How Economics Can Save the World

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Economics has the power to make the world a better, happier and safer place: this book shows you how

Our world is in a mess. The challenges of climate change, inequality, hunger and a global pandemic mean our way of life seems more imperilled and society more divided than ever; but economics can help!

From parenting to organ donation, housing to anti-social behaviour, economics provides the tools we need to fix the biggest issues of today. Far from being a means to predict the stock market or enrich the elite, economics provides a lens through which we can better understand how things work, design clever solutions and create the conditions in which we can all flourish.

With a healthy dose of optimism, and packed with stories of economics in everyday situations, Erik Angner demonstrates the methods he and his fellow economists use to help improve our lives and the society in which we live. He shows us that economics can be a powerful force for good, awakening the possibility of a happier, more just and more sustainable world.A clear guide into how economic reasoning can filter through noise and identify solutions for problems, big and small.—Financial Times

Angner shows that economics is a deeply moral endeavour that should give us hope that many of our most pressing problems can be solved.—Niall Kishtainy, author of A Little History of Economics

[T]his book is a success, bucking the trend by prescribing practical solutions to humanity’s biggest challenges and explaining the economic rationale behind them with refreshing – and highly readable – clarity—James Wilson, Tortoise

A brilliantly clear explanation of how, in the right hands, the insights of Economics can be used to make the world a better place—Rohini Pande, Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Economics, Director, Economic Growth Center, Yale

Provides an optimistic outline for improving society and our lives. With pristine clarity, good humor, and solid authority, Angner sketches solutions to the most stubborn problems, both small and large, from poor retirement planning to poverty itself. The same simple yet bracing themes run through all of the success stories: Rely on data, use the economist’s methodological toolkit, and have a more experimental attitude toward fixing our most difficult problems. His prescriptions even contain norm-changing hints of how to get ordinary folks to implement his recommendations. Whether or not we show the good sense to comply with its lessons, How Economics Can Save the World exposes the decision-making structures that cause persistent threats to our happiness and well-being, and provides readers with the tools, knowledge, and hopeful impulse to disable these threats’—J.D. Trout , John and Mae Calamos Professor of Philosophy, Illinois Institute of Technology

This wonderful book demystifies economics and explains the practical tools it provides for thinking about challenges we all face in everyday life – from getting small children to go to sleep to doing what we can to tackle climate change.—Diane Coyle, Professor of Public Policy, Cambridge University

A fun and engaging read, designed to help us make better choices, lead better lives, and make a better world. Angner teaches us how to understand the life-defining realities of our world as economics, from sleep-training a baby, choosing between jobs, or building a community. He then teaches us how to manages those realities-including how to save and invest– by applying the tools and insights learned from economic theory and behavioral research—L. A. Paul, Millstone Family Professor, Philosophy and Cognitive Science, Yale  

Angner blends economic history, theory and practice wonderfully to draw out how powerful economics can be. Written in an accessible and engaging way, this book is full of lessons to show how economics can practically make your life, and the world around you, a better place—Jack Meaning and Rupal Patel, Bank of England economists and authors of Can’t We Just Print More Money?

A book brimming with beautiful explanations of important ideas and surprising discoveries—Tore Ellingsen, Stockholm School of Economics, former Chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

A fascinating, playful approach to a subject that can so often seem complicated and unrelated to the challenges of everyday life. With an engaging, entertaining style, Angner blends the practical and theoretical to leave the reader informed and inspired to put this way of thinking into practice—Eloise Skinner, author of But Are You Alive? 

Did you know that economics has a lot to say about building communities, figuring out how to avoid fooling ourselves, and may even possess the key to being happy in life? Angner makes a case for all these points and more. He is the perfect tour guide to economics—Jay Bhattacharya, Stanford University

How Economics Can Save The World makes the convincing case that economics is about so much more than money … whether that means helping people make better decisions about how to spend our limited time, or developing a more effective way to encourage organ donations, or figuring out how to sift through contrary parenting advice and find the approach that works. All these things, Angner painstakingly explains, are economics in action. And what’s more, we can use these principles in our own lives to make the world a better place.—Kirsty Sedgman, Lecturer at the University of Bristol and author of On Being Unreasonable

An excellent book for people who want to know what economists do.—Robbie Mochrie, Senior Lecturer, Heriot-Watt University

A fun and highly informative read—The Irish Times

A really nicely done introduction to economics and what it can do. It’s a great book for a young adult/teenager considering studying economics, or perhaps an adult who has always wanted to know what economics is but never quite dared to find out—Five BooksErik Angner is Professor of Practical Philosophy at Stockholm University, where he directs the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) Program. He has taught economics and philosophy at multiple universities for some 25 years, and is an appreciated lecturer and keynote speaker. He is the author of two previous books as well as multiple journal articles and book chapters on topics in the intersection of philosophy and economics. He lives in Stockholm with his wife and their three children.GB

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