Product Description

A comprehensive guide to understanding today's global economy from the author of the bestselling A Beginner's Guide to the World Economy.

While reporting on today's world, business and mainstream media alike use terms and mention trends that even the savviest consumer may find baffling. In his latest book, Randy Charles Epping uses compelling narratives and insightful analogies to clearly and concisely explain the rapidly changing way business is done in the twenty-first century, without a single chart or graph.

Epping defines key ideas and commonly used words and phrases like:

• Carbon footprint
• WTO
• Economy of scale
• NAFTA
• Outsourcing

Epping also illustrates how central banks help navigate global crises and drive the global economy, discusses the benefits of Green Economics, shows how trade wars can be avoided, and explains the virtual economy, where multimillion dollar transactions take place in the blink of an eye.

Complete with 89 easy-to-master tools for surviving and thriving in the new global marketplace and an extensive glossary, The 21st Century Economy—A Beginner's Guide is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the complex economy of the world in which we live.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #257784 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-07
• Released on: 2009-04-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780307387905
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Epping (A Beginner's Guide to the World Economy) offers a comprehensive guide to the global economy, arguing that economic literacy is a survival imperative in a fusion economy, where what happens in one corner of the globe can have unprecedented impact on the rest of the world. He gives a thorough and easy-to-understand explanation of the rudiments of global finance and provides readers with the tools to be able to make sense of future economic events. Sidebars scattered throughout the book go deeper into such terms and concepts as subprime mortgages, mortgage-backed securities and the difference between budget deficit and trade deficit. Epping also explores macroeconomics, the virtual economy, private equity and public good—and even how to eliminate poverty. A refreshing look at the present economic situation, minus the often confusing graphs, charts and jargon typical in works of this type, this book provides a solid understanding of economic basics, giving readers the much-needed tools they need to stay on top of future developments. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
The economic upheaval of 2008 has left many investors and ordinary citizens stunned and confused, as it seems like none of the normal rules apply in this fast-paced world of electronic trading and instant information. We hear many terms thrown at us, but few understand their meaning or why they have any relevance to our own financial health. Epping, author of A Beginner’s Guide to the World Economy (1992), has created this beginner’s guide to fundamental economic terms and concepts to help the average person understand and navigate the rapidly changing twenty-first-century economy. Oft-heard but confusing terms such as credit default swap and collateralized debt obligation are defined in concise, easy-to-understand language to help readers make sense of the information overload coming via media sources like CNBC and the Internet. There is no guarantee that this guide will make you a better investor, but today more than ever it is essential that more citizens become economically literate, and this is a great place to start. --David Siegfried

About the Author
Randy Charles Epping, based in Zurich, Switzerland and São Paulo, Brazil, has worked in International Finance for over 25 years, holding management positions in European and American investment banks in London, Geneva, and Zurich. He has a master's degree in International Relations from Yale University, in addition to degrees from the University of Notre Dame and the University of Paris-La Sorbonne. He is currently the manager of IFS Project Management AG, a Switzerland-based international consulting company. He is also the president of the Central Europe Foundation, which provides assistance to students and economic organizations in Central and Eastern Europe. In addition to several other books on the world economy, he has written a novel, Trust, a financial thriller based in Zurich and Budapest. Mr. Epping holds dual U.S. and Swiss citizenship and is fluent in six languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Customer Reviews

This Book is Outstanding and Necessary
The 21st Century Economy - A Beginners Guide is fantastic; since reading it, I feel like I can be an informed and active participant in today's politics and current events.

I am a housewife in Oregon but I want to understand what I am hearing in the news, I want to engage in the discussion and be an informed voter. This book helped me with all those things.

Epping describes economic terms in a comfortable and understandable way. He uses real world examples that I can relate with. His topics are exactly in-line with the top stories in the news. His concise explanations help me understand the current economic problems and proposed solutions. Even reading the newspaper, if I come to a term I don't understand, I just open the glossary in the back of the book and get a quick and understandable definition... no wading through dozens of confusing web searches.

This book is outstanding and necessary. I think every American, from school kids to adults, should read it.

Finally A Book On Economics That Is Not Confusing.
If you have never taken a course in elementary economics or even if you have and you want to refresh your memory, Randy Charles Epping's The 21ST-Century Economy: A Beginner's Guide is just the right prescription.

With all that is going on today in the world economy, it is indispensable for all of us to have some understanding of the nuts and bolts of economics and its principles. Just as every other discipline has its unique language, so does economics and as Epping mentions in his introduction, "never before has it been so important for us to become economically literate."

In the same way Epping remembers his first professor of economics, I likewise remember mine, where both of our professors believed that any question concerning economics must be explained with complicated graphs or formulae. There didn't seem to be a question that could be answered with a simple yes or no. As in the case of Epping, most of the time I was confused and in deed turned off. Was this the only way to teach and understand economics?

The objective of The 21ST-Century Economy: A Beginner's Guide is to provide its readers with a friendly approach to the understanding of the 21st-century economy and it is here where the book brilliantly succeeds. Its target audience is consumers, voters, businesspeople, and students who will be able to survive, and thrive, in the new global marketplace.

To realize its goals, Epping succinctly covers everything you need to know concerning such topics as fusion economy, macro and micro economics, central banks and global crisis, free trade and isolationism, how currencies work, globalization, virtual economy, investing in the global economy, comparing investments in the 21st-century economy, who controls companies of the world, corporate governance and greed, hedge funds and derivative traders, income gaps and development, drugs, slavery, and shady deals, best economic system for the 21st century, outsourcing and immigration, green economy, and health, development and global pandemics.

Each of the above sections includes explanations or informational tools that aids readers in comprehending fundamental concepts. For example, if we refer to the chapter dealing with free trade or isolationism, the informational tools explain what are subsidies, tariffs, and quotas. What is quite noteworthy is that Epping defines economic terms in relation to something readers can readily relate to. In the case of the term "subsidy," we are told to "think of a child receiving an allowance from his or her parents. Subsidies are government payments to businesses, ostensibly to help them through economic hard times." After explaining what these terms mean, Epping follows up with a more comprehensive explanation of trade barriers, which are compared to fences between feuding neighbours that are often imposed unilaterally by one country acting on its own to limit imports.

The end of the book contains a very comprehensive glossary providing readers with an excellent overview and an accessible dictionary of economic terms.

No doubt, The 21ST-Century Economy: A Beginner's Guide will contribute immensely to helping people understand the importance of economics and its fundamental principles. Moreover, it could turn out to be exactly what readers are looking for, or what they need in order to be able to make sense of the daily bombardment we receive concerning the economy.

Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor Bookpleasures

This book teaches economy in the most understandable language
There is no question the economy is one of the topics at our dinner tables these days. But the media can confuse even the most knowledgeable people by making the subject overly complicated. What I like about this book is its simplicity. It does not contain any supply and demand graphs, or mathematical equations with Greek letters. It is simply, easy to understand, and it helps readers understand the economy so that they can understand the news.

The author says all the economies around the world are interconnected. A plunge in the stock market in the United States has negative effects on financial markets all over the world. If you are confused about how our country found itself in the current economic mess, how the world currencies affect our lives, what the virtual economy is, and how to invest now, then this book will be helpful.

- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market