The Econocracy: On the Perils of Leaving Economics to the Experts
by Joe Earle, Cahal Moran and Zach Ward-Perkins
(Penguin, £9.99)

WHILE studying economics at the University of Manchester, the three authors of Econocracy became disillusioned with how little their education was helping them understand the causes and aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.

In response, they set up the Post-Crash Economics Society and are now members of the Rethinking Economics network linking 40 groups in 13 countries.

Their broad thesis in the book is that economists wield a huge amount of influence in society — think of the importance the media gives to the post-budget analysis of the Institute for Fiscal Studies — but have become dangerously disconnected from the general population, with little public oversight.