Ha-Joon Chang on Economics

What is economics? In the second of our exciting series of events celebrating the return of the popular and accessible Pelican books, economist Ha-Joon Chang will provide the tools that every responsible citizen needs to understand - and address - our current economic woes. 

To celebrate the return of Pelican books, Penguin’s groundbreaking and iconic series of intelligent guides to essential topics, we are delighted to announce a new events series bringing together expert minds and curious observers in order to bring vital subjects to life.

Is economics too important to be left to the experts alone?

In the second of these special RSA events, economist Ha-Joon Chang lets us in on a little-known secret - that 95% of economics is common sense, and you certainly don’t need a degree to understand it. Chang visits the RSA to run through some of the fundamental questions every responsible citizen needs to know, and provides a clear and accessible roadmap to understanding the political and economic world – and how to change it.

Chair: Zoe Williams, columnist, Guardian. 

Pelican first appeared in 1937 with the publication of George Bernard Shaw’s ‘The Intelligent Women’s Guide to Socialism, Capitalism, Sovietism and Fascism’ and continued with thousands of books across a massive range of subjects. Aimed at the everyday reader, Pelicans combined intellectual rigour with simple, clear and accessible prose.

Selling over 250 million copies, Pelican in its heyday was seen as influencing the intellectual culture in Britain by lowering the traditional barriers to knowledge. At the time, this confidence in the tastes of the ordinary reader was unusual, and gave Pelican a democratic, populist bent. The first Pelican books cost the same amount as a packet of cigarettes, a radical price at the time, and became especially popular among a self-educating post-war generation.