How the economy is arranged to read online without registration. ... or whether economic theory is indeed - this is a science of economic activity

How the economy is arranged Ha-jun Chang

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Title: How the economy is arranged

About the book "How the economy is arranged" ha-jun chang

Such science as the economy is extremely important for humanity. It should be at least a little understand each. The economy has a certain structure, concepts and rules. It seems that in this amount of information it is very difficult to understand, and sometimes it is even impossible at all.

The book "How the economy is arranged" just for those who want to understand what the economy represents. Ha-jun Chang is very simple language Describes its basic concepts, structure, important points.

The author tried to explain complex things as much as possible. In fact, after reading the book "How the economy is arranged," you will understand that the economy is not as terrible, as we are presented to us. Ha-Jun Chang declares that it should not even call it science.

The book "How the economy is arranged" is divided into many chapters and parts. It is very convenient and further facilitates the study of the material. In addition, the most important points are highlighted in color. The structure of the book is insanely comfortable for both perception, and in order to return to the desired moments if necessary, because they are very easy to find.

Another plus books - there is no water in it. One chapter may consist of all of the pair of proposals, but at the same time they contain only the most important and necessary information. Therefore, you will not be confused in the volume of unnecessary text, trying to allocate something important for yourself.

Ha-Jun Chang, as mentioned above, writes very simple, sometimes even with humor. From the book you get true pleasure. First treat it with caution, because the economy is complex and incomprehensible (for some certainly), but then relax, enjoy and at the same time quickly assimilate the material.

Another difference of the book "How the economy is arranged" from the ordinary textbook on the economy is that the material begins with the explanation of the term in the textbook, and Ha-Jun Chang went differently. First of all, he wrote about what is why to study the economy. And it is right. After all, those of us who have not come across it, far from this, everything remains with the opinion that we do not need it. But believe me, it needs everyone. At least in order to understand how this world is arranged and what he keeps on.

The book "How the economy is arranged" is fascinating, especially as it is very useful in such difficult times of our country. It just becomes easier to understand what is happening here and why power comes in a certain way.

Of course, many concepts in the book "How the economy arranged" are outdated, or some modern situations are not described at all. But the information provided is accurate enough to understand general essence. Moreover, today there is a mass of narrow-controlled literature, which can answer any of the question of which is not described in the H-Jun Changa book.

We recommend the book "How the economy is arranged" to all who are interested in the economy, and especially those who are looking for something for general development to enrich their knowledge with new and useful materials. Ha-jun Chang is the author who even comes to serious things with a share of humor and can teach a lot.

In Russian published for the first time.

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Quotes from the book "How the economy is arranged" ha-jun chang

In a sense, work resembles a crazy uncle: everyone diligently pretends that it does not exist.

Economic theory was and remains part of politics. She has never been - and will not - science, because there are no objective reasons in the economy, which can be installed regardless of political, and often ethical judgments. Therefore, facing the economic argument, you need to ask yourself the eternal question: Cui Bono? (Who is profitable?).

They indicate that real governments are not perfect and that they may be unable - or worse, may not even want to fix the situation of market failure. According to this theory, called the theory of ineffective state intervention or sometimes the theory of public selection, the price of ineffective state intervention often costs society more than the price of market failure. It turns out, it is better to accept the inefficient work of the market, which will agree to government intervention, which will only worsen the situation.

The life of the rich is becoming easier if they manage to convince the poor in the fact that their position is their own guilt that those who have a lot of money honestly deserve them and that they themselves can succeed if they are strong enough to work. After that, low-income people, often contrary to their own interests, are beginning to demand less realcutive taxes, less social security costs, fewer business restrictions and less workers' rights.

Why people are not very interested in economic theory

Since this book was in your hands, it is likely that you at least a little interesting her topic. You probably even experience some anticipation. After all, according to a general view, the economy is difficult. Let it be so puzzling discipline as physics, but for her understanding still need to make efforts. Some of you probably remember the speeches of economists on the radio: their statements probably did not inspire you confidence, even though you took them on faith. In the end, they are professionals, and you have not read a single book on this topic.

Really economic theory is indeed enough? No, of course, if you explain it is easy and accessible. In its previous book "23 Secrets. What you will not tell about capitalism "I even risked to express the idea that 95 percent of the economic theory is just a common sense who attached a complex view with the help of special terminology and mathematics.

The economy is not the only obstacle that it seems more confusing than it is actually. In any profession that requires a certain profile training, whether it is an economy, plumbing or medicine, a professional language that makes it easier for communication between specialists, it makes it difficult to understand the subject for people's people. To be honest, all technical disciplines have a reason to seem to be more complicated than it is in fact: it justifies high fees that specialists take for their services.

Even taking into account all the above, economic theory was unambiguously achieved great success in the desire to prevent the wide public to its territory. Despite the lack of relevant knowledge, people tend to express a firm opinion on the most diverse issues: climate change, same-sex marriages, war in Iraq and nuclear power plants. But when it comes to the economy, many do not even demonstrate interest, not to mention the presence of their own point of view. Try to remember when you last discussed the future of the euro, property separation in China or the prospects for the manufacturing industry in the United States? But these questions may have a huge impact directly on you, wherever you live. It is quite likely that they positively or negatively affect the prospects for employment, salary and even on your pension, but you most likely did not think about it seriously.

Such a strange position of things is only partially explained by the fact that economic topics Do not affect our feelings, unlike the love, place of residence, death and war. It developed because people believed - especially in the past few decades - as if the economy was the same science as physics or chemistry, and there is only one correct answer to all questions. Therefore, non-specialists should simply take the opinion of professionals on faith and stop scoring their heads with too complex issues. Gregory Maskoy, Professor of the Harvard University, and the author of one of the most popular textbooks on this discipline, says: "Economists like to appear as scientists. I myself often do that. I read the lectures to undergraduates, I absolutely consciously imagine the economy as a science, so that no student starts studying this course with the idea that it starts to comprehend some ephemeral discipline. "

Reading the book, you will understand that economic theory will never be science in the sense that we mean by speaking of physics or chemistry. There are many different schools of economic theory, each of which emphasizes the various aspects of a complex reality, expressing various ethical and political evaluation judgments and making them on their basis about or other conclusions. In addition, none of the schools of economic theory has never managed to predict the real development of events even in those areas that are focused, not least because people have their own desires - in contrast to molecules or physical objects.

