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Rating:  Summary: Great for Debunking Right-Wing Economics Myths Review: Especially recommended for those who have no previous background in economics.
Rating:  Summary: geared towards me? Review: This book is a good introduction to political economy for people like myself who have little previous knowledge of the subject. Its both very informative and very accessible. I would definitely recommend at least attempting to read through the chapters containing models for those who might be a little adverse to doing some math. On the other hand, Hahnel is right when he says you don't have to read them to understand the rest of the book. Although I have only taken a couple of econ courses in college, I've taken a great deal of math and I was still a little confused by how some of the computations were written out. I actually found it easier to sort of skip the written computations and work backwards from the solutions/conclusions to understand them. The only other issues I have with the book is that it can be redundant at times and Hahnel used enough double negatives for me to take notice. On the whole, a good introduction. I am however tempted to read Capitalism and Freedom or some other conservative econ book to determine how salient Hahnel's arguments really are.
Rating:  Summary: clear alternative to mainstream economics Review: Want to know why markets not only have inequitable results but are also systematically inefficient? Providing a clear answer to questions like this is the strong point of the book. Several of the chapters use very simple game theory models to explain things like the "unequal exchange" that keeps the global south impoverished despite foreign investment and trade. The final chapter, on the economics of "equitable cooperation," provides a succint statement of some anti-capitalist programmatic ideas.
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