Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Amazon Prime includes:
Fast, FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button.
Amazon Prime members enjoy:- Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
- Unlimited Free Two-Day Delivery
- Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
- A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
- Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
- Unlimited photo storage with anywhere access
Important: Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.
-46% $16.06$16.06
Ships from: Amazon.com Sold by: Amazon.com
$8.72$8.72
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: FindAnyBook
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Audible sample Sample
Follow the author
OK
Good Economics for Hard Times Hardcover – November 12, 2019
Explore your book, then jump right back to where you left off with Page Flip.
View high quality images that let you zoom in to take a closer look.
Enjoy features only possible in digital – start reading right away, carry your library with you, adjust the font, create shareable notes and highlights, and more.
Discover additional details about the events, people, and places in your book, with Wikipedia integration.
Purchase options and add-ons
Figuring out how to deal with today's critical economic problems is perhaps the great challenge of our time. Much greater than space travel or perhaps even the next revolutionary medical breakthrough, what is at stake is the whole idea of the good life as we have known it.
Immigration and inequality, globalization and technological disruption, slowing growth and accelerating climate change--these are sources of great anxiety across the world, from New Delhi and Dakar to Paris and Washington, DC. The resources to address these challenges are there--what we lack are ideas that will help us jump the wall of disagreement and distrust that divides us. If we succeed, history will remember our era with gratitude; if we fail, the potential losses are incalculable.
In this revolutionary book, renowned MIT economists Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo take on this challenge, building on cutting-edge research in economics explained with lucidity and grace. Original, provocative, and urgent, Good Economics for Hard Times makes a persuasive case for an intelligent interventionism and a society built on compassion and respect. It is an extraordinary achievement, one that shines a light to help us appreciate and understand our precariously balanced world.
- Print length432 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPublicAffairs
- Publication dateNovember 12, 2019
- Dimensions6.4 x 1.6 x 9.55 inches
- ISBN-101610399501
- ISBN-13978-1610399500
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now
Frequently bought together
Similar items that may deliver to you quickly
From the Publisher
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Excellent...Few have grappled as energetically with the complexity of real life as Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, or got their boots as dirty in the process...A treasure trove of insight...[Readers] will be captivated by the authors' curiosity, ferocious intellects and attractive modesty."―The Economist
A Wall Street Journal Bestseller
A USA Today Bestseller
"Carefully argued and backed with research...Good Economics is an effective response to Banerjee and Duflo's more thoughtful critics, some of whom argued that devotion to randomised trials had led to a narrowing of economics, in which complex questions that could not be scientifically tested should simply be set aside. The authors make a convincing case that empirical economics contains answers to many vexing problems, from populism to identity politics, especially when economists are willing to range outside their discipline's confines."―Financial Times
"'Good Economics for Hard Times' lives up to its authors' reputations, giving a masterly tour of the current evidence on critical policy questions facing less-than-perfect markets in both developed and developing countries, from migration to trade to postindustrial blight."―Wall Street Journal
"Their goal is to ground both sides of our national debate in hard evidence, and the process of coming up with ways to do that is pretty interesting in itself... Eager to distance themselves from the previous generation of economists who argued from first principles, Banerjee and Duflo say nothing that smells like special pleading. It would be hard to take umbrage with such studied humility. The authors admit, 'We clearly don't have all the solutions, and suspect no one else does either.' Even so, the prospect of a path towards consensus solutions through iterated experiments is enough to make for a compelling read."―National Review
"The studies they cite probe hot topics such as climate change, immigration and the viability of continued economic growth. Banerjee and Duflo synthesize the literature on what is agreed and what is controversial in an accessible, often entertaining way."―Nature
"Good Economics for Hard Times makes important policy connections and suggestions... Banerjee and Duflo explore traditional remedies (tariffs sure aren't the answer, they find, and job retraining and other trade adjustment tools are too narrow and take too long) and suggest some novel ideas... In crafting their carefully reasoned arguments, they marshal evidence assembled over decades from all sorts of areas-the fight against malaria, past efforts at tax reform, previous waves of migration-and propose commonsense solutions."―Foreign Policy
"Lucid and frequently surprising... Banerjee and Duflo's arguments are original and open-minded and their evidence is clearly presented. Policy makers and lay readers looking for fresh insights into contemporary economic matters will savor this illuminating book."―Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
