Fubarnomics: A Lighthearted, Serious Look at America’s Economic Ills by Robert E. Wright 

FUBAR is am acronym out of World War II that means ‘Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition.’ (Some folks use a different ‘f’ word, but we don’t allow that here!)

In brief, I want you to know that we have the book at COHS because every once in awhile, a student with an Econ class assignment asks for a book on economics. (I haven’t had that request at CHS, so I won’t be buying the book there, but COHS is a joint-use library with the city, so all CHS students with library cards will be able to check it out. Simply go online and put it on hold. Make sure you pick the “Ovitt Family Library” as the place to pick it up because that’s the main library on C Street-nearest to Chaffey High.)

The blurb on the back of this book advertises it as hilarious, but I think the publishers are just trying to attract the people who like Freakonomics and Super Freakonomics. It is a pretty good look at economics, but it’s more serious than Freakonomics. One of the major differences is that it has more background into economic theory and into the causes of economic woes. Although it does chide both the left and the right, the left is hit a bit harder—the author doesn’t like anything about Roosevelt’s New Deal—so Depression era bail outs and Social Security are slapped. Contemporary problems in education, healthcare, and the mortgage meltdown are all covered. Two chapters that I found most interesting were those on the construction industry (no wonder nothing ever gets done right or on time!) and slavery in America’s past.

Because this is often a question, let me add that, yes the book meets the 200 page minimum. It’s 330 pages, but 80 of those are endnotes, so it’s a fairly short book.