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This text makes available the relatively recent developments in general equilibrium analysis - developments which until now could be found only as papers in the professional journals. It summarizes the most important results of these papers, and in so doing provides an overview of competitive equilibrium theory with respect to problems of existence and uniqueness, stability, welfare properties and comparative statics. The material has been presented so as to render it accessible to readers with minimal mathematical background without sacrificing the logical rigor inherent in the subject matter.

General Equilibrium Theory and Welfare Economics...

· is organized about the theme of general equilibrium, to which such topics as existence and stability of competitive equilibrium, and welfare economics easily lend themselves.
· presents mathematics as it is needed, rather than relegating it to appendixes.
· provides, for clarity simple, two-dimensional illustrations.
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Education has become an increasingly important activitywithin all economies; from pre-school years groups through tocontinuing education and retraining, the accumulation of skills spansa lifetime. Economic Principles for Education, now available inpaperback, looks at all the major areas of economics, applying them toeducation.

Human capital theory is discussed and evidence on rates of return and the benefits of training is presented. The demand for education is described, with an assessment of how pervasive wealth effects are in education systems. The author discusses the efficiency of education providers, including teacher supply, and identifies the optimal rules for teacher deployment. Education markets, the role of governments and the macroeconomics of education are all considered along with the key social benefits of education.

Using evidence from a range of countries, but particularly the UK and the US, Clive Belfield provides an appreciation of the depth and breadth of the literature of the economic study of education in one easily accessible volume. This will be a valuable text for scholars of economics and education, and will be welcomed by all those interested in obtaining an overview of the field and in understanding the key principles economists use. ... Read more

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Newly updated, the Seventh Edition of Economics: Theory and Practice introduces students to basic economic concepts, institutions, relationships, and terminology. Covering a range of timely subjects and featuring engaging pedagogical tools, this book prepares students to use economic thinking in their classes, careers, and everyday lives. Through six editions, students have cited the text as exceptionally user-friendly and readable. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Economics
Thanks for the great price and wonderful condition of this book.It took a while to get, it came it the time you told me but 3 weeks is a long wait when you need a book for a class.

He's my professor at SLU
Hi, this book is wonderful. Currently I'm taking his principles of economics class at SLU and Patrick welch is just a great teacher w/an amazing book.

this is the book for economy beginner
this book can be divided into four parts: 1. introduction to economics. 2. the macroeconomy. 3. the microeconomy. 4. the international economy.

structure of each chapter: 1. the authors tells you the chapterobjectives 2. content of the booka. with bolded pointb. colorfigure and table 3. the author intermingle each theory with an application case for you to do some thinking. 4. at the end of each chapterthere is a "up fordebate" which the authors gave the readersasubject to debate and they have also includedpros and cons, the"up for debate" is for thatchapter only. 5. at the end ofeach chapter the authors alsogave you "Test YourUnderstanding" questionssort of enhance and refresh your memory ofthe chapter.It's a few questions, not summary. 6. then summary,key terms and concepts. 7. Review questions and Discussion Questions. 8."Critical thinking" at the end of the chapterI think theauthors wants the readers to thinkof some critical real-world situationespecially by applying the economy theories. 9. finally we haveappendix which explains more about content of the chapter, but they arenotthe main point of the chapter.

I am a beginner in economy andbusiness field as well, I find this book interesting, I understand lots ofeconomic situation in USA as well as other country, you're not going tobelieve me that if I tell you I don't know who is alan greenspan, I knowhim now, and I know what is he doing and why as well. as a conclusion, thisis a good book for study in a class with teacher's guidance, it's not agood book to study alone or self-pace study, cause there were lots of casesthat we (beginner) might not be able to understand it totally, and if youare not a beginner, this book worth reading because there were lots ofcases that you have to do some thinking. ... Read more

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May be the the best book on this subject
This is the book for those who already have some background in micro economics. So I will not recommend the book for the fresh student. However, if you know some mathematics and have studied micro economics: This is the book for you. In fact it is the best book I have seen on this subject. ... Read more

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Moral Sentiments and Material Interests presents an innovative synthesis of research in different disciplines to argue that cooperation stems not from the stereotypical selfish agent acting out of disguised self-interest but from the presence of "strong reciprocators" in a social group.

Presenting an overview of research in economics, anthropology, evolutionary and human biology, social psychology, and sociology, the book deals with both the theoretical foundations and the policy implications of this explanation for cooperation. Chapter authors in the remaining parts of the book discuss the behavioral ecology of cooperation in humans and nonhuman primates, modeling and testing strong reciprocity in economic scenarios, and reciprocity and social policy. The evidence for strong reciprocity in the book includes experiments using the famous Ultimatum Game (in which two players must agree on how to split a certain amount of money or they both get nothing.) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The strong reciprocators as leaders
In this book it is showned the fact that the societies are developped like the biologic life. The evolution normally happens in according of mathematical parameters called pay-offs. We can construct a matrix which enables us to understand the possibility of winning. The individuals have the possibility to cooperate or not; the best model is that where the strong reciprocators play with the rational free-riders.

Free Rider Proof Morality
One of the central dilemmas of the human condition is getting large groups of unrelated strangers to cooperate with each other. Whenever you have a group of people working collectively towards a common goal there are always some people who pull their weight and others who are free riders. I'm sure anyone who has ever had a job knows all too many free riders! Garrett Hardin memorably dubbed this the tragedy of the commons. Hardin's example is of villagers who graze their cattle on a commonly owned field. Now, if they wanted to manage the common field for the long term then each villager should abide by a quota of perhaps ten cattle. But unfortunately each villager has an incentive to break this quota. One extra cow won't have much of an impact on the long term health but it will make them a lot of extra money. Thus all villagers end out grazing extra cattle and the common field becomes overgrazed. All the cattle end out weak and scrawny. Hardin used this as an example to refute Adam Smith's invisible hand - in this case the pursuit of self-interest makes everyone worse off. Progressive argue that the government should get involved to regulate the commons. The government can set a quota and then enforce it. Libertarians argue for private property. Divide the commons up into privately owned lots. Each owner has an incentive to take care of their own lot.

If all we had to worry about were grassy fields then I would side with the libertarians. But there are many cases where the common good cannot be divided up. Two of the most important types are (1) firms and (2) governments. A firm is like a common good. If everyone works hard then their jobs will be secure and they will get raises as the firm grows and expands its business. Free riders shirk on the job and/or steal from their employer. Too many free riders and the firm fails - just like any other commons. Governments are like firms but with less competition. Corrupt government bureaucrats are arguably much nastier than corrupt workers at private firms. The police, judges, politicians, and bureaucrats have more power that they can abuse. (For more on how firms can fall to free riders see _The Wisdom of Crowds_. For more on governments see _Beyond Politics_).

That takes us to the central dilemma of the human condition. How do you get unrelated strangers to cooperate? Libertarians argue that self-interest will accomplish this, but as we've already seen, self-interest leads to free riding. That doesn't work. Progressive correct point to the need for moral behavior, but that has a different problem. In a world with free riders acting altruistically just turns you into a sucker. You can't solve the free rider problem by acting even nicer to people who are free riding. What we need is a free rider proof form of morality. We need a morality built on personal responsibility. Herb Gintis and his collaborators in the book dub this strong reciprocity. There are two key principles. The first is that strong reciprocators are conditional cooperators. They are willing to trust other people in order to cooperate. The second is that they are altruistic punishers. They will punish free riders even at a personal cost to themselves.

Suppose you have a group of ten people with one free rider and one strong reciprocator. The free rider will normally come out ahead of the rest of the group - but not after you factor in the punishment of the free rider. Of course, the altruistic punishment is costly for the strong reciprocator so he will also be a little bit worse off than the rest of the group. The good news is that the cost of altruistic punishment declines with the number of free riders. Consider a society with many strong reciprocators and very few free riders. Then strong reciprocators will almost never encounter free riders and have to punish them. By contrast, a society with many free riders and few strong reciprocators has the opposite dynamic. It is very costly to be an altruistic punisher.

Another running theme in the book is the power of culture. In _Not by Genes Alone_ Richerson and Boyd (who contributes an essay here) roughly define culture as information capable of changing how people behave.Thus culture is the solution to the free rider problem. Strong reciprocators are not born, but made. Richerson and Boyd (who reject the simplistic memetics of Dawkins) point out that cultures evolve and face selection pressures. Cultures that produce happy and prosperous societies will spread and those which do not will be weeded out. The challenge to successful societies is to create a culture which turns free riders into strong reciprocators.

Well written, easy to read, informative
Moral Sentiments and Material Interests: The Foundations of Cooperation in Economic Life (Economic Learning and Social Evolution) combinds the theory of cultural evolution ala Boyd and Richerson (and Henrich et al) and the behavioral economy by people like Gintis, Bowles and Fehr. The book works further based on the theory - develops e.g. models for a better social policy etc.

