Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2023 -

The objective of this book is to provide a history of equality, reflecting the long-term movements toward more economic, political, and social equality. Piketty (School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, France) argues that when studying equality, jettisoning an incomplete metric, such as gross domestic product, and instead using the fraction of incomes going to a population's poorest 50 percent or its wealthiest 10 percent makes greater sense. Doing so reveals that although there has been a long-term decline in the concentration of property and therefore of economic and social power, present-day inequality is still very high and intolerable. The book also points out that although Chinese socialism has weaknesses, it possesses some advantages. To credibly counter these advantages and improve the lives of billions of people, Western powers need to promote a form of democratic, participatory socialism that pays attention to the Global South and to the West's hypocrises. This thought-provoking book is recommended to all readers who want to learn more about how the scourge of inequality might be dealt with and enhance the lives of all humans.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels.

As a former vice chair of the Federal Reserve Board and a former member of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, Blinder (Princeton Univ.) is uniquely positioned to write this book. The title is an intentional nod to Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz's A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960 (Princeton, 1963) and seeks to continue their narrative from 1961 to 2021, including the role fiscal policy played during those years. Blinder held his positions in the Fed and on the President's Council during some of this period, so he is able to provide both a straightforward economic history of the issues and policies that arose along with a behind-the-scenes view of events. Blinder is a superb writer, as readers of his frequent columns for The Wall Street Journal know, and he states that his intended audience is more general than members of the economics profession. He discusses theory when it is relevant to policy making but does not immerse readers in equations, though the occasional graph does appear. This is a "must have on your shelf" book, and this reviewer knows she will refer to it often in many of her courses.Summing Up: Essential. Undergraduates through faculty; general readers; professionals.

A rules-based international trading system has been a keystone of the global economy since the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was launched in 1947--with the principles of reciprocity, nondiscrimination, and mutual benefit at its core--and was later made more robust in the World Trade Organization (WTO), which improved dispute settlement, automaticity, and implementation. It has survived the creation of bilateral trade deals around the world, regional trade blocs discriminating between participating and nonmember countries, and the transformation of trade to encompass services, components, and parts. Some countries, of course, push the rules; for instance, China ignored key WTO rules after its accession in 2001. Even so, this book reflects full-on support for the rules-based trading system and its base of underlying legal constructs and rigorous applications of trade models. It is an authoritative affirmation that, despite dramatic technological changes and policy shocks, trade theory and policy are as relevant as ever. This is one of the best studies so far on the ecology of trade policy.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.

Cellular is a strong, historical account of the cellular phone industry, delivered through a well-developed, thematic organization in a way that has not yet been done. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this text is its discussion of various nations and their roles in furthering the cellular industry through the involvement of their respective governments and the introduction of new technologies. Delivering such an immense amount of information with complicated terminology and a busy time line is a large feat, but the authors execute it perfectly and in a way that allows even lay readers to understand. The conclusion discusses the roles cellphones play in everyday life, highlighting the well-researched differences between developed and developing countries, including the varying changes to society, culture, and finance. Finally, the authors leave readers with interesting considerations for the future of the cellular industry as it moves into the 5G market, again emphasizing how liaisons between nations impact cellular development and, concurrently, how the cellular industry impacts country-to-country relationships. Despite its sophisticated nature, Cellular offers robust, thoughtfully delivered content and is an engaging read for academic purposes at all levels.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Undergraduates through faculty and general readers.

Easy Money, grounded in a doctoral dissertation and nine publications, will become an instant classic. Lucid, arresting, and free of jargon, it is accessible to general readers and scholars. Goldberg (Open Univ., Israel) shows that barter is intrinsically limited in use because it depends on a "double coincidence of wants." Money, in contrast, is a general medium of exchange and a store of value and can be a "medium of unilateral payment." The story of modern legal tender currency began in Massachusetts between 1690 and 1692. Earlier, money had intrinsic value. Lacking sources of precious metal for coinage and facing a possible uprising of unpaid forces after a failed attack on French Canada, in 1690, Massachusetts authorities created and circulated paper currency legally bound to be accepted as payment for taxes. Thus validated, people in the money-short colony used it as face denominations in all kinds of transactions. In time, as global population and commerce outgrew precious metal production, legal tender paper currency redeemable only in other such currencies became the world's norm. Easy Money falters only when its last chapter strays into biological and other analogies. This book is worthy of a much longer review.Summing Up: Essential. Undergraduates through faculty and general readers.

