Good Economics for Hard Times

By reading this koob, you will learn how smart economics and compassionate politics can remedy our world’s most pressing social problems.

You will also learn:

• The world doesn’t reflect the economics you learned about in school

• Migration of low-skilled workers should be a policy priority

• Sound bites such as “free trade is good/bad” miss the nuances of deeper societal problems

• Our obsession with economic growth has had dire environmental consequences

• Thoughtful policy decisions can have positive impacts on society

• Workers displaced by trade and automation need dignity and support

• Improving the welfare of all global citizens will have a huge societal impact

It doesn’t matter what country you’re in—inequality, poverty, and displacement due to trade and automation are everywhere. As a reaction to growing societal anxiety and frustration, complex economic issues have been reduced to simple sound bites that have fostered a highly polarized society. Blind to the nuances of issues such as migration, trade, or inequality, the average person’s thinking is often limited to their neighborhood and customized Internet search results. In a time of uncertainty and societal restlessness, are you ready to work together as equals to find solutions to our world’s acute crises?