This book is a compilation of economic views on the purpose of life. It follows a unique approach, starting with propositions from diverse fields that act as governing laws of the purpose of life in economics, then guiding the reader through the physical, philosophical, and psychological views of the purpose of life, as economics and economic theories can find their roots in all these areas. The book concludes with the purpose of life presented through economic doctrines (from the pre-classical, to classical, to neo-classical schools of economic thought), through the lens of economic development, and from the perspective of several religious doctrines.

This volume illuminates and critically assesses Paul A. Samuelson's voluminous and groundbreaking contributions to the field of economics. The volume includes contributions from eminent scholars, including six Nobel Laureates, covering the extraordinary depth and breadth of Samuelson's contributions.

The publication of Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America has kindled interest across disciplines to appraise the exceptional nature of U.S. activities. In general, however, all the published works have not focused their analyses from an economic point of view. While economics was for some a "dismal science" following Thomas Carlyle's characterization of Malthus' demographic model, it has increasingly become the "queen of the social sciences" for more practitioners. The book fills a gap in the literature by describing the American contributors as precursors and genuinely exceptional economists. We present their works within the state of the nation in which they advance their discipline.One is treated to both qualitative and quantitative theories in the opening chapter. Budding theories that became established theories of Economics and Finance are investigated in Chapters II and III. When President John Adams was confronted with M. Turgot's criticisms of the American government, he resorted to a historic survey of types of government from ancient Greece to the Middle Ages. Similarly, we have included a final chapter, Chapter IV, to present the argument for American Exceptionalism in the domain of Political Economy and Economic Law over the ages.

This book presents analyses of several distressed industries in the United States, including the steel, footwear, textile and apparel, paper and publishing, and automobile industries. In particular, it focuses on the influence of the new era of globalization on these industries, as the authors argue that the transition to their current distressed states was triggered by the structural changes that resulted from globalization. While the inevitability of the negative impact of globalization may lead some to neglect research of distressed industries, these industries continue to survive and productively contribute to the economic base of the United States. Their stories are about the changing structure, conduct, and performance of the industrial United States.

This book looks into the creative minds of some recent, mostly ""defunct"" economists. Many of the authors, such as Samuelson, Friedman, Galbraith, and Heilbroner, have penned popular works, while their scientific contributions were limited to the most specialized scholars. Others, such as Nobel Prize winners Modigliani, Debreu, Becker, Aumann, and Allais, delved into complex issues in human organization, economic growth and planning, socio-economic theory, and model building. Economists such as Keynes and Lowe represent world-class paragons whose influences continue to percolate in current research programs. Here we unearth their best scientific work, revealing gems that might otherwise be overlooked.

The sequel to Eminent Economists, this book presents the ideas of some of the most outstanding economists of the past half century. The contributors, representing divergent points of the ideological compass, present their life philosophies and reflect on their conceptions of human nature, society, justice, and the source of creative impulse. These self-portraits reveal details of the economists' personal and professional lives that capture the significance of the total person. The essays represent streams of thought that lead to the vast ocean of economics, where gems of the discipline lie, and the volume will appeal to a wide array of readers, including professional economists, students and laypersons who seek a window into the heart of this complex field. The contributors include Alan S. Blinder, Clair Brown, John Y. Campbell, Vincent P. Crawford, Paul Davidson, Angus Deaton, Harold Demsetz, Peter Diamond, Avinash Dixit, Barry Eichengreen, Jeffrey Frankel, Richard B. Freeman, Benjamin M. Friedman and John Hull.

Revolutions in Book Publishing uses dynamic methods to examine the evolution of the industry's transition from physical place to cyber space, analyzing the latest effects of technological innovations on the industry as well as their influence on distribution channels, market structure, and conduct of the industry.

