Search Theory and Unemployment contains nine chapters that survey and extend the theory of job search and its application to the problem of unemployment. The volume ranges from surveys of job search theory that take microeconomic and macroeconomic perspectives to original theoretical contributions which focus on the externalities arising from non-sequential search and search under imperfect information. It includes a clear and authoritative survey of econometric methods that have been developed to estimate models of job search, as well as two lucid contributions to the empirical search literature. Finally, it includes a study that reviews and extends the literature on optimal unemployment insurance and concludes with an appraisal of the influence of search theory on the thinking of macroeconomic policymakers.

A fresh, revealing, and myth-busting guide to the ins and outs of inflation from two leading political economists.

Inflation is back, and its impact can be felt everywhere, from the grocery store to the mortgage market to the results of elections around the world. What's more, tariffs and trade wars threaten to accelerate inflation again. Yet the conventional wisdom about inflation is stuck in the past. Since the 1970s, there has only really been one playbook for fighting inflation: raise interest rates, thereby creating unemployment and a recession, which will lower prices. But this simple story hides a multitude of beliefs about why prices go up and how policymakers can wrestle them back down, beliefs that are often wrong, damaging, and have little empirical basis.

Leading political economists Mark Blyth and Nicolò Fraccaroli reveal why inflation really happens, challenge how we think about it, and argue for fresh approaches to combat it. With accessible and engaging commentary, and a good dose of humor, Blyth and Fraccaroli bring the complexities of economic policy and inflation indices down to earth.

Policymakers around the world may have pulled off a so-called "soft landing," but Inflation warns they must update their thinking. Now tariffs, climate shocks, demographic change, geopolitical tensions, and politicians promising to upend the global order are all combining to create a more inflationary future, making a new paradigm for understanding inflation urgently necessary. Astute, timely, and engaging, Inflation is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the forces shaping our economy and politics.

Andreu Mas-Colell revolutionized our understanding of competitive markets, price formation, and the behavior of market participants. General Equilibrium and Game Theory offers readers a compendium of his most important scholarly contributions, gathering in a single volume the groundbreaking papers that have solidified his standing as one of the preeminent economic theorists of our time. Built upon the foundations of neoclassical economics, Mas-Colell's work is distinguished by a mathematical and analytical elegance that brings theory closer to real-world situations. He overturns the standard assumption of general equilibrium theory-that markets are perfectly competitive and their participants are perfectly rational-and concludes that neither the law of supply and demand nor the existence of equilibrium prices depends on the rationality of agents. Similarly, Mas-Colell (working with Sergiu Hart) challenges classical game theory's reliance on rational behavior, demonstrating that adaptation and learning shape the dynamics of repeated games. Addressing central questions of finance, trade, industrial organization, and welfare economics, Mas-Colell shows the surprising power and versatility of differentiability and linear-space mathematical techniques, and he emphasizes the fruitfulness of cooperative game-theory approaches, such as Shapley value theory and the Bargaining Set, for understanding competition and distribution. General Equilibrium and Game Theory is a signal contribution to economic theory and an invaluable resource for anyone wishing to study the craft of a master of economic modeling.

This volume is a collection of selected papers using the framework of inframarginal analysis of the division of labour held at Monash University on 6-7 July 2001. This framework, pioneered mainly by Professor Xiaokai Yang, (with joint researches involving all the three editors and many of the authors), has been recommended by Professor James Buchanan (Nobel Laureate in Economics) as the most important analysis in economics in the world today.

John P. Henderson's The Life and Economics of David Ricardo represents the first comprehensive personal and intellectual biography of the brilliant and influential British economist. Employing the talents of both a biographer and an economist, the author examines Ricardo's early years, his Sephardic origins and his employment in the London financial markets, as well as his later work on money and banking, international trade, economic instability and the theory of rent and value. Henderson also provides a thorough investigation of Ricardo's relationships with Thomas Robert Malthus and other classical economists. The Life and Economics of David Ricardo will be of interest not only to historians of economic thought and students of economics, but also to any economist working in the Ricardian or Classical Political Economy tradition.

