“The Carl Sagan of economics,
Tim Harford has rewritten the history of economics textbooks!”

The best book that has caught the attention of economists around the world!
The bible of everyday economics, easier than a washing machine instruction manual!
How economics is hidden in our daily lives.

“To me, who was a beginner in economics,
“The only economics book that made me feel like my feet were on the ground!”
Oh Geon-young, Vice President of Shinhan Bank's WM Group and author of "Surviving Inflation"

“Capturing the public’s heart and applying economic logic to everyday life
“A rare masterpiece explained in an easy-to-understand manner!”
_Stephen Levitt, author of Freakonomics

***** An overwhelming million-seller worldwide, introduced in 30 languages
***** Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and the Bastiat Prize twice
***** Awarded the highest honor, the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
***** Published in Korea as a commemorative edition of 500,000 copies

Economist Tim Harford, who has unraveled the principles of economics in everyday life in an easy and witty way, is worthy of Malcolm Gladwell's rave reviews as a "genius economic storyteller!" The book "The Undercover Economist" has been published with a new cover to commemorate the sale of 500,000 copies in Korea.
The first edition of 『Economics Concert 1』, published in 2006, was evaluated as a book that raised the level of economics textbooks that had previously been limited to 'common sense' to a new level, and it received so much love that it was selected as the 'Book of the Year' that year, and has proudly established itself as a true bestseller.


This book, which does not simply impart economic knowledge, but clearly reveals how economics is hidden in our complex and closely interconnected daily lives and teaches us how to “view the world with an economic mindset,” has been praised as “an economics textbook for the entire nation.”
Furthermore, it has been introduced in over 30 languages ​​both domestically and internationally, and has remained a global bestseller, firmly maintaining its position as the 'Bible of economics studies'.

Maybe you didn't think you'd be buying this book when you left home this morning.
But through the actions of many people, including myself, editors, marketers, proofreaders, printers, papermakers, ink suppliers, and many others, some magical force worked, and you bought this book.
Economists explain how such systems work, why companies promote, and how you, as a customer, react.

--- p.11

The purpose of this book is to help you see the world like an economist.
While I won't say anything about exchange rates or business cycles, I will explain things like the secrets of used cars.
We'll explore topics ranging from big ones like how China is lifting millions of people out of poverty in a short period of time to smaller ones like how to avoid paying too much at the supermarket.
All of this will play out like a detective investigation, but I'll teach you how economists use their investigative tools.
I hope that after reading this book, you will become a more savvy consumer and a smarter voter who can see the truth behind what politicians say.

--- p.13

But many people like the fact that Ricardo had insights that contribute to our understanding today, some 200 years ago.
It's not easy to see the similarities between 19th-century farms and 21st-century foamy coffee.
Economics can also be thought of as a modeling exercise, analyzing the fundamental principles and patterns underlying seemingly complex problems, such as rent on a farm or a coffee shop.

--- p.30

So many things in our lives are sold at high prices.
Of course, there are cases where it is a natural result of scarcity.
There aren't many apartments in New York that overlook Central Park or in London that overlook Hyde Park.
On the other hand, since there are many people who want such apartments, the prices go up and many people cannot afford to buy them.
In this case, there is no regret.
But I don't understand why popcorn sold at theaters is so expensive.
It's not like we're running out of popcorn.
Therefore, we first need to identify the causes of rising prices.

--- p.33

However, just because economics is an objective means of analysis does not mean that economists are necessarily objective.
Economists study topics such as the balance of power, poverty, growth, and development.
It is not easy to remain unfazed by the real world while elucidating the underlying dynamics of such topics through economic models.
Thus, economists go beyond their role as technicians of economic policy and advocate certain economic policies.
[…] billions of people could benefit from better economic policies.
Hundreds of thousands of people are dying because of flawed economic policies.
Sometimes the logic of economics is so clear that economists are forced to take a firm stance.

--- p.55

While poor passengers were denied even necessary services, rich passengers were over-served.
This is similar to the reason why it is rare to find a well-equipped boarding waiting area at any airport in the world.
If airlines had comfortable, well-equipped, free boarding areas, they could no longer sell business class seats and offer the benefit of "exclusive airport lounge access."
The same reason can explain why first class and business class passengers board and disembark before economy class passengers.
This 'service' is not aimed at economy class passengers, but rather to make this pitiful and pathetic sight visible to passengers sitting at the front of the plane.

--- p.92

Note that I have equated the terms 'correct' and 'efficient' here.
We will briefly examine these premises below.
So, if the right things are produced in the right quantities and in the right ways, and go to those who value them most, there is no greater efficiency than that.
In other words, it means that efficiency cannot be maximized more than in a perfectly competitive market.
And from the truth contained in the pricing system, we naturally arrive at the following conclusion:
Price represents a company's costs and also expresses what customers perceive as value.

--- p.123

First of all, the following physical factors are difficult to measure:
How much more damage is done to the road by one more car? How much more noise does one car create? How many accidents does one cause? How much delay does one cause to other cars? How much pollution is created? How much does that pollution harm one's health? The psychological impact is even more difficult to measure.
How do nuisances like air pollution, noise, time delays, and stress affect people, and even contribute to disease and death? Needless to say, people will value these things differently.
It's easy to give up when faced with problems like this.
Clearly, it seems impossible to calculate the costs of noise or time delay.
But we are fooling ourselves if we think we can avoid these decisions.
Every policy decision made by the government and every individual choice you make has inherent values, even if no one speaks about them or admits them themselves.

--- p.167

But if investors were truly rational, there could be no predictable stock price movements.
Because every trend is predictable and every predictability spreads quickly.
All that remains is unpredictable news.
Only random news moves stock prices, so the indices that measure stock prices and the stock market as a whole rise and fall completely randomly.
Mathematicians call this movement a 'random walk'.
To be more precise, the stock market can be said to exhibit a 'random walk with a trend'.
A trend refers to a longer-term fact, such as the fact that the stock market has been moving upward over the past few months, which has, on average, outperformed other potential investments such as savings or real estate.
However, this trend cannot change the fundamental analysis, and therefore trends are relatively small compared to random movements on a particular day.
Should we believe in random walk theory?
--- p.245

The first clue that something is wrong with this traditional argument is that it implicitly assumes that poor countries have lagged behind rich countries for the past century, and that the longer they do, the faster they will catch up.
Poorer countries can catch up faster because they can reap the greatest rewards with even small new investments in infrastructure and education.
Rich countries, on the other hand, do not gain much from additional investment.
This is called 'diminishing returns'.

--- p.314