A clear, readable account of economic cycles past and present.
A straightforward, conservative history of economic crises in America.
In this well-written and informative debut, Hafele pulls no punches—recessions, depressions and economic downturns are murder on people and businesses alike. Yet the author remains an optimist, sure that economic ups and downs are part and parcel of capitalism, which he ultimately defends mightily. His argument is unabashedly conservative. He believes that higher taxes mean higher unemployment, and he’s not a fan of regulation. On the economic policies of Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt during the Great Depression, he writes, “The creation of rules regarding quotas, wages, hours worked, etcetera applied to most everyone, and resulted in a caging of the animal spirits.” This one-sided view may alienate some readers, although it’s difficult to argue that Hafele doesn’t know what he’s talking about. His knowledge of economic history is extensive and clearly presented, and he does a fine job of using other countries’ economic histories to help illuminate America’s. At times, however, he slips, using language and images that convey an old-fashioned sensibility at odds with the book’s primary focus, which is the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009. For instance, when discussing the “decline in the underwriting standards for residential housing,” he writes, “I grew up with the rule that you saved 20% of the purchase price before buying the starter home, as well as the wife’s dream home”—a personal notion that may be true but rings funny at a time when more single women than single men purchase houses. He can be slightly insensitive at times, too, referring to this issue as “The Burger King Guy Syndrome”—that is, “houses-for-all-including-the-drive-thru-attendant-at-BK-way.” Nevertheless, Hafele offers a comprehensive study, one that shows rather convincingly the cycles involved in economic crises. His analysis on the latest recession is not particularly illuminating, though it is solid and well-argued. His writing is clear, accessible and erudite, and readers will learn from the book even if they don’t always agree with it.
A clear, readable account of economic cycles past and present.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2014
ISBN: 978-1493742172
Page Count: 222
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
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A readable, persuasive argument that our ways of doing business will have to change if we are to prosper—or even survive.
A well-constructed critique of an economic system that, by the author’s account, is a driver of the world’s destruction.
Harvard Business School professor Henderson vigorously questions the bromide that “management’s only duty is to maximize shareholder value,” a notion advanced by Milton Friedman and accepted uncritically in business schools ever since. By that logic, writes the author, there is no reason why corporations should not fish out the oceans, raise drug prices, militate against public education (since it costs tax money), and otherwise behave ruinously and anti-socially. Many do, even though an alternative theory of business organization argues that corporations and society should enjoy a symbiotic relationship of mutual benefit, which includes corporate investment in what economists call public goods. Given that the history of humankind is “the story of our increasing ability to cooperate at larger and larger scales,” one would hope that in the face of environmental degradation and other threats, we might adopt the symbiotic model rather than the winner-take-all one. Problems abound, of course, including that of the “free rider,” the corporation that takes the benefits from collaborative agreements but does none of the work. Henderson examines case studies such as a large food company that emphasized environmentally responsible production and in turn built “purpose-led, sustainable living brands” and otherwise led the way in increasing shareholder value by reducing risk while building demand. The author argues that the “short-termism” that dominates corporate thinking needs to be adjusted to a longer view even though the larger problem might be better characterized as “failure of information.” Henderson closes with a set of prescriptions for bringing a more equitable economics to the personal level, one that, among other things, asks us to step outside routine—eat less meat, drive less—and become active in forcing corporations (and politicians) to be better citizens.
A readable, persuasive argument that our ways of doing business will have to change if we are to prosper—or even survive.Pub Date: May 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5417-3015-1
Page Count: 336
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
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