Economics for the Rest of Us

"Vivid case studies . . . Adler's frustration with wrongheaded economic thinking is as entertaining as it is thought provoking." —Publishers Weekly

Why do so many contemporary economists consider food subsidies in starving countries, rent control in rich cities, and health insurance everywhere "inefficient"? Why do they feel that corporate executives deserve no less than their multimillion-dollar "compensation" packages and workers no more than their meager wages? Here is a lively and accessible debunking of the two elements that make economics the "science" of the rich: the definition of what is efficient and the theory of how wages are determined. The first is used to justify the cruelest policies, the second grand larceny.

Filled with lively examples—from food riots in Indonesia to eminent domain in Connecticut and everyone from Adam Smith to Jeremy Bentham to Larry Summers—Economics for the Rest of Us shows how…