Book discusses an issue which is very central for "being a human being" - co-operation. Book is very informative, very well written even if there are many writers with heterogenous background. Also after the book you kind of get more optimistic about the prospects of humananity.

I am without any formal education in antropology, biology and economics but have read "everything" by Boyd and Richerson - my understanding on economics is based on Microeconomics by Samuel Bowles.

The book was to me a good further reading after the Bowles Microeconomics book. But the book can be read even by someone who does not know about economics even that much as me. The book is not too formal - easy to read actually.

An eclectic collection of great essays
This book is just really great. The literature on fairness and reciprocity in social science is growing fast, and this book is ideal to give you a flavour of why this is such a good thing. It is diverse, with entries ranging from biological models that attempt to explain the evolution of reciprocity, through the implications of reciprocity for the way legal sanctions work, to the political philosophy of the dark side of clan mentality.
Most readers will probably not want to read everything, and even less people will agree with everything. One needs to remember that a lot of the stuff in this book is still controversial, including the existence of (strong) reciprocity, but this is what makes it so very interesting. And if only half of what's in this book is right, it is still revolutionary.
In 10 years, this book will be terribly outdated. But for now, it is the best thing you can get if you are interested in the interplay between evolution, reciprocity and social order, and the fundamental questions of social science that it entails.

Fairness and Sociability
For several years now, a group of social scientists has been studying the human tendency to be socially fair rather than narrowly selfish.The editors of this volume--Herbert Gintis, Samuel Bowles, Robert Boyd, and Ernst Fehr--are among the stalwarts; others are found among the authors of the book's chapters.
The core of this long-running effort is Fehr's experiments with the ultimatum game, in which two people must share a sum of money (say, $10); Person A gets to propose a split, Person B can only accept or decline.Economists and politicians would expect every game to wind up with a $9.99/$0.01 split (or actually a 9-1 split, since bills are used), but in fact typical splits are more like 5-5 or 6-4, and in one place (Lamalera, Indonesia) people actually split something like 4-6, few A's ever claiming even half the money.This long-running set of experiments around the world adds to a vast, rapidly accumulating set of data showing that people are sociable, not "rational" in the folk-economic sense (i.e., dedicated solely to narrow material self-interest). The present book discusses the implications for economics and politics.If people are naturally concerned with fairness, narrowly economistic policies can be counterproductive; we all know cases of "crowding out," in which a material incentive actually makes people act worse, by crowding out moral incentives.If you reward people for being good, they will think it's all a cynical game, and will act worse.Punitive legislation to make people do what they do anyway (for moral reasons) is also counterproductive. Imagine what these realizations would do to American social policy.
The problem with this book is that it is too optimistic and upbeat.The downside of human sociability is confined to one page, late in the book (p. 388), where racism, honor killing, and the like get a quick mention.Alas, the morning radio brings a stream of accounts not only of such things but also of religious butchery all over the world--Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and even Buddhists (theoretically prohibited from killing but busily genocidal). This brings us back to Adam Smith's suggestion that greed may not be lovable but may be better than the noble, virtuous alternatives.I hope Gintis et al work on how to decouple fairness and interpersonal concern from the desire to exterminate everybody who is not in one's immediate social set.Until this is done, the hope purveyed in this work will remain thin.
The authors note that humans seem genetically programmed to have at least some sense of fairness and of self-sacrifice for the common good, but they wisely refrain from trying to unpack "hereditary" and "environmental" or "cultural" aspects.Heredity makes us do this, and learn it easily, and heredity gives us the ability to learn and develop cultures. No way to unpack.Still, more needs to be done on just how flexible these inborn moralities are.The range from Lamalera to certain parts of South America is pretty great. So is the range of murderousness in religious and ethnic settings.We need to know how to modify human behavior in these regards, and how much we can hope for.
That being said, this book is the best yet in the long list of books that devastate the selfish-individualist model of human behavior.People desperately want to be sociable, and be good members of their society. This may lead them to fairness and generosity, or to body-piercing, or to suicide bombing.This book offers hope for building new societies through use of innate human decency.At this point in time, any book seriously offering such hope is desirable.