In these two volumes, David P. Levine undertakes the systematic clarification and further development of the theoretical contributions of classical political economy. It focuses on such central issues in economic theory as: * need, value and exchange * capital and its production * the concept of labour * growth * the firm * price determination. Throughout the treatment is at a high level of abstraction.

The Handbook of Experimental Economic Methodology, edited by Guillaume R. Frechette and Andrew Schotter, aims to confront and debate the issues faced by the growing field of experimental economics. For example, as experimental work attempts to test theory, it raises questions about the proper relationship between theory and experiments. As experimental results are used to inform policy, the utility of these results outside the lab is questioned, and finally, as experimental economics tries to integrate ideas from other disciplines like psychology and neuroscience, the question of their proper place in the discipline of economics becomes less clear. This book contains papers written by some of the most accomplished scholars working at the intersection of experimental, behavioral, and theoretical economics talking about methodology. It is divided into four sections, each of which features a set of papers and a set of comments on those papers. The intention of the volume is to offer a place where ideas about methodology could be discussed and even argued. Some of the papers are contentious--a healthy sign of a dynamic discipline--while others lay out a vision for how the authors think experimental economics should be pursued. This exciting and illuminating collection of papers brings light to a topic at the core of experimental economics. Researchers from a broad range of fields will benefit from the exploration of these important questions.

This book contains a selection of the Wincott lectures, given by eminent economists (including four Nobel laureates). Economists do not always communicate their theories to the general public. But all the contributors to this volume have achieved a perfect balance between practical relevance and sound economic reasoning. For this reason their lectures remain refreshing and fascinating. In addition, with economic discourse becoming more and more mathematically formulated, these lectures are a striking example of how important concepts can be communicated simply. Every one of these advances our understanding of the market economy and how it relates to political decisions.

The two-volume work is intended to function as a textbook for graduate students in economics as well as a reference work for economic scholars. Assuming only the minimal mathematics background required of every second-year graduate student in economics, these two volumes provide a self-contained and careful development of mathematics through locally convex topological vector spaces, and fixed-point, separation, and selection theorems in such spaces. Volume One covers basic set theory, sequences and series, continuous and semi-continuous functions, an introduction to general linear spaces, basic convexity theory, and applications to economics. Volume Two introduces general topology, the theory of correspondences on and into topological spaces, Banach spaces, topological vector spaces, and maximum, fixed-point, and selection theorems for such spaces.

This annual volume includes papers on: Edwin Cannan, economic theory and the history of economic thought; Gardiner C. Means, the relation of his administered price hypothesis to neoclassical price theory; Alfred Marshall's approach to economics differed from later neoclassical economics; and notes taken by Victor E. Smith from lectures by William Jaffe on Alfred Marshall.

Review essays on a variety of topics is included: the quantity theory of money; the Ricardian epistemological tradition; the history of corporate finance; economics and anthropology; Joseph A. Schumpter; economic dynamics; economics and ethics; the history of time series analysis in economics; and Alfred Marshall's correspondence

For much of the last three decades or more economic methodology has been dominated by the work of Karl Popper who advocated the position that science is what it is by virtue of its adherence to certain ideals. The methodology of science is therefore not empirical or descriptive, but rather a set of rules for producing rational' or objective' knowledge. This volume presents alternatives to an exclusively Popperian methodology: its purpose is not to reject Popper, but to show there are other ways of construing methodology. The book is divided into three parts. Part I contains two critical surveys -- one dealing with the rule-based tradition which has had a great influence on economic methodology in the last three decades and the other arguing for the social conditioning of knowledge. Part II is concerned with auxiliary hypotheses needed to link rational choice at the social and individual levels. Part III follows up on aspects raised in linking rational choice at the social and individual levels by looking at specific issues, including rhetoric and economics and gender and economic research.

This book explores the life and work of Nicholas Kaldor, examining the influences that shaped and inspired his writings, and looks in detail at the crucial part he played in twentieth-century economics. Offering a comprehensive intellectual portrait of Kaldor, this book explains this great economist's importance in his own time and in ours.

