Understandable People: A Tribute to Dr. Gary Becker (1931-2014)

I'm going to be honest and a little vulnerable here today.  I need to let you know that one of the reasons I try and write this blog in common sense and practical terms is that I can't myself understand or comprehend much more than that. 

On a plane the other day someone had left a copy of The Economist.  That is one of the magazines that I know I should be able to read and enjoy, but I just can't.  Half the time I don't understand what they are trying to say and the depth and understanding of the economics behind the stories are usually over my pay grade. 

This is why I was so sorry to hear that Gary Becker died this last Saturday.  Some may not know him, but I felt like I did.  Professor Becker was a Nobel Prize winning economist, but more important for me, he was an economist who I could understand.  When he wrote for Business Week, I would read his every word and walk away with something that I could not only relate, but also apply in my thinking and actions. 

Our world is a complex one and we need more people, like Dr. Gary Becker, who can boil it down so that most of us can use our common sense to understand.