The Cartoon Introduction to Economics

From the optimizing individual to game theory to price theory, The Cartoon Introduction to Economics is the most digestible, explicable, and humorous 200-page introduction to microeconomics ever published. The award-winning illustrator Grady Klein and the world’s only 'stand-up economist,' Yoram Bauman, Ph.D. conceived and created this guide to take the 'dismal' out of 'the dismal science.'

As an educator at both the university and high school levels, Bauman has learned how to make economics relevant to today’s world and today’s students. He adopts the viewpoint of Google’s chief economist, Hal Varian, who wrote, “You don’t need a brand-new economics. You just need to see the really cool stuff, the material they didn’t get to when you studied economics.” The Cartoon Introduction to Economics is all about integrating 'the really cool stuff' into an overview of the entire discipline of microeconomics, from decision trees to game trees to taxes and thinking at the margin.

 

Illustrator and lauded graphic novelist Klein turns 'the really cool' economics into comics with artistry and clarity. This fun, factual guide can supplement a 600-page economics textbook or provide the basics for an introductory microeconomics course.

Praise

"Learning economics should be fun. Klein and Bauman make sure that it is.”—N. Gregory Mankiw, Professor of Economics, Harvard University, and author of Principles of Economics

“Hilarity and economics are not often found together, but this book has a lot of both. It also does a great job of explaining important economic concepts simply, accurately, and entertainingly—quite a feat.”—Eric Maskin, Nobel Laureate in Economics

“Bauman and Klein present solid basic economics in a brilliant cartoon wrapper. The authors successfully shine a happy light on the dismal science.”—Hugo Sonnenschein, Distinguished Service Professor and President Emeritus, University of Chicago

“This is a seriously funny book! Klein and Bauman offer an enlightening and entertaining look at why our day-to-day choices matter and how they all combine. Students will find this a great addition to their textbooks, and critics of the discipline will learn what economics is really about.”—Diane Coyle, author of The Soulful Science

“Had Art Spiegelman and John Maynard Keynes collaborated on a comic book on economics, they could only have dreamed of coming up with something this good.”—Jonathan A. Shayne, founder of Shayne & Co., LLC

"There's a lot to like in Klein and Bauman's The Cartoon Introduction to Economics.  It's fun, it's funny, and it teaches a lot of economics."—Bryan Caplan, EconLog, The Library of Economics and Liberty

 

"This book is well organized and direct, using its overviews to deflate some of the pomposity that surrounds economic theory. While pro–free trade, the book regards the theories it presents with a slight grain of salt, giving the reader an even broader view of economic history, with the trends that worked short- and long-term . . . Those who are assigned a class in microeconomics might find some enjoyment in this book, a potential respite from their dry assignments."—Publishers Weekly

About the Author(s)

By Grady Klein and Yoram Bauman

An environmental economist at the University of Washington (and a part-time teacher at Seattle’s Lakeside High School), Yoram Bauman, PhD, is the world’s first and only stand-up economist. He has put the “comedy” into “economy” at comedy clubs and universities around the country and around the world (his “Principles of Economics, Translated” is a YouTube cult classic).

A freelance cartoonist, illustrator, and animator, Grady Klein is the creator of the Lost Colony series of graphic novels.

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