title: Demystifying Economics : The Book That Makes Economics Accessible to Everyone--Expanded Second Edition
author:  Allen W. Smith 
description: Smith, a teacher of economics for more than 25 years at the high school and college levels, has a career ambition of waging war against economic illiteracy, and his purpose in writing this book is to make basic economics accessible to everyone. Written in textbook style with a set of economic highlights listed at the end of each chapter, he uses simple language and concrete examples that relate economics to ordinary daily life. The author notes that good economics and good politics are often in direct conflict, and when politicians have to choose between the two, they almost always select good politics. Therefore, it is doubly important that the public understands basic economic issues. Smith explains concepts such as supply and demand; business organizations and market structures; labor economics; gross domestic product; inflation; fiscal policy; money and banking; and international trade. This handbook is an excellent resource for beginners as well as those seeking to review their understanding of economic principles. <i>Mary Whaley</i>
zlib_text: **Also by Tim Harford**
  
   _The Undercover Economist_
  
   _The Logic of Life: The Rational Economics of an Irrational World_
  
   _Dear Undercover Economist_
  
   _Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure_
  
   _The Undercover Economist Strikes Back_
  
   _Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives_
  
   _Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy_
  
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  RIVERHEAD BOOKS
  
  An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
  
  [penguinrandomhouse.com](http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com)
  
  ![](Images/image00278.jpeg)
  
  First published in Great Britain as _How to Make the World Add Up: Ten Rules
  for Thinking Differently About Numbers_ by The Bridge Street Press, an imprint
  of Little, Brown Book Group, a division of Hachette UK Limited, London, in
  2020.
  
  First American edition published by Riverhead, 2021.
  
  Copyright © 2020 by Tim Harford
  
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