Book Description

This book, the result of an international collaborative project, provides a new quantitative view of the wartime economic experiences of six great powers: the UK, the United States, Germany, Italy, Japan and the USSR. A chapter is devoted to each country, while the introductory chapter presents a comparative overview. It aims to provide a text of statistical reference for those interested in international and comparative economic history, the history of World War II, the history of economic policy, and comparative economic systems. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

macroeconomic overview of major combatants
This book is a very learned overview of the macro-economic factors affecting the WWII war economies of major combatants. A certain degree of acquaintance with economic monetary theory is advisable. The fact that it includes all the major players is valuable (any article on Italy's war efforts is always welcome!), but the emphasis some of the articles give to econometric treatment is, frankly, irrelevant to understanding most of the war effort, especially when one is talking of survival. The book also tries to analyse how wartime experience helped shape the post war economy, a field in which it it quite successful. It is worth noting, by the way, that generally speaking all the authors seem to agree that wartime investment in capital formation and technical training schemes paid off for the vanquished, whilst in the case of the USSR, the amount of war destruction and the political predominance of the "industrial-military complex" led, ultimately, to economic stagnation.

Advisable for anyone with a serious interest in wartime economics. ... Read more

Book Description

This easy to read, accessible, macro-first principles book engages readers with familiar real-world examples and applications that bring economics to life. This book discusses the macro economy, aggregate supply and aggregate demand, incentives for productivity, money and monetary policy, microeconomic foundations, output markets, input markets, market failure and government action, and the global economy. For financial planners and analysts making personal decisions and evaluating policy decisions. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Online presentation hides mistakes.
Students that use this textbook along with their online college course should be aware that the online material has many mistakes and shouldn't be relied on to pass the course.Also some pages provided online is not printed in the textbook.You have to have the online "campuscompass" to complete the course.Some of the support pretest don't provide answers - so you don't know if you understand the material.Very shallow college material.

... Read more

Book Description

This book presents a variety of computational methods used to solve dynamic problems in economics and finance. It emphasizes practical numerical methods rather than mathematical proofs and focuses on techniques that apply directly to economic analyses. The examples are drawn from a wide range of subspecialties of economics and finance, with particular emphasis on problems in agricultural and resource economics, macroeconomics, and finance. The book also provides an extensive Web-site library of computer utilities and demonstration programs.

The book is divided into two parts. The first part develops basic numerical methods, including linear and nonlinear equation methods, complementarity methods, finite-dimensional optimization, numerical integration and differentiation, and function approximation. The second part presents methods for solving dynamic stochastic models in economics and finance, including dynamic programming, rational expectations, and arbitrage pricing models in discrete and continuous time. The book uses MATLAB to illustrate the algorithms and includes a utilities toolbox to help readers develop their own computational economics applications. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent for economists and financial analysts
This is one of the few books that covers the topics of numerical methods to solve finance and economics problems. It provides a large number of generic applications.

Readers that can use Matlab will especially benefit. If so, be sure to get the author's toolbox and see the errata on the author's page.

There are two other books that might be useful to those interested in this text: Dixit and Pindyck's Investment Under Uncertainty (1994), and Patrick Anderson's Business Economics and Finance (2004) [my book], which cites the Dixit and Miranda texts.

Readers should be prepared for some math, although it is much more accessible here than in most graduate texts in financial mathematics.

Fantastic book!
This book is a must for economists or financial engineers. I used the book in a course and refer to it often now that I work in the industry. The Matlab examples are also excellent. ... Read more

Book Description

Many undergraduate texts treat macroeconomics as a set of distinct topics rather than as a unified body of theory and empirical findings. In contrast, this text by Alan Auerbach and Laurence Kotlikoff uses a single analytic framework--the two-period life-cycle model--to explore and connect each of the major issues in contemporary macroeconomics. The model describes the evolution of the economy over time in terms of the behavior of overlapping generations of individuals, each of whom lives for two periods: youth and old age. This versatile framework can encompass most macroeconomic schools of thought through the alteration of key assumptions. The use of one basic model also allows the authors to explore important topics not always addressed adequately in other texts; these include credit constraints, real business cycles, generational accounting, and international capital flows markets.

Written in a clear, accessible style, this shortened and simplified second edition provides a systematic way to interpret macroeconomic outcomes, to understand various policy proposals, and to appreciate how individuals and firms fit into the big picture. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Wonderful Book
Auerbach and Kotlikoff did a great job! I knew absolutely nothing about macroecnomics before and thought this discipline is totally above and beyond me. An accidental curiosity drove me to pick up this book. BAM! The book and I clicked! Auerbach and Kotlikoff integrated bisic principles of the macroecomics into their original life-model, make them very easy to digest! Besides, the writing style is succint and clear. The language is never complicated and alienating, because the authors aim at conveying some real princles of macroecomics, not showing off their linguistic sophistication! What I appreciate most is three things:

1. The book cites numerous tables and charts that help me understand the texts better .(although the texts are already very well written.)

2. At the end of each chapter, there is a chapter summary. I appreciate the authors' effort to keep the readers' interests in mind! I find this feature very helpful. It saves me the trouble of writing my own summary. ( I have this habit.)

3. A great number of case studies illustrate the theories meaningfully.

In conclusion, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in macroeconomics! ... Read more

Book Description

Peter Lindert inquires as to whether social policies that redistribute income impose constraints on economic growth. Although taxes and transfers have been debated for centuries, only recently have we been able to obtain a clear view of the evolution of social spending. Lindert argues that, contrary to the intuition of many economists and the ideology of many politicians, social spending has contributed to, rather than inhibited, economic growth. Peter Lindert is a prize-winning researcher and teacher at the University of California-Davis where he serves as President of the Economic History Association and as Co-Editor of its journal. His textbooks in international economics have been translated into at least eight other languages, and he has previously taught at the University of Essex, Harvard University, Moscow State University, and University of Wisconsin. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Clear headed and practical
This is a very informative book that clears up lots of misconceptions. It explains why the "wellfare state" is still around, even after so many death notices. The analysis shows that there is no net negative cost for comprehensive and universal social programs, and that there are often significant benefits. For those who can read this book without ideological and political blinders, there is much to learn from Peter Lindert's book. ... Read more

Book Description

For a full description, see catalog entry for Taylor, Economics 4/e.

Reviews (3)

Good Begining Macroeconomics Text
An introduction to macroeconomics written by the creator of the Taylor Rule. It begins with an overview of economics in general including market economies and the supply/demand model. Later topics include measuring GDP, the spending allocation model, unemployment, productivity, money, inflation, fiscal policy, monetary policy, financial markets, and international trade. The text has bright, eye-catching graphics and convenient review boxes placed throughout the chapters but tends to focus more on the U.S. economy than economies in general.

An innovative approach
This book offers a new path to introduce us in macroeconomic studies, quite innovative if we compare to its congenerous, however very focused on rational expectations contribuitions. The authors suggests we must priorize our comprehension about the long term economic flutuactons, in opposite of the traditional ones, which dedicate the last pages to develop these subjects; in Hall & Talylor's book, the reader is introduced to the basics frameworks and modern theories soon in the firsts chapters. So, the natural consequence of their proposal is the loss of the primacy of Hicks's IS-LM model - as a basic framework tradionaly adopted as necessary to understanding the macroeconomics fundamentals - to the contemporaries economics growth theories, enriching it with many "real world" examples about its approaches. The only restriction I do is the negligence, or a little more emphasis, on other kind of approaches in macroeconomic thought (the post-keynesians contribuitions, for example), causing us the sensation that the macroeconomics reality is restricted to rational expectations workings. For an approach which priorize the evolution of the schools of macroeconomics thought, I recomend the Froyen's book. In spite of that, is an excellent introduction to macroeconomic theory.

Makes studying economics easy! Thumbs up!
This book is well organized to help student learn macroeconomics. It has the best utilization of pedagogical features (not just graphs, captions and colors) I've ever seen. I found key term call-outs, section reviews, and keypoint outlines to be the most helpful. I appreciate the efforts of reducing the amount of reading necessary to understand the concepts.
If you are not a lazy student, you will have lots of case studies, news analysis, econ puzzles, and biographies to broaden your breath. All these features are well organized so that you can read efficiently, thanks to the ingenious layouts.
I am actually here to look for other books by Mr. Taylor to support my current textbooks. ... Read more

Book Description

Development Macroeconomics was hailed on its publication in 1996 for providing a clear, rigorous, and long-needed synthesis of recent work in the field. This revised edition brings that achievement up to date. Addressing an audience of policy-oriented economists and theorists, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates, Pierre-Richard Agénor and Peter Montiel review and assess the burgeoning research done in the past two decades, paying special attention in this new edition to issues that have recently gained in importance among developing countries, such as the interaction between macroeconomic policies and long-term growth, the political economy of macroeconomic reform, the management of capital inflows, and currency crises.

As Agénor and Montiel show, development macroeconomics has become a vital subdiscipline of macroeconomics. In the past, general macroeconomic perspectives on developing countries were divided into the ideologically charged categories of "monetarist" or "structuralist," but a vast literature has since developed that treats the problems of developing countries with the analytical tools of modern macroeconomics. The authors' coherent and rigorous treatment presents this new analysis and empirical work in an unusually lucid and unified way. It includes extensive empirical material describing the characteristics of the developing-country macroeconomic context. It explores how the analytical tools of modern macroeconomics can be adapted to accommodate such characteristics, and it uses the resulting models to analyze a diverse set of macroeconomic issues that developing countries have confronted in recent years. This is a crucial book for anyone wishing to understand this rapidly changing field. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An illuminating offer for macroeconomics scholars
This book by Agenor and Montiel has succeeded to a large extent in their objective of integrating macroeconomic theory with the issues of the less developed countries. Proves to be an useful book which could be a decent alternative to the various textbooks in macroeconomics which are divorced of the diverse features of the less developed countries. Indeed an asset for the subject and the researchers. Worth possessing. But the cost is a little bit unaffordable for those in the developing world ... Read more

Book Description

Energy deregulation, privatization and competition are a hot international topic. Professionals in this field understand the importance of hedging their financial risk, but are often unclear how to do so. The result is that either they take undue and unwarranted risk or they shy away from futures and derivatives investments that could improve their financial position while preventing substantial losses. Energy Risk Management is the first book to address the important issues of worldwide energy price risk management. Peter C. Fusaro has assembled the leading industry figures to explain general theories and practices for hedging risk, and specific methods to effectively manage risk in markets such as coal, natural gas, electricity, hydropower and others. Topics include: The ABCs of energy financial instruments - How to use hedging tools like futures and options, forwards and spreads; Energy securitization - Ways to securitize oil and gas production, and project finance implications; The future of energy price risk management - Globalization of energy markets, and an integrated approach to managing all risks. Energy professionals and investors worldwide require information to clarify risk management concepts and applications that are new to them. Energy Risk Management steps into that void, providing proven hedging strategies in non-technical language that simplifies this intimidating topic. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Energy Risk Simplied
This book provides an excellent background and review in easy to understand language about energy trading and energy risk management. I highly recommend it for understanding the basics of this complex subject. It also provides a global overview of market developments. It is not, however, a quantative treatise on energy and financial derivatives. This is a primer that should be viewed as such.Fusaro's second, Energy Derivatives: Trading Emerging Markets, is the companion piece to this book and adds the newer commodities of weather, emissions, bandwidth and coal derivatives. I recommend it as well.

Disappointing
This book is definitely not worth its price. Basic option theory and knowledge on VAR is wrongly interpreted. The book gives no insight on what energy risk management realy stands for. Utterly disappointed !

Energy Derivatives: Trading Emerging Markets
Until Peter Fusaro's book "Energy Risk Management" hit the bookstores in 1998, anyone needing a clear explanation of how risk is managed in the energy markets had to sift through numerous trade publications and journals.

This was genergally the reaction of any industry participant I spoke to, independently of whether they were clients, students or collegues of mine both from the Energy community or from academia. Therefore, with this feedback, I would strongly encourage my collegues to read Peter Fusaro's new book "Energy Derivatives: Trading Emerging Markets" which he edited with Jeremy Wilcox and was published in October of this year. In this book Peter Fusaro and his team of energy professionals take the reader deeper into the secondary markets (energy derivatives, etc.) which have emerged as a result of the deregulation process of the Energy Industry and, most importantly, the book explains how to use these markets to manage energy risk. Further, in chapter 3, 4, 5 and 6 the reader is introduced to the concept of interdependency among energy markets and other related markets. These include weather and weather derivatives, emission trading and bandwidth - the most recently emerging market converging with Power to become the backbone of the new global economy. This is the first book to address the complex topic of convergence of power and the rapidly growing bandwidth market. For this reason alone this book becomes a must for everyone who is interested in becoming a part of the evolving energy market.

Energy Risk Management is Risk Free
Energy Risk Management is great primer for those interested in limiting their risk exposure to volatile International energy markets which are in the process of deregulating. Fusaro and his cast of contributing authors examine a wide variety of energy sectors and give practical examples of risk management techniques in easy to understand terminology.

I was so pleased with the content of this book I even recommended it to a friend who has been trading International financial instruments for the past 12 years and is looking to get into the energy risk management field. When I asked him for his reaction to the book, he said it was "excellent".

For greater detail, I also plan to read the author's follow-up work, "Energy Derivatives: Trading Emerging Markets" which looks at new energy related markets such as weather, emissions and bandwidth trading.

A Comprehensive Primer
Energy Risk Management by Peter Fusaro offers the necessary primer for a basic understanding of a complex topic. The author and his contributors explore oil, gas and power markets as well as options theory for energy, value-at-risk for electric power, and credit risk for energy companies. It is written in an easy to understand style for the reader. I highly recommend this book as well as Fusaro's new book, Energy Derivatives: Trading Emerging Markets (2000). I give the book five stars. ... Read more

Book Description

We all value freedom, family, friends, work, education, health, and leisure-"the best things in life."But the pressure we experience to chase the dollar in order to satisfy both the demands of the bottom line and the demands of our seemingly insatiable desire to consume are eroding these best things in life.Our children now value profit centers, not sports heroes.Our educational system is fast becoming nothing more than a financial investment where students are encouraged to expend more energy on making the grade than on learning about their world.Our business leaders are turning young idealists into cynics when they cut corners and explain that "everybody's doing it."The need to achieve in our careers intrudes so greatly on our personal world that we find ourselves weighing the "costs" of enjoying friendships rather than working. In this book, psychologist Barry Schwartz unravels how market freedom has insidiously expanded its reach into domains where it does not belong.He shows how this trend developed from a misguided application of the American value of individuality and self-pursuit, and how it was aided by our turning away from the basic social institutions that once offered traditional community values.These developments have left us within an overall framework for living where worth is measured entirely by usefulness in the marketplace.The more we allow market considerations to guide our lives, the more we will continue to incur the real costs of living, among them disappointment and loneliness. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Thoughtful, Provocative, and Readable
Ever worry that your doctor has the HMO profit margins in mind more than your care? Ever get disgusted by big time college sports? Ever worry about the erosion of values and cohesion in your community? Then this book is for you.

This is a marvelous book that explores how people should think about their places in our society. Schwartz, a Professor at Swarthmore College, has a well-deserved reputation for debunking commonly held myths promulgated by economists and others who seek to explain all human behavior by supply and demand curves, and irresistible biological imperatives.

Yes, we do have a choice about how we want our communities to function, and Schwartz tells us how we can ``reintroduce the language of responsibility and morality into our public life.''

Schwartz also has a rare gift for making complex topics seem easy to understand. This is a surprisingly readable book, full of anecdotes and examples that will help you relate the ideas to your own life. Its conclusion, about a dilemma Schwartz faced in his own community, is notable for its drama as well as for the fact that Schwartz declines to offer easy answers.

Read this book, and you will think differently (and more perceptively) about the world around you. It is *that* good.

A good description of the choices of middle class life.
A good attempt at explaining the costs of living in capitalism. A bit dated considering the World Trade Organization, computerization and downsizing, but he makes points most people need to hear and consider. Well worth reading and thinking about. Order a copy and begin to think!

A fantastic and important book
Read this book if you have ever been concerned about how some of our societies great institutions are being weakened by the market pressures of today. Ever worry that your doctor has the HMO profit margins in mind more than your care? Ever get disgusted by big time college sports? Ever worry about the erosion of values and cohesion in your community? Then this book is for you. ... Read more

Book Description

After decades of egalitarian, restricted consumption, residents ofChinas cities are surrounded by a level of material comfort and commercial hypeunimaginable just ten years ago. In this first in-depth treatment of theconsumer revolution in China, fourteen leading scholars of Chinese culture andsociety explore the interpersonal consequences of rapid commercialization.

In the early 1980s, Beijing's communist leadership advocateddecollectivization, foreign trade, and private entrepreneurship to jump-start astagnant economy, while explicitly rejecting any notion that economic reformswould promote political change. However, by the early 1990s the reforms in themarketplace not only produced double-digit growth but also enabledordinarycitizens to nurture dreams and social networks that challenged officialdiscourse and conventions through millions of daily commercial transactions.Using participant observation, contributors to this book describe and analyze awide range of these changing consumer practices: luxury housing, white weddinggowns, greeting cards, McDonald's, discos, premium cigarettes, bowling, andmore. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An insight into the sociology of consumption in China
The consumer revolution in China is a relatively recent phenomena with the former state controlled society slowly moving to a capitalist market where the individual is beginning to exercise choice in his/her consumption decisions. Chinese consumer behaviour is therefore a relatively unchartered area and this collection of studies by 14 authors provides a socio-political context for a range of consumer practices. The studies range from a semiotic analysis of advertising for luxury housing in Shanghai to an analysis of the social impications of the emerging trends of adopting Western bridal wear, purchasing greeting cards, and visiting discos. The book helps the reader get under the skin of an otherwise impenetrable consuming society with anecdotes and insights not available anywhere else. It makes for highly absorbing reading and I would recommend it to anyone interested in gaining an understanding of consumers in this unique market ... Read more

Book Description

More than 100,000 copies sold in its first 2 editions; Over 93,000 students enrolled; Translated into 12 languages; Corresponds to standard college economics courses; Use with most macroeconomics texts; Includes a new chapter on economic growth. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Macroeconomics (3rd Edition)
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to have some understanding of macroeconomics. This book can be used as a supplemental text or for independent study or as review/reference material. The author, for the most part, presents clear and understandable concepts in a concise manner.

As far as prerequisites are concerned, some basic knowledge of economics and money and banking will make reading this book easier and more understandable. Although calculus is not required, some knowledge of basic or college algebra is helpful.

Since this book covers intermediate macroeconomics primarily intended for those at the undergraduate, upper division level, college students, especially, should find this book useful as a supplement to their textbooks. It may help to clarify problems that students may encounter in their course work. In the words of the author: "The book can be used by undergraduates or graduate business students as a supplement to current standard texts or by instructors as an independent text supplemented by empirical and/or policy readings. The book may also be useful to graduate economics students as a review of the analytical core of macroeconomic theory."

However, the benefits derived from this book need not be limited only to college students. Those wishing to use this book for independent self-study can, with some extra effort, gain valuable information since the author does a fairly good job of presenting in a clear manner the fundamental concepts of macroeconomics.

At the beginning of each chapter, the author gives a chapter summary and outline. The chapter summaries briefly present the concepts that will be further explained in the main text. The outlines are a repetition of the same sections that are listed in the table of contents. Furthermore, in order to reinforce the concepts presented in the main text, the author not only provides the usual solved problems but also includes multiple choice and true or false questions which give the student a wide range of practice.

However, there are some weaknesses of this book which readers should be aware. First, due to the brevity of some of the concepts presented, it may be advantageous to refer to other economics books in order to get more in-depth information, and thereby, a better understanding. This is particularly true for those using this book for independent self-study. Second, some terms and concepts are defined and presented for the first time in the "Solved Problems" section at the end of the chapter rather than in the main text. Third, this book does not contain a glossary. ... Read more

Book Description

Macroeconomic Policy is an applications oriented textdesigned for individuals who desire a hands-on approach to analyzingthe effects of fiscal and monetary policies. The book demystifies thelinkages between monetary and fiscal policies and key macroeconomicvariables such as income, unemployment, inflation and interest rates.MBA and Executive MBA students who appreciate the importance ofmonetary and fiscal analysis will find this text to be right ontarget. Financial analysts and individual investors who need to stripaway economic myths and jargon and systematically examine andunderstand the effects of macro policies will also find the bookextremely useful. A unique feature of this book is the extensive use of speciallywritten "newspaper" articles designed to simulate currentmacroeconomic news. Topics such as unemployment, soft landings,overheated economies, asset-price bubbles, liquidity traps,hyperinflations, and exchange rate meltdowns are incorporated in thesearticles. Each chapter contains exercises that enable the reader torelate specific underlined passages in these articles to the theorypresented in preceding chapters. This distinctive approach ensuresreal-world applicability, and supporting diagrams further enable thereader to relate current economic news to the theoretical materialdiscussed. Macroeconomic Policy is designed for a global audience. A keyfeature of this book is its emphasis on the role of expectations and"paradigm shifts" in implementing fiscal and monetary policies, bothin developed as well as in emerging economies. This approach explainswhy once-successful macroeconomic models suddenly cease to beeffective, and why Keynesian as well as Supply-Side models canlegitimately coexist in several developed economies. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Excellent Preparation for CFA Level 1
I am an employee at Merrill Lynch (I have my series 7,63,65,24,4), and currently studying for the CFA Level 1 Exam, however, my background is in Biochemistry and Biology so it is pretty obvious that I was behind my peers relative to our formal academic background.So, I felt that I needed a book that that could clearly communicate the macroeconomic policies that govern this country. However, because the CFA level 1 is a difficult exam, I could not afford to have the author dilute the information, or overly simplify the information. Fortunately, the literature provided in this book not only conveyed the information better, and clearer than, the actual CFA preparatory classes that I had been taken, but it was such a fun book to read.The beauty of this book is that it provides actual contemporay, and historic global examples to supplement the literature.Prior to reading this book, I had read other books on macroeconomic policy that were so dry that I could not even finish the chapters (and I had read some pretty dry books during my days as an undergrade pursuing my double major in Biotechnology and Biology), but this book was the type of book that I did not want to put down from the moment I started reading it.Furthermore, this book also assisted me in getting a better understanding of the markets (equities and real estate) for future investments as well.After reading this book, I am such a sharper investor, I can now dissect the nonsense from the valid information that is being promoted on TV and in magazines.I highly recommend this book for everyone who is interested in getting a deeper understanding of how our government works, and how our economy works relative to the rest of the world.

Excellent Preparation for CFA Level 1
I am an employee at Merrill Lynch (I have my series 7,63,65,24,4) and currently studying for the CFA Level 1 Exam, however, my background is in Biochemistry and Biology so it is pretty obvious that I was behind relative to my peers with regards to our formal academic background. So I felt that I needed a book that that could clearly communicate the macroeconomic policies that govern this country. However, because the CFA level 1 is a difficult exam, I could not afford to have the author dilute the information or overly simplify the information. Fortunately, the literature provided in this book not only conveyed the information better, and clearer than the actual CFA preparatory classes that I had been taken, but it was such a fun book to read. The beauty of this book is that it provides actual contemporay and historic global examples to supplement the literature. Prior to reading this book I had read other books on macroeconomic policy that were so dry that I could not even finish the chapters (and I had read some pretty dry books during my days as an undergrade pursuing my double major in Biotechnology and Biology)but this book was the type of book that I did not want to put down from the moment I started reading it. Furthermore, this book also assisted me in getting a better understanding of the markets (equities and real estate) for future investments as well. After reading this book, I am such a sharper investor, I can now dissect the nonsense from the valid information that is being promoted on TV and in magazines. I highly recommend this book for everyone who is interested in getting a deeper understanding of how our government works, and how our economy works relative to the rest of the world.

Outstanding!
This book truly does demystify macroeconomics.Professor Langdana makes it accessible and easy to see the results of monetary and fiscal policy.I've never studied economics and I know I have a much better understanding of the subject thanks to him and his book!

Review of Langdana's Macroeconomic Policy
This book truly "demystifies" domestic and global monetary and fiscal policy.The strength of the book lies in the author's ability to not hide behind equations and math but to explain and analyze macropolicy clearly and intuitively.This should be required reading for all members of Congress!I wish I had a book like this while I was in graduate school!Superb!

Not recommended at all as a graduate level textbook
The book is not at all suited for a grad level course because none of the graphs or equations have any mathematicalderivations. The content of the book undermines the intellectual capabilities of a grad student. In short, there isn't much that a student can learn from this book. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

In this book Roger Guesnerie contributes to the critical assessment of the Rational Expectations hypothesis (REH). He focuses on the multiplicity question that arises in (infinite horizon) Rational Expectation models and considers the implications for a theory of endogenous fluctuations. The REH, which dominates the economic modeling of expectations in most fields of formalized economic theory, is often associated with an optimistic view of the working of the markets--a view that Guesnerie scrutinizes closely.

The book is divided into four parts. The first part uses the framework of simple models to characterize the stochastic processes that trigger self-fulfilling prophecies and examines the connections between periodic equilibria (cycles) and stochastic equilibria (sunspots). (A sunspot is a random shock uncorrelated with underlying economic fundamentals.) The second part views sunspot equilibria as overreactions triggered by small variations of intrinsic variables--rather than as fluctuations with no trigger--and looks at the consequences for a monetary theoryla Lucas. The third part develops the basic theory to encompass more complex, multidimensional systems. It focuses in particular on the special class of equilibria generating small fluctuations around a steady state. Broadening the scope, the fourth part looks at the stability of cycles, sunspots in systems with memory, and current research on rational expectations. ... Read more

Book Description

Introduces the fundamentals of economics within a comprehensive approach and a straightforward presentation. KEY TOPICS: Written in a clear, direct style to ensure that the material is accessible and understandable to a wide range of readers. Economics: An Integrated Approach has a "free-market" bias, which means that it assumes people are rational, that they make choices, and that they weigh the costs and benefits of each decision. Ethical issues, as related to the major topics of economics, are integral to the book. These issues are woven throughout to demonstrate that economic analysis can help foster social justice. The book also presents economics from a practical perspective that allows readers to quickly apply the tools of economic analysis to their own decisions, and to begin making public policy analyses using the tools they have acquired.A valuable introduction to economics which will be useful for readers interested in the subject, including economics associations, social service agencies and professionals, and as a corporate training tool. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Review of "Economics - An Integrated Approach"
This book is excellent for an introductory rendition of micro/macro-economics. It is easy to read and the work may be supplemented with outside lectures. Students can achieve a good understanding of the subject in a short period of time. This work could be updated to reflect the technological innovations of the internet etc. In addition, the work could contain an appendix referencing the area of mathematical economics. Lastly, the author should provide more notes on classical economists. ... Read more

Book Description

The surge of inequality in income and wealth in the United States over the past twenty-five years has reversed the steady progress toward greater equality that had been underway throughout most of the twentieth century. This economic development has defied historical patterns and surprised many economists, producing vigorous debate. Inequality in America: What Role for Human Capital Policies? examines the ways in which human capital policies can address this important problem. Taking it as a given that potentially low-income workers would benefit from more human capital in the form of market skills and education, James Heckman and Alan Krueger discuss which policies would be most effective in providing it: should we devote more resources to the entire public school system, or to specialized programs like Head Start? Would relaxing credit restraints encourage more students to attend college? Does vocational training actually work? What is the best balance of private and public sector programs?

The book preserves the character of the symposium at which the papers were originally presented, recreating its atmosphere of lively debate. It begins with separate arguments by Krueger and Heckman (writing with Pedro Carneiro), which are followed by comments from other economists. Krueger and Heckman and Carneiro then offer separate responses to the comments and final rejoinders. ... Read more

Book Description

This brand-new principles of macroeconomics text is the most exciting new entry in years.Written by two well-known and well-respected economists, Bob Frank and Ben Bernanke, the text seeks to teach introductory students the core economic concepts-the essence of economics-without overwhelming them with details. Principles of Macroeconomicspresents the material in an intuitive way that avoids excessive math. The authors introduce a well-articulated short list of core principles, reinforce them by illustrating and applying each principle in several contexts, and then ask students to work exercises to see what they've learned.

The text seeks to create Economic Naturalists; that is, after reading the text, students will ask (and answer) questions about their economic environment.For example, students will see Braille dots on drive-up ATMs and ask why they're there. Peppered with such thought-provoking examples, Frank and Bernanke not only engage students, but teach them to see each feature of their economic landscape as the reflection of an implicit or explicit cost-benefit calculation.culation. ... Read more

Book Description

Hardbound. ... Read more