The Yaxis Live by Rajesh Kumar

Okay, I admit this upfront.Tim Harford’s Undercover Economist is a must read. Read the below to see a real life problem.

I should have read Tim Harford’s Undercover Economist long ago. This book seeks to find, analyse and explain for a layman, economic sense (blended with copious supply of common sense) behind some of the most ordinary phenomenon from real life. Well, some have compared this to Freakonomics, but I would say my experience with TUE as much superior.

Economics is a field of study which , as some great light said, predicts the past. It tends to be drab, and academic, due to which most of us do not even want to spend (waste?) our time in understanding the economic phenomenon. This would be quite different, if the teacher the Tim Harford.

My favourite chaoters of this book remain “Who Pays for your coffee” ( an eye opener) and “The Crosstown traffic”.

The beauty of this book is that it knows its readers well. So none of the tough economic terms terms for you. Neither do you spend time poring over the x-y axes of curves trying to make sense of some underlying economic phenomenon. Read it in simple English, at a pace that you choose, and start from a chapter whose title attracts you. As I said, a must read.