The authors of this book are Peter Schiff and Andrew Schiff. The former is a famous American economist who wrote the book "The Dollar Crash", and the latter is his brother. This is a story book about economics that the father told his son, and the two sons restored the story into a book when they grew up. Therefore, this book, with rich illustrations and easy-to-understand stories, is interesting and interesting to read.

The two authors of this book are staunch supporters of the Austrian School of Economics, so this book is to criticize the Keynesian economic policy pursued by the United States from the standpoint of the Austrian School of Economics. The author makes it clear in the book that it is wrong or even dangerous to prove the economic model advocated by Keynes.

At this point, don't mistake this for a story book for children. I saw a comment on this book, saying that the greatest beauty of Island Economics is that those who are deep don't feel shallow, and those who are shallow don't feel deep. Mao Mao sauce is also deeply impressed.

You know, the slogan of this book is:

Small Island Economics = Principles of Economics+Introduction to Economics+The Wealth of Nations

In the story, we will meet many deja vu people and times, and the names of islands and countries in it are projections and metaphors of our real society.

In the book, the author has made a profound analysis of these economic phenomena and clearly expressed his views. That is to say, the government should not be the leader of the economy, but should be the role of providing public services.

Interpret "Small Island Economics"

1, a short story, and let people aged 9 to 91 understand economics

The book to be started today, like "One Lesson Economics" and "General Economics" previously interpreted, is a very, very excellent economics reading. It's called Small Island Economics. By Peter Schiff and Andrew Schiff.

I bought this book on the first day it was put on the shelves of Luo Ji Thinking. I've been watching devil's economics for a while, but I didn't care about it. It just lay quietly on my bedside table. Just a few days ago, I went to bed after dinner and read the whole book in one breath. After reading it, I immediately decided to stop reading devil's economics and bring this book to everyone.

The authors Peter and Andrew are two brothers. The content of the island is actually a story told by their father, economist Irving Schiff.

Once upon a time, three people lived on an island. They lived like this by catching a fish every day to feed themselves. There is no deposit, no loan and no investment on the island. There's nothing. And one day, one of their wise men was hungry and made a fishing net. From then on, he can catch two fish every day, and when he has surplus grain, he will have savings, and later he will have investment and loan. There are more and more fish and banks ...

Owen is actually popularizing two important classics of economics for his two sons, namely Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations and Marshall's Principles of Economics. These basic concepts and principles of economics, which are difficult for adults, are easily explained by my father Owen with a story.

Later, the two brothers inherited their father's mantle and became economists. They further improved the story that Dad told them, so we got the book "Island Economics" that we see today.

This book shows the content of economics like an cartoon in the form of stories and cartoons. All the stories in "Island Economics" are not independent chapters, but a complete story about how the economy develops from the source. I can easily understand the ins and outs of the whole economic development just like reading a novel. This reading experience is really enjoyable.

this book has only 141,111 words. If you doubt that this book contains too little information, you are wrong. Countless readers have obtained answers to economic questions that they have not understood for decades.

This book can be read by children. If you doubt that the content of this book is too simple, you are really wrong. So many readers have realized the economic truth from the seemingly simple truth that they may never understand.

If you are between 9 and 91 years old and want to know some economics knowledge, it must be very suitable for you. The greatest beauty of "Island" is that those who are deep don't feel shallow, while those who are shallow don't feel deep.

how did inflation and deflation come about?

why did China buy so many U.S. treasury bonds?

should we spend money or save money to reverse the deteriorating economic situation?

why are some countries rich while others are poor?

why can governments spend a lot of money as if they can never run out of money?

Even though we like to know the truth of these things, how many of us can finish reading The Wealth of Nations and Principles of Economics? How many of us are interested in reading those rare economic research papers? Are we really too LOW? Can't we jump up and reach those tall knowledge?

From the perspective of knowledge dissemination, after reading A Brief History of Mankind, we should understand that we should learn to tell stories. Story is the most important tool for human beings to convey information. If all kinds of information, knowledge, rules and figures can be put into the shell of a story and then expressed, then it can be accepted by more people.

We ordinary people usually have to learn some modern medical knowledge, what astrophysics knowledge, which is quite painful. But if these things are put into stories, such as TV dramas, like The Big Bang Theory and Grey's Intern, right? This knowledge can follow the TV series and spread to the homes of ordinary people.

So there is a proverb in the west that truth is naked and everyone dislikes it, so he ran to the village and borrowed a dress. After putting it on, he became a guest of honor. This dress is a story.

Small Island Economics succeeded in doing this, and he put the little-known economic knowledge into a simple story of small island development. The economics to be expounded in "The Island" is so simple and intuitive that it can help us return to trying.

well, let's start today and interpret "small island economics".

In other words, a long time ago, there was a beautiful tropical island, where three people lived, namely Abel, Baker and Charlie, that is, ABC. Life on the island is very hard. They go to the sea to catch fish every day in order to survive. Because there is no advanced fishing technology, each person can only catch one fish every day. This fish is just enough for them to eat their stomachs for a day and barely survive. So fishing is the whole economy of the island. Abel, Baker and Charlie wake up, fish, eat fish and sleep every day. So back and forth, although this life is not pleasant at all, it is better than starving.

Therefore, the economic life on the small island now is super simple. It is also the initial form of an economy, with no deposits, no loans and no investment. All the output is consumed, catching a fish and eating a fish every day.

However, like all of us, Abel, Baker and Charlie also dream of improving their living standards. They also want to do something else besides catching fish, such as getting some better clothes with palm leaves and a shelter from the wind and rain. But they are busy catching fish every day. How can these dreams be realized?

one night, Abel looked up at the starry sky and wondered, is there any way to make my life better? If only I could catch two fish every day, then I would have a day left to do something else. So he suddenly thought of making a tool so that he could catch more fish.

