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Reviews (10)

It's not Greenspan's fraud
It's not Greenspan's fraud. That would be giving Mr. Greenspan too much credit. The Federal Reserve is a fraud that was formed long before Greenspan was made its chairman. Greenspan has done a reasonable job of keeping the false prosperity intact, but it won't last. Like all Fed chairman before him he just counterfeited a bunch of money. Take a look at our incomes vs the cost of living and it becomes obvious we haven't made any progress at all. A Great Depression is the only way to resolve the economic distortions the Fed has enabled.

Looking for Mr. GREENSCAM!
     Despite its title, this is less a book about the "Maestro" Alan Greenspan (the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve System) than a review of the recent travails of the U.S. economy and the imbalances it has spawned at home and abroad by its plutocratic excesses. That Mr. G. is a privileged member of that plutocracy of wealth none would deny; he has after all been hailed as Chief Gnome of the Global Economy ever since the Stock Market Crash of 1987; but that he is also the chief architect of its manifold shenanigans and manifest frauds is a stretch, and a claim which Mr Batra can't make stick. Which is unfortunate because the U.S./global economy desperately needs a scapegoat right now!

Probably ALL of us know something about Mr Greenspan. He has been in the public eye as part of the politico-economic elite ever since President Ford appointed him Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors in 1974. He became Chairman of the Fed in 1987, in the wake of the great Paul Volcker, and quickly established himself as Savior of Global Financial Markets after his prompt and brilliantly successful response to theCrash of `87. (How ironic that his Fed career should also ends with a crash: the Millennial Meltdown of 2000-2002). To the rest of us, Greenspan is probably best known for what is sometimes called "Fed-speak," a contorted, convoluted, pretzel-logic kind of economese that passes all understanding. (It might more reasonably be called "GreenSPAM"!) These tidbits aside, however, few of us know much about Mr. G. or the Federal Reserve. And because Batra does not provide us with a coherent chronological account of his quarry's background and career, we are at a loss to know whetherthe barrage of accusations that he fires off in his first chapter (a long and disorganised anti-Greenspan screed) has any merit. This is a failing which dogs Batra's footsteps throughout the book.

Although his case against Greenspan (in Chapters 1 and 4) is not as rigorous as we might like, Batra's larger argument about the causes of the U.S. economic malaise since the early Seventies is excellent. Specifically, what he provides is a much needed neo-Keynesian "demand-side" response to the manifest idiocies of "supply-side" conservatism. In the late Seventies and early Eighties, "Supply-siders" (so called) claimed that high taxes on the wealthy were bad for savings, and hence, investment, and hence growth. Batra shows (Ch 7) that the era of highest taxation on the wealthy, the Fifties and Sixties, was also the era of highest growth! Go figure! Supply-siders also claimed that raising the minimum wage would cause higher unemployment. "Not so," says Batra, who skewers that self-serving myth in Chapter 8. But, you may say, how could the Supply-Siders have been so WRONG if they had the RIGHT recipe for balancing the budget? The answer, as Batra shows, was that the budget was NEVER balanced; it was merely kept under control. How? By increasing payroll taxes on working Americans, under the sleazy guise of "fixing Social Security". Throughout the Eighties and Nineties, despite their alleged ideological differences, both Democrats AND Republicans lined up to vote for reduced taxes on wealth and increased taxes on work. By claiming to "save" Social Security they increased worker deductions, and then used the additional Social Security funds to "balance" the general budget! And, as Batra's incendiary second chapter on the "Social Securiity Fraud" convincingly demonstrates, they did so by lying through their teeth to the American public. Because Greenspan was at the center of that disgraceful stab in the back, Batra holds him accountable for the entire scam. GreenSCAM! But, if you read Chapter Two, which on its own will more than repay your invrstment in this book, you'll realize that while the "Maestro" was the ringmaster, there was no shortage of cheerleaders and helpmates. And Democrats were no less spineless than their GOP counterparts.

To conclude: this book is not a good guide to Greenspan, the man or the mythical figure who has dominated the economic landscape for the past twenty years. But it is an EXCELLENT guide to the manifest ways in which the "new economy" has benefitted the rich and shafted the rest of us.

It's about time !
True, Alan Greenspan may have been lucky in preventing inflation even though that is truly questionable given his support of ENRON-omics. However, day after day you'll hear Greenspan flip and flop on the status of the economy with no coherent understanding. Moreover, he'll even endorse the worst of free trade just because it will make Wall Street happy at the expense of Main Street. This is where Batra's book steps in. You see, Greenspan has no genuine interest in doing what is truly best and correct for the nation as fed chair. His only goal is to serve as a special interest puppet. After all, if the free markets were true replacements for the existing safety nets such as social security, then why is it that Alan Greenspan keeps on flipping and flopping on his stands? Is it because of his wife Andrea Mitchell who gets to show up on the corporate media and the extra money she'll get as Bush's speechwriter after Bush finishes bilking us taxpayers? Not only is that so but Greenspan knows that without economic safety nets, baby boomers will be forced to live off of worthless stocks that resulted from one too many stock market crashes. Batra isn't writing this book to bilk rich people as some conservative reviewers might try to mislead you into believing. His point is that for having played a major role in the 20 years of destructive globalism, Greenspan is actually too good to be true and that's what Wall Street, the conservatives and libertarians, and the media that lives off Greenspan's acting mode are afraid you will find out about.

