Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2018 -

This tome by Wolff, the leading scholar on wealth and wealth inequality in the US, is a timely historical exploration of developments in household wealth over the last century. Wealth, for the lay reader, is the water in the pool, while income is the flow of water entering the pool. Wealth tends to be more concentrated than income within and across generations, mainly because wealth, say, a piece of land, is easier to bequeath to the future than, say, income from being a carpenter. Wolff plumbs the landscape of such issues, teasing out many interesting details about the personal wealth distribution, the demographic composition of the rich, the asset holdings of the rich versus the poor, wealth-poor yet high income people, the effects of bequests, the importance of marriage, and so on. The writing style is precise but fluid, and all of the math is hidden from plain view. Anyone interested in understanding why wealth inequality is so high in the US will find answers here. They will not find answers to questions such as what, if anything, we should do about it.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

This reviewer's doctoral dissertation was on credit card debt, yet this well-researched book provides an even deeper understanding of the history of the small-sum loan market. It starts with an early history (starting around 1900) of small-sum lending and progresses to modern tools, such as credit cards and payday loans. Much has been written on the pros and cons of payday lending (and other such industries), but few studies provide the historical context in which to understand how we arrived at modern practices. This book provides valuable insights into the small-loan market today and how it can be improved (for lenders and borrowers). The book neither vilifies nor supports a perspective on small-sum loans; instead, it is objective. More importantly, Fleming (Georgetown) uses the knowledge gained from her historical analysis to look at the current industry with regard to regulations, behavior (borrower and lender), and political feasibility. For anyone interested in better understanding the small-sum lending industry, this book is essential reading.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

The disparate chapters in this volume represent the author's testimonial to economics as a beneficial force in shaping contemporary public policy. Technically, the common thread uniting these essays is information theory: the effects of information limitations on decision making. More evident, however, is the personal element uniting the chapters. Tirole (a 2014 Nobel Prize winner) is a passionate advocate of economics. Early chapters explain his embrace of the discipline, the nature of the profession, and its importance to society. Modern economists are less the intellectual hedgehogs of old, promulgating the singular virtues of market capitalism, than social science foxes offering useful, nuanced insights into an array of public problems. Markets often fail to achieve the common good. The role of government, and economists, is to correct these market failures. Chapters are devoted to climate change, unemployment, the 2008 financial crisis, and several ongoing and future issues as instances in which economic insights can contribute to the common good. Unfortunately, expert information often falls prey to skillful political manipulation of voters' biases. Ultimately, in the author's view, citizens get the policies they deserve.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

This book is about international adoption: adoption principally of children from Africa by US adopters. The authors, who are economists, argue that even though the benefits of such adoption vastly outweigh the costs, it is declining because of the wrong way it is administered by bureaucrats. Montgomery and Powell (both, Grinnell College) argue that changing the way such adoptions are regulated, in particular ending the prejudice against compensating birth parents in Africa and other places, an alternative system can be developed that benefits birth parents, adopters in America, and, most important, the children adopted. The authors make profound and very persuasive arguments based on their own experience as adopters and on case studies. If people involved in international adoption read this book, it will definitely lead to valuable rethinking and useful changes in the whole field. This book needs to be read not only by administrators of adoption programs but also by all members of the public so that public opinion can bring about the excellent changes the book suggests.Summing Up: Essential. All readership levels.

This is a terrific short book. In just 160 pages of text, Leins (Univ. of Zurich, Switzerland) provides readers with a clear understanding of the difference between fundamental analysis and technical analysis, the efficient markets hypothesis, behavioral economics, and new institutional economics. It also gives readers a "behind the curtain look" at the culture of financial analysts. (The book focuses on analysts in Switzerland, but it is certainly applicable for readers who want a general understanding of this culture in the US or Britain.) But the book's most important (and controversial) contribution stems from its discussion and analysis of the "need" for investment narratives and for financial analysts. Stories of Capitalism is very well written and worth reading regardless of one's background. However, it is absolutely essential reading for anyone who is interested in investment banking and financial analysis and who has little knowledge of these areas.Summing Up: Essential. All readership levels.

This book provides a concise description of the economics of the global weapons industry. Hartley (Univ. of York, UK) is a pioneer in the subject of defense economics. He demonstrates impressive command of the statistical, institutional, and historical details of this complex industry. The global weapons industry is worthy of study, he argues, because of its importance, as measured say by share of GDP, to the economies of countries such as the US, the UK, China, and Russia, and because the output of the industry can be a dominating force in the preservation of peace or in the infliction of destruction and misery. The benefits and costs of this industry, both pecuniary and non-pecuniary, are of profound global significance. Economists will find this treatment of interest, because the global arms industry is economically distinctive. Hartley applies industrial organization theory, game theory, public choice analysis, and the economics of technological change to the rich subject matter. The book is suitable for upper-level undergraduates looking for source material to inform a research paper, and as a reference for graduate students and faculty in economics or political science who specialize in defense studies.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.