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FALSE ECONOMY
A Surprising Economic History of the World

$26.95

In False Economy, Financial Times editor Alan Beattie looks into why some countries have achieved economic success while others have failed to move forward. He argues that fate, geography, religion or natural resources does not dictate economic history. Nations rise and fall due to the choices that people make.

Mr. Beattie holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Cambridge and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oxford in Modern History. Before joining the Financial Times in 1998, he worked as an economist at the Bank of England.

“A lover of Adam Smith’s invisible hand, Beattie criticizes protectionist mollycoddling of inefficient industries. But despite his generally conservative outlook, his farreaching history is grounded in a curiously Obama-esque, populist belief that open markets guided by modest, business-friendly policies can guide us through the current economic downturn—that, as Shakespeare put it, “our remedies oft in ourselves do lie.’”—The Washington Post

“False Economy isn’t really a history book; instead, each chapter is an attempt by the author to debunk what he considers to be ‘fatalistic myths’ about the economies of different counties and societies.”—Devin Leonard, The New York Times

“The book is rife with interesting conundrums: the Nile river valley is one of the most fertile places on earth, yet Egypt imports half of its wheat; Peru rather than California has captured the US asparagus market; West Africa is the perfect location and climate to produce cocaine for Europe, but coke is instead made in distant Colombia—then routed through West Africa.”—William Easterly, Financial Times •