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Great Economic Thinkers from Antiquity to the Historical School: Translations from the series Klassiker der Nationalökonomie (Routledge Studies in the History of Economics)
by Bertram SchefoldThis book contains commentaries from the series "Klassiker der Nationalökonomie" (classics of economics), which have been translated into English for the first time. This selection focuses on neglected, but notable writers in a deserted sub-discipline, localising the beginning of economic science not with Adam Smith, but with the moral question of usury and the good life in Antiquity. Bertram Schefold’s choice of authors for the "Klassiker" series, which he has edited since 1991, and his comments on the various re-edited works are proof of his highly original and thought-provoking interpretation of the history of economic thought (HET). This volume is an important contribution to HET not only because it delivers original and fresh insights about such well-known figures as Aristotle, Jevons or Wicksell, but also because it deals with authors and ideas who have been forgotten or neglected in the previous literature. In this regard Schefold’s book could prove to be seminal for the field of the history of economic thought, for in the age of globalisation our usual restriction to the thinkers of Western Europe and the USA might eventually be overcome. This book will give the reader a far broader view of economics compared to that of the latest research. This volume is suitable for those who are interested in and study history of economic thought as well as economic theory and philosophy.
Great Economic Thinkers from the Classicals to the Moderns: Translations from the series Klassiker der Nationalökonomie (Routledge Studies in the History of Economics)
by Bertram SchefoldThis is the opus magnum of one of the world’s most renowned experts on the history of economic thought, Bertram Schefold. It contains commentaries from the series Klassiker der Nationalökonomie (Classics of Economics), which have been translated into English for the first time. Schefold’s choices of authors for this series, which he has edited since 1991, and his comments on the various re-edited works, are proof of his highly original and thought-provoking interpretation of the history of economic thought. Together with a companion volume, Great Economic Thinkers from Antiquity to the Historical School: Translations from the series Klassiker der Nationalökonomie, this book is a collection of English translations with introductions by Bertram Schefold. The emphasis of this volume is on the theoretical debates, from the theory of value to imperfect completion; from money to the institutional framework of society; and from the history of economic thought to pioneering works in mathematical economics. This volume is an important contribution to the history of economic thought, not only because it delivers original and fresh insights about well-known figures, such as Marx, Stackelberg, Sraffa, Samuelson, Tooke, Hilferding, Schmoller and Chayanov, but also because it deals with ideas and authors who have been forgotten or neglected in previous literature. This volume is of great interest to those who study the history of economic thought, economic theory and philosophy, as well as those who enjoyed the author’s previous volume, Great Economic Thinkers from Antiquity to the Historical School.
The Great Employee Handbook: Making Work and Life Better
by Quint StuderThe Most Valuable On-the-Job Skills Come from Experience But You Don t Have to Work a Lifetime to Master Them. Often, it’s the day-to-day issues, those not found in any training manual, that keep us from being our best at work. We’ve all looked back on challenges we’ve faced whether they involved a boss, a co-worker, or a customer and thought, If I knew then what I know now, I would have handled that in a completely different way! The old saying Experience is the best teacher has probably never been more true than in the workplace. But what if you could learn those important workplace lessons without having to go through the pain yourself? That’s the idea behind The Great Employee Handbook. Wall Street Journal bestselling author Quint Studer has pulled together the best insights gained from working with thousands of employees during his career. The high-impact tips he shares will help you more productively handle those situations every employee finds difficult (and get them right the first time). You’ll learn how to: Put your best foot forward in the first 90 days and Build an emotional bank account with coworkers (It’s the best way to get quick forgiveness when you mess up!) Discuss your own development plan without looking self-promotional Have difficult conversations with your boss Solve problems and resolve conflicts without getting the boss involved Alleviate customer anxiety so they’ll buy from you (and keep coming back) And much, much more Studer has created a valuable tool for companies in every industry. We all know a good day at work means a good day in our personal lives, too. That positivity is what employees and the leaders who count on them really want.
The Great Equalizer: How Main Street Capitalism Can Create an Economy for Everyone
by David M. Smick<P>The experts say that America's best days are behind us, that mediocre long-term economic growth is baked in the cake, and that politically, socially, and racially, the United States will continue to tear itself apart. <P> But David Smick-hedge fund strategist and author of the 2008 bestseller The World Is Curved-argues that the experts are wrong. In recent decades, a Corporate Capitalism of top down mismanagement and backroom deal-making has smothered America's innovative spirit. Policy now favors the big, the corporate, and the status quo at the expense of the small, the inventive, and the entrepreneurial. The result is that working and middle class Americans have seen their incomes flat-lining and their American Dreams slipping away. <P> In response, Smick calls for the great equalizer, a Main Street Capitalism of mass small-business startups and bottom-up innovation, all unfolding on a level playing field. Introducing a fourteen-point plan of bipartisan reforms for unleashing America's creativity and confidence, his forward-thinking book describes a new climate of dynamism where every man and woman is a potential entrepreneur-especially those at the bottom rungs of the economic ladder. <P>Ultimately, Smick argues, economies are more than statistical measurements of supply and demand, economic output, and rates of return. Economies are people-their hopes, fears, dreams, and expectations. <P>The Great Equalizer is a call for a set of new paradigms that inspire and empower average American people to reimagine and reboot their economy. It is a manifesto asserting that, with a new kind of economic policy, America's best days lie ahead. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality
by Angus DeatonA Nobel Prize–winning economist tells the remarkable story of how the world has grown healthier, wealthier, but also more unequal over the past two and half centuriesThe world is a better place than it used to be. People are healthier, wealthier, and live longer. Yet the escapes from destitution by so many has left gaping inequalities between people and nations. In The Great Escape, Nobel Prize–winning economist Angus Deaton—one of the foremost experts on economic development and on poverty—tells the remarkable story of how, beginning 250 years ago, some parts of the world experienced sustained progress, opening up gaps and setting the stage for today's disproportionately unequal world. Deaton takes an in-depth look at the historical and ongoing patterns behind the health and wealth of nations, and addresses what needs to be done to help those left behind.Deaton describes vast innovations and wrenching setbacks: the successes of antibiotics, pest control, vaccinations, and clean water on the one hand, and disastrous famines and the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the other. He examines the United States, a nation that has prospered but is today experiencing slower growth and increasing inequality. He also considers how economic growth in India and China has improved the lives of more than a billion people. Deaton argues that international aid has been ineffective and even harmful. He suggests alternative efforts—including reforming incentives to drug companies and lifting trade restrictions—that will allow the developing world to bring about its own Great Escape.Demonstrating how changes in health and living standards have transformed our lives, The Great Escape is a powerful guide to addressing the well-being of all nations.
The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality (Princeton Classics #136)
by Angus DeatonA Nobel Prize–winning economist tells the remarkable story of how the world has grown healthier, wealthier, but also more unequal over the past two and half centuriesThe world is a better place than it used to be. People are healthier, wealthier, and live longer. Yet the escapes from destitution by so many has left gaping inequalities between people and nations. In The Great Escape, Nobel Prize–winning economist Angus Deaton—one of the foremost experts on economic development and on poverty—tells the remarkable story of how, beginning 250 years ago, some parts of the world experienced sustained progress, opening up gaps and setting the stage for today's disproportionately unequal world. Deaton takes an in-depth look at the historical and ongoing patterns behind the health and wealth of nations, and addresses what needs to be done to help those left behind.Deaton describes vast innovations and wrenching setbacks: the successes of antibiotics, pest control, vaccinations, and clean water on the one hand, and disastrous famines and the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the other. He examines the United States, a nation that has prospered but is today experiencing slower growth and increasing inequality. He also considers how economic growth in India and China has improved the lives of more than a billion people. Deaton argues that international aid has been ineffective and even harmful. He suggests alternative efforts—including reforming incentives to drug companies and lifting trade restrictions—that will allow the developing world to bring about its own Great Escape.Demonstrating how changes in health and living standards have transformed our lives, The Great Escape is a powerful guide to addressing the well-being of all nations.
