False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World - Softcover

New York Times Bestseller

"A thorough examination of economies from the age of empire to the age of the IMF... Beattie's analysis dazzles." -- The Washington Post

"Beattie, who studied history at Oxford University and economics at Cambridge, draws on both disciplines to overturn assumptions about the evolution of the global economy... False Economy is full of insightful nuggets." -- BusinessWeek

"Provocative... It would be fun to talk with Mr. Beattie at a dinner party." -- The New York Times

"Beattie's analytics show that facts can be a force for change. Give people hte facts, and they'll do the right thing." -- Bono

"A fascinating and insightful book." -- Mohamed A. El-Erian, CEO, PIMCO, and author of When Markets Collide

A "provocative...persuasive" (The New York Times) book that examines countries' economic destinies.

In False Economy, Alan Beattie weaves together the economic choices, political choices, economic history, and human stories, that determine whether governments and countries remain rich or poor.

He also addresses larger questions about why they make the choices they do, and what those mean for the future of our global economy. But despite the heady subject matter, False Economy is a lively and lucid book that engagingly and thought-provokingly examines macroeconomics, economic topics, and the fault lines and successes that can make or break a culture or induce a global depression. Along the way, readers will discover why Africa doesn't grow cocaine, why our asparagus comes from Peru, why our keyboard spells QWERTY, and why giant pandas are living on borrowed time.