And once in the economy, there is no only correct answer, therefore, it is impossible to give it to the deposit alone by specialists. Thus, every responsible citizen must ever know anything about the economy. Saying this, I do not mean that you need to take a fat tutorial and get acquainted with some one point of view on this discipline. I'm talking about the need to study the various types of economic judgments and develop critical thinking and the ability to understand exactly what kind of approach will be the most reasonable in these economic circumstances, in the light of certain moral values \u200b\u200band political goals (pay attention, I'm not talking about the correctness of any judgments). To solve such a task require tutorialwhich would consider economic theory as no one did this, - and, I hope you keep in your hands exactly such a book.

Than this book is especially

How does this book look like other similar?

One of the differences - I perceive my readers seriously. And it's not a joke. You will not find here a compressed recovery of complex eternal truths. I will introduce you to different ways Analysis of the economy in the hope that you yourself will be able to appreciate the possibilities of different approaches. I do not refuse to discuss fundamental methodological issues of economic theory, for example, such as: is it possible to consider this discipline with science or what role they play in it (and should play) moral values. I try to present hypotheses underlying various economic conceptsSo that readers make their own opinions about their realism and plausibility. I also tell you how the quantitative indicators are determined in the economy, calling the readers not to forget that they cannot be perceived as something that cannot be changed, say, as an elephant weight or water temperature in a saucepan. In short, I'm trying to explain as think and not what think.

Despite the fact that the book involves readers into a very deep analysis, this does not mean that it is difficult for perception. There is nothing such that a person with an average education would not be able to understand. All I ask about is to show curiosity to find out what is really happening, as well as a little patience.

Another important difference between my book from other economics textbooks is that it contains a lot of information about the real world. And I'm talking about the "world" is absolutely serious. In the book a lot of information about different countries. This does not mean that all states of the globe I paid equal attention. But, unlike most other books in economics, in my own information is not limited to one or two countries or one category (let's say, only rich or poor states). B. aboutthe more data will be presented in a numerical form: how big is the global economy; What contribution to it is made by the United States or Brazil; What part of the products produced falls on China or the Democratic Republic of the Congo; How many people work in Greece or Germany. But all these figures are supplemented with high-quality information about institutional mechanisms, historical prerequisites, standard strategies and many other things. I want to believe that by reading the book, the reader will be able to say that now he has some idea of \u200b\u200bhow the economy works in the real world.

And now something completely different ...

Interlude I. How to read this book

Of course, not everyone is ready to spend a lot of time on reading this book, at least at first. Therefore, I offer several ways to master the material, depending on how much time, in your opinion, you can highlight it.

If you have ten minutes, read the heads of chapters and the first page of each. If you are lucky, after these ten minutes you will suddenly understand that you have a couple of hours in stock.

If you have a couple of hours, Read Chapter 1 and Chapter 2, and then the epilogue. Everything else is just scrolling.

If you have half a day, pay attention only to the names of the sections and summaries that are found every couple of paragraphs. If you read quickly, you have time to get acquainted with the introductory and final parts of all chapters.

If you have enough time and patience to read the book fullyPlease do so. it best way. I will be very happy. But even in this case, you can skip the sections that you are not very interesting, reading only their headlines.

Part I. acquaintance

Chapter 1. Life, universe and everything else: what is the economy

What is economics

Reader unfamiliar with the subject might think that this is a science about economic activity. In the end, chemistry studies chemicals, biology - living organisms, and sociology - society, it means that the economy should study economic activities. However, in some of the most popular modern books, it is argued that the economy is much more. They say that the economy concerns an important question - "Life, Universe and the rest" (as it was called in the cult humorous scientific fiction novel Douglas Adams "Highway in the Galaxy", according to which in 2005 a film was filmed with Martin Freamen in the lead role). According to Tim Harford, the journalist Financial Times and the author of the successful book "Economist under cover", the economy studies life; He called his second work "Logic Life."

Even none of the economists claimed that the economy could explain the universe. At the moment, its device remains the sphere of interest of physicists - and it was in these scientists that the economists saw a sample to imitate in their desire to make the economy with true science. Some even approached this: they argue that their science explores the "world". Here is how, for example, the subtitle of the second volume of the popular series of Robert Frank Economic Naturalist ("Economic Naturalist") sounds: "As the economy helps to understand the world."

In all these books there is a mention of "total". The subtitle of the "Logic Life" - "Economy is about everything in the world." According to the subtitle, the "freebieth" of Stephen Levitta and Stephen Dubner - perhaps the most famous book on the economy of our time is the study of the "hidden side of everything in the world." Robert Frank agrees with this opinion, although he is much more modest in his statements. In the subtitle of the first book from the "Economic Naturalist" series, he writes only "why the economy explains nearly everything". That's so! Economy (almost always) concerns life, universe and everything else.

If you think about it, you will understand that one requirement is put forward to the economy, which it does not satisfy, despite the fact that, according to the majority of non-economic, this is just its main work, is to substantiate economic activities. In anticipation financial crisis 2008 Most economists convinced society that markets are rarely mistaken and that the modern economy managed to find a solution to those few problems that may arise. Robert Lucas, owner of the Nobel Prize in the 1995 economy, in 2003 stated that "the problem of preventing depression is solved." Thus, the 200 2008 global financial crisis found most economists by surprise. In addition, they did not manage to come up with a decent solution to get rid of the prolonged consequences of the crisis.

Given all this, it might think that economic theory suffers from the mania of greatness - is it capable of science that is not able to figure out even in its own application, declare that she explains everything or almost everything?

Economic theory is a science of rational human choice ...

You might think that I am unfair. Does all these books are not created for the mass market where the brutal struggle for readers is conducted, and, therefore, do not publishers and authors are prone to known exaggeration? And of course, you may think that there are also high-profile statements about serious academic discussions that this discipline concerns "total".

These names really Several exaggerate the real situation - but at certain frames. In fact, exaggerations can affect the question of whether the economic theory explains everything relating to the economy, "but not" as an economic theory can explain everything at all. "

Exaggeration of this kind arose due to the method, which is currently dominated by the School of Economic Theory, the so-called neoclassical school, determines the discipline studied. The standard neoclassical definition of the economics, the variations of which are used so far, was given in 1932 in the book of Lyonel Robbins "Essay about Nature and the meaning economic Science" In his work, Robbins defines the economics as "science that studies human behavior from the point of view of relations between its goals and limited means allowing alternative use."

From this point of view, the economy is more characterized by its theoretical approach, not the subject of the study. It is a science about rational choiceThat is, about the choice made on the basis of a targeted systematic calculation of the highest possible results, subject to use inevitably scant products. The subject of calculation is anything: marriage, the birth of children, crime or drug addiction (as Gary Becker, a famous Chicago economist and owner of the Nobel Prize in the 1992 economy), and not only "economic" issues that uneconomists can consider jobs , money or international trade. By calling his book The Economic Approach to Human Behaviour ("Economic Approach to Human Behavioral"), published in 1976, Becker, thereby, without excessive hype, announced that the economy really concerns everything.

This tendency to apply the so-called economic approach to everything, called critics "Economic Imperialism", has recently recently reached apogee in books such as Frijonomics. Only a small part of this work is actually devoted to economic issues in the form in which most people represent them. It tells about the Japanese wrestlers of Sumo, American school teachers, Chicago gangs of drug dealers, participants of the televitory "weak link", about realtors and ku-klux clan. Most consider (and the authors recognize it) that none of the listed people, with the exception of realtors and drug dealers, has nothing to do with the economy. But today, from the point of view of most economists, the situation when the Japanese wrestlers of Sumo arrange collusion to help each other, or American teachers correct the assessments of their students to obtain a better appointment for themselves, perhaps are the same economic problems, as well as questions, should Greece stay in the eurozone, or how is the struggle between Samsung and Apple companies in the smartphone market, or how to reduce youth unemployment in Spain (which at the time of writing the book exceeded 55 percent). For economists of this kind, "economic" questions do not have a privileged status in the economy, these are just some of the many things (oh yeah, I forgot, some of all), which can explain economic theory, since the adherents of the neoclassical school determine their subject in terms of theoretical approach to study, not its essence.

... or is economic theory really - is it a science of economic activity?

An obvious alternative definition of the economy, which I have already mentioned is that this is a science of economic activity. But what is economic activity?

Economic activity is related to money, but is it so?

An intuitive response to most readers may seem to approve that economic activity in any case is associated with money - with their absence, earning, spending, expense, savings, borrowing and refund. This is not quite the right reasoning, even though it serves as a good starting point for thinking about economic activity - and the economy.

Now, arguing that economic activity is related to money, we actually do not mean real money. Money, whether banknotes, gold coins or huge, almost fixed stones used for a very long time on some of the Pacific Ocean Islands, is just a symbol. Money - The symbol of the fact that other representatives of society should give you, or a symbol of your claims for certain amounts of resources of society.

The question of how money and other financial requirements (such as stock shares, derivative financial instruments and many complex financial productsI will tell you about in more detail in the following chapters) are created, sold and bought, represents one huge area of \u200b\u200beconomic science, called financial economy. In the modern world, taking into account the dominance of the financial industry in many countries, people often perceive financial economy And the economy is generally like something equivalent, in fact the first only small part of the second.

Money - or claims that you make some resources - are manufactured in various ways. And many areas of the economy concern (or should concern it).

Work is the most common way to receive money.

The most common way to get money, if you are not born rich, - work (including work on yourself). So many areas of the economy are associated with work. There are various points of view on this.

Work can be considered from the position of a separate employee. Will you find it and how much money will receive it for it, depends on what skills you have and whether there are demand for them. You can pay a very high salary if you have extremely rare skills, such as a footballer Cristiano Ronaldo. You can lose your job (and even forever) if someone invested the car capable of doing the same as you, a hundred times faster - as it happened to Mr. Baket, Charlie's father, who twisted the covers on the tube with toothpaste, in The film is notified by Ronald Dalya "Charlie and a chocolate factory." Probably, you will need to agree to a lower wage or worst working conditions, if your company starts to lose money because of the cheap import, say, from China. And then in such a spirit. Thus, to understand what work is even from the point of view of one person, we must have knowledge of skills, technological innovations and international trade.

Wages and working conditions are very dependent on "political" decisions on the change in the borders themselves and characteristics of the labor market (I concluded the word "political" in quotes, since the difference between the economy and politics is very conditional, but we will return to this topic later, in chapter 11 ). Eastern Europe's entry into the European Union has significantly affected the salary and behavior of workers from Western European countries, since a large number of new employees have suddenly appeared on the labor market. Restrictions on the use of child labor at the end of the XIX - early XX centuries made opposite effect: the labor market compression occurred, because suddenly b aboutthe more potential workers were withdrawn from the market. Regulations on the duration of the working day, working conditions and minimum wages serve as examples of "political" solutions that are not so radical consequences.

In the economy there are many transfers

In addition to work, you can receive money with transfers, that is, just get them from someone. Such enumerations are made in the form of financial means or "Nature", that is, direct provision of products (for example, food) or services (for example, primary education). Regardless of the form, monetary or natural, transfers can be made in several ways. These include: parental support for children, care for elderly relatives and gifts from members of the local community, let's say, to your daughter's wedding. Some enumerations are carried out by "people you know."

There are also charitable donations - voluntary transfer of money to strangers. People sometimes separately, sometimes collectively (for example, through corporations or public organizations), donate funds, helping others.

From a quantitative point of view, charitable contributions are repeatedly overshadowed by the transfer lists, which taxes are taxed to some people to subsidize others. Therefore, many areas of the economy are naturally devoted to these issues - or spheres called the economy of the public sector.

Even in very poor countries exist state programsDesigned for the provision of money or products (for example, free grain) people in a complex financial situation: the elderly, disabled, homeless, starving. However, more developed societies, especially in Europe, have developed systems and schemes of a comprehensive transfers and much more generous. Such systems are called social states; based on them lies progressive taxation (those who earn more, pays more taxes - in proportion to their income) and universal manual system (according to which all citizens of the country, and not only the disabled or the poorest residents have the right to receive subsistence minimum and basic types of service, such as free health and education).

Earned or listed resources are spent on consumption.

Having received access to resources thanks to work or translation, we start spending them. Since we are physical organisms, we need some minimum number of food, clothing, warmth, housing and other products To meet basic needs. Next, we consume other products that meet our more "high" spiritual desires: buy books, musical instruments, simulators, televisions, computers, and the like things. We also buy and consume services, such as bus ride, haircut, dinner in a restaurant or even vacation abroad.

So, B. abouttheorest part of economic science is devoted to the study of issues consumption: How people distribute money between different types of products and services, as they make the choice between competing varieties of the same product, as they manipulate and / or inform advertising, how can the companies spend funds to create an "image of their brand" and the like .

Finally, products and services should be produced

In order to use products and services, first need to produce: products - on farms and factories, services - in offices and workshops. This is the kingdom production - the area of \u200b\u200bthe economy, which is neglecting since in the 1960s the dominant position took the neoclassical school that pays special attention Exchange and consumption.

In traditional textbooks in economics, production acts as a "black box", in which some kind of some amount labor (work performed by man) and capital (Machines and tools) are combined to produce products and services. Few people recognize that production is something much more than just a combination of some abstract particles, called labor and capital, and it requires proper management of a large number of routine cases. The structure of the plant, methods of managing employees or trade unions, systematic improvement of the technologies used through scientific research - all this most readers are usually not associated with the economy, despite the enormous importance of these aspects for economic activity.

Most economists will gladly leave the study of these issues "other" - engineers and managers. But, if you think, production is an unconditional basis of any economic activity. Indeed, changes in the production range are usually the most powerful sources. social transformations. Modern world It was created as a result of a series of changes in technologies and systems related to the production sector that occurred since the industrial revolution. Economists and all others whose glances to the economy have fallen under the influence of the neoclassical school, should pay much more attention to production than they pay.

Conclusions: Economics as a science of economic activity

In my opinion, the economy should be determined not from the point of view of its methodology or theoretical approach, but from the point of view of its essence. Its subject should be economic activity, which includes money, work, technology, international trade, taxes and other aspects carried out by the methods we produce products and services distribute the received income and consume material benefits produced in this way, and not " Life, universe and everything else "(or" almost everything else "), according to many economists. Such a definition of the economy allocates this book against the background of most other textbooks.

Determining the economy from the point of view of the methodology, most of the authors suggest that there is only one right way to "make an economy" - such is a neoclassical approach. The worst of them will not even inform you that there are other schools, in addition to the above.

Determining the economy as science in terms of its essence, this book emphasizes the fact that there are many different approaches to the economy, each of which has its own accents, "blind spots", strong and weak sides. In the end, we want to get from economic theory the best of possible explanations of various economic phenomena, and not constant "proof" that a certain economic concept can explain not only the economy, but everything else.

Chapter 2. From Pins to PIN Code: Capitalism 1776 and 2014

From pin to PIN code

What is the first thing that he deserved mention in economic theory? Gold? Land? Banking? International trade?

Not. Pin.

Yes, that small metallic thing that most of you are not enjoy- Of course, if you do not temper the long hair or do not sew your own clothes.

It was the production of the pins that the introductory head of the book was devoted, which is usually (albeit erroneously), they consider the first book in economics, "" Research on the nature and causes of the wealth of peoples "Adam Smith (1723-1790).

Starting from the first pages, Smith argues that the main source of increasing wealth is to increase productivity due to the greater division of labor, that is, the partition of the production process into small specialized operations. In his opinion, this approach increases productivity in three ways. First, constantly performing one or two tasks, employees will faster the masters in what they do ("Master's skill puts"). Secondly, due to the specialization, they do not have to spend time to physically or mentally switch to another task (reduction of "transition costs"). And the latter, but no less important, the detailed breakdown of the process facilitates the introduction of machines at each stage, after which it can be performed with superhuman speed (mechanization).

To illustrate your opinion, Smith gives an example, as in the division of the production process of the pin and delegation to each employee of one or two operations, ten people can produce 48 thousand pins per day (or 4800 pieces each). Compare this result with twenty pins, which, according to Smith, makes one employee per day if performs all actions yourself.

Smith called the production of a pins "Void" example and later continued his reflection on how a more complex division of labor for other products could be. But, no doubt, he lived at the time when the fact that ten people work on the production of pins, was still considered something incredible.

Over the next two and a half centuries in the field of technology, there have been significant changes initiated by all aboutby the distribution of automation and the use of chemical processes - and not least in the production of pins. Two generations after Smith, the labor productivity increased almost twice. Following his example, Charles Babbage, the Mathematician of the XIX century, known as the father of the computer's ideas, in 1832 he began to study the factory for the production of pins. He discovered that every worker makes more than eight thousand pieces in one day. For further 150 years of technical development, performance increased 100 times, reaching 800 thousand pins per employee per day, according to the study of Cambridge economist in 1980, Cambridge Economist Clifford Pratten.

The increase in performance in the manufacture of the same things, such as a pin, is only part of the story. Today we make a lot of things about which people in the time of Smith could only dream - for example, aircraft - or who didn't even imagine - for example, chips, computers, fiber optic cable and other technologies that we need to use our pins ... Rather, sorry, our PIN codes.

All changes: how the acting persons and the institutions of capitalism changed

During the time who passed from the Epoch of Adam Smith to this day, not only technologies or methods of production have changed. Subjects of economic activity - or people associated with economic activities - and economic institutions - or rules that determine the organization of production and other economic activities - also passed through fundamental transformations.

The Great Britain's economy during the Smith, which he called "Commercial Society" had some fundamental similarities with what we see in most modern states. Otherwise, his work would not have any meaning. Unlike most of the countries of that time (with the exception of the Netherlands, Belgium and individual regions of Italy), the United Kingdom already had a "capitalist" economy.

So what is the capitalist economy, or capitalism? This is an economy in which production is organized for the sake of obtaining maximum profits, and not for its own consumption (as in natural economy, in which you grow food only for yourself) and not for political obligations (as in feudal societies and socialist facilities, where political authorities, respectively, aristocrats and central planning bodies are dictated to produce).

Profit represents the difference between what you earn, implementing a product or service in the market (it is also called sales revenue or simply revenue), and the cost of all invested in the production of forces and means. In the case of a factory for the manufacture of a pin, its profits will make the difference between the cost of the pipe sold and the cost of all the resources embedded in their production: the cost of purchasing steel wire, the salary of workers, the rental of the factory, and so on.

Capitalism was created by capitalists - people who owned overhaul. Capital goods, also referred to as production facilities, belong to long-term investments in the production process (for example, in equipment, in contrast to raw materials and materials). In use, we also use the term "capital" to indicate money invested in a commercial enterprise.

Capitalists own the means of production or directly, or what is now found more often, indirectly through solo. (or shares) Companies - in other words, documents certifying the ownership of the proportional part of its total value - which belongs to the means of production. Capitalists hire other people to work on these means of production, and pay them for it. Such people are called employees, or just workers. Capitalists make a profit, producing material benefits and offering them to other people on marketwhere products and services are sold and bought. Smith believed that competition Among the sellers in the market guarantees that manufacturers focused on receiving profit will produce products with minimally possible costs, which will eventually prove to be beneficial for everyone.

Nevertheless, the similarity between the capitalism of Smith and modern capitalism does not go far beyond these major aspects. There are huge differences between the two eras from the point of view of how the main characteristics are private ownership of the means of production, chase for profit, hired labor and market exchange are actually implemented in practice.

Capitalists different epochs differ from each other

At the time of Adam Smith, most factories and farms owned and managed individual capitalists or partnerships, consisting of a small number of people who knew and understood each other. They usually directly participated in production, often attending the plant in factory, giving orders to employees, sweeping and even beating them.

Today, owners and managers of most manufacturing companies are not individuals, that is, corporations. "Persons" can only be called in a legal sense. In turn, they belong to a variety of people who buy their shares and jointly own them. But the ownership of shares does not make you a capitalist in the classical sense of the word. If you own 300 out of 300 million shares of Volkswagen, this does not mean that you can fly to the factory, for example, in Wolfsburg, that in Germany, and begin to instruct "your" employees on the "own" factory as for one million parts of their working time. Owning an enterprise and managing its activities in large companies are divided.

In most major corporations, today's owners carry them limited liability. In limited liability companies (LLC) or public joint Stock Company (PJSC), if something goes wrong with the organization, shareholders will lose only money invested in their shares, and this will end. In the time of Smith, most of the owners of the companies carried unlimited responsibility, that is, if things went bad, they had to sell their personal property to pay debts, otherwise they went to prison. Smith opposed the principle of limited liability. He argued that those who manage such companies do not own them play with "other people's money" (this is his phrase, as well as the name of the famous play, and later the 1991 film with the participation of the actor Danny de Vito), therefore, they are not They will be as vigilant in management, like those who risk everyone that they have.

In addition, today, regardless of the form of ownership, the company is organized completely differently than in the time of Smith. In the XVIII century, most enterprises were small and had only one production platform with a simple team structure consisting of several masters, ordinary workers and, possibly, a "caretaker" (as the hired manager was called then). Today, many companies are enormous, often they hire tens of thousands and even millions of workers around the world. Walmart, for example, employs 2.1 million people, and in McDonald's, including all franchises of the company, about 1.8 million works. Such companies have a complex internal structure, in different ways under divisions, arrival centers, semi-autonomous and other units, they hire employees, presenting them high qualification requirements, and the size wages Determined by a complex bureaucratic control system.

Employees are also different

In the time of Smith, most people are not worked on capitalists. Most people then worked in the field agriculture, even in Western Europewhere capitalism was most developed. A minor minority worked on hiring on agricultural capitalists, most of which were small farmers at that time tenants (people rented by land and paying part of their products as payment) landowners From aristocracy.

In that epoch, even many of those who worked on the capitalists were not hired employees. They still remained slaves. As tractors or a potential cattle, slaves were considered the means of production belonging to capitalists, especially the owners of plantations in the south of the United States, in the countries of the Caribbean, Brazil and others. After two generations after the publication of the "wealth of peoples" in the UK, slavery was canceled (this happened in 1833). After almost a century, after the first release of the book, Adam Smith had a bloody civil war, as a result of which slavery was canceled in the US (1862). In Brazil, the end of slavery was put only in 1888.

Whereas B. aboutthe more expensive part of people serving the enterprises of the capitalists were not hired employees, many of those who still hired, no one would have allowed to work. These were children. At that time, few people believed that there was something wrong in children's work. In his book A Tour Through The Whole Island of Great Britain ("Travel throughout the UK Island"), written in 1724, Daniel Defo, the author of Robinson Cruzo, expressed admisting the fact that in Norwich, the then center of the production of cotton fabrics, "Children over four or five years old have already might have earned themselves to bread" Thanks to the ban on 1700 on the import of Cotton-cotton fabric from India, highly appreciated at that time. Subsequently, child labor was limited, and then it is generally banned, but it happened many years after the death of Smith, in 1790.

Today in the UK and other rich countries the picture is completely different. Children are forbidden to work, with the exception of a small number of hours for a limited circle of activities like a newspaper sample. Now anywhere is not allowed to be legally. Among adult workers about 10 percent - private entrepreneurs (They work for themselves), 15-25 percent - civil servants, and all the others are hired employees serving capitalist enterprises.

Markets have changed

In the time of Smith, most often the markets were local or at best national, with the exception of the main goods markets, which were the subject of international trade (for example, sugar, slaves, spices), or a limited list of industrial goods (for example, silk, cotton, cloth tissues) . These markets were serviced by numerous minor companies, which led to a state called modern economists. perfect competition In which no seller was able to affect the price. Sovreme Smith's contemporaries could not even imagine an enterprise, which worked twice as many employees than the population of the then London (0.8 million people in 1800), and which operates in territories six times larger than the area of \u200b\u200ball British colonies of that time (McDonald's works in 120 countries).

Today, most markets are mastered and often under significant influence of large companies. Some of them are the only suppliers ( monopoly) or what is more common, one of the few suppliers ( oligopoly) Not only at the national level, but even more and more often on the global. For example, Boeing and Airbus supply about 90 percent of civilian aircraft around the world. Companies may also be the only buyer ( monopsony) or one of the few buyers ( oligopsony).

Unlike small firms, the time of Adam Smith, monopolistic or oligopolistic companies are able to influence the final market indicators, possessing the fact that economists call market power. The monopolist company intentionally limits the production to raise the prices of their product to the extent that will ensure maximum profits (the technical features of this process are explained in Chapter 11). Oligopolistic companies are not able to manipulate their markets in the same way as monopolistic, but they can consciously enter into collusion to increase their profits, without hitting the price for moving customers from each other - it is called cartel. Such a state of affairs led to the fact that in our time in most countries adopted Competition Legislation (Sometimes called antimonopoly), which fights with such actions that interfere with free competition, destroying monopolies (for example, in 1984, the American government closed AT & T telephone company) and prohibiting collisions among oligopolistic companies.

Monopasonic and oligopsonic companies were considered theoretical rareholds of only a few decades ago. Today, for the formation of our economy, some of them are of greater importance than monopolistic and oligopolistic companies. Using (sometimes at the global level) its own unique position as one of several buyers of certain products, companies such as Walmart, Amazon, Tesco and Carrefour have a huge - sometimes even determining - the impact on what it will be where, where who, who will receive a profit and in what size, and that people will be bought.

Money (financial system) also changed

Now we perceive as granted that in each country only one bank, that is central bank , Releases banknotes and coins, such as the Federal Reserve in the United States or the Bank of Japan. In Europe, the time of Adam Smith Most banks (and even some major traders) printed their own monetary signs. These were not banknotes in the current sense of the word. Each paper was intended to a specific person, had a unique value and subscribed to the face given it. Only in 1759, the Bank of England began to issue a fixed nominal banknote, 10 pounds (five-found banknotes appeared only in 1793, three years after the death of Adam Smith). And already in 1853, completely printed banknotes were released without the name of the payroller and the signature of the cashier. But even such papers were not banknote in the current sense of the word, since their value directly depended on the value of valuable metals, gold or silver, which had a bank-issuer. It was the so-called gold (silver, etc.) standard.

Golden (Silver) Standard is monetary systemin which the bills released by the central bank can be freely exchanged for a certain amount of gold (or silver). This does not mean that the central bank must have a reserve precious metalsequal to the value of the currency issued, nevertheless convertibility Paper money in gold forced banks to have a very large amount of such reserves - for example, the US Federal Reserve has kept the gold reserve, equivalent to 40 percent of the cost issued by it. As a result, it turned out that the central banks began to possess very small powers in making a decision on how many paper money they can give. In 1717, the UK was the first to adopted the Golden Standard - Made this Isaac Newton, which at that time was the head of the Royal Mint, and the rest of European countries moved to it in the 1870s. This system has played a very important role in the evolution of capitalism during the lifetime of the next two generations (we will consider more this topic in chapter 3).

The use of banknotes is one thing, but storing money in banks or borrowing from banks, that is banking services , - completely different. This sphere under Adam, the melt has been developed even less. Three-quarters of the France's population did not have access to banking services until the 1860s. Even in Britain, where the case with the banking industry was much better, banking services were fragmented, and interest rates in different areas of the country were varied even during a significant part of the 20th century.

Stock marketswhich are bought and selling the share (stocks) of companies, existed in a couple of centuries before the start of the Smith's era. But, given that only a few companies released shares (as I said, at that time there were very few societies with limited liability), the stock market remained a secondary participant of the unfolded capitalist drama. Worse, many people considered stock markets something like gambling homes (some will say that they still remain such). Regulation stock market It was minimal and practically not fulfilled; Birzhevikov was not charged with the obligation to provide comprehensive information about companies whose shares they sold.

Other financial markets remained even more primitive. Market state Bonds, that is, debt receipts that can be transferred to any state loans (It was he who became the center of the European crisis, which the world shakes since 2009), existed only in several countries, such as the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands. Market corporate bonds (debt receipts manufactured by companies) was poorly developed even in the UK.

Today, the financial industry has highly developed (some would even say that too). It consists not only from the banking sector, the stock market and bond markets, but increasingly includes markets financial instruments (futures, options, swaps) and financial products such as MBS ( securities with assets), CDO (secured debentures) and CDS (credit default swaps). (Do not worry, in chapter 8 I will explain that all this means.) Ultimately, the system relies on the central bank, which acts as creditor in the last instance And without restrictions issues loans during the financial crisis, when everyone else does not want to lend. Indeed, the lack of the Central Bank made the financial panic management during Smith Extremely difficult.

Today there are many rules regulating the actions of the participants of the financial market: what amount, they are multiple own capital, they can learn; What information should be opened by companies selling their shares; What types of assets have the right to keep financial institutions (eg, pension funds It is impossible to acquire risky assets). Despite all this, the multiplicity and complexity of financial markets made them difficult regulation - confirmation of which we saw after the global financial crisis of 2008.

Conclusion: Real world changes and economic theories

Looking at these stripping differences, we can conclude that over the past two and a half century, capitalism has undergone huge changes. Despite the fact that some of the basic principles proclaimed by Smith remain in force, they are relevant only in the most general features. For example, competition among commercial companies is still the main driving force of capitalism, as in Smith's scheme. But it does not work for small, little-known companies that, adjusting to the tastes of buyers, seek victory through improving the efficiency of using a certain technology. Today, competition is conducted among huge transnational corporations, which have the opportunity not only to influence prices, but also to bring technology to a new level in a short period of time (remember the battle between Apple and Samsung) and manipulate buyers' tastes using brands and advertising.

original name: Economics: The User's Guide
Author: Ha-Jun Chang (Chang Ha-Joon)

Publisher: Mann, Ivanov and Ferber, 2015

ISBN 978-5-00057-433-1
Pages: 304 p.
Format: 70 × 100/16 (170 × 240 mm)
Circulation: 2000 copies.
Weight: 490 g
Binding: Soft Cover

Why it is worth reading this economic encyclopedia

• From the Laureate of Leontiev Prize in Economics and the teacher of Cambridge
• Simple and affordable explanation of complex concepts
• Economic Encyclopedia helps to navigate in the modern world
• site recommends

Happiness, income and production or why numbers in the economy are always biased

The economy permeates this world through: it has policies, and history, and mathematics, and law, and psychology. That is why the choice and measurement of indicators in the economy cannot be as objective, how much, let's say, in physics or chemistry. Professor Ha-Jun Chang in the book "How the economy is arranged" explains with wit economic meaning And the tricks in the calculation of the volume of production, the country's income and the happiness of each individual person. Let's deal with together!

Favorite production measure

Production indicators are rarely explicitly fake even in socialist countries, with the exception of the most extreme political situations, such as the initial stage of Stalin's Board or a large jump in Mao Zedune in China. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to think that we can measure the volume of production or any other economic indicatorsIf this happens, just as measured in the natural sciences, such as physics or chemistry.

Economists have a favorite indicator for measuring the volume of products. Rudely speaking monetary value What was produced within the country for a certain period.

Added value

If you have noticed, in the previous paragraph it is written "roughly speaking", because "What has been produced" needs a definition. When calculating the GDP, we measure the output, or products by value added. This is the name of the cost of products minus intermediate costs. Suppose a bakery has earned 150 thousand pounds of sterling for the year, selling bread and other baking, but if she has gone 100 thousand pounds to various intermediate costs - the purchase of flour, eggs, oil, sugar, electricity, fuel, and other things, - the bakery will get only 50 thousand pounds of value added from materials and raw materials.

The baker bought raw materials from Melnik, so that if you fold the yield of baker's products and a miller, the flour will be counted twice. Melnik bought wheat from the farmer, so if adding the output of the last to the previous amount, then the wheat that the farmer sold the Melnik and which was then bought in the form of flour, it is considered three times. Only determining the value added, we can measure the true amount of product output.

What does the word "gross" mean

It means that we have not yet removed something from the overall picture - as the bank with a canned tuna indicate a mass of gross and net. IN this case This is something - the cost of worn out products, mainly equipment.

In our bakery are stoves, doughs and breadstones. Production tools, or equipment, not "consumed" and are not included in the output of the same method as flour for bread, but as they use their economic value decreases - which is called depreciation. Successful equipment wear from GDP, we get a clean inner product, or ChVP.

What does the word "internal" mean

"Internal" in an economic context means "within one state". Not all manufacturers within the boundaries of citizens of a country or company registered in it. If you look at the other hand, not all manufacturers produce products only in countries where they are registered. Companies manage factories abroad, and people get work in other states.

Long-term reliability of the economy

An indicator that reflects the entire yield of products produced by fellow citizens (including companies), and not just what has been released in the territory of a given country is called a gross national product, or GNP.

In Norway and the USA, GNP and GDP are approximately equal. In India, Canada and Brazil, in the territory of which there are many foreign companies, GDP may exceed a GNP of interest on 10. Switzerland and Sweden more companies working abroad rather than foreign companies inside borders, therefore GNP is more GDP by 2.5 and 5 percentage respectively (as of 2010).

GDP is often used in the short term. GNP better reflects the long-term reliability of the economy of countries.

Country performance

One country may have higher GDP than the other, which is sometimes caused by the difference in population. Thus, we must look at the GDP indicators or GNP per capita, if we want to know how productive the same economy is: however, it is somewhat more complicated.

The real performance of the country from how much people should work to get a certain amount of products. Only take into account the total number of hours spent, and not a population, one can judge the productivity of the economy. But it is very difficult to learn these numbers, which is why we use the GDP per capita as the country's performance indicators.

Most of world production is accounted for a small number of countries.

In 2010, world GDP, according to the World Bank, amounted to about 64 trillion US dollars. Top 5 largest countries for this indicator:

1. USA (22.7 percent of the global economy)
2. China (9.4 percent)
3. Japan (8.7 percent)
4. Germany (5.2 percent)
5. France (4 percent).

Thus, these five countries have half of world production!

Cattle per capita

The income per capita, as a rule, is measured by the GNI per capita and, according to many people, serves as the best indicator of the standard of living in the country.

Meanwhile, this average indicator can hide a very wide range of people's income within the same country.

Here is a simplified example: in countries A and B, per capita income is five thousand dollars, and the population in both countries is 10 people (thus, the BND is 50 thousand dollars for each of the countries). However, in the country, and the income of one person is $ 45,500, and the income of the other nine - $ 500, while in the country B one person receives $ 9,500, and the rest - for 4500. In this case, the average per capita income per capita Five thousand dollars will relatively accurately describe the standard of living in the country b and will be absolutely false for the country A. Middle income is more accurate indicator living standards for countries with more uniform income distribution.

How to measure happiness - and is it necessary to do it?

One of the obvious and very important points is that we live not only for the sake cash income. We want political freedom, active public Life, self-realization and many other things that cannot be bought. If higher income is achieved due to longer and intensive work, we can remain less time and energy for social life or self-realization.

The method of using money income to measure the standard of living is somewhat limited. Some economists resort to direct survey of people about how happy they are. The most famous studies of this type - "Poll of Happiness" of the Institute of Gallpa, "World Valuation Survey", "Index best Life"OECD.

Various indexes of happiness include very different elements. As a result, the same state can be assessed very differently. But some - Scandinavian countries (especially Denmark), Australia and Costa Rica - as a rule, demonstrate high level Values \u200b\u200bfor more happiness indices than other countries. A number of states, such as Mexico and the Philippines, usually show the best results in indexes, where subjective factors have a greater weight, which suggests the idea of \u200b\u200bthe prevalence of false consciousness among their population.

"Matrix" and limits of happiness research

What right has Morpheus "save" people only to feel unhappy? Does anyone have the right to make people feel unhappy by telling them the truth? Who has the right to speak oppressive women or starving landless peasants, that they should not be happy if they think otherwise? But on the other hand, we should not approve an unequal and cruel society just because polls show that people are happy there. Obviously, we cannot rely on "subjective" surveys of happiness to understand how well people live.

Year of issue: July 2015.

Genre: Economy

Publisher: Mann, Ivanov and Ferber

Format: PDF.

Quality: Ocr

Number of pages: 322

Description:In this book, the economist from Cambridge Ha-Jun Chang in an entertaining and accessible form explains how the global economy actually works. The author offers the reader of the ideas that you will not find in the textbooks in economics, and does it with deep knowledge of history, wit and easy neglect to traditional economic concepts.
The book will be useful for those who are interested in the economy and want to better understand how the world is arranged.

Why do you need to understand the economy

Why people are not very interested in economic theory

Since this book was in your hands, it is likely that you at least a little interesting her topic. You probably even experience some anticipation. After all, according to a general view, the economy is difficult. Let it be so puzzling discipline as physics, but for her understanding still need to make efforts. Some of you probably remember the speeches of economists on the radio: their statements probably did not inspire you confidence, even though you took them on faith. In the end, they are professionals, and you have not read a single book on this topic.
Is economic theory really so complicated? No, of course, if you explain it is easy and accessible. In its previous book "23 Secrets. What you will not tell about capitalism "I even risked to express the idea that 95 percent of the economic theory is just a common sense who attached a complex view with the help of special terminology and mathematics.
The economy is not the only obstacle that it seems more confusing than it is actually. In any profession that requires a certain profile training, whether it is an economy, plumbing or medicine, a professional language that makes it easier for communication between specialists, it makes it difficult to understand the subject for people's people. To be honest, all technical disciplines have a reason to seem to be more complicated than it is in fact: it justifies high fees that specialists take for their services.
Even taking into account all the above, economic theory was unambiguously achieved great success in the desire to prevent the wide public to its territory. Despite the lack of relevant knowledge, people tend to express a firm opinion on the most diverse issues: climate change, same-sex marriages, war in Iraq and nuclear power plants. But when it comes to the economy, many do not even demonstrate interest, not to mention the presence of their own point of view. Try to remember when you last discussed the future of the euro, property separation in China or the prospects for the manufacturing industry in the United States? But these questions may have a huge impact directly on you, wherever you live. It is quite likely that they positively or negatively affect the prospects for employment, salary and even on your pension, but you most likely did not think about it seriously.
Such a strange state of affairs is only partially due to the fact that economic topics do not affect our senses, unlike the love, place of residence, death and war. It developed because people believed - especially in the past few decades - as if the economy was the same science as physics or chemistry, and there is only one correct answer to all questions. Therefore, non-specialists should simply take the opinion of professionals on faith and stop scoring their heads with too complex issues. Gregory Maskoy, Professor of the Harvard University, and the author of one of the most popular textbooks on this discipline, says: "Economists like to appear as scientists. I myself often do that. I read the lectures to undergraduates, I absolutely consciously imagine the economy as a science, so that no student starts studying this course with the idea that it starts to comprehend some ephemeral discipline. "
Reading the book, you will understand that economic theory will never be science in the sense that we mean by speaking of physics or chemistry. There are many different schools of economic theory, each of which emphasizes the various aspects of a complex reality, expressing various ethical and political evaluation judgments and making them on their basis about or other conclusions. In addition, none of the schools of economic theory has never managed to predict the real development of events even in those areas that are focused, not least because people have their own desires - in contrast to molecules or physical objects.
And once in the economy, there is no only correct answer, therefore, it is impossible to give it to the deposit alone by specialists. Thus, every responsible citizen must ever know anything about the economy. Saying this, I do not mean that you need to take a fat tutorial and get acquainted with some one point of view on this discipline. I'm talking about the need to study the various types of economic judgments and develop critical thinking and the ability to understand exactly what kind of approach will be the most reasonable in these economic circumstances, in the light of certain moral values \u200b\u200band political goals (pay attention, I'm not talking about the correctness of any judgments). To solve such a task, a tutorial is required, which would consider economic theory as no one did, - and, I hope you keep in your hands exactly such a book.