The Great Escape: A True Story of Forced Labor and Immigrant Dreams in America
by Saket SoniA New York Times Notable Book of 2023 Shortlisted for the 2023 Moore Prize The astonishing story of immigrants lured to the United States from India and trapped in forced labor—an "eye-opening" "must-read" told by the visionary labor leader who engineered their escape and set them on a path to citizenship (The New York Times Book Review). In late 2006, Saket Soni, a twenty-eight-year-old Indian-born community organizer, received an anonymous phone call from an Indian migrant worker in Mississippi. He was one of five hundred men trapped in squalid Gulf Coast &“man camps,&” surrounded by barbed wire, watched by guards, crammed into cold trailers with putrid toilets, forced to eat moldy bread and frozen rice. Recruiters had promised them good jobs and green cards. The men had scraped up $20,000 each for this &“opportunity&” to rebuild hurricane-wrecked oil rigs, leaving their families in impossible debt. During a series of clandestine meetings, Soni and the workers devised a bold plan. In The Great Escape, Soni traces the workers&’ extraordinary escape, their march on foot to Washington, DC, and their twenty-three-day hunger strike to bring attention to their cause. Along the way, ICE agents try to deport the men, company officials work to discredit them, and politicians avert their eyes. But none of this shakes the workers&’ determination to win their dignity and keep their promises to their families. Weaving a deeply personal journey with a riveting tale of twenty-first-century forced labor, Soni takes us into the lives of the immigrant workers the United States increasingly relies on to rebuild after climate disasters. The Great Escape is the gripping story of one of the largest human trafficking cases in modern American history—and the workers&’ heroic journey for justice.
The Great European Rip-off: How the Corrupt, Wasteful EU is Taking Control of Our Lives
by Dr David Craig Matthew ElliottIn this EU referendum year, it's time for people across Europe to look at what really goes on in Brussels in our name. It has been estimated that the EU costs us around £1,000 billion a year - an incredible £2000 for every man, woman and child in Europe. So what do we get for our money? Politicians and administrators selflessly working to bring us efficient government? Well-targeted regulations that promote economic prosperity? A safe and free society? A well-protected environment? Help for people in poorer countries? Or is our money being squandered by a self-serving euro-elite of unaccountable politicians and incompetent bureaucrats, or else devoured in a feeding frenzy of fraud and corruption where a few lucky insiders become unimaginably rich at our expense? And is the tsunami of regulation pouring out of Brussels in reality strangling industry, destroying jobs, restricting personal freedom, desecrating the environment and further impoverishing the developing world?Using their extensive network of insider sources, David Craig and Matthew Elliott smash through the secrecy and disinformation that are the Brussels hallmark to reveal what our European rulers are really getting up to. The result is a horrifying story of bureaucracy, hypocrisy and kleptocracy - and how we are all suffering as a result.
The Great Exception
by Jefferson CowieThe New Deal: where does it fit in the big picture of American history? What does it mean for us today? What happened to the economic equality it once engendered? In The Great Exception, Jefferson Cowie provides new answers to these big questions. Beginning in the Great Depression and through to the 1970s, he argues, the United States built a uniquely equitable period that contrasts with the deeper historical patterns of American political practice, economic structure, and cultural outlook. During those exceptional decades, which Cowie situates in the long arc of American history, the government used its considerable resources on behalf of working Americans in ways that it had not before and has not since. The crises of the Depression and World War II forced realignments of American politics and class relations, but these changes were less a permanent triumph of the welfare state than the product of a temporary cessation of enduring tensions involving race, immigration, culture, class, and individualism. Against this backdrop, Cowie shows how any renewed American battle for collective economic rights needs to build on an understanding of how the New Deal was won--and how it ultimately succumbed to contrasting patterns ingrained in U.S. history. As positive as the era of Roosevelt was in creating a more equitable society, Cowie suggests that the New Deal may necessarily belong more to the past than the future of American politics. Anyone who wants to come to terms with the politics of inequality in U.S. history will need to read The Great Exception. Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.
