Books by The Economist

Guide to Economic Indicators: Making Sense of Economics, Fifth Edition (The Economist Series)

by Economist, The Economist

The definitive guide to understanding and interpreting economic indicators
The Book
It is essential in business and many professions today to have a thorough understanding of economic information. Written for the non-specialist, this highly accessible guide provides the keys to understanding all the major and many lesser economic indicators: what they are, the areas they cover, their reliability, and how and why to interpret them. It contains chapters covering:
• GDP (Gross Domestic Product),GNP (Gross National Product) and GNI (Gross National Income)
• Growth, trends and cycles
• Population, employment, unemployment
• Government and Consumers
• Investment and savings
• Industry and commerce
• Exchange rates
• Money and financial markets Now in its fifth edition this fully updated, revised guide is invaluable for anyone who needs or simply wants to have the underlying economic realities of the world we live in clearly explained.

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The Moon: A History for the Future (Economist Books)

by Oliver Morton, The Economist

An intimate portrait of the Earth's closest neighbor--the Moon--that explores the history and future of humankind's relationship with it

Every generation has looked towards the heavens and wondered at the beauty of the Moon. Fifty years ago, a few Americans became the first to do the reverse--and shared with Earth-bound audiences the view of their own planet hanging in the sky instead.

Recently, the connection has been discovered to be even closer: a fragment of the Earth's surface was found embedded in a rock brought back from the Moon. And astronauts are preparing to return to the surface of the Moon after a half-century hiatus--this time to the dark side.

Oliver Morton explores how the ways we have looked at the Moon have shaped our perceptions of the Earth: from the controversies of early astronomers such as van Eyck and Galileo, to the Cold War space race, to the potential use of the Moon as a stepping stone for further space exploration.

Advanced technologies, new ambitions, and old dreams mean that men, women, and robots now seem certain to return to the Moon. For some, it is a future on which humankind has turned its back for too long. For others, an adventure yet to begin.

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Treasure Palaces: Great Writers Visit Great Museums

by The Economist

In this exuberant celebration of the world's museums, great and small, revered writers like Ann Patchett, Julian Barnes, Ali Smith, and more tell us about their favorite museums, including the Lower East Side Tenement Museum in New York, the Mus'e Rodin in Paris, and the Prado in Madrid. These essays, collected from the pages of The Economist's Intelligent Life magazine, reveal the special hold that some museums have over us all.

Acclaimed novelist William Boyd visits the Leopold Museum in Vienna -- a shrine to his favorite artist, Egon Schiele, whom Boyd first discovered on a postcard as a University student. In front of her favorite Rodins, Allison Pearson recalls a traumatic episode she suffered at the hands of a schoolteacher following a trip to the Mus'e in Paris. Neil Gaiman admires the fantastic world depicted in British outsider artist Richard Dadd's "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke," a tiny painting that also decorated the foldout cover of a Queen album, housed in the Victorian room of Tate Britain's Pre-Raphaelite collection. Ann Patchett fondly revisits Harvard University's Museum of Natural History -- which she discovered at 19, while in the throes of summer romance with a biology student named Jack.

Treasure Palaces is a treasure trove of wonders, a tribute to the diversity and power of the museums, the safe-keepers of our world's most extraordinary artifacts, and an intimate look into the deeply personal reveries we fall into when before great art.

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Megatech: Technology in 2050

by The Economist

In the not-too-distant future, we'll be plugging our brains into the internet, replacing our worn-out body parts, and eating meat grown in a lab. If we're lucky, we'll be living in a world of more productivity, more energy, and more equality -- and if we're not, we'll be facing the profound threat of nonexistent privacy, ecological collapse, and nuclear proliferation. Of course, we can't know the future, but Megatech: Technology in 2050 is a mind-clearing guide to the possibilities.

In this bold new book, Daniel Franklin brings together today's most innovative scientists, leaders, thinkers, and writers to imagine how future technology will develop and shape our lives. Nobel Laureate Frank Wilczek expects a rapid acceleration of scientific discovery, and Melinda Gates envisions a smartphone in the hand of every woman. Meanwhile, Benjamin Sutherland warns of military robots, and Leo Mirani sees smart glasses on every person's face. The result is a thought-provoking collection of insight and imagination that will inspire us to make the most of future opportunities just as it motivates us to tackle the environmental, economic, and social challenges ahead.

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The World in Conflict: Understanding the World's Troublespots

by The Economist, John Andrews

In the last decade, the USA and its allies have invaded Afghanistan; Russia has sent troops into Ukraine; Britain and France helped topple a regime in Libya; the militant group ISIS has emerged in the Middle East; and across West Africa, the quest for precious minerals has both financed and caused conflicts.

Other conflicts are less bloody, but still dangerous -- the nervous stand-off between India and Pakistan in Kashmir, for instance, or the continuing stalemate between nuclear-armed, totalitarian North Korea and capitalist, democratic South Korea. Can we be truly confident that these arguments will not lead to armed conflict -- whether by design or by human error?

In The World in Conflict, John Andrews tackles head-on the reasons why global conflict is an ever-present in our lives. He analyses today's conflicts continent by continent, considering the causes, participants, impact and likely outcomes. He looks at recently-ended wars that remain prone to intermittent fighting. And, crucially, he considers where, why and how new conflicts might erupt.

This is a book for our times, an essential guide for anyone and everyone who wants to know more about the world's main danger spots and how and why war and terrorism persist -- in short, how we might better understand our world in conflict.

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Economics: Making Sense of the Modern Economy

by The Economist, Richard Davies

The world of economics is changing. Years of turmoil in the global economy mean that nothing will ever be quite the same again.

This is the starting point and theme of this radically revised Economist books classic, now available for the first time in America.

Richard Davies, economics editor of The Economist, takes us on a journey through the paper's own analysis of the state of the world's economies, how we reached this point and what to expect in the next decade. He explores:

what's gone wrong since 2008, why it's happened and how we can stop it happening again;
the shifting focus of economics from banking to labor economics;
the future hopes and challenges for the world economy.

Along the way, we encounter the global economy laid bare, from banks, panics, and crashes to innovative new policies to improve how markets function; from discussions around jobs, pay, and inequality to the promise of innovation and productivity; from the implications of emerging markets and the globalization of trade through to the sharing economy and the economics of Google and eBay.

The result is a fascinating review of the global economy and the changing role of economics in the new world order.

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Frugal Innovation: How to do more with less (Economist Books)

by The Economist, Navi Radjou, Jaideep Prabhu

Winner of the CMI Management Book of the Year 2016

Frugal innovation is a way that companies can create high-quality products with limited resources. Once the preserve of firms in poor markets, Western companies are now seeking ways to appeal to cost-conscious and environmentally-aware consumers at home. With an estimated trillion-dollar global market for frugal products, and with potentially huge cost savings to be gained, frugal innovation is revolutionizing business and reshaping management thinking. This book explains the principles, perspectives and techniques behind frugal innovation, enabling managers to profit from the great changes ahead. The book explains:

How to achieve mass customization, using low-cost robotics, inexpensive product design and virtual prototyping software.

How consumers and other external partners can help develop products

How to implement sustainable practices, such as the production of waste-free products

How to change the corporate culture to become more frugal

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Style Guide (Economist Books)

by The Economist

This expanded eleventh edition of the bestselling guide to style is based on the Economist's own updated house style manual, and is an invaluable companion for everyone who wants to communicate with the clarity, style and precision for which the Economist is renowned. As the introduction says, 'clarity of writing usually follows clarity of thought.'
The Economist Style Guide gives general advice on writing, points out common errors and clichés, offers guidance on consistent use of punctuation, abbreviations and capital letters, and contains an exhaustive range of reference material - covering everything from accountancy ratios and stock market indices to laws of nature and science.
Some of the numerous useful rules and common mistakes pointed out in the guide include:
*Which informs, that defines. This is the house that Jack built. But: This house, which Jack built, is now falling down.
•Discreet means circumspect or prudent; discrete means separate or distinct. Remember that "Questions are never indiscreet. Answers sometimes are" (Oscar Wilde).
•Flaunt means display, flout means disdain. If you flout this distinction you will flaunt your ignorance
•Forgo means do without; forego means go before.
•Fortuitous means accidental, not fortunate or well-timed.
•Times: Take care. Three times more than X is four times as much as X.
•Full stops: Use plenty. They keep sentences short. This helps the reader.

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No copies available.

Style Guide (Economist Books)

by The Economist

This expanded eleventh edition of the bestselling guide to style is based on the Economist's own updated house style manual, and is an invaluable companion for everyone who wants to communicate with the clarity, style and precision for which the Economist is renowned. As the introduction says, 'clarity of writing usually follows clarity of thought.'

The Economist Style Guide gives general advice on writing, points out common errors and clich's, offers guidance on consistent use of punctuation, abbreviations and capital letters, and contains an exhaustive range of reference material - covering everything from accountancy ratios and stock market indices to laws of nature and science.

Some of the numerous useful rules and common mistakes pointed out in the guide include:
*Which informs, that defines. This is the house that Jack built. But: This house, which Jack built, is now falling down.
Discreet means circumspect or prudent; discrete means separate or distinct. Remember that "Questions are never indiscreet. Answers sometimes are" (Oscar Wilde).
Flaunt means display, flout means disdain. If you flout this distinction you will flaunt your ignorance
Forgo means do without; forego means go before.
Fortuitous means accidental, not fortunate or well-timed.
Times: Take care. Three times more than X is four times as much as X.
Full stops: Use plenty. They keep sentences short. This helps the reader.

