Naked Economics By Charles Wheelan Summary

Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan gives the reader a basic understanding of the different aspects and workings of economics. Economics deals with incentives, which are reasons people may want to do something whether the end result be positive or negative. Another of the author’s points is that some governments are sometimes inefficient systems that pass regulations which limit consumers, however they are necessary. Lastly Wheelan states that everything one does, costs in some way.
“First, a market economy inspires hard work and progress not just because it rewards winners, but because it crushes losers.” This quote suggests that a market economy is an effective system because hard work equates to better rewards in the long run, which I agree with. If there is no incentive to do something or a person does not believe that the costs will outweigh the benefits, for instance, people will just not do it. For example, working hard early in life such as attending a college and receiving a degree will give you a better chance of being successful in your field and having a higher salary (the incentive), although it is not guaranteed. If one does not think attending college will benefit them later in life they won’t work hard to do so. There are negative incentives too, for example banks store a lot of money so one may have the incentive to rob the bank, even though it could, and
For example when you go on a run around your neighborhood it is not free, it costs you your time and energy and as a result you stay healthy. Making bad decisions such as breaking the law could cost you your freedom or hard earned money from fines. I found this quote interesting because before reading this book I had never really thought about cost like energy and time, only the cost of things in