4 comments about Understanding the Process of Economic Change (Princeton Economic History of the Western World).

1. I think everyone interested in general business, economics or business strategy should read this book. For some a topic as big as the one Professor North is tackling here might require thousands of pages and a great deal of analytical complexity.
   
   Most students of economics recognize Nobel Prize winner Douglass North and his work. As a specialized student of management, finance and accounting, I am not qualified to analyze the work in relation to its place in the professional field of economics -- although I understand its intentions and direction. My review rather focuses on the relevance of Professor North's statement in this book as a guide for my students of corporate strategy, business policy, finance and accounting; including as well my many clients in executive positions and the practice of law.
   
   The systems view of economic change provided by Professor North casts light on long-term organizational thinking and helpful to our search for corporate and business strategy models in the increasingly efficient capital market environment revealed by modern financial economics.
   
   
   More to follow....



2. The book's main conjecture can probably be best described backwards: at the end of a number of steps, the political and economic outcomes may be observed. These outcomes are the result of the behavior of a number of relevant actors. Their incentives are structured by the prevailing institutions, which, in North's understanding, consist of formal rules, informal norms, and their enforcement characteristics. Institutions themselves, however, are not exogenously given; they are created by humans who act intentionally. North argues that institutions are created based on the relevant actors' beliefs. If the results of the institutions people create are not as expected, people will update their beliefs--they will learn--and institutional change will continue endlessly. To understand the process of institutional change, then, one must understand how beliefs come into being, receive updating, and form the basis of human action. Such understanding is North's current goal....
   
   North tries to deal with the question by delving into cognitive science. To understand how beliefs are formed and how humans learn, he asserts, we must first understand better how our brains work. Thus, he enters territory where, owing to the academic division of labor, economists are amateurs. However, rather than seriously engaging the relevant issues, he barely scratches the surface. Far from familiarizing the reader with the relevant issues by a thorough survey of recent discussions in cognitive science, he barely mentions two or three competing standpoints and then ends the chapter....
   
   In sum, at the outset of my reading of this book, I hoped to find further substantial progress in the new institutional economics. While reading it, however, I realized that it lacked the rigor of the same author's previous books in this field of research. Instead of offering intriguing new arguments, North repeats questions without offering any real answers.



3. North starts his book out emphasizing the important role played in economic development by the uncertainty of the future that impacts the decision makers whose actions will create technological and institutional change over time.This uncertainty is the uncertainty emphasized by Schumpeter,Keynes,Knight,Ellsberg,and Mandelbrot( or mild risk versus wild risk),as opposed to the risk emphasized by neoclassical economics in the form of the standard deviation of a normal probability distribution.Throughout the book North correctly emphasizes uncertainty and not risk as being the environment in which decision makers make choices that will determine future economic growth and change.Unfortunately,North devotes only one small paragraph on p.13 to this vital distinction(uncertainty versus risk).North needs to have spent much more time and pages carefully covering this distinction since it is crucial to understanding the process of economic change .North needs to provide the reader with at least two chapters devoted to covering the risk versus uncertainty topic.The only readers who will benefit from this book would be readers who have already read the relevant works of Knight ,Keynes,Schumpeter,Ellsberg,and Mandelbrot that deal with this topic.I would recommend that a potential reader first cover chapters 7 and 8 of Knight's 1921 book,Risk,Uncertainty and Profit ,and then read chapter 7 on the business cycle from Schumpeter's 1912 book The Theory of Economic Development.North needs to substantially revise the book .His preliminary chapter on cognitive psychology can be filled out more completely once he has added the chapters on uncertainty and its impact on the irreversible nature of investment in long run,long lived, physical,durable capital goods which is " cast in concrete " and essentially irrevocable.



4. Having attended several lectures by Dr. North I know him to be a brilliant man, but not the most engaging communicator.
   
   This book has a small summation of several important ideas of the role of uncertainty and technological change, and how economic actors move to adapt to these. Nothing could be more topical these days. Unfortunately, I find the writing unnecessarily dense and even the simplest issues are treated in a verbose manner. I always love reading Hayek, Friedman, Mandelbrot and so many others; but despite my great interest in the subject reading this book was a chore.
   
   Only for the technical experts or very motivated enthusiasts.

5 comments about A Course in Microeconomic Theory.

1. The quality of the text is very uneven. The foundations of choice theory and game theory are presented with great clarity and insight. This would have been enough to get five stars. Alas, the author yielded to the temptation of trying to make it a comprehensive first-year microeconomics text (instead of a complement to, say, Varian's Microeconomic Analysis). The parts on traditional topics like cost and demand functions, partial and general equilibrium have all the flavor of an after-thought addendum. That lost it one of my stars.



2. You are better off spending your money elsewhere. This book is not well written, and gives cursory treatment to many important areas of Micro theory. Compared to the other dominant Micro texts, it falls way short.



3. A Course in Microeconomic Theory is one of the best mainstream price theory texts available. There are mistakes in this book. Kreps takes Walrasian equilibrium a bit too seriously. He admits to the unreal nature of important parts of Walrasian equilibrium. He admits that it does not tell us how markets work, and that it omits important institutions, like money. Kreps refers to the Walrasian Auctioneer as fairly unrealistic (p 195), when the adjective utterly might be more fitting.
   
   He also takes 'benevolent social Dictators' too seriously. The next edition of this book would be much superior if the author were to pay more attention to Public Choice theory.
   
   However, he does explain economic concepts fairly well. This is not just an exercise in mathematical games. Much of the math that he uses is game theoretic. Kreps included an entire section on game theory. He uses more math than one really needs to understand economics, but the math that he does use is the most useful there is.
   
   There is an entire section on information economics. It goes farther than most other price theory texts in discussing this important topic, though not far enough.
   
   This books biggest strength is its' section on transaction costs theories of the firm. Here the author remedies much of the unreal character of price theory. This alone sets it apart from other mainstream texts.
   
   This book is the best at teaching mainstream economics. Kreps is modest in his claims about the realism regarding standard models of competitive equilibrium, and explains concepts and techniques well. He also focuses on the many of the right concepts and techniques. The main defect in this book is that it does not go far enough in adding realism to price theory.



4. at the important spot. kreps says that it is left to you. i dislike this author.
   I need other books that explain in some more detail. the chapeter on choice under uncertainty need complementary book.



5. Kreps is different from the usual graduate-level Economics textbooks. There is no orderly march of 'lemmas', 'propositions' and 'theorems' supported by stern proofs. Instead you have examples that are taken apart to help build your intuition of how Microeconomics works, arguments that make you aware of the limitations of the standard models. But the story-telling is not at the cost of precision. Enough details and references are provided for the mathematically-inclined reader to build or find proofs.
   
   While all the standard micro topics are covered, the five chapters on game theory are truly exceptional in conveying the logic of the many equilibrium concepts of classical game theory and their relevance to economics. The treatment of choice theory is also much more careful than in many other books. These chapters set the stage for the detailed treatments in Notes On The Theory Of Choice (Underground Classics in Economics) and Game Theory and Economic Modelling (Clarendon Lectures in Economics).
   
   Comparison to MWG? MWG's style is the no-nonsense official style. If you want to efficiently learn the 'official version' of things for that exam you have coming up then MWG is the book to go to. MWG also has more exercises and it covers much more material than Kreps. Its treatment of general equilibrium theory is much superior.
   
   So if you can read only one book in graduate micro, I would recommend MWG. But if your purpose is to learn how to think about microeconomics, you cannot do without reading Kreps.

No comments about Market Rebels: How Activists Make or Break Radical Innovations.

2 comments about Real Analysis with Economic Applications.

1. This is a very interesting book that explains real analysis focusing on economics issues and, I must say, it does its job beautifully and with no lack of rigour. When it comes to the mathematical aspects of microeconomics, the book turns out to be even better. A great book that will help very much Mas-Colell's Microeconomic Theory readers.



2. A fantastic book which fills a gaping hole. I have yet to find a comparable book. Incredibly well-written with an embarrassingly large wealth of material. The ideal book for graduate students in mathematics, economics or mathematical economics. Any mathematician with a strong interest in Analysis and curiosity about economics (or any economist with a strong interest in mathematics) would do well to read and re-read this book!

5 comments about The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits.

1. This is a great book for anyone serious about expanding their business, or starting their own business. It gives a real look at the world's poor. Every stereotype is wrong.



2. I learned about CK Prahalad and the BOP about two years ago doing a school project. I'm a graphic designer, so my approach is far removed from the typical business person's. After this project, I used this book to guide my senior project (design equivalent of a thesis), in which I made up a company that served the BOP in Venezuela and created a brand and packaging system for it. As a non-business person, it was sometimes challenging to follow the book, but it was not overwhelming. I agree with other comments that say that it was a bit technical (especially with all the abbreviations), but it was still approachable.
   
   I'd recommend this not just for business people and entrepreneurs. Poverty is a world-wide issue and this book shows new and innovative ways of dealing with it. We can find uses for this theory in many different realms and disciplines and the theory forces us to think outside of the box. I was especially appreciative of the non-subsidies and the notion that poverty alleviation can come from sustainably profitable operations. I also like the idea of environmental sustainability as a must when dealing with the vast majority of the world as consumers.
   
   I would also recommend "Out of Poverty" by Paul Polack. I liked Prahalad's position better, as Polack falls short in addressing exclusively money as a poverty factor and disregards life quality as something we should address; something that Prahalad does address. But Polack addresses an even poorer segment of the world and we can learn from both theories.



3. Rather than teaching the poor how to fish you should provide them with the information they need to reach a life beyond fish and rice. That goal is nicely laid out by author C.K. Prahalad in his wonderful volume "The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid."
   
   Prahalad correctly points out that it is the poor who stand most to profit from free, global markets. While that is true, the goal cannot be reached without a government being willing to assume a leadership role in making transactions easier for customers and accepting the responsibility of helping to create wealth rather than merely taxing wealth.
   
   Prahalad shares the belief of many that poverty and non-functional economies are not caused by Western dominance but by the inattention of the West. The author issues a call to change, insisting that business no longer can afford to neglect a market of 5 billion people who already are consumers and will help business generate even more profits once these 5 billion become more highly-informed consumers. It is information, not charity, that provides meaningful relief, stresses Prahalad, who calls upon business leaders to make meaningful and sustained improvements in the lives of billions of people.
   
   In case study after case study the author provides evidence for his premise that the win-win formula of innovation offers the dual function of helping the poorest of the poor while at the same time generating corporate profits.
   
   When you take a close look at India and its opportunities for successful business intervention, you see further evidence for Prahalad's assertion that the greatest potential for economic growth is in the billions of people living at the bottom of the economic pyramid.
   
   By Gunjan Bagla
   Author of Doing Business in 21st Century India



4. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found the information eye-opening. I was thrilled to read about so many creative and resourceful people (actual case studies) who are truly commited to serving those who live on $1-$2 a day around the world. Their needs are real and the heros are those creative individuals who are 'pushing the envelop' in serving them while still making an honest profit. The case studies are also available either via a CD in the back of the book or via the website in the paperback edition. This is an EXCELLENT read.



5. With endorsements by Bill Gates, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright, the CEO of VISA Inernational, and One-Minute Manager co-author Ken Blanchard, this book sets up high expectations. And it meets them--with a dramatic and (dare I say) revolutionary approach to empowering the poorest of the poor around the word: not through handouts, but through a clever reinventing of capitalism. In other words, corporations can lift up the bottom through good old fashioned self-interest.
   
   As much an economics text as one on marketing, this book has the potential to drastically change the entire world economy.
   
   Among Prahalad's key points:
   
   * Poor people in developing countries crave the same lifestyle enhancements as the rest of us, and will spend money if they can demonstrate sufficient improvement in their condition
   
   * Companies that understand and harness the cultures where they operate can make handsome profits serving this underserved sector--especially where they enable massive saving of time, productivity, travel, etc.
   
   * When properly structured, offers to the bottom of the pyramid can actually be more secure, with lower default rates (especially when using self-help groups as in the well-known microlending model pioneered by Grameen Bank and others)
   
   * The bottom of the economy is a fantastic proving ground for new processes and products that can then be "exported" up the economic ladder (as one example: a prosthetic technology that created a superior artificial foot that can be manufactured and installed for $30 or so, versus several thousand dollars in upper-class cultures)
   
   * In many cases, the bottom can leapfrog some of the popular technology infrastructure in more developed locations and go to something better (e.g., skipping petroleum fuels and grid-based power lines and going directly to on-site solar, avoiding not only the significant infrastructure costs of rural electrification but also the issues of global warming and ongoing consumption cost)
   
   While he's a bit too rah-rah for my taste about the positive role multinational corporations can play in all this, and he's willing to tolerate financing plans that would be usurious in a modern consumer society (though still far cheaper than dealing with unregulated local moneylenders), he shows over and over again, both in the technical/theoretical part of the book and in the much more readable case studies, that profit can provide a great incentive to improve the lives and facilitate empowered decision-making among the very poor.
   
   As someone who has spent my entire life focused on improving the world, I find this very exciting, and would love to see this as a required text in every class on economics, marketing, and international policy.
   
