Editorial Review

Ever feel like you just can't get ahead with the bills? You're not alone. More than half of Americans believe the American dream has become impossible for most people to achieve. And two-thirds think this goal will be even harder for the next generation. (One reason for the gloominess--average full-time income has fallen 15 percent since 1975.) All this has Benjamin Friedman worried. In his hefty, 549-page tome, Read more

Reviews (8)

Interesting Thesis, but overlooking some important points
Mr. Friedman's book begins with an interesting thesis, defining morality and its definition within a context of economic growth.The idea that economic growth or stagnation effects the mindsets of the people living in that time period is a logical argument that Friedman often well supports with historical facts.However, the exceptions to his argument make me wonder if he really believes in his own thesis, or if he just felt the need to write a book.Furthermore, for every chapter in the book, there seem to be at least one or more flawed arguments or points that, with a little thorough thought or research, don't make sense or can easily be disproven.With these things being the case, I find Friedman's argument a little hard to buy.The entire book seems to build up to the final chapter, which Friedman uses to make policy recommendations that would aid in economic growth; this final chapter could have stood alone from the book entirely, however, because the evidence in the book an his arguments elsewhere in the book (ie. the importance of education) do not add or support his final policy recommendations.His policy recommendations could have easily been listed by students in an economics class as responses to the question "What should the government do to promote economic growth?"They don't push the argument forward or indicate anything that hasn't already been suggested in the past, nor do they give suggestions as to how to go about implementing his policies.

Puzzling
Friedman begins with a few troubling statistics, particularly the fact that except for a brief period in the late 1900s, most of the fruits of the last three decades of economic growth in the U.S. have accrued to only a small slice of the population.Further, after allowing for higher prices, the average 2004 worker in an American business made 16% less each week than 30+ years earlier.With more and more two-earner households and more individuals holding two jobs, most families' income have more than held their own.But nearly all the gain in the last three decades came only in the late 1990s.Young men entering the American job force in the 1970s started off earning two-thirds more, on average, than the generation starting out in the 1950s; by the early 1990s it was one quarter less than their parents.
A monumental work with some significant lapses
Professor Friedman has provided us a remarkable historical argument in favor of economic growth. The chapters all read very well and cover an enormous range of material. However, a major deificiency in the chapter on environmental concerns is a lack of coverage in the arena of ecological economics. Indeed much of the most recent critcism of economic growth has emanated from this area of inquiry. Professor Friedman only covers EF Schumacher with relatively little analysis and completely neglects the work of Herman Daly, Robert Costanza and other ecological economists. I contacted Professor Friedman about this and he admitted not being familiar with this genre which is a telling sign of how polarized the field of economics has become. The neoclassical school has dominance and maintains the mainstream academic societies, dismissing the ecological school as a sentimental aberration. On the other hand the ecological economists are content with their own associations and journals. When shall the twain meet if we are to have a sound and balanced discussion towards sustainable development?
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Capitalism    5. Democracy    6. Economic Conditions    7. Economic Policy    8. Economic development    9. Economics - Comparative    10. Economics - General    11. Economics - Theory    12. Free Enterprise    13. Income distribution    14. Moral and ethical aspects    15. Political participation    16. Public Policy - Economic Policy    17. Business & Economics / Economics / General   

Reviews (5)

Brilliant and Comprehensive

A rigged free market system
M. Chossudovsky attacks head on the New World Order imposed by the World Bank (WB0), the IMF and the WTO, calling their economic 'reforms' enforced on countries in distress not less than genocides.
The Road to Serfdom
I was originally born in Uganda and I can assure you that Africans have always been suspicious of the so-called "aid" they receive since it almost always comes after a crisis that they can't quite explain (like how did a bunch of poor, illiterate preteens get the money to buy those fancy weapons, or why won't aid agencies buy food from the local farmers and distribute THAT).
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Subjects:  1. Economic Conditions    2. Economics - Macroeconomics    3. International - Economics    4. Politics / Current Events   

Reviews (1)

Brownfields Redevelopment -- Programs & Strategies . . .
Brownfields Redevelopment -- Programs and Strategies for Fehabilitating Contaminated Real Estate takes a survey look at the varied programs available to developers, municipalities, non-profits and environmentalprofessionals.The book is not geared towards professionals or othersfamiliar with the basics of Brownfields Redevelopment.Futher, the bookaddresses numerous state programs (all which vary from one extreme to theother) and touches on several topics related to funding sources (public andprivate grants/loans).Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Economic Conditions    5. Environmental Science    6. Environmental aspects    7. Government & Business    8. Government policy    9. Hazardous Waste Disposal And Treatment    10. Hazardous waste site remediati    11. Hazardous waste site remediation    12. Housing (Economic Aspects)    13. Industrial real estate    14. Planning    15. Real Estate - General    16. States    17. United States    18. Management of land & natural resources    19. Non-Classifiable   

Reviews (1)

Tiller's Guide... Great resource
Tiller's Guide is an invaluable resource for the serious student or those who work with tribes on a professional basis. History and culture is kept to a minimum, while emphasis is placed on infrastructure, resources,demographics and economic development. This was a massive undertaking.Thenext step is keeping it current- a task equally as difficult. Problematicareas: By the time info updated, it will be out of date again. Also, forwhatever reason, a few tribes have not been included. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Economic Conditions    2. Economics Of Special Subjects    3. Ethnic Issues    4. Ethnic Studies - Native American Studies    5. Ethnic Studies - Native American Studies - Tribes    6. Native Americans    7. Reference    8. Research    9. Social Science    10. Sociology    11. Economics    12. North America    13. Social Science / Native American Studies   

Reviews (3)

AWESOME RESOURCE FOR TEACHERS!!!
This book is something that all teachers should invest in. It is such a wonderful book. It's full of great lessons that integrate writing, history, modern-day history, government, reading, and math. It makes students and teachers more aware of the current and pressing world issues in regrads to poverty, colonialism, child labor laws/workers/working conditions, food shortages, and media. The acitivities can be modified for all age ranges and ability levels. The lessons are clearly outlined, all resources are provided, and everything is so well-thought out. I love the integration of poetry--written by students---throughout the book. It really helps when teaching to bring to life and show by example what is expected from students. This book is a breath of fresh-air when coupled with district assigned text books. It will be one of the investments you can make as a teacher. Also look out for their other books--because they have wonderful articles on classroom discipline, sexual harrasment, creating effective classrooms, diversity tranining, and additional wonderful lessons. Rethinking schools is a wonderful organiziation and I am so thankful there are people out there doing such wonderful things for teachers and students!!!!!

Interesting Vignettes on a Variety of Inter-related Topics
Rethinking Globalization, a social studies reader for teachers, presents a variety of essays and classroom activities on the topic of Globalization (yes, with a capital 'g').The book makes for easy and accessible reading, and one can, after the first 40 or so pages of the book, choose a topic of interest and go from there.The book begins by defining globalization, and placing it firmly in the context of history.It then looks at the various interconnections, from economics and trade to poverty, war and civil strife, and shows how structural elements, both political and economic, have polarized the world into a minority of 'haves' versus a growing majority of 'have nots'.
An incredible resource!
Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson have put together a compendium of articles that attest to their central claim that, when thinking about the globalization phenomenon, "everything is connected.You can't really understand what's going on in one part of the world without looking at how it's related to everything else."Poetry, essays, illustrations, graphs, memoirs, and classroom exercises (one of my favorites:"How do you live on 31 cents a day?", p. 145) are collected that deal with colonialism, sweatshops, child labor, food production and distribution, consumerism and culture, and neoliberal capitalism.The selections are written by some of the best people in the field, and are almost always interesting.My only reservation is that Bigelow and Peterson could've spent more time on the military connection.But then one book can't be expected to do everything.Read more

Subjects:  1. Education    2. Political Science / Economic Conditions    3. Political Science / International Relations    4. Current Events    5. Economic Conditions    6. Economic Policy    7. Globalization    8. International Economic Relations    9. International Relations    10. International economic integration    11. Political Science    12. World Trade Organization    13. World politics   

Reviews (2)