From Capital to Commons adds to a growing literature in a tradition pioneered by Richard D. Wolff's Democracy at Work (2012). It offers a comprehensive exploration of a possible shift from capitalism to a more communal economic system. Gerhardt's writing is straightforward and easily digestible, which allows readers of all backgrounds to grasp the social issues at stake in economic and social theories. This work is more than just a critique of capitalism; it presents a blueprint for a more equitable, sustainable future. Backed by extensive research, references to game theory, and real-world examples, Gerhardt (geography, Univ. of West Virginia) makes compelling arguments for the necessity of this societal transition. He provides a thorough understanding of the concept of the commons and its potential to address socioeconomic disparities and environmental crises. From Capital to Commons caters to a wide audience, from economists and sociologists to anyone interested in understanding and questioning current economic systems. Gerhardt urges readers to reassess their relationships with resources and each other. This book makes a significant contribution to the discourse on capitalism and the commons, presenting a fresh perspective on the potential of communal living and shared resources.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Undergraduates.

In this volume, Field (Santa Clara Univ.) debunks the idea that US economic performance during World War II was "miraculous" and spurred long-term economic growth. The argument's centerpiece is Field's estimate that total factor productivity--i.e., the ability to convert inputs (labor, capital, raw materials) into output--fell about 1.4 percent per year in the manufacturing sector from 1941 to 1948. Immense learning-by-doing in certain industries could not overcome severe transition problems, disruptions, input hoarding, and shortages. Ultimately, efficiency was not prioritized, so haste made waste, and the war effort demonstrated the massive difficulties of a centrally planned economy. Field convinces skeptical readers by marshaling with clarity an extensive array of data, complemented by a wide-ranging, sharp-eyed narrative of events and problems. Especially valuable are chapters on the synthetic rubber program, the difficulties of transporting oil, and the sharp decline in patenting. Much of the skill, physical capital, and knowledge gained during the war was economically obsolete by its conclusion, and positive spillovers were few. Field sees the period as a "detour," not as a springboard to future growth. Overturning a major narrative with convincing data, Field's book is one of the most important works of economic history of the past decade.Summing Up: Essential. Undergraduates through faculty; professionals; general readers.

Erickson (Univ. of Vermont) has written a book for those who went through graduate programs in economics and came out doubting the neoclassical assumptions of the discipline and believing that market failure was not the exception but the norm and those who ever wondered how economics went so far astray of its role as a social science and concentrated instead on reducing humanity to perfectly rational, mathematically tractable agents. Of particular note are chapters 2 through 4, which document the history of economic thought according to ecological economics. Erickson engages the same major players, the same theories, and the same equilibria traditional economic history texts do but focuses instead on their moral and individual implications. Erickson discusses the rise of Keynesianism, Bretton Woods, and the Brundtland Commission with skill and an understanding of their human implications. He ends by considering a "new economics," drawing from E. O. Wilson's Consilience (1998) and what Wilson refers to as "borderland" fields in neuroeconomics and behavioral economics, to connect economics to biology, psychology, and anthropology. This highly engaging book is well worth the read for anyone who is ready to stop thinking about themselves as Homo economicus.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels.

Bailey (emer., Brookings Institution) and Harris, a long-time economic advisor to Joe Biden, address the problems facing the US retirement system and propose solutions for policy makers and consumers. They assert that incremental reforms can preserve the current Social Security and Medicare systems, that retirement savings benefit capital growth and investment, and that retirement is a right. Tapping into their own expertise, they also solicit the advice of lawyers and economists for different perspectives. They acknowledge that many older staff members want to keep working despite ageist practices seeking to prevent that, and they encourage changing attitudes and policies to view seasoned employees as assets rather than liabilities. The disappearance of private pensions in today's recession-prone economy necessitates heightened dependence on managed retirement structures like 401(k)s. Consumers must learn to supervise their own accounts or pay planners to do it. Although the authors sprinkle definitions of financial planning terms throughout (e.g., rollovers, defined-benefit pensions, wealth drawdowns), a glossary might assist readers, even at the risk of repetition. This book touts an ideal golden mean of spending, a balance between both the hoarding of assets and their profligate use. Although not an easy study, this crucial text will help readers who consult it several times.Summing Up: Essential. General readers through faculty; professionals.

