Narrative Economics

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Narrative Economics

Author : Robert J. Shiller
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691212074
Total Pages : 408 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (912 download)

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Book Synopsis Narrative Economics by : Robert J. Shiller

Download or read book Narrative Economics written by Robert J. Shiller and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Nobel Prize–winning economist and New York Times bestselling author Robert Shiller, a groundbreaking account of how stories help drive economic events—and why financial panics can spread like epidemic viruses Stories people tell—about financial confidence or panic, housing booms, or Bitcoin—can go viral and powerfully affect economies, but such narratives have traditionally been ignored in economics and finance because they seem anecdotal and unscientific. In this groundbreaking book, Robert Shiller explains why we ignore these stories at our peril—and how we can begin to take them seriously. Using a rich array of examples and data, Shiller argues that studying popular stories that influence individual and collective economic behavior—what he calls "narrative economics"—may vastly improve our ability to predict, prepare for, and lessen the damage of financial crises and other major economic events. The result is nothing less than a new way to think about the economy, economic change, and economics. In a new preface, Shiller reflects on some of the challenges facing narrative economics, discusses the connection between disease epidemics and economic epidemics, and suggests why epidemiology may hold lessons for fighting economic contagions.

Narrative Economics

Author : Robert J. Shiller
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691182299
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (911 download)

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Book Synopsis Narrative Economics by : Robert J. Shiller

Download or read book Narrative Economics written by Robert J. Shiller and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2019-10 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Economists have long based their forecasts on financial aggregates such as price-earnings ratios, asset prices, and exchange rate fluctuations, and used them to produce statistically informed speculations about the future--with limited success. Robert Shiller employs such aggregates in his own forecasts, but has famously complemented them with observations about the influence of mass psychology on certain events. This approach has come to be known as behavioral economics. How can economists effectively capture the effects of psychology and its influence on economic events and change? Shiller attempts to help us better understand how psychology affects events by explaining how popular economic stories arise, how they grow viral, and ultimately how they drive economic developments. After defining narrative economics in the book's preface with allusions to the advent of both the Great Depression and to World War II, Shiller presents an example of a recent economic narrative gone viral in the story of Bitcoin. Next, he explains how narrative economics works with reference to how other disciplines incorporate narrative into their analyses and also to how epidemiology explains how disease goes viral. He then presents accounts of recurring economic narratives, including the gold standard, real estate booms, war and depression, and stock market booms and crashes. He ends his book with a blueprint for future research by economists on narrative economics." -- Provided by publisher.

Animal Spirits

Author : George A. Akerlof
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400834724
Total Pages : 261 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

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Book Synopsis Animal Spirits by : George A. Akerlof

Download or read book Animal Spirits written by George A. Akerlof and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2010-02-01 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From acclaimed economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller, the case for why government is needed to restore confidence in the economy The global financial crisis has made it painfully clear that powerful psychological forces are imperiling the wealth of nations today. From blind faith in ever-rising housing prices to plummeting confidence in capital markets, "animal spirits" are driving financial events worldwide. In this book, acclaimed economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller challenge the economic wisdom that got us into this mess, and put forward a bold new vision that will transform economics and restore prosperity. Akerlof and Shiller reassert the necessity of an active government role in economic policymaking by recovering the idea of animal spirits, a term John Maynard Keynes used to describe the gloom and despondence that led to the Great Depression and the changing psychology that accompanied recovery. Like Keynes, Akerlof and Shiller know that managing these animal spirits requires the steady hand of government—simply allowing markets to work won't do it. In rebuilding the case for a more robust, behaviorally informed Keynesianism, they detail the most pervasive effects of animal spirits in contemporary economic life—such as confidence, fear, bad faith, corruption, a concern for fairness, and the stories we tell ourselves about our economic fortunes—and show how Reaganomics, Thatcherism, and the rational expectations revolution failed to account for them. Animal Spirits offers a road map for reversing the financial misfortunes besetting us today. Read it and learn how leaders can channel animal spirits—the powerful forces of human psychology that are afoot in the world economy today. In a new preface, they describe why our economic troubles may linger for some time—unless we are prepared to take further, decisive action.