A cogent and persuasive warning of the harm that can come from neglecting harmful worldwide geo-social trends
Spaces Of Global Capitalism: Towards A Theory Of Uneven Geographical Development is a collection of essays about fiscal crises that have wracked the developing world, from Mexico to Indonesia, Russia and Argentina. Geographer and social theorist David Harvey criticizes the failings of modern capitalism, discusses the development of neo-liberalism, and searches for answers to the globalization of inequality in the essays "Neo-Liberalism and the Restoration of Class Power", "Notes Towards a Theory of Uneven Geographical Development", and "Space as a Key Word". Intended for scholars and students across the humanities and social sciences, Spaces Of Global Capitalism is a cogent and persuasive warning of the harm that can come from neglecting harmful worldwide geo-social trends, and is highly recommended.
a great theoretical resource
Harvey is one of the most influential theorists of our times. He has been doing some great work on global development issues. Some of his initial thoughts are recorded in a recent book called _Spaces of Global Capitalism: Towards a theory of uneven geographical development_. This is continuation of his earlier works - New Imperialism and A brief history of Neoliberlism. He repeats some of the idea in this smaller book, however, he is working on some new ideas. So if you haven't read the other books, this can be good introduction. However, to get a better idea I would recommend reading his other works.
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Subjects:  1. Capitalism    2. Economic Conditions    3. Free Enterprise    4. General    5. Political Science    6. Politics / Current Events    7. Politics/International Relations    8. Regional economic disparities    9. Space in economics    10. Development economics    11. Economic geography    12. Globalization    13. Political Science / General   

Reviews (1)

A well done book
A fine book, one that give a rich understanding of what happened and why. Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - General    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Contemporary Economic Situations And Conditions    6. Development - Economic Development    7. Economic Conditions    8. Economic Development    9. 20th century    10. Development economics    11. Economic history    12. History / Modern / 20th Century    13. Singapore    14. Singapore--Economic conditions   

Reviews (15)

Not such an easy read
Okay book, not the best read, but better than the Mas-Collel green books. This book gives a lot of info on theory but I thought it lacked wrt practical (applied examples). Used for a graduate level course in Micro Econ. My particular course is very hard (this class serves both graduate and PhD Finance students) so needless to say, I am ordering the workbook to help me survive!

Needs work
I used this text in an intermediate microeconomic theory course, but have a math background. The first half of the text is acceptable - concepts are presented well, and there are a good number of examples. The biggest problem is that the author or typesetter seems to not understand the correct use of parenthesis - many of the formulae are not correct! The section on game theory, which is the second half of the book, is quite poor. Greater depth is needed, and crucial theory is glanced over. It would be fine for a course which doesn't get past chapter 12 or so, but look elsewhere for game theory.

Good microeconomics book
I have used this as a textbook for my second year microeconomic theory course. I think this is definitely a good reference for mathematical approach to economics. This book definitely assumes some exposure to beginning microeconomics, so this is not a beginners text. It is a nice book because it has a lot of interesting info beside standard micro topics, such as risk aversion. Exaples and graphs are helpful to illustrate the concepts. Excercises are hard (at least some of them), so get the solution manual. I also found this textbook interesting because it has a lot of footnotes with additional details, and "extensions" in the end of each chapter which take the topics a bit futher. Another helpful feature was the list of recommended literature for each topic. Even though I am not sure if I will continue in economics, I am still keeping this book for myself because I had a good experience with it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Economic Conditions    5. Economics - General    6. Economics - Microeconomics    7. Microeconomics   

Editorial Review

Essayist and cultural critic Barbara Ehrenreich has always specialized in turning received wisdom on its head with intelligence, clarity, and verve. With some 12 million women being pushed into the labor market by welfare reform, she decided to do some good old-fashioned journalism and find out just how they were going to survive on the wages of the unskilled--at $6 to $7 an hour, only half of what is considered a living wage. So she did what millions of Americans do, she looked for a job and a place to live, worked that job, and tried to make ends meet. Read more

Reviews (979)

Next week on The Simple Life, Barb joins Paris and Nicole for shift work at the local Wallyworld!
She Made It Even Harder To Get By
Ehrenreich is the kind of journalist I despise. One who thinks her insights are so important that it doesn't matter how much she inconveniences others to make her point.
Bring your own grain of salt.
This is not a bad book, but it's not a good one. Although I certainly gained some insight from reading this book, I was disappointed (and surprised) by Ms. Ehrenreich's (or the editor's?) lack of fact-checking/ attention to detail, and/or embellishment.
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Subjects:  1. Government - U.S. Government    2. Labor    3. Labor & Industrial Relations - General    4. Minimum wage    5. Politics / Current Events    6. Poverty    7. Social Science    8. Sociology    9. Sociology - Social Theory    10. United States    11. Unskilled Occupations    12. Unskilled labor    13. Wages    14. Working poor    15. USA    16. Women's studies    17. Work & labour   

