Shop Ireland

The Accidental Theorist: And Other Dispatches from the Dismal Science (Penguin Business Library) by: Paul Krugman

Click to tell a friend about this item...

More Product Details...

Review Pages: 1 2 3 Next »

Click here to add a review!

Average rating -

Rating: - The economics popularizer is closer to his goal

This book is a collection of 27 essays originally published between 1995 and 1997. Most of them ran in Slate, an on-line magazine, others in the New York Times, Washington Monthly and Foreign Affairs -one was written for the book. "Economics is a difficult and technical subject but nobody will believe it" is the Keynes' quote that Krugman uses to raise his main point: many people make big mistakes by not following sound economics theory. There are a lot of writers and politicians that misuse or not use economics scientific principles when they express their points of view or proposals. Economics is a science without popularizers -writers that in plain and enjoyable language use correct concepts to explain current issues. There is no Carl Sagan equivalent in Economics. Paul Krugman is trying to fill this gap. He has tried in his articles "to explode some plausible-sounding idea that happens to be false or to promote some implausible, disturbing idea that happens to be true". He also has the "purpose of demonstrating what it means to think, really think, about economics." Economics science, according to Krugman, is based on the "proposition that people will usually take advantage of opportunities, plus the observation that my opportunities often depend on your actions and vice versa". The book's essays use this foundation to cover issues in almost every economics field. Its key points or generalizations are: Jobs. Krugman argues that productivity gains do not imply loss of jobs. It implies reallocation of jobs among different economic sectors and an increase in the total jobs of the economy. This has happened in the US -less manufacturing and more service jobs. Extreme right economists. Supply side economists are wrong mainly because for them only supply matters. Tax-cuts as the only way to stimulate growth is wrong because ignores that monetary policy can also foster growth. A fact that right wing economists do not acknowledge is that income distribution in the US worsened in the eighties. Other concepts downplayed by Krugman are the return to the golden standard and the need to less government. Globalization. These essays argue against those who see increase in international trade as a problem for the US. In addition to comparative advantage arguments Krugman makes us think about all the levers of domestic policy that countries have. Against the fears that emerging economies could induce a global glut -exporting too much- the book explains that those economies will consume and import more as they grow. Economic Growth. The business cycle theory (GDP potential vs. actual GDP dynamic) is not dead as many authors declare. The problem is that they forget how powerful monetary policy is to unemployment and GDP levels. Japan problems could have been avoided by an aggressive monetary policy. Speculators and Foreign Exchange. A free-floating regime is better. It gives the country power over its monetary policy -the main tool for economic policy. However, foreign exchange markets cannot be trusted because of speculators. Beyond the Market. Many items have misalignment between price and value. Externalities can be fixed through taxes. New taxes should be traded off against current taxes (income taxes, etc.). Long term forecasts (one century): Soaring resources prices, increasing environmental costs, rebirth of the big city, devaluation of higher education, creation of a celebrity economy. The essays are very enjoyable and very well written. The issues covered are important and current. As a layman, I could not find any economic flaws in any of the articles. Krugman uses the concepts and frameworks that economic academia favors today. He also explains very well the mistakes of many writers and politicians. However, Krugman is too confident in his science. For him economics has all the answers. It reminds me of the outlook that practitioners had for physics and chemistry in the middle of the last century: everything had been discovered. The book skillfully explained why many people have been wrong. Through this we get a flavor of how to think using economic science. However, Krugman does not elaborate enough when he makes his points. He assumes that the reader is proficient in economics. In this regard the book fails in his goal of educating laymen in the science of economics. Paul Krugman is not Carl Sagan .. yet! Laymen encourage him to keep trying.

Rating: - Principles Of Economics For A Layman.

The book is a brief introduction to economics. We can call it an intro. to economics for layman. Dr. Krugman draws anologies from some models(Like the hotdog and worker)which can hardly become model as such to draw an anology from. It also seems that Dr. Krugman hates Journalists.

Rating: - Excellent, but don't expect too much of it

I understand the disappointment of that reader in Chicago expecting Krugman to be another Feynmann. I am glad he is not. Feynmann was certainly a great storyteller, but usually he (or someone else) wrote popular books about his LIFE, not exactly about physics. Krugman is writing about economics, and not exactly about his life. And that is quite different.

I also understand Brian Dewey when he says he doesn't have "a better understanding of economic fundamentals" after reading Krugman's book. Certainly this book is useful to make people aware of the good (and sometimes bad) things economics theory has to offer (especially to debunk myths), and to motivate further reading on the subject.

Unfortunately, there is no other way to learn economics-indeed, any other analytical subject-than the hard way. And if you are motivated to learn what REAL economics is about, you should get an introductory textbook.

Rating: - Economics for everyone

As an economics lecturer, I cannot but recommend this book. If you're ever going to read one economics book in your entire life, please read this one. By avoiding the usual jargon typical of present-day economics debate, it makes economics accessible to the layman. Easy to understand examples are used to explain core concepts and mechanisms underlying current economic theories. The logic so developed is then used to critically assess different argumentations in recent debates (the budget deficit, the Euro,...). This is one book I will certainly use in the classroom!

Rating: - Lots of good stuff here

In this book Krugman does what he does best - translate technical economics into layman's language, and then "burn the mathematics." The chapter about the baby-sitting co-op and monetary theory is worth the price of the book.

What I like about Krugman as a pundit is that he makes little pretense about his philosophical leanings (left), but then makes even less pretense about his ability to justify them. Of course, that's icing on the cake, given that he does very good economics.

I look forward to reading some of his other work.

Review Pages: 1 2 3 Next »