James Buchanan (1919-2013), economist and philosopher, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1986 for his original theory of political democracy as market exchange. Buchanan believed economics should be concerned with liberty, individualism and equity.

Economists make confident assertions in op-ed columns and on cable news-so why are their explanations often at odds with equally confident assertions from other economists? And why are all economic predictions so rarely borne out? Harnessing his frustration with these contradictions, Jonathan Schlefer set out to investigate how economists arrive at their opinions. "A lucid, plain-spoken account of the major economic models, which [Schlefer] introduces in chronological order, creating a kind of intellectual history of macroeconomics. He explains what the models assume, what they actually demonstrate-and where they fall short." -Binyamin Applebaum, New York Times blog "Fascinating...[Schlefer's] book is a tough critique of economics, but a deeply informed and sympathetic one." -Justin Fox, Harvard Business Review blog "This book is an impressive and informative analysis of the economics literature-and it presents some useful insights about how a more eclectic, catholic approach might allow economics to progress more convincingly into the future." -Michelle Baddeley, Times Higher Education "The Assumptions Economists make [is] a knowledgeable...broadside against neoclassical economics...Schlefer's gripes concern model-building run amok...His criticisms of these models are original and sophisticated." -Christopher Caldwell, Literary Review

With selected readings ranging from the mercantilists of the 16th and 17th centuries to contemporary 20th century authors, Free Trade versus Protectionism addresses one of the oldest controversies in economic science - the fundamental opposition of these two doctrines. It is the first book ever to trace this debate over more than three centuries. Overbeek presents arguments advanced by advocates of free trade and protectionism alike, creating a useful tool for scrutinizing the standpoints of both schools. The book consists of seven parts, beginning with mercantilism and its critics. Subsequent sections examine the free traders and protectionists of the nineteenth century, the evolution of the debate between 1900 and 1940, and the discussion of free trade versus protectionism during the latter half of the twentieth century. At the beginning of each section, the editor's survey of the period under review places the material in proper context; the selections themselves are then preceded by the editor's introduction, which contains a brief biography of the author and an explanation of the author's views. Free Trade versus Protectionism will prove a useful source book for professors and students of the history of economic thought, international economics, international politics, and international business.

Monetary Theory and Monetary Policy is the second collection of essays by Karl Brunner - one of the most prominent monetary economists of the twentieth century. It demonstrates the importance of economic analysis for the development of appropriate economic policies. The book opens with a preface by Thomas Lys which provides the reader with an account of both Karl Brunner's personal and academic life. This is developed further in an introduction by Allan H. Meltzer, who focuses on Brunner's intellectual development. Issues discussed in this collection include the question of whether monetarism has failed, monetary policy, persistent inflation, deficits and interest rates, high-powered money, the monetary base, the money supply, international monetary order and the question of whether supply-side economics is sufficient for comprehensive policymaking. This selection will be welcomed by academics, students and policymakers interested in monetary economics and the work of Karl Brunner.

Game Theory has been an area of rapid growth and substantial interest in economics and it has impacted upon all areas within economics. This text covers the main theory and techniques and gives particular emphasis to aspects that have been neglected, including co-operative games, experiments, and empirical studies. It provides a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the use of game theory in economics.

Robert Eisner has made a seminal contribution to the development of macroeconomic analysis in the latter half of the twentieth century. This carefully edited selection of his essays traces the development of economic thought in the wake of the Keynesian revolution and offers a critique of the neoclassical contribution to economic analysis and major macroeconomic policy issues.Professor Eisner is fundamentally concerned with the determinants of employment and growth in a market economy. In this book, he provides a rigorous analysis of the permanent income hypothesis, the multiplier, interest rates, the liquidity trap, consumption and saving, depreciation, unemployment and growth models. He goes on to examine fiscal and monetary policy and the measurement and effects of budget deficits over the post-war period, challenging the view that budget deficits should necessarily be avoided. Professor Eisner also offers new measures of saving, investment and national income and product, which provide new insights into the economic factors affecting current welfare and future growth. Finally, he discusses the importance of full employment and criticises the idea that there is a natural rate of unemployment.

Murray N. Rothbard was the leading voice of the Austrian School of Economics during its post-war American revival. His research in economic theory, history, method and policy, was the major impetus for today's burgeoning interest in the Austrian School and the broader realm of free-market thought. The Logic of ActionTwo is a careful selection of Rothbard's most important scholarly articles. Some have appeared in mainstream journals, others have been long out of circulation, and still others are published here for the first time. It was Rothbard's major ambition to shore up the scientific status of the Austrian School and, at the same time, demonstrate the theory's radical, free-market implications for government policy. The book confirms Rothbard as an intellectual giant, and presents his many contributions to the Austrian School, a systematic alternative to mainstream thought that reaches radical, free-market policy conclusions.

"School Choice and Student Well-Being" is a review of research in the area of school choice and adapts Sen's theory of Capability to develop a more complex theoretical framework for understanding education markets. It is a timely contestation. Those for whom public education is a necessity are also those most adversely affected by its perceived failure, a for them, the tension between the rhetoric of the public good and the actualite of everyday disadvantage, between doctrine and reality, deserves better explication.

History is replete with examples of scientists and social scientists working under the yoke of oppressive regimes. In The Closed World of East German Economists, Till Düppe tells the story of a generation of economists whose entire careers coincided with the forty-one-year existence of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). In a micro-historical fashion, he examines the world of East German economists through the formative episodes in the lives of five different economists from this “hope� generation. Using both the perspective of the actors as expressed in interviews and archival material unknown to the actors, the book follows East German economics from the early days of the acceptance of Marxism-Leninism through to its interaction with Western economics and its eventual dissolution following the collapse of the Berlin Wall. It is fascinating insight into the challenges faced by economists in a unique period of European history.

Series Information:
Routledge Studies in the History of Economics

Economists direct their research mainly to the technical frontiers of the discipline. But the actual decisions of political economy are made, not by experts, but by ordinary public officials and voters--the "Everyman." However, the task of educating the Everyman is neglected, sometimes even denigrated, by academic economists.

Daniel Klein has here gathered essays of 9 great economists of this century--Friedrich Hayek, Ronald Coase, Thomas Schelling, Gordon Tullock, Israel Kirzner, Frank Graham, William Hutt, Clarence Philbrook, and D. McCloskey--addressing the existential issue for economists: "How do we contribute to human betterment?"

The authors express their esteem for economic research firmly rooted in public issues and that contributes to public discourse. Some suggest that the academic focus on technical refinement not only diverts economists from efforts at public edification, but might even mislead economists in their own understanding of economic affairs.

First published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

There is an urgent need to better understand the causes and consequences of obesity, and to learn what works to prevent or reduce obesity. The purpose of this volume is to accurately and conveniently summarize the findings and insights of obesity-related research from the full range of social sciences, including anthropology, economics, government, psychology, and sociology. The first section of the book explains how each social science discipline models human behavior (in particular, diet and physical activity), and summarizes the major strains of obesity research in that discipline. The second section provides important information for researchers, including a guide to publicly available social science data on obesity and an overview of the challenges to causal inference in obesity research. The third part of the book synthesizes social science research on specific causes and correlates of obesity, such as food advertising, food prices, and peers. The fourth section summarizes social science research on the consequences of obesity, such as lower wages, job absenteeism, and discrimination. The fifth and final section reviews the social science literature on obesity treatment and prevention, such as food taxes, school-based interventions, and medical treatments such as anti-obesity drugs and bariatric surgery. This volume is designed to meet the growing need of researchers for accurate and well-written summaries of the large amount of recent studies on this topic. This handbook will be of great use for researchers in every social science discipline, both bringing them up to date on the relevant research in their own discipline and allowing them to quickly and easily understand the cutting-edge research being produced in other disciplines. It is a volume that every obesity researcher will want to have on his or her shelf. These research summaries are valuable for researchers, public health officials, policymakers, nutritionists, and medical practitioners.