Kernick D, ed. Abingdon, Oxon: Radclife Medical Press, 2002. Pp 324. ISBN 1 85775 575 8

It was with a somewhat heavy heart that I accepted the challenge to write a review of an economics book. Although I knew the editor wrote well, a book on economics was not at the top of my reading list. It would do me some good, I thought. In the end it wasn’t a challenge—I read the book in two weeks, enjoying the punchy, well written text, and—yes—it did me good. But unlike many self-betterment schemes, it was painless.

What stood out were the clear aims at the start of the book and the introductions to each section and to …