Book Review: Economics for Real People

The Austrian School approach to the study economics is practical, logical, and accessible. Understanding it gives one an excellent perspective on history, philosophy, politics, business, current events, and daily life. However, there are so many thinkers one needs to explore, starting with Frédérick Bastiat, Carl Menger, Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, and Friederich A. Hayek. While incredibly enlightening, their works can be overwhelming in their size, depth, and dryness. They can each take quite a while to get through, and there are so many of them. Gene Callahan shrinks the central concepts from the works of Bastiat, Menger, Mises, Rothbard, and Hayek into one reasonably sized volume that is succinct and more colorfully written.

Callahan replaces dated examples with more modern ones to illustrate concepts, but defines almost everything with direct quotes from the economists. While so much of the content is taken from other economists, Callahan incorporates plenty of original points, writing many quotable lines about various concepts and their applications to business and society.

I highly recommend that anyone with an inkling of interest in the Austrian School or economics in general check out this book. If, like me, you have already read some of the great Austrian economic treatises, this is still a very fine refresher that connects everything together neatly, gives the reader more ideas to think about, and directs the reader toward some less popular works they may not have explored yet. The title is fitting. If you are a real person, this economics book is for you.