
What's the Economy For, Anyway?
Why It's Time to Stop Chasing Growth and Start Pursuing Happiness
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Carl Randolph
About this listen
In this funny, thought-provoking book based on the popular film of the same name, activists John de Graaf (coauthor of the best-selling Affluenza) and David Batker tackle 13 economic issues, challenging the listener to consider the point of our economy. Emphasizing powerful American ideals, including teamwork, pragmatism, and equality, de Graaf and Batker set forth a simple goal for any economic system: The greatest good for the greatest number over the longest run. Drawing from history and current enterprises, we see how the good life is achieved when people and markets work together with an active government to create a more perfect economy - one that works for everyone.
Beginning by shattering our fetish for GDP, What's the Economy For, Anyway? offers a fresh perspective on quality of life, health, security, work-life balance, leisure, social justice, and perhaps most important, sustainability. This sparkling, message-driven book is exactly what those lost in the doldrums of partisan sniping and a sluggish economy need: a guide to what really matters, and a map to using America's resources to make the world a better place.
©2011 John de Graaf, Foreword copyright c. 2011 by James Gustave Spethand David Batker (P)2013 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Poverty, by America
- By: Matthew Desmond
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?
-
-
A testimonial based on facts and witness
- By Alonzo Nightjar on 03-27-23
By: Matthew Desmond
-
Good Economics for Hard Times
- Better Answers to Our Biggest Problems
- By: Abhijit V. Banerjee, Esther Duflo
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this revolutionary book, renowned MIT economists Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo take on this challenge, building on cutting-edge research in economics explained with lucidity and grace. Original, provocative, and urgent, Good Economics for Hard Times makes a persuasive case for an intelligent interventionism and a society built on compassion and respect. It is an extraordinary achievement, one that shines a light to help us appreciate and understand our precariously balanced world.
-
-
audio is not The best format for a book like this
- By CB on 12-08-19
By: Abhijit V. Banerjee, and others
-
Free to Choose
- A Personal Statement
- By: Milton Friedman, Rose Friedman
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Milton Friedman and his wife, Rose, teamed up to write this most convincing and readable guide, which illustrates the crucial link between Adam Smith's capitalism and the free society. They show how freedom has been eroded and prosperity undermined through the rapid growth of governmental agencies, laws, and regulations.
-
-
Fantastic
- By Erik on 01-21-08
By: Milton Friedman, and others
-
How Are You Going to Pay for That?
- Smart Answers to the Dumbest Question in Politics
- By: Ryan Cooper
- Narrated by: Ryan Cooper
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How Are You Going to Pay for That? is filled with engaging discussions and detailed strategies that policymakers and citizens alike can use to assail even the most entrenched lines of neoliberal logic and start to undo these long-held misconceptions. Equal parts economic theory, history, and political polemic, this is an essential roadmap for winning the key battles to come.
-
-
Not horrible but not correct either
- By David on 03-20-23
By: Ryan Cooper
-
The Deficit Myth
- Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People's Economy
- By: Stephanie Kelton
- Narrated by: Stephanie Kelton
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stephanie Kelton's brilliant exploration of modern monetary theory (MMT) dramatically changes our understanding of how we can best deal with crucial issues ranging from poverty and inequality to creating jobs, expanding health care coverage, climate change, and building resilient infrastructure. Any ambitious proposal, however, inevitably runs into the buzz saw of how to find the money to pay for it, rooted in myths about deficits that are hobbling us as a country.
-
-
Good core idea, ruined by polemics
- By Amaze on 06-25-20
By: Stephanie Kelton
-
Capitalism in America
- A History
- By: Alan Greenspan, Adrian Wooldridge
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 16 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the legendary former Fed Chairman and the acclaimed Economist writer and historian, the full, epic story of America's evolution from a small patchwork of threadbare colonies to the most powerful engine of wealth and innovation the world has ever seen.
-
-
Explains a lot
- By Scott on 02-18-19
By: Alan Greenspan, and others
-
Poverty, by America
- By: Matthew Desmond
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?
-
-
A testimonial based on facts and witness
- By Alonzo Nightjar on 03-27-23
By: Matthew Desmond
-
Good Economics for Hard Times
- Better Answers to Our Biggest Problems
- By: Abhijit V. Banerjee, Esther Duflo
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this revolutionary book, renowned MIT economists Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo take on this challenge, building on cutting-edge research in economics explained with lucidity and grace. Original, provocative, and urgent, Good Economics for Hard Times makes a persuasive case for an intelligent interventionism and a society built on compassion and respect. It is an extraordinary achievement, one that shines a light to help us appreciate and understand our precariously balanced world.
-
-
audio is not The best format for a book like this
- By CB on 12-08-19
By: Abhijit V. Banerjee, and others
-
Free to Choose
- A Personal Statement
- By: Milton Friedman, Rose Friedman
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Milton Friedman and his wife, Rose, teamed up to write this most convincing and readable guide, which illustrates the crucial link between Adam Smith's capitalism and the free society. They show how freedom has been eroded and prosperity undermined through the rapid growth of governmental agencies, laws, and regulations.
-
-
Fantastic
- By Erik on 01-21-08
By: Milton Friedman, and others
-
How Are You Going to Pay for That?
- Smart Answers to the Dumbest Question in Politics
- By: Ryan Cooper
- Narrated by: Ryan Cooper
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How Are You Going to Pay for That? is filled with engaging discussions and detailed strategies that policymakers and citizens alike can use to assail even the most entrenched lines of neoliberal logic and start to undo these long-held misconceptions. Equal parts economic theory, history, and political polemic, this is an essential roadmap for winning the key battles to come.
-
-
Not horrible but not correct either
- By David on 03-20-23
By: Ryan Cooper
-
The Deficit Myth
- Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People's Economy
- By: Stephanie Kelton
- Narrated by: Stephanie Kelton
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stephanie Kelton's brilliant exploration of modern monetary theory (MMT) dramatically changes our understanding of how we can best deal with crucial issues ranging from poverty and inequality to creating jobs, expanding health care coverage, climate change, and building resilient infrastructure. Any ambitious proposal, however, inevitably runs into the buzz saw of how to find the money to pay for it, rooted in myths about deficits that are hobbling us as a country.
-
-
Good core idea, ruined by polemics
- By Amaze on 06-25-20
By: Stephanie Kelton
-
Capitalism in America
- A History
- By: Alan Greenspan, Adrian Wooldridge
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 16 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the legendary former Fed Chairman and the acclaimed Economist writer and historian, the full, epic story of America's evolution from a small patchwork of threadbare colonies to the most powerful engine of wealth and innovation the world has ever seen.
-
-
Explains a lot
- By Scott on 02-18-19
By: Alan Greenspan, and others
-
The Price of Inequality
- How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future
- By: Joseph E. Stiglitz
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The top 1 percent of Americans control 40 percent of the nation's wealth. And, as Joseph E. Stiglitz explains, while those at the top enjoy the best health care, education, and benefits of wealth, they fail to realize that "their fate is bound up with how the other 99 percent live." Stiglitz draws on his deep understanding of economics to show that growing inequality is not inevitable. He examines our current state, then teases out its implications for democracy, for monetary and budgetary policy, and for globalization. He closes with a plan for a more just and prosperous future.
-
-
One side is never enough....
- By Michael on 08-08-12
-
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Economics
- The Politically Incorrect Guides
- By: Thomas J. DiLorenzo
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Another entry in the best-selling, irreverent, hard-hitting Politically Incorrect Guide series! Economics from a rational, conservative viewpoint—that is, a refreshing look at how money actually works from an author who knows the score, and how the law of economics are frequently broken and derailed by pernicious leftists and virtue signaling progressives.
-
-
information
- By bryan on 02-24-25
-
Aftershock
- The Next Economy and America’s Future
- By: Robert B. Reich
- Narrated by: Robert Reich
- Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The author of 12 acclaimed books, Robert B. Reich is a Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and has served in three national administrations. While many blamed Wall Street for the financial meltdown, Aftershock points a finger at a national economy in which wealth is increasingly concentrated at the top - and where a grasping middle class simply does not have the resources to remain viable.
-
-
Very plausible assessment of our economy
- By CAR TOP CAMPER on 10-06-10
By: Robert B. Reich
-
The Growth Delusion
- Wealth, Poverty, and the Well-Being of Nations
- By: David Pilling
- Narrated by: Elliot Hill
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this powerful, incisive book, David Pilling reveals the hidden biases of economic orthodoxy and explores the alternatives to GDP, from measures of wealth, equality, and sustainability to measures of subjective well-being. Authoritative, provocative, and eye-opening, The Growth Delusion offers witty and unexpected insights into how our society can respond to the needs of real people instead of pursuing growth at any cost.
