The Good, the Bad, and the Economy

The Good, the Bad, and the Economy PDF Author: Louis G. Putterman
Publisher: Hillcrest Publishing Group
ISBN: 193829601X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 319

Get Book Here

Book Description
Despite the past century's extraordinary advances in technology and scientific knowledge, today's world is still racked by economic insecurity, vast gulfs between rich and poor, violent conflicts, and daunting environmental problems. What's stopping us from building a world in which there's less inequality and more nurturing of the individual's potential to lead a satisfying life? Does the central role of self-interest in human nature necessitate economic arrangements that condemn us to living on a treadmill of consumerism and insecurity? Will the gap between rich and poor countries ever be bridged? These are the key questions that Brown University economist Louis Putterman's "The Good, the Bad, and the Economy" addresses in surprising new ways.

The Good, the Bad, and the Economy

The Good, the Bad, and the Economy PDF Author: Louis G. Putterman
Publisher: Hillcrest Publishing Group
ISBN: 193829601X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 319

Get Book Here

Book Description
Despite the past century's extraordinary advances in technology and scientific knowledge, today's world is still racked by economic insecurity, vast gulfs between rich and poor, violent conflicts, and daunting environmental problems. What's stopping us from building a world in which there's less inequality and more nurturing of the individual's potential to lead a satisfying life? Does the central role of self-interest in human nature necessitate economic arrangements that condemn us to living on a treadmill of consumerism and insecurity? Will the gap between rich and poor countries ever be bridged? These are the key questions that Brown University economist Louis Putterman's "The Good, the Bad, and the Economy" addresses in surprising new ways.

Economics of Good and Evil

Economics of Good and Evil PDF Author: Tomas Sedlacek
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199831904
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 366

Get Book Here

Book Description
Tomas Sedlacek has shaken the study of economics as few ever have. Named one of the "Young Guns" and one of the "five hot minds in economics" by the Yale Economic Review, he serves on the National Economic Council in Prague, where his provocative writing has achieved bestseller status. How has he done it? By arguing a simple, almost heretical proposition: economics is ultimately about good and evil. In The Economics of Good and Evil, Sedlacek radically rethinks his field, challenging our assumptions about the world. Economics is touted as a science, a value-free mathematical inquiry, he writes, but it's actually a cultural phenomenon, a product of our civilization. It began within philosophy--Adam Smith himself not only wrote The Wealth of Nations, but also The Theory of Moral Sentiments--and economics, as Sedlacek shows, is woven out of history, myth, religion, and ethics. "Even the most sophisticated mathematical model," Sedlacek writes, "is, de facto, a story, a parable, our effort to (rationally) grasp the world around us." Economics not only describes the world, but establishes normative standards, identifying ideal conditions. Science, he claims, is a system of beliefs to which we are committed. To grasp the beliefs underlying economics, he breaks out of the field's confines with a tour de force exploration of economic thinking, broadly defined, over the millennia. He ranges from the epic of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament to the emergence of Christianity, from Descartes and Adam Smith to the consumerism in Fight Club. Throughout, he asks searching meta-economic questions: What is the meaning and the point of economics? Can we do ethically all that we can do technically? Does it pay to be good? Placing the wisdom of philosophers and poets over strict mathematical models of human behavior, Sedlacek's groundbreaking work promises to change the way we calculate economic value.

The Oxford Handbook of Capitalism

The Oxford Handbook of Capitalism PDF Author: Dennis C. Mueller
Publisher: OUP USA
ISBN: 0195391179
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 574

Get Book Here

Book Description
The financial crisis that began in 2008 and its lingering aftermath have caused many intellectuals and politicians to question the virtues of capitalist systems. The 19 original essays in this handbook, written by leading scholars from Asia, North America, and Europe, analyze both the strengths and weaknesses of capitalist systems. The volume opens with essays on the historical and legal origins of capitalism. These are followed by chapters describing the nature, institutions, and advantages of capitalism: entrepreneurship, innovation, property rights, contracts, capital markets, and the modern corporation. The next set of chapters discusses the problems that can arise in capitalist systems including monopoly, principal agent problems, financial bubbles, excessive managerial compensation, and empire building through wealth-destroying mergers. Two subsequent essays examine in detail the properties of the "Asian model" of capitalism as exemplified by Japan and South Korea, and capitalist systems where ownership and control are largely separated as in the United States and United Kingdom. The handbook concludes with an essay on capitalism in the 21st century by Nobel Prize winner Edmund Phelps.