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Geoff Tily argues that Keynes was primarily concerned with monetary policy, not fiscal policy. Viewed as a coherent whole, Keynes's work was concerned with the appropriate technique and infrastructure for the management of money at low rates of interest. More specifically, his rejection of the gold standard led ultimately to his proposal for an international clearing union to support domestic debt-management and monetary policies aimed at cheap money. His ideas became reality. With the start of the Great Depression, governments across the world began a (short-lived) era of the deliberate management of money. While many others have argued that 'Keynesian' economics is a misrepresentation of Keynes's theory, Tily argues that 'Keynesian' economics also permitted a gross misrepresentation of his economic policies. 'Keynesian' economics was a different theory opposed, and indeed rival, to Keynes's work. With the policy perspective restored, an alternative presentation of Keynes's economics, based on post-Keynesian economics, is permitted. In this revised edition, Geoff Tily argues that the economics profession has distorted and betrayed Keynes's legacy.In virtually all interpretations -- especially that taught to students -- Keynes is portrayed as concerned only with government expenditure as a means to cure economic crisis. Yet Keynes's central aim was the prevention of economic crisis. His prescription to do so concerned monetary not fiscal policy. From the moment the great depression began, Keynes began to influence greatly the monetary policy of the world. Countries, led by the UK and US, put in place capital controls and mechanisms to manage exchange rates, and changes to debt management and credit policies that permitted the orderly management of money at low long-term and short-term interest rates on what should have been a permanent basis. The Bretton Woods negotiations went some way to re-enforce and formalise these policies, but did not go far enough. The current crisis is rooted in the dismantling of the remnants of the Bretton Woods architecture and the liberalisation of finance that began even before 1970.Tily argues that we should not be surprised that the neglect of Keynes's policies is leading to a crisis of similar magnitude to the depression that motivated the development and implementation of those policies in the first place. It is to the same policies that we must turn, as the crisis becomes a reality. ... Read more

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This book presents economic theories that seek to explain the prevalence of differentiated products in market economies. It uses these theories to derive market equilibria and to compare these to social optima for both horizontally and vertically differentiated products. The implications of product differentiation for market structure and power, strategic entry deterrence and international trade are all examined. ... Read more

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: ) easy to read
This book presented various theories on product differentiation in a readable manner. It does not take you much time to pick up the idea presented in this book. Models covered are also basic. I think having some prior knowledge in game theory can help you understand better the materials. However, this book does not contain discrete choice theory, which is a more difficult topic. ... Read more

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A classic in its field, this pathbreaking book humanized the scientific rhetoric of economics to reveal its literary soul. Author Deirdre N. McCloskey was formerly known as Donald. Her experience in changing gender is reflected in this new edition, but the message remains the same--economics needs to move away from metaphoric rhetoric aimed at persuasion and get back to the science of facts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

I know Deirdre as Donald...but I learned non the less
I must admit that when I read this book in collage I was very closed minded because Deirdre McCloskey was Donald McCloskey before a sex change operation. She makes the claim that economics needs to get serious about its rhetoric, and back to science but with an underlining agenda. Even though this book has an agenda it is a good read as long as you ignore it

Better than the average monkey
I first read this book as an undergrad economist, well over 10 years ago now. I discovered the book, in the course of writing about the evolution of the Phillips curve. What the Phillips curve offered, initially at least, was the embodiment of empirically-based economic theory, yet it metamorphosed, into the New Classical 'expectations-augmented' model, and the New Business School model with each, in turn, becoming accepted 'truth' by mainstream economics. What could account for this shift? Clearly it was not based on anything related to 'positive' economics or empiricism, since the theory behind the 'curve' (which was no longer a curve)had long since been wrung dry of any meaningful empirical content.

While I don't recall all of the details, this book, and McCloskey's other writings on the same theme, support the idea that, while Truth (to be differentiated from trivialities, things that are true 'by definition', for example), does exist, WE HAVE NO WAY OF COMING TO RECOGNISE IT - there are no objective criteria for doing so, that is distinguishing truth from falsity. It may come as a shock to some, but there is no dissenting from this point - if you know of any such criteria, let me know.

The slightly controversial, but logical, point that follows is, therefore, to disregard Truth as a 'useful' concept, with any explanatory power. The key to the acceptance of theory (as if it were the Truth), not just in economics, lies ultimately in its 'persuasiveness', something that is engendered through the use of 'mere rhetoric'. McCloskey is not arguing that this is how things 'should' be, but how they are - in grubby, messy reality.

If you doubt this to be so, try thinking about the recent Gulf War and arguments about WMD, as an illustration - it was Bush and Blair's ability to 'persuade' people, and politicians, that made the threat from Iraq real, or 'True'. That is, the threat might have existed independent of their pronouncements, but because we had no objective means of evaluating that, their pronouncements BECAME REALITY.

This is a text about the philosophy of economics that is extremely thought-provoking. It succeeds in challenging preconceptions of what is True and how we come to know it as such, that has implications far beyond economics. For anyone with an interest in philosophy, or economics, this is well worth reading, a real eye-opener.

Lord Chimp, the relativists will inherit the world, my friend. Like it or not, there is no black or white, only shades of grey, and neither is counterintuity synonymous with absurdity.

Deirdre is correct about the misuse of significance levels
McCloskey's book deserves to be read because of the original material in her book dealing with the misuse,misapplication and misinterpretation of both statistical significance and economic significance(see pp.112-138,189)in the vast majority of articles published in economics journals, that used statistical and econometric analysis,in the time period from 1935-2005.She was the researcher who was the first to point out ,in a detailed manner ,the massive amount of errors that were being published in economics articles.Unfortunately,she makes the generalization,based on this particular body of work,that all economic analysis essentially involves researchers who base their policy analysis(the rhetoric of economics)on the misuse of mathematical,logical,and statistical procedures chosen,used,and interpreted specifically to support the a priori beliefs of the researcher.Thus,all economics is basically rhetoric,with particular techniques chosen with the aim being, not scientific discovery but, persuasion.She particularly dislikes the theoretical perspective of Paul Samuelson.It is easy to give a counter example.On p.262 of chapter 19 of the General Theory(1936),Keynes gives his major result-the absence of involuntary unemployment requires that the mpc(marginal propensity to consume)=1.If the capital stock is not at an optimal level,then this condition becomes mpc+mpi=1(where mpi equals the marginal propensity to invest).In the appendix to chapter 19,Keynes points out that this equation is missing from the macroscopic analysis provided by A C Pigou in his 1933 book,The Theory of Unemployment.Keynes then derives the following optimality condition for both the labor market and the output market in chapter 20 and again in chapter 21.That condition is that w/p=mpl/(mpc+mpi),where w is the money wage,p is the price level,and mpl is the marginal product of labor in the aggregate derived from an aggregate neoclassical production function(GT,P.283;footnotes 1 and 2).It is obvious that the classical and neoclassical theories can only hold in the special case of mpc+mpi=1.Keynes's GT thus generalizes the classical and neoclassical theories.Unless mpc+mpi=1,involuntary unemployment will exist and it will be impossible for labor,in the aggregate,to reduce the unemployment rate by cutting their money wages.There is no rhetoric and/or attempt at persuasion going on here.There is only the pure force of a logical and mathematical exposition that is based on the microeconomic foundations of purely competitive firms and industries.

relativism reborn...yet again.
The "hermeneutics" of thinkers like McClosky, Rorty, and even some of those 'austrian' economists over at GMU is certainly not a new creed. It is the age-old song of the German historicist school and epistemological relativism. Okay, so it has a new coat of paint, updated with a few contemporary insights. McClosky targets economics with hermeneutic "propositions", seeking to unravel the modern methodological basis for the science (positivism/empiricism) and propose a new criterion to judging economic propositions (or any proposition whatsoever).

To McClosky, truth and falsehood are irrelevant categories -- what matters is only whether or not something is persuasive. Thus, rhetoric claims prime importance. Consider this telling excerpt from the book: "The very idea of Truth--with a capital T, something beyond what is merely persuasive to all concerned--is a fifth wheel. . . . If we decided that the qualitity theory of money or the marginal productivity theory of distribution is persuasive, interesting, useful, reasonable, appealing, acceptable, we do not need to know that it is True (p. 47)." Or, in comparing economic science to literary criticism, McClosky writes: "[Rhetoric] believes that science advances by healthy conversation, not adherenence to a methodology. . . . Life is not so easy that an economist can be made better at what he does merely by reading a book (p. 174)."

Surely, to anyone except those with a Ph.D. in philosophy, this must strike one as totally counterintuitive and absurd. Are we really ready to concede that there is no objective truth? All right -- let us do so, for the sake of argument.

But then we must of course inquire into the status of McClosky's own propositions. It is simply contradictory to make validity-claiming proposition averring that validity-claiming propositions cannot exist. Furthermore, such a claim implies a performative contradiction, as any argument presupposes the proponent's understanding of the meaning of truth and falsehood simply in order to say "I propose such and such, and you can either agree or prove me wrong." A proposition gains axiomatic status if it must be presupposed in the course of refutation. Argumentation has such axiomatic status. It is nothing but nonsense to argue that you cannot argue.

In fact, McClosky and other hermeneuticians are _so_ wrong that they can only say what they say _because_ it is wrong. For to them, there is no objective truth criterion for any proposition whatsoever. And yet, the use of language itself is a form of action, and surely there is a difference between McClosky's pronouncements and, say, the clacking of buttons on the keyboard as he writes it out (well, she was a he when this book was originally written and published, back when i read it -- i really don't know what pronoun to use). The most elementary tools of logic, like junctors and quantors, and the Laws of Identity and Contradiction, have their roots in action. these laws could never be undone by anyone, for in order to deny that they are in fact laws of reality, one would have to presuppose their validity. Accounting for the structure of elementary logical propositions (like "Hamburgers are a food") is the fact that in each and every action, a person must identify a situation and categorize it one way or another if choice is to be possible. Thus, while one could certainly say "and" means something other than "and", one could not deny its realist praxeological-ontological meaning, rooted in reality and action, without stumbling headlong into contradiction. Thus, at the _very least_, the existence of language presupposes the existence of truth categories and this could never be denied by anyone using language. Evidently, then, some common ground exists for people. McClosky's entire position is full of hot air.

Of course, McClosky levels many challenges to scientific orthodoxy of empiricism in the social sciences. All well and good -- empiricism is an empty doctrine, completely inadequate as a methodological basis for economics. But McClosky has simply chosen the wrong target. Empiricism claims that all a priori knowledge is merely analytic (in fact, it is doubted if analytical propositions qualify as knowledge at all). All facts of reality must be observable, and all truth-claims must be verifiable (or are least falsifiable) by experience. With this approach, an economist would be left willy-nilly unable to _know_ anything, since they must concede that experience could have yielded a different result. But if McClosky's purpose was to attack the foundations of objective truth in economic science, why choose empiricism? would it not have been more prudent to target the extremist-rationalist thinkers such as Ludwig von Mises or Murray Rothbard? Such proponents of economics as a realistic science of a priori laws whose validity is not contingent on experience, would seem to be the antithesis of the hermeneutics position. The irony of it all is that McClosky's own methodological position is impotent to take down empiricism, much less rationalism which goes essentially unchallenged.

The refutation of hermeneutics vindicates rationalism, leaving us with no choice but to regard hermeneutics at a vacuous doctrine. This is a book of less-than-zero scientific value. If you are looking for good writings on rationalist economic science, see Ludwig von Mises, _Human Action_; idem, _Epistemological Problems of Economics_; Murray Rothbard, _Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market_; Hans-Hermann Hoppe, _Economic Science and the Austrian Method_. This book should not be taken seriously, but laughed and ridiculed as contradictory garbage.

The Deirdre is in the Details
Deirdre McCloskey hangs out with the "wrong" crowd.She is immersed in the work of a varied group of thinkers, the likes of Paul Feyerabend, Stanley Fish and Richard Rorty - collectively often referred to as Postmodernists, although Deidre McCloskey refers to the "movement" as "Anti-Modernism" (p. 183).The common thread that unites all these thinkers is opposition to rationality - or is it to science?Or maybe just a skepticism about naïve-modernism?

Because McCloskey is an economist (and a brilliant and eccentric writer), she's not prone to adopt the radicalism of Postmodernism - her take on those ideas is opposition to naïve Modernism, but without repudiating either science, rationalism or empiricism.

Basically, McCloskey attacks Modernism, or Positivism, a simplistic view of the world according to which science is a unique channel to truth, one in which things are "proven" rather then argued, in which, if you can't count it you don't know it, where mathematics is god and a mere argument - one not backed by "the facts" - is worthless, "mere" rhetoric.McCloskey offers "Ten Commandments of Modernism" in science (pp. 143-144), including such dictates as "Prediction and control is the point of science" (the first commandment), and "Only the observable implications (or predictions) of a theory matter to its truth" (the second commandment).

My problem is, I doubt anyone has ever been a "naïve Modernist" in McCloskey's sense.I only believe in two of McCloskey's commandments, and even those with misgivings.The strongest opponents of the Postmodernists, scientists like Paul Gross and Norman Levitt, historians like Richard Evans, philosophers like Daniel Dennett - certainly are no naïve Modernists.Even according to McCloskey herself, Milton Friedman's essay "The Methodology of Positive Economics", despite being "the central document of modernism in economics" (McCloskey's phrase), is "more postmodernist than you might suppose", and even Karl Popper is a "transitional figure"(pp. 144-145).So what's all the fuss about?Who is McCloskey after? When it comes to an example, McCloskey parades a research paper (by economists Richard Roll and Stephen Ross), stating:

"One should not reject the conclusions derived from firm profit maximization on the basis of sample surveys in which managers claim that they trade off profits for social good" (quoted on p. 146)

Is that so unreasonable?

Compare McCloskey's three chapters against methodology and for rhetoric with chapter four of 'Intellectual Impostures' by the bete noir of Postmodernists, Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont.Their prose and argument is more lucid; the ideas are very similar.And as a critic of Modernist prose and scientism (and McCloskey's charge about those point is substantial), it is strange that she marshals with apparent approval the writing of someone like Stanley Fish, who writes: 'All utterances are... produced and understood within the assumption of some socially conceived and understood dimension of assessment... all facts are discourse specific... and therefore no one can claim for any language a special relationship to the facts as they "simple are".' (Quoted on p.108).

If the central argument of McCloskey's book is not all that surprising, the book is nonetheless worth reading for McCloskey's almost incidental insights.Her attack on the insignificance of statistical significance (chapter 8), is more developed here than in her "Secret Sins of Economics", and it is rather disturbing that so many economists have fallen into the trap of thinking that an arbitrary statistical test necessarily has real life meanings (chapter 8).Her discussion of the justifications for the existence of a downward sloping demand curve must make anyone interested in economics think twice: "Some economists have tried to subject the law to a few experimental tests" she writes "After a good deal of throat-clearing they have found it to be true for clearheaded rats and false for confused humans" (p. 25).

McCloskey's insight into and analysis of actual rhetoric is also fun, for example, on a classic paper by Ronald Coase:

"When claiming the ethos of the Scientist the young Coase was especially fond of "tend to", the phrase becoming virtual anaphora on p. 46 (Coase 1937), repeated in all six of the complete sentences on the page and once in the footnotes. (p. 89)

McCloskey also does some popularization of economics, almost in the matter of course.She makes the ideas of economists comprehensible for neophytes like me; Her summery of Robert Fogel's thesis about American railroad is masterly, and she actually translates the main points of a breakthrough article by John Muth from economistic into English (pp. 54-58).

McCloskey does all these things as after thoughts - but it's there that her genius really comes through. ... Read more

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The long paper which gives the title to this collection and which has neverbefore been published as paperback was initially an attempt to promoteinternational academic understanding. The Economics Department at theLondon School of Economics had arranged a colloquy between two groups ofRussian and British economists; and where the author asked to contribute ageneral survey of the present state of economic theory as taught in Westerncenters. For reasons, which are explained in the opening section, the authordecided to adopt an historical approach; and the notes on which the presentpaper is based were the result. ... Read more

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The theory of contracts grew out of the failure of the general equilibrium model to account for the strategic interactions among agents that arise from informational asymmetries. This popular text, revised and updated throughout for the second edition, serves as a concise and rigorous introduction to the theory of contracts for graduate students and professional economists. The book presents the main models of the theory of contracts, particularly the basic models of adverse selection, signaling, and moral hazard. It emphasizes the methods used to analyze the models, but also includes brief introductions to many of the applications in different fields of economics. The goal is to give readers the tools to understand the basic models and create their own.

For the second edition, major changes have been made to chapter 3, on examples and extensions for the adverse selection model, which now includes more thorough discussions of multiprincipals, collusion, and multidimensional adverse selection, and to chapter 5, on moral hazard, with the limited liability model, career concerns, and common agency added to its topics. Two chapters have been completely rewritten: chapter 7, on the theory of incomplete contracts, and chapter 8, on the empirical literature in the theory of contracts. An appendix presents concepts of noncooperative game theory to supplement chapters 4 and 6. Exercises follow chapters 2 through 5. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Broad introduction with a lack of depth
...so if that's what you want, then this book is for you.However, if you're using this for your first look at contract theory, you may well be disappointed (as I am).I don't credit Salanie for leaving out the technical details of the models, because he doesn't effectively convey the depth of the models in his largely intuitive treatment.I'm all for intuition and simplicity, but his book leaves me with more questions than answers after reading it.

I'm browsing around on Amazon for a better book, so I thought I'd write a quick rating so that other lowly beginners like me don't make the same mistake I made in purchasing this as my only textbook.

On the other hand, I suppose if you want a concise overview with the sketch of most of the important contract theory models, then this might be what you're looking for.

A good book (with some minor problems)
Salanie's book covers the standard areas of contract theory; adverse selection, moral hazard, signalling etc, along with chapters on thedynamics of complete contracts, incomplete contracts and a final chapter onthe empirical work on contracts. The material on dynamics and incompletecontracts is most welcome as many other books in this area do not cover it.Perhaps more space could have been given over to incomplete contracts giventhe increasing importance of them.

The book manages to cover a largeamount of material in a relatively small number of pages, it is just over200 pages. Most of this material is presented in an accessible and readablemanner and most graduate students in economics should be able to read thebook.

