Knowledge that Transforms

Harold Cole of University of Pennsylvania reviews “The Economics of the Great Depression: A Twenty-First Century Look Back at the Economics of the Interwar Era” by Randall E. Parker,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Explores the evolution and the current state of economic literature on the Great Depression. Presents interviews with twelve American economists who have made substantial contributions to the twenty-first century understanding of the economics of the Great Depression: Peter Temin, Ben Bernanke, James Hamilton, Robert Lucas, Lee Ohanian, Christina Romer, Barry Eichengreen, Stephen Cecchetti, James Butkiewicz, Michael Bordo, Charles Calomiris, and Allan Meltzer. Parker is Professor of Economics at East Carolina University. Index.”

William A. Masters of Purdue University reviews “Global Warming and Agriculture: Impact Estimates by Country” by William R. Cline,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Examines the likely impact of global warming at the country level, especially in the developing world, and considers the asymmetry between potentially severe agricultural damages in many poor countries and milder effects in rich countries. Discusses a brief survey of existing literature; key issues--carbon fertilization, irrigation, and trade; country-level climate projections; country-level agricultural impact estimates; and dynamic considerations. Appendices provide further information on global grids, regions, and climate models. Cline is Senior Fellow jointly at the Center for Global Development and the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Index.”

Steven Nafziger of Williams College reviews “Comrades! A History of World Communism” by Robert Service,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Examines the history of communism throughout the world. Discusses communism before Marxism; Marx and Engels; communism in Europe; Russian variations; the October Revolution; the first communist state; European revolutions; communism and its discontents; the communist international; probing America; making sense of communism; the USSR in torment; the Soviet model; world strategy; Stalinist ideology; inside the parties; friends and foes; communism in the World War; forcing the peace; the cold war and the Soviet Bloc; the Yugoslav road; Western Europe; warring propaganda; the Chinese revolution; organizing communism; against and for reform; detente and expansion; China convulsed; revolutionary Cuba; communist order; rethinking communism; Europe east and west; reduced expectations; the last of the communist revolutions; roads from communism; anticommunism in Eastern Europe; China's capitalist communism; perestroika; the comrades' departure; and accounting for communism. Service is a fellow of the British Academy and Professor of Russian History at Oxford University. Select bibliography; index.”

Mohsin S. Khan of International Monetary Fund reviews “The Arab Economies in a Changing World” by Marcus Noland, Howard Pack,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Considers the historical performance of the Arab economies and their future prospects, focusing on the problem of how to successfully employ a large cohort of young people reaching working age. Discusses growth, productivity, and income; welfare, happiness, and discontent; the demographic challenge and the role of globalization; religion, institutions, and growth; economic policies and their effects; attitudes, interest groups, and reform; global engagement; risk, credibility, and supply response; and authoritarianism, uncertainty, and prospects for change. Noland is Senior Fellow with the Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics. Pack is Professor of Business and Public Policy and Professor of Economics at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Index.”

Ross Levine of Brown University and NBER reviews “Volatility and Growth” by Philippe Aghion, Abhijit Banerjee,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Proposes an explanation of persistent macroeconomic volatility and its effect on growth--an explanation that highlights the role of credit constraints. Sketches a simple model that explains why lenders impose limits on how much firms can borrow. Introduces productivity shocks into the so-called AK model of endogenous growth and into the Schumpeterian model of endogenous growth, and investigates how volatility affects growth in these frameworks. Reviews the existing empirical evidence on volatility and growth. Introduces credit constraints into the Schumpeterian model and describes how they result in a reduced growth rate in the most financially underdeveloped economies. Presents empirical evidence that the growth rate is in fact substantially reduced in less financially developed countries and that productivity shocks have a bigger impact on growth in these countries. Demonstrates how volatility can emerge endogenously in a world where credit constraints sometimes bind. Studies endogenous volatility in an open-economy framework, analyzes the impact of a capital account liberalization, and draws some policy conclusions. Presents a third-generation model of currency crises. Aghion is Robert C. Waggoner Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Banerjee is Ford Foundation Professor of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Director of the Poverty Action Lab. Index.”

Christopher Maxwell of Boston College reviews “The Bottom Line: Observations and Arguments on the Sports Business” by Andrew Zimbalist,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Explores the basic dilemmas and dynamics of the sports industry. Focuses on team management, finances, and value; league structure, design, and performance; stadiums--financing, mega-events, and economic development; antitrust and labor relations; college sports and gender equity; and media and the regulation of steroids. Zimbalist is Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics at Smith College. Index.”

Maria Cancian of University of Wisconsin reviews “Reshaping the American Workforce in a Changing Economy” by Harry J. Holzer, Demetra Smith Nightingale,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Ten papers, originally presented at a conference held at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., in November 2005, review empirical evidence on labor force trends and various policy options that suggest important directions for workforce policy over the next few decades and beyond. Papers discuss whether a great labor shortage is coming--replacement demand in the global economy (Richard B. Freeman); an overview of U.S. workforce development policy in 2005 (Burt S. Barnow and Demetra Smith Nightingale); career-focused education and training for youth (Robert I. Lerman); higher education policies generating the twenty-first century workforce (Sarah E. Turner); employment and training policies--new directions for less-skilled adults (Paul Osterman); overcoming employment barriers--strategies to help the “hard to employ” (Dan Bloom and David Butler); immigration policy and human capital (George J. Borjas); policies to promote labor force participation of older people (Alicia H. Munnell); income supports for workers and their families--earnings supplements and health insurance (Gary Burtless); and work-family policies (Jane Waldfogel). Holzer is a professor of Public Policy at Georgetown University. Nightingale is a principal research scientist at the Institute for Policy Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Index.”

David N. Margolis of Paris School of Economics reviews “The Natural Survival of Work: Job Creation and Job Destruction in a Growing Economy” by Pierre Cahuc, Andre Zylberberg,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Considers how to manage the unemployment that results from the desirable churning of the economy, drawing on recent economic research and citing examples from France, the United States, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere. Explores the extent and the necessity of the process of job destruction and job creation. Dissects the logic of job creation. Studies the management of the risks generated by the great magnitude of shifts in employment and in the workforce. Examines education, training, and employment policy. Cahuc is Professor of Economics at the University of Paris 1, Pantheon-Sorbonne, Professor at the Ecole Polytechnique, and Research Fellow at EUREQua, CREST, CEPR, and IZA. Zylberberg is Research Director at CNRS, Professor of Economics at the Ecole Polytechnique, and Research Fellow at EUREQua-University of Paris 1, Pantheon-Sorbonne. Select bibliography; index.”

Frank Cowell of London School of Economics reviews “The Persistence of Poverty: Why the Economics of the Well-Off Can't Help the Poor” by Charles Karelis,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Examines the persistence of poverty in the individual sense--why poor people stay poor. Discusses what poverty is; behavioral factors in poverty; some theories; the inefficiency argument; a new way to rationalize the conduct that prolongs and worsens poverty; responses to challenges and questions; policy--what we should do differently if we believe that marginal utility is increasing amid scarcity; and economic justice reconsidered. Karelis is Research Professor of Philosophy at George Washington University. Index.”

Rachel Croson of University of Texas at Dallas reviews “Economics and Psychology: A Promising New Cross-Disciplinary Field” by Bruno S. Frey, Alois Stutzer,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Ten papers present a broad view of the interface between economics and psychology. Papers discuss economics and psychology--developments and issues (Bruno S. Frey and Alois Stutzer); conditional cooperation--behavioral regularities from the lab and the field and their policy implications (Simon Gachter); a survey of economic theories and field evidence on prosocial behavior (Stephan Meier); why women and men trust others (Iris Bohnet); neuroeconomics--illustrated by the study of ambiguity aversion (Colin F. Camerer, Meghana Bhatt, and Ming Hsu); happiness and public policy--a challenge to the profession (Richard Layard); what happiness research can tell us about self-control problems and utility misprediction (Stutzer and Frey); the relevance of procedural utility for economics (Matthias Benz); the helping hand--a brief anatomy (Felix Oberholzer-Gee); and efficient social engineering and realistic cognitive modeling--a psychologist's thoughts (Ralph Hertwig). Frey is Professor of Economics at the University of Zurich. Stutzer is Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Basel. Index.”