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Book reviews

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Affluence & Influence

Reviewer: David Fell, Director, Brook Lyndhurst

Given the manifest political, social and environmental difficulties with which the world is now grappling, in large part as a result of the failure of a very particular economic ideology, Robinson's entreaty is surely now more important than ever.

The Price of Inequality

Reviewer: Mark Cleary, Consultant Economist, Kinetic Economics

There is something rotten in the state of Denmark, or as Joseph Stiglitz puts it, America. Stiglitz tells us that 20% of Americans own 85% of America's wealth. This is, as he points out, not a happy state of affairs.

First Principles

Five Keys to Restoring America’s Prosperity

Reviewer: Stephen Hannah, Lecturer in Economics, NYU in London

This is a pre-election, pro-Republican polemic with a glowing recommendation from Congressman Ryan. So you should not be surprised by the content and its tone. However, you may well be disappointed, even saddened, by the argument.

Lost Causes

The Retreat from Classical Liberalism

Reviewer: Dame Kate Barker

Lost Causes is Professsor Lal's collected thoughts on the state of the United Kingdom today, taken from pamphlets compiled for various UK think tanks from the late 1980s.

Good Strategy; Bad Strategy

The Difference and why it Matters

Reviewer: Rebecca Harding

Even though everyone is talking about it, there is no concept in business today more muddled than 'strategy'. Richard Rumelt, described by McKinsey Quarterly as 'a giant in the field of strategy' and 'strategy's strategist', tackles this problem head-on in a jargon-free explanation of how to develop and take action on strategy, in business, politics and beyond

How Do We Fix This Mess?

The Economic Price of Having It All And The Route to Lasting Prosperity

Reviewer: Diane Coyle, Enlightenment Economics

In Robert Peston's book he explains in his characteristically straightforward way how the world got itself into the current economic mess - and how we might get out of it.

'How do we fix this mess? I don't know. But don't stop reading now. Perhaps if we have a clearer understanding of what went wrong, we'll have a better idea of what needs to be done. This book is a map of what needs to be fixed.'

New Ideas on Development After The Financial Crisis

Reviewer: Mark Henstridge, Chief Economist, Oxford Policy Management

Editors Nancy Birdsall and Francis Fukuyama bring together leading scholars to explore the implications of the global financial crisis on existing and future development strategies.

Whats the Use of Economics?

Teaching the Dismal Science After the Crisis

Reviewer: Peter Sinclair, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Birmingham

With the financial crisis continuing after five years, people are questioning why economics failed either to send an adequate early warning ahead of the crisis or to resolve it quickly. The gap between important real-world problems and the workhorse mathematical model-based economics being taught to students has become a chasm. This book examines what economists need to bring to their jobs, and the way in which education in universities could be improved to fit graduates better for the real world.

…And the Pursuit of Happiness

Reviewer: Henry Stuart, Happy Computers

In spite of general reductions in government spending, the prime minister has found room in the government's budget to spend money on a major survey of what makes the British people happy.Tthis monograph provides a substantial challenge to those who want to put the explicit pursuit of well-being at the heart of government policy.

Economics After the Crisis

Reviewer: Bill Allen, Formerly Deputy Director, Bank of England

The global economic crisis of 2008–2009 seemed a crisis not just of economic performance but also of the system's underlying political ideology and economic theory. But a second Great Depression was averted, and the radical shift to New Deal-like economic policies predicted by some never took place. Perhaps the correct response to the crisis is simply careful management of the macroeconomic challenges as we recover, combined with reform of financial regulation to prevent a recurrence. In Economics After the Crisis, Adair Turner offers a strong counterargument to this somewhat complacent view.

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Articles reflect the authors’ views which are not necessarily shared by the Society or the Editors. The Editors welcome comments, ideas and articles on a wide range of applied economics topics and related issues of more general interest.

For Books and Reviews contact:
Ian Harwood
Book Reviews Editor, The Society of Professional Economists
harwoodfive@btinternet.com

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