Than this book is especially

How does this book look like other similar?
One of the differences - I perceive my readers seriously. And it's not a joke. You will not find here a compressed recovery of complex eternal truths. I will introduce you to various ways to analyze the economy in the hope that you yourself will be able to assess the possibilities of different approaches. I do not refuse to discuss fundamental methodological issues of economic theory, for example, such as: is it possible to consider this discipline with science or what role they play in it (and should play) moral values. I try to present hypotheses underlying various economic concepts so that readers make their own opinions about their realism and believability. I also tell you how the quantitative indicators are determined in the economy, calling the readers not to forget that they cannot be perceived as something that cannot be changed, say, as an elephant weight or water temperature in a saucepan. In short, I'm trying to explain how to think, and nothing to think.
Despite the fact that the book involves readers into a very deep analysis, this does not mean that it is difficult for perception. There is nothing such that a person with an average education would not be able to understand. All I ask about is to show curiosity to find out what is really happening, as well as a little patience.
Another important difference between my book from other economics textbooks is that it contains a lot of information about the real world. And I'm talking about the "world" is absolutely serious. In the book a lot of information about different countries. This does not mean that all states of the globe I paid equal attention. But, unlike most other books in economics, in my own information is not limited to one or two countries or one category (let's say, only rich or poor states). Most of the data will be presented in a numerical form: how large is the global economy; What contribution to it is made by the United States or Brazil; What part of the products produced falls on China or the Democratic Republic of the Congo; How many people work in Greece or Germany. But all these figures are supplemented with high-quality information about institutional mechanisms, historical prerequisites, standard strategies and many other things. I want to believe that by reading the book, the reader will be able to say that now he has some idea of \u200b\u200bhow the economy works in the real world.

How to read this book

Of course, not everyone is ready to spend a lot of time on reading this book, at least at first. Therefore, I offer several ways to master the material, depending on how much time, in your opinion, you can highlight it.
If you have ten minutes, read the chapter names and the first page of each. If you are lucky, after these ten minutes you will suddenly understand that you have a couple of hours in stock.
If you have a couple of hours, read chapters 1 and 2, and then an epilogue. Everything else is just scrolling.
If you have half a day, pay attention only to the names of the sections and summaries that occur every couple of paragraphs. If you read quickly, you have time to get acquainted with the introductory and final parts of all chapters.
If you have enough time and patience to fully read the book, please do it. This is the best way. I will be very happy. But even in this case, you can skip the sections that you are not very interesting, reading only their headlines.

Ha-jun Chang

How the economy is arranged

HA-JOON CHANG

Economics: The User "S Guide

Scientific editor Elvira Kondukova

Published with the permission of HA-Jon Chang C / O Mulcahy Conway Assocs Ltd. and literary agency Andrew Nurnberg

Legal support for publisher provides the law firm "Vegas Lex"

© Ha-Joon Chang, 2014

© Translation into Russian, publication in Russian, design. Mann, Ivanov and Ferber LLC, 2015

Dedicated to my parents

Why do you need to understand the economy

Why people are not very interested in economic theory

Since this book was in your hands, it is likely that you at least a little interesting her topic. You probably even experience some anticipation. After all, according to a general view, the economy is difficult. Let it be so puzzling discipline as physics, but for her understanding still need to make efforts. Some of you probably remember the speeches of economists on the radio: their statements probably did not inspire you confidence, even though you took them on faith. In the end, they are professionals, and you have not read a single book on this topic.

Is economic theory really so complicated? No, of course, if you explain it is easy and accessible. In its previous book "23 Secrets. What you will not tell about capitalism "I even risked to express the idea that 95 percent of the economic theory is just a common sense who attached a complex view with the help of special terminology and mathematics.

The economy is not the only obstacle that it seems more confusing than it is actually. In any profession that requires a certain profile training, whether it is an economy, plumbing or medicine, a professional language that makes it easier for communication between specialists, it makes it difficult to understand the subject for people's people. To be honest, all technical disciplines have a reason to seem to be more complicated than it is in fact: it justifies high fees that specialists take for their services.

Even taking into account all the above, economic theory was unambiguously achieved great success in the desire to prevent the wide public to its territory. Despite the lack of relevant knowledge, people tend to express a firm opinion on the most diverse issues: climate change, same-sex marriages, war in Iraq and nuclear power plants. But when it comes to the economy, many do not even demonstrate interest, not to mention the presence of their own point of view. Try to remember when you last discussed the future of the euro, property separation in China or the prospects for the manufacturing industry in the United States? But these questions may have a huge impact directly on you, wherever you live. It is quite likely that they positively or negatively affect the prospects for employment, salary and even on your pension, but you most likely did not think about it seriously.

Such a strange state of affairs is only partially due to the fact that economic topics do not affect our senses, unlike the love, place of residence, death and war. It developed because people believed - especially in the past few decades - as if the economy was the same science as physics or chemistry, and there is only one correct answer to all questions. Therefore, non-specialists should simply take the opinion of professionals on faith and stop scoring their heads with too complex issues. Gregory Maskoy, Professor of the Harvard University, and the author of one of the most popular textbooks on this discipline, says: "Economists like to appear as scientists. I myself often do that. Reading lectures to the senior teamwork, I absolutely consciously imagine the economy as a science, so that no student starts studying this course with the idea that it starts to comprehend some ephemeral discipline "