-
-
Well thought out perspective
- By Xathy on 05-20-23
By: David Pilling
-
Back to Work
- Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy
- By: Bill Clinton
- Narrated by: Bill Clinton
- Length: 5 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
President Bill Clinton gives us his views on the challenges facing the United States today and why government matters - presenting his ideas on restoring economic growth, energy, job creation, financial responsibility, resolving the mortgage crisis, and financial responsibility, and offering a plan to get us "back in the future business".
-
-
"anti-ideological" work crippled by ideology
- By Stephen on 11-22-11
By: Bill Clinton
-
Bernie Sanders Guide to Political Revolution
- By: Bernie Sanders
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the Bernie Sanders Guide to Political Revolution, Independent congressman, presidential candidate, and activist Bernie Sanders continues his fight against the imbalances in the nation's status quo and shows you how to make a difference to effect the changes America and the world need to create a better tomorrow.
-
-
Scary
- By Mogens Larsen on 10-28-17
By: Bernie Sanders
-
Give People Money
- How a Universal Basic Income Would End Poverty, Revolutionize Work, and Remake the World
- By: Annie Lowrey
- Narrated by: Annie Lowrey
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Imagine if every month the government deposited $1,000 into your bank account, with nothing expected in return. It sounds crazy. But it has become one of the most influential and hotly debated policy ideas of our time. Futurists, radicals, libertarians, socialists, union representatives, feminists, conservatives, Bernie supporters, development economists, childcare workers, welfare recipients, and politicians from India to Finland to Canada to Mexico - all are talking about UBI.
-
-
Liberal whine-fest rather than serious discussion
- By Jason on 07-25-18
By: Annie Lowrey
-
The Price of Civilization
- Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity
- By: Jeffrey D. Sachs
- Narrated by: Richard McGonagle
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than three decades, Jeffrey D. Sachs has been at the forefront of international economic problem solving. But Sachs turns his attention back home in The Price of Civilization, a book that is essential reading for every American. In a forceful, impassioned, and personal voice, he offers not only a searing and incisive diagnosis of our country’s economic ills but also an urgent call for Americans to restore the virtues of fairness, honesty, and foresight as the foundations of national prosperity.
-
-
heavy on the finger wagging
- By Andy on 10-23-11
By: Jeffrey D. Sachs
-
The Road to Freedom
- How to Win the Fight for Free Enterprise
- By: Arthur C. Brooks
- Narrated by: Paul Costanzo
- Length: 5 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Entrepreneurship, personal responsibility, and upward mobility: These traditions are at the heart of the free enterprise system, and have long been central to America's exceptional culture. In recent years, however, policymakers have dramatically weakened these traditions - by exploding the size of government, propping up their corporate cronies, and trying to reorient our system from rewarding merit to redistributing wealth. Arthur C. Brooks shows that this trend cannot be reversed through materialistic appeals.
-
-
Not just a problem Identifier but a solutions base also
- By Samuel Nelson on 12-30-23
By: Arthur C. Brooks
-
The Great Divide
- Unequal Societies and What We Can Do About Them
- By: Joseph E. Stiglitz
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 14 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Great Divide, Joseph E. Stiglitz expands on the diagnosis he offered in his best-selling book The Price of Inequality and suggests ways to counter America's growing problem. With his signature blend of clarity and passion, Stiglitz argues that inequality is a choice - the cumulative result of unjust policies and misguided priorities.
-
-
Disappointing
- By A. Hill on 11-25-15
-
Rollback
- Repealing Big Government Before the Coming Fiscal Collapse
- By: Thomas. E. Woods Jr.
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his blockbuster new book Rollback, New York Times best-selling author Thomas E. Woods, Jr., offers the first critical analysis of the 2010 midterm elections and answers the number-one question on conservatives’ minds: How do we roll back the liberal policies and big government programs that Obama/Pelosi/Reid rushed through Congress before the midterms?
-
-
A Must Listen (or Must Read)
- By robert on 02-15-11
-
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism
- By: Dr. Robert P. Murphy
- Narrated by: Perry Richards
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Participating in the economy is a part of everyday life; yet much of what is commonly accepted as fact is wrong. Keynesian schoolteachers and the liberal media have filled the world with politically correct errors that myth-busting professor Robert Murphy sets straight. Murphy explains hot topics like outsourcing (why it's good for Americans) and zoning restrictions (why they're not). Just like the other books in the P.I.G. series, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism pulls no punches.
-
-
Entertaining and Educational
- By Micah N. on 04-15-07