The most obvious problem with the book is the number of smallerrors it contains. Some of the figures have points that are in the wrongplace; there are a number of what look like typos in the text, being toldthat an indifference curve goes through a point (q2,t2) when in fact itgoes through (q1,t1) for example. While these are only minor problems theydo distract from the otherwise good impression that the book makes.

best book ever
I loved that book because it explains the theory of contracts in an easy way buy with no lack of formality ... Read more

Product Description
This 1974 collection of six essays in economic theory represents a major contribution to the field. The first contains the formulation of the Ricardian system, whilst the next two contain, respectively, the author's synthetic treatment of the complex problems of fluctuations and economic growth, and his well-known theorem that in the long run the rate of profit and income distribution are independent of the propensities to save of the working class. The essays that follow provide the missing links: a coherent picture of the macroeconomic theories that have originated in Cambridge and a discussion of their deep foundations in classical economic analysis. Finally, the author evaluates some economic controversies and draws his conclusions on the basic forces determining rate of profit in the process of economic growth. Although the arguments are highly theoretical, they require no knowledge of mathematics beyond elementary calculus and algebra. ... Read more

Product Description

The two-volume set 40 Years of Research on Rent Seeking provides a new, extensive collection of significant academic research on rent seeking, from its beginning to the present. It includes a number of papers that have long been out of print and many other papers from journals that few libraries or scholars will own. Researchers in the field of rent seeking will find it useful to have this collection of texts as a reference manual. The introduction provides a thorough survey of the literature and summarizes the papers included in the two volumes.

The focus of Volume I is on conceptional and theoretical developments.

Product Description
They are burning Japanese cars in Detroit.The top management at Toyosan Motors must decide whether to begin offshore production of its cars in the U.S. But our hero Mr. Kudo fears that offshore production will devastate the numerous local subcontractors of Toyosan, leading to a hollowing out of the auto industry in Japan, leaving only a financial shell. The American color TV industry has already suffered such a fate. The villain, Mr. Tsugawa, calls Kudo a wimp and sees a splendid opportunity for union busting. Will our hero prevail?
Thus begins the first episode of this rollicking yet incisive introduction to the world economy from the Japanese point of view. Other episodes treat the appreciation of the yen, the impact of the 1970s oil shocks, deficit financing, the internationalization of business and banking, and the post-industrial future of Japan and the Pacific Rim.
The book is an English edition of volume 1 of Manga Nihon keizai nyumon, originally published in 1986 by Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the Japanese equivalent of the Wall Street Journal. It is based on a serious introductory text put out by the newspaper and is packed with informative charts and facts.When the comic book was first published in Japan, it was an immediate best-seller, selling over 550,000 copies in less than a year.
The stories in the book reflect Japan's national mood during the "Japanese miracle" and into the 1980s economic bubble: apprehension and optimism jostle one another, and there is a sense of national self-pity.The book also reflects a deep suspicion of politics and bureaucrats.The prime minister appears more worried about his government's popularity than about taking the right economic course. Ultimately, the employees at Toyosan Motors demonstrate that the success of the Japanese economy will not depend on natural resources or politics but on business practices that are ethical, socially responsible, and forward-looking. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Interesting read (for fun of course)
This manga is very fun, especially for those who already have extensive knowledge in Japanese/American politics, cultures, and economics.For those of you who don't know, its about the lives of workers in the Japanese automobile industry and the tensions, hopes and dreams felt in Japan during the 1980s.This manga captures the essence of the long passed era, and is always a fun read.

Japan, Inc by Shotaro Ishinomori
Ever wonder how Toyota spells out a 100 year business plan while Intel keeps giving investors quarterly advisories? Shotaro Ishinomori gives an interesting perspective on Japan's economic problems and the ensuing volatility. In Japan, comic book artists often strive to achieve intellectual respectability. Hence comic books are very common among white-collar workers. Two characters- Tsugawa and Kudo are used to illustrate various economic realities such as global trade disputes, appreciation of the yen with respect to the dollar, 1973 oil crisis, deficit financing, and corporate speculative financing. Tsugawa represents a capitalist indifferent to the the little guy. Kudo clashes often with Tsugawa as he urges taking the long view and emphasizes the social utility of business.Politicians are exposed as individuals putting private gain above public interest. Ishinomori is greatly influenced by the moralists of the Meiji era. The theme of his book is that great corporations are built on long-term, ethical, and socially responsible business practices. Let's hope more western CEOs listen to Ishinomori. ... Read more