The Great Facilitator: Reflections on the Contributions of Joseph F. Hair, Jr. to Marketing and Business Research
by Marko Sarstedt Barry J. BabinThis commemorative volume honors the contributions of Prof. Joseph F. Hair, Jr., who through his writings, leadership and mentoring has had a profound influence on marketing and other fields of business research. He is widely known for sidestepping mathematically complex ways of teaching statistical approaches with an eye toward making the tools accessible to the average behavioral researcher. Joe is also a bona fide researcher whose work has had a massive impact on marketing and business research in general. The book provides revealing insights on his works and acknowledges his role as an outstanding teacher and mentor who has shaped generations of researchers.
The Great Food Gamble
by John Humphrys'Compelling' OBSERVER'Humphrys' level-headedness makes the arguments all the more powerful' SUNDAY TIMES'A concise, no-nonsense assessment of the true cost of cheap food: to the environment, the livestock, and the nation's long-term health' DAILY MAIL'A passionate discourse ... well-written and accessible' INDEPENDENT* * * * * * * * *John Humphrys is passionate about the state of British food, farming, fishing and agriculture. Here, he looks back to the days of organic farming in England when people shared and swapped food and considered the wildlife as well as the farmed animals, crops and fruits. He examines today's travesties: factory farming, pouring chemicals into the land, the scandal of the supermarket wars and cheap imported goods. He then turns to the future and asks: Can we save this ravaged earth and rebuild our community values? Most of all, can we reverse the damage to ourselves and our long-term health that may result from what we eat? John Humphrys' book requires the full attention of anyone who cares about themselves or the future.
The Great Food Gamble
by John Humphrys'Compelling' OBSERVER'Humphrys' level-headedness makes the arguments all the more powerful' SUNDAY TIMES'A concise, no-nonsense assessment of the true cost of cheap food: to the environment, the livestock, and the nation's long-term health' DAILY MAIL'A passionate discourse ... well-written and accessible' INDEPENDENT* * * * * * * * *John Humphrys is passionate about the state of British food, farming, fishing and agriculture. Here, he looks back to the days of organic farming in England when people shared and swapped food and considered the wildlife as well as the farmed animals, crops and fruits. He examines today's travesties: factory farming, pouring chemicals into the land, the scandal of the supermarket wars and cheap imported goods. He then turns to the future and asks: Can we save this ravaged earth and rebuild our community values? Most of all, can we reverse the damage to ourselves and our long-term health that may result from what we eat? John Humphrys' book requires the full attention of anyone who cares about themselves or the future.
Great Food Jobs 2: Ideas and Inspiration for Your Job Hunt
by Irena ChalmersGreat Food Jobs 2: Ideas and Inspirations for Your Job Hunt, ?winner of the the 2013 Gourmand Special Award of the Jury, is an almanac of eminently useful career guidance mixed with tasty bites of utterly useless gastronomical nonsense, including weird sushi combinations and odd names of bakeries such as “Nice Buns.” A companion to the award-winning Food Jobs: 150 Great Jobs for Culinary Students, Career Changers and Food Lovers, this second volume describes an abundance of careers in the food industry in and out of the kitchen. In an era of ‘txt msgs,’ Chalmers’ Great Food Jobs 2 is refreshingly erudite, urbane, wry, witty,and consummately British. This sparkling, extraordinary compendium will astonish and amuse, inform and make you laugh out loud!
The Great Fragmentation
by Steve SammartinoDoing business in the digital ageThe Great Fragmentation: And Why the Future of All Business is Small is a business survival manifesto for the technology revolution. As the world moves from the industrial era to the digital age, power is shifting and fragmenting. Power is no longer about might and ownership; power in a digital world is about access. Existing businesses need to understand this shift and position themselves to survive and thrive in an environment where entrepreneurs and start-ups enabled by access to technology are genuine threats.Author Steve Sammartino is widely regarded as a thought leader on the subject of technology and business, and helps companies transition from industrial-era thinking to the mindset and processes required to compete in today's digital marketplace. The Great Fragmentation shows how technological changes such as Big Data, gamification, crowdfunding, Bitcoin, 3D printing, social media, mashup culture and artisanal production will forever change business and the way we live our lives.Examine how the digital era has altered where we work, how we work, where we live and what we doDiscover how the digital era has impacted social and economic structures, including educational systems, financial systems and government policyUnderstand that the social media and collecting 'friends' is just the tip of the iceberg in a digital business environmentWeaving together insights from business, technology and anthropology, The Great Fragmentation provides both corporations and entrepreneurs with a playbook for the future of work, life and business in the digital era.
The Great Free Trade Myth: British Foreign Policy and East Asia Since 1980
by Michael ReillyThis book is based on the author’s experience as a British diplomat and scholar working in East Asia for much of the period since 1980. It seeks to challenge widely held views in Britain about the nature of our relations with countries in East Asia, especially in respect of trade. It does so by looking at case studies, or specific incidents in diplomatic relations, not academic theory, using examples that have hitherto received little or no attention. While it is aimed at general readers who may have an interest in the broad subject, it should also be of great value to academics and scholars.
Great from the Start: How Conscious Corporations Attract Success
by John B. MontgomeryThe founder of the technology incubator Startworks provides &“a useful all-in-one blueprint to cover all aspects of putting together a successful company&” (Young Upstarts). Are you wondering how to turn your great new business idea into a successful company? Here&’s the roadmap. In Great from the Start, John Montgomery combines three decades of experience as one of America&’s preeminent corporate lawyers with the wisdom of a wide range of startup industry veterans to offer the business secrets of Silicon Valley as an essential blueprint for any entrepreneur wishing to start a successful company. From raising venture capital to building a balanced team, from designing your culture to managing a board of directors, this book will help you experience the joy of building a successful company. Finally, if you are a leader who aspires to operate from the heart, believes in abundance and plays power with instead of power over, Great from the Start suggests how you can leverage neuroscience and the science of consciousness to inspire and lead your corporation so that it is optimized for the people that work there. &“I have always struggled to communicate the multiple other relevant priorities, and the other intangibles required for a great execution. I found many of these in a new book, Great from the Start, by John B. Montgomery, which does a great job of laying out specifics, but also starts with a good summary of the intangibles, summarized as the five rules of relevancy.&” —Martin Zwilling, Forbes &“A high impact book.&” —Raj Sisodia, coauthor, Firms of Endearment and Conscious Capitalism, and founder Conscious Capitalism Institute
The Great Game of Business
by Jack StackIn the early 1980s, Springfield Remanufacturing Corporation (SRC) in Springfield, Missouri, was a near bankrupt division of International Harvester. That's when a green young manager, Jack Stack, took over and turned it around. He didn't know how to "manage" a company, but he did know about the principal, of athletic competition and democracy: keeping score, having fun, playing fair, providing choice, and having a voice. With these principals he created his own style of management -- open-book management. The key is to let everyone in on financial decisions. At SRC, everyone learns how to read a P&L -- even those without a high school education know how much the toilet paper they use cuts into profits. SRC people have a piece of the action and a vote in company matters. Imagine having a vote on your bonus and on what businesses the company should be in. SRC restored the dignity of economic freedom to its people. Stack's "open-book management" is the key -- a system which, as he describes it here, is literally a game, and one so simple anyone can use it. As part of the Currency paperback line, the book includes a "User's Guide" -- an introduction and discussion guide created for the paperback by the author -- to help readers make practical use of the book's ideas. Jack Stack is the president and CEO of the Springfield Remanufacturing Corporation, in Springfield, Missouri. The recipient of the 1993 Business Enterprise Trust Award, Jack speaks throughout the country on The Great Game Of Business and Open Book Management.From the Trade Paperback edition.
