There are very few authors who do a great job in making even an arcane subject seem engrossing. Tim Harford is one among them. I found his Adapt to be not only entertaining but also insightful. Though I had heard about The Undercover Economist, the prequel covering 'Microeconomics', I could not read. But I plan to read it! In my view, the authors who dish out such blockbusters on hard topics have a distinct style. Each chapter in such books takes off from fascinating facts from different parts and times and take the readers on a joyride through the wonderful world. I could see this pattern in Tim Harford's 'Adapt', Malcolm Gladwell's 'Tipping Point' and 'Outliers', Taleb's 'Black Swan', amongst others. In this book Tim Harford betters himself! He puts you on the driver's seat in the joyride! Go ahead and enjoy the drive!
The beauty of Tim Harford's book is such that I loved reading the introduction also, which I generally skip! Harford takes us through the foundation of Macroeconomics by introducing the real 'Indiana Jones' of economics, Bill Phillips, the inventor of economics simulator MONIAC (Monetary National Income Analogue Computer). It is interesting to read the exploits of Bill Phillips as an engineer in the Empire Star ship, defending against the Japanese planes by improvising the mount of the machine gun and fending off the enemies for hours, The immersion heaters, concealed radio sets built while in Japan's PoW are some more examples of his ingenuity.
Tim Harford puts us on the driver's seat of the economy and gently guides us through various fundamentals of macroeconomics.
(To be continued.)