This book presents analyses of several distressed industries in the United States, including the steel, footwear, textile and apparel, paper and publishing, and automobile industries. In particular, it focuses on the influence of the new era of globalization on these industries, as the authors argue that the transition to their current distressed states was triggered by the structural changes that resulted from globalization. While the inevitability of the negative impact of globalization may lead some to neglect research of distressed industries, these industries continue to survive and productively contribute to the economic base of the United States. Their stories are about the changing structure, conduct, and performance of the industrial United States.

This volume illuminates and critically assesses Paul A. Samuelson's voluminous and groundbreaking contributions to the field of economics. The volume includes contributions from eminent scholars, including 6 Nobel Laureates, covering the extraordinary depth and breadth of Samuelson's contributions. Samuelson, the first American economist to win the Nobel prize in 1970, was the foremost voice in economics in the latter half of the 20th century. He single-handedly transformed the discipline by creating a new way of presenting economics, making it possible for it to be cast all in mathematical terms.
Samuelson developed broad frameworks, such as the neoclassical synthesis, a mixed economy, and the surrogate production function, which provided practitioners with a vision for research. Samuelson's contributions to economics are rich, complex, consequential, and relevant to the ordinary economics of life. The quality of Samuelson's output and methods leave no doubt that his contributions continue to be timely and relevant even in the 21st century. Ideal as a reference or an introduction to Samuelson's work, this is a must-have for students and academics alike.

"This book captures much of the spirit of Paul A. Samuelson. Those who know Samuelson, one of the great economists of the twentieth century, only through his writings may have already sensed his wit, his intellect, his brilliance. This book brings these into focus, through details of his personal history and a wealth of anecdotes from colleagues and students." - Joseph E. Stiglitz (Foreword) "Probably more than anyone else in the twentieth century, he transformed the way economists think and write." - Avinash Dixit "Samuelson set a standard in teaching and citizenship.that few if any will ever match." - Kenneth Rogoff "To know Paul Samuelson is to be engaged in a life-long intellectual conversation with the most important economist of our times." - Richard Zeckhauser About Paul Samuelson: Paul Anthony Samuelson is Institute Professor, Emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Born in the American midwest in the first half of the twentieth century, he was a provocative student of Jacob Viner and was later wooed from Harvard to MIT. He developed original methodology and instigated controversies in his profession. Samuelson is the author of the best-selling economics textbook of all time, for which he never received an author's advance payment. He is legendary for his expansive, penetrating, undogmatic thinking and generosity of spirit-to students and colleagues alike. He has contributed to national economic policies and business trends and was the winner of the 1970 Nobel Prize in Economics. Paul Samuelson: On Being an Economist is a concise profile of this original thinker whose forceful, profound, skeptical and expansive intellect drove one of the fundamental transformations of twentieth-century economic theory. About the Authors: Michael Szenberg, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Economics and Chair, Finance and Economics Department, Lubin School of Business, Pace University, is editor-in-chief of The American Economist. His books include New Frontiers in Economics, coedited with Lall Ramrattan, with a Foreword by Paul A. Samuelson (Cambridge University Press, 2004). Aron A. Gottesman, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Finance and Economics Department, Lubin School of Business, Pace University, is coauthor of Insurance Logic, Second Edition (Captus Press, 2005). Lall Ramrattan, Ph.D. teaches Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. His books include Reflections of Eminent Economists, coedited with Michael Szenberg (Elgar Publishing Co., 2004).

Leading economists analyze the new directions that subdisciplines of economics have taken in the face of modern economic challenges. These essays represent invention and discovery in the areas of information, macroeconomics and public policies, international trade and development, finance, business, contracts, law, gaming, and government, as these areas of study evolve through the different phases of the scientific process. They offer a wealth of factual information on the current state of the economy. Theoretical and empirical innovations conceptualize reality and values in different ways from their predecessors. Together the essays offer the reader a balanced look at the various fields, approaches, and dimensions that comprise future directions in economic theory, research, and practice. The extensive introduction by the editors not only summarizes and reviews the implications of the contributions presented in the volume, but also examines how scientific progress takes place, with special reference to economics and finance.