Synopses & Reviews
Here Partha Dasgupta, an internationally recognized authority in economics, presents readers with a solid introduction to its basic concepts, including efficiency, equity, sustainability, dynamic equilibrium, property rights, markets, and public goods. Throughout, he highlights the relevance of economics to everyday life, providing a very human exploration of a technical subject. Dasgupta covers enduring issues such as population growth, the environment, and poverty. For example, he explores how the world's looming population problems affect us at the local, national, and international level.
Economics has the capacity to offer us deep insights into some of the most formidable problems of life. Here, Dasgupta goes beyond the basics to show it's innate effects on our history, culture, and lifestyles.
About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.
Review
Synopsis
Most people who are not personally involved with the subject of Economics are not fully aware of how innate its principles are to our history, our culture, and our lifestyles. This Very Short Introduction, written by internationally recognized economist Partha Dasgupta, provides a human
exploration of a technical subject, covering such integral issues as population growth, the environment, and poverty. The book opens with a consideration of "the population problem", examining influencing factors both at the level of individual choices and national policies. It goes on to introduce
other economic concepts such as efficiency, equity, sustainability, dynamic equilibrium, property rights, markets, and public goods, explaining them in jargon-free language anyone can understand. Throughout the book, Dasgupta highlights the fact that economics has the capacity to offer us deep
insights into some of the most formidable problems of life, and will show the indivisible connection between politics, political philosophy, and economics, and how their interactions have created the world we live in today.
About the Author
Partha Dasgupta is Frank Ramsey Professor of Economics, University of Cambridge and Fellow of St John's College. Among his many published books and articles is the widely acclaimed
Human Well-Being and the Natural Environment.