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Economics is too important to be left to the economists, argues Jim Stanford in his groundbreaking book Economics for Everyone: A Short Guide to the Economics of Capitalism. Now in its second edition, Economics for Everyone is an antidote to the abstract and ideological way that economics is normally taught and reported.
Join us for a presentation by Jim Stanford on the need for a general rethinking of what is considered "common sense" in economics, and how some of the most contentious policy issues in Alberta today – including the carbon tax and a $15 minimum wage – can be looked at from a more people-centred economic perspective.
This is a free event. Copies of the second edition of Economics for Everyone: A Short Guide to the Economics of Capitalism will be available for purchase, and a book-signing will follow Jim’s talk.
About Jim Stanford
Jim Stanford is Economist and Director of the Centre for Future Work, based at the Australia Institute.
Jim relocated in 2015 to Sydney, Australia from Toronto, where he earned the reputation as one of Canada’s best-known economic commentators. He served for over 20 years as Economist and Director of Policy with Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector trade union (formerly the Canadian Auto Workers). Jim is also the Harold Innis Industry Professor in Economics at McMaster University in Hamilton, and is also an Honorary Professor of Political Economy at the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney.
Before leaving Canada, Jim wrote an economics column for the Globe and Mail, appeared regularly on CBC TV’s Bottom Line economics panel, and was the vice-president of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Jim received his PhD. in Economics from the New School for Social Research in New York. He also holds an M.Phil. from Cambridge University, and a BA (Hons.) from the University of Calgary.
Jim is the author of Economics for Everyone: A Short Guide to the Economics of Capitalism (second edition published by Pluto Books in 2015), which has been published in six languages. He has written, edited or co-edited five other books, and dozens of articles and reports in both peer-reviewed and popular outlets, and is recognized for his ability to communicate economic concepts in an accessible and humorous manner.
About the book
Economics for Everyone is an antidote to the confusing and ideological way that economics is normally taught and reported. Stanford argues that economics is usually presented in a needlessly abstract and technical manner, but in reality anyone who works and struggles to balance their chequebook is an expert on the “economics of everyday life.” Chapters explain the basic working of the capitalist economy, later adding more complete descriptions of the financial industry, the natural environment, government, and globalization. The book concludes with a thorough evaluation and critique of existing capitalism, and presents ideas for changing it.
This concise and readable book provides non-specialist readers with all the information they need to understand how capitalism works (and how it doesn’t). The book will appeal to those working for a fairer world, and students of social sciences who need to engage with economics.