthermore, please note that this is a book of ideas and that none of the contents of this book are intended to be read as statements of fact.

    Introduction

    This book is intended for students who are considering studying Economics, for students who are soon to begin a course in Economics and for those who are already studying Economics but who would like to firm up their understanding of some of the key principles. It doesn't particularly matter if you are still at school or if you are about to begin a college or university course.

    This book is intended to give you a head start on understanding a whole bunch of core Economics concepts - and thus give you a sure, firm foundation in the great and fascinating discipline that is Economics.

    This is not designed to be a comprehensive set of key concepts. It is not a textbook. The concepts included here are merely a selection which I hope will give you an opportunity to learn to see things through an economist's eyes - and get a feel for the special way a real economist understands the world.

    Economics is an incredibly useful discipline and a skilled economist is someone who, if they're listened to, can be of enormous value to governments, businesses and individuals. So many of the problems we face as individuals and as a society would be much easier to solve if we were prepared to listen to the advice of skilled economists.

    The trouble is that very few people actually understand Economics. There are a lot of people who think they understand it or pretend to understand it, but they rarely do. Even many of the people who have Economics qualifications and many of the people with 'Economist' in their job title, have a very poor understanding of what Economics is actually all about. And, if you pay attention to the news at all, you might have begun to develop the nagging suspicion that the politicians who are supposed to be in charge of running our economy don't have a clue about Economics either!

    Many people just don't 'get' Economics. Some people 'get it' almost straight away - but far more people never get it at all, even having studied it for years. They somehow get confused and never really grasp the fundamental concepts and principles at the very core of the subject.

    It can often be the case that, when people study for an Economics qualification, they quickly become embroiled in learning terms, drawing diagrams and answering questions on topical case studies. Before they know it, they're preparing for exams by studying marking schemes and developing their exam techniques. Somewhere along the way, they've skipped over and failed to properly understand the fundamental concepts and principles that everything else is supposed to be based upon.

    This failure to understand important concepts manifests itself in various, seemingly minor errors in your work. Individually, these errors may be easy to correct - but it can be very difficult, later on, with exams approaching, to find the time to correct the fundamental misunderstandings that led to those seemingly minor errors.

    Further errors will occur - and these might possibly knock you down a grade or two - but the really big problem is that you don't understand Economics. If you're ever supposed to advise someone - a government, a business or an individual - on an Economics matter, you'll just be faking it. You won't really understand what you're talking about. You won't be able to use your abilities as a skilled economist to help your country, your employer or your own mother, because you won't be a skilled economist. You'll just be another 'bullshitter' (and yes, that is the appropriate technical term!) - and, seriously now, we don't need any more of those as we have more than enough already!

    So - this book is about avoiding all that aggro of living a life as a lowlife bullshitter who doesn't really know what they're talking about. I'm fed up with turning on the news to see fake economists pretending they understand Economics. I'm fed up with politicians who are supposed to be running the country, yet don't have a clue about some of the most basic and fundamental Economics concepts that they really need to know about in order to do their jobs properly. I'd like to see a future where this sort of thing doesn't happen quite so often.

    There are lots of people who pretend to understand Economics, but there are very few who really do understand Economics. If you dive into Economics and race towards your exams without taking the time to properly understand the key concepts at the heart of the subject, it will hardly be a surprise if you end up amongst the fakers rather than amongst the true experts.

    A Special Calling

    As you develop your skills as an economist, you may develop the tendency to become a complete snob about all the courses in 'lesser subjects' - such as Business, Management or Accountancy - that don't compare to a 'proper' Economics course. This is one type of snobbery that I would like to vehemently encourage!

    Economics is a proper subject. It is a proper academic discipline. It's got real meat and guts to it. It's got concepts and ideas. It's not about trendy business terms and farcical management-speak - these are the tools that bullshitters use to hide their incompetence and lack of understanding. Proper economists don't need these things. Plain English is our preferred method of communication. Yes, we have specialist terms, but they're real terms, with proper meanings to them. They're there to communicate important concepts, not mask our ineptitude.

    There are lots of business-types, management-types, finance-types and accountancy-obsessives around. Too many, in fact! Some of them fool themselves into thinking

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