The Great Game of Business, Expanded and Updated: The Only Sensible Way to Run a Company
by Jack Stack Bo BurlinghamIn the early 1980s, Springfield Remanufacturing Corporation (SRC) in Springfield, Missouri, was a near bankrupt division of International Harvester. That's when a green young manager, Jack Stack, took over and turned it around. He didn't know how to "manage" a company, but he did know about the principal, of athletic competition and democracy: keeping score, having fun, playing fair, providing choice, and having a voice. With these principals he created his own style of management -- open-book management. The key is to let everyone in on financial decisions. At SRC, everyone learns how to read a P&L -- even those without a high school education know how much the toilet paper they use cuts into profits. SRC people have a piece of the action and a vote in company matters. Imagine having a vote on your bonus and on what businesses the company should be in. SRC restored the dignity of economic freedom to its people. Stack's "open-book management" is the key -- a system which, as he describes it here, is literally a game, and one so simple anyone can use it. As part of the Currency paperback line, the book includes a "User's Guide" -- an introduction and discussion guide created for the paperback by the author -- to help readers make practical use of the book's ideas. Jack Stack is the president and CEO of the Springfield Remanufacturing Corporation, in Springfield, Missouri. The recipient of the 1993 Business Enterprise Trust Award, Jack speaks throughout the country on The Great Game Of Business and Open Book Management.
The Great Gap: Inequality and the Politics of Redistribution in Latin America
by Merike BlofieldThe relationship between socioeconomic inequality and democratic politics has been one of the central questions in the social sciences from Aristotle on. Recent waves of democratization, combined with deepened global inequalities, have made understanding this relationship ever more crucial. In The Great Gap, Merike Blofield seeks to contribute to this understanding by analyzing inequality and politics in the region with the highest socioeconomic inequalities in the world: Latin America. The chapters, written by prominent scholars in their fields, address the socioeconomic context and inequality of opportunities; elite culture, public opinion, and media framing; capital mobility, campaign financing, representation, and gender equality policies; and taxation and social policies.Aside from the editor, the contributors are Pablo Alegre, Maurício Bugarin, Daniela Campello, Anna Crespo, Francisco H. G. Ferreira, Fernando Filgueira, Liesl Haas, Sallie Hughes, Juan Pablo Luna, James E. Mahon Jr., Juliana Martínez Franzoni, Adriana Cuoco Portugal, Paola Prado, Elisa P. Reis, Luis Reygadas, Sergio Naruhiko Sakurai, and Koen Voorend.
The Great Gap: Inequality and the Politics of Redistribution in Latin America
by Edited by Merike BlofieldThe relationship between socioeconomic inequality and democratic politics has been one of the central questions in the social sciences from Aristotle on. Recent waves of democratization, combined with deepened global inequalities, have made understanding this relationship ever more crucial. In The Great Gap, Merike Blofield seeks to contribute to this understanding by analyzing inequality and politics in the region with the highest socioeconomic inequalities in the world: Latin America. The chapters, written by prominent scholars in their fields, address the socioeconomic context and inequality of opportunities; elite culture, public opinion, and media framing; capital mobility, campaign financing, representation, and gender equality policies; and taxation and social policies.Aside from the editor, the contributors are Pablo Alegre, Maurício Bugarin, Daniela Campello, Anna Crespo, Francisco H. G. Ferreira, Fernando Filgueira, Liesl Haas, Sallie Hughes, Juan Pablo Luna, James E. Mahon Jr., Juliana Martínez Franzoni, Adriana Cuoco Portugal, Paola Prado, Elisa P. Reis, Luis Reygadas, Sergio Naruhiko Sakurai, and Koen Voorend.
Great Gatsby and the Global South: Intergenerational Mobility, Income Inequality, and Development (Elements in Development Economics)
by Diding Sakri Andy Sumner Arief Anshory YusufIn the Global South economic mobility across generations or intergenerational economic mobility is in and of itself an important topic for research with consequences for policy. It concerns the 'stickiness' or otherwise of inequality because mobility is concerned with the extent to which children's economic outcomes are dependent on their parents' economic outcomes. Scholars have estimated levels of intergenerational mobility in many developed countries. Fewer estimates are available for developing countries, where mobility matters more due to starker differences in living standards. This Element surveys the area, conceptually and empirically; it presents a new estimate for a developing country, namely Indonesia; it discusses the 'Great Gatsby Curve' and highlights the different positions of developed and developing countries. Finally, it presents a theoretical framework to explain the drivers of mobility and the stickiness or otherwise of inequality across time. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
The Great Greenwashing: How Brands, Governments, and Influencers Are Lying to You
by John PabonSaving the planet is big business. Realising this, savvy companies are hopping on the sustainability bandwagon. Some may have altruistic ends in mind, but most want to make a quick buck. As ethical spending and consumer options increase, greenwashing is not only proliferating—it’s becoming harder to discern. But how is someone at the supermarket supposed to decipher all this? In The Great Greenwashing, John Pabon pulls no punches in arming consumers and business professionals with the tools they need to educate themselves, filter out the nonsense from the truth, and make a positive impact.
The Great Hangover: 21 Tales of the New Recession from the Pages of Vanity Fair
by Vanity Fair Graydon CarterVanity Fair presents 21 true stories of the new hard times Where did all the billions go?Commissioned by the editors at Vanity Fair magazine, The Great Hangover is an eye-opening collection of essays on the global economic crisis by fifteen of the most respected contemporary business writers in America, including:Bryan Burrough (Barbarians at the Gate) on the atmosphere of uncertainty and fear that preceded the demise of Bear Stearns . . . Michael Lewis (Liar's Poker) on Iceland's bizarre national implosion . . . Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down) on the decline of The New York Times and the threat to the ailing newspaper industry . . . Mark Seal on the defining figure of the seriously tarnished New Gilded Age: the Grand Master of Greed, Bernie Madoff . . . Along with compelling and sometimes hair-raising pieces from a dozen other Vanity Fair contributors on the recent recession's myriad villains and victims—and the worldwide impact of the financial downturn.
The Great Inflation: The Rebirth of Modern Central Banking
by Michael D. Bordo Athanasios OrphanidesControlling inflation is among the most important objectives of economic policy. By maintaining price stability, policy makers are able to reduce uncertainty, improve price-monitoring mechanisms, and facilitate more efficient planning and allocation of resources, thereby raising productivity. This volume focuses on understanding the causes of the Great Inflation of the 1970s and OCO80s, which saw rising inflation in many nations, and which propelled interest rates across the developing world into the double digits. In the decades since, the immediate cause of the periodOCOs rise in inflation has been the subject of considerable debate. Among the areas of contention are the role of monetary policy in driving inflation and the implications this had both for policy design and for evaluating the performance of those who set the policy. Here, contributors map monetary policy from the 1960s to the present, shedding light on the ways in which the lessons of the Great Inflation were absorbed and applied to todayOCOs global and increasingly complex economic environment.
The Great Inflation and its Aftermath: The Past and Future of American Affluence
by Robert J. SamuelsonIt's a giant gap in our history. The Great Inflation, argues award-winning columnist Robert J. Samuelson in this provocative book, was the worst domestic policy blunder of the postwar era and played a crucial role in transforming American politics, economy, and everyday life--and yet its story is hardly remembered or appreciated. In these uncertain economic times, it is more imperative than ever that we understand what happened in the 1960s and 1970s, lest we be doomed to repeat our mistakes. From 1960 to 1979, inflation rose from barely more than 1 percent to nearly 14 percent. It was the greatest peacetime inflationary spike in this nation's history, and it had massive repercussions in every area of our lives. The direct consequences included Ronald Reagan's election to the presidency in 1980, stagnation in living standards, and a growing belief-both in America and abroad--that the great-power status of the United States was ending. The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath traces the origins and rise of double-digit inflation and its fall in the brutal 1981-82 recession, engineered by the Federal Reserve under then-chairman Paul Volcker and with the staunch backing of Reagan. But that is only half the story. The end of high inflation triggered economic and social changes that are still with us. The stock market and housing booms were both direct outcomes; American business became more productive--and also much less protective of workers; and globalization was encouraged. We cannot understand today's world, Samuelson contends, without understanding the Great Inflation and its aftermath. Nor can we prepare for the future unless we heed its lessons. This incisive and enlightening book will stand as the authoritative account of a watershed event of our times.