Let others worry about the oil price or China’s current account surplus. On this page, I am celebrating a vintage summer for the economist as personal improvement guru. The “Dear Economist” column, first penned by Alan Beattie and Chris Giles (now FT trade and economics editors, respectively), has celebrated its fourth anniversary. Then Esquire magazine, of all places, was persuaded to publish my full-length feature on what economics could teach its readers about getting a date.

Now Tyler Cowen, an economics professor and prolific blogger at marginalrevolution.com, has published a self-help book called Discover Your Inner Economist.