So the next day, Abel began to implement his plan. Weave his fishing net. Baker and Charlie saw Abel standing there rubbing the rope, so they reminded him, what's the matter with you? Are you losing weight? You always play with ropes here, or you will starve if you don't catch fish.

Abel explained, "I want to make a fish trap, so that I can shorten the fishing time and never have to go hungry again." Baker and Charlie think that their friends must be crazy. "That if you don't make this fish trap work, then don't ask us for fish to eat. We will not pay for your madness. " Abel ignored them and continued to weave his fishing net. The fishing net was not finished until it was dark. But the price is that he must starve today. That night, when Baker and Charlie were full and fast asleep, Abel could only imagine delicious fish in his mind to fight the unbearable hunger.

At dawn the next day, Abel hurried to catch fish with a fishing net. At this time, Baker and Charlie were dumbfounded. It took them a whole day to catch a fish, but Abel could catch two fish a day because of the tools.

from such a simple fishing net action, the economy of the island began to change dramatically.

From this story, we can see that Abel showed us a basic economic principle, which people need to rely on if they want to improve their living standards, that is, insufficient consumption and daring to take risks.

Insufficient consumption: In order to weave a fishing net, Abel can't catch fish that day, so he has to give up his income that day and the fish that he could have eaten. He did this, but he had to endure hunger. He temporarily delays consumption now in order to consume more products in the future, that is, to catch more fish.

taking risks: in addition to delaying consumption, Abel also needs to take risks. Because he doesn't know whether the fishing net he made is good or not. If the idea fails, all he gets is a useless rope and an empty stomach.

Back to the book, Abel's creation of fishing nets is the creation of capital. In economics, capital means more than money. It refers to a kind of equipment, the construction and use of which is meaningless in itself, but its significance lies in the fact that other needed things can be made by using the equipment. In fact, what Abel needs is not the fishing net, but the fish. Because this net can bring him more fish, the fishing net itself has value and become a kind of capital.

Later, Abel's fishing net worked, and his productivity doubled. Now he produces more things than he needs to consume. So this brings savings. Now please remember that savings is the lifeblood of healthy economic development. Without it, there is nothing.

We often tell stories about Chinese old ladies and American old ladies buying houses, saying that American old ladies borrowed money to buy houses, lived in houses all their lives, and paid off the loans when they died. And the old lady China? I saved money all my life, bought a house and died before I lived in it. We often say this example, but we should know that behind every American old lady who spends in advance, there must be an old lady in China who keeps saving. And this is often ignored by everyone. Here's a little bit about why saving is important, and you'll understand later.

For all animals except us, economics can be simply understood as daily living activities. Food shortage, bad weather, the threat of predators, diseases and starvation are the normal living conditions of all animals. Fortunately, we humans have two things: our brains and dexterous hands. It is by relying on these two things that we make tools and our lives will be different. Otherwise, our fate will not be much different from those animals.

We can imagine: What would our social economy look like if all machines and tools disappeared? Cars, tractors, shovels, axes, spears, etc. What would it be like if all these things really disappeared and all our consumer goods had to be hunted, picked and planted by our own hands? There is no doubt that such a life must be very hard.

The appearance of tools has brought about all changes and made the emergence of economy possible. Spears help us defeat prey, shovels help us grow crops, and fishing nets help us catch fish. These tools have improved our labor efficiency. The more things we produce, the more things we can consume, and our life will become more and more beautiful.

The simplest definition of the concept of economy is to strive to maximize the benefits of limited resources to meet human needs as much as possible. Tools, capital and innovation are the keys to achieve this goal.

with this in mind, it is easy to understand the reason for economic growth: we have found a better way to produce the goods that human beings need. No matter how powerful an economy becomes in the end, whether it is as big as a city or a country. This fundamental reason will never change.

To continue the story on our island, Abel, who has a fishing net now, seems to have a bright future. What about the other two? Although Abel never deliberately benefited others, his capital, that is, his fishing net, actually helped everyone on the island. Let's see what's going on.

Baker and Charlie, seeing the benefits of Abel's fishing net, said to Abel, "Since you only use that thing every other day, can you lend it to me on the day you don't use it?" Everyone is a good friend, and we are blessed together. " Abel is still upset about what happened before, thinking, I made the fishing net because I was hungry, and you two rabbits laughed at me before. Also, what if you break my fishing net? Or don't give it back to me? Then I'm going to start all over again. It's too risky.

So Abel refused their request: "Sorry, since I can make fishing nets, why don't you two make them yourself?"

Although Charlie and Baker have seen the effect of fishing nets, they are worried that they can't make such nets in one day. If they can't make them in three days, we will starve to death. They thought of a way.

"Well, let's make an agreement. Isn't your fish much better? Then lend it to us to eat, and we won't have to starve when we weave the net. We'll return the fish to you when we finish weaving the net. In return, you borrow one fish and I'll return two to you. How about it? " Hearing this, Abel thought it was good, although it was risky to lend fish to these two boys. But I can get two fish without doing anything.

It seems that Abel is stealing the fruits of other people's labor and profiting from their hard work by lending them fish in return. Abel's motivation is just to earn more fish, but it is because of his greed that he can bring unexpected benefits to others.

We should know that if Abel doesn't lend the fish to others, he has other plans. For example,

he can keep the fish for himself, so there will be no loss, but his fish will not grow, which is savings.

He can indulge himself, stop working and eat his extra fish slowly. This is consumption.

He can also compile two more nets in two days, and then rent more nets to Baker and.