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My obsession with economics is starting to become a bit of a problem. Here is an example of actual post-coital dialogue between me and my girlfriend:

Me: (after a few merciful moments of blissful silence): One principle difference between the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank in the former’s focus on stimulating growth, contrasted with the latter’s anti-inflationary position, as a result of historical and cultural precedents. As such, the ECB tends toward what Americans would view as a tight monetary policy. And of course, with interest rates so low, the Fed has no recourse but to resort to quantitative easing to attempt to stimulate aggregate demand, but such a course is a virtual anathema to Mario Draghi, let alone Angela Merkel . . .

Girlfriend: All this sexy talk is making me wet all over again.

(I wish I could say that this was a clever fiction I devised to make a point and a joke, but I’m nowhere near that clever.)

So yes, I'm a little obsessed. I’ve subscribed to The Economist for the last four years or so, reading it each and every time I use the toilet, and mind you: I need a lot more fiber in my diet. I wrote a about game theory, one of the most important areas of mathematics with direct applications to economics. And for the last year and half, I’ve spent most of my working days listening continuously to economics podcasts, including Freakonomics, Planet Money, the London School of Economics, and The Economist podcast, to catch up on what I’ve missed in the print version, in case I’ve been eating a lot of bran muffins.

A little knowledge is a notoriously dangerous thing, and when I read popular (and clearly intentionally provocative) economics treatises such as this book, I just have an overwhelming urge to argue with their authors. Over beers or coffee. It would all be very civilized. But my local watering holes do nothing to attract flocks of economists, and there is almost zero chance of sneaking it into romantic pillow talk with one, as described above.

I’d recommend The Armchair Economist to anyone with an interest in economics, but I would caution: Landsburg is cranky, curmudgeonly, opinionated and rude. Delightfully so. I think he and I would get along very well, even if we don’t agree on everything, which we don’t. He knows far more about economics than I do, and I wouldn’t presume to suggest otherwise. But I know enough to recognize the difference between economic fact and economic opinion. He supplies boatloads of both, and presents them very well. If you’ve already gone through all the Freakanomics titles, and this has stimulated your own personal aggregate demand for more popular works of economics, I think you’ll find this entertaining and educational. Take it all with a grain of salt, though. And while you are at it, eat some more fiber.

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P.S. The girlfriend and I make arguably too many “that’s what she said� jokes. If you enjoy that sort of thing, you might find amusing.