"A canard-slaying, unconventional take on economics...This might look like yet another conventional state-of-the-world economics book, but it is anything but. It is an invigorating ride through 21st-century economics and a treasure trove of facts and findings."―The Times (UK)
"Good Economics for Hard Times lives up to its authors' reputations, giving a masterly tour of the current evidence on critical policy questions facing less-than-perfect markets in both developed and developing countries, from migration to trade to postindustrial blight."―William Easterly, The Wall Street Journal
"An excellent antidote to the most dangerous forms of economics bashing...Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, write beautifully and are in full command of their subject. Perhaps the greatest contribution of Good Economics... is precisely this: it demonstrates both the brilliant insights that mainstream economics can make available to us and its limits, which a progressive internationalism has a duty to transcend."
―Yanis Varoufakis, The Guardian
"Not all economists wear ties and think like bankers. In their wonderfully refreshing book, Banerjee and Duflo delve into impressive areas of new research questioning conventional views about issues ranging fromtrade to top income taxation and mobility, and offer their own powerful vision of how we can grapple with them. A must-read."―Thomas Piketty, professor, Paris School of Economics, andauthor of Capital in the Twenty-first Century
"A magnificent achievement, and the perfect book for our time. Banerjee and Duflo brilliantly illuminate the largest issues of the day, including immigration, trade, climate change, and inequality. If you read one policy book this year -- heck, this decade - read this one."―Cass R. Sunstein, Robert Walmsley University Professor,Harvard University, and author, How Change Happens
"Banerjee and Duflo have shown brilliantly how the best recent research in economics can be used to tackle the most pressing social issues: unequal economic growth, climate change, lack of trust in public action. Their book is an essential wake-up call for intelligent and immediate action!"―Emmanuel Saez, professor of economics at UC Berkeley
"One of the things that makes economics interesting and difficult is the need to balance the neat generalities of theory against the enormous variety of deviations from standard assumptions: lags, rigidities, simple inattention, society's irrepressible tendency to alter what are sometimes thought of as bedrock characteristics of economic behavior. Banerjee and Duflo are masters of this terrain. They have digested hundreds of lab experiments, field experiments, statistical studies, and common observation to find regularities and irregularities that shape important patterns of economic behavior and need to be taken into account when we think about central issues of policy analysis. They do this with simple logic and plain English. Their book is as stimulating as it gets."―Robert Solow, Nobel Prize winner and emeritus professor of economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
"In these tumultuous times when many bad policies and ideas are bandied around in the name of economics, common sense-and good economics-is even more sorely needed than usual. This wide-ranging and engaging book by two leading economists puts the record straight and shows that we have much to learn from sensible economic ideas, and not just about immigration, trade, automation, and growth, but also about the environment and political discourse. A must-read."―Daron Acemoglu, Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics, MIT, and coauthor of Why Nations Fail
"Banerjee and Duflo move beyond the simplistic forecasts that abound in the Twittersphere and in the process reframe the role of economics. Their dogged optimism about the potential of economics research to deliver makes for an informative and uplifting read."―Pinelopi Goldberg, Elihu Professor of Economics, Yale University, and chief economist of the World Bank Group
"In Good Economics for Hard Times, Banerjee and Duflo, two of the world's great economists, parse through what economists have to say about today's most difficult challenges-immigration, job losses from automation and trade, inequality, tribalism and prejudice, and climate change. The writing is witty and irreverent, always informative but never dull. Banerjee and Duflo are the teachers you always wished for but never had, and this book is an essential guide for the great policy debates of our times."―Raghuram Rajan, Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : PublicAffairs (November 12, 2019)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 432 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1610399501
- ISBN-13 : 978-1610399500
- Item Weight : 1.41 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.4 x 1.6 x 9.55 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #222,928 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #121 in International Economics (Books)
- #123 in Economic Policy
- #159 in Economic Policy & Development (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviews with images
-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
The authors discuss whether free trade is the solution for poor economic growth, or is free trade the problem? They study countries (such as India) that have gone through different approaches and arrived at uncertain conclusions. After opening up to trade – in return for IMF money – it took India more than a decade after 1991 to see economic growth. They discuss the economic benefits of tariffs versus free trade. The conclusions are far from clear, because trade and growth are a complex mix, but it seems that tariffs often backfire.
Economic growth id not entirely dependent on trade, and even in trade, one factor stands out in contrast to capital – labour. Once the authors launch into the supply of labour, we see the problems of immigration and racism. The authors point out that the traditional bias against immigrant workers is mistaken. People do not move just because the pay is better elsewhere. In fact, we are blinded into not seeing that people generally do not like to move, and there are many strong reasons for that. There is the issue of connection. People are more likely to move if they have connections in their intended destination. Then there are family ties back home, in contrast to the poor living conditions elsewhere, and so on. The authors also point out that anti-immigrant sentiments have existed from time immemorial, only the subject changes. First people were against Jewish immigrants, then Italian immigrants, then African immigrants, and now, it is Muslim ones. Eventually, the authors say, the immigrants get assimilated, and the nation’s attention (or prejudice) turn to others.
The authors examine and analyse the factors that lead to growth and those that do not. The question whether using GDP is the accurate way to measure growth. In the history of modern times, there has only been one growth spurt, and that ended on 16 October 1973 with the Arab oil embargo – a spurt never to return, say the authors.
The authors presented a detailed and persuasive argument that taxation is beneficial and useful in lowering the inequality gap. They explain that when people get poor, they tend to blame the wrong factors, for example, immigrants for taking away their jobs. Lowering the income inequality is thus a important priority. Unfortunately, politicians do not have the will to impose or increase taxes. The authors further explain that taxing the rich helps but not enough. There should be a wealth tax on the assets of the rich. They present powerful arguments as to why that is so.
This is a remarkable book that covers a wide range of economic topics with an aim of making the dots connect, and disabusing us of seeing magic dots that don’t connect. It is a book worth reading even if one is sceptical about some of its claims – after all, the Messiah of Economics has yet to come.
A lightning speed review of development economics, poverty and its alleviation (or attempts to do so) some of the problems in the attempts, tempered with the understanding that we understand little, the humility to think we don't have all the answers, the hope that by trying what we know, and instituting on a large scale some of the solutions that have worked with randomized control trials, we can make the world a much better place. One where people are treated with dignity, one where happiness is provided a place in the sun, as much as is formal economic growth. Highly recommended.
The author discusses many contentious issues including immigration, trade and growth. The authors start with two of the most charged issues of the day, namely the consequences of immigration to wages and the consequences of trade to employment opportunities. For the former, they give their arguments for the general economics consensus wisdom that immigration is a net positive and that immigrants contribute to society. They do cite those that disagree and their studies, namely the counterarguments of Borja, but then give further evidence to dispute him. From an economists lens they argue well but certainly the arguments that carry the day aren't based on reasoning. The authors also discuss trade policy and make the argument that if labor cannot frictionlessly move as a function of opportunity, classical capitalist arguments will fail in practice. The authors show that this is the case in the US and that the lack of labor mobility means that frictions of trade are real and require new policy thinking. The authors discuss big concepts like materialism and its use in framing economic goals via prioritizing GDP over other measures of wellness. The authors highlight that when policy is framed it is framed in terms of maximizing output and such a narrow goal is questionable. Distributional concerns about where wealth gets concentrated is not discussed enough and maximizing output without concern for distribution is something that should be reconsidered. The authors discuss Robert Gordon's concerns that growth is structurally lower than last century when several foundational technologies enabled decades long windows of productivity growth. They also discuss the statistical measurement of productivity growth coming from the internet and communications revolution and that part of it could be hard to measure but in all, it is less than last decade; though there are some reasons to believe that could change for the better in the coming decades. The consequences of the ICT revolution is also concerns about automation and its consequences. Here the authors give both pictures but highlight that there should be concerns and that concepts like living wage don't have the empirical support as leading to higher well-being that is touted by techno optimists who don't want to deal with the labor problem.
Good Economics for Hard Times gives a readable economist overview of some of the problems faced today and the ways to think about them as well as the cost benefit we face. It is quite even handed and grounded in evidence rather than ideology. That being said, these topics are largely discussed more comprehensively in other books so discussions of Gordon's view on growth and discussions of the consequences of automation are largely overviews of the works of other people. The book is certainly well written and entirely comprehensible so for the interested reader it will have something to offer.
Top reviews from other countries
The authors tackle such perplexing issues as the economic impacts of immigration and refugee migration, trade wars, the widening income gap, the pros and cons of universal basic income, how the increasing presence of artificial intelligence will affect the job prospects of present and future generations, what to make of slowing rates of growth in developed nations and even the economics of climate change. It is apparent that the authors have researched these topics extensively as this book cites studies and projects from around the globe, providing examples of early indicators of successes in other nations, as well as looking at some historical failures.
While not overtly political, the authors are academically disparaging of the economic policies of the 1980s and 90s which presumed that a welfare state was the cause of global economic woes. They are critical of those who promote the belief that welfare programs only serve to promote laziness and kill a desire for self-betterment. They also argue that the notion that those who receive such benefits will only "drink it away" in unsupported by data, while at the same time noting that how a program is framed and delivered can impact its effectiveness. The authors also challenge the generic portrayal of free trade as a rising tide that raises all boats, noting that free trade improved the lives of many, but it also left many adrift and worse off. They cite the success of Donald Trump, the Brexit vote and other populist-themed world events as examples of those who were tuned into this message. Conversely, they mention Hillary Clinton's promise to "put a lot of coal miners out of work" as an example of those who were oblivious to the pain suffered by those left in the wake of globalization. While the candidate's remark may have been intended as a promise to deliver cleaner air, what was lost was empathy for those in the losing column of recent economic change.
The authors acknowledge that there are no easy answers to preventing the casualties of economic change. While they are not generally against tariffs or even trade wars in the appropriate case, they argue that the consequences of such action must be carefully thought out. Specifically, it must be considered who the winners will be and who will lose, and a plan must be put in place for how to help those whose jobs are displaced by cheaper products from abroad and by technological disruption.
One area where the authors are clear in their criticism is in their conclusion that tax breaks for the wealthiest do not create the economic growth that politicians promise. They argue that rates of taxation, especially on those in the highest income percentiles are unduly low and the growing gap in income disparity contributes to a host of social problems. While raising taxes on these groups will not fund programs such as a universal basic income by themselves, the authors are confident that this is part of the solution.
Portions of the book require great concentration for those of us without a formal background in economics. The micro-economics are often as interesting as the macro-economics such as when the authors describe smaller experimental programs in different locations. The book does not offer a panacea for the economic challenges which now present themselves. But if elections ever become about policy and not personalities, this is a great source for intelligent discussion of how to face the economic future with compassionate and empathy.
Sound economic theories have taken a backseat in such a scenario. This book debates key policy issues, slicing and dicing every topic from historical, social, political, and economic perspectives, with deep insights. It is an intellectual pursuit of making our planet a better place to live in.
Unfortunately, Economics is not a perfect science either. It operates in a constant flux of diverse social, political, and cultural scenarios. Hence, when one policy succeeds in one nation, it fails miserably elsewhere. It is in this context that the authors’ randomized control trials won them the Nobel Prize in Economics 2019.
Public perception of different professions differs widely. It is not surprising that politicians end up at the bottom of the pack, while nurses top the list in terms of whom we can trust. Surprisingly, economists too are at the bottom, slightly above politicians.
Populist nationalism overrides sound economic principles as seen in recent times. In the USA, there is now a public perception that is averse to immigration. The land of immigrants has forgotten the greatness of the land created by the melting pot of global cultures. It is this unique character that has created a land of opportunities and a great nation. Immigrants are hardworking and entrepreneurs at heart. It is shown that migrant labour does not depress wages as widely feared. In fact, their work frees up higher paid professionals to work more, on more productive pursuits, thereby raising all boats. Immigrants top the list of all professionals and Silicon Valley billionaires. Yet, this fact was recently trumped by political campaigns creating fear about immigration, and resentment in society.
Global trade is another example. While self-reliance is a great objective, it often narrows down into inward looking protectionist policies that shun imports and raise tariffs. This makes good politics in the short term, protects local businesses but eventually hurts consumers, blunts the nation’s global competitiveness and stunts economic growth. In fact, labour working in poorer nations are bigger beneficiaries of free trade, as amply demonstrated by the IT and ITES companies in India. It also brings in better technologies, creates a talent pool, attracts foreign investments, and leads to export led growth, as in the case of South Korea. The Stolper-Samuelson theorem is a brilliant academic work in this area.
The chapters on concepts on economic growth, global warming and automation are equally interesting. Rich in content, unbiased, bold, and brilliant, this book is unputdownable.
Ultimately, sound reason and good economics prevail, as we have seen recently. Let us unite, and not divide. ‘There are no blue states or red states, but only Unites States of America.’ Let us not build walls but spread love. Let us strive to make this most beautiful planet a better home for all.
Das Wissenschaftler-Ehepaar hat den Wirtschaftsnobelpreis 2019 für ihre Armutsforschung bekommen (siehe ihr Buch "Poor Economics"), in der sie ungewöhnliche Methoden angewandt hatten - nämlich statistisch auszuwerten, wie gut verschiedene Maßnahmen tatsächlich wirken. Darauf kommen sie auch in diesem Buch oft zurück. Weitere Beispiele stammen zumeist aus den USA und Indien (Banerjee), in Europa hauptsächlich aus Frankreich (Duflo). Das behandelte Spektrum ist aber durchaus umfassend, wie man anhand der Kapitel erkennen kann: Einleitung - Migration (national und international) - Handel - Wahrnehmung und Entscheidungen - Wachstum - Umweltverschmutzung und Klimawandel - Automatisierung und Ungleichheit (auch ein bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen wird diskutiert) - Gesetze und Steuern (mit interessanten Gedanken zu Korruption) - Sozialleistungen - Schlusswort. Das macht vier Kapitel zu den Grundpfeilern der Wirtschaftstheorie und vier Kapitel zu aktuellen Herausforderungen.
[NACHTRAG und Randbemerkung: "Migration" alias "Mobilität", also dass die Arbeiter zur Arbeit ziehen (oder umgekehrt), ist bekanntlich eine Voraussetzung dafür, dass der Arbeits"markt" überhaupt wie ein Markt funktionieren kann. Dieses Kapitel steht daher im Basisteil des Buchs ganz am Anfang, nicht unter den aktuellen Themen, und zieht Folgerungen in allen späteren Kapiteln nach sich.]
Ich wünsche mir mehr Bücher wie dieses; Themen gäbe es sicherlich noch genug. Wäre es nicht schön, wenn die Wirtschaftswissenschaften zu einem Berater der Politik werden könnten anstatt zu einem Teil von ihr?