Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

Naked Economics makes up for all of those Econ 101 lectures you slept through (or avoided) in college, demystifying key concepts, laying bare the truths behind the numbers, and answering those questions you have always been too embarrassed to ask. For all the discussion of Alan Greenspan in the media, does anyone know what the Fed actually does? And what about those blackouts in California? Were they a conspiracy on the part of the power companies? Economics is life. There's no way to understand the important issues without it. Now, with Charles Wheelan's breezy tour, there's no reason to fear this highly relevant subject. With the commonsensical examples and brilliantly acerbic commentary we've come to associate with The Economist, Wheelan brings economics to life. Amazingly, he does so with nary a chart, graph, or mathematical equation in sight—certainly a feat to be witnessed firsthand.

Economics is a crucial subject. There's no way to understand the important issues without it. Now, with Charles Wheelan's breezy tour, there's also no reason to fear it.

Average Customer Rating:

More liberals should read it.	Customer Rating:
Overall I thought some of the analysis was incorrect as the author allows for government intervention more than is logically (or empirically) necessary. Overall it is a good book, but not as good as Free to Choose, Basic Economics, or Economics in One Lesson. Nevertheless, I wish more liberals read the book so they can learn about positive side about free markets.

Good overview of Economics

Customer Rating:

"Naked Economics" is an attempt by Professor Wheelan to make economics more accessible to everybody. There are no graphs, precious few numbers and it is laid out pretty simply. It is an enjoyable read, though not so compelling that I couldn't put it down. The examples and stories make the principles very clear and enjoyable. I would recommend this book to anyone that didn't take the introductory Economics class in college and wants to know more. Or even if you did take it and didn't feel like you got much out of it, this book will be instructive. If you have more formal training in economics, you might still enjoy the book, but you might also look for something with more meat.

Well Worth Reading - Maybe Twice!

Customer Rating:

This has to be among the best "popular" economics books out there, if not THE best. The book has pretty much everything one could hope for: - Broad coverage of economics - Clear explanations of concepts - Abundance of practical examples to illustrate the concepts - A writing style bordering on perfection (economics made entertaining!) - Reasonably balanced treatment of controversial topics One of the central points illustrated by the book is that we're prone to making bad economic decisions when we oversimply matters and neglect secondary, cumulative, and long-term consequences. The examples in the book illustrate this point, though one could argue that many of the examples are themselves oversimplified to the extent that one might draw wrong conclusions. However, I think that criticism would be unfair, since it should be self-evident that the examples are illustrative, rather than attempts to be comprehensive analyses of the issues involved. Like most nonfiction books, I would have loved to have a bullet-point summary of key points at the end of each chapter, but the book still fully deserves 5 stars and my highest recommendation.

Well written and a must have

Customer Rating:

Economics lies at the heart of most policies. In order to understand these policies, one should have a basic understanding of economics; however, economics can be a "dismal science" which pretty much means its boring. The problem with economics is that the charts and statistics can many times be confusing. While some branches of economics such as Austrian economics are simpler to understand, mainstream economics is difficult. Naked Economics provides a change in pace for those that really do not have a great deal of understanding in economics. The book, however, is not for only those individuals that have never studied economics. I have studied it some and this book provided a real understanding of some of the more difficult subjects such as the Federal Reserve. The main problem with this book is that many times the author talks of his politic views. With the environment, the author deems that environmental issues are issues for the economy and government almost immediately. Other measures such as social change are not discussed. He is also pro-bush from the readings as noted in other reviews. I do not hold this against him because I realized that if he was anti-bush I would probably not hold it against him.

A simple non-mathematical intro to econ

Customer Rating:

This book is really quite good at explaining economic concepts without using any math or graphs. As a high school econ teacher, I see some students who immediately understand a concept if they see a graph that shows the relationship; most students don't work that way though and this book provides a lot of anecdotes that can be used to illustrate key concepts. Definitely useful as a supplemental reader at the secondary level.