By Tim Harford
Q&A with author via Smithsonian.com
Q: So what made you decide to write a book looking at the modern economy through specific inventions?
A: I think it was a slight sense of frustration. I’m an economist, and economics often feels abstract and very impersonal, even though I don’t think it’s abstract or impersonal. As an economics writer, I’m also looking for a way to tell a good story and get some ideas across. I realized if I produced a kind of technological history with lots of ideas and examples I could teach some economics lessons through these very specific stories.
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