Book Club - How Economics Explains the World: A Short History of Humanity by Andrew Leigh

Note:   Registration opens one month in advance.

ABSTRACT

In How Economics Explains the World, Harvard-trained economist Andrew Leigh presents a new way to understand the human story. From the dawn of agriculture to AI, here is story of how ingenuity, greed, and desire for betterment have, to an astonishing degree, determined our past, present, and future. 

This small book indeed tells a big story. It is the story of capitalism – of how our market system developed. It is the story of the discipline of economics, and some of the key figures who formed it. And it is the story of how economic forces have shaped world history. Why didn’t Africa colonize Europe instead of the other way around? What happened when countries erected trade and immigration barriers in the 1930s? Why did the Allies win World War II? Why did inequality in many advanced countries fall during the 1950s and 1960s? How did property rights drive China’s growth surge in the 1980s? How does climate change threaten our future prosperity? You’ll find answers to these questions and more in How Economics Explains the World.

About the Author
 Andrew Leigh is an Australian economist, author, and politician. He holds a PhD from Harvard, was a professor of economics at the Australian National University, and has been a Member of the Australian Parliament since 2010.  He currently serves as the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury. His publications include Battlers and Billionaires, The Luck of Politics, and Randomistas.  His work has also appeared in journals like the American Economic Review. He is a recipient of the Economic Society of Australia's Young Economist Award and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences.