False Economy A Surprising Economic History of the World-Riverhead Hardcover (2009)

Resource added for the Economics ?10-809-195? courses.

Why do some economies crash and burn, while others are buffeted by the storms of history and are able to recover? Can we analyze the fates of countries in a way that will help us analyze the fault lines and successes that can make or break a city, a culture, or a civilization?

In False Economy, Alan Beattie weaves together elements of history, economics, politics, and human stories, revealing the ways in which governments and countries make concrete choices that determine their destinies. Using extraordinary stories of economic triumph and disaster, he explains how some countries have gone wrong while others have gone right, and why it's so difficult to change course once you're on the path to ruin. Beattie opens up larger questions about the decisions countries make, why they make them, and what these, choices can mean for the future of our global economy as we go forward into uncharted territory.

Along the way, you'll discover why Africa doesn't produce cocaine, why our asparagus comes from Peru, why your keyboard spells QWERTY, and why giant pandas are living on borrowed time.

The Barnes & Noble Review

It may make you feel better to read Financial Times journalist Alan Beattie describing how nothing in economic history is inevitable or permanent. Though he spends little time dwelling on our current economic woes, Beattie chronicles where successful economies diverged, how politics meddled in free markets, and when observers have drawn false conclusions. In a history peppered with witty British asides, Beattie succinctly illustrates the curse Steinbeck probed in The Pearl -- namely, that coveted natural resources are often more trouble than they're worth. Cases in point: Dutch tulip exporters were among the legions of workers who could no longer compete in the global economy once the discovery of oil reserves made their country's currency strong enough to price Dutch products out of the market; prostitution and drug addiction ensnare mining communities from Africa to Latin America; and to top it all off, corrupt leaders mismanage prized resources for their own immediate gain, rendering those resources a scourge to some previously diversified economies. After debunking the notion that Islam is anathema to wealth creation (as some pundits claimed after September 11, 2001, attempting to explain the appeal of terrorism), Beattie takes you to the local supermarket to unravel how anti-drug policies got us dependent on Peruvian asparagus. Peru benefited from a 1991 trade deal intended to incentivize farmers to grow crops other than coca for cocaine. Lower tariffs and financial assistance, rooted in a social reform agenda, are what made Peru into Asparagus Central, much to the dismay of U.S. farmers, who have found it hard to compete. In the end, you're left with the assertion that no superpower is destined to stay that way forever, unless of course, superlative decisions prevail. In other words: Godspeed, developed world. --Ariana Green

An important book for turbulent times-an accessible and engaging economic history of the world, by a leading economic writer. Alan Beattie has long been intrigued by the fates of different countries, economies, and societies-why some fail and some succeed. Here, he weaves together elements of economics, history, politics, and human stories, revealing that societies, economies, and countries usually make concrete choices that determine their destinies. He opens up larger questions about these choices, and why countries make them or are driven to make them, and what those decisions can mean for the future of our global economy. Economic history involves forcing together disciplines that fall naturally in different directions. But Beattie has written a lively and lucid book that successfully marries the two subjects and illustrates their interdependence. In doing so, he addresses such illuminating queries as: Why are oil and diamonds more trouble than they are worth? Why did Argentina fail and the United States succeed? Why doesn't Africa grow cocaine? "False Economy" explains how human beings have shaped their own fates, however unknowingly, and the conditions of the countries they call home. And though it is history, it does not end with the present day. Beattie shows how decisions that are being made now-which have either absorbed or failed to absorb the lessons from economic history-will determine what happens in the future. What does economic history teach us about the present economic unrest? Who will succeed and why? And who will fail? These are questions that we cannot afford to leave unasked ... or unanswered A'provocative...persuasive'(The New York Times) book that examines countries'economic destinies. In False Economy, Alan Beattie weaves together the economic choices, political choices, economic history, and human stories, that determine whether governments and countries remain rich or poor.He also addresses larger questions about why they make the choices they do, and what those mean for the future of our global economy. But despite the heady subject matter, False Economy is a lively and lucid book that engagingly and thought-provokingly examines macroeconomics, economic topics, and the fault lines and successes that can make or break a culture or induce a global depression. Along the way, readers will discover why Africa doesn't grow cocaine, why our asparagus comes from Peru, why our keyboard spells QWERTY, and why giant pandas are living on borrowed time. In False Economy, Alan Beattie weaves together elements of economics, history, politics, and human stories, revealing that governments and countries make concrete choices that can determine whether they remain a rich or poor nation. He also addresses larger questions about why they make they choices they do, and what they mean for the future of our global economy. But despite the heady subject matter, False Economy is a lively and lucid book that engagingly and thought-provokingly examines macroeconomics and the fault lines and successes that can make or break a culture. Along the way, readers will discover why Africa doesn't grow cocaine, why our asparagus comes from Peru, why our keyboard spells QWERTY, and why giant pandas are living on borrowed time. -- From publisher description