Filthy Lucre

Economists have a reputation on the left as cheerleaders for the free market, and on the right as reliable allies. Joseph Heath, co-author of the bestselling The Rebel Sell, thinks both camps have misread the discipline, and that most commonly held beliefs about economics, whoever holds them, are simply wrong. He sets out to put that right with everyday examples and clear, lively argument.

The structure is pleasingly even-handed: six favourite economic fallacies of the right, taken apart one by one, followed by six favourite fallacies of the left given exactly the same treatment. Complex ideas are broken down plainly, and nobody's sacred cows survive intact. It suits the politically engaged reader who wants to argue with more precision, and anyone willing to have their own assumptions prodded along the way.