The Cartoon Introduction to Economics, Volume I: Microeconomics

by Yoram Bauman and Grady Klein

Book Overview

The award-winning illustrator Grady Klein has paired up with the world's only stand-up economist, Yoram Bauman, PhD, to take the dismal out of the dismal science. From the optimizing individual to game theory to price theory, The Cartoon Introduction to Economics is the most digestible, explicable, and humorous 200-page introduction to microeconomics you'll ever read.

Bauman has put the "comedy" into "economy" at comedy clubs and...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0809094819
• ISBN13: 9780809094813
• Release Date: January 2010
• Publisher: Hill & Wang
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.2" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Considered Awesome by Australians!

This book is amazing and hilarious! I first came across Yoram Bauman on […] and I have visited his blog regularly ever since. I pre-ordered the book because I knew from seeing his stand-up that it would not dissappoint and it's hasn't. I'm a Economics undergraduate student in Sydney Australia. The content in this book summarises the basic information I learnt in my first year at university but, it's done in a really smart, easy to understand and funny way. I recommend this book to who ever enjoys economic theory or any parent who has a child who is struggling with micro-economic theory. I can't wait for Volume 2!!!! Mon Sydney, Australia

Engaging and Educational Book for All Audiences

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Cartoon Introduction to Economics. The fundamental ideas in Microeconomics are presented in a clear and intelligent manner, with many humorous but thoughtful examples and analogies. The organization of the book is clean and logical, moving from the "optimizing individual" to "strategic interactions" of small groups to "market interactions" involving many people. A wide variety of topics are distilled down to their essence (decision trees, risk, pareto efficiency, auctions, trade, supply and demand, taxes, elasticity, etc.). Klein's whimsical and funny illustrations add a great deal to the text, and hold the reader's interest while at the same time helping to explain the various concepts and examples. This book is appropriate for many different ages and backgrounds, from high school or college students studying econ to the average adult seeking a little more knowledge and understanding of basic economic principles. I've read parts of it several times, and find that I get a deeper understanding of some of the more complicated and nuanced concepts the second time through. My one (minor) complaint is that this otherwise quick read bogs down a bit in some of the later chapters (e.g. margins and elasticity) with too much theory (and not enough jokes?). But this is a minor issue, and on the whole I enthusiastically recommend this book for both econ students and for people who just want to learn more about the topic (and have fun doing it).

very good introduction, especially for skeptics who don't think they'll like econ

So you have a friend who thinks he/she takes econ, he/she'll be up to his/her alligators in graphs and calculus. This book is a great way to reassure 'em. And it's a pretty good microecon refresher. Had I written this, I think *I* would have been a whole lot more impolite with people who structure their economic world around the fallacy of wishful thinking ("x" is true because I want it to be true). But, WTH, maybe I'll write my one book some day!

Engaging coverage of the not-so-dismal science

I just finished this book and was surprised by how naturally Bauman and Grady link various topics together with a balance of serious focus and light humor. Once I started, I found it hard to put down, since each chapter leads comfortably into the next, as if it were woven into a single, coherent story. At surprisingly frequent intervals, Bauman and Grady decorate the discussion with humorous comments about economics and economists which also tends to keep reading fun, even when discussing serious topics. Another interesting feature is the way the book boils down the work of recent Nobel laureates in economics: the book visually demonstrates the idea. You'll soon find yourself comfortable with the new "big ideas" of economics in ways that allow you to see the world with additional insights (not to mention being able to discuss adverse selection in casual conversation with your friends...). A final feature I found useful was a visual glossary that explains key concepts and echo the visual treatment of the concept in the book. Throughout the glossary are images that convey the meaning of economic concepts. If you're a visual learner, you will really enjoy this book. For those who want to make sure that serious economics concepts are truly covered in this book, I've included a short list below. The book is organized into 3 main sections: - The Optimizing Individual (one person) This section covers decision trees, the time value of money and it's use in decision making, decision making under risk (diversification, expected value, adverse selection, etc), and trade (efficient market hypothesis, Coase Theorem, etc). - Strategic Interactions (one person to some people) This section covers cake cutting, Pareto efficiency, simultaneous-move games, auctions, and larger markets (competition and monopolies). - Market Interactions (some people to many people) This section covers supply and demand, taxes, margins, elasticity, competitive markets and externalities. The table of contents I've listed above doesn't adequately convey the manner in which the content is covered. For example, imagine pirates discussing "maarrhginal analysis" or two siblings working on cake cutting. The topics are surprisingly full of opportunities for humor. Bauman and Grady have found a way to make learning economics easy and fun.