The Airport Economist
Friday, 6 June 2008
Last Updated: Friday, 6 June 2008
By Amanda Gome The Airport Economist
By Tim Harcourt
Published Allen & Unwin. Cost: $24.95 at all good bookstores including airport bookstores, Newslink and the Qantas Club. Also order online at www.theairporteconomist.com
Move over Bill Bryson. Tim Harcourt, Australia’s travelling economist, has done all desk-bound entrepreneurs a big favour with his new book The Airport Economist.
Harcourt must have one of the best jobs in Australia. Yes, he is a columnist at SmartCompany but he is also the economist at Austrade. As such he has jetted around the world and developed a unique style of reporting.
He mixes deep economic knowledge of a country, with a dash of history, adds some trends and throws in great stories about what exporting Aussies are up to. The business reader ends up with a highly readable insight into a country they may never have considered as a business or export destination.
Who thought Tim Tams would be so big in Isreal, or you would find bordies being sold in Bordeaux on Bastille Day?
It will awaken the traveller in any entrepreneur and reminds us all why we had a go. After all, anything is possible in this global world.
The worst part of the book? It is chirpy, which can grate. It needs a few reminders of how companies can get it oh so wrong in export markets.
This book is so current, it will date quickly. So a good read this winter!
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