The Undercover Economist

I have come to the world of Economics like many people via the route of Freakonmics. As much as I enjoyed Freakonomics I felt there was a very small amount of (admittedly excellent) content spread over a longer book.

This book is different. The author sometimes takes a while setting the scene but this all adds to the understanding of the principles he is explaining. I can honestly say that my understanding of the world is greater having listened to this book. The narration is fine, with a pleasant english voice that doesn't grip you but at the same time does not become tiresome.

I would certainly purchase another book by this author

This is a fantastic book for people new to economy. It sounds dry, but it is not!

This really is an excellent book, well narrated and I walked away with a significantly greater amount of knowledge regarding economic's than when I started. This book was pitched exactly at the right level for me and the key to making this book work is the examples and stories that are told throughout, which I think most people will be able to relate to, in their everyday lives.

If you have a passing interest in economic's and are looking for somewhere to start or to build on the
knowledge that you already have, then I would really recommend this truly entertaining book.

In fact, I would guess that even somebody with no interest in economic's would find something in this book. It makes you realise that economics affects everybody and is everywhere.

I'd been looking forward to this one for some time, I'd read a lot of hype in the press etc and I read Tim's columns in various papers etc. But I came away a bit unfulfilled and somewhat bored by the middle of the book. Perhaps it is not really aimed at me but I found a lot of the explanations too long and way OTT for the concepts he was trying to explain.

Disclaimer: Half of my degree was Financial Economics some 15 years ago and I follow finance/economics reasonably closely, although i do not work in the sector.

This book made economic principles easy to understand by applying them to real world situations. It also contains fascinating insight into how markets work. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone starting out in economics.

Certainly give you insight story on how super store operate. Give you knowledge the impact of free trade and reason behind it.

It's an economics book, so don't expect fireworks. There's plenty of useful angles on a number of subjects, but it's probably a little too long for the amount of valuable content.

A very in teresting and informative book. Just right for todays world of credit crunch

An interesting presentation of an important issue. The book strikes the right balance between describing actual situations(providing clear examples of economic successes and failures) and simple thought-experiments to illustrate principles. An excellent 'quickstart' for any aspiring wannabe pretend economists ;-)

My only complaint is, I feel the narration was not great. There were times that I had to rewind to take a second listen. At times, the narration was so un-capivating that concentration required a bit of effort.

This book makes economics interesting. Harford's writing is very easy to read even if the subject is sometimes hard. I've listened to this book twice now and enjoyed it both times.