Ha Joon Chang — 13 Facts You Didn't Know About Economics

1. Economics was originally called 'political economy'

2. The Nobel Prize in Economics is not a real Nobel Prize

3. There is no single economic theory that can explain Singapore's economy

4. Britain and the US invented protectionism, not free trade

5. Free trade first spread mostly through un-free means

6. It was arch-conservative Otto von Bismarck who introduced the first welfare state in the world

7. Capitalism did best between the 1950s and the 1970s, an era of high regulation and high taxes

8. The internet was invented by the US government, not Silicon Valley

9. Before tax and welfare spending, Germany and Belgium are more unequal than the US

11. The 'lazy' Greeks are the hardest working people in the rich world after South Koreans

12. Switzerland and Singapore are not living off banking and tourism alone

13. Most poor people don't live in poor countries

The World Post

13 Facts You Didn't Know About Economics
Ha Joon Chang | Professor of Economics, Cambridge University