“Good Economics for Hard Times” is a book written by Banerjee and Duflo, two of the world 's great economists. The book tells about challenges in economics in modern times from immigration, economic growth to discrimination. The book is amazing for me, because the author can describe complex and deep topics in economics in a very simple way and many lessons can be learned after reading the book. Hence, I recommend the book especially for anyone who is interested or always asks questions about economic problems especially in developing countries.
The book simply tells about many problems in macroeconomics and why economists always have different opinions with the public when making decisions. Example, economists like to raise the tax because it can support economic growth, but the decision is very hard for the public. After reading the books, we can know why economists made the decisions, and it is not always wrong, it can be good at one time.
In the chapter 1, the authors introduces about many problem in economy in the worlds, the issue can different in many nations and every nations has many approach to fight the problem. There is no best way to solve problems, because many considerations must be considered before making a decision. But, every economist has one purpose to make a great economy again.
In chapter 2, the authors explain the migrant problem. In a simple way, the author differentiate the problem with two points : low-skills and high-skills. The authors emphasized the move of low-skilled migrants was a gambling, because they had to face competition from local residents, but they had no option because they needed to improve their lives with better wages. It's different with high-skilled migrants, they move because they need to and they do not have to face competition. But movement of high-skilled migrants can have an impact such as inequality and the land price is rising in town, so that low-skilled migrants are expelled from the place they lived.
In chapter 3, the author explains about trades, especially international trades. Every nation needs trades, because they have limited resources, and the only solution to improve economics was with trade. Because there are no ultimate winners in international trades, every nation competes in international trades. This chapter describes how nations adapt to competition in international trades.
In chapter 4, the author explains the value and preference problem. Value and preferences is one of the main aspects in making decisions, especially related to economic decisions. The value can be wrong, but the preferences are never wrong, the author explained the point. In this chapter, the author explains why differences of preferences can cause problems such as racism, discrimination, and polarization and how we can solve this problem.