Customer Reviews
Perfect introduction to economics - By: R. Hill, 24 Oct 2008 
This wasn't the first book on pop-economics I've read, & it wasn't the last, but it was certainly the best I've encountered to date, & as an introduction to economic concepts it's second to none.
This is the book I recommend to people when they show signs of moving beyond "economics is all just money, innit?", & every person who I've introduced it to has come away from it saying it's improved the way they look at the world.
If I were to assemble a list of reference books for someone wanting to know how the world works, this would be amongst them.
Good fun! Main street now looks very different - By: Stephen C. Wilkinson, 06 Aug 2008 Buy it, read it & enjoy, you never know you may get interestedin economics
Surprisingly tough-going and subtly tendentious - By: C. Young, 24 Jul 2008 
I bought this as a follow up to Robert Frank's excellent introductory beginners' guide "The Economic Naturalist". Based on Harford's columns for the Financial Times, "Undercover" is indeed a more academic approach, bringingin celebrated economists such as David Ricardo to explain why your tall skinny latte is such a rip-off (er, scarcity, apparently). The interesting overall concept is sadly undermined by some surprisingly ropey writing. Ideas often stagger across the page, tripped up by confusing analogies, & I found myself reading some more tortuous paragraphs many times to gain any sort of meaning. Nevertheless if you persevere into the second half of the book, which lurches into more politicised areas, there are a few absorbing insights & observations. Harford's prescription for the NHS, encouraging people to 'cost' unhealthy lifestyles, was genuinely thought-provoking as was the analysis of why poor Cameroon remains poor. However the standard free-market justification of sweatshop economics (better for people than scavenging on rubbish heaps) reminded me that a FT column is hardly a neutral platform, & more alarm bells rang for this exhausted reader with the author's scarily simplistic verdict on globalisation vs global warming. It was with some considerable relief I reached the final chapter on China. This was actually quite good, though China's success seems to have as much to do with constraining the free market approach Harford advocates than embracing it unreservedly.
Interesting easy read. - By: Mr. Colin Kerr, 17 Jun 2008 
I'm only writing this because there seem to be a lot of negative reviews. I enjoyed it as holiday reading & recommended it to people I met. I more or less already new the economics so maybe I just liked hearing my own opinions being confirmed. It was a good purchase for me.
Very accessible introduction to economics - By: Richard Cocks, 07 Jun 2008 I found this book a good read, the best of a few similar books I picked up at the time. It has clear & interesting examples & discusses them eachin enough depth to grasp the concepts described. I thought the whole book was very enjoyable & had useful references to others' ideas.
