Nishant Aggarwal

AP World History
Mr. Chris Rhatigan
February 5, 2013

Book Review
False Economy by Alan Beattie
Economic history can sometimes be a difficult subject to read
especially if it becomes merely a resuscitation of dates and a display of
tabular data without a coherent theory to bind the events.

False

Economy, however, reads more like a suspense novel unfolding its

insights as the reader progresses through it from page to page. Beginning
with a look at Argentina and the USA the author shows how high tariffs
and import substitution as a policy failed to produce prosperity for
Argentina. False Economy is a book about how economic achievements
and tragedies have shaped the world and why its so hard to change the
course of history of a nation once decisions have been made. The books
central idea is that our smart or stupid choices determine whether a
countrys economic development is successful but that success is still
often a surprise and determined by fundamental ideas that lay deep
within the system of our politics and lifestyle. It shows how human beings,
unknowingly, have shaped their own fates and the conditions of their
countries.
Sometimes authors risk sacrificing the details of a scholarly book to
make available reader-friendly text. But Alan Beattie, the world-trade
editor at the Financial Times and a former Bank of England economist,
resists this kind of reduction in "False Economy," a book which thoroughly
examines economies from the age of empire to the age of the IMF. Beattie
writes, "History is not determined by fate. . . . It is determined by people."
He says that it is not destiny but the right and wrong decisions by political
leaders that cause societies to rise and fall.
Alan

Beattie

explores

agrarian

farmers

and

city

dwelling

manufacturers in England and examines the difficulties experienced by

one visionary in his efforts to improve the efficiency of the supply chain by
standardizing the size of shipping containers. Beattie shows with case

details how improvements in communications and transportation systems

can combine different regional markets into a single market. Using wheat
as an example, Beattie notes that in the early 1850s a bushel of wheat
cost $0.85 in Chicago while in London it sold for $1.85 mostly due to a
lack of an efficient transportation system.
The author also shows how poor administration of the discovery of a
valued natural resource is often poorly handled in developing regions with
the newly discovered wealth being exploited by a few powerful groups
rather than being used to development the overall economy of the nation.
However, a thorough case study of the diamond monopoly DeBeers enjoys
in Botswana is used to illustrate a long-term approach to resource
exploitation that benefits both the region and the company involved.
Each chapter is cleverly themed cities, religion and so on and the
individual stories are enthralling. However, the books inability to convey a
clear point arises because Beattie ties all his material into one
incomprehensive theory of what makes some countries succeed and
others fail, which sometime get too complex along the way with all the
twists and turns.
However, the book is filled with interesting facts that one otherwise
does not encounter in his day to day life. The Nile river valley is one of
the most fertile places on earth, yet Egypt imports half of its wheat; Peru
rather than California has captured the US asparagus market; West Africa
is the perfect location and climate to produce cocaine for Europe, but coke
is instead made in distant Colombia. These interesting data make this
book a very unique text which very cleverly reflects upon the current
economic condition of the world, yet how the history has affect the age we
are living in.
False Economy is supremely entertaining and informative book and
is a must read for any aspiring economist. One can simply indulge into the
enthralling stories and facts that Beattie presents to his readers. The book
is written more like a novel than a history text. It is tied very well together,
however at some points get a bit too detailed, which may lead some to
lose interest. However, one gets very inspired by the way Beattie writes. It

is purely a masterpiece as to how Beattie has tied together the life of

ancient Rome with the life in a present metro.