Peddling Prosperity; Economic Sense and Nonsense in the Age of Diminished Expectations

New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1994. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. xv, [1], 303, [1] pages. Footnotes. Tables. Figures. Index. Inscribed and dated by the author on the front free endpaper. DJ has slight edge wear and soiling. Paul Robin Krugman (born February 28, 1953) is an American economist who is the Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and a columnist for The New York Times. In 2008, Krugman was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to New Trade Theory and New Economic Geography. The Prize Committee cited Krugman's work explaining the patterns of international trade and the geographic distribution of economic activity, by examining the effects of economies of scale and of consumer preferences for diverse goods and services. Krugman retired from Princeton in June 2015, and holds the title of professor emeritus there. Krugman is among the most influential economists in the world. He is known in academia for his work on international economics (including trade theory and international finance), economic geography, liquidity traps, and currency crises. Krugman is the author or editor of 27 books, including scholarly works, textbooks, and books for a more general audience, and has published over 200 scholarly articles in professional journals and edited volumes. Paul Krugman has been proclaimed "the most celebrated economist of his generation" by The Economist, a judgment confirmed in 1991 when the American Economic Association presented him with the John Bates Clark Medal, a prize given every two years to the best American economist. Derived from a Kirkus review: Economists willing or able to appraise their science and its utility with something other than reverential solemnity are a decidedly rare breed. On the evidence of the ingratiatingly witty text at hand, however, MIT Professor Krugman can and does subject his discipline to the sort of analysis that could make it accessible as well as useful to the voting public. For all his wry commentary, the author is informed by a serious purpose: he wants not only to determine why the domestic economy is no longer growing at the pre-1973 rates that made America the envy of the Global Village, but also to uncover the reasons for decelerating gains in real income, an apparent spread in poverty, and related obstacles along the rocky road to prosperity. Toward these ends, he first warns that genus economicus encompasses two distinct species: academics (who pursue typically arcane research projects that, however slowly, can expand mankind's knowledge) and policy entrepreneurs (high-profile go-getters willing to swap the approval of professional peers for acceptance by pols eager for simple, sound-bite solutions). In this cautionary context, Krugman surveys cyclical swings in ideology over the past couple of decades, starting with the successful challenge mounted by the right against Keynesian precepts, high taxation, and the welfare state. Focusing on the persistent expansion of federal budget deficits, he next evaluates the checkered record compiled by conservatives. Covered as well is the subsequent discrediting of supply-siders, the concurrent emergence of their liberal counterparts (so- called strategic traders), and the renaissance of intervention theory. At the end of the day, the author proves himself an equal-opportunity critic who remains ready to be convinced that even one-note advocates might have something to contribute. An uncommonly sensible audit of socioeconomic fads, fallacies, and fashion.