Economics Rules

The Rights and Wrongs of the Dismal Science

By: Dani Rodrik

Narrated by: James Conlan

Rethinking economics, from the inside out. In the wake of the financial crisis and the Great Recession, economics seems anything but a science. In this sharp, masterfully argued book, Dani Rodrik, a leading critic from within, takes a close look at economics to examine when it falls short and when it works, to give a surprisingly upbeat account of the discipline. Drawing on the history of the field and his deep experience as a practitioner, Rodrik argues that economics can be a powerful tool that improves the world - but only when economists abandon universal theories and focus on getting the context right.

Economics Rules argues that the discipline's much-derided mathematical models are its true strength. Models are the tools that make economics a science. Too often, however, economists mistake a model for the model that applies everywhere and at all times. In six chapters that trace his discipline from Adam Smith to present-day work on globalization, Rodrik shows how diverse situations call for different models. Each model tells a partial story about how the world works. These stories offer wide-ranging, and sometimes contradictory, lessons - just as children's fables offer diverse morals.

Whether the question concerns the rise of global inequality, the consequences of free trade, or the value of deficit spending, Rodrik explains how using the right models can deliver valuable new insights about social reality and public policy. Beyond the science, economics requires the craft to apply suitable models to the context. The 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers challenged many economists' deepest assumptions about free markets. Rodrik reveals that economists' model toolkit is much richer than these free-market models. With pragmatic model selection, economists can develop successful antipoverty programs in Mexico, growth strategies in Africa, and intelligent remedies for domestic inequality. At once a forceful critique and defense of the discipline, Economics Rules charts a path toward a more humble but more effective science.

©2015 Dani Rodrik (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Enlightening but Dry

Very informative for the non economist however don't listen to this while tired unless your goal is to be put to sleep.

Short and Good

Much needed read for Economists who get caught up in using certain models for most situations.

awesome book

The whole book was really interesting, but it was the last chapter on economic models and their uses that made this book great.

Excellent Book read mediocrely

Where does Economics Rules rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is an excellent, short listen if you enjoy thinking about the good things that economics does as well as economics' various shortcomings. I plan to use the book in my classes (I teach economics), in particular to teach the students about the importance of modeling and why having a model that is appropriate to a given situation is so important in economics.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Not applicable.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of James Conlan?

Someone who could read economics jokes as they're intended.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

I can't think of anything specific. Mostly the book took ideas that I'm familiar with and put them in a well written, condense and well thought structure. It helped me improve my thinking rather than giving me one particular item that I want to tell everyone about.

Any additional comments?

Someone really should have given the reader some coaching on economics. I had to go back several times to listen to a few passages to realize that they were in fact jokes or written comically, but this didn't come across at all with the way it was read. In many contexts Rodrik was parodying or setting up caricatures of various ways of thinking of poking fun at economics (or showing up economists themselves) and this very rarely came across in the reading of the book. Nonetheless, it's an edifying book to read if you can deal with the reading.

Gotta love it

One of the rare books that I have had to listen again. The ideas are thought provoking and challenging conventional thoughts that you may start wondering whether to believe economic models.

I am going to listen again to get deeper into the discussions in the book.

Enjoy.