Have you heard about the two things concept? The original site says:

For every subject, there are really only two things you really need to know. Everything else is the application of those two things, or just not important.

It really is an interesting idea. For example, the two things of Economics suggested by Glen Whitman, are:

1. Incentives matter.
2. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.

I utterly agree with the first one. I couldn’t probably express it any better. However, I have problems with the second one. It’s like, it’s true, but it just basically repeats the first one (to some extent). I don’t really think it would be the perfect second statement, although I am not really sure what would.

In any case, it’s a really cool concept and I think I’d get back to it sometime later.

I don’t know if there are many people who still haven’t read this book. But I haven’t. In fact, I have only read up to the page 60 (which is about the third chapter).

And anyway, I find this book totally interesting. It’s not something what I could have expected. I wouldn’t probably have begun reading a book on Economics at all (I have more boring things to do, thanks!) if it wasn’t recommended so many times by people I know on the forums. It talks about real life situations and how they could be applied in life rather than focussing on some dull economical theories. I’m beginning to understand what “everything” actually means in the “the hidden side of everything” slogan.

I think I’d still be posting more about the book as I read it (if there is any interest). But so far I’d totally recommend it even for those non-economists out there…