Can’t We Just Print More Money?: Economics in Ten Simple Questions

The authors, Rupal Patel and Jack Meaning are both economists at the Bank of England, they have created an excellent book, well written and informative from the people at the heart of it all.

Given this book has the official backing of the BoE, I was curious (and suspicious) as to what message this money-printing and inflation tolerant central bank might be pushing on impressionable minds. I thought I'd mark its card!The book proved to be very readable, economically sound and very well suited for its purpose: to introduce readers to core economic theories. This being the bank, there are nods to woke preoccupations such as 'climate change' (at a cost of one star), but a nod is an irritation, not a material flaw. I didn't much care for the rather too twee chapter titles either, although I can appreciate why they were chosen.As an example of how readable it is, the section that deals with the laws of supply and demand, including profit maximisation are superbly explained and without recourse to any graphs or formula. When I leant the same at A-level, it was 90% graphs and derived formula and I don't think I was any the wiser for it.I would say the book is an excellent and engrossing read for those wanting to understand the foundations of economics as experienced in the world around us. This is exactly its stated purpose, so mission accomplished. It also has value for those with some prior knowledge, if you studied at GCSE level at school for example and are a bit rusty in places around theory, mostly because the book uses real world examples and then reverses into the theory, whereas classically we were/are taught the theory and then left to apply it to the world as we encounter it.

Well written and enjoyable to read

Whilst the may be an amusing and honest introduction to economics by the Bank Of England for distributing to schools, I would have thought that a brief introduction to the most important lesson in ones life which is how and when to budget - so simple on an EXCEL spreadsheet ( or whatever is used by Apple). For most people this is the most important economic thing to set up. All the other influences in economics ( such as how to use money and when money markets fail) are really secondary. I agree with the Queen - why did the Bankers fail to foresee the crisis of 2008-9? Personally if you lend to people who are unlikely to repay or fail to handle sudden loss of confidence ( as per Northern Rock) - you are heading for problems as money markets are so linked as to be like dominoes. IMHO Markets and money are simply about fear and greed (Cox's Law) - Greed drives investment bubbles and currency speculation , fear drives crashes. The scope for Internet misinformation is now an issue which needs to be tackled

Wasn’t sure that this book would be that interesting, and was a little concerned when the foreword said the book was being distributed in schools.But this book is fantastic!It’s really simple economics, but it’s explained so brilliantly clearly that it served as the illuminating refresher about how the economy works that I didn’t even realise I needed!I found myself thinking about each of the points in relation to my own decisions and my work - that’s where this book is particularly strong. It breaks down abstract ideas we take for granted and applies them to everyday life and in everyday language.I switched back and forth between the paperback and the audiobook - which was brilliantly read. I’m not one for re-reading books, but as soon as I finished I began all over again!I’m also not one for leaving Amazon reviews, but I enjoyed this book so much I felt I had to!The only thing I’d have liked to see that wasn’t there was a Further Reading list of similarly simple economic works.

The economics part v.interesting and explained on simple terms. But I don't know why you are including writing about the climate crisis or the pandemic. Go and read the book Greta's Homework or books on the Glacial or Interglacial Age. On the pandemic there are plenty of books on that subject.

This should be compulsory reading for anyone interested, or involved professionally, in economics. It will shed light on all the confusing technical terms on the TV and radio news and in newspapers. Most importantly, it will shed light on all the pronouncements by politicians who sound as though they know how the economy works, but would themselves learn a lot if they read this book.It is written in clear English, and is not without humour - something that most writing on economics noticeably lacks. I can thoroughly recommend this book - the news will never be the same again!

I earned my economics degree in 1973 and found this book to be a helpful reminder of many topics. My key interest was Chapter 10 and the question of just printing more money since macro economic policy and the promotion of economic growth and productivity are fundamental. I was keen to read this chapter and reread it and a couple of other chapters. I would very much have liked some views on what some people call Modern Monetary Theory. The piece on Quantitative Easing was not an easy read and neither was the piece about “automatic stabilisers” on page 252. Some graphs and tables would have been helpful but overall I enjoyed the book and it made me think.

This is a great refresher of first year university level economics and a very easy read. Well written and grounded in real world examples. It's really commendable that the Bank of England now has growing economic literacy as one of its goals.If you read one book on economics, read this one.

I recommend this book for a person to understand the economics in very simple way

Libro introductorio a las CC Económicas , muy asequible a cualquier lector y con ejemplos muy actuales

洋書にも関わらず、迅速に綺麗な状態で届きました。