Understandable Economics: Because Understanding Our Economy Is Easier Than You Think and More Important Than You Know

by Howard Yaruss

Overview

Winner of Axiom Business Book Award's 2023 Bronze Medal for Economics

Incomes are stagnating, middle-class jobs are disappearing, economic growth is slowing, and the meager gains are mostly going to those who are already wealthy. More Americans than ever are frustrated by the direction in which we are headed. Understandable Economics aims to replace this frustration with a practical understanding of our economy and empower readers to identify and advocate for a better approach to the problems we face.

In this entertaining and informative guide, author Howard Yaruss breaks down our economic system in a straightforward way, avoiding jargon, formulas, graphs, and other technical material so common in books on this subject. Instead, he creates a compelling and comprehensive picture of our economy using accessible analogies, real-world observations, and entertaining anecdotes.

Understandable Economics will enable readers to answer questions such as:

Why is inequality soaring and what can we do about it?

Do tax cuts for the wealthy create jobs or just create more inequality?

Where does money come from, why does it have value, and who controls it?

What does the Fed do and how does it affect our lives?

Could alternative currencies like Bitcoin replace the dollar?

Is our national debt a threat?

Why do so many people believe free trade is good if it causes some people to lose jobs?

Why does the economy regularly turn down and how can we get it back on track?

... and many more.

Understandable Economics provides the context, tools and foundational knowledge readers need to thoroughly understand our economy, determine which policies would work best, and champion those policies effectively.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781633888364
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/15/2022
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	638,291
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Howard Yaruss is an economist, professor, attorney, businessman, expert witness and activist who greatly enjoys explaining complex issues in a clear, interesting and easily accessible way. He has taught a variety of courses on economics and business and currently teaches at New York University. Prior to teaching, he served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Radian Group, one of the largest guarantors of debt in the world. He has also served on the Boards of organizations that advocate for safer streets, help the homeless and support the arts. Yaruss graduated from Brown University, studied at the London School of Economics and earned a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in Manhattan and serves on his local community board.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Part I The Economic System

1 Capitalism: What Gets Made, and Who Gets What? 3

2 The Changing Economy: Why Are Some People Losing Faith in Our Economic System? 14

3 Money: What Do Gold, Dollars, and Cryptocurrencies Have in Common? 28

Part II People

4 Spending, Production, and Income: How Big Is Our Economy, and Why Does It Matter? 49

5 Work Income, Investment Income, and Wealth: How Is Income Divided between Labor and Capital? 62

6 The (Mostly) Open Economy: What Are the Consequences of International Trade? 70

Part III Business

7 The Private Sector and the Stock Market: How Is Business Organized, Owned, and Valued? 87

8 Corporate Behavior: What Drives Corporations, and How Can They Be influenced? 100

9 Business Consolidation and Reduced Competition: Why Are More Industries Being Dominated by Fewer Companies? 119

Part IV The Economic Cycle

10 Boom and Bust: Must What Goes Up Come Down? 129

11 The Federal Reserve System and Banking: What Is the Fed's Role, and How Is New Money Created? 138

12 Monetary Policy: How Does the Fed Fight Economic Downturns? 152

13 Fiscal Policy: How Can Government Spending and Tax Policies Fight Downturns? 160

Part V The Government

14 The National Debt: What Is the Cost of the Government's Unbalanced Budget? 181

15 Government Policy and Earnings: How Can Our Economy Become More Equitable and Productive? 195

16 Taxes, Spending, and Income Distribution: What Is the Government's Role in the Distribution of Income? 205

Epilogue 227

Notes 231

Acknowledgments 245

Index 247

Editorial Reviews

2023-03-08
Yaruss presents an introduction to economics designed to help Americans understand—and participate in—current political debates.

The author contends that rationally informed political decisions on the part of the American citizenry is the only mechanism that will usher in substantive economic progress but that many find economics a prohibitively technical discipline and do not adequately comprehend the terms of debate. He also casts a gimlet eye at the media, which he sees as being “dominated by all sorts of very serious-looking people pontificating on the future of the economy and recommending policy based on their very self-assured predictions” and failing to alleviate this collective ignorance. Yaruss aims to “demystify our economy” by providing an “easily understandable overview” of it, one that serves not to supply facile answers but to help the reader to understand the basic questions. To this end, the author takes the reader on a scrupulously thorough tour of the subject, discussing the nature of money, the inner workings of the Federal Reserve, the national debt, and the structure of corporations, among many other topics. He limns a marvelously accessible discussion of some technically formidable subjects, such as derivative securities. Yaruss doesn’t shy away from registering his own opinions; the author argues that, partly as a result of the “technological revolution,” commercial competition has increasingly become a “winner-take-all” system—a trend that has resulted in grotesque inequality—a viewpoint that informs the entire work. Only very occasionally that perspective results in some strident rhetoric: “Income taxes can discourage work, sales taxes can discourage the purchase of goods, and property taxes can discourage the development of more and better housing. What might inheritance and estate taxes discourage? Dying?” Nevertheless, this is a valuable introduction to a difficult field that accomplishes its principal objective: to educate the public so it can more fully comprehend the economic arguments of the day.

An impressively clear presentation that should prove useful to those looking for a one-stop primer.

Kirkus Reviews

".. . a marvelously accessible discussion of some technically formidable subjects. .. a valuable introduction to a difficult field that accomplishes its principal objective: to educate the public so it can more fully comprehend the economic arguments of the day.. . An impressively clear presentation that should prove useful to those looking for a one-stop primer.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Some books on the economy are clear and readable. Some go beyond the usual pat simplifications. Understandable Economics is the rare gem that does both. Howard Yaruss has given us a tool to understand our economy, its problems, and what to do about them.”

—Michael Goodwin, author of Economix: How Our Economy Works (and Doesn’t Work) in Words and Pictures

“Understandable Economics should be mandatory reading for everyone who touches money. It is a remarkably readable and cleverly illustrated explanation of money, banking, and the behavioral pushes and pulls that make economies work. This is a book that can increase nationwide economic and financial literacy.”– Thomas P. Vartanian, author of 200 Years of American Financial Panics and Executive Director of the Financial Technology and Cybersecurity Center

“A highly accessible guide to how the economy functions in the real world and to policies for creating a better one. Understandable Economics is a practical and clear-eyed book that’s great at debunking common economic myths.” – Niall Kishtainy, author of A Little History of Economics

“Understandable Economics is an extraordinary book. It tells you everything you wanted to know about the economy but didn’t know to ask… thoroughly enlightening and enjoyably readable.” – Donald Shoup, Distinguished Research Professor of Urban Planning, UCLA

"With wit, clarity, and elegance, Howard Yaruss successfully addresses the still-unanswered questions Americans have been asking since the financial crisis upended so many lives – and unsettled so many beliefs. Yaruss does not demonize the actors in the economy, whether big banks or government officials or tech behemoths, nor does he whip up more anger on the left or the right. Rather, he explains how things got to be the way they are, and offers calm, constructive improvements to our economic systems." – Nicole Gelinas, senior fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research

“If we are ever to tackle issues like extreme disparity, scarcity, and climate change, then more of us need to understand the structures that underlie these challenges. Howard Yaruss brings often opaque forces into the light, and makes the critical domain of economics accessible to anyone who wants to build a better world." – Stefanie Overbeck and Mel Wymore, Pod of Gold podcast

From the Publisher