If You're So Smart

Author : Deirdre N. McCloskey
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 9780226556703
Total Pages : 208 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (567 download)

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Book Synopsis If You're So Smart by : Deirdre N. McCloskey

Download or read book If You're So Smart written by Deirdre N. McCloskey and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1990-09-07 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this witty, accessible, and revealing book, Deirdre McCloskey demystifies economic theory and practice to show that behind the economists claim to certainty is the ancient art of storytelling. If You're So Smart will engage, enlighten, and empower anyone trying to evaluate the experts who stand ready to engineer our lives. "Writing with delicious wit and great seriousness."—Publishers Weekly. " "McCloskey is more interesting on an uninspired day than most of her peers can manage at their very best."—Peter Passell, New York Times

How Novelty and Narratives Drive the Stock Market

Author : Nicholas Mangee
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108838456
Total Pages : 451 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (88 download)

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Book Synopsis How Novelty and Narratives Drive the Stock Market by : Nicholas Mangee

Download or read book How Novelty and Narratives Drive the Stock Market written by Nicholas Mangee and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-10-14 with total page 451 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The novelty-narrative hypothesis is used to understand stock market instability using big data textual analytics of financial news.

Finance and the Good Society

Author : Robert J. Shiller
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 140084617X
Total Pages : 312 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

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Book Synopsis Finance and the Good Society by : Robert J. Shiller

Download or read book Finance and the Good Society written by Robert J. Shiller and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-04-21 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nobel Prize-winning economist explains why we need to reclaim finance for the common good The reputation of the financial industry could hardly be worse than it is today in the painful aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. New York Times best-selling economist Robert Shiller is no apologist for the sins of finance—he is probably the only person to have predicted both the stock market bubble of 2000 and the real estate bubble that led up to the subprime mortgage meltdown. But in this important and timely book, Shiller argues that, rather than condemning finance, we need to reclaim it for the common good. He makes a powerful case for recognizing that finance, far from being a parasite on society, is one of the most powerful tools we have for solving our common problems and increasing the general well-being. We need more financial innovation—not less—and finance should play a larger role in helping society achieve its goals. Challenging the public and its leaders to rethink finance and its role in society, Shiller argues that finance should be defined not merely as the manipulation of money or the management of risk but as the stewardship of society's assets. He explains how people in financial careers—from CEO, investment manager, and banker to insurer, lawyer, and regulator—can and do manage, protect, and increase these assets. He describes how finance has historically contributed to the good of society through inventions such as insurance, mortgages, savings accounts, and pensions, and argues that we need to envision new ways to rechannel financial creativity to benefit society as a whole. Ultimately, Shiller shows how society can once again harness the power of finance for the greater good.

Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations: A Story of Economic Discovery

Author : David Warsh
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 0393329887
Total Pages : 449 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (933 download)

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Book Synopsis Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations: A Story of Economic Discovery by : David Warsh

Download or read book Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations: A Story of Economic Discovery written by David Warsh and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2007-05-17 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chronicling the story of what has come to be called the new growth theory, this text helps to explain dominant first-mover firms like IBM or Microsoft, underscores the value of intellectual property, and provides essential advice to those concerned with the expansion of the economy.

Failure by Design

Author : Josh Bivens
Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780801461132
Total Pages : 120 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (611 download)

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Book Synopsis Failure by Design by : Josh Bivens

Download or read book Failure by Design written by Josh Bivens and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2011-02-15 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Failure by Design, the Economic Policy Institute’s Josh Bivens takes a step back from the acclaimed State of Working America series, building on its wealth of data to relate a compelling narrative of the U.S. economy’s struggle to emerge from the Great Recession of 2008. Bivens explains the causes and impact on working Americans of the most catastrophic economic policy failure since the 1920s. As outlined clearly here, economic growth since the late 1970s has been slow and inequitably distributed, largely as a result of poor policy choices. These choices only got worse in the 2000s, leading to an anemic economic expansion. What growth we did see in the economy was fueled by staggering increases in private-sector debt and a housing bubble that artificially inflated wealth by trillions of dollars. As had been predicted, the bursting of the housing bubble had disastrous consequences for the broader economy, spurring a financial crisis and a rise in joblessness that dwarfed those resulting from any recession since the Great Depression. The fallout from the Great Recession makes it near certain that there will be yet another lost decade of income growth for typical families, whose incomes had not been boosted by the previous decade’s sluggish and localized economic expansion. In its broad narrative of how the economy has failed to deliver for most Americans over much of the past three decades, Failure by Design also offers compelling graphic evidence on jobs, incomes, wages, and other measures of economic well-being most relevant to low- and middle-income workers. Josh Bivens tracks these trends carefully, giving a lesson in economic history that is readable yet rigorous in its analysis. Intended as both a stand-alone volume and a companion to the new State of Working America website that presents all of the data underlying this cogent analysis, Failure by Design will become required reading as a road map to the economic problems that confront working Americans.

Grand Pursuit

Author : Sylvia Nasar
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 0684872994
Total Pages : 555 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (848 download)

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Book Synopsis Grand Pursuit by : Sylvia Nasar

Download or read book Grand Pursuit written by Sylvia Nasar and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011 with total page 555 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An instant "New York Times" bestseller, from the author of "A Beautiful Mind": a sweeping history of the invention of modern economics that takes readers from Dickens' London to modern Calcutta.

The Economics of Collusion

Author : Robert C. Marshall
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262525941
Total Pages : 315 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (625 download)

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Book Synopsis The Economics of Collusion by : Robert C. Marshall

Download or read book The Economics of Collusion written by Robert C. Marshall and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2014-01-10 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An examination of collusive behavior: what it is, why it is profitable, how it is implemented, and how it might be detected. Explicit collusion is an agreement among competitors to suppress rivalry that relies on interfirm communication and/or transfers. Rivalry between competitors erodes profits; the suppression of rivalry through collusion is one avenue by which firms can enhance profits. Many cartels and bidding rings function for years in a stable and peaceful manner despite the illegality of their agreements and incentives for deviation by their members. In The Economics of Collusion, Robert Marshall and Leslie Marx offer an examination of collusive behavior: what it is, why it is profitable, how it is implemented, and how it might be detected. Marshall and Marx, who have studied collusion extensively for two decades, begin with three narratives: the organization and implementation of a cartel, the organization and implementation of a bidding ring, and a parent company's efforts to detect collusion by its divisions. These accounts—fictitious, but rooted in the inner workings and details from actual cases—offer a novel and engaging way for the reader to understand the basics of collusive behavior. The narratives are followed by detailed economic analyses of cartels, bidding rings, and detection. The narratives offer an engaging entrée to the more rigorous economic discussion that follows. The book is accessible to any reader who understands basic economic reasoning. Mathematical material is flagged with asterisks.

Narrative Fixation in Economics

Author : Edward Fullbrook
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781848902282
Total Pages : 166 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (22 download)

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Book Synopsis Narrative Fixation in Economics by : Edward Fullbrook

Download or read book Narrative Fixation in Economics written by Edward Fullbrook and published by . This book was released on 2016-12-01 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a great book. Against the background of the dogmatism of much of modern economics, Fullbrook has produced an innovative, wide-ranging argument for narrative pluralism. The timely book is beautifully written, accessible to all, provocative, extraordinarily insightful, and extremely compelling. Tony Lawson, Cambridge University, UK This fascinating and profound work should be read ... by anyone who is taken in by mainstream economics' false claims of scientific objectivity. Fullbrook's erudite, systematic and thoughtful investigation into the philosophical and conceptual bases of the "singular narrative" exposes the limitations of neoclassical economics and its degenerate practice, and provides a powerful critique of different models of economic rationality. Jayati Ghosh, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India For anyone interested in the state of modern (mainstream) economics, and especially in how and why the neoclassical school has remained so dominant since the Crash of 2008, Fullbrook's book is a must-read. It goes far beyond other treatments in the way that it compares (unfavourably) the prevailing "mono-epistemology" in economics with the norms of epistemological pluralism in the natural sciences. Robert H. Wade, London School of Economics This genuinely original book... scrutinizes the weird make-believe world of mainstream economics and its narrative dogmatism, determinism and atomism, it constitutes a powerful plaidoyer for real pluralism in economics. Fullbrook brings bold new perspectives on the logic of economic choice, rationality, ideology, naturalism, and microfoundations. Whether you agree with him or not, he forces you to think. Lars P Syll, MalmO University, Sweden This book is provocative and highly convincing. It shows us that there is no such thing as a one and unique truth, neither in natural sciences, nor in social sciences. Because reality is multifaceted, narrative pluralism is essential for the advancement of knowledge and for the good health of a democratic society. Fullbrook changes our understanding of what is science and what is ideology. AndrE OrlEan, l'Ecole des hautes Etudes en sciences sociales, Paris The neoclassical monopoly in economics necessarily ignores most of what really counts, and locks out competitors. Fullbrook establishes this persuasively in a thoughtful, grounded, and accessible study. To be adequate, economic understanding requires a plurality of approaches. This book shows conclusively that no other position is tenable. Anver Offer, All Souls College, Oxford University, UK Edward Fullbrook's Narrative Fixation in Economics is an exceptionally erudite exploration of the descent of economics into scientism and anti-knowledge. Julie Nelson, University of Massachusetts, Boston

Mission Economy

Author : Mariana Mazzucato
Publisher : HarperCollins
ISBN 13 : 0063046261
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (63 download)

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Book Synopsis Mission Economy by : Mariana Mazzucato

Download or read book Mission Economy written by Mariana Mazzucato and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-03-23 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Longlisted for the 2021 Porchlight Business Book Awards, Big Ideas & New Perspectives “She offers something both broad and scarce: a compelling new story about how to create a desirable future.”—New York Times An award-winning author and leading international economist delivers a hard-hitting and much needed critique of modern capitalism in which she argues that, to solve the massive crises facing us, we must be innovative—we must use collaborative, mission-oriented thinking while also bringing a stakeholder view of public private partnerships which means not only taking risks together but also sharing the rewards. Capitalism is in crisis. The rich have gotten richer—the 1 percent, those with more than $1 million, own 44 percent of the world's wealth—while climate change is transforming—and in some cases wiping out—life on the planet. We are plagued by crises threatening our lives, and this situation is unsustainable. But how do we fix these problems decades in the making? Mission Economy looks at the grand challenges facing us in a radically new way. Global warming, pollution, dementia, obesity, gun violence, mobility—these environmental, health, and social dilemmas are huge, complex, and have no simple solutions. Mariana Mazzucato argues we need to think bigger and mobilize our resources in a way that is as bold as inspirational as the moon landing—this time to the most ‘wicked’ social problems of our time.. We can only begin to find answers if we fundamentally restructure capitalism to make it inclusive, sustainable, and driven by innovation that tackles concrete problems from the digital divide, to health pandemics, to our polluted cities. That means changing government tools and culture, creating new markers of corporate governance, and ensuring that corporations, society, and the government coalesce to share a common goal. We did it to go to the moon. We can do it again to fix our problems and improve the lives of every one of us. We simply can no longer afford not to.

The Economic Superorganism

Author : Carey W. King
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030502953
Total Pages : 474 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (35 download)

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Book Synopsis The Economic Superorganism by : Carey W. King

Download or read book The Economic Superorganism written by Carey W. King and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-10-07 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Energy drives the economy, economics informs policy, and policy affects social outcomes. Since the oil crises of the 1970s, pundits have debated the validity of this sequence, but most economists and politicians still ignore it. Thus, they delude the public about the underlying influence of energy costs and constraints on economic policies that address such pressing contemporary issues as income inequality, growth, debt, and climate change. To understand why, Carey King explores the scientific and rhetorical basis of the competing narratives both within and between energy technology and economics. Energy and economic discourse seems to mirror Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion: For every narrative there is an equal and opposite counter-narrative. The competing energy narratives pit "drill, baby, drill!" against renewable technologies such as wind and solar. Both claim to provide secure, reliable, clean, and affordable energy to support economic growth with the most benefit to society, but how? To answer this question, we need to understand the competing economic narratives, techno-optimism and techno-realism. Techno-optimism claims that innovation overcomes any physical resource constraints and enables the social outcomes and economic growth we desire. Techno-realism, in contrast, states that no matter what energy technologies we use, feedbacks from physical growth on a finite planet constrain economic growth and create an uneven distribution of social impacts. In The Economic Superorganism, you will discover stories, data, science, and philosophy to guide you through the arguments from competing narratives on energy, growth, and policy. You will be able to distinguish the technically possible from the socially viable, and understand how our future depends on this distinction.

Economic Science Fictions

Author : William Davies
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 1906897689
Total Pages : 402 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (68 download)

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Book Synopsis Economic Science Fictions by : William Davies

Download or read book Economic Science Fictions written by William Davies and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2018-05-04 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An innovative new anthology exploring how science fiction can motivate new approaches to economics. From the libertarian economics of Ayn Rand to Aldous Huxley's consumerist dystopias, economics and science fiction have often orbited each other. In Economic Science Fictions, editor William Davies has deliberately merged the two worlds, asking how we might harness the power of the utopian imagination to revitalize economic thinking. Rooted in the sense that our current economic reality is no longer credible or viable, this collection treats our economy as a series of fictions and science fiction as a means of anticipating different economic futures. It asks how science fiction can motivate new approaches to economics and provides surprising new syntheses, merging social science with fiction, design with politics, scholarship with experimental forms. With an opening chapter from Ha-Joon Chang as well as theory, short stories, and reflections on design, this book from Goldsmiths Press challenges and changes the notion that economics and science fiction are worlds apart. The result is a wealth of fresh and unusual perspectives for anyone who believes the economy is too important to be left solely to economists. Contributors AUDINT, Khairani Barokka, Carina Brand, Ha-Joon Chang, Miriam Cherry, William Davies, Mark Fisher, Dan Gavshon-Brady and James Pockson, Owen Hatherley, Laura Horn, Tim Jackson, Mark Johnson, Bastien Kerspern, Nora O Murchú, Tobias Revell et al., Judy Thorne, Sherryl Vint, Joseph Walton, Brian Willems

Irrational Exuberance

Author : Robert J. Shiller
Publisher : Broadway
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 356 pages
Book Rating : 4.F/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Irrational Exuberance by : Robert J. Shiller

Download or read book Irrational Exuberance written by Robert J. Shiller and published by Broadway. This book was released on 2001 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With a new Afterword on the current state of the stock market, the ongoing debate over the "new economy," and the larger implications of "irrational exuberance." In this controversial, hard-hitting account of today's explosive market, Robert J. Shiller, a leading expert on market volatility, evokes Alan Greenspan's infamous 1996 reference, "irrational exuberance," to explain the alternately soaring and declining stock market. Shiller's unconventional yet persuasive argument credits an unprecedented confluence of events with driving stocks to uncharted heights, and he analyzes the structural, cultural, and psychological factors behind these levels of growth not reflected in any other sector of the economy. Now more relevant than ever, this analysis is both chilling and convincing-a must-read for the individual investor, the policy maker, and the investment professional.

Financialization and Strategy

Author : Julie Froud
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134314558
Total Pages : 416 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (343 download)

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Book Synopsis Financialization and Strategy by : Julie Froud

Download or read book Financialization and Strategy written by Julie Froud and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-04-18 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Considering the recent impact of the capital market on corporate strategy, this text analyzes, through argument and supportive case studies, how pressures from the capital bull market of the 1990s and bear market of the early 2000s, have reshaped management action and calculation in large, publicly quoted US and UK corporations. Beginning with the dissatisfaction with classical strategy and its limited engagement with the processes of financialization, the book moves on to cover three detailed company case studies (General Electric, Ford and GlaxoSmithKline) which use long run financial data and analysis of company and industry narratives to illustrate and explore key themes. The book emphasizes the importance of company and industry narrative, while also analyzing long term financial results, and helps to explain the limits of management action and the burden of expectations placed on corporate governance. Presenting financial and market information on trajectory in an accessible way, this book provides a distinctive, critical social science account of management in large UK and US corporations, and it is a valuable resource for students, scholars and researchers of business, management, political economy and non-mainstream economics. short listed for the 2007 IPEG Book Prize

We Wanted Workers: Unraveling the Immigration Narrative

Author : George J. Borjas
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 0393249026
Total Pages : 240 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (932 download)

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Book Synopsis We Wanted Workers: Unraveling the Immigration Narrative by : George J. Borjas

Download or read book We Wanted Workers: Unraveling the Immigration Narrative written by George J. Borjas and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2016-10-11 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From “America’s leading immigration economist” (The Wall Street Journal), a refreshingly level-headed exploration of the effects of immigration. We are a nation of immigrants, and we have always been concerned about immigration. As early as 1645, the Massachusetts Bay Colony began to prohibit the entry of “paupers.” Today, however, the notion that immigration is universally beneficial has become pervasive. To many modern economists, immigrants are a trove of much-needed workers who can fill predetermined slots along the proverbial assembly line. But this view of immigration’s impact is overly simplified, explains George J. Borjas, a Cuban-American, Harvard labor economist. Immigrants are more than just workers—they’re people who have lives outside of the factory gates and who may or may not fit the ideal of the country to which they’ve come to live and work. Like the rest of us, they’re protected by social insurance programs, and the choices they make are affected by their social environments. In We Wanted Workers, Borjas pulls back the curtain of political bluster to show that, in the grand scheme, immigration has not affected the average American all that much. But it has created winners and losers. The losers tend to be nonmigrant workers who compete for the same jobs as immigrants. And somebody’s lower wage is somebody else’s higher profit, so those who employ immigrants benefit handsomely. In the end, immigration is mainly just another government redistribution program. “I am an immigrant,” writes Borjas, “and yet I do not buy into the notion that immigration is universally beneficial. . . . But I still feel that it is a good thing to give some of the poor and huddled masses, people who face so many hardships, a chance to experience the incredible opportunities that our exceptional country has to offer.” Whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican, or an Independent, We Wanted Workers is essential reading for anyone interested in the issue of immigration in America today.