Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science pdfdrive com

Acknowledgments
M
any waves of people have helped to bring this project to fruition, almost like
a relay race with fresh legs pushing me toward the finish line at every stage. In
the beginning, Tifanny Richards was a strong believer that there would be a
market for an accessible book on economics. Her wonderful encouragement
moved this book off the starting line. Tabitha Griffin brought the project to W.
W. Norton, something for which I will always be grateful.
Then came the second leg. When Tifanny and Tabitha went on to other
opportunities, I was fortunate to end up in excellent hands once again. Tina
Bennett is everything that one could hope for in an agent: smart, supportive, and
always interested in new ideas. Meanwhile, I was lucky to have Drake McFeely
take on the task of editing the book. Who knows how the man can find time to
run the company, edit books, and cavort with Nobel Prize winners, but he does
and I am a beneficiary of his experience and judgment. Of course, Eve Lazovitz
is the one who made Drake’s trains run on time for the first edition, albeit with a
delicate touch. Jeff Shreve was a kind but stern taskmaster for the second
edition. Without their support (and deadlines), this book would still be an
unfinished manuscript scrawled on legal pads.
Mary Ellen Moore and Danielle Kutasov offered excellent research assistance,
finding the facts, figures, and anecdotes that had eluded me. Three accomplished
economists were kind enough to take time from their busy schedules to read the
first edition manuscript and make helpful comments: Burton Malkiel, Robert
Willis, and Kenneth Rogoff. These three men are giants of the profession, and
each had many other things that they might have done with their time. Robert
Johnson was kind enough to read the international economics chapter that has
been added to the second edition. I appreciate his willingness to share his
expertise on the topic.
I owe a debt to my former editors at The Economist. John Micklethwait was
generous in allowing me to disappear for a stretch while I finished the first
edition of this book and was also willing to read and make comments on the
finished product. I owe Ann Wroe credit for her clever subtitle. The fact that
both John and Ann find time to edit one of the world’s great publications while
also raising families and writing books of their own continues to be an
inspiration.

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More recently, the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago
and Dartmouth College have both offered me an intellectual “home” where I
have the privilege of teaching great students and working on projects like this
one. At the Harris School, former Dean Susan Mayer was a particularly
enthusiastic supporter of my ongoing quest to make important academic ideas
more accessible to the lay public. At Dartmouth, Bruce Sacerdote has been both
a terrific intellectual companion and a great water-ski buddy.
I also owe a different kind of debt. The vast majority of ideas I describe in this
book are not my own. Rather, I am a translator whose work derives its value
from the brilliance of the original, which in this case is centuries of work done
by great thinkers. I hope this book reflects my enormous respect for that work.
Last, I would like to acknowledge those who inspired my interest in the
subjects that make up this book. I’ve made the case that economics is often
poorly taught. That is true. But it’s also true that the discipline can come alive in
the hands of the right person, and I was fortunate to work and study with many
of them: Gary Becker, Bob Willis, Ken Rogoff, Robert Willig, Christina Paxson,
Duncan Snidal, Alan Krueger, Paul Portney, Sam Peltzman, Don Coursey, Paul
Volcker. My hope is that this book will help to transmit their knowledge and
enthusiasm to many new readers and students.

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