GREENSPAN CROSSES THE LINE TO PSYCHOTIC SCHIZOPHRENIA
Pick a day of the week a throw a dart. That seems to be what decides whether Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan will tell us we are headed for disaster or doing fabulously on any given day. It has reached the point where it is not just fence straddling, but truly troublesome psychosis. And it has been going on for a while now. Look at this from last year. First, from May 6, 2004 comments to a banking conference: "Our fiscal prospects are, in my judgment, a significant obstacle to long-term stability because the budget deficit is not readily subject to correction by market forces that stabilize other imbalances." Then a few months later to the House Budget Committee: "The most recent data suggest that, on the whole, the expansion has regained some traction." One day he is pointing out that there is an "inverted yield curve," a little thing that precedes every recession and never appears except when there is a recession about to occur, and the next he is saying the economy is wonderful - even in the face of all obvious evidence to the contrary, such as seen in this Washington Post quote typical of the situation: "Greenspan was upbeat about the economy in remarks to the House Budget Committee, and did not suggest there would be any major changes in the Fed's monetary policy, which was a welcome relief to rate-wary investors. But the short-term cheer over his comments was not enough to allay the market's deeper concerns." The problem, though, is not Greenspan himself but something we see play out on a much, much larger scale, and which has the entire nation confused about the current state of the economy, which is actually very simple to explain. You see, it is the job of the entire investment firm profession to get you to buy stocks and bonds. And economists serve these people, and tend to be Republicans. The reality is that Greenspan and others understand the second part of the above Washington Post quote, that there are permanent "deeper concerns" due to the policies implemented by President Bush and the Bush/Limbaugh Republicans. The deficit is real, the declining dollar is real, that the lack of pensions are real, that record number of personal bankruptcies are occurring each year.. So why does the reporting and commenting go back and forth so much? Because they have to say something and to try and say something positive. They sit and wait on this and that report and then are supposed to make some comment based on these snapshots. If they were simply to continue to focus on the big picture, they would have nothing new or interesting - or very positive - to say. How many times can you write, "You can't keep running up the nation's credit cards like this?" How many times can you point out that the tax cuts were not targeted in any way toward job creation - they simply handed money to wealthy people without any incentives linked to increased hiring or any other mechanism of job creation. Lots of money was handed directly to companies, and so their profits increased. That would be nice except for one catch: it was money we didn't have to give. The cheerful reporting of the sudden increase of cash among companies is the eqivalent of going out and buying a new truck and 42-inch TV on your credit card and then coming home and saying, "See how well we are doing, honey, we have all sorts of nice new stuff." The reality in that case would be that, no, things around the household haven't improved, just someone in the household made a stupid decision to run up all sorts of debt that has to be paid down at some point. We hear talk now about foreign investors getting leery of floating our endless bonds. And we hear about the inverted yield curve - the surest sign of a coming recession, when short-term interest rates are, unlike normal, higher than long-term interest rates. You have to take this all a step further, though, because this is just the government aspect of things. Though the press likes to report useless, skewed month to month "unemployment" numbers, the reality is that these numbers only include people still receiving unemployment compensation benefits. Those who have exhausted all of their benefits and are still unable to find work are called, "long-term unemployed." The number of people in this group tells the real story of unemployment, of people permanently put in the worst of financial situations. And as reality has it, the last two years has seen record numbers of long-term unemployed. On top of that, the trend that started during the Clinton years of record personal bankruptcies continues. And the trade deficit continues to set new records. So on the one hand you have a government completely broke, setting deficit borrowing records every year. And on the other, you have the American people completely overspent, credit cards run to the max and many stuck long-term without any employment. And then you have a Baby Boomer group that will be retiring many without pensions, only with dot-com-crash-battered 401K's to depend on. Lady's and gentlemen, the math doesn't add up. The only thing the Bush/Limbaughians have to try and keep things from seeming the disaster they are is their complete domination of the media - of course, as we've explained, this is why they've set up 24 hour-a-day propaganda on all media, to convince the people that things that are horrible for them are actually just fine. You can look at this report or that number, but the "conundrum" Alan Greenspan keeps coming back to is simple: How can he continue to try to say anything positive when the obvious, big-picture context of the economy is horrible and only being exacerbated by current policies? And so you see poor Alan looking like a deranged monkey on acid, saying we have a recovery, things look good, and then, just a few days later, we have a real problem, the deficits and inverted yield curve cannot be ignored.

Ignore the kneejerk reviews - this book tells the truth
So what did Greenspan do for this country that you have to be so proud about? Well, he did push for unfair "free" trade and is continuing to do so with offshoring and the upcoming CAFTA and he overtaxed America on Social Security in an attempt to help the Republicans destroy Social Security and is now pushing for privatization. It's true the Greenspan goes only where the wind blows, be it Clinton in office in the 1990s or now Bush. Maybe Wall Street paid some negative reviewers money to try to stop the dirty secret truth of Alan Greenspan from marching on but like a real patriot always knows "THE TRUTH IS MARCHING ON !" ... Read more

Book Description

Business and Society: Ethics and Stakeholder Management, 5th edition employs a stakeholder management framework, emphasizing business' social and ethical responsibilities to both external and internal stakeholder groups. A twin theme of business ethics to illustrate how ethical or moral considerations are included the public issues facing organizations and the decision making process of managers.The text is written from a managerial perspective that along with the twin themes of stakeholders and ethics, shows how to identify stakeholders, incorporate their concerns into the organization's strategy and operations, and also integrate ethical wisdom into their decision making process.In addition, 35 case histories are included to help connect theory and practice through timely and interesting examples. ... Read more

Book Description

The most significant conquest of the twentieth century may well have been the triumph of American consumer society over Europe's bourgeois civilization. It is this little-understood but world-shaking campaign that unfolds in Irresistible Empire, Victoria de Grazia's brilliant account of how the American standard of living defeated the European way of life and achieved the global cultural hegemony that is both its great strength and its key weakness today.

De Grazia describes how, as America's market empire advanced with confidence through Europe, spreading consumer-oriented capitalism, all alternative strategies fell before it--first the bourgeois lifestyle, then the Third Reich's command consumption, and finally the grand experiment of Soviet-style socialist planning. Tracing the peculiar alliance that arrayed New World salesmanship, statecraft, and standardized goods against the Old World's values of status, craft, and good taste, Victoria de Grazia follows the United States' market-driven imperialism through a vivid series of cross-Atlantic incursions by the great inventions of American consumer society. We see Rotarians from Duluth in the company of the high bourgeoisie of Dresden; working-class spectators in ramshackle French theaters conversing with Garbo and Bogart; Stetson-hatted entrepreneurs from Kansas in the midst of fussy Milanese shoppers; and, against the backdrop of Rome's Spanish Steps and Paris's Opera Comique, Fast Food in a showdown with advocates for Slow Food. Demonstrating the intricacies of America's advance, de Grazia offers an intimate and historical dimension to debates over America's exercise of soft power and the process known as Americanization. She raises provocative questions about the quality of the good life, democracy, and peace that issue from the vaunted victory of mass consumer culture.

Reviews (2)

A terrific book on the origins of global consumerism
De Grazia shows that the triumph of American-style consumption in Europe -- from supermarkets to Hollywood movies -- wasn't automatic; there were alternatives, there was resistance, there was a history.The book is full of fascinating surprises: Woodrow Wilson's speech to the first World's Salesmanship Congress in 1916; the Duluth-Dresden connection; Hitler promising to protect Europe from American economic domination. This may be the best book we have on the history of consumption in the 20th century.

Are You Trying to Seduce Me?


A well-written, well-documented, colorful, and entertaining account how American consumer culture came to dominate Europe by the force of seduction. In asking how it is that Europeans came to be so enamored with the American way, De Grazia shows the integral part that the shaping of desire plays in domination. ... Read more

Book Description

Highly praised for its clarity and great examples, Weiers's text takes an informal, student-oriented approach to fundamental statistical concepts. Non-technical terminology is used to describe statistical concepts, which are presented in the context of contemporary applications and student experience. Realizing that many business students are intimidated by this course, Weiers provides numerous learning aids and interesting applications drawn from real-world experience common to many students. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The best statistics book ever
Finally a statistics book that isn't just a math book with no practical implication.

This book really helped me at my job to make decision calculations. ... Read more

Book Description

This book illustrates the central decision problems managers face and provides the economic analysis needed to guide these decisions. The authors believe that an effective managerial economics book must go beyond the "nuts and bolts" of economic analysis to show how these economic analysis techniques are used by practicing managers. ... Read more

Book Description

"The hour of capitalism's greatest triumph" writes Hernando de Soto, "is, in the eyes of four-fifths of humanity, its hour of crisis." In The Mystery of Capital, the world-famous Peruvian economist takes up the question that, more than any other, is central to one of the most crucial problems the world faces today: Why do some countries succeed at capitalism while others fail?

In strong opposition to the popular view that success is determined by cultural differences, de Soto finds that it actually has everything to do with the legal structure of property and property rights. Every developed nation in the world at one time went through the transformation from predominantly informal, extralegal ownership to a formal, unified legal property system. In the West we've forgotten that creating this system is what also allowed people everywhere to leverage property into wealth. This persuasive book revolutionizes our understanding of capital and points the way to a major transformation of the world economy. ... Read more

Reviews (87)

Profound!!!
De Soto and Tom Friedman (The Lexus and the Olive Tree) are the two authors that make economics accessible. I have just graduated high school, and after basic economics, I understand what de Soto is saying. De Soto is one of the rare economists that has ditched the books and "gotten his hands dirty." He doesn't only forumlates theories, but also applies them in the real world. His research team is spread across the world - in nations such as Egypt, Haiti, Peru, and the Phillipines.

After reading this book, I have become cinvinced that the major problem in the developing and former communist world is the lack of property rights- de Soto's theory. He not only defends his theory, but explains how these thrid world countries can tap into the 9.3 trillion dollars worth of dead capital in their slums, shantys and "suburbs." The proposal is to adopt the society informal property laws into the national formal law in order to allow the poor to claim legal rights to their assets, and therefore allowing them to use their assets as collatoral for loans from banks. He is not idealistic -- he recognizes the problems and the obstacles that have to be met.

This book is fantastic. I read it in four days, and I am not a fast reader, especially econ books I HIGHLY recommend it.

-Joe

de Sota supplies one component for economic growth
The Mystery of Capital attempts to "reopen the exploration of the source of capital and thus explain how to correct the economic failures of poor countries." I believe the author makes an interesting argument within the book concerning the failure of capitalism to catch on in developing and post-communist countries. His argument deals with institutions we here in the West take for granted-property rights and other legal institutions. The connection between these legal institutions and economic growth is clear-and de Sota is clear on this point as well.

He states that an individual living outside the West faces an impenetrable wall of rules that bar them from legally established social and economic activities-such as deleterious bureaucracies that retard growth by wielding red-tape. De Sota sent teams to Peru, the Philippines, Egypt, and Haiti and they experienced firsthand how it takes several years to obtain legal verification of assets-years compared to days here in the West. Under these burdens, individuals create new laws-extralegal laws. These social contracts have created a vibrant but undercapitalized sector. This sector is known in economic layman's terms as the underground or informal economy. The author estimates that over half on the inhabitants in developing countries engage in this sector-using Dead Capital. The value of the assets in the informal markets are huge-surpassing the assets of rich countries sometimes. De Sota has brought attention to the core of the problem-he then states that the solution can be found at the heart of the countries.

He supplies the formula to fix the backwardness of the nascent capitalist nations. The first objective is to unify the many social contracts already existing in the extralegal sector into one, all encompassing social contract-by listening to the "barking dogs", or the people. Past attempts with this aim have failed because they have lacked the legitimacy and support from the current extralegal world. De Sota creates a bridge to fix this dilemma-a bridge that integrates old social property customs into a new all encompassing social contract. By working with their people, government leaders can forge a new regulatory framework. The second task is a task of a political nature because the plan outlined above requires the support of the poor, the elite, and the lawyers. The poor will gain the most because they will greatly increase their economic lifestyles with a more unified social property system that will enable them to use their assets as full functioning capital. The elite will harvest gains as well; they will benefit from an expanded market and growing capitalist economy. The lawyers must not use the current law, but instead fine-tune the law and change it to make it work for all.

De Sota's real world studies and solutions make sense in my mind. He identified a problem and supplied the solution. He may fall short though in his solution because a complex capitalist economy requires much more infrastructure than only property rights-of course I mean other forms of capital, such as human capital. By De Sota is on the right tract; a capitalist economy demands strict and discrete property laws that enable individuals to utilize their assets. His premise is right-under capitalism, the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. In the third world, the poor don't have access to their assets, and they thus flounder in the extralegal sector.

One of the single best books on Economics I've read
Many of the other reviewers have given excellent in depth summaries of DeSoto's book, and I will not regurgitate what others have already done a good job of saying. I will just say this: if you want to know why 3rd world countries are 3rd world countries, and what Gov'ts around the world can do to create prosperity for their people, read this book. Nations are poor because of ill-guarded private property rights. It's that simple. They aren't poor because of lack of socialism (quite the opposite), they aren't poor because of lack of resources, it's because "It's the property rights, stupid!"

Books like this can give hope to the pessimist, that it is possible to end serious poverty in the world. Relative poverty will always exist, but the civilization-destabilizing poverty that exists in the Arab world, in Latin America, *can* be cured if Gov'ts would just put in place a system that allows capital (ie entreprenuers) to grow from the natural resources within the country. Replace Socialism w/ Rule of Law. I hope every member of the Iraqi CPA has read this book and heeded its lessons...

Packed With Knowledge!
Hernando de Soto's ideas cannot and should not be ignored. This book will open many eyes to the nature of capital. The author suggests a radically simple yet enormously challenging way of bringing the world's impoverished billions onto the track of capitalism and development: give them legal property rights to what they "own." The author's intriguing case is that a lack of property rights - not a lack of entrepreneurial zeal or competence - stymies development in the former East Bloc and Third World countries. This seemed to be a shockingly original notion when the author first propounded it in his bestseller The Other Patch, and it still does. If the book has a flaw, we warn, it is that the author's undisguised missionary ardor sometimes makes one wonder whether he is merely a zealot. Even if he were one, the book would merit reading.

Thoughts that come on doves' feet guide the world...
Other reviewers have commented on De Soto's originality in relation to prevailing economic tradition. They have also praised his style - very clear prose, interspersed by passages of honest elegance. Yet, for me, at least, what stands out most about De Soto is his interest in discovery, in reawakening a long forgotten question.

Who asks oneself seriously what capital is today? Is one even generally capable of understanding the question of what capital is? I doubt it - the first reaction is ridicule. Of course one knows what capital is, for one lives in a capitalistic society. One can hardly take such a question seriously.

Yet, this provocative question moves this book. De Soto has carried out first-hand research among the boiling global centres of 'marginal' economic activity. He has not looked for the 'right' theoretical answer to the question of capital, rather, he has tried to discover a way to pose, and answer, the question meaningfully. Meaningfully for whom? To those who have forgotten - those in the West - and to those who wish to learn in the developing world and the former communist nations. What is capital?

Other reviewers have criticised De Soto for redundancy, repetition. These criticisms are off the mark. De Soto has discovered the conceptual solution to the question of the potential of capital: a legitimate system of representation of property. Yet, he can not simply elaborate it in a few words, for one does not still understand the question he is answering. Because it is disturbing and fleeting, it is very difficult to grasp. Thus it requires constant reformulation. Shakespeare used parallel structure, De Soto uses masterful analogies (I particularly like his profound observation on something so seemingly apparent as barking dogs).

De Soto also tries to situate his thought within diverse traditions of Western thought, combining Continental philosophy with American analytics (it is rare to see someone who is capable of synthesizing Derrida with Wittgenstein, to say nothing of Searle!). He seems to be trying to say the same thing in many different ways - yet it is very difficult to understand what that thing (capital) is. De Soto helps the reader by offering many different pathways to the thing (capital) itself.

I feel that De Soto might have engaged more deeply with Plato's thoughts on representation and his analysis of the cave parable is somewhat superficial. A more in-depth engagement might provide the basis for a rethinking of some of the precepts behind private property and capital, which De Soto simply accepts as given. This is a personal quibble only, however, as such speculation would reduce the clarity of the book, and thereby reduce its tremendous practical value for concrete action, obviously the author's main intent.

De Soto has written a masterpiece around a a simple kernal of truth. It seems so obvious in hindsight! Yet, it is the very stillness of those words in which it is expressed which will bring on a storm. ... Read more

Book Description

First course in Econometrics in Economics Departments at better schools, also Economic/Business Forecasting. Statistics prerequisite but nocalculus. Slightly higher level and more comprehensive than Gujarati (M-H, 1996) . P-R covers more time series and forecasting. P-R coverage is notch below Johnston-DiNardo (M-H, 97) and requires no matrix algebra.Includes data disk. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Great equations, bad explanations
The subject of econometrics is difficult for the beginner. I have yet to encounter a text that does a great job at explaining both the concepts and the math required to be proficient in this field. I completed three courses, two undergraduate and one graduate level, for which this book was the required text. Like most of my classmates I was never able to fully comprehend the concepts behind the numbers using this text alone. Now that I have a better grasp of econometrics I will vehemently suggest that this text provides a poor verbal description of what a student is actually doing when analyzing data. I found myself reading the chapters 2 or 3 times and still felt unsure of what was going on. Where this book is strong is in its presentation of equations. I highly recommend supplementing this text with Peter Kennedy's, "A Guide to Econometrics," which gives excellent verbal explanations but de-emphasizes the math. These two texts together make a great study for a difficult subject.

It's not that bad
I'm giving this book 5 stars largely to balance out the somewhat unfair reviews that were given. For what it is -- an econometrics textbook that tries to present overview of neginning to intermediate econometrics and forecasting WITHOUT a lot of linear algebra -- it's a pretty good book. While it has its rough spots, the book has many good features. One of the really good features of this book is presenting the material with an emphasis on model building ... a very important emphasis that is too often ignored in other econometrics texts. In an ideal world, this book deserves at least an average of 4 stars and would deserve more if the readers made things more readable and better incorporated advances in econometrics since previous editions.

Hardly readable
This is one of the not so good econometric textbooks I've ever read. The mathematical notations appear to be very confusing and untidy, the text is excessively lengthy. But one who writes actuarial exams has to read it because it is the official textbook.

econometrics for the statistically literate
This is a very good text for an undergraduate student taking a first course in regression analysis and modelling. It is very comprehensive and has some very good examples for a beginner. The only problem is that the field of stochastic modelling is very dynamic so some of the material covered in the book has become outdated.

A very good starter's textbook.
This was my first econometrics textbook 7 years ago. Not difficult at all, but covers the most important material for econometrics students at the beginner's level. Good structure and good examples.You may not be able to find everything there, because it is not "advanced" version. A little bit outdated. Newly developed ideas and technichs are not covered. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Dinosaurs Live!
This is one of the worst entry-level that I have ever seen. It is badlyorganized. The material on Macroeconomics precedes the material onMicroeconomics. It is out of date. Much of the content of this bookconsists of "Old Keynesian" economics of the 1950's that nobody-not even today's "New Keynesians"- believes in anymore. Theauthors briefly mention a few of the major changes in economic theory overthe past 30 years, but do a poor job of explaining these new and dominantconcepts. It is badly written. I have heard many students complain that itis a boring read, and that much of it is difficult to understand. It isunsophisticated and superficial. Its' muddled discussions lack depth, andfail to explore the subtleties of the faulty concepts it presents (this isthe best things about this book). In short, this text is an embarrassmentto the economics profession. The authors have failed to amend the contentof their text in response to advances in economic theorizing, and continueto organize their text in accordance with the faulty and discreditedKeynesian theories of the 1950's. If you must read this for a class,remember that its' content is as bad its' presentation.

Let's not sugar coat this review....
I can't believe after fourteen editions of this book, the quality is still so poor.First of all, this book is too simple even for a high school AP economics class (the one I'm in now).The examples are stuipid anduninteresting.Secondly, this book is difficult to read because of thefont type, the graphics and other things annoying to the eye.This meansreading this book will put a student to sleep.Thirdly, one look at thetable of contents will reveal that the book is totally out of order.Itjumps into macroeconomics without saying anything about supply and demandessential to microeconomics (that's later in the book).Lastly, readingthis book will not increase your knowledge of economics unless you attendthe lectures.So reading this book on your own will only make a vagueimpression of what's said but no understanding.So, teachers andprofessors, do your students a favor by choosing another textbook.

Average.
In my experience, students usually violently disagree on the quality and difficulty of this text. Predictably, the division goes something like this: Camp 1 - it's too difficult, in places there is not enoughexplanation, and the writing style is turgid. Camp 2 - it rambles on fortoo long on irrelevant issues, it does not provide all the necessaryformulae (let alone working out), and is basically high schoolmaterial.

In my opinion, there is truth in both camps' evaluations. Inplaces it does tend to ramble - especially with respect to boring examples,and it does not provide the necessary mathematical appendices for thosestudents going on to intermediate study. In addition to these (justified)student-based complaints, I have my own: the first chapter on methodologyis, as with just about every textbook written these days, pathetic. It doesno service to the discipline of economics to patronisingly peddle the linethat "economics is a science" when there is abolutely no evidenceof a properly developed (let alone explained) scientific approach beingused in the textbook itself. Introductory economics texts have to move intothe late 20thC and admit that economics is not infact a covert physicalscience, and further, does face serious methodological questions about whatit is actually capable of knowing. My other complaint is that there is nosystematic linking together of the microeconomic (quasi-)normative chapters(e.g. the economising problem, general equilibrium, functions ofgovernment, and the section on current social issues). A more coherentapproach that at least introduced students to Arrow, Rawls, Nozick and Senwould not only bring dispirate ideas neatly together, but would also supplystudents with a basic grounding in distributional theories of justice whichthey should encounter in more advanced subjects.

That said, somecriticisms are unwarranted. For example, I don't believe that the text is'too hard'. I have always found this complaint somewhat puzzling, giventhat it is probably the easiest text this side of the bombasically simple"Principles of Economics" by N. Gregory Mankiw. One suspects thatthis reaction is due largely to first year university students not havingmuch experience with economics texts (i.e., not realising that it only getsMUCH harder from first year onwards). Also, it must be said that on thewhole it is reasonably balanced in its political inclinations (in that itdoes not rant about the evils of trade unions or oligopolies). Finally,while the text does ramble, it is nonetheless well written. For the mostpart, those students coming to economics for the first time should havelittle difficulty in comprehending what is being articulated.

In thefinal analysis, the 'pros' and 'cons' balance each other out, making for aneminantly average textbook. This is not to say it's Bad - it's merely tosay that buying it will not set you 'afire with desire' to do moreeconomics...just like most textbooks currently on the market.

McConnell and Brue: Economics
An economists book that does little for the aspiring Economics student.The reader must have a background in Economics before reading this book, and should be accompanied by with a lecture when used for instructionalpurposes.It covers a great depth of economics knowledge that is uselessunless you are planning a degree in this field.Five stars for the"nose-in-the-book economist," and zero for he or she that wantsto learn a little more about econ.

One of the best books in Foreign Policies Problems
The best problem solver ever. GREAT!!! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Dry Reading
Sometimes books can't help but to cover dry material. This book does not excell past being extremely dry. The book is well documented, thorough, and comprehensive. The eight edition is aesthically pleasing, but still does not seem to achieve the ability to make itself an easy read. I would highly recommend another book for this study, or using this one as background information for study. ... Read more

Book Description

The Fifth Edition of Managerial Economics heralds a new era for this classic text. Carrying on the tradition established by Edwin Mansfield in the book's earlier editions, Bruce Allen, Neil Doherty, and Keith Weigelt—all of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School—have prepared an exciting revision that capitalizes on proven strengths while embracing new developments in the field. Retaining a hallmark of Managerial Economics, the authors include a wealth of cases and applications that consistently anchor the exposition in the real world of business decision making. New to the Fifth Edition is a greater focus on applied microeconomics, with two new chapters, one on auctions and another on the principal-agent problems of firms. These new chapters, numerous new cases and applications throughout the book, and an exciting new package of electronic ancillaries promise to make the Fifth Edition of Managerial Economics the best yet. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Too little game theory and too expensive
I had heard good things about this book but was left frustrated. Given the march of game theory over the past 15 years or so, I would have expected this to underpin the book's very word - but not a bit of it! Despite a nice section on auctions, the author tries to emulate existing texts (including previous editions of his own book) and does not take into account current developments in microeconomic theory. My other gripe is the price of the book. I am still hunting for a suitable text.

Managerial Economics
This book has undergone a major revision since the 4th edition. The authors have done a good job of explaining basic economic principles and then applying them to the business world. New chapters on auctions and incentive schemes are both informative and timely. This is a must reading for those who think economic principles are just for the classroom. Not only do the authors show how the principles are applied (through examples from the business press), they also concisely explain them.

A valuable book for both practitioners and students.

Communication??
This book is not easy reading. Do economists live in another world? I read a paragraph to my wife, an English school teacher, and she said that it was very poor English. The author and the school were he teaches, is very prestigious. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (2)

Thought-Provoking Book About Our Current Dilemma!
Over the last several years, former Secretary Of Commerce Pete Petersen has become something of a cottage industry in and of himself, writing several books, appearing as a pundit on talk shows, and acting as chairperson for both the Blackstone Group and the prestigious Council for Foreign Relations (CFR). Here he continues the caustic warnings he first articulated in "Gray Dawn", a polemic ranting against the potentially devastating consequences of the graying of the American population and the stress this demographic factor would have on growing federal deficits, the aging population itself, and on the national debt. He amplifies those warnings by making a rather alarming set of observations as to the consequences of the reckless and foolhardy policies of the current federal government, policies that combine the worst elements of supply side 'voodoo economics' with continued growth in federal entitlement programs.

The mix, Mr. Petersen argues, may become a disastrous witch's brew with catastrophic results both for the domestic economy and the continued well-being of the American people. He saves his most strident criticism for the style of morally questionable leadership currently in vogue, a reckless world view that seems to shamelessly trade immediate and permanent tax cuts for the very wealthy for a mounting tidal wave of debt for our children and their heirs. In detailing his grievances with current policies, Petersen cites a series of common partisan myths, including the notion that the majority of the elderly are poor, that more elderly than children are poor, that Americans are over-taxed, that providing tax cuts for the rich can successfully shrink government, and that imposing so-called "means-testing" for federal benefits will be catastrophic for the needy.

The author places the majority of the blame for our current set of problems upon the shoulders of a variety of forces within contemporary society, from interest groups and their lobbies to an almost pathological concern with short-term results, to the cult of individualism we all seem to suffer from, and, of course, to generational change. He views a number of strategies as potentially helpful in abating the negative set of circumstances we are ensconced in; indexing social security benefits to prices rather than wages, extending health care to all using the plan offered to federal employees as a model, and forcing Congress to include unfunded retirement obligations in the balance sheet (thus ending the thirty five year old sham of never mentioning to the American people the reason we have such a serious shortfall in social security funds in the out-years is because the federal government has consistently and quite deliberately violated the provisions of the Social Security law by spending the extra funds collected every year rather than investing them in accordance with federal law and allowing the investment income to grow). This is an interesting and thought-provoking read, and one that is sure to be the topic of continuing debate. Enjoy

Holy Cow! "Insider" Speaks Truth, Tars Both Parties

This extraordinary book should be read in tandem with Lewis H. Lapham's "Gag Rule" and perhaps also William Greider's "The Soul of Capitalism" as well as Jonathan Schell's "Unconquerable World."

I find it extraordinary to have the Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, which I have always considered to be an old man's club of established elites, largely out of touch with 80% of the real world (that is to say, the 80% that has almost nothing in the way of wealth, health, or rights), step up to the plate and speak truth.

This book addresses the second core issue in America's future, i.e. the twin deficits that are not only going to kill the business of America, but also deprive the children of America of their future. (Lapham addresses the first: restoration of honest democracy). In combination, the $7 trillion deficit in federal spending, and the $500 billion a year trade deficit, with roughly $2 billion in foreign loans being required every single day to keep America afloat, both suggest that we are snorting political cocaine and every one of us is a damn fool for allowing two political parties to get away with selling us down the river.

As the author points out in the Preface, when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cautions its own master, the USA, that it is in danger of becoming an insolvent Third World country, running up bills that "would require an immediate and permanent 60 percent hike in the federal income tax, or a 50 percent cut in Social Security and Medicare benefits," we cannot say we have not been warned.

The author is balanced, focused, deliberative, and earnest. He carefully explains how both the "mainstream" political parties have completely abdicated all responsibility, and completely betrayed the public interest in their eagerness to sell legislation to the highest corporate bidders.

There is one grievous flaw in the book. In concluding that we can only survive by educating ourselves and then finding our voice, the author neglects to address the fast means of achieving short-term fiscal recovery in tandem with campaign finance and electoral reform: the elimination of subsidies, tax fraud, and tax relief for corporations. We have close to a trillion in unwarranted and unsound subsidies to poor agricultural, fisheries, forestry, and minerals programs where every dollar in subsidy is yielding high long-term costs to the taxpayer citizen; we have over $50 billion a year in documented import-export tax fraud ($25 rocket engines going out, $3000 toothbrushes coming in--advanced money laundering and tax avoidance); finally, the corporate share of federal tax revenue has dropped from 32% to 6% in the past twenty years, with corporations like Halliburton paying $15M in taxes on billions in profit--easy to fix: pay taxes on the profit declared to the stockholders.

This is a serious and important book, and it also helps explain why the election of 2004 does not really offer America any choices. Both candidates are from Yale's Skull and Bones, and neither of them is likely to confront the Wall Street elite and betray their secret society. As the author points out, both Democrats and Republicans have betrayed the people of America--the individual voter-constituents, and absent a popular revolt that demands a coalition government committed to electoral and campaign finance reform, I see nothing but trouble ahead as the America Republic continues to fail, and the American charade grows in its dangerous totalitarian and elitist manifestation. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

UNO student
This book is pretty easy to follow, if you can follow simple algebraic graphs and logic (emphasize logic).I thought at first that maybe this book may have been easy, so I looked around on amazon and inferrred from what I read that all the micro books that are making big sales to universities are the same.By that I mean not to math intensive, just schedules, graphs, and definitions.I got an A in the class and feel like I definitely learned something.I recommend this book for those who want to learn on own also.

A good survey
'Foundations of Microeconomics' by Robin Bade and Michael Parkin is an interesting text for an introductory course in Microeconomics.The primary academic division at the beginning level of economics is the Micro/Macro-economic divide; often it is taught as a two-semester sequence for students going into economics, political science, history, business or any other such discipline that requires a thorough grounding in economic theory and principles.

Bade and Parkin are aware from decades of teaching experience that students often get lost in a sea of detail, and that many introductory economics texts (as do the introductory texts of many fields) attempt to do too much too quickly in introducing their subjects.Bade and Parkin organise each chapter, therefore, around only a few core principles - three or four at most.They have also built into this text a very extensive set of charts and diagrams to demonstrate the points that are being explained in the text.

Each chapter begins with a checklist, and ends with checkpoints (which follow on from section checkpoints along the way).Included in this is a featured called the 'Eye on...' feature - these are small articles that highlight practical, real life situations in which the principles under discussion apply.They may be domestic or international in scope, and may be current or significant in history.

The book is adaptable to many different uses - the introductory pages highlight four alternative means of focus that the book can take:a traditional micro-economics course approach; a public policy emphasis; a business emphasis; or a shorter policy emphasis.Each of these build on core principles in the early chapters, and then expand from there depending upon the primary interests of the class or reader.

The layout of the book is visually interesting and lively.The use of colour, photographs, and charts and graphs adds tremendously to the feel of the text.The text is sharp and concise, without sacrificing clarity or content.

One very important section that I wish would have more detail and emphasis is the appendix to chapter 1 - Making and Using Graphs.Interpreting and drawing graphs seems to be the single largest problem area for students I tutor in microeconomics, so more emphasis on this part would be appreciated, particularly as the skills given in this section carry throughout the entire book.As a primary tool, the relegation of this to an appendix sends somewhat of a mixed message of the importance of graphs.Perhaps renaming this as a chapter in its own right would help somewhat, with more detail and examples (much like in mathematics, it is in the repetition of the exercises that the students gain mastery of the concepts).Students are indeed called upon to do many exercises during the course of this text (learning by doing, rather than just through reading), but the early grounding in graphical representation is critical. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A very interesting textbook about labor economics
I was a teaching assistant in a labor economics undergraduate course in Northwestern University that used this book. I found it very interesting and full of real-world examples and discussions. The mathematical level is simple and therefore the book is accessible also to students with only little background in mathematics or economics. The exposition is clear. About half of the problems and the review questions are solved at the end of the book, making it possible for the reader to practice and test her understanding of the material. I believe that most students can understand most of the material in the book even without taking a formal course in labor economics, and therefore I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the functioning of labor markets.

A helpful and informative book
I bought this book to use for my Labor Economics class at Cornell University. My professor, Professor Smith, is a contributor to this book and it was a wonderful supplement to the lectures. The book is filled with useful information and practical applications, so its appeal is not limited to economics students, but anyone who wishes to know more about payroll taxes, policy applications, work incentives and the like. This easy-to-understand book benefited me a lot and I would recommend its use to other courses in labor economics at other colleges and universities.

This book is too wordy, puts you to sleep
I bought this book for my economics class at Dartmouth College, but it was a horrible book. The text is wordy, verbose, too long. A lot of times, there are unnecessarily explains simple things too long. I hope all of you will find better labor economics text book. ... Read more

Book Description

A brief introduction to business statistics that balances a conceptual understanding of statistics with the real-world application of statistical methodology.This essentials version features selected core topics from the authors' market-leading Statistics for Business and Economics, 8th, presented in 13 chapters. It includes the highly-regarded strengths of the longer text, including the problem-scenario approach that uses real-world examples to introduce statistical techniques.Methods, Applications, and Self-Test exercises include hundreds of problems based on real data.Examples and exercises throughout focus on ways that statistics contribute to improving the quality of products and services. This text can also be computer integrated at the discretion of the instructor. Instruction for data analysis based on Microsoft Excel and Minitab is included in appendices of appropriate chapters. Case problems are also provided with the text, with data sets available on disk for both Minitab and Excel formats. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great Text!!
The information in this book is clear-cut, concise, and easy to read. Easily understandable examples are given for the various statistical formulas, and extras like z-score value charts and the like help a lot. If you have a talented instructor leading your Stats class (like I did) in addition to this text, you will be sure to ace this course (like I did)!

P.S.: If you happen to be an Information Systems/Information Technology major (such as myself) DO NOT RE-SELL THIS BOOK! You will need the information in this book in your future Info Systems courses, and you will definitely realize the TRUE value of this text!

A useful book. . .
. . .by authors who remember that they are writing for persons who are NOT professional mathematicians.

In today's world, frequently persons enter the business profession from a background in something other than what in the past might have been considered traditional avenues. Not all business textbooks recognize this (see my review for "Mathematical Applications")! However, this book seems to be an exception.

The material is presented in a logical format; key formulae are highlighted and set off from the rest of the text; and in-depth business examples are given in each chapter, demonstrating the particular statistical tools to be taught.

A useful and recommended volume. ... Read more

Book Description

This text offers complete coverage of business law and its environment in a non-technical, straightforward, and learner-friendly style. Cases are summarized by the authors and integrated throughout chapters.Legal issues and court decisions are carefully explained with a minimum of legal jargon. Most important, Essentials of Business and The Legal Environment covers all required business law topics for the CPA exam. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Business Law Explained for the Intelligent Layman
I was given this book for free by someone who had used it for a college course and didn't want it. I couldn't believe the person wanted to throw it away. This book tells all the basics of business law. If you don't know anything about business law, read it. It is a good book for beginners. I know I will keep it for a reference book for a long time. I am starting my own business and I refer to it all the time. Not only does the book tells just about everything you need to know about business law, it gives actual descriptions of court cases to illustrate the points of each section. A very good buy & an excellent reference book! ... Read more

Book Description

Updated to reflect the latest technological advances in statistical tools, this solid text presents ideas and concepts more clearly for students who have little or no background in statistics. The Tenth Edition retains all the elements and style that educators nationwide have come to expect—clear prose, excellent problems and precise presentation of mathematics involved—while eliminating some of the computational drudgery. The seamless integration of technology gives professors multiple teaching options.The volume outlines all aspects of summarizing data, possibilities and probabilities, rules of probability, expectations and decisions, distribution, sampling, problems of estimation, tests of hypotheses, analysis of variance, regression, correlation and nonparametric tests.For Statistics professionals and others using elementary statistics. ... Read more

Book Description

Dave Ramsey knows what it's like to have it all. By age twenty-six, he had established a four-million-dollar real estate portfolio, only to lose it by age thirty. He has since rebuilt his financial life and, through his workshops and his New York Times business bestsellers Financial Peace and More than Enough, he has helped hundreds of thousands of people to understand the forces behind their financial distress and how to set things right-financially, emotionally, and spiritually.

In this new edition of Financial Peace, Ramsey has updated his tactics and philosophy to show even more readers:

* how to get out of debt and stay out
* the KISS rule of investing-"Keep It Simple, Stupid"
* how to use the principle of contentment to guide financial decision making
* how the flow of money can revolutionize relationships

With practical and easy to follow methods and personal anecdotes, Financial Peace is the road map to personal control, financial security, a new, vital family dynamic, and lifetime peace. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Awesome book! Get it. Read it. Do it.
In Dave's Financial Peace Revisited, he tells the story of how he got rich then went broke and what he learned from it. Then, Dave tells how he took a long, hard look at our society and how totally "stupid" he was (and most Americans still are) in terms of how he viewed debt and money. Dave then relates how he re-started his own climb to financial independence in a totally different way than he did the first time. This book doesn't have a bunch of conceptual, theoretical junk. It gives you PRACTICAL, immediately implementable steps that anyone can take to get their financial house in order and tells you exactly how to go about it. If you are handling your money well, this book will help you get better. If you're struggling with your money or your relationship with your spouse due to money troubles, this book may change your life. Learn how to manage your money instead of having it manage you. I've been buying copies of this book online and giving them to the people in my life that I care about most. I couldn't recommend it higher. Good luck and may God bless you.

Awesome
No matter your financial situation this book will help you improve your finances. This book shows the dangers of all debt period. Dave provides 7 easy "Baby Steps" to follow to get out of debt and acquire wealth. Following his 7 baby steps will change your family tree. He stresses the importance of having a written budget each month before the month starts, but I really think this should have been the first baby step due to how important it is.
Baby Steps:
1.) ...emergency fund
2.) Debt Snowball
3.) Fully Funded Emergency Fund (3-6 months of expenses)
4.) 15% income towards retirement
5.) College Fund for children
6.) Pay off the mortgage
7.) Acquire wealth and give
I would highly recommend one of his live events if you ever get the opportunity.

Mutual funds do not guarantee financial peace
One of the authors failed at a real estate business (even though he came from a real estate family). He is living proof that not everyone can be Donald Trump. And that is a good thing for people to be aware of.

The essence of the advice this book is offering can be found on page 133: "Disciplined savings will outpace any investment scheme." Next the question is, what do you do with your savings? Their answer is mainly mutual funds. The risk in buying individual stocks, they claim, is astronomical. If the stock market continues to be relatively stable, "financial peace," I think, can be achieved by following the authors' formula, but not if there is an extraordinary financial crisis. If an unusually large stock market crash did occur, a lot of mutual funds would start to look like "investment schemes." Financial peace for many people would be shattered.

I deduct one star because the authors place too much faith in mutual funds. Mutual funds, after all, do invest in individual stocks that are traded on the stock market.

very accessible, to the point reading
Financial Peace is above all common sense--something most of us could use a lot more of, or at least I can, when it comes to money. I had confidence that Ramsey was hitting the topics I should think about, regardless of where I am at in my journey with finances. The Christian aspect of his teachings was a challenge now and then, but basically I decided: if that faith or any faith helps people live more peaceful, productive and happy lives, this is a good thing. The very last chapter gets a little proselytizing but I got the feeling the husband and wife Ramsey team were just doing what they felt they should. All in all, a good read, simple yet contemplative.

Life Changing Advice
Sometimes the obvious is right in front of you, but it takes someone else to point it out. Dave Ramsey does just that in this great book. His advice is sound and doable. By following his baby steps and starting my own debt snowball, I have changed the way my family and I look at our finaces and provided for a much better future. ... Read more