Economics for Independent Thinkers The vast majority of economists failed to foresee the economy's twists and turns during recent decades. They didn't believe a disaster as severe as the Global Financial Crisis could occur, nor did they expect the abnormally slow growth that followed. Those developments revealed fatal flaws in mainstream theory, and it's not the first time theory has failed. But economists tell us not to worry. They claim they only need to add a few new dials to their models to make sure they won't be blindsided again. After all, how could we evaluate the economy without their academic know-how and model-based advice? Some laypeople happily accept economists' explanations for why their models went wrong and how they claim to be fixing them. Economics for Independent Thinkers targets a different group---skeptics, realists, and other free thinkers who wonder if the profession has the right approach. This includes those who: were caught out by recent financial bubbles and, consequently, lost patience with academic "experts"; would like to know what happened to the booming recoveries of years past; wonder if policy makers have made the situation better or worse with new and extreme policies; or simply seek a firmer grasp of economic risks. Author Daniel Nevins leads readers on an irreverent journey from pie-in-the-sky theories to methods they can actually use. In place of the mainstream narrative, he draws on a motley assortment of economics rebels. He binds together their most powerful ideas with lessons from thirty years of professional investing, revealing the neglected forces behind business, financial, and debt cycles. Economics for Independent Thinkers can add the crucial, missing perspective to meetings with advisors, presentations at work, and conversations with friends or colleagues. Even more importantly, it can help with the many decisions that succeed or fail depending on the economy's path. -- |
