Not exactly cheery, but definitely worth knowing. (Introduction by Paul A. Volcker)
A superior course in economics (with a glimpse of biography) from “Dr. Gloom,” the famous monetarist, financial forecaster, and bond guru who earned his sobriquet with his infallably honest, level, and sometimes unwelcome economic pronouncements.
Kaufman’s life began in a small town in Germany, continued as a young refugee of the Nazi regime and ends with this, the accumulation of a life’s study of the way money works. And reasonable and clear-headed it all is, too. Here’s how economies rise and fall: it all hinges on credit-risk evaluation (often improperly assayed or, in the midst of profit lust, not done at all). Hence, Mexico, Penn Central, the Savings and Loan debacle, and a host of other financial dark days. The more risk out there, the more instruments will be created to hedge against that risk, Kaufman maintains, and the more volatile markets become. That’s us. Now. The efficient and careful allocation of credit precludes disaster. Not too much debt; not too much regulation; not too much of much. What’s needed is a re-tooling of the IMF and the World Bank, and the creation of something Kaufman calls a “Board of Overseers of World Markets,” which would serve as a finger-shaker rather than a regulator. Decency has always been a hallmark of Kaufman’s and, thanks to it, he saved his (and the firm that bore his name’s) neck by withdrawing from a collaboration with the ill-fated Drexel Burnham (when he heard that Michael Milken was to be involved). The market isn’t human, he insists, and it doesn’t have human characteristics. “It is the sum total of thousands of largely uncoordinated decisions, many of which are based on little or no analysis.” Nothing in the recent economic climate has happened to improve his rainy mood. The apocalypse is nigh, so look out. “I am confident that sometime within the next few years, the financial euphoria will be reversed.”
Not exactly cheery, but definitely worth knowing. (Introduction by Paul A. Volcker)Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-07-136049-2
Page Count: 388
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2000
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.
“Quality of life means more than just consumption”: Two MIT economists urge that a smarter, more politically aware economics be brought to bear on social issues.
It’s no secret, write Banerjee and Duflo (co-authors: Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way To Fight Global Poverty, 2011), that “we seem to have fallen on hard times.” Immigration, trade, inequality, and taxation problems present themselves daily, and they seem to be intractable. Economics can be put to use in figuring out these big-issue questions. Data can be adduced, for example, to answer the question of whether immigration tends to suppress wages. The answer: “There is no evidence low-skilled migration to rich countries drives wage and employment down for the natives.” In fact, it opens up opportunities for those natives by freeing them to look for better work. The problem becomes thornier when it comes to the matter of free trade; as the authors observe, “left-behind people live in left-behind places,” which explains why regional poverty descended on Appalachia when so many manufacturing jobs left for China in the age of globalism, leaving behind not just left-behind people but also people ripe for exploitation by nationalist politicians. The authors add, interestingly, that the same thing occurred in parts of Germany, Spain, and Norway that fell victim to the “China shock.” In what they call a “slightly technical aside,” they build a case for addressing trade issues not with trade wars but with consumption taxes: “It makes no sense to ask agricultural workers to lose their jobs just so steelworkers can keep theirs, which is what tariffs accomplish.” Policymakers might want to consider such counsel, especially when it is coupled with the observation that free trade benefits workers in poor countries but punishes workers in rich ones.
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61039-950-0
Page Count: 432
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf