Book Description

This intermediate-level text concentrates on new macroeconomic analysis and is one of the first to focus on labor markets.Presenting a neo-Keynesian treatment of macroeconomics, whose use of wage bargaining and price setting under imperfect conditions make product and labor assumptions closer to the real world, the authors look at important applied work on unemployment, inflation, and external balances.They make available for the first time to undergraduates and non-specialists current literature on major questions of economic policy and performance, especially in Western Europe. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

the best book on (macro)economics I've ever read !
Ten years ago, by coincidence, I saw this book. I bought it, and since then I have recommended it to all my colleagues.
At that time, the book was new and contained all the most recent developments in the journals (it ends with hysteresis - well explained and at that moment a brand new topic in the journals).
But what I find more important is that this is the only book I read where all those journal-stuff was fitted into a coherent frame-work; for the first time I really understood what macro-economics (and their micro foundations) was all about.
Up till then, I had seen only fragmented pieces of macro theory and here these authors came with a coherent view, which would have taken myself years to fit together, and I was sorry that this was not the handbook I had at university.
I don't follow-up this field anymore, and the book has not been updated anymore since then (a pity I think) but I write this review out of gratitute for the insights the authors gave me: I finally realized that in this book all the pieces were fitted together and allowed me to really understand macro-economics.
Personally, I can only recommend it.

The best macroeconomics book for open economies.
Most of the textbooks in macroeconomics (Blanchard, Mankiew and Gordon) focus on basic IS-LM and AS-AD models which are useless in open economies. This book is perfect upgrade for everybody who has read basic macroeconomics textbooks and wants to go further. There is economic history review, everithing is based on imperfect labour markets and salter-swan diagram is perfectly implemented in standard macroeconomics tools together with IS-LM model.

A book on relevant economic theory
One of the best macroeconomics textbooks in the market.First of all it contains an excellent chronological survey of models. But above all, its approach based on wage bargain and mark-up pricing has great relevance interms of real world phenomena, in contrast to most mecroeconomic textbooksbased in the unrealistic competitive model. The main contribution is to setan scenario for a feasible and intelligent social negotiation and foreconomic policy, instead of definitive "natural" outcomes ofeconomic performance. I hope the authors keep on updating this book

JorgeIbarra. National University of Mexico ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Best Study Guide
NOTE:My class is using the third edition of the "Principles of Microeconomics" by Mankiw, but the second edition study guide is completely useable with the 3rd edition of the book.

This study guide is comprehensive.It gives the reader a chapter review, hints that really are helpful, matching terms to definitions, problems and short answer questions, an abundance of True/False and multiple choice questions, and finally, "advanced critical thinking".This is exactly what a study guide should be.

very helpful
i found this study guide extremely helpful. in fact, i used it much more than i used the textbook. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

A great way to increase your understanding of dynamic macro
This set of exercises is a great c ... Read more

Reviews (3)

not well-written
I need to do some parameterized expectation work. I read Chapter 7. It is not well-written. The authors first introduce the general framework, and then introduce a series of examples. People would be stuck at the general framework part. They don't know WHY do we do that.

A better way to introduce this method would be to use one or two completely worked out examples, paying particular attention to explain the ideas behind doing what we are doing. This way people will know the ideas behind the method, even though not necessarily the general framework (who need to know the general framework anyway?) Then introduce the general framework, and more examples.

I agree
with the reviewer from Chile. This is a very good book covering a fairly wide range of material at a level that is surprisingly accessible. It is well edited, and makes solid use of the internet to provide programs for buyers to download and try for themselves. Highly recommended.

A complete survey of how to solve dynamic economies
This book has the merit of collecting many major recent contributions from authors that continuosly make serious research in numerical and computational methods of solving the now basic problems we face in macroeconomics principally (but that serves in other areas in economics too), that put them in a simple theoretic and practical way for the economist. It perfectly serves as an introductory book for graduate studies in this area and as an complete reference book for further research. ... Read more

Book Description

John Broome's work has always combined sophisticated economic and philosophical expertise, and Ethics Out of Economics brings together some of his most important essays, augmented by a new introduction. This book examines some of the practical issues that lie between economics and ethics, and shows how utility theory can contribute to ethics, as many economic problems are also ethical problems. Professor Broome raises some fundamental questions about economic equality, preserving the environment, and the allocation of medical resources, and powerfully shows how economic methods can contribute to moral philosophy. ... Read more

Book Description

Until recently, development economists tended to assume a role for private enterprise in reducing poverty, but they didn't articulate it explicitly. The new institutional economics literature, with its emphasis on transaction costs, addresses the environment in which private businesses operate in various countries - the "investment climate".Building on this new thinking, Pathways Out of Poverty begins by citing the worldwide drop in the number of very poor people and goes on to identify the ways in which private firms and farms contribute to economic mobility and poverty reduction and what governments can do to enhance this contribution. In four Parts, the editors and contributors address economic mobility, offer numerous global examples, consider the importance of good investment climates, and examine the impact of public policies and public attitudes. Their theory, hard economic analysis, and case studies provide rich and innovative mechanisms for reducing poverty in developing and transition countries. ... Read more

Book Description

This textbook is carefully designed to provide the reader with a good understanding of the fundamental concepts of economics. The writing is lucid and at the student's level. There are twenty-nine "one-concept" chapters. Each chapter is suitably short, highlighting one economic principle. The student can study one concept and be reinforced by the learning process before proceeding to another chapter. Self review exercises conclude each chapter. The one-concept chapters also provide organizational flexibility for the instructor. The text is well integrated to show the relationship among the basic concepts and to offer a comprehensive overview of economics. There are six modules: The Economic Problem; Price Determination; Behind the Supply Curve; Level of Income; Money; and Trade. ... Read more

Book Description

In many parts of the world, lower levels of government are taking over responsibilities from national authorities. This often leads to difficulty in maintaining fiscal discipline. So-called soft budget constraints allow these subnational governments to expand expenditures without facing the full cost. Until now, however, there has been little understanding of how decentralization leads to large fiscal deficits and macroeconomic instability.

This book, based on a research project at the World Bank, develops an analytical framework for considering the issues related to soft budget constraints, including the institutions, history, and policies that drive expectations for bailouts among subnational governments. It examines fiscal, financial, political, and land market mechanisms for subnational discipline in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Hungary, India, Norway, South Africa, Ukraine, and the United States.

The book concludes that the dichotomy between market and hierarchical mechanisms is false. Most countries--and virtually all developing countries--must rely on market mechanisms as well as hierarchical constraints to maintain fiscal discipline. When bailouts cannot be avoided, they present important opportunities to reform underlying institutions. Successful market discipline--where voluntary lenders perform important monitoring functions--is most likely to emerge from a gradual process that begins with carefully crafted rules and oversight. ... Read more

Book Description

Taxes and transfers have been debated for centuries, but only recently are we able to see the total picture of the evolution of social spending. This book examines the question of whether social policies that redistribute income impose constraints on economic growth. Peter 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.Also Available...Growing Public, Volume 1: The Story ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great guide to macroeconomics
Memos to the President is a really cool book that explains different nuggets of macroeconomic theory in 8-page, easily-digestible "memos." There are 28 of these covering the macro basics, managing demand and increasing supply. A final "memo" ties these together in the context of the two major goals of our macroeconomic policy: stability (keeping inflation and unemployment low) and long-term economic growth (through advances in productivity).

Ideal Primer on Macroeconomics
This is a GREAT book to use to understand the macroeconomy. I read it in 2002 and although the book was written 10 years ago, it described what was happening in the economy perfectly. The 30 10-page essays are an ideal way to learn an important but dense topic: small, manageable bites. I highly recommend this book. After taking my time reading it, I am going to read it again after 6 months. It is worth the price and the time to read it. ... Read more

Book Description

"This book is an important achievement in Political Economy, by two of the most creative researchers in the field. The ideas here, developed over many years by Alesina and Roubini, have already stimulated considerable new research and important empirical findings. This book deserves a wide readership." -- Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director, Harvard Institute for International Development; Galen L. Stone Professor of International Trade, Department of Economics, Harvard University

The relationship between political and economic cycles is one of the most widely studied topics in political economics. This book examines how electoral laws, the timing of elections, the ideological orientation of governments, and the nature of competition between political parties influence unemployment, economic growth, inflation, and monetary and fiscal policy. The book presents both a thorough overview of the theoretical literature and a vast amount of empirical evidence.

A common belief is that voters reward incumbents who artificially create favorable conditions before an election, even though the economy may take a turn for the worse immediately thereafter. The authors argue that the dynamics of political cycles are far more complex. In their review of the main theoretical approaches to the issues, they demonstrate the multifaceted relationships between macroeconomic and political policies. They also present a broad range of empirical data, from the United States as well as OECD countries. One of their most striking findings is that the United States is not exceptional; the relationships between political and economic cycles are remarkably similar in other democracies, particularly those with two-party systems. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Tests competing theories of political business cycles
Alberto Alesina is one of the leading scholars to adapt that new theory of macroeconomics to the possibility of political goals and motivations on the part of policy makers. And "Political Cycles and the Macroeconomy" is the most comprehensive and authoritative statement of scholarship in this field. It is a theoretical and empirical statement of the state of the art in political macroeconomics. It contains a review of alternative theories and fresh empirical tests. It builds on a decade or more of empirical work by Alesina, with the present colleagues and others, and by many other scholars.

Alesina and his colleagues begin with an intellectual map of opportunistic and partisan theories, for each of which there are traditional models with an exploitable Phillips curve and models that are consistent with rational expectations. The conclusions are that the rational choice and rational expectations theories are more successful than their more traditional predecessors and that the partisan model is more successful than the opportunistic model in explaining macroeconomic behavior. That is, the designated winner on both theoretical and empirical grounds is "rational partisan theory," of which the leading scholar is Alberto Alesina himself. The theories are tested with data for the United States and for most of the developed economies in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)....

Although the book's empirical work pertains to most OECD nations, there is a separate chapter devoted to political cycles in the United States. Descriptive data regarding inflation, unemployment, and growth are presented, organized by party and position in the electoral cycle. Hypotheses are tested on data for the period from 1947 through 1994. Results support the rational partisan theory and fail to support opportunistic electoral cycle hypotheses. For nonspecialists the most telling evidence in favor of the "rational partisan" theory, as opposed to the traditional theory, is that differences between the parties on unemployment and growth are confined to the first half of administrations, in response to the element of surprise in electoral outcomes, but the differences dissipate in the second half.

"Political Cycles and the Macroeconomy" is a state-of-the-art presentation of an important field bridging economics and political science. Although the technical level of the book is high (some chapters have more than a score of equations), the book is accessible to serious readers and will be rewarding to them. It simultaneously advances the study of macroeconomics and the study of political processes and institutions. It is a fine book.

compilation of earlier work but not much else
The problem here is that almost everything in the book they have already published elsewhere, and thus only is a slight updating of earlier results. It is nice to have them altogether in one source, but the underlying methodology is so questionable as to render it not worthwhile.

The empirical tests to distinguish between various models of political business cycles and partisan theory have been justly criticized. The authors could have made an important contribution by altering their work to properly incorporate the critics, but instead simply restate the problems, pay a little lip service to the issues, and then proceed to ignore them without proper justification. ... Read more

Book Description

prepared by Mark Rush ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Book Description

Tying together of several distinct cultural patterns during this century to create a culture of respectability and its impact on popular culture, trade, politics, social dynamics, and literature, this original and thoughtful work provides a comprehensive and much-needed understanding of the origins of modern consumption and all of its cultural implications. ... Read more

Book Description

Covering a full array of topics in open economy macro and public economics, Fiscal Policies and Growth in the World Economy has been thoroughly revised and extended. The added material in this new edition includes stochastic rational-expectations extensions of the Mundell-Fleming model, the development of a dynamic-optimizing approach of the trade balance, and an entirely new part on issues of international economic convergence, which also contains a comprehensive policy overview.

Other chapters have been updated or reorganized, and there is a brief guide to solving typical dynamic macro problems along with a printout of software suitable for numerical simulations. A companion diskette containing solutions in dynamic macro problems and some sample programs is available in GAUSS for IBM. The exercises and solutions manual by Krueger, Ostry, and Yuen has also been updated and extended.

Fiscal Policies and Growth in the World Economy has been used successfully in graduate and senior undergraduate courses in international economics and public finance. The objective of this new edition remains the same as before: to treat the major topics in macro and public economics using both traditional and modern approaches. The traditional approach is first explained, from the simple income-expenditure model to the more advanced stochastic Mundell-Fleming model. The modern intertemporal approach is then presented, starting with the simple two-period model and extending it to a full-fledged dynamic model. Other sections review recent developments in the world economy; government spending, budget deficits, and differences across international taxation; and economic growth in the world economy, especially the convergence of income and growth levels across countries. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Systematic, but too many errors.
The authors present in a systematic manner, but there are quite a lot of errors. Beyond this, I recommend the followings to the next edition (if any):

1. Include the materials that are not found in this latest edition but available from the previous edition;

2. Include more figures wherever necessary;

3. Re-write the derivations in the appendices in a more detailed manner.

4. Give more intuitions to those complicated formulae wherever possible.

Student of the co-author ... Read more

Book Description

This book is a description, explanation and expose of the poverty that currently afflicts large swathes of people in both developed and less-developed nations.It examines and illustrates the shocking extent, the kinds and the results of poverty from both societal and individual perspectives.The origins of poverty in attitudes and ideologies, and the societal norms and structures that currently keep billions of people poor, are examined.

Methods of determining statistical poverty lines, and their uses in hiding the extent of real poverty, are explained, as well as some little-known aspects of the poverty lines used in various countries. The subterfuges used by most governments in counting the poor are also examined.

Particular attention is paid to the most recent and widespread causes of poverty, namely, privatization and globalization, with their emphasis on the need for a market-driven economy, in which greed is posited as goal, guide and god. The market-driven society that they serve to strengthen is discussed in terms of its effect on medical services, education and social welfare, usually resulting in two-tiered systems, one for the rich and the other for the poor.The social results of privatization and globalization – including lack of accountability, wage depression, corruption, and the growth of inequality – are also outlined.

Efforts to reduce or eliminate poverty are illustrated, ranging from international activities to local programs, including efforts to achieve full employment, better and wider education, social welfare reform, microenterprises and a guaranteed minimum income, none of which seem to work to any significant degree, since inequality within nations and between nations is demonstratedly growing.

The possibility of widespread changes leading to a drastic reduction in worldwide poverty is examined, including charismatic leaders, unforeseen crises, rising popular discontent, a civil society, and world government.Using various accepted methods of prediction, the future of poverty is postulated. ... Read more