There's an author named P.J. O'Rourke, who writes satirical stuff, and I've enjoyed a lot of it, over the years. He was picked as the guy best suited to write a book about this subject, oddly. The idea was that he was to read the BIBLE of ECONOMICS, being a NINE HUNDRED PAGE INSOMNIA CURE called "The Wealth of Nations."
He was then to DIGEST it into REAL "English" (meaning: American dumbed-down common language) so all us morons could understand it.
It worked. On ME, at least. In only a hundred-so pages, I picked up on the basics of trade and finance, and I feel I'm better informed than the majority of people who make poking their noses into this stuff, their main concern.
In fact, that's the main GIST of both the original book, which is almost UNreadable, and P.J.'s gift to us, of one that is.
He gives an example of how, in caveman days, there'd be one guy who was good at making spears, another strong and brave enough to take them and go kill a charging ox with it, and yet another who could paint a nice scene of the hunt, on a wall. The hunter was happy to give some of his meat to both the others, in exchange for what they were good at doing.
All of which provided the three main characteristics of all economics: the desire to have something you cannot provide on your own/the ability of others to create it/the freedom to offer what you have, for what someone else has.
Sadly, this natural flow of things, is constantly monkeyed with, by government, religious fanatics, and bullies--to the point where EVERYONE loses.
I strongly recommend this easy to read book to virtually ANYone who needs, or spends MONEY--as it is like finding some SECRET BOOK in a dusty dark library, hidden away as it exposes such important facts.
Ever since I read it, a month ago, all the news items that normally went over my head, I now understand, and can see how often the "LEADERS" of our world, constantly ignore basic principals and evidence, and make truly dangerous decisions.
