Book Description

Recent intellectual advances in the theory of uncertainty and information are presented in this book, which unifies many important but partial results into a satisfying single picture, making it clear how the economics of uncertainty and information generalizes and extends standard economic analysis. Part 1 covers the economics of uncertainty: each person adapts to a given fixed state of knowledge by making an optimal choice among the immediate "terminal" actions available. These choices in turn determine the overall market equilibrium reflecting the social distribution of risk-bearing.In Part 2, covering the economics of information, the state of knowledge is no longer held fixed, and individuals can overcome their ignorance by "informational" actions.The text also addresses many specific topics such as insurance, the Capital Asset Pricing Model, auctions, deterrence of entry, and research and invention. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Difficult but worthwhile read
Firstly, this book is not a book for a novice to economics, and as an economics graduate, I found this a challenging book to read. If you are a mathematics major, you might also want to consider this book. That being said, the theories expressed in this book are truely phenomenal. Anyone with an interest or background in transactions cost economic theory will be both at an advantage, and will have a deep appreciation for the contents of this book.

This book comes in two halves. The first deals with situations where an individual has limited information, and derives some generalised theories about how individuals choose actions to obtain a probability density function of alternatives (since outcomes are not fully known). The second half of this book deals with situations where an agent can partake in information gathering activities to reduce the risk involved in the action-consequence connection.

This is a tough book, not for the faint of heart. But it is an incredibly worthwhile book. And as I said earlier, a background in economics (or *possibly* mathematics) is essential. Easily worth the money paid. ... Read more

Book Description

A textbook on optimal contract theory, An Introduction to the Economics of Information covers the consequences for the character and efficiency of the interaction between individuals or organizations when one party has more or better information on some aspect of the relationship. The book is written for a one-semester course for advanced undergraduates taking specialized course options, and for first year postgraduate students of economics or business.

After an introduction to the subject and the presentation of a benchmark model in which both parties share the same information throughout the relationship, chapters are devoted to the three main asymmetric information topics:

*Moral Hazard--when the asymmetry arises after the contract has been signed

*Adverse Selection--when the agent has relevant private infromation before the contract is signed; and

*Signalling--when the informed part is able to reveal private information through behaviour before the agreement is formalized.

The wide range of economic situations where the conclusions are applied includes such areas as finance, regulation, insurance, labour economics, health economics, and even politics. Each chapter presents the basic theory before moving on to applications and advanced topics. The problems are presented in the same framework throughout to allow easy comparison of the different results. Solved exercises test the student's understanding of the material, and develop the tools and skills provided by the main text to solve other, original problems. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Information to the reader: this book is good
In less than three hundred pages, the authors are able to introduce Moral Hazard, Adverse Selection and Signalling in an outstanding accessible way, without no lack of formality. Given the importance of contract theory in modern Economics, undoubtedely this is the first book to be read.

Each chapter is full of examples and graphs that help to understand the mathematics underneath.

The reader is supposed to know Kuhn-Tucker theorem, so any advanced undergraduate student in economics should be able to read it.

The base model, presented in chapter 2, is used as a benchmark to compare the results obtained from the Moral Hazard model (brilliantly presented in chapter 3), Adverse Selection (chapter 4) and Signalling (chapter 5).

Each chapter has very well posed exercises, whose answers are in the end of the book. Furthermore, advanced themes are also discussed in the end of each chapter, giving to the reader a complete overview about theory of information.

So, since this theme has been increasingly important in modern economics, and given that this book is very easily readable, I strongly recommend it to any person who wishes to understand theory of contracts and incetives. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great Concept
I really enjoy this book and the way that is set up.As a student it has helped me a great deal already by understand.With it being on the computer, that makes it even more up to date with today growing world. ... Read more

Book Description

The essays in this volume break new ground in the theory of the business firm and its applications in economics.A leading analyst of industrial organization, Professor Demsetz critically examines current debates on the existence, definition, and organization of the firm and discusses issues related to the emerging theory of the firm.He then analyzes the relation among business ownership, wealth, and economic development. Subsequent essays offer new perspectives on competition, profit maximization and rational behavior, and shed new light on managers' compensation, antitrust policy, and the accuracy of firms' accounting data. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Critical Review to the Literature
Prof. Demsetz has written clearly all the arguments in this book. He has presented various theories of firm and various intrepretations about firm. The most valuable feature of this book is that it pointed out thedifferences among the views and critically evaluated all of them. This bookshould be readable to students, but should not be overlooked by researchersin this field. ... Read more

Book Description

Wealth ownership in the United States has long been concentrated in the hands of a small minority of the population. Because of scarce data on wealth ownership, the nature of wealth ownership distribution and knowledge about wealth inequality has received relatively little attention from social scientists. Keister synthesizes theory and data from various sources to present a detailed picture of household wealth distribution from 1962-1995.Utilizing existing survey data and a unique simulation model, the author isolates and examines processes that create this distribution, paying particular attention to the wealth ownership and accumulation of top wealth holders, those who control the bulk of household wealth. The results underscore the importance of wealth as an indicator of well-being, identify important causes of wealth inequality, and propose methods of lessening the recent increase in the concentration of wealth. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Examining Wealth with the Aid of Statistical Models
"Wealth in America" is a fascinating book, examining not only the state of wealth as it stands presently, but also looking at trends over time. The first chapter looks at what wealth is, how it has been studied to date, and then presents how the rest of the book is structured. The second chapter looks at the various studies available on wealth, the issues that arise with wealth measurement, and the pros and cons of the models that the author will use throughout the book. It is these simulation models that render this book unique, allowing the author to consider various trends and examine different possibilities that could otherwise only be speculated about.

For the general reader, things get interesting in chapter three: Here we take a look at who owns how much, in what categories, as well as different general trends over time and up and down the wealth scale. Chapter four focuses on the wealth of the very rich: the composition of their wealth and liabilities, the characteristics of wealthy households, and the effect that race has on wealth accumulation. Chapter five looks at the middle class and the poor. The bar graph on page 125 really brings home how little of the assets the bottom 90% of the population controls versus the top ten percent. Chapter six looks at how baby boomers have fared in comparison to their parents and projects how they may do in their coming retirement years. Chapter seven looks at the role of stock market and real estate fluctuations on wealth holdings, as well as the impact that government policies can have. Chapter eight focuses on the impact that age, race, education and other life events have on wealth accumulation and ownership. Chapter nine examines the prospects for moving from one segment of wealth ownership to a greater or lesser one. The final chapter then wraps up with some general conclusions.

Through out the book, the author is explicit about her use of simulation models to make projections as to where different trends might take us. However, when possible, the author is also very careful to also compare her models against actual data, so that it is clear that the discrepancies are minor. I would have liked to have seen a greater breakdown of the assets and liabilities of the middle class and poor, as well a greater examination of their saving and accumulation behavior (or lack of), but perhaps this is material for another book.

This book is not easy reading, but for someone who is willing to put in a little effort, this book contains a treasure trove of information on wealth that is not readily found elsewhere. I would certainly recommend it to someone with an interest in the subject.

Forget income, look at wealth inequality!
In this scholarly and provocative book, Lisa Keister argues that social scientists have been so caught up in studying occupational mobility and income attainment that they have missed the central feature of the social landscape in America: wealth is extremely unequally distributed and shows little sign of being redistributed equally. In 1995, the top 1% of wealth owners owned about two-fifths of net worth and nearly half of all financial wealth. By contrast, the bottom 60% owned less than 5% of net worth and had basically NO financial wealth.

Keister painstakingly assembled a massive data set from various surveys and government reports, covering the period 1962-1995. In addition to analyzing the actual data, she also built simulation models that allowed her to model the processes underlying changes over time. The simulation models also allowed her to perform "what if" scenarios. For example, she showed that the very high threshhold for estate taxes is probably the single biggest contributor to the perpetuation of wealth inequality across generations. She was also able to show that, contrary to what many commentators have claimed, the baby boomer generation adopted various strategies that have enabled them to do better, economically, than their parents.

I highly recommend this book to scholars interested in trends in wealth inequality, and to public policy makers who might wish to do something about it. Keister relegated much of the technical details to an Appendix, but the book will still be heavy going for the statistically challenged. Nonetheless, upper level college and graduate students taking courses in social inequality, political economy, public policy, social and economic justice, and related fields would benefit enormously from reading this book. ... Read more

Book Description

OVERVIEW
Managerial Economics provides a solid foundation of economic understanding for use in managerial decision making. One key feature of this market-leading text is its attempt to depict the firm as a cohesive, unified organization. A basic valuation model is constructed and used as the underlying economic model of the firm. Each topic in the text is then related to an element of the value maximization model. In this process, management is seen to involve an integration of all business functions. Managerial Economics, is designed to present those aspects of economic theory and analysis that are most relevant to students of business administration in an intuitive calculus-based or noncalculus-based format, depending upon the preferences of the instructor. It has been used successfully in both undergraduate and graduate courses. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Before following this clown's advise
See Mark Hirschey in action. He is always wrong on the Yahoo and Motely Fool message boards. Look under mhirschey.

Head Scratcher
This book unlike many undergrad books appears to be intentionally elusive. It's examples transcend the entire chapter instead a clear example followed by more challenging ones. I have to scour the pages for clues as to how to approach one of the end of the chapter problems and still I find myself guessing. The books structure is a mish/mash. I can't believe I have to endure another two moths of this.MBA Student.

Managerial Economics Works
For those in Executive MBA programs, this is a terribly useful supporting text for any managerial economics programs.The authors are very aware of who their audience is -- all learning is in a managerial framework (asopposed to the dryer, more theoretical, straight economicstextbooks).

They cover the basics, but also do a great job on game theoryand probablistic decision making.I had no economics before reading this,and found it clear and understandable even for the most abstruse concepts. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

A Primer on the History of Modern US Economics
History has a way of repeating things. Our economy is NO exception. James Grant writes a great book on the history of money,interest rates and the stock market in this country. Starting with a building at 40 Wall completed in 1930 the year after the market crash and taking you through the history of many of its tenets. Grant is able to show the many Boom and Bust cycles in our economy and why they happen. A MUST READ to understand the cyclicality of our markets....And the foolishness of our politicians and Central Bank heads into believing that they can manage the economy into a virtual up economy all of the time. The lesson learned in this book is that artificially inflating assests will cause major reccesions to happen.

Grant Was Right
According to James Grant, this is what goes wrong during good times: "Of all the consequences of sustained prosperity, none is so powerful as the delusion that markets always go up." Not many people wanted to hear that when it was first published in 1996. Which is probably why he added this redundancy: "They do not always go up."

Grant chronicles periods of boom and bust. He is effective at this. For example, he quotes The Journal of Commerce during a bear market in 1952: "Many bankers visualize a return to the conditions of 150 years ago, when many sections of Wall Street and environs were residential and retailing districts." It's difficult to imagine that Wall Streeters would be that bleak. It's also difficult to imagine that investors would be as unrealistic as they were in the 1990s: "In response to warnings that dividend yields were too low, or that price-earnings yields were too high, the public only invested more, thereby sending yields even lower and price-earnings multiples higher." Four years after Grant wrote that the S&P 500 began to decline.

The Trouble with Prosperity is not a "how to get rich book" for "dummies" or "idiots." This is a serious discussion of financial history which gets heady at times. For instance, the author applies theory from the Austrian school of economics. "In the Austrians' judgment," he explains, "there is one principal source of collective error: interest rates. Set them too low and people will overreach." The central bank is the culprit. "The quarrel I have with the Federal Reserve", proclaims Grant, "is not so much that it creates credit as that it pretends to know the interest rate at which that credit (in the form of bank reserves) should be lent and borrowed." Alan Greenspan, in other words, is not omniscient.

James Grant is not a cheerleader for the stock market. He is a genuine contrarian, a skillful writer, and he was right.

Grant couldn't have been more wrong.....
I'm sitting here in August of 2002, looking at Jim Grant's 1996 prognosis for the stock market. At the time he presumably was writing his book, the NASDAQ (the major over-the-counter, technology-laden index)was in the 1,200 to 1,400 range.

At that time, Grant apparently was suggesting that stocks were "too expensive", and that a bubble existed, which would soon burst.

Well, after his book was written, the market continued to rally strongly for another 4 years, and now that the bubble has burst, we find it's a different bubble entirely than Mr. Grant assumed it was.

Because after the bursting, the NASDAQ index is down from the 5,000 level reached 4 years AFTER Jim Grant said prices were too expensive, and is now rallying up from a double bottom at the 1,200 level.

In other words, Mr. Grant back in 1996 was claiming we were near a top in the market, but he was totally in error! After all that has happened since his book was written, we are still at or above the stock price level that he claimed was "too expensive". Apparently the author's ceiling has become the FLOOR of the stock market, which means he was about as wrong as he could have been.....

A must-read for anyone in the stock market
When I first started investing in stocks, I read two financial books with two very different slants on the markets. The first was Peter Lynch's "One Up on Wall Street" - a breezy, everyone-can-do-it, "buy what you know" feel-good primer. The second was this book, James Grant's "The Trouble With Prosperity", a real wake-up call to anyone who thinks that investing is easy, stocks ought to go up forever, and that the good times will always last. My investing life was probably spared several times over by Grant's book.

Let me spill the beans right here: the trouble with prosperity, in Grant's view, is that people begin believing it will never end. As a result, financial decisions begin to be made - both by individuals and by institutions - during prosperous times that are based on too rosy a view of the future. When reality sets in and conditions turn out not as expected, those poor decisions end up creating imbalances in the markets that need to be corrected before economic health can begin anew. So lenders made more and more unwise loans in the late 80's... leading to a banking crisis. Real estate values rise on speculation and then crash. We are seeing at this writing some wrenching corrections and volatility in tech stocks based on too-optimistic views of their future earnings. And the list goes on.

Grant's view of the corrections are that they are painful but necessary, sort of like the occasional brush fire that clears out the old undergrowth and allows for new growth to begin again. His is an urgently needed message in an age of electronic brokers and cheerleading financial media. Read and heed what Grant has to say to help guard against your own 'irrational exuberance' in whatever market you are in and to help see your financial future in light of both prosperous times and their inevitable corrections.

A witty and richly informative account...
... of the cyclical nature of the financial markets and the folly that afflicts its participants.

After you've read all of the "buy-and-hold" pulp nonsense, pick up Mr. Grant's works and prepare to be truly informed. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Amazon.com

A staple of American conversation, from barstools to sermons to op-ed pages, is that money isn't everything. And yet it seems that nowadays, nothing else counts nearly so much. In this book, Andrew Hacker, an eminent sociologist, uses his knack for making statistics come alive to address such questions as "Has affirmative action helped African-Americans financially?," "Do the same professions that used to ensure lifelong economic security still do so?," and "Are the rich getting richer, and if so, why aren't the poor doing better as well?" Hacker doesn't conclude with a call for income redistribution--he doesn't think it would be heeded--but the facts he amasses tell the story of a country that inordinately promotes non-social ambition and, just as excessively, penalizes children. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Long on statistics, short on insight.
Rather dry. Not very much that you couldn't figure out by yourself; not much original insight. The author uses statistics throughout to the point that it almost becomes meaningless. Anyone with the most limited experience with statistics knows that you can make them say just about anything you want.

What I had hoped for was some insight into why there is so much economic disparity in this country and what we can, or should, do about it. Instead the author gave more of a status quo, "we are here," appoach.

The last chapter was maybe the most insteresting. It focused on the economic changes in the US since WW2. It is anybody's guess what the future will bring, but it seems like it will continue as it is now until there is some big crash or other disaster.

An interesting look at how money gets distributed in the US.
Andrew Hacker's Money is a great look at who has the money in America and how they got it. He talks in great detail about how the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. I was astounded to read that in 1997 there were 137 individuals who claimed over $1 billion in income. Almost 70,000 tax returns claimed an income of at least $1 million. There are far more rich people out there than I thought and it leads me to believe that if they can do it, so can I.

Brief Response to Brian Carey's review
As a former student of Professor Hacker, I've developed much respect for the man. While that certainly biases my opinion of his books (as I do view him as the God of Political Science), I know that I will always be getting a fresh perspective as I've never known anyone who could "cut the crap" better than Professor Hacker.

One of the most important lessons I learned from him is to always read between the lines; so that we may learn to think beyond the 68% norm. While Dr. Hacker could certainly fill hundreds of more pages with his insightful comments and statistical analyses, he knows that in between the lines, there is a whole other book yet to be created by the reader. I regret not having learned that until after he had already given me my final grade.

Our Free Market Economy and the Resulting Trends
In "Money: Who has how much and why", Andrew Hackermakes a decent attempt to illustrate the changes in the American economic profile. He uncovers some interesting and surprising facts from time to time and he provides the reader with more than enough statistics for one book.

The main focus of "Money" is the economic trends of the past twenty to thirty years. Hacker points out some of the important changes that have taken place and he is careful to emphasize that while these trends are a step in the right direction, there is still much room for improvement. Examples would include the overall increase in pay for women, the movement of women into non-traditional, higher paying jobs, and the upward mobility of blacks into higher social classes.

There are several other areas where the economic trends have not been necessarily favorable. The most obvious is the growing income inequality between rich and poor. While this is usually viewed in a negative light by most people, Hacker does not say much about the possible consequences relating to the income inequality gap or what can be done to stop this trend. He merely states that these financial inequalities are a fact of life, a direct result of the capitalistic system.

With subjects as diverse as economic trends, causes, predictions, etc., this book could have easily been double, perhaps triple, in length. Hacker provides a quick overview with lots of economic statistics in a relatively short amount of space. ... Read more

Book Description

By focusing on three elemental themes--economic factors, measurement issues, and decision-making perspective--Jamie Pratt's book provides an enlightening coverage of financial accounting from an economic perspective, at once tightening the conceptual framework while enriching the essential contextual relevance of principles every business manager needs to understand. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

THIS IS THE STUDY GUIDE, NOT THE ACTUAL TEXT
THIS IS THE STUDY GUIDE, NOT THE ACTUAL TEXT ... Read more

Book Description

Microeconomics, 4/e provides robust coverage of basic theory such as supply and demand, consumer behavior, production, theory of the firm, and factors of production. In addition, over 130 examples are included to demonstrate theory. This fourth edition offers increased coverage of strategic uses of game theory and a closer look at financial economics including derivative securities, market signaling, efficiency wage theory, public choice, and behavioral economics. ... Read more

Book Description

David Hackett Fischer has gained a reputation for making History come alive--even stories as familiar as Paul Reveres ride or as complex as the transit of British culture to America.Now he has done it again in The Great Wave, a history of price movements and cultural change from the middle ages to the present.

Fischer examines price records in many nations, and finds our great waves of rising prices in the thirteenth, sixteenth, eighteenth, and twentieth centuries.All were marked by price swings of increasing volatility, falling real wages, a growing gap between rich and poor, and an increase in violent crime, family disintegration, and cultural despair.Each long wave reached its climax in a period of political revolution, demographic contraction, and economic collapse.Every crisis was followed by sharp deflation, and then by a long era of price equilibrium, rising real wages, falling returns to capital, growing equality, and accelerating population-growth.Aggregate demand increased, and another wave began.

Fischer concludes that we are living in the late stages of the twentieth century price revolution.He does not predict what will happen next.Rather, he ends with an analysis of where we might go from here, and what our choices are now. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Excellent, Highly Recommended
Fischer's book takes in a long view of basic economic history. It covers the period from roughly 1200 AD to present, using data from England, Europe and the United States. The book sizes up what has taken place economically, socially, etc. and it discusses some basic relationships. A great contribution of the book is that it becomes apparent to the reader that long term effects are frequently completely invisible to people coping with present economic situations. For example, many well-intended fiscal policies are counter-productive or produce neutral effects for this very reason. Another great supporting contribution of the book is that Fischer is well aware of the various schools of economic thought. At many places in the text, he points out weaknesses of certain theories; in his appendix he summarizes by showing that no existing single theory fully explains actual historical events. Another great contribution is the appendix itself. It comprises half the book, and contains a massive bibliography, with further elaborations on social issues, crime, disease, divorce, contrasts in economic theories, wealth distribution, and more. Most of the references are of high scholarly quality. There are a few shortcomings in presentation, but these are details. For example, Fischer occasionally makes asides which would be more effective if they were concise summaries. Also, some of his graphs have peculiar scaling. The reader must exercise care in interpreting them. Nevertheless, ... Fischer's work is an excellent overview of economic dynamics, and is highly recommended for obtaining a well-rounded perspective.

Riding the inflation wave
Utilizing a very long telescope, one that sees back into the Dark Ages, Brandise University professor David Hackett Fischer investigates the history of price changes to expound on a fascinating theory that can possibly foretell nothing less than the future of the United States, whether we're headed for an era of greater prosperity, or a catastrophe like that of the Great Depression. By examining the prices people paid for goods throughout history, four price-revolutions, were identified, where inflation grew in intensity strong enough to destabilize society. After each crash came a long period of comparative price-equilibrium, when countries experienced growth in culture, such as during the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Fischer's book looks intimidating: its 536 pages is studded with charts showing the flucturation of prices throughout history. But Fishcher devotes only 258 pages to an analysis of prices waves; the rest of the book is taken up with appendices and essays on side issues. And the 258 pages contains 105 charts, further reducing the amount of reading needed to grasp the main points. Fischer retells history during the four waves, and there, except for the occasional burst of economic jargon, the text is compelling, and the theory well worth considering. -- Bill Peschel

a magazine article that shouldn't have grown into a book
A typical academic's expansion of an idea that might have made an interesting magazine article, but produced a dull book. It's virtue is a comprehensive picture of economic activity over most of recorded history. Even that suffers from the author's politically biased views of the last half century.
Sometimes, when it's "publish or perish", perishing seems an attractive alternative.

'Dismal science' makes for fascinating reading

Americans seem to have a blind spot when it comes to history. We can't see the value of learning about the past, and applying its lessons to the present. We're arrogant enough with our vast wealth and power to believe that we invented everything first. Or we simply don't see the value of history, as a resource, as object lesson, as holding some answers to today's dilemmas.

Brandeis University professor David Hackett Fischer acknowledges this blind spot and takes the long view in "The Great Wave." Utilizing a very long telescope, one that sees back as far as the Dark Ages, Fischer investigates the history of price changes to expound on a fascinating theory that can possibly foretell nothing less than the future of the United States, whether we're headed for an era of greater prosperity, or a catastrophe like that of the Great Depression.

Fischer's long-view theme is similar to more popular and populist works that spring up like daffodils and last about as long: Toffler's "Fourth Wave" and "Future Shock" easily come to mind, and politicians have their favorite advocates of either the "future's so bright we got to wear shades" school of eternal optimism, or the "hunker down, boys, the Japanese / Germans / Latinos / big business / lower classes are coming over the walls" school.

The theory behind "The Great Wave," in contrast, is the real thing, backed by solid research, not the author's political leanings. By examining the prices people paid for goods throughout history, four "price revolutions" were identified, each followed by a long period when prices were relatively stable. The intensity and length of each revolution was different, lasting as short as 80 years, to as long as 180 years.

What provides the kick behind this notion is how this series of rising and fallings have had on the growth of society. In general, rising prices placed severe stresses on society at large. During the first three upticks (during the Medieval, 16th century and 18th century periods), bad weather added to the troubles by destroying harvests, leading to widespread starvation. The lower classes, squeezed between prices for basic foods they could no longer pay, as well as laws passed by the wealthy classes who wished to protect their investments, lead to catastrophes such as social revolution or a population-reducing plague. That would restabilize prices and, in general, give everybody a chance to catch their breath.

Once the shocks of the collapse have passed, the society finds that prices have stabilized, and the population at large begins to recover. When times are good, the population tends to increase. This places stresses on food and fuel, triggering inflation. Continued prosperity increases the cycle of growth and demand, and added to the troubles are the occasional wars, when ambitious people felt comfortable enough with the status quo to demand more of it.

This is a simplistic rendering in a review of what is actually a rather simple theory to understand in practice. Fischer tells the story of each wave, and the cause-and-effect patterns are so clear that it seems like one is reading the same story four times, with only the names of the players changed.

Fischer's book looks intimidating at first. Its 536 pages is studded with charts showing the fluctuation of prices throughout history. But Fischer devotes only 258 pages to an analysis of prices waves; the rest of the book is taken up with appendices and essays on side issues. And the 258 pages contains 105 charts, further reducing the amount of reading needed to grasp the main points.

Economics has been called the dismal science, but Fischer's work offers a cautionary story that is readily understandable and surprisingly compelling to the general reader. Where Fischer says we are on the next wave, I'll leave to those willing to make the effort. "The Great Wave" is well worth the journey.

For the mildly interested
If you are interested in economic history but aren't a specialist this book is an excellent fit. It does not assume a fluid knowledge of European hisotry. Nor does it assume you want make this your life's work.

The Great Wave covers 3 seperate instances of long term inflation compares and contrasts them. The basic thesis is that increased productivity and a healthy economy leads to ever increasing demands on resources which create a slow secular inflation. As people realize they are in a slow inflation, a hyper inflation starts this damages the financial system and causes an economic disaster. From there the whole thing starts over. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Exercises and Applications for Microeconomic Analysis
It's exiting the approach for the excercises and applications using in the original book (Microeconomic Analysis/ Hal Varian). Gary W. Yohe, exactly took the escence of the concepts and explain it very, very well. This book is indispensable for graduate students in microeconomics. ... Read more

Book Description

Intermediate Microeconomics is a concise, well-written treatment of microeconomic theory and applications.It combines athorough treatment of standard neoclassical material with extensive coverage of modern microeconomic theory, including game theory and the analysis of risk and uncertainty. ... Read more

Book Description

Given extensive use of individual level data in Health Economics, it has become increasingly important to understand the microeconometric techniques available to applied researchers. The purpose of this book is to give readers convenient access to a collection of recent contributions that contain innovative applications of microeconometric methods to data on health and health care.

Contributions are selected from papers presented at the European Workshops on Econometrics and Health Economics and published in Health Economics. Topics covered include:

• Latent Variables
• Unobservable heterogeneity and selection problems
• Count data and survival analysis
• Flexible and semiparametric estimators for limited dependent variables
• Classical and simulation methods for panel data
• Publication marks the tenth anniversary of the Workshop series.

... Read more

Reviews (1)

Wonderful text
Very interesting. This book is a "must to have" for any researcher in health economics. ... Read more

Book Description

Resource Economics is a text for students with a background in calculus, intermediate microeconomics, and a familiarity with the spreadsheet software Excel. The book covers basic concepts, shows how to set up spreadsheets to solve dynamic allocation problems, and presents economic models for fisheries, forestry, nonrenewable resources, stock pollutants, option value, and sustainable development. Within the text, numerical examples are posed and solved using Excel's Solver. Through these examples and additional exercises at the end of each chapter, students can make dynamic models operational, develop their economic intuition, and learn how to set up spreadsheets for the simulation of optimization of resource and environmental systems. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Resource Economics a Great Book
When you read resource economic books the first problem you face is that the auther uses his or her own special experiance and builds the entire book based on this experiance, however Doctor Conrad uses plenty of real time cases to elastrate and point out his different objectives. ... Read more

Book Description

Transaction cost economics began to take shape around thirty years ago and has since been established as an essential tool used to illuminate a wide range of problems in economics and other social sciences.This paperback reader for students and scholars presents, in a convenient and accessible form, the articles which together form the foundations of research in transaction cost economics. The volume is divided into three parts: the first part presents the background to the field and includes those path-breaking papers from Coase (1937 and 1972), Williamson (1971) and Alchian and Demsetz (1972).The second part addresses the apparatus of transaction cost economics and includes papers on the structure and limits of firms.The third part presents the applications of transaction cost economics to firm behavior, investment decision-making, contract bidding, regulation and legislation.The editors, themselves distinguished scholars in the field, have written a new introduction which sketches the history of research in the field and offers some thoughts about the future of transaction cost economics. ... Read more