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Economics: Making Sense of the Modern Economy
The world of economics is changing. Years of turmoil in the global economy mean that nothing will ever be quite the same again.
This is the starting point and theme of this radically revised Economist books classic, now available for the first time in America.
Richard Davies, economics editor of The Economist, takes us on a journey through the paper's own analysis of the state of the world's economies, how we reached this point and what to expect in the next decade. He explores:
what's gone wrong since 2008, why it's happened and how we can stop it happening again;
the shifting focus of economics from banking to labor economics;
the future hopes and challenges for the world economy.
Along the way, we encounter the global economy laid bare, from banks, panics, and crashes to innovative new policies to improve how markets function; from discussions around jobs, pay, and inequality to the promise of innovation and productivity; from the implications of emerging markets and the globalisation of trade through to the sharing economy and the economics of Google and eBay.
The result is a fascinating review of the global economy and the changing role of economics in the new world order.
This is the starting point and theme of this radically revised Economist books classic, now available for the first time in America.
Richard Davies, economics editor of The Economist, takes us on a journey through the paper's own analysis of the state of the world's economies, how we reached this point and what to expect in the next decade. He explores:
what's gone wrong since 2008, why it's happened and how we can stop it happening again;
the shifting focus of economics from banking to labor economics;
the future hopes and challenges for the world economy.
Along the way, we encounter the global economy laid bare, from banks, panics, and crashes to innovative new policies to improve how markets function; from discussions around jobs, pay, and inequality to the promise of innovation and productivity; from the implications of emerging markets and the globalisation of trade through to the sharing economy and the economics of Google and eBay.
The result is a fascinating review of the global economy and the changing role of economics in the new world order.
303 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
36 people are currently reading
253 people want to read
About the author
Richard Davies
168 books9 followersThere is more than one author with this name. For the economist, please see Richard Davies
My teaching and research have evolved over a career that began nearly fifty years ago with a traditional graduate education at the University of Missouri in American political history. After completing a dissertation on the politics of urban redevelopment and public housing in 1963, I developed a teaching and publications portfolio emphasizing twentieth century political and urban history. Early publications included: Housing Reform During the Truman Administration (1966), an anthology edited with Frank Mitchell on political and social history since 1900 entitled America’s Recent Past (1968), and an examination of the Eisenhower Administration’s creation of the Interstate Highway System: The Age of Asphalt; The Automobile, the Freeway, and the Condition of Urban America (1975).
After a seventeen-year hiatus in the higher echelons of academic administration, I returned to a professorship in 1987. After completing a political biography of a mid-twentieth century political conservative icon, Defender of the Old Guard: John W. Bricker and American Politics (1993), I turned my attention to two areas of social history, small town America and American sports history.
In 1994 America’s Obsession; Sports and Society Since 1945 appeared as a companion to my creation of what has become a heavily-enrolled senior level course in American sports history. This research interest was extended with an examination of a topic that resonates within the state of Nevada, Betting the Line; Sports Wagering in American Life (2002, with Richard G. Abram), and in 2007 Blackwell Publishing released my most demanding writing endeavor, a comprehensive text that seeks to interpret the role of sports in American history from the colonial times to the present. Sports in American Life; A History is intended for classroom use in the rapidly expanding field of sports history.
During the 1990s I also turned my attention to the history of America’s small towns by examining the small town Ohio birthplace of novelist Sherwood Anderson from its founding in 1803 until the time the book was published in 1998; Main Street Blues; The Decline of Small Town America apparently struck a sensitive nerve because of the depressing story it told, and the book attracted considerable attention from professional historians and lay readers. Main Street Blues was followed up by an anthology edited with two excellent scholars of the same subject, Joseph Amato and David Pichaske, A Place Called Home, Readings on The Midwestern Small Town (2003).
In 1999, I edited a series of original essays that sought to connect my interest in post World War II America to the unique history of my adopted state, and derived great satisfaction from the success of The Maverick Spirit; Building the New Nevada. All of these books have been accompanied by a substantial number of academic articles and encyclopedia entries, and I would like the believe that my research efforts have enriched my teaching efforts in the University’s core curriculum humanities course as well as my upper divisions and graduate courses in twentieth century American history.
Current research builds upon previous work with a book-length project on the fascinating saga of major sports rivalries, and more long-term, I envisage an examination of the ambivalence with which Americans have viewed gambling throughout American history.
My teaching and research have evolved over a career that began nearly fifty years ago with a traditional graduate education at the University of Missouri in American political history. After completing a dissertation on the politics of urban redevelopment and public housing in 1963, I developed a teaching and publications portfolio emphasizing twentieth century political and urban history. Early publications included: Housing Reform During the Truman Administration (1966), an anthology edited with Frank Mitchell on political and social history since 1900 entitled America’s Recent Past (1968), and an examination of the Eisenhower Administration’s creation of the Interstate Highway System: The Age of Asphalt; The Automobile, the Freeway, and the Condition of Urban America (1975).
After a seventeen-year hiatus in the higher echelons of academic administration, I returned to a professorship in 1987. After completing a political biography of a mid-twentieth century political conservative icon, Defender of the Old Guard: John W. Bricker and American Politics (1993), I turned my attention to two areas of social history, small town America and American sports history.
In 1994 America’s Obsession; Sports and Society Since 1945 appeared as a companion to my creation of what has become a heavily-enrolled senior level course in American sports history. This research interest was extended with an examination of a topic that resonates within the state of Nevada, Betting the Line; Sports Wagering in American Life (2002, with Richard G. Abram), and in 2007 Blackwell Publishing released my most demanding writing endeavor, a comprehensive text that seeks to interpret the role of sports in American history from the colonial times to the present. Sports in American Life; A History is intended for classroom use in the rapidly expanding field of sports history.
During the 1990s I also turned my attention to the history of America’s small towns by examining the small town Ohio birthplace of novelist Sherwood Anderson from its founding in 1803 until the time the book was published in 1998; Main Street Blues; The Decline of Small Town America apparently struck a sensitive nerve because of the depressing story it told, and the book attracted considerable attention from professional historians and lay readers. Main Street Blues was followed up by an anthology edited with two excellent scholars of the same subject, Joseph Amato and David Pichaske, A Place Called Home, Readings on The Midwestern Small Town (2003).
In 1999, I edited a series of original essays that sought to connect my interest in post World War II America to the unique history of my adopted state, and derived great satisfaction from the success of The Maverick Spirit; Building the New Nevada. All of these books have been accompanied by a substantial number of academic articles and encyclopedia entries, and I would like the believe that my research efforts have enriched my teaching efforts in the University’s core curriculum humanities course as well as my upper divisions and graduate courses in twentieth century American history.
Current research builds upon previous work with a book-length project on the fascinating saga of major sports rivalries, and more long-term, I envisage an examination of the ambivalence with which Americans have viewed gambling throughout American history.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 27, 2015
It's supposed to Make Sense of the Modern Economy, but for me it's Making No Sense of the Modern Economy. Sorry, but this is diving into the deep end, this book.
I have no background in economics beyond some Ariely, Levitt/Dubner and an occasional book about the collapse of CDO-backed securities triggering shockwaves across Wall Street and the world.
To say I learned nothing would be inaccurate, yet I can't say I learned a lot either. A lot flowed right past. I learned economics is simply a map with which we can use to try to make sense of the world. However it's at best an estimation, and at worse a wild buckshot in the dark with the nozzle pointed at humanity. Despite the best theories the securities bust happened, crises happened and will continue to happen. So it's really an examination of the various factors that influence the development of a nation.
This book bears a re-read, but hopefully when I'm more well-stocked on more econs fundamentals. I'm giving it 3 stars because it's not the book's fault that I didn't learn as much as I could out of this, simply because I'm a curious passer-by, not an econs major.
Having said this, I hope my subconscious retained enough to allow me to whip out random info to be entertaining in parties.
I have no background in economics beyond some Ariely, Levitt/Dubner and an occasional book about the collapse of CDO-backed securities triggering shockwaves across Wall Street and the world.
To say I learned nothing would be inaccurate, yet I can't say I learned a lot either. A lot flowed right past. I learned economics is simply a map with which we can use to try to make sense of the world. However it's at best an estimation, and at worse a wild buckshot in the dark with the nozzle pointed at humanity. Despite the best theories the securities bust happened, crises happened and will continue to happen. So it's really an examination of the various factors that influence the development of a nation.
This book bears a re-read, but hopefully when I'm more well-stocked on more econs fundamentals. I'm giving it 3 stars because it's not the book's fault that I didn't learn as much as I could out of this, simply because I'm a curious passer-by, not an econs major.
Having said this, I hope my subconscious retained enough to allow me to whip out random info to be entertaining in parties.
February 26, 2020
This is not the introduction to economics I was expecting...whoops
October 7, 2014
A very unorganized presentation of the information. There are much better opportunities learning the same information
January 25, 2016
Great reference material.
August 9, 2022
Definitely dated (this edition was published in 2010-2011), but still interesting - not least as we now enter another downturn and so can take stock and see how much progress the dismal science has made in the last decade or so.
Simple answer: Some, but not enough.
Still, an accessible overview that introduces some interesting ideas in readable ways.
Simple answer: Some, but not enough.
Still, an accessible overview that introduces some interesting ideas in readable ways.
June 12, 2018
A good recollection of articles about the 2008 financial crisis
February 18, 2014
So much of everything around us relies on economics, yet so few of us understand or trust the dismal science. That is a shame because economics is essentially the building blocks of everything. The financial crisis, austerity measures and their counter-arguments, measures taken to protect communities from climate change - economics has a key role to play in all of this and a great deal besides.
This book, from an Economist series, is a reasonably good attempt to overlay economic theory with recent issues in the world through economics, and is a good start for anyone looking for how economics works in practice.
This book, from an Economist series, is a reasonably good attempt to overlay economic theory with recent issues in the world through economics, and is a good start for anyone looking for how economics works in practice.
April 2, 2012
To be frank, I bought the Kindle edition in October last year, skimmed a few chapters over the following couple of months and then forgot all about it till February this year. A welcome break from (neo)classic Economics textbooks, I appreciate The Economist’s effort in putting complicated concepts into layman’s terms.
June 18, 2011
very informative, I would strongly recommend it
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews