False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World

Financial Times world trade editor Beattie combines economic history, psychology and political analysis to identify the factors that predispose economies to sickness or health. The author takes a human interest, Freakonomics-style approach to such economic riddles as why Islamic nations stay mired in poverty (he argues that one reason might be the Qur’an’s dictum against usury and interest-earning) and why Africa is dependent on exporting … [ Read more ]