In 1938, Harry Sherman stated that the educational task of training the population in economic matters would take centuries. Years ago, Gainer de los Ríos was defending in Spain the value of economic knowledge in creating an empowered and informed public opinion. Even in a country like the United Kingdom, the birthplace of some of the greatest economists in history and which has a long tradition of public debate on economic issues, we cannot say that the task is complete. This is understood by the Bank of England, which launched a massive campaign to spread economic knowledge, supported by a text prepared by two of its economists, Rupal Patel and Jack, which means: “Can’t we print more money?” Economics in ten simple questions.
In just over 300 pages, they propose condensing the outlines of economic reasoning, considering ten questions that might be described as “simple.” Questions that any member of the economic and social fabric of which we are a part can ask: Can’t we simply print more money? Where do the foods and drinks that we eat in our daily breakfast come from? Can economics solve the exchange problem? Climate change? How can we achieve an increase in wages? Why are current generations richer than those of decades ago? Why do many of our clothes come from Asia? Why are there no more chocolates? Traditional 10 cents What is money really? Why don’t we keep our savings under the mattress? Why did no one expect the major financial crisis of the past decade to come?
This is a good set of questions, based on appropriate clarification, to introduce you to economic analysis, understand facts and behaviours, gain the ability to examine different situations, and have your own opinion. Patel & Mining (that last name, apparently, is no false friend, of course) does a commendable job of clearly expressing economic fundamentals, relating them to real situations, and without sacrificing accuracy.
In this way, anyone who takes this accelerated “course” of economic learning can gain significant educational benefits. But you will immediately realize that a production function that has this goal as an output needs to incorporate an essential input, which is the reader’s effort. The first rule of economics is that there is no such thing as a “free lunch.” Achieving the cognitive level associated with the contents of a BoE text therefore requires not only reading time. Realizing and acknowledging the complexity of economic relationships is also a fundamental lesson that must be kept in mind from the beginning.
In any training procedure for informational purposes, a good balance must be sought between ease of presentation and maintaining length, depth and accuracy of the contents. But the dedication required of event participants cannot go unnoticed, and one thing is certain, it will not be zero.
A good teacher should strive to convey the essence of economic analysis. More than a doctrine, it is a way of dealing with reality, free at the first stage of a bundle of discouraging fatalistic expressions. Before moving to the formal level, it is necessary to distill the thick liquid and find its main formula. In the entire book there is only one equation, and it is a rather simple definition.
In the introduction, Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, defends financial education, pointing out that even a relatively theoretical understanding of economics can be useful, because it: 1) allows you to understand the news more logically; 2) It can be a tool to help us make better decisions; And 3) it’s a fascinating, fun, and worth learning field.
Not long ago, a teenager asked me a question similar to the one in the title of the Bank of England’s book: Why can’t we simply print more banknotes to meet all social needs? It is undoubtedly a good question to start an exciting journey through the world of economic ideas. However, there may be questions that are easy to ask, but not always easy to answer.
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