Economics is absorbing, challenging and important, because it matters for people’s lives; but it is not the only thing that matters in life, according to Ian Harper in his book Economics for Life: An Economist Reflects On the Meaning of Life, Money and What Really Matters. While some people view economics as just a matter of opinion, it relies on reasoning and observation, as well as thought experiments or models, to make generalisations about the world we live in.
The book tells the story of the author’s experiences as one of Australia’s best-known economists, and also the journey that led him to the Christian faith. He was working at the Reserve Bank in 1983 when the decision was made to float the Australian dollar. He then worked as an academic at ANU from 1985 to 1987 and became a professor at Melbourne University for 5 years before spending 16 years teaching at Melbourne Business School. He has served on the Metropolitan Hospitals Planning Board, the Wallis Committee of Inquiry into the Australian financial system, and the Australian Fair Pay Commission.
Apart from telling the author’s story, the book also contains interesting reflections on morality and the market, a historical perspective of the Australian economy, financial system reform in Australia, what went wrong to cause the global financial crisis, the role of banks and the future of banking, and the benefits and problems associated with affluence. The last chapter tells the fascinating story of how the author came to embrace the Christian faith after being challenged by an Anglican vicar who was a former economist to study the gospel of Mark.
Many books on economics are dull and difficult to read; this is not one of them. I found the content highly engaging throughout. The author has a talent for explaining abstract economic concepts in a manner which is both easy to understand and entertaining. While some of the book is clearly intended for a Christian audience, it contains plenty of material that will be of interest to anyone who would like some insight into the workings of the Australian economy.