Knowledge that Transforms

Anne O. Krueger of Johns Hopkins University reviews “Fixing Global Finance” by Martin Wolf,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Analyzes the weaknesses of the global financial system of the early twenty-first century and considers possibilities for a different international financial architecture. Discusses learning lessons; blessings and perils of global finance; the move from crises to imbalances; the calm before a storm; the move toward adjustment and domestic reform; the move toward global reform; and the move toward a more stable world. Wolf is Professor of Economics at the University of Nottingham. Index.”

Gerard Roland of University of California, Berkeley and CEPR reviews “Globalisation, Development and Transition: Conversations with Eminent Economists” by Brian Snowdon,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Provides a comprehensive survey of the major economic issues that have helped shape the modern world. Discusses the fall and rise of globalization; economic development in historical perspective; and the rise and fall of the socialist system and the trials of transition. Includes interviews with eleven leading economists. Snowdon is Professor of Economics and International Business in the Newcastle Business School at Northumbria University. Bibliography; index.”

Peter Cappelli of University of Pennsylvania reviews “The Economics of Imperfect Labor Markets” by Tito Boeri, Jan van Ours,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Advanced undergraduate and early graduate textbook examines imperfectly competitive labor markets and provide a systematic framework for analyzing how labor institutions function and interact in these markets. Discusses minimum wages; unions and collective bargaining; payroll taxes; regulation of working hours; retirement programs; family policies; education and training; migration policies; employment protection legislation; unemployment benefits; active labor market policies; and institutional interactions. Includes end-of-chapter exercises. Boeri is Professor of Economics at Bocconi University and Scientific Director of the Fondazione Rodolfo Debenedetti. Van Ours is Professor of Labor Economics at Tilburg University and Professorial Fellow in Economics at the University of Melbourne. Index.”

Saul H. Hymans of University of Michigan reviews “The Cult of Statistical Significance: How the Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice, and Lives” by Stephen T. Ziliak, Deirdre N. McCloskey,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Examines the flaws in the scientific technique of “statistical significance” through an exploration of its application in a broad spectrum of fields, and considers how to bring the statistical sciences back on track. Discusses statistical significance as a significant problem; dieting “significance” and the case of Vioxx; the sizeless stare of statistical significance; what the sizeless scientists say in defense; better practice---beta-importance versus alpha-“significance”; what can go wrong in the use of significance tests in economics; what went wrong in the American Economic Review during the 1980s; whether economic practice is improving; how big is big in economics; what the sizeless stare costs, economically speaking; how economics stays that way--the textbooks and the referees; the not-boring rise of significance in psychology; whether psychometrics lacks power; the psychology of psychological significance testing; medicine seeking a magic pill; Kenneth Rothman’s revolt; drugs, disability, and death; Francis Edgeworth’s significance; Karl Pearson’s rule; statistical significance in Pearson’s journal Biometrika; William Sealy Gosset--the fable of the bee; R. A. Fisher--the fable of the wasp; how the wasp stung the bee and took over some sciences; eighty years of trained incapacity--how such a thing could happen; and what to do. Ziliak is Professor of Economics at… Index.”

Lauren E. Feiler of Carleton College reviews “Augustin Cournot: Modelling Economics” by Jean-Philippe Touffut,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Seven papers, originally presented at a conference held at the Cournot Centre for Economic Studies in December 2005, examine the pioneering work of Antoine Augustin Cournot in the fields of economics, game theory, sociology, and epistemology of probability and statistics. Papers discuss Cournot as economist--two hundred years of relevance (Jean Magnan de Bornier); Cournot’s probabilistic epistemology (Thierry Martin); the functions of economic models (Bernard Walliser); the move from Cournot’s principle to market efficiency (Glenn Shafer); war and peace (Robert J. Aumann); Cournot and the social income (Robert M. Solow); and comparing the incomparable--the sociology of statistics (Alain Desrosieres). Touffut is Director of the Cournot Centre for Economic Studies. Index.”

W. Max Corden of University of Melbourne reviews “Harry Johnson: A Life in Economics” by Donald E. Moggridge,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Chronicles the intellectual development of economist Harry Johnson and considers his contributions to economics, economic education, and the discussion of economic policy, especially in Canada and Great Britain. Discusses Johnson’s origins in Toronto; his early career in Antigonish, Nova Scotia; his military experience in England; North American postgraduate work; his experience at Cambridge; his role as a Cambridge economist; working in Manchester; his move to Chicago; Canada, economic nationalism, and opulence, 1957-66; Chicago--money, trade, and development; the London School of Economics; professional life--largely British; money and inflation; the International Monetary System; Johnson’s “Wicksell Period”; and Johnson’s stroke and the aftermath. Moggridge is Professor of Economics at the University of Toronto. Index.”

Anna Jacobson Schwartz of National Bureau of Economic Research reviews “Milton Friedman: A Biography” by Lanny Ebenstein,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Traces the life of Milton Friedman and examines his continuing relevance to our political and economic circumstances. Discusses his early life; his undergraduate years; the University of Chicago and Columbia; Rose; World War II; the return to academe; the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago; “Positive Economics”; family; professorship; A Theory of the Consumption Function; John Maynard Keynes; A Monetary History of the United States; the Chicago school of economics; Capitalism and Freedom; travel and Goldwater; colleagues; public intellectual and policy proposals; Richard Nixon and the Nobel Prize; Free to Choose; Ronald Reagan and international influence; Friedrich Hayek and the role of ideas; school vouchers and social issues; and the Friedman Prize. Bibliographical essay; index.”

Kevin D. Hoover of Duke University reviews “Hunting Causes and Using Them: Approaches in Philosophy and Economics” by Nancy Cartwright,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Provides a critical survey of the philosophical and economic literature on causality, with a special focus on Bayes-nets and invariance methods. Discusses causation--one word, many things; causal claims--warranting them and using them; where the theory is in our “theories” of causality; what is wrong with Bayes nets; whether modularity fails; comments against modularity, the causal Markov condition, and any link between the two; the move from metaphysics to method--comments on manipulability and the causal Markov condition; two theorems on invariance and causality; probabilities and experiments; how to get causes from probabilities; the merger of cause and strategy; the vanity of rigor in economics--theoretical models and Galilean experiments; and counterfactuals in economics--a commentary. Cartwright is Professor of Philosophy at the London School of Economics and Political Science and at the University of California, San Diego, and is Fellow of the British Academy. Bibliography; index.”

Emily Oster of University of Chicago reviews “EconoPower: How a New Generation of Economists Is Transforming the World” by Mark Skousen,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Examines how economics has gained an increased influence over the other branches of social science and how economists are solving the world’s problems on both individual and national levels. Focuses on personal finance--earning, saving, investing, and retiring; economists entering the corporate boardroom; solving domestic problems; solving international problems; and predicting the future. Skousen is Benjamin Franklin Chair of Management at Grantham University. Index.”

Thomas C. Leonard of Princeton University reviews “The Dismal Science: How Thinking Like an Economist Undermines Community” by Stephan A. Marglin,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Explores the ways in which the foundational assumptions of economics may undermine a sense of community and justify a world in which individuals are isolated and impoverished in terms of social connections. Discusses economics, the market, and community; what community is and whether it is worth the cost; the cutting edge of modernity; individualism; some history; the move form vice to virtue in a century; how we know when we do not know; sources of the modern ideology of knowledge; taking experience seriously; welfare economics and the nation-state; why enough is never enough; the economics of tragic choices; and the move from imperialism to globalization, by way of development. Marglin is Walter S. Barker Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Index.”