Diane Coyle is a columnist for "The Independent", a radio host for the BBC and a professor of Economics. She presents what has been called "the dismal science" in bright, crisp and clear prose that allows the reader to see the inner-workings of a variety of common human activities.

For Ms. Coyle it seems that economics is a philosophy - a way of life. And what a practical philosophy it is. It is all based on what works. This has a tendency to occasionally make Ms. Coyle sound rather heartless, but in fact her prescriptions are the best for all concerned. For example, in discussing agriculture, she advocates weaning farmers off subsidies. She presents a credible case that subsidies not only create artificially high food prices, but create a lower standard of living for those who continue to farm on the lower end of the spectrum.

Her analysis of demographics (population growth) is especially prescient. She notes that populations in developed countries, not counting immigration, are actually shrinking. Thus fears of a population explosion are quite unfounded. As capitalism brings affluence to the world, global-population will eventually go down. A more immediate problem seems to be the aging of the workforce in developed countries. But, Ms. Coyle points out, this problem will likely be addressed through immigration and increasing productivity.

The great thing about her view is that every problem seems to have a practical solution. In economics - disasters seldom materialize because free market forces usually take care of them before they become acute. Even so, the solution is not always currently known or even easy to implement. For example, the developing world seems to be stuck in a cycle of debt and political chaos. How do these countries break out of this cycle? We do not currently have a precise prescription, but Ms. Coyle points to promising applications. For example tying continued subsidies and loans to "good behavior" by governments (instead of loaning billions to tin-pot dictators who squirrel it away in Swiss bank accounts) - in other words - applying a bit of common sense in deciding which nations should receive loans. If we are more selective there will be competition among third-world nations to adhere to the rule of law and to move toward democracy.

This is a valuable volume for many reasons. First, it is a great primmer for those not already well versed in applied economics. It contains a helpful glossary and notes. Second, it shows the usefulness of applying economic theory to most social problems. Economics might even be used to help us to understand information flow as when the famous economist, Frank Knight, paraphrased a basic economic law, "cheaper talk drives out of circulation that which is less cheap." Such a rule might also be applied to politics.

"Sex, Drugs and Economics" has 25 far ranging and engaging chapters. Each one explores an industry or a field of economics. If I could require one course in the curricula of every college student in the world it would be economics, and this book would be the text. An in-depth understanding of this fascinating and important work would ultimately make the world a better place. *****

This book may be purchased at Amazon.com.