The terms "Upheavals" and "Market Shock" should not be used to describe the subject matter in this book since it consists entirely of slow, gradual changes in demographics. These changes are only discussed in the most general of terms. There is not one chart or graph in this book. The lack of a timeline makes it impossible to do any serious financial planning. Most of these changes will not have a major effect on the U.S. economy until after most of us are dead and buried.

Unfortunately, the financial advice in this book is very limited, consisting mainly of common sense items, such as, "Learn to broil a trout." The useful information in each chapter can be summed up in one sentence: Chapter 1: Americans are aging. They will need health care and retirement homes. Chapter 2: Science is cool, but make sure that a lot of people will pay for it before investing. Chapter 3: Mutual fund fees are too high. (Also contains the crazy theory that all funds will collapse when people figure out they are not FDIC insured.) Chapter 4: One day, white people will be the minority in America. Chapter 5: The Japanese are getting older, too. Chapter 6: Europe needs Euro-denominated junk bonds. Chapter 7:China has a tough row to hoe. Chapter 8: The crime rate will rise. Chapter 9: There's that global warming thing.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical trivia. On the one hand, I read every page in this book. On the other hand, I don't expect to ever make a dime off of anything that I learned.

We all see the changes that are taking place around us (such as the graying of America). This book takes those changes and puts them into perspective with actionable information. I kept slapping my forehead and saying, "I know this, why didn't I see where it leads?" Buchholz makes sense out of our everyday observations and puts them into economic context.

A rare book on the economy that is actually interesting and fun to read. Buchholz has taken a very clever approach to making his point (with mini-novellas) that are both insightful and well researched. And humourous. Raises some serious concerns about the not too distant future that we should all be looking at as we contemplate our next investment.

*From Here to Economy* is a concise and entertaining (if you like the author's sense of humor) introduction to economics. Since the book is only about 250 pages long, the coverage of any given topic is not deep, but the author does touch on the key concepts and explain them at a level appropriate for the literate novice. The book divides the subject into 5 sections: macroeconomics, microeconomics, international trade and finance, personal finance and investing, and schools of economic thought. The section on personal finance and investing will, I think, be particularly useful to the average reader, since it ties the broader economic concepts discussed in the rest of the book into the economic questions that most of us face every day. This section is also the one that struck me as dated, in that it does not mention all the investment information (both good and bad) that is now readily available on the Internet. However, that's a minor flaw in an otherwise very useful work. Readers may also want to look at Sowell's *Basic Economics* -- Sowell gives a fuller discussion of microeconomics, but he's also much more tendentious than Buchholz, is not so good on international topics, and does not discuss personal finance or the history of economic theory.

I was asked to teach economics this year for the first time in several years. Thank goodness for this book, because without it I do not think I could teach the class. The great thing about this book is that it makes understanding economics easy and fun. Is this book for everyone. Of course not, I do not recommend economics for everyone. However, if you are in the postion where you must learn economics whether as a teacher, student, college student, or who ever this is the book to turn to. Anyone who needs to learn economics will be well off to purchase and read this book. I also highly recommend the authors other book Lessons from Dead Economists. Like this book, it is again highly usefull and extremely readable for the economically challenged. For those of us who need to know economics thank goodness for this book.

If you want to learn about the economy then this is the book for you! It's a great start if you know nothing about the economy. And even if you did some time ago, this book would still be a good refreshing resource.

I recommend this book for basic knowledge of the economy.

This is a very good book, but I was somewhat disappointed with it. The problem is the title, which is misleading. It should have been called "A Modern Interpretations of Some Great Economists". There are no new ideas, nor really any new interpretations of old ideas. Another possibility, to apply these ideas to contemporary situations, is done very superficially and with none of the wit and imagination the author uses in their exposition. As a professional economist, I did not find the book very useful. What the book is, is a very good introduction to the history of economic thought. If some day I give an economics course, in particular to non-economists, this book will provide its basis. The witty and light way in which some of the greatest ideas in economics are presented is very appealing. With a book such as this, the countless students who hate the subject of economics will see that it is a living and human endeavor. My congratulations to the author although I suggest he change the title.

Those of us who were cranked through government-run schools probably all had similar high school economics classes. I seem to remember spending more time studying the machinations of the Fed and doing words and terms than taking economics seriously as a branch of philosophy.

This book was a welcome surprise. Desperate for some much-needed education on economics, I took a recommendation and read this book. What a treasure! Buchholz entertains with wonderful biographical sketches of the more prominent economists; it is interesting to see how their lives influenced their thinking (John Stuart Mill's remarkable life-change is something I found striking). The analogies used to demonstrate certain principles, including such modern icons as the cast of Gilligan's Island, clarified the author's point while providing a chuckle. Buchholz seems to favor "laissez-faire" government and clearly prefers certain theories over others, but he gives fair treatment to all mentioned: Adam Smith gets significantly more ink than Thorstein Veblen, but Keynes and Marx, although the author is neither Keynesian nor Marxist, are written about in great detail and each have their own chapter.

Obviously, this book is not geared towards folks who already know about economics. But, unlike other introductory texts, this one is not only thorough but effective. After reading it, I felt very confident in my ability to comprehend today's financial headlines; I cannot recommend it enough.

I had to read this book for an introductory economics course and finished it over 2 months in advance. This is so much more than an economic text; combining elements of sociology, philosophy, and politics, I recommend this to anyone who wishes to grasp a more complete view of American society through an economic standpoint.