No comments about Monetary Policy, Inflation, and the Business Cycle: An Introduction to the New Keynesian Framework.

5 comments about Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole.

1. If your wanting quality information regarding the effects of markets and globalization then you should pass over this book. It amazes me how this individual was able to get this book published as it presents no new arguments. If you want revelation, insight, and/or documented work, then search for Greg Palast or any other author.
   
   I have a compulsive need to finish what I start and I've forced myself to read books before. However I was not able to finish this book for several reasons. The most annoying aspect is the authors choice of words. It's PAINFULLY obvious this book was pushed thru a thesaurus. It's also disappointing that a lack of proof or references of conclusions is presented. Honestly folx, save your hard earned dollars and buy something more useful than this book, like gas.



2. The title of my review would probably serve as a better title for the book. But alas...
   
   Benjamin Barber's primary thesis in Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole is that marketing that reinforces adolescent behavior in adults and seeks to make children more usable consumers. This marketing is continually reinforced by a privatized capitalist system that undermines civil liberty and citizenship at the expense of consumer behaviors. It is, in the end, a system that causes people to become non-citizens of a commonwealth, but consumers who are at the whim of the corporate sector in society.
   
   I share with many (who note errors that have clearly been corrected if they existed in the first printing) that Barber could have condensed his argument and made it more transparent this way. But that after a relatively quick read (it's not loaded with the scholarly aplomb and density that some reviewers have ruled in its disfavor) I was able to get the point and it remains a rather visceral and salient one. Starting with Weber's argument and then drawing lines to where the value foundations of capitalism have strayed is instructive and pragmatic.
   
   What I like is that he finds common strands in much of the literature regarding consumerism and globalization that have been very popular, e.g. Friedman, Schor, Klein, Barry, Lasch, etc. But he does this by couching it in very important political terms in order to examine the effect of private capital on his notion of "strong democracy". to this degree, it reads almost like an updated "Culture of Narcissism".
   
   He does have several errors he or at least his editor should have picked up before it went to paperback. He calls Terrell Owens a running back, Michael Stipe a producer, etc. But who cares about these points other than pedantic reviewers who would rather trivialize the argument. Moreover, the solution proposed at the end of a global society founded by global citizens does not seem plausible. He fails to account for the tribalistic tendencies that react against forces of globalization that authors such as Malcolm Waters have noted. So the end is as flat as Friedman's thesis of globalization which Barber largely argues against.
   
   Much of the material is very well trodden in the literature. However, Barber's analytical skill is quite incisive and he is able to gather new syntheses of previous material to suggest that this is far more of an important issue for our social makeup than a diatribe against gluttony or material envy could muster. And to this end, I say well done and worth a read!
   
   Be sure to check out Benjamin Barber's blog here. There you can find some of his thoughts in often nascent stages.



3. Barber is to be commended for understanding how capitalism thrives at the expense of certain traditional values. In the early part of last century, the US Commerce Commission issued a report to the effect that industrialization had become so productive that the real worry was to have enough buyers out there to lap up all the stuff. What was needed, accordingly, was an undermining of traditional values of thrift and sacrifice. If those values continued, capitalism would fail.
   
   Barber's book notes this attack and its radical overturn of such religious (Christian/Protestant) values, including the need to save money. (Today the same fight is happening in China where Chinese, inveterate savers, are being urged not to.) I also think Barber is very good in describing how this mania for acquisition of ever more stuff is linked to an advertizing culture that infantilizes people and turns citizens into consumers who experience freedom not as a political virtue but as an exercize in the commercial activity of choosing a product. Thus democratic practice evaporates into the shopping experience where we "decide" what to buy. Thus candidates are "sold" and a marketing vocabulary permeates so much of what we say, think, and do.



4. Barber is adept at observing and brilliantly describing the symptoms that face our society. But unlike a gifted medical doctor, he is not so competent at finding the source of the symptoms, let alone providing an effective cure. Yes, our society is a runaway train headed for destruction, but what can we do about it?
   
   Having worked for years in the advertising industry, I can tell you that the manufacturing of envy, desire and wantonness is in full swing. Our culture cannot withstand much more of it. But the answer that eludes Mr. Barber is not found in the writings of philosophers or economic engineers, but on the hearts of our citizens.
   
   Why do the messages of the advertisers work so effectively? I can tell you as a former copywriter paid to write radio, print and tv, we were never thinking about the products alone, supply and demand, or economic theories when we designed ads. We were concentrating upon the human beings to whom we were speaking. What were their fears? What were their struggles? What makes them feel better? What do they think in their daily routine? We would often spend hours listening to them in focus groups. We would write stream of consciousness monologues trying to connect with them and their needs.
   
   The truth is, Mr. Barver's measurement of our culture and its ills, is razor sharp and accurate to the micrometer. But as he begins to discuss solutions to the situation, the heart of "Andy Consumer" is lost and he begins to pontificate upon the ideas of society and particular reactions of larger movements. Like many intellectuals, he misses the point that change doesn't begin with philosophers or kings. It begins when philosophers and kings begin to listen to the pulse of Andy Consumer and they then begin to speak to the heart-cry of the society. History tells us this is the case. Because when enough of the individuals feel the same way and yet do not believe that the philosophers and kings are not listening, they take matters into their own hands.
   
   My point is this: Barber's solutions ring hollow because they are rooted in theories and economic history. But I believe that hyper-consumerism will be conquered when the hearts of our citizens are painfully empty after their futile attempts to force their wallets and gadgets to fill them. As those empty hearts peek behind the curtain and confront the wizard, they will make realizations that will make a difference.
   
   While I didn't agree with the solutions in the book, I was transfixed by his observations of our current situation. This book should be read by anyone interested in the direction of our society. I used this book extensively in my weekly podcast, Christian With a Brain. It gave me bountiful material for a study called, How Much is Enough? I just hope that Mr. Barber will eventually realize that until the human heart is filled with hope, meaning and destiny, we will continue to try and fill it with the latest and greatest. And there will always be advertisers out there willing to exploit those empty hearts in order to make a buck.



5. If there is a way to write a thesis about our consuming habit, this book brings you high on the ladder of conspiracy theory. Never the less the thesis is plausible and it gives us a good understanding of the nature and the root of capitalism and its impact on the future. One question though remains unanswered, what than to do?.....

2 comments about Ben Bernanke's Fed: The Federal Reserve After Greenspan.

1. Harris has written a book which is scholarly yet highly entertaining. A crystal clear, in depth ,and accurate explanation of the Federal Reserve and its Chairman.Also included are numerous short anecdotes
   and clever comments from Fed history.



2. This is certainly an excellent book for Fed watchers as well as for novices who would like to understand how the Fed works, the scope of its powers, and how they has been used well and not so well over the years. More importantly it is an extremely timely book for the present financial crisis. The author's evaluations of Greenspan and Bernanke are evenhanded but do seem in part, at least, to explain how we've gotten to where we are and that the choice of Bernanke may be reassuring in these difficult times.

No comments about Cracking the AP Economics Macro & Micro Exams, 2009 Edition (College Test Prep).

5 comments about Macroeconomics.

1. I am going to give this book four stars, however, I do have reservations about doing so. When I first picked up this book from one of the economics professors at my school, I was curious to read it because Gregory Mankiw was the Chief of the Council of Economic Adivsors. So I naturally thought, well this must be a brilliant man to have achieved a position so high. Well, now for the book. While the book is laid out in a fairly simple way and it is really easy to understand, sometimes too easy for an intermediate text, I began to notice Mankiw's economic philosophy slipping into the text. If anyone doesn't know, Mankiw is a New Keynesian. Well I thought that Keynesian economics was dead after the Reagan/Bush administrations failed with certain aspects of the economy. Please note, I said certain, such as the supposed tax cuts in the 80's that were offset by Social Security Tax hikes, and the out of control budget deficits. But I digress. Now, back to Mankiw. His text is filled with the ideas that he advised 43 on, and in fact 43 carried out.
   
   But I don't want to hate on Mankiw. I think that the book could have been more properly balanced with other ideas. Mankiw could have really out done himself if he would have supplied a book that had his approach, somewhat governmental, and another approach that lets market forces take over the economy and promotes less government intervention. But that is just wishful thinking. All in all, the book does have its highlites, such as: easy to read, easy to understand, well laid out, and the fact that hopefully Mankiw will be busy and come out with a second edition to make this one really cheap. So therefore, despite its inherent downfall due to Mankiw's economic philosophy, I give four stars, and would recommend it to anyone who might be interested in macroeconomics or wants to expand their library.



2. This is a clearly written and nicely organized upper-division macroeconomics textbook. Mankiw uses plain English and simple math to model the macroeconomy in the short-run (the IS/LM model), the long-run (the AS/AD model), and the very long run (the Solow growth model). He also devotes a lot of space to the Mundell-Fleming model of international trade and finance. One of the best features is the frequent use of short case studies that apply economic theory to "real world" problems such as the Great Depression or the Japanese slump of the 1990s. Mankiw's views are mainstream -- he doesn't even hint at the existence of alternatives such as Austrian economics or neo-Marxism -- but he is non-dogmatic about policy and quite candid about the limits of what economists really know about the economy. His book is a small masterpiece of clear economic writing for undergraduates.
   
   So why did I give it only four stars? I was disappointed by the relative neglect -- in spite of the many "case studies" -- of the micro-economic, historical, and institutional realities that underlay the graphs and algebra of conventional macroeconomic analysis. Let me give two examples of what I mean:
   
   -- According to Ben Bernanke, Asian countries responded to the financial turbulence of the 1990s by amassing huge foreign exchange reserves to defend their currencies against future attacks. These savings have for the most part been invested in the U.S., where they have financed trade deficits and fueled asset bubbles in the equities and housing markets. In other words, capital has flowed from relatively capital-poor countries to a capital-rich country, where it has paid for consumption binges.
   
   -- According to Robert Pollin, two decades of union-bashing, downsizing and free trade have led to widespread job insecurity in the U.S. With workers too intimidated and too worried about jobs to press for wage increases, the economy was able to grow in the 1990s without triggering a round of inflation, and the benefits of this growth were skewed towards upper-income groups. In other words, extra-market power relationships in the workplace directly affected macroeconomic performance and income distribution.
   
   I don't doubt that these developments can be captured and analyzed in the IS/LM or AS/AD framework. I'm not so sure, however, that many people steeped in this mode of analysis would have expected these developments ex ante. That would have required a knowledge of history, policy responses, and specific markets that is difficult to capture in abstract models. For my taste, any approach to economics that focuses on algebraic relationships between economic aggregates to the semi-exclusion of history and institutions is just too "otherworldly" to be satisfying. But maybe that's a problem with the way my mind works, not with macroeconomics. It certainly doesn't mean that Mankiw's book is anything less than excellent. Any student interested in learning basic macroeconomic analysis should read it.



3. i am a second year economics student from New Zealand. I ordered the complimentary set from Amazon because I heard of its great service and the books were cheaper than what we could buy them for back in NZ. To my amazement I received the student guide quite promptly expecting the complimentary text would arrive soon after. It has been over a month into my course and I still havent received it. Whats worse is the guide is almost useless (complimentary good) with out the good. Why cant Amazon send both of them together?



4. I read this book in preparation for a graduate course in macroeconomics. While it does provide a good overview, I found it went only slightly deeper into economic models than the basic text I used as an undergraduate. This book provided little in the way of the advanced math required for my graduate course where we used Advanced Macroeconomics by David Romer.
   
   I would expect an intermediate text, as this is marketed, to better illustrate the mathematics required for economics, given the heavy reliance on math in the field today.



5. I bought this book for my grad school macro class because I had realtively weak macro backround.
   I think this is the best book for studying a little before the original grad school text.
   For the seller, I would buy from them again anytime, fast shipping and cheap price. to be honest my book is kind of abused. there are several stickers on the cover and almost every page is highlighted but the binding is very good and i paid just 4 dollars for it so it is very acceptable for the price and it is good for the job.
   Altough my copy was not very good you can get a very nice one. I bought quite a few text books like this and I paid as low as 0.90 cents some of them. I had some practicly new books.
   So its all about luck, you can get a really nice one if you are lucky and if not it is still perfectly usable.

3 comments about Managing in a Global Economy: Demystifying International Macroeconomics (Economic Applications, InfoTrac® Printed Access Card).

1. I had the opportunity to take a Macroeconomics class with Professor Marthinsen when he was putting the final touches on the book. It is easily the most accessible economics text I have read, which was important because I was a Psychology major in undergrad (not a business major). The book has a great blend of being comprehensive/thorough while still being accessible. I recommend it to any MBA interested in understanding macroeconomics and how these macro factors can influence a business.



2. I happened to be one of the student who had access to this texbook a year before it was released. Fantastic Material! You really start getting the Macro Econimic picture in terms of where the exchange rates, interest rates are headed etc. Great book for a person who wants to understand forecast the state of economy and its business impact



3. Not sure why it took such a long time for the book to arrive when shipping within the US.

5 comments about The Birth of Plenty : How the Prosperity of the Modern World was Created.

1. Bernstein book is reasonably well researched and has cogent writing style to prove his hypothesis that there are 4 necessary and sufficient conditions for nations to achieve long lasting prosperity. Those 4 conditions are (1) support structure for property rights, i.e. customers must have proper incentive to create (2) Scientific rationalism - innovators must posses the proper intellectual tools in order to innovate (3) Capital markets for availability for funds for innovators and (4) transportation and communications infrastructure.
   
   Bernstein, founder of efficientfrontier.com, builds a strong case in this book for the above hypothesis.



2. This book contains many ideas about the causes of economic growth that are approximately right, but rarely backs them up with good arguments.
   He starts by saying four institutions are needed to escape from a Malthusian trap: property rights (rule of law), reason (scientific methods), capital markets, and fast transportation/communication. But later when discussing why some countries were slow to develop, he adds ad hoc explanations (e.g. "excessive military expenditure" "reliably derails great nations").
   The biggest shortcoming of the book is that it ignores evidence that China provides a counter-example to his main claims. He doesn't acknowledge expert claims that parts of China around 1800 had a degree of property rights and rule of law that was comparable to England at that time, nor does he discuss the recent dramatic Chinese takeoff that happened with a mediocre degree of property rights and rule of law.
   He gives many hints about why those four institutions are helpful, but provides little evidence that any one is essential. About the closest he comes to providing rigorous evidence is a graph indicating how much of economic growth appears to be explained by a Rule-of-Law indicator. He follows that with a similar graph of how government spending levels explain economic growth, and claims the negative effect of government spending would be invisible without the computed trend line, but the rule-of-law trend is more impressive. I see those graphs differently. The most obvious trend is that government spending over about 15 to 18% (of GDP?) reduces growth, with no obvious pattern for lower spending levels. The most obvious trend in the rule-of-law graph is that low values on the rule-of-law indicator are associated with larger variations in economic growth, which is somewhat contrary to his claim that such values reliably prevent growth.
   The section I found most valuable was the one describing reasons for thinking that 16th century Holland created the beginnings of the industrial revolution.
   There are enough misleading or false statements in the book to convince me not to trust him. For example, he refers to eclipse prediction around 1700 as a spectacular change to what was previously a mystery. He appears unaware that eclipses had been predicted more than a millennium earlier.
   He often digresses into anecdotes that have no apparent relevance. For example, he claims "a healthy market for government debt is, in fact, essential for funding business". After giving two implausible theoretical reasons for that claim, he says it was "vividly demonstrated in the U.S." in 1862, but then gives a description of how government bonds were sold, without mentioning anything about the effect on business.
   His discussion of the possible trade-offs between inflation and unemployment makes a claim that increased unemployment caused more unhappiness than "an identical rise in inflation". But inflation is measured in different units that unemployment. If we happened to measure inflation in percent per presidential election, the naive comparison would work much differently. (He is subtly misinterpreting a serious paper that is hard to fully explain to laymen).
   His advice to undeveloped nations includes "before a nation builds roads ... it must first train lawyers", which makes me doubt his understanding of what causes the rule of law.



3. It has been alleged that one of the great embarrassments of the economics profession is its inability to explain why some countries get rich and some do not. Foreign Policy editor Moisés Naím, a former Venezuelan minister of industry, once compared the gap in knowledge to physicists not being able to explain how gravity works. With respect, if Naim truly thinks that it is a mystery why some countries get rich and some do not, it can only be that he has not read Bernstein's masterpiece of popular economic history.
   
   Most of humanity has been desperately poor for most of history. Why have some countries successfully stepped onto the up-escalator of economic growth, while others have remained trapped in poverty? Bernstein presents a compelling and logical answer.
   
   He identifies four ingredients to economic growth. They are: (1) property rights - giving entrepreneurs the incentive to create wealth knowing that it will not be confiscated; (2) Scientific rationalism -technological advance requires honest intellectual enquiry; (3) Capital markets - the large-scale production of new goods and services requires vast amounts of money from others. Even if property and the ability to innovate are secure, capital is still required to develop schemes and ideas; (4) Fast and efficient communications and transportation. Products need to be advertised and distributed to buyers hundreds or thousands of miles away. Even if entrepreneurs possess secure property rights, the proper intellectual tools, and adequate capital, their innovations will languish unless they can quickly and cheaply put their products into the hands of consumers.
   
   There is a crucial lesson from Bernstein's analysis, essential to both policy-makers and citizens. It is this: institutions are more important than physical infrastructure. Of Bernstein's four factors, only the fourth requires significant physical investment. The other factors are abstract concepts - or "cultural infrastructure" - that economically successful societies utilize and failed states do not.
   
   Reading this book also gives the Western reader some essential perspective on how much better our lives are today compared to life in centuries past. It is also a profoundly (and legitimately) hopeful work, since its prescription is both sensible and practical.



4. This is a must read book.
   
   The gist of his message was very positive and gave me great hope. Strong economies and economic trade bring peace. As a business person it is always gratifying to know that you might be doing the world some good. More than just providing jobs but actually helping world peace. Commerce is the start of all peace in the world.
   
   Throughout the book, he talks about four prerequisites for economic growth:
   
   - Secure property rights, not only for physical property, but also for intellectual property and one's own person - civil liberties, safety. This speaks poorly for trade barriers and isolationism. This speaks poorly for countries with high corruption. Milton Freidman said, "You cannot have a free society without private property".
   
   - A systematic procedure for examining and interpreting the world - the scientific method. The book gives many cases where parts of the worlds lose ground due to the banning of technology.
   
   - A widely available and open source of funding for the development and production of new inventions - the modern capital marketplace.
   
   - The ability to rapidly communicate vital information and transport people and goods. SYNNEX is a distribution company so we certainly contribute to this one.
   
   One scary statistic was the earth's population. At the birth of Christ, there were was slightly more than 250 million people by 1600 there were half a billion. In about 1800 there was a billion and by 1960 it was 3 billion and there is currently about 6 billion people. Population is a world problem.
   
   There was an interesting section on natural resources and the wealth from those and how they actually hurt economies (as a Canadian with natural resources, this is somewhat worrisome). The example they used were countries such as Nigeria who have abundant natural resources but lack wealth and have weak economies and countries like Singapore, Holland, Switzerland, and Japan have been economic powerhouses with few natural resources.
   
   The author also pointed out that the lower the wealth of the country, the greater the economic growth. This means over time everything equalizes.
   
   Near the end of the book, it pointed out the problem of wealth concentration. As a CEO, I have been a beneficiary of wealth concentration but have seen how it can be very damaging. Certainly it has been very damaging for the reputation of business people. I worry this will be a challenge we need to address (and I speak against my own self interest here).
   
   This book is a must read. Read it!



5. Everyone who yearns for a better time in our past should read this book (and some others) to gain an appreciation how much wealthier and better off we are then 99% of our recorded history. This books not only describes our road to wealth, but gives the fundamental reasons why we all live so much longer, healthier, and better then anytime in the past. Essential.

1 comments about 5 Steps to a 5 AP Microeconomics/Macroeconomics, 2008-2009 Edition (5 Steps to a 5 on the Advanced Placement Examinations).

1. THis is a great product that can easily be understood by most people. It helps pass the exam.

1 comments about Unjust Deserts: How the Rich Are Taking Our Common Inheritance and Why We Should Take It Back.

1. You will be angry after reading this book. Alperovitz and Daly create a convincing argument that is difficult to deny. Exhaustively researched and yet so readable, the premise is that, "all of this knowledge-the overwhelming source of all modern wealth-comes to us today through no effort of our own." So if most of what we have today is attributable to advances we inherit in common, why is this gift of our collective history not benefiting all members of society. The top 1% of US Households receives more income than the bottom 120 million. Do they deserve it? Does a CEO of a major corporation deserve compensation 431 times that of an average worker? This book could not be timelier given the current state of the economy. If you weren't already angry at the unjust income distribution in this country and the fact that such a small percentage of Americans basically wallow in wealth while the rest of cant make ends meet, you will be very angry after reading this book. This is a readable, not just for economists, guide to getting back what is rightfully ours. This book doesn't just lay out the cold hard facts but also gives solutions. I am more convinced than ever, that not only are we getting shafted, but we can also now fight back. I highly recommend Unjust Deserts to anyone who is sick and tired of economic injustice and is ready for solutions.

No comments about Bailout Nation: How Easy Money Corrupted Wall Street and Shook the World Economy.