Economics Rules

Economics Rules PDF Author: Dani Rodrik
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0198736894
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 268

Get Book Here

Book Description
A leading economist trains a lens on his own discipline to uncover when it fails and when it works.

The Antitrust Paradigm

The Antitrust Paradigm PDF Author: Jonathan B. Baker
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674975782
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Get Book Here

Book Description
A new and urgently needed guide to making the American economy more competitive at a time when tech giants have amassed vast market power. The U.S. economy is growing less competitive. Large businesses increasingly profit by taking advantage of their customers and suppliers. These firms can also use sophisticated pricing algorithms and customer data to secure substantial and persistent advantages over smaller players. In our new Gilded Age, the likes of Google and Amazon fill the roles of Standard Oil and U.S. Steel. Jonathan Baker shows how business practices harming competition manage to go unchecked. The law has fallen behind technology, but that is not the only problem. Inspired by Robert Bork, Richard Posner, and the “Chicago school,” the Supreme Court has, since the Reagan years, steadily eroded the protections of antitrust. The Antitrust Paradigm demonstrates that Chicago-style reforms intended to unleash competitive enterprise have instead inflated market power, harming the welfare of workers and consumers, squelching innovation, and reducing overall economic growth. Baker identifies the errors in economic arguments for staying the course and advocates for a middle path between laissez-faire and forced deconcentration: the revival of pro-competitive economic regulation, of which antitrust has long been the backbone. Drawing on the latest in empirical and theoretical economics to defend the benefits of antitrust, Baker shows how enforcement and jurisprudence can be updated for the high-tech economy. His prescription is straightforward. The sooner courts and the antitrust enforcement agencies stop listening to the Chicago school and start paying attention to modern economics, the sooner Americans will reap the benefits of competition.

Good Intentions, Bad Outcomes

Good Intentions, Bad Outcomes PDF Author: Santiago Levy
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 380

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Argues that incoherent social programs significantly contribute to poverty and little growth. Proposes converting the existing social security system into universal social entitlements. Advocates eliminating wage-based social security contributions and raising consumption taxes on higher-income households to increase the rate of GDP growth, reduce inequality, and improve benefits for workers"--Provided by publisher.

Economic Turbulence

Economic Turbulence PDF Author: Clair Brown
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226076342
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 211

Get Book Here

Book Description
Every day, in every sector of our economy, a business shuts down while another starts up, jobs are created while others are cut, and workers are hired while others are laid off. This constant flux, or turbulence, is a defining characteristic of our free market system, yet it mostly inspires angst about unemployment, loss of earnings, and the overall competitiveness of corporations. But is this endless cycle of fluctuation really so bad for America? Might something positive be going on in the economy as a result of it? In this penetrating work, three esteemed economists seek to answer these questions by exploring the real impact of volatility on American workers and businesses alike. According to the authors, while any number of events--shifts in consumer demand, changes in technology, mergers and acquisitions, or increased competition--can contribute to economic turbulence, our economy as a whole is, by and large, stronger for it, because these processes of creation and destruction make it more flexible and adaptable. The authors also acknowledge and document the adverse consequences of this turbulence on different groups of workers and firms and discuss the resulting policy challenges. Basing their argument on an up-close look into the dealings and practices of five key industries—financial services, retail food services, trucking, semiconductors, and software—the authors demonstrate the positive effects of turbulence on career paths, employee earnings, and firm performance. The first substantial attempt to disentangle and make clear the complexities of this phenomenon in the United States, Economic Turbulence will be viewed as a major achievement and the centerpiece of any discussion on the subject for years to come.

The Little Book of Economics

The Little Book of Economics PDF Author: Greg Ip
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118391578
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 297

Get Book Here

Book Description
An accessible, thoroughly engaging look at how the economy really works and its role in your everyday life Not surprisingly, regular people suddenly are paying a lot closer attention to the economy than ever before. But economics, with its weird technical jargon and knotty concepts and formulas can be a very difficult subject to get to grips with on your own. Enter Greg Ip and his Little Book of Economics. Like a patient, good-natured tutor, Greg, one of today's most respected economics journalists, walks you through everything you need to know about how the economy works. Short on technical jargon and long on clear, concise, plain-English explanations of important terms, concepts, events, historical figures and major players, this revised and updated edition of Greg's bestselling guide clues you in on what's really going on, what it means to you and what we should be demanding our policymakers do about the economy going forward. From inflation to the Federal Reserve, taxes to the budget deficit, you get indispensible insights into everything that really matters about economics and its impact on everyday life Special sections featuring additional resources of every subject discussed and where to find additional information to help you learn more about an issue and keep track of ongoing developments Offers priceless insights into the roots of America's economic crisis and its aftermath, especially the role played by excessive greed and risk-taking, and what can be done to avoid another economic cataclysm Digs into globalization, the roots of the Euro crisis, the sources of China's spectacular growth, and why the gap between the economy's winners and losers keeps widening

The Right Wing: the Good, the Bad, and the Crazy

The Right Wing: the Good, the Bad, and the Crazy PDF Author: Charles Phillip Rider
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1483630919
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 154

Get Book Here

Book Description
The book The Right Wing: the Good, the Bad, and the Crazy discusses the political right in the United States from Prohibition through recent speculation concerning the presidential campaign of 2016. A chapter is devoted to each U.S. President from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to George W. Bush. Many references are contained in the book concerning right wing personalities such as Robert Welch, Joe McCarthy, Barry Goldwater, Rush Limbaugh, Darrel Issa and others. Right wing organizations such as the John Birch Society, Fox News, and the Tea Party are analyzed. The Afterword section contains the authors solution to issues such as gun control, the U.S. Debt, the need for additional federal revenues, and the lack of medium and large U.S. corporations tax support of the U.S. government. Controversial issues such as sex education, immigration, and the present large gap between wealthy and middle class income are discussed in the book. The influence of the religious right in politics is analyzed. The author, Charles Rider, analyzes some of the above issues from an attorneys perspective. The book contains facts not generally known by readers such as Senator McCarthy, the communist witch hunter, subpoenaed many witnesses and forced them to testify in front of the Senate Permanent Sub Committee on Investigations. None of the witnesses ever went to jail or prison for communist activity. McCarthys committee records of witnesses testimony and background disappeared from the FBI files and the National Archives. During the Afghan War, Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld created a monetary reward program for information as to names of terrorists. Leaflets were distributed that the U.S. Government would pay up to $15,000 for names of terrorists. People turned in their enemies and sometimes goat herders and store clerks ended up in Guantanamo.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly PDF Author: Ray Hartley
Publisher: Pan Macmillan South africa
ISBN: 1770108831
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 122

Get Book Here

Book Description
South Africa is facing an extraordinary ‘polycrisis’. The dimensions of this crisis include an energy collapse; a failing rail network; weak education outcomes; an interrupted water supply; and the effects of decades of endemic corruption that have brought much of government to a halt. But the country also has incredible assets: a wealth of sought-after minerals; an enviable Constitution that protects rights and advocates social inclusion; an advanced financial and services sector; thriving agricultural and auto industries that compete with the best in the world; a prosecution service that is rapidly rebuilding; and, most of all, strong-willed people determined to make life better through hard work, entrepreneurship and hustling. The choice is stark: we either build on the positives and take the country forward or we will be overwhelmed by the negatives and end up as another Zimbabwe or Venezuela. We have the people, the policies and the resources. What is missing is the political will to make the difficult choices that will save South Africa from disaster. This book takes you on a journey that ends with one of three possible future scenarios: the Good, the Bad or the Ugly. Compiled by The Brenthurst Foundation and In Transformation Initiative, and workshopped with high-powered leaders in business and politics, the scenarios have stimulated intense public interest as the country grapples with its mounting problems. The good news is that there is a clear road towards a positive future. It will take courageous leadership and smart thinking to get there, but the ‘Good’ scenario is tantalisingly within grasp.