Author: Randy Charles Epping
Publisher: Vintage Books (A Division Of Random House, Inc)
ISBN: 978-0-307-38790-5

 Click Here To Purchase The 21st Century Economy--A Beginner's Guide (Vintage)

If you have never taken a course in elementary economics or even if you have and you want to refresh your memory, Randy Charles Epping’s The 21ST-Century Economy: A Beginner’s Guide is just the right prescription.

With all that is going on today in the world economy, it is indispensable for all of us to have some understanding of the nuts and bolts of economics and its principles.  Just as every other discipline has its unique language, so does economics and as Epping mentions in his introduction, “never before has it been so important for us to become economically literate.” 

In the same way Epping remembers his first professor of economics, I likewise remember mine, where both of our professors believed that any question concerning economics must be explained with complicated graphs or formulae. There didn’t seem to be a question that could be answered with a simple yes or no. As in the case of Epping, most of the time I was confused and in deed turned off. Was this the only way to teach and understand economics?

The objective of The 21ST-Century Economy: A Beginner’s Guide is to provide its readers with a friendly approach to the understanding of the 21st-century economy and it is here where the book brilliantly succeeds. Its target audience is consumers, voters, businesspeople, and students who will be able to survive, and thrive, in the new global marketplace.  

To realize its goals, Epping succinctly covers everything you need to know concerning such topics as fusion economy, macro and micro economics, central banks and global crisis, free trade and isolationism, how currencies work, globalization, virtual economy, investing in the global economy, comparing investments in the 21st-century economy, who controls companies of the world, corporate governance and greed, hedge funds and derivative traders, income gaps and development, drugs, slavery, and shady deals, best economic system for the 21st century, outsourcing and immigration, green economy, and health, development and global pandemics.

Each of the above sections includes explanations or informational tools that aids readers in comprehending fundamental concepts. For example, if we refer to the chapter dealing with free trade or isolationism, the informational tools explain what are subsidies, tariffs, and quotas. What is quite noteworthy is that Epping defines economic terms in relation to something readers can readily relate to. In the case of the term “subsidy,” we are told to “think of a child receiving an allowance from his or her parents. Subsidies are government payments to businesses, ostensibly to help them through economic hard times.” After explaining what these terms mean, Epping follows up with a more comprehensive explanation of trade barriers, which are compared to fences between feuding neighbours that are often imposed unilaterally by one country acting on its own to limit imports.    

The end of the book contains a very comprehensive glossary providing readers with an excellent overview and an accessible dictionary of economic terms. 

No doubt, The 21ST-Century Economy: A Beginner’s Guide will contribute immensely to helping people understand the importance of economics and its fundamental principles. Moreover, it could turn out to be exactly what readers are looking for, or what they need in order to be able to make sense of the daily bombardment we receive concerning the economy.

 Click Here To Purchase The 21st Century Economy--A Beginner's Guide (Vintage)