Ebook Talking to My Daughter About the Economy or How Capitalism Worksand How It Fails Yanis Varoufakis Jacob Moe 9780374538491 Books
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In Talking to My Daughter About the Economy, activist Yanis Varoufakis, Greece’s former finance minister and the author of the international bestseller Adults in the Room, pens a series of letters to his young daughter, educating her about the business, politics, and corruption of world economics.
Yanis Varoufakis has appeared before heads of nations, assemblies of experts, and countless students around the world. Now, he faces his most important―and difficult―audience yet. Using clear language and vivid examples, Varoufakis offers a series of letters to his young daughter about the economy how it operates, where it came from, how it benefits some while impoverishing others. Taking bankers and politicians to task, he explains the historical origins of inequality among and within nations, questions the pervasive notion that everything has its price, and shows why economic instability is a chronic risk. Finally, he discusses the inability of market-driven policies to address the rapidly declining health of the planet his daughter’s generation stands to inherit.
Throughout, Varoufakis wears his expertise lightly. He writes as a parent whose aim is to instruct his daughter on the fundamental questions of our age―and through that knowledge, to equip her against the failures and obfuscations of our current system and point the way toward a more democratic alternative.
Ebook Talking to My Daughter About the Economy or How Capitalism Worksand How It Fails Yanis Varoufakis Jacob Moe 9780374538491 Books
"For me this book succeed in creating an introduction to the economics and how it is intertwined with our most pressing questions of the day.
Even though I am teaching in an Asian country its questions and answers are equally relevant."
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Talking to My Daughter About the Economy or How Capitalism Worksand How It Fails Yanis Varoufakis Jacob Moe 9780374538491 Books Reviews :
Talking to My Daughter About the Economy or How Capitalism Worksand How It Fails Yanis Varoufakis Jacob Moe 9780374538491 Books Reviews
- A must read to understand the economy, in simple terms. I have taken economics in college, and of course, we have all heard bout the 'invisible hand' of the market, and the law of supply and demand, etc. etc., but for most of us, this does not really explain (or make sense, frankly) what is happening. Prof. Varoufakis explains the reality so we can understand the problem, and possibly, know the way to solve the problems that beset us. Ignorance is not bliss; we need real facts and knowledge, and we need to know who the enemy of financial freedom is and how we can get out from under. When we read economics as taught to most of us, we read about how if supply exceeds demand, then the pendulum swings so as to correct this, but what does that mean to real people depending on wages to live and exist in our society? We must understand that ours is a system that is set up to enrich the rich, and extract from the rest of us. Until we understand this and then get it changed we continue to be slaves to our system and those who make the rules.
- I have Yanis Varoufakis’ new book, Talking to My Daughter About the Economy, to thank for keeping me up all night reading page and page, to the early hours of the morning, unable to put this book down. Yanis Varoufakis is that rarest of writers who can make the subject of economics interesting. To say this book is a page-turner is an understatement, not because it is a thrilling read with action, but because it is just a beautifully written piece of literature. It is a contemplative work. In this book he attempts to answer the question, “How did we get into this mess?†In answering his question he is thinking through the answer on paper and the result is this book. His tone is pensive, his voice is muted, and his ideas are presented carefully and methodically. That question has been asked before, so his subtitle is “A Brief History of Capitalism,†which is functionally the same. He could have simply answered his question with, “The System,†but that would have been too easy and not enough. So what Varoufakis does is choose significant events in human development, compare those events with responses from other societies, all of which lead to the present economic system. He knows the answer to his question in advance of course — he is after all a leading economic theoretician — so he uses a literary device of answering that question in the first person to his fourteen-year old daughter. Brilliant! His real daughter may not be the intended audience of Varoufakis’ book and may or may not be genuinely interested in Varoufakis’ explanation of how we got here, but we are, because we are Varoufakis’ fourteen-year old daughter.
I like to think of this book as “Marx Light†or “Marx 101.†The fact that the cover of this book is in a bright red cover is a tip-off right there. Not that there is anything disparaging about this remark. Better than any other economist, before or since, Marx understood the strengths and weaknesses of Capitalism and his works are read by the movers and shakers in Wall Street (along with Milton Friedman). Varoufakis wisely avoids names and labels in this work. The result is a thorough work which one would be hard-pressed to argue. You could still disagree with his methods or conclusions, but Varoufakis is a good writer and you will still be amazed at literary quality of this work. - Despite repeated attempts at self-education, I have remained a financial illiterate my whole adult life. Read any standard economics text and it will discuss supply curves and demand curves as if they were (usually linear) mathematical functions. Fine. Linear functions are easy to understand. The problem is that even these simple ideas don't give a true explanation of the economic world we lived in. Between May 19 and May 20, the demand for automotive fuels didn't really change, but the price will reliably take a jump. The slick, nearly mathematical texts just don't line up to reality---and you can take examples from almost anywhere. This is a clear book that gives a coherent introduction to the qualitative aspects of economics, something that any person could understand---even a financial illiterate. Is everything he says correct? I don't know. That's why I'm illiterate. Certainly it is not complete, but the ideas are coherent and give a reasonable foundation from which to begin to form a better understanding. This guy isn't the pompous idiot that most economists seem to be.
- Varoufakis breathes life into the phrase, "if you can't explain something to a child, then you don't really understand it yourself" by turning it from a simple adage into practical application in this unambiguous book about capitalism and economics. His analogies and effort to make the reader understand the content instead of trying to patronizingly exert his knowledge over the reader makes this an engaging and very educational read.
- Where was this guy when I was struggling to put my finger on what's wrong with the way economics is taught in U.S. colleges? The author provides fantastic historical perspective and excellent explanations of seemingly complex concepts in everyday language.
- This is a great book that outlines how the economy works in pretty clear and simple terms. It was an enjoyable read and was interesting. Obviously, by the title, it was written with a young audience in mind, but anyone who doesn't have a lot knowledge about economics, but is interested in learning about it, would enjoy this book.
- For me this book succeed in creating an introduction to the economics and how it is intertwined with our most pressing questions of the day.
Even though I am teaching in an Asian country its questions and answers are equally relevant. - Brilliant book. Well written and fun to read which is a veritable accomplishment for a book on economics. Historical, mythological and literary references illuminate beautifully economic principles.
