I have really enjoyed reading books by Andrew Leigh in the past, including The Economics of Just About Everything (which I reviewed here), and Randomistas (which I reviewed here). So I was really looking forward to reading his 2024 book How Economics Explains the World, especially after having the pleasure of introducing Leigh as keynote speaker for the ANZRSAI Conference in Canberra last December (as I noted here).
In this book, Leigh tries to condense the entire history of humanity into 194 pages, and teach us a little bit about how economics explains some of that history along the way. As he explains:
This small book tells a big story. It is the story of capitalism - of how our market system developed. It is the story of the discipline of economics, and some of the key figures who formed it. And it is the story of how economic forces have shaped world history.
To try and do all those things in a short book is no easy feat. And unsurprisingly, the book does not go into depth on any of the historical events or historical figures that it covers. That shallowness is both the book's greatest strength, and its greatest weakness. It makes the book very easy to read, and that is also helped by the beautiful style of Leigh's writing. It also allows Leigh to cover a very large swathe of economic history and the history of economic thought. However, the book only lightly skims the surface on any particular topic. So, while the book gives the reader a taste of some economic history, and a taste of some of the history of economic thought, it is really just a small taste and will definitely leave many readers wanting more.
Interestingly, I ran into an issue with this book that I haven't seen before. My copy of the hardcover had a misprint, where pages 57 through 88 were printed twice, and then the book carried on from page 121 after that. So, the book also left me wanting more, because I missed out on 32 pages of interesting content! I'm sure these sorts of misprints must happen occasionally, and so it may be surprising (given the number of books I read) that this is the first time I have seen it. None of this is a complaint against the author - I'm sure he had nothing to do with this error!
As with all Andrew Leigh books I have had the pleasure of reading, I really enjoyed this one. I don't think that readers will learn a whole lot of economics from it, because it lacks the depth to provide that. However, it does link economics to some important historical events, and briefly summarises some of the key changes in economic thought over time. That may prompt some readers to dig a little deeper on those topics, and for that reason the book is valuable, and I am happy to recommend it.
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