Naked Economics Summary

Book Report Naked Economics is a book in which author Charles Wheelan provides insight into economic concepts and foundations through his comprehensible firsthand accounts and vivid examples. He avoids explanations involving graphs, charts, and formulas in favor of appealing to the majority of readers that are not economists and prefer his use of plain English and amusing anecdotes. Naked Economics provides a broad overview of how economics explains why certain things work and others don’t work, and how both everyday citizens and governments can address these issues. Wheelan debunks common misconceptions held by the public and introduces a variety of concepts in a straightforward manner that doesn’t politicize or oversimplify issues with complex intricacies that he can’t properly delve …show more content…
The aspect of Naked Economics that I appreciated the most was Wheelan’s use of humor within the content. Without his wry, often self-deprecating comments, the book would be significantly less entertaining and memorable. For instance, Wheelan highlights the importance of uniform currency over the barter system by comparing a person’s ability to trade chickens for essentials in an agricultural society with their ability to trade chickens for new books through Amazon. Even though I had been told by the AP Econ students that the book was entertaining, I assumed it would be entertaining relative to the subject, which at the time I believed would be dull. However, I was pleasantly surprised on both accounts to find the book, as well as the class, insightful and engaging. Speaking of assumptions, another valuable component of the book was Wheelan’s invalidation of my misconceptions. It doesn’t make sense that most Americans underappreciate their political system when, in comparison, we are abundantly more blessed than most countries. It doesn’t make sense that withholding property rights would be a better incentive for the poor to help themselves than allowing them to