“Mathematical formalism has been an enormously important source of intellectual progress in economics, but it has not proved an effective vehicle for introducing newcomers to our subject.”

The Economic Naturalist is one of the many pop-economics books out there, perhaps the most famous of which is Freakonomics. It’s one of the ones I haven’t read though, so I thought I’d pick it up, and I was pleasantly surprised. Frank used to instruct his students each year to find a seeming puzzle in the world and explain it with economics, the best of which have been collected here. If somewhat basic, it is at least entertaining.

Frank opens by worrying that economics students rarely remember what they are taught: associating economics with math and diagrams, they can’t actually apply it to the real world. Seeing as how this is a current subject of debate in the profession (see the Economist), I can hardly argue. Econ provides basic concepts of considerable value, and if students don’t leave with some understanding of opportunity cost, comparative advantage, etc., then I’m not sure it matters how good they are at calculus.

The entire book, then, is questions asked by his students and answers in response to them, often based on the original essay the student wrote. Questions vary from why drive-through ATMs have braille on them (cheaper not to produce different ATMs for drive-throughs )  to why milk is sold in square containers and pop in round ones (milk requires refrigerated shelf space, and so needs to be packed on shelves as efficiently as possible: pop is carbonated, and round shapes are more solid).

The essays are fun and in some cases enlightening, and are organized around key economic concepts, to illustrate their application in the real world. After the first half or so though, it all gets a bit wearing. To be fair, I suspect that’s because I already know the concepts; for a newcomer in the field, it might be considerably more entertaining. Still, I’m not sure it competes with the like of Tim Harford’s Undercover Economist, or Freakonomics for that matter. An entertaining read, but I think I’d rather read more about economics education directly. For those with less background in economics though, it might be a fun introduction to the field.

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