   Shel Horowitz's award-winning sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, demonstrates how to build a business around ethics, environmental sustainability, and cooperative practices--and how to develop marketing that highlights those advantages.

5 comments about Inventing Money: The Story of Long-Term Capital Management and the Legends Behind It.

1. This is an extraordinarily well-written book. However, if you're not well-versed in quantitative finance, you're probably going to have a hard time following some parts of the book. Be that as it may, I doubt you'll find a more accurate and more informed book on the subject. For those looking for a more fictionalized, but highly readable, version of events, pick up "When Genius Failed."



2. Inventing Money: The Story of Long-Term Capital Management and the Legends Behind It. By Nicholas Dunbar. Wiley, 248 pages $29.95
   When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management. By Roger Lowenstein. Random House . 264 pages, $26.95
   
   Long Term Credit Management's demise is one of a number of recent high profile collapses involving the world's derivatives markets. Other recent ones include those of Sumitomo's chief copper trader, Yasuo Hamanaka, who lost $1.8 billion during a decade of unauthorized dealing and price manipulation in the copper market; Orange County's $1.7 billion loss on risky, highly leveraged investments on the direction of interest rates; Metallgesellschaft's $900 million loss on crude oil hedges; and, of course the activities of Nicholas Leeson, Baring's infamous Rogue Trader.
   
   All of these cases throw forward lessons I use in my Futures and Option classes at Sophia University. Important though they are, the main textbooks remain those written by such Nobel Prize winners as Robert Merton and Myron Scholes. The irony is that both of these geniuses were centrally involved in LTCM's demise. Despite their faux paus, their works remain seminal. They are brainy guys. Unfortunately, brains are not enough. Genius sometimes fails.
   
   LTCB was actually very short-term focused. Their assets consisted of a gigantic pile of extremely short-term pieces of paper leveraged to an unimaginable degree. They bought vast amounts of government paper and borrowed even greater amounts to pay for it. When Russia's markets collapsed in 1998, so did LTCM. The bank's complex mathematical bets on discrepancies in values amongst different bonds and derivatives came dramatically unstuck. Its US$7 billion capital base was eroded overnight. Most of LTCM's bets were in credit spreads, particularly European ones in the run-up to European monetary union. Essentially, LTCM held two different instruments - usually Italian, Greek or Danish bonds - and bet that the spread between the rates they offered and their German and American equivalents would narrow.
   
   When the Russian government defaulted on its debt, credit spreads in all markets widened suddenly and spectacularly as investors stampeded into the safest of safe havens. Investors fled Italian bonds, Brady bonds and every other relatively risky bond that LTCB depended on for sustenance. Borrowings had put LTCM's total exposure at more than US$100 billion, more than fourteen times its equity base. Most of this money had been sunk in derivatives. As its positions worsened, its daily margin calls bankrupted it. LTCB made the cardinal mistake of not cutting its losses. It threw good money after bad, believing that its fortunes would reverse. They didn't. Unable to meet margin calls, LTCB asked the US Federal Reserve Bank to bail it out. The Fed, afraid that LTCM's collapse might imperil the world's entire system, duly obliged.
   
   Because LTCB was comprised of Wall Street's best and brightest, there are lessons galore to be learned here for students and practitioners alike. Unfortunately, these two books do not do full justice to the lessons this case brings out. Lowenstein is a very successful American financial journalist and his book is by far the easier to read. He discusses the main characters involved in the debacle. Unfortunately for him, most of the main players have no real personalities to speak of at all. They are the so-called rocket scientists, the guys and gals with the quantitative expertise necessary to implement the complex strategies LTCM's Nobel Prize winners devised. To do them justice, one also needs a quantitative background. And because Lowenstein lacks this background, his book, though an enjoyable read, is peppered with potentially serious mistakes. And, in the world of derivatives, mistakes can be extremely costly.
   
   Dunbar has the quantitative background Lowenstein lacks. However, Dunbar wanders far from this. He discusses such irrelevant things as the role Chicago's grain markets played in America's civil war. He also spends more than half the book explaining how option pricing developed and the key role Scholes and Merton played in that process. Countless other books and articles, including those by Scholes and Merton, do this much better. Dunbar's book should have concentrated more on LTCM's collapse - he spends les than 50 pages on it - and less on America's Civil War.
   
   Therefore although Lowenstein's book is stronger on the human side of the LTCM debacle, Dunbar's is more technically correct - even though it has also considerable shortcomings in that regard. If Hollywood had to choose between them, it would choose Lowenstein's book. However, Hollywood aside, neither will notch up significant sales in academia or in business circles. Academics and practitioners will continue to plump for the penmanship of Merton, Scholes and their like. At least they have the theory right, even if they sometimes get the practice wrong with the devastating results LTCM's demise typifies. In the end, the faulty scholarship evident in both books and the faulty strategies propounded by both Nobel Prize winners drive home the old message of caveat emptor, buyer beware.



3. This is one of the rare book in my recent reading history that I just can't seem to finish reading. I find the style of writing disjointed and I am not able to develop interest in the characters of the book either regardless of how famous they are. Perhaps if the author focus on fewer characters, it would help. (By the way, I really like The Smartest Guys in the Room--the Enron book)
   
   The book appears to be a hotchpotch of trade ideas. I suspect that the author is not very well versed in finance. I find the presentatinon of some standard finance theory awkward. I work in the field of credit derivatives for 6 years, so I don't believe my problem stem from my unfamiliarity to the topic.



4. Best book on LTCM for those who like technical detail and mechanics. This is closer to the microstructure of how everything went down, and compares favourably to "When Genius Failed" for those in the industry.
   
   Very readable, well written, covers all the best topics, and again has the best detail.



5. ... fun read ... has the same feel as the James Burke PBS show from the '80s that connected people and events in enlightening ways.

5 comments about Econometric Theory and Methods.

1. Of several graduate econometric textbooks I've read so far, this is the best. Compared to Greene (2003), its explanations are much clearer and its mathematical results are adequately derived. Compared to Johnston & Dinardo (1997), its coverage is more complete. Compared to Hayashi (2000), its discussion of IV method is more explicit. To be fair, however, Hayashi is also extemely well-written.



2. Campared to Hayashi, Davidson and Mackinnon's book is too "prose-like" and this style in my opinion isn't pedagogically suited for a first serious look into econometrics beyond the undergrad level. A model's assumptions and relevant properties are scattered throughout a chapter, burried in paragraphs, which can be annoying or even comfusing when you need to reference back. Hayashi, on the other hand, presents models with clear listed assumptions, propositions, relevant derivations. DM's book is in my opinion extremely pedagogically inferior in this sense.

   However, there're still things you may take away from this book. For example, they present the classical regression model in the framework of matrix project, subspaces, etc., which is not usually treated this way in other texts. This approach makes many tedious matrix manipulation easier.

   In my opinion, if you are looking for your first metrics book beyond the undergrad level, definately go for Hayashi first. This is simply the BEST book in terms of learning. For some more depth and alternative pespective, then consider this one.




3. Definitely the best and clearest book so far on this subject!! Written by a real top expert in this field (I took his course, the best eco. course I have taken). Much better than Green's book. If you are a serious graduate student in economics and management, especially those of you who are pursuing a PhD instead of only taking a course, it is the best for you. In-depth! Also frankly, it is not for a vaint brain and a guy with weak background.

   Only with this book and Johnston & Dinardo's, read and enjoy, then you will understand econometrics absolute confidently.

   Don't wast your money on other books!




4. I took the econometrics class from Davidson at McGill University that used this book, and it was not the best learning experience. This book is a good, rigorous "reference" text, with good definitions, for someone with a really solid knowledge of the subject, who wants an in-depth reference on matrix-based approach to econometrics. Or you just need a teacher who explains all the concepts and derivations in great detail and provides examples and solutions (which Davidson did not do in class or in this textbook). The text itself does not contain explanations of the material, so unless this is your 2nd or 3rd graduate-level econometrics class, expect to need several more accessible backup/background texts/teachers.



5. This is a very good introductory econometrics textbook for the mathematically well-prepared. No prior knowledge of econometrics or statistics is assumed, and the discussion of the necessary probability and statistics concepts is integrated into the main text rather than being relegated to appendices. All you need to read this book is a good knowledge of linear algebra and calculus. Once you finish it you will have a firm grasp of the basic methods and models used by econometricians and be prepared for going to more advanced sources like Wooldridge's Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data or Hamilton's Time Series Analysis
   
   Throughout the book Davidson and MacKinnon focus on developing intuition rather than on mechanical calculation. In particular, their geometric approach to ordinary least squares estimation is a must read. By focussing on the geometry and making clever use of the Frisch-Waugh-Lovell theorem, they make the properties of OLS very intuitive. Many of the standard results usually proved by opaque matrix algebra in other books, become clear and easy to prove in this framework.
   