Reviews (2)

Fighting Poverty in the Trenches, One Borrower at a Time
More than just a casual pass through Bangladesh to investigate Grameen Bank, the micro-credit phenomenon started a quarter century ago by Muhammad Yunus, The Price of a Dream fills in gaps left by other writings. It puts a human face on the poor of this impoverished Asian country, formerly known as East Pakistan. It brings poverty-stricken Bangladeshis into your livingroom as factual, not fictional, folks. Capitalism for the Landless Poor
I am a junior in highschool.I chose this book from an AP Economics reading list I received this year.When I started reading this book, I expecting a monotonous mass of numbers, terms, and theories.However, I was soon captivated by the story.Bornstein beautifully integrated the story of the Grameen Bank, the lives of its members, and the economic principles behind it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bangladesh    2. Banks & Banking    3. Banks and banking    4. Business & Economics    5. Business / Economics / Finance    6. Business/Economics    7. Development - Economic Development    8. Economic Conditions    9. Public Policy - Social Services & Welfare    10. Rural poor    11. Women    12. Banking    13. Business & Economics / Economic Development    14. Economics | Developmental | Transitional   

Editorial Review

Conventional wisdom has it that John Kenneth Galbraith's Read more

Reviews (21)

courage of thinking
it' s the first time I read something like that in economics.
Affluenza?
Written long before modern realization of how our desire for affluence as part of our "right by birth" has largely caused such things as global warming and elimination of species, Galbraith gives a very indepth exposé of the origins and tendencies of the North American material ethos.I would have given this book 4.5 or 5 stars save for the fact that it takes a bit of work on the reader to bring it fully up to date with respect to some of the consequences we now see.
Flawed Foundations + Consistent Arguments = Enjoyable Fiction
I have to give credit to John Kenneth Galbraith for The Affluent Society because he was prescient enough to steer clear of the fatally flawed Marxist rhetoric which so many other social critics wield in excess. Galbraith develops a more sophisticated, albeit still fatally flawed, interpretation of society's affluence and subsequent shortcomings.
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Subjects:  1. 1945-    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Contemporary Economic Situations And Conditions    6. Economic Conditions    7. Economic Policy    8. Economics    9. Economics - General    10. Economics - Theory    11. United States    12. Business & Economics / Economic Conditions    13. Sociology, Social Studies   

Reviews (1)

Bill Moyers, Senator Hillary Clinton and Alan Blinder loved this book too.
Bill Moyers said:
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Subjects:  1. Democracy    2. Economic Conditions    3. General    4. Middle class    5. Political Science    6. Politics / Current Events    7. Politics/International Relations    8. Public Policy - Economic Policy    9. Supply-side economics    10. United States    11. Economic theory & philosophy    12. Political Science / General    13. USA   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (157)

Right On
Reading from the experienced perspective of an unemployed white-collar worker (IBM got rid of me 5 months ago after 28 years of hard work and dedication), there is truth in this book, even if the undercover job was not acquired. Ehrenreich's insight into the resulting leeches selling transitional services is right on -- people marketing $200 to $7000 services and clueless activities for finding a comparable job. If you are one of the nervously employed, I recommend reading this book. You will see what is in store for you should you wake up to corporate downsizing tomorrow, after having done everything right.
White Collared
The premise of this social commentary is pretty straight forward. The author/investigator set out to find a corporate job and quickly found out the frustration involved in that process.
Bait and switch indeed - most of the book not really aboutjob-searching
I really liked her "Nickel and dimed" book, enough so that I bought this one just on the strength of it. I'm sorry to say I was disappointed.
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Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Displaced workers    3. Downward mobility (Social scie    4. Economic Conditions    5. Government - U.S. Government    6. Job hunting    7. Labor & Industrial Relations - General    8. Political Science    9. Politics/International Relations    10. United States    11. White collar workers    12. Political Science / Economic Conditions   

Reviews (10)

Cuentos Chinos
This is an exellent book which I have read. Writen by a writer who is very knowlegable in World Economics and whose column in the Miami Herald I read every week. Also y watch him on TV on Sundays.