In an age when public officials argue vehemently over the size and importance of the deficit of the United States government, this timely volume analyzes the problems involved with the rapid rise in government debt in countries all over the world since the 1970s. The authors focus on how debt management influences the financial sector as well as elements of the "real" economy such as output, capital formation, and consumption.

Does Debt Management Matter? (FIEF Studies in Labor Markets and Economic Policy)

Business & Money

Friedman, Benjamin M.

Agell, Jonas

Persson, Mats

Economics

Oxford University Press

How religious thinking was-and remains-a central influence shaping economics. The conventional view of economics is that the field was a product of the Enlightenment and, therefore, bore no relation to religious ideas. But is this true? In Religious Influences on Economic Thinking, Benjamin Friedman shows that religious thinking was, in fact, a powerful force in shaping the initial development of modern Western economics and that it has remained an influence on economic thinking ever since. Friedman argues that an important influence enabling the insights of Adam Smith and his contemporaries was the new and highly controversial line of religious thinking at that time in the English-speaking Protestant world. Friedman explains that the influence of religious thinking on modern economic thought at the field's inception established resonances that have persisted through the subsequent centuries, even as the economic context has evolved and the questions economists ask have shifted along with it. Because we are largely not conscious of these influences, neither in the past nor as they are at work today, we are sometimes puzzled when we stumble across evidence of them-for example, in the otherwise hard-to-explain attitudes that many of our fellow citizens express on issues like estate taxes, business regulation, and environmental restrictions. But they are still at work. Understanding them can only enhance the economics profession's capacity to contribute to our ongoing public discussion of the important questions on which the discipline so usefully bears.

Religious Influences on Economic Thinking: The Origins of Modern Economics (Karl Brunner Distinguished Lecture Series)

The MIT Press

Day of Reckoning, the Consequences of American Economic Policy

International

New York, NY, U.S.A.: Vintage Books, 1989

Examines Ronald Reagan's economic policies, details their national financial consequences, and argues for the necessity of tax increases

Day of Reckoning: The Consequences of American Economic Policy

Random House]

From one of the nation's preeminent experts on economic policy, a major reassessment of the foundations of modern economic thinking that explores the profound influence of an until-now unrecognized force-religion. "Friedman has given us an original and brilliant new perspective on the terrifying divisions of our own times. No book could be more important." -George A. Akerlof, Nobel Laureate in Economics Critics of contemporary economics complain that belief in free markets-among economists as well as many ordinary citizens-is a form of religion. And, it turns out, that in a deeper, more historically grounded sense there is something to that idea. Contrary to the conventional historical view of economics as an entirely secular product of the Enlightenment, Benjamin M. Friedman demonstrates that religion exerted a powerful influence from the outset. Friedman makes clear how the foundational transition in thinking about what we now call economics, beginning in the eighteenth century, was decisively shaped by the hotly contended lines of religious thought within the English-speaking Protestant world. Beliefs about God-given human character, about the after-life, and about the purpose of our existence, were all under scrutiny in the world in which Adam Smith and his contemporaries lived. Friedman explores how those debates go far in explaining the puzzling behavior of so many of our fellow citizens whose views about economic policies-and whose voting behavior-seems sharply at odds with what would be to their own economic benefit. Illuminating the origins of the relationship between religious thinking and economic thinking, together with its ongoing consequences, Friedman provides invaluable insights into our current economic policy debates and demonstrates ways to shape more functional policies for all citizens.

Religion and the Rise of Capitalism

Vintage

From one of the nation's preeminent experts on economic policy, a major reassessment of the foundations of modern economic thinking the explores the profound influence of an until-now unrecognized force--religion. Critics of contemporary economics complain that belief in free markets--among economists as well as many ordinary citizens--is a form of religion. And, it turns out, that in a deeper, more historically grounded sense there is something to that idea. Contrary to the conventional historical view of economics as an entