1 comments about The Micro Economy Today.

1. I had read other not-so-good reviews of this book, but I actually got an A in this class. The book is very easy to read and understand. I had no experience with graphs but I was still able to understand the graphs and formulas in the book. As far as text books go, this is very well written and easy to follow, even for someone who has no interest in the subject but had to take the class as a pre-req.

2 comments about Managerial Economics in a Global Economy.

1. If you have to read for a Master's in Business, this is the book for you! Delivered when promised and in the condition they stated.



2. I had to get this book for a graduate level class. This book is poorly written. After reading it, I have to believe there is a better way to explain economics. If you do not have a foundation in calculus, you will have problems with the way the math is explained. There are appendix sections that attempt to explain derivatives and linear regression. I would suspect those without some higher math experience may have found this confusing. To make matters worse, the author kept changing some of the acronyms. If there is an 'industry standard' for terminology, I could not tell. From chapter to chapter, there seemed to be little continuity for the terminology. The graphs are very confusing and all of it is in black & white. Many of the definitions are written in language that did not define the term. Some terms were not defined at all only be an example.
   
   Two pros: The information is current. Not as current as some internet information but decent. The 'Case' examples and studies are good. They are real-world examples of some applications of concepts.
   
   Needed in the book:
   Adding some color to highlight information may help.
   Better examples of the mathematics.
   More answers to understand the solutions.
   Continuity for acronyms and terminology.
   Simplify! The book makes it harder than it actually is. There is a lot of good information in the book. It is explained poorly.

5 comments about The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time.

1. Polanyi's great transformation starts in the 19th century with the installation of a self-regulating market system ('the satanic mill') for labor, land and money and by letting the whole society be run by the system without any intervention. It provoked a wholesale destruction of the `traditional fabric of society'.
   
   Attack on the market economy and democracy
   In fact, this book is not only an attack against `laissez-faire', but also against a `regulated' market system and against, for Polanyi, the main cause of this great transformation (democracy). His book is not less than a plea for a return to the `Ancien Régime', for Polanyi the Golden Age of mankind, `the traditional unity of the Christian society', `the social fabric of the village under the supremacy of squire and parson', the society of `the benevolent gentlemen of England with their compassion from the heart', when economics where `embedded' in the whole society.
   
   What was this Ancien Régime?
   A disaster for 999 out of 1000 individuals. The poor had only one option: 'steal to be hanged' (J. Swift, D. Defoe, E.J. Burford). But for Polanyi, `under the regime of feudalism and the village community, noblesse oblige, clan solidarity, and regulation of the corn market checked famine'.
   The kings owned the salt mines and sold (!) as a monopoly their salt (a necessity for survival) dearly: one block of about 5 kg was worth a whole village, population included (the ancient salt mines of Krakow are well worth a visit). For Polanyi, `it is the absence of the threat of individual starvation which makes primitive society more humane.'
   Polanyi defends the guild system, feudalism and mercantilism: `Feudalism and landed conservatism were only seemingly contrary to the general interest of the community' and `neither under tribal nor under feudal nor under mercantile conditions was there a separate economic system in society'. But the guild system was an antidemocratic closed shop and mercantilism (F. Colbert) was a system for strengthening the Nation, in other words, the power of one man (`L'Etat, c'est moi').
   
   What is the cause of this great transformation?
   `The democratization of the political State which caused the separation of the economic and political sphere', `the transition to a democratic system and representative politics'.
   
   What is Polanyi's solution?
   `The passing of the market-economy can become the beginning of an era of unprecedented freedom.' What we need is planning, control, power and compulsion to ensure conformity which is needed for the survival of the group. Contradictio in terminis? Absolutely not: `the individual person should not fear that power and planning will turn against him'.
   
   Of course, submitting the whole society to a pure self-regulating market system (e.g., the gold standard) is asking for disaster. The market system, a must for democracy, should be regulated and parts of the fabric of society should be managed by the State under a democratically elected government (R. Kuttner, J. Stiglitz). Indeed, `The economic order is merely a function of the social order'.
   
   This book is an extraordinary reactionary and naïve defense of a `black' past.
   However, the introduction by J. Stiglitz is excellent and justifies a modest outlay.



2. Adam Smith's *Wealth of Nations* may well have been the premier work in the history of economic thought, but his ventures into the realm of economic origins are, alas, founded on Platonic myth. Polanyi's work *Great Transformation* incorporated anthropological work from known primitive societies, plus available historical documents, to construct a far more empirical explanation of the origins of the market economy.
   
   In this work, published fourteen years later, Polanyi (and colleagues) returns to the anthropological and archaeological evidence to reconstruct exactly how prices, real wages, and exchange relationships were organized. The early empires this book addresses include ancient Mesopotamia, Western Africa, Anatolia and Greece, Mesoamerica, the Sahel Steppe, and India. Additionally, a series of essays in the back by the books several authors draw upon primitive and classical empires to examine how early man used commerce, and how that later led to institutions of trade.
   
   This receives four stars because, while it is a milestone in the field of economic history, it has since been superseded by more recent, nuanced analysis. His essay "The Economy as Instituted Process" is compelling, yet schematic; of course he brushes over countervailing evidence, because he is sketching out a stylized model of how labor, land, and tools were reified and subordinated to markets.



3. Adam Smith's *Wealth of Nations* may well have been the premier work in the history of economic thought, but his ventures into the realm of economic origins are, alas, founded on Platonic myth. Polanyi's work *Great Transformation* incorporated anthropological work from known primitive societies, plus available historical documents, to construct a far more empirical explanation of the origins of the market economy.
   
   In this work, published fourteen years later, Polanyi (and colleagues) returns to the anthropological and archaeological evidence to reconstruct exactly how prices, real wages, and exchange relationships were organized. The early empires this book addresses include ancient Mesopotamia, Western Africa, Anatolia and Greece, Mesoamerica, the Sahel Steppe, and India. Additionally, a series of essays in the back by the books several authors draw upon primitive and classical empires to examine how early man used commerce, and how that later led to institutions of trade.
   
   This receives four stars because, while it is a milestone in the field of economic history, it has since been superseded by more recent, nuanced analysis. His essay "The Economy as Instituted Process" is compelling, yet schematic; of course he brushes over countervailing evidence, because he is sketching out a stylized model of how labor, land, and tools were reified and subordinated to markets.



4. While this is now a classic text, having been written in 1944, as time passes it provides a more and more compelling explanation of modern economic history; I have found it to be of immense value - definately worth reading!



5. "Our thesis is that the idea of a self-adjusting market implied a stark utopia. Such an institution could not exist for any length of time without annihilating the human and natural substance of society; it would have physically destroyed man and transformed his surroundings into a wilderness." (p. 3)
   
   As one can see from possibly the most famous Polanyi quote, "The Great Transformation" is about the market and its consequences. This book is not an easy read; as Joseph Stiglitz acknowledges in his Foreword, it certainly has accessibility issues due to its language, certain details in its reasoning and the background knowledge it assumes on the part of the reader. However, I can only give this book five stars because of two great ideas it develops.
   
   The first one is that the market economy is a fairly recent social construct. For most of human history, markets did not play a major role in economic organization; the "natural propensity to truck and barter" attributed to human beings by Adam Smith is actually apocryphal, as shown in Polanyi's discussion of early societies (p. 45). Polanyi describes in great detail the rise of the market society - the development of national markets, the slow move toward a free labor market and all the legislation that accompanied it. When seen in this perspective, the failure of shock therapy in Russia makes perfect sense: the market is in no way the natural state and it needs extensive institutional infrastructure to function properly (see "Globalization and its Discontents" by Joseph Stiglitz for more on this).
   
   The second major idea here is the idea of double movement. It says that in society there are two main opposing forces working against each other. One is a market liberal force which pushes in the direction of the self-regulating market, the other is a reaction that develops due to the immense costs and pain imposed by the market. If the current financial crisis in the US leads to more regulation of finance, in Polanyian terms it will be a reaction to the unsustainable costs imposed by deregulation of finance. The interesting part about this idea of the double movement is that it essentially turns Hayekian spontaneous order on its head. For Hayek, the market society is a spontaneous outcome due to inherent human propensities while the state is a parasite that tries to suppress the expression of the human nature with interventionist meddling. For Polanyi, "Laissez-faire was planned; planning was not", i.e. the market society arose through deliberate state action, whereas the reaction in the opposite direction was spontaneous (p. 147).
   
   Polanyi traces the changes in the international system to the market and covers the ideological developments behind the self-regulating market, but you will have to see for yourself. Once again, this book is a hard read, especially if you are just trying to educate yourself and do not have anyone to clarify the intricacies. However, the Foreword by Joseph Stiglitz and the Introduction by Fred Block are both quite helpful. "The Great Transformation" is rightly considered a heterodox classic and if you are interested in a different take on the market economy, do yourself a favor and pick this up!

1 comments about The Poor Always Pay Back: The Grameen II Story.

1. No two people hold a more appropriate position to write about Grameen Bank than Asif Dowla and Dipal Barua. As former students of 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Winner and Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus, Dowla and Barua have been apprised of the logic behind small loans since the Bank's inception. They have Yunus's trust and approval when it comes to sharing Grameen with the world, which readers can see in his found appraisal of Dowla and Barua in the preface.
   
   "The Poor Always Pay Back: The Grameen II story" is a comprehensive account of the overhaul of the world's premier micro credit institution and it is suitable for novice students of economics, masters of the field, and everyone in between who may be curious about microcredit. The central tenet of the text is that the poor are bankable--despite the fact that they lack liquid capital, they can be trusted to repay loans and to use money in an enterprising fashion if given a fair opportunity and clear terms.
   
   The book begins with a review of Classical Grameen and its effects on the poor in Bangladesh, focusing on the Bank's structure and clearly explaining the terms of micro loans (such as the "Sixteen Decisions" which are both described and illustrated). However, the majority of this work, as its title suggests, is devoted to explication and analysis of the advanced terms and products of Grameen II. Claims and conclusions are well supported with both quantitative and qualitative evidence, to which the two authors have prime access through their ties to the Bank, granting a great deal of authority to the book. Tables and appendices are nicely tied in with the text, and citations allow readers to conduct their own research on individual aspects of Grameen and microcredit if they so desire.
   
   "The Poor Always Pay Back: The Grameen II story" is a good way to begin study of the growing institution of microcredit and the assumption that there is financial potential among the poorest of the poor.

5 comments about The Wages of Wins: Taking Measure of the Many Myths in Modern Sport (Stanford Business Books).

1. I bought this book after reading the authors blog for a while, and was a bit dissapointed. While they have some interesting ideas, I didn't find their arguments nearly as convincing as they seem to think they are. My big problem was the writing style, the authors repeat themselves often, and the book is full of paragraphs listing off numbers and stats that are in a chart right next to the paragraph.



2. very interesting and insightful analysis but unfortunately authors take a cutesy approach to presentation and it falls flat on its face. i believe they think they are taking a freakonomics-like approach but it falls very short of that level of prose as well as economic importance.
   
   bottom line though is the analysis is really interesting - you just have to put up with the writing to get to it.



3. If you want an example of taking a unique look at a topic in a way that wins the reader, you have one in "The Wages of Wins".
   
   David J. Berri, Martin B. Schmidt, and Stacey L. Brook did an excellent job of both stating why they disagree with conventional wisdom on several points, and what competitive balance is and how to decide which athletes are the best.
   
   This book does deal with statistics and analysis that many would find boring. The trio of authors did a good job of making it relatively easy to follow. Also, they interject a lot of humor to it, making it even more pleasant to read.



4. "Who's the best of all-time?" "Who's better than Tom Brady?!" "Kobe is MVP!" When the conversations turn to sports, those types of questions always linger and don't leave my head for a while after a intense discussion...Then again, maybe, my ears are just ringing too hard.
   Yet, these authors take a start at answering the myths and bombastic statements that surround sports and people's love and affinities for teams and athletes.
   
   Like "Moneyball" proved, people tend to form their opinions from their own experiences in life, and they refuse to look at statistical evidence to support their theories. Yet, these authors utilize stats to show the holes in the myths such as why payroll and wins are highly coorelated, why quarterbacks should be judged by their Super Bowl rings, or why you can't give a true statistical value to basketball players and teams. The authors give solid evidence to support theories such as when the law of diminishing returns really does enter the picture in terms of productivity, why points are overvalued and why Kevin Garnett is the best player in the NBA, and just how valuable a NFL QB really is.
   
   I still believe in the heart of an athlete and the role that a person has within a team. And, I found that the book doesn't give full due to the values of team chemistry, the effects of injuries, or how much value a role player like Manu Ginobili or Ron Harper can derive from other players on their team. However, the book not only makes a solid effort at answering the myths of sport, but I also realized how bizarre the statements and hype delivered by sports blowhards on TV and Talk Radio really are. That's why I give a thumbs-up to this read. The authors put substance behind the bizarre statements made by blow-hards and so-called experts.
   
   Pick this up, and you'll be surprised at how far you'll be in front of the pack. That's a strong value.



5. WoW is a great introduction to thinking more critically about sports and how we define "the best".

No comments about The Great Depression : Delayed Recovery and Economic Change in America, 1929-1939 (Studies in Economic History and Policy : The United States in The).

5 comments about Microeconomics the Easy Way.

1. I bought this book to study of the CLEP exam. I have never had an economics class nor did I read any other study guides and I passed with a 74 out of 80 (you only need 50 points to pass). So I would say this taught me the fundamentals of economics. It was very dry at first, but then it got better as I started understanding the material better. The last chapter review questions were funny.
   Some people overated it a bit, but it really is a good book. Not an extremely easy book, but very understandable.



2. I bought this book as a refresher. The author goes through the material very quickly. His writing isn't very clear and I'm frustrated by the format of the book -- too much text, not enough examples or summaries. I'm sticking to my old college textbook.



3. The author really breaks down the basic concepts and principals of economics so that it is easy to follow. In addition to being able to effectively explain and convey concepts the author is very humorous and witty and the book does not read like so many boring textbooks. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to learn the basics of economics.



4. The basics are all there, but the book gets heavily into the equations of economics, which can leave you feeling a bit overwhelmed. This is a good starter book for those interested in pursuing a career in economics.



5. This book is an amazingly helpful book for those of us who may be preparing to, or are currently in an economics class. Although it is probably one of the more amusing and easier read microeconomics texts I have read it did get rather confusing in some chapters. For example, elasticity in the market. I'm still confused by it, I had to use wikipedia to get a better grasp on that one. But I do commend it for taking a pretty bland and dry subject matter and making it easy to understand for most of us.

2 comments about The Best Test P CLEP Principles of Microeconomics (REA)-The Best Test Prep for (CLEP).

1. The good: The book has 2 practice tests, with answers. This let me simulate taking the CLEP tests, the go back and grade myself. By looking at the questions I missed, I was able to identify the specific concepts that needed extra attention.
   The bad: The concept reviews are pretty worthless. Don't try to learn the concepts from this book. Use it only to evaluate where you are in your preparation, and whether you're ready for the real test.



2. It provides a good evaluation of your knowledge, helps to determine what you know, as well as where you are drawing some blanks. I'd say that real Microeconomics CLEP is a little easier than the practice tests in this book, which is fine - it's good practice.

3 comments about The Complexity Crisis: Why to many products, markets, and customers are crippling your company--and what to do about it.

1. The Complexity Crisis--Why Too Many Products, Markets & Customers Are Crippling Your Company - And What To Do About It
   
   John Mariotti's new book , The Complexity Crisis, is a must read journey through the morass of burgeoning complexity facing today's businesses and out again into a cleaner and more competitive future. Mr. Mariotti identifies an aggressive focus on reducing the nonvalue-adding complexity in your business and creatively managing the value-related complexity as the perfect strategic response to the current tightened market conditions. Mr. Mariotti identifies the explosion of complexity as a two-edged sword and shows us how to wield it to our advantage.
   
   The Complexity Crisis is rich in simple, concrete examples of how complexity relentlessly increases in businesses, dragging down profitability while overwhelming the processes and systems used to manage the business. Mr. Mariotti defines a simple, concrete six-step path to reducing our business' complexity.
   
   He then shows us how wield as a competitive weapon key product, service and channel complexities by finding ways to manage them better than our competitors. The Complexity Crisis is an excellent guidebook to the strategic opportunity available by leveraging complexity into greater competitive advantage.



2. If you don't buy this book and then 15 more for your staff, you probably aren't qualified to save your company from Asian competition? This guy has been there done that and what he proposes is not just "word salad". It works and creates a common worthy goal for your company while all your employees work together to get there.
   
   Once you read this and apply it to your company, you will be hooked...and need a basket to catch the dollars coming down out of the sky! I know, we did something very similar..whithout the benefit of his guidance. It would have saved us years had we had Mariotti's roadmap. If you aren't willing to walk the walk, don't bother reading The Complexity Crisis because it requires leadership and changing the way things happen.



3. John L. Mariotti, a senior business executive turned consultant, speaks from experience about the causes, costs and cure for complexity. He argues that companies complicate their businesses in the effort to grow when markets are stagnant. They multiply products, services, target markets and vendors. However, this strategy gets them into trouble: They increase overhead, because they need to hire more people to deal with the multiplication, their inventory swells and their service suffers. They don't know how to forecast accurately under these new circumstances, and their bottom lines turn red. Because the world's wealthiest markets are in regions with low population growth and, therefore, low market growth, complexity is becoming a widespread crisis. Fortunately, it is curable. getAbstract suggests that if you are a manager or executive whose company is heading down the complexity route, you might want to consider Mariotti's useful guidance on appropriate therapies.

1 comments about Our Common Future (Oxford Paperback Reference).

1. While the topic of this text, sustainable development, is interesting, the text is not. The first chapter provides most of what is necessary to understand the commission's findings. The 300+ pages which follow are filled with too many examples, which disrupts the flow of the book.