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The Economist Guide to Financial Markets: Why They Exist and How They Work (Economist Books)

by The Economist, Marc Levinson

Extensively revised and updated following the fallout from the global financial crisis, the 6th edition of this highly regarded book brings the reader right up to speed with the latest financial market developments, and provides a clear and incisive guide to a complex world that even those who work in it often find hard to understand.

In chapters on the markets that deal with money, foreign exchange, equities, bonds, commodities, financial futures, options and other derivatives, the book examines why these markets exist, how they work, and who trades in them, and gives a run-down of the factors that affect prices and rates.

Business history is littered with disasters that occurred because people involved their firms with financial instruments they didn't properly understand. If they had had this book they might have avoided their mistakes. For anyone wishing to understand financial markets, there is no better guide.

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Guide to Country Risk: How to identify, manage and mitigate the risks of doing business across borders (Economist Books)

by The Economist, Mina Toksöz

Country risk explains the things that can go wrong when business is conducted across borders. It's not just multinational companies, with factories worldwide and complex operations, that need to understand sudden changes in business conditions. These can affect any small firm that may be looking to expand sales abroad or work with a foreign supplier. The 2008-09 global financial crisis and the Arab Spring showed us how quickly and dramatically business conditions in any country can worsen and spread. But a thorough understanding and careful management of country risk will help a company survive a crisis -- and even open up new opportunities.

The Economist Guide to Country Risk explains:

What risks foreign investors face, and how to measure and manage them in a systematic way.

Why political and economic shocks are so hard to predict.

Where economies are vulnerable and how existing risk models spot (or miss) signs of impending disaster.

The typical bad habits of managers who ignore the warning signs.

How and where the next crisis will emerge.

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Go Figure: Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know (Economist Books)

by The Economist

Go Figure: Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know brings together for the first time the very best explainers and charts, written and created by top journalists to help us understand such brain-bending conundrums as why almost half the population of Korea has one of two surnames, how bitcoin mining works, and the seasonal distribution of dog poo on the streets of New York. Subjects both topical and timeless, profound and peculiar, are explained with The Economist's trademark wit and verve.

The Economist Explains and its online sister, the Daily Chart, are the two most popular blogs on The Economist's website. Together, these online giants provide answers to the kinds of questions, quirky and serious, that may be puzzling anyone interested in the world around them. Want to know how a tattoo affects your job prospects, why bees are under threat, or even how different countries spend their money? We have the answers. They are sometimes surprising, often intriguing, and always enlightening.

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Why Deals Fail: And How to Rescue Them

by The Economist, Anna Faelten, Michel Driessen, Scott Moeller

The combined value of all M&A deals from 1980 to the end of 2015 was almost 65 trillion -- bigger than the current annual world economy value outside the US. In that same period, almost 900,000 deals were announced. Many were questionable, as Why Deals Fail shows. With companies expected to continue to merge in record numbers, it is time to learn some critical lessons from those deals.

In 2014 the government of the UK -- one of the most open markets globally for M&A -- commissioned Cass Business School's Mergers and Acquisitions Research Centre, headed by Scott Moeller, to investigate whether M&A has a negative or positive impact on the country's economy. Their findings: M&A deals do generate short-term benefits for the economy, especially because some large deals were spectacularly successful. However, over the longer term, the results are less clear-cut. Despite those highly successful tie-ups that drove the economic results to an overall positive average, the majority of UK mergers by number in the research period actually destroyed value. In summary, deals can be hugely beneficial for all involved when you get it right but they still, at large, struggle to live up to their initial hype -- and potential. Done wrong, they can damage business and, by extension, the economy and result in hundreds if not thousands of employees being made redundant. Most of the mergers detailed in this book are lessons in what not to do; the authors get behind the corporate veil to show what went wrong when huge and otherwise highly successful global businesses such as the Royal Bank of Scotland, Microsoft, and HP embarked on M&A transactions.

Why Deals Fail is aimed at business people who want to understand better how M&A can drive corporate fortunes. Whether you are a seasoned M&A professional, an employee in a company that is acquiring or being acquired, or a newly graduated business student doing analysis about a deal, this book will help you to make the right decisions when they are most crucial.

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Economics: An A-Z Guide (Economist Books)

by The Economist, Matthew Bishop

Economics is all around us, crucial to every aspect of our lives. But how many of us know what an absolute advantage or a zero-sum game really is?

The Economist's A-Z guide to economics explains the most important economic terms and concepts. Written with the clarity and wit for which the newspaper is renowned, it features bite-sized overviews of essential economic ideas.

If you need to understand why a country's balance of payments is such a big deal, whether deflation is always a bad thing or exactly why John Maynard Keynes or Milton Friedman were so influential, then dipping into this guide will provide the answers.

Primer, glossary, dictionary and reference, this book offers everything you always wanted to know about economics but were afraid to ask.

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