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My recent leisure reading is False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World by Alan Beattie.

I bought this paperback last year when I was at Kuala Lumpur. When I first thumbed through its pages in Books Kinokuniya, I imaged it is another book that illustrates quick wits on common economic phenomenon, just like Freakonomics and Economic Naturalist that I read some time ago. (See http://ccszeto.blogspot.hk/2009/12/freakonomics.html and http://ccszeto.blogspot.hk/2011/09/naturalist.html)

But I am wrong. Alan Beattie is more ambitious and tries to explain more important economic problems by going through similar scenarios in history. I may not agree with everything he said - especially with regard to what he says about the reasons for the difference between India and China in their recent economic boost. Nonetheless, it is an eye-opening experience and Beattie's view on a self sufficient country is nothing but insightful.

PS. I must say I do hope Beattie's idea about China is genuine. But, ever since the very year that I was born, the elite class of educated bureaucrat had quickly vanished, and the chance of their reappearance seems distant and increasingly improbable.