Knowledge that Transforms

Charles Shapiro of University of California, Berkeley reviews “Rethinking Merger Analysis” by Louis Kaplow. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Explores major questions relevant to the analysis of horizontal mergers, assessing the appropriate way to set research agendas, formulate policy, and determine how best to analyze proposed mergers.”

Editor's Note Our policy is to annotate all English-language books on economics and related subjects that are sent to us. A very small number of foreign-language books are called to our attention and annotated by our consulting editors or others. Our staff does not monitor and order books published; therefore, if an annotation of a book does not appear six months after the publication date, please write to us or the publisher concerning the book.

The categories listed below are used to classify books, book reviews, journal articles, and dissertations indexed in JEL and EconLit. New changes to the classification system appear as soon as possible on www.econlit.org . The JEL classification system may be used freely for scholarly purposes. We suggest the following format: “JEL: A10, B10, etc.”

Russell Golman of Carnegie Mellon University and Silvia Saccardo of Carnegie Mellon University review “May Contain Lies: How Stories, Statistics, and Studies Exploit Our Biases – And What We Can Do about It” by Alex Edmans. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Explores how one might separate myth from reality, providing a practical guide to help people think more critically about topics including how to run a company and invest money, what drives global warming and the spread of pandemics, and which policies lawmakers should pass and voters should support.”

Robert F. Bruner of University of Virginia reviews “Busting the Bankers' Club: Finance for the Rest of Us” by Gerald Epstein. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Considers the financial crisis of 2007-09 and the financial reform response, promoting the argument that the source of both the intensity of the crisis and the weakness of the response was the power of a collection of big financial institutions and their supporters that acquired a huge amount of political power.”

Lisa Larrimore Ouellette of Stanford Law School reviews “Expropriation by Law: Intellectual Property, Value and Labor” by Christian Bessy. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “English translation of L'expropriation par le droit: Proprietá intellectuelle, valeur et travail (2022).”

Anat R. Admati of Stanford University reviews “Unjust Debts: How Our Bankruptcy System Makes America More Unequal” by Melissa B. Jacoby. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Explores the impact of the bankruptcy system, promoting the argument that the present structure of reorganization cases has compromised policy objectives distant from bankruptcy's intended domain.”

Dania V. Francis of University of Massachusetts Boston reviews “The Black Tax: 150 Years of Theft, Exploitation, and Dispossession in America” by Andrew W. Kahrl. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Discusses the history of racialized tax structures and the predatory practices that flourished within them in the United States, tracing these structures and practices from the Reconstruction through the first two decades of the twenty-first century.”