In economics, the pressure to create theoretical models and empirical tests that are rigorous yet tractable often leaves a lot to be desired in the actual interpretation of the work. This is a common problem in the social sciences, but it is especially important in economics, DeMartino (Univ. of Denver) argues, because of the field's influence on individual behavior and public policy. Good research can indeed provide important insight and evidence, but economists can do a lot of harm when models are flawed, data are suspect, and values are skewed in assessing economic outcomes. The author suggests that the latter issue is critical, because it can have consequences that either are unintended or bypass the calibration of the intended, "desirable" outcomes. For instance, today's ESG debates try to address some of these issues, but they similarly fail to deal with the "bad" outcomes for some that can accompany the "good" objectives assumed to apply to all constituencies. The author starts by defining "econogeneric" damage, and in subsequent chapters, he goes on to discuss key issues: how to align economics with ethical and moral values and how economists should go about achieving this alignment given existing paradigms and discipline-based practices. A fascinating, confrontational read.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty and practitioners.

German authors Oermann (ethics, Univ. of Luneburg) and Wolff (retired, Federal President's Office) bring a wealth of scholarly and policy-making experience to this important and timely study, which incorporates materials and events through March 2022, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The phrase "fair and balanced" may be frequently misused today, but it certainly applies to this book. The authors carefully explicate and place into theoretical and historical contexts the key concepts of international trade, investment, sanctions, protectionism, and economic warfare. They develop criteria for assessing the effectiveness of various trade policies, sanctions, and economic warfare and apply them to specific cases, including Trump's tariff wars. A separate chapter assesses the challenges China's rise presents. The authors advocate for improving and strengthening the international rules of trade to avoid the tooth-and-nail economic warfare that deepened the Great Depression. Though it will be imperfect and in need of never-ending adjustments to changing circumstances, such an order will provide the best framework for mutual advancement. This book should be required reading for every policy maker and, ideally, every citizen.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Undergraduates through faculty; professionals; general readers.

Bogdanich and Forsythe, investigative reporters for The New York Times, break through the secrecy sustaining the elite consulting firm McKinsey's mystique to report in vivid and disturbing detail on its clients, advice, methods, organization, operations, and "culture." In outstanding research reported through the lens of individual stories, they recount the myriad problems that undermine the company's claims to be guided by ethics and values, including their dubious client selections, blatant conflicts of interests, hypocrisy, secrecy, revolving door relationships, suppressed dissent, and relentless focus on profit, often confusing cost-cutting with efficiency. Grounding abundant, revealing information in a critical yet restrained and balanced journalistic account of the company's business, the authors leave theoretical analysis largely implicit. If Elizabeth Popp Berman's Thinking Like an Economist (CH, Oct'22, 60-0636) analyzes the micro-history of neoliberal economization in the public sphere, Bogdanich and Forsythe concretely describe how consultants such as McKinsey diffused economistic practices throughout the private and public sectors. This highly readable narrative should alert general readers and undergraduates to be skeptical of McKinsey's philosophy that the private sector can solve public problems, perhaps spurring searches for competing explanations and alternatives.Summing Up: Essential. Undergraduates through faculty, professionals, and general readers.

What will it take to increase the well-being of children from poor families in the United States? Ziegert (Denison Univ.) and Sullivan (emer., Miami Univ., Ohio) analyze data from the 1995-2020 March Supplement to the Current Population Survey and Columbia University's Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) project, the latter reflecting an alternative measure of poverty developed by the US Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The first three chapters focus on demographic, labor market, and social program trends affecting poor families with children. The authors then report on the simulated impact of various contemporary policy ideas on poverty, including job guarantees, improved social support through the earned income tax credit, and subsidized childcare and medical expenses. The authors also consider the costs of these policies. In the conclusion, they emphasize that the key takeaway from their study is that there is no silver bullet for poverty reduction; there needs to be a multifaceted approach. The writing is clear and the tables are informative. Despite its short length, the book is densely packed with facts and essential reading for those invested in these issues.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals.