Knowledge that Transforms

Jacob L. Vigdor of Duke University reviews “Risking House and Home: Disasters, Cities, Public Policy” by John M. Quigley, Larry A. Rosenthal,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Nine papers, originally presented at the Berkeley Symposium on Real Estate, Catastrophic Risk, and Public Policy held in March 2006, examine the use of risk assessment in contending with the devastation caused by war, terrorism, and natural forces. Papers discuss public versus private underwriting of catastrophic risk--lessons from the California Earthquake Authority; financing catastrophe insurance--a new proposal; reflections on U.S. disaster insurance policy for the twenty-first century; obstacles to clear thinking about natural disasters--five lessons for policy; macroeconomic impacts of catastrophic events--the influence of resilience; Hurricane Katrina--catastrophic impacts and alarming lessons; economic resilience, fiscal resilience, and federalism--evidence from 9/11; the economic impacts of alternative terrorist attacks on the twin ports of Los Angeles-Long Beach; and socioeconomic differences in household automobile ownership rates--implications for evacuation policy. Quigley is I. Donald Terner Distinguished Professor, and Rosenthal is Executive Director of the Program on Housing and Urban Policy, at the University of California, Berkeley. No index.”

Daniel J. Benjamin of Cornell University reviews “Free Market Madness: Why Human Nature Is at Odds with Economics--And Why It Matters” by Peter A. Ubel,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Examines the effect of the combination of human nature and free markets on our health and well-being, and considers whether the government should regulate the markets that reward those who exploit human weakness. Discusses the invisible hand meeting the unconscious brain; whether the obesity epidemic is a consequence of rational choices; bank tellers, fighter pilots, and the limits of rationality; cashews, coffee mugs, and the birth of behavioral economics; kinder, gentler paternalism; irrational tastes and bottomless soup bowls; impulsive behavior and the battle between our current and future selves; spacious lawns and long commutes; risky feelings and cigarette breaks; the price of life and the cost of health care; marketing and the science of persuasion; balancing liberty and the pursuit of well-being; and whether the government can combat obesity without becoming a “nanny state.” Ubel is a physician and Director of the Center for Behavioral and Decision Sciences in Medicine at the University of Michigan. Index.”

Daniel Rosenblum of Dalhousie University reviews “Measuring Inequality of Opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean” by Ricardo Paes de Barros, Francisco H. G. Ferreira, Jose R. Molinas Vega, Jaime Saavedra Chanduvi,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Considers methods of measuring the level of inequality of opportunity in Latin America. Discusses inequality of opportunity--what it is, how it can be measured, and why it matters; a Human Opportunity Index for children; uses and policy applications of the Human Opportunity Index; inequality of economic opportunity in seven Latin American countries; and inequality of opportunity in educational achievement in five Latin American countries. De Barros is a researcher at the Instituto de Pesquisa Economica Aplicada. Ferreira is Lead Economist with the Development Research Group at the World Bank. Molinas Vega is Senior Economist with the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region at the World Bank. Saavedra Chanduvi is a manager for the Poverty and Gender Group of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region of the World Bank. Index.”

Stephen C. Smith of George Washington University reviews “Portfolios of the Poor: How the World’s Poor Live on $2 a Day” by Daryl Collins, Jonathan Morduch, Stuart Rutherford, Orlanda Ruthven,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Presents a systematic analysis of how the world’s poor find financial solutions to living on incomes of two dollars a day or less, drawing upon financial diaries of families in Bangladesh, India, and South Africa. Discusses the portfolios of the poor; the daily grind; dealing with risk; building blocks--creating usefully large sums; the price of money; rethinking microfinance--the Grameen II diaries; and better portfolios. Collins is Senior Associate at Bankable Frontier Associates in Boston. Morduch is Professor of Public Policy and Economics at New York University. Rutherford is founder of the SafeSave microfinance institution. Ruthven recently completed a doctoral degree in international development. Bibliography; index.”

Claudio E. Raddatz of World Bank reviews “Bond Markets in Latin America: On the Verge of a Big Bang?” by Eduardo Borensztein, Kevin Cowan, Barry Eichengreen, Ugo Panizza,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Nine papers examine the importance of local bond market development in Latin America through case studies of six countries, surveys of firms and investors, and a cross-country economic analysis of the determinants of bond market development. Papers discuss building bond markets in Latin America; how emerging market economies can benefit from a corporate bond market; development of the Mexican bond market; corporate bond markets in Argentina; development of Colombian bond markets; development of the Chilean corporate bond market; development of the Brazilian bond market; the fixed-income market in Uruguay; and prospects for Latin American bond markets--a cross-country view. Borensztein is Advisor in the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund. Cowan is Senior Economist in the Financial Stability Division of the Central Bank of Chile. Eichengreen is George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Panizza is Chief of the Debt and Finance Analysis Unit in the Division on Globalization and Development Strategies at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Index.”

Antonio Spilimbergo of CEPR, CReAm, and International Monetary Fund reviews “Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics--Regional 2008: Higher Education and Development” by Justin Yifu Lin, Boris Pleskovic,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Nine papers and eight comments, originally presented at the Nineteenth Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics held in Beijing in January 2007, examine topics in development policy and the implications for the global economy. Papers discuss skilled labor and the international economy--whence it comes, whither it goes (L. Alan Winters); global returns to higher education--trends, drivers, and policy responses (Francois Bourguignon and F. Halsey Rogers); higher education financing in East Asia--policy implications for China (Weifang Min); higher education and international migration in Asia--brain circulation (Mark R. Rosenzweig); intersectoral interfaces in higher education development--private and public in sync? (Daniel C. Levy); financing higher education--lessons from developed economies, options for developing economies (Nicholas Barr); wellsprings of modern economic growth--higher education, innovation, and local economic development (Maryann P. Feldman and Ian I. Stewart); higher education, innovation, and economic development (Bengt-Ake Lundvall); and higher education and the labor market in India (Pawan Agarwal). Lin is Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of the World Bank. Pleskovic is Research Manager in Development Economics at the World Bank. No index.”

Gianmarco I. P. Ottaviano of Bocconi University reviews “Economic Geography: The Integration of Regions and Nations” by Pierre-Philippe Combes, Thierry Mayer, Jacques-Francois Thisse,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Provides advanced undergraduate and graduate students with an introduction to the field of spatial economics. Discusses spatial inequalities--a brief historical overview; space in economic thought; monopolistic competition; interregional trade and market size; gravity and trade costs; the core-periphery structure; intermediate goods and the evolution of regional disparities; the bell-shaped curve of spatial development; spatial competition; measuring spatial concentration; determinants of spatial concentration and local productivity; the empirics of economic geography; and theory with numbers. Combes is CNRS Research Professor of Economics at the University of Aix-Marseille. Mayer is Professor of Economics at the University of Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne. Thisse is Professor of Economics at the Catholic University of Louvain and Professor at the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees. Index.”

Alan V. Deardorff of University of Michigan reviews “Blue-Collar Blues: Is Trade to Blame for Rising US Income Inequality?” by Robert Z. Lawrence,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Explores the links between slow U.S. real wage growth, increased earnings inequality, and trade. Discusses the wage-productivity gap, 1981-2006; wage inequality and trade; class inequality and trade; globalization, stock options, and the super rich; and job dislocation--past and future. Lawrence is a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute and Albert L. Williams Professor of Trade and Investment in the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Index.”

John Whalley of University of Western Ontario and Centre for International Governance Innovation reviews “The Impacts of 9/11 on Canada-U.S. Trade” by Steven Globerman, Paul Storer,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Presents a statistical analysis of trade flows between the United States and Canada since 9/11 and considers the quantitative effects of recent border entry security initiatives on bilateral trade flows. Discusses security policy and the Canada-U.S. border; an overview of Canada-U.S. trade in goods; the impacts of border security--a review of the literature; the study methodology; the aggregate export and import equations; estimating export and import equations at the port level; interpreting the estimated impacts at individual ports; and potential impacts on capital investment. Globerman is Kaiser Professor of International Business, and Storer is Associate Professor in the College of Business and Economics, at Western Washington University. Index.”

Rod Falvey of University of Nottingham reviews “Measuring Globalisation: Gauging Its Consequences” by Axel Dreher, Noel Gaston, Pim Martens,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Presents a framework for defining globalization and analyzing the relationships among economic, political, and social variables. Discusses the move toward an understanding of the concept of globalization; the measurement of globalization; and consequences of globalization reconsidered--applying the KOF Index. Dreher is at the KOF Swiss Economic Institute at ETH Zurich. Gaston is at Bond University. Martens is at Maastricht University. Author and subject indexes.”