What if Money Grew on Trees?: Asking the big questions about economics by David Boyle

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What if Money Grew on Trees?: Asking the big questions about economics by David Boyle

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Buy What if Money Grew on Trees?: Asking the big questions about economics by David Boyle at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Category: Business and Finance
Rating: 5/5
Reviewer: Louise Jones
Reviewed by Louise Jones
Summary: Everything you ever wanted to know about money, but were too afraid to ask....
Buy? Yes Borrow? Yes
Pages: 160 Date: October 2013
Publisher: Ivy Press
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 9781782400462

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In a climate of increasing economic uncertainty, we may often find ourselves exploring the big questions about money, finance and the global market. For example, during the recent downturn, experts were faced with such questions as What if we just kept printing more banknotes? and What would happen if the banks crashed again? These, and other thought-provoking speculative questions have been put to a team of experts and their answers have been recorded in a fascinating and absorbing little book called What if Money Grew on Trees?

The book is part of the What If? series published by Ivy Press, which attempts to answer big questions on a series of subjects. The format of the books is always the same, with each question having its own dedicated two-page layout, complete with a full colour picture or diagram to compliment the text and a variety of interesting facts on the topic in addition to the main article. The book can be either read from cover to cover or dipped into as the mood takes the reader.

There are seven main sections: Money, Work, People, Markets, Green, Finance and Business. The answers are not overly complicated, but set out in way that is easy to understand and digest. The subjects are questions that all of us will have asked at one time or another, such as What if we paid people for housework?, What if we were paid what we are worth?, What if we stopped shopping on the high street? and What if there were enough food for everyone?. The answers are often surprising and certainly not as clear cut as one may expect. For example, a section about Fairtrade speculates that if all bananas were to be made fair-trade, this could actually result in a negative sequence of events that would undermine the whole banana industry and result in worse conditions and pay for the poorest and most vulnerable farmers.

I really enjoyed this book. The answers were concise, easy to understand and thought provoking. The topics covered in the book are issues that affect every one of us on a day to day basis, making the content increasingly relevant today. I believe people of all ages would find it interesting, topical and well worth a read.

After reading this, you may wish to move on to The World of Business: From Valuable Brands and Games Directors Play to Bail-Outs and Bad Boys by The Economist a veritable treasure trove of facts and statistics from the world of Economics.

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Buy What if Money Grew on Trees?: Asking the big questions about economics by David Boyle at Amazon You can read more book reviews or buy What if Money Grew on Trees?: Asking the big questions about economics by David Boyle at Amazon.com.

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