   The book also has the advantage of covering topics like GMM estimation, the bootstrap and numerical methods that cannot be found in older textbooks.
   
   Yet, I have three quibbles with this book.
   
   The first, minor one, is that its treatment of time series methods is too short, and unlike the rest of the book tries to trade off depth for breadth.
   
   The second, bigger problem with this book is that it is entirely about econometric 'theory'. It teaches you how to find estimators and test statistics with good properties for particular models. But it does not train the student at all in the applied/methodological aspects of econometrics: given that I have a vague question about economic phenomena in mind, and given a bunch of data, how do I proceed? What questions can be meaningfully asked, how to choose between alternative models, how to present and interpret results, are questions that are given a short shrift in this book. Even data-based exercises are few and seem to have been reluctantly included.
   
   The third problem with this book is that it completely ignores the Bayesian approach to econometrics. Though this is in line with the general frequentist dominance of the econometrics profession, I feel that without at least an introduction to the Bayesian approach, the training of an econometrician will remain one-sided.
   
   The first two shortcomings of this book can be addressed by complementing it with Hayashi's Econometrics. Many interesting papers on methodology can be found in the book Modelling Economic Series edited by Granger.

5 comments about The Future of Success: Working and Living in the New Economy.

1. Although the title is overly ambitious, The Future of Success is an interesting commentary on our changing workplace. The author, Robert Reich, a Brandeis University professor, was the Secretary of Labor during President Clinton's first term. Consumed by work and neglecting his family, Reich decided that the toll was too great and left his cabinet position to return to academia and write this book.

   Reich's work is important because he explains the drivers of our new economy with its great consumer deals, endless workweeks and vanishing job security. In this new world, rewards are given for results, not seniority within the company. We can conclude therefore, that since teams are typically formed to achieve specific results, they will continue to be an important organizational structure in the new economy. Increased competition is driving most businesses to focus on results. This philosophy favors a results-based organization structure in which teams are the basic building block.

   Although the reader expects Reich to end this book with stunning insight on balancing the vast benefits of the new economy with its requirement of personal sacrifice, the author provides no specific recommendations. Instead, the disappointing final chapter provides some vague recommendations for increased dialogue and improved public policy. Nevertheless, the book's compelling content makes up for its tepid epilogue.

   Reich's background gives him unique qualifications to describe the driving factors behind the new workplace. I recommend that you put this on your list.




2. THE TRUTH: THOSE CANNOT DO WILL TEACH.
   
   The old age wisdom says we should only preach about those things we know, have experience. Here we have an author, the Former U.S. Secretary of Labor writing about work. Has Robert Reich ever had a Real, TRUE job.
   
   He has spent his whole life in the "Ivory Tower" not the real world where individuals, companies have to provide products and services to the world.
   
   Look at Bill Klinton, what was his first job after law school, a professor at the University of Arkansas.
   
   What was Hilary RodHAM Clinton's first job, a law professor? After long hours as U.S. Secretary of Labor, what job did he run to: another phony, fake job as Economics professor at Brandeis University.
   
   How did these clowns think that to BS in front if 18, 19 years olds is real job. Look at what Al "2000 Loser" Gore do after the 2000 election loss. He got a teaching job at Tennessee State and Columbia Journalism School.
   
   Does the world really another academic to write another useless book.
   
   Much of the content of the book is Not new. First, there was agriculture. The raising of plants-animals has been the pre-occupation of humans for 8,000 years. With the Industrial Revolution of the 17th, 18th century in England and then Europe, industry has replaced farming.
   
   With the invention of the Transistor, microprocessor, PC and the worldwide, universal Internet, the world is now moving to a digital-service economy. The coming One (1) Billion transistor CPU will truly usher in a new era in the history of humans.
   
   Oil, Natural Resources still counts in the modern world. But Brain-Power, Brain-Products is really what matters in the 21st. century.
   
   To survive as individuals, groups or nations, we need to be producers before we can be consumers. Producers-consumers, consumers-producers is what the global markets is all about.
   
   Another useless book from an academic who has never had a real job is NOT what the new economy is all about.



3. I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot from it, but really this book is all problem statement and very little problem solution. Still, the problem statement is fascinating and throws a lot of light on the real reasons behind much of what I have perceived to be the changes in the working world of the past twenty-or-so years in the USA.
   I think I can put the central thesis of the book into a more abstract formulation: our society has done too good a job at reducing friction! Every engineer and designer tries to minimize friction; some do a better job than others, but friction is almost never reduced to a negligible amount. This, if you think about it, is a Good Thing; without any friction at all, no molecule would be left standing on another molecule! It is possible to imagine life in an almost-friction-free world, but that life would be very different from what we experience in our world. Well, the communications explosion of the past couple of decades has reduced the friction of transactions to the point where we are starting to hurt -- where the habits, customs and laws of transactions (commercial and social) have been speeded up and cost-reduced to induce a difference of quality, not just a difference in quantity. We haven't even begun to realize what has happened, let alone be able to come up with ways to deal with it. This book is an excellent introduction to the problem.



4. I have to give Reich a lot of credit. Aside from the last chapter, he provided a very balanced look at the issues. His suggestions about cause and effect seemed reasonable and well thought out.
   
   For anyone working in the corporate, white collar world, it was easy to see that the conditions he describe make a lot of sense and apply to most of middle class America for sure - likely extending across the economic spectrum. Everyone is running to keep up. The pressure keeps intensifying. Technology gives us ever more choices, continuing to crank up the competitive pressure. The whole process continues to feed on itself and accelerate -- and there is no end in sight. The result is an ecomomic treadmill that is ever-harder to keep up with. As we pursue this treadmill, how many of us bother (or can afford) to take a hard look at what this treadmill means to our lives, and how we should attempt to make trade-offs to cope with it?
   
   So as Reich headed into the final chapter, I expected some balanced, imaginative ideas/solutions, if he felt some should be offered. I was really disappointed. Virtually ALL his solutions were straight from the far left of the political spectrum, comprising (more) massive wealth resdistribution programs, with no real evidence that it will make any meaningful long term difference in the issues he proposes to deal with. I expcted that some (perhaps even half) of these would contain elements of his left wing political leanings, but this was really just blatant. The whole sense of balance, perspective, and careful thought put into the whole book up to this point were just gone.
   
   The most glaring example of this was the proposal to just GIVE sixty thousand bucks to everyone in America as they turn 18, with no strings attached. The reasoning was to let young people start businesses, etc. and have a "fair" chance to be productive. Fabulous intent. However, in the real world most 18 year olds (by far) have far more hormones than reasoned judgement borne of meaningful experience, or a real clue of who they really are and what they want. Sadly, far too much of this well intended money would be blown on pleasure items and do nothing more than add to the debt and lack of inventive issues we already face (Reich wants to pay for this with a new "wealth tax" - simply confiscate some percentage of wealthy folks' total net worth. Karl Marx would love it).
   
   If this is the best that Mr. Reich's insights can offer as far as solutions, it would be far better if he just explained the state of our economic condition and left the recommendations to others.



5. Reich and the globalization gang are a joke. While it is true that the trinkets from China are dirt cheap, the things Americans spend most of their money on like housing, health care, education, and energy have sky rocketed because they are produced domestically in largely oligarchic markets. Real per capita GDP has almost doubled in the past 30 years while real hourly median wages have slightly declined. Bravo to Reich for making his owners at Citibank filthy richer while raking Americans over the coals and convincing them he's doing them a favor.

2 comments about Economic Issues Today: Alternate Approaches.

1. "Economic Issues Today" is the layman's guide to the big economic issues affecting American society in our time. The book covers a wide range of issues from consumer welfare and income distribution to big business and international economics. For each topic (and there are 14 topics altogether) the conservative, liberal and radical views are presented. Given the number of topics there is only limited discussion on each.

   Carson, Thomas and Hecht have tried to present the basic arguments of each side, while reserving judgment on what they think is the `right' view. They admit that they were tempted to do this, but decided that the reader should be the final judge as to the merits of each argument. Because of this, the essays read as a debate between three economists, each from a different school of thought, but without the jargon usually involved in such debates. On some issues, one side clearly shines but on others there did not seem to be a winner to me. The only caveat here is not to take the representative views here as that actually held by the sides in real life. The arguments employed by actual conservatives , liberals and radicals are obviously much more thorough and realistic. The essays at time make it seem that some of the sides have very simplistic and unrealistic views on life, and the reader may be tempted to believe it especially if it confirms their prior biases. The authors have written a short bibliography for those readers interested in finding out more about the differing views. The bibliography is short, but it lists the major figures that have had a large influence on their respective schools of thought.

   Carson et al. have done an excellent job by not letting their biases show when relating the three different paradigms, I would highly recommend this book to undergraduates in economics or politics or to any general reader who wants to find out more about the economic arguments employed by conservatives, liberals and radicals when they talk about the economic issues of today.




2. Here is a great way to learn economics without all the mathematics! Carson, Thomas, and Hecht have produced a short, very readable book covering the burning economic issues of our time. The unique thing about this book is that it provides three different viewpoints (Conservative, Liberal, and Radical) for each issue covered!

5 comments about From Here to Economy: A Shortcut to Economic Literacy.

1. *From Here to Economy* is a concise and entertaining (if you like the author's sense of humor) introduction to economics. Since the book is only about 250 pages long, the coverage of any given topic is not deep, but the author does touch on the key concepts and explain them at a level appropriate for the literate novice. The book divides the subject into 5 sections: macroeconomics, microeconomics, international trade and finance, personal finance and investing, and schools of economic thought. The section on personal finance and investing will, I think, be particularly useful to the average reader, since it ties the broader economic concepts discussed in the rest of the book into the economic questions that most of us face every day. This section is also the one that struck me as dated, in that it does not mention all the investment information (both good and bad) that is now readily available on the Internet. However, that's a minor flaw in an otherwise very useful work. Readers may also want to look at Sowell's *Basic Economics* -- Sowell gives a fuller discussion of microeconomics, but he's also much more tendentious than Buchholz, is not so good on international topics, and does not discuss personal finance or the history of economic theory.



2. This book is an apology to the voters for Bush I's economic policies, including supply-side economics. It says something that not a single well-known economist wrote a blurb for this book's cover. After all, when Wheelan wrote "Naked Economics" he was able to get some. Krugman (himself a very well-respected economist) was able to. Why only this guy can't? Hmmmmmm.

   It's because a bit of the information here isn't completely accurate, and he is always biased. He will not consider the role of government seriously, and of course tax-cuts and deregulation are the ultimate panacea. (Of course government has its fingers where they shouldn't be. But why not bother to consider where they should be and shouldn't be, like a real economist?)

   On other matters, where there's no room for politics, he's accurate. Which only draws more attention to the difference when politics are involved.

   Also, things are just poorly explained. He tries to explain how the Fed's interest rates affect economic growth, inflation and unemployment. But if I hadn't understood that already, there's no way I would have understood his presentation. That kind of thing occurs throughout the book.

   Two other, less serious, criticisms. First, a lot of interesting stuff has happened in economics since this book was written. The Asian tigers crashed, currency crises in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Russia, the internet stocks and the bubble of the 90s crashing, China and India coming online, and the consequences of Bush II's economic policies. Not covering any of those events is no fault of the author's, but it just means the book is too old.

   Second, the writing is not that great, and the humor is terrible. His idea of "humor" is, "Let's say Helen buys bananas."

   Really, if you want to learn about economics, my first recommendation is "Naked Economics," Charles Wheelan. That's the book this one is trying to be, and failing. Or check out Krugman (start with "The Return of Depression Economics"). If you want a decidedly conservative perspective, head for Milton Friedman. I also recommend Nobel Prize winners Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz. All much better.




3. I went looking for a big text book on economics but am glad I found this instead. A Harvard Economics instructor and former White House advisor spoon-feeds it to you but keeps it interesting. It's loaded wall-to-wall with excellent analogies. If at first something doesn't quite click, it's lucidly spelled out in plain language in the following sentence. If you can read, you can understand economics.
   
   There are also some witty pearls such as: "That is why some people have compared the federal government to an infant: it has a limitless appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other."
   
   This was published in 1995 before the advent of the Euro and the World Trade Organization, but it discusses what led to those. In some places he writes "Recently..." or "In the last fifteen years," so those statistics are dated, but the lion's share of the book is timeless essentials well worth reading today.
   
   The role of politicians is discussed throughout as a nature-of-the-beast phenomenon. He occasionally names particular politicians in brief (one- or two-sentence) examples, and good decisions and boners alike by BOTH major parties are mentioned --but only reviewers who read beyond the first chapter would know that.
   
   It covers macro- & micro-economics, education, health care (yes, it can be understood), environmental issues, banking and "The Fed," international trade, sanctions, the Great Depression, economics for individual investors(!), and includes a detailed index. Classical Economics (Adam Smith, Maynard Keynes, etc.) and proper academic terminology are referenced throughout.



4. This is witty and well written. I loved it, it was a great way to learn about the economy while having fun. A++++++++++++!!



5. This book came before all other that I ordered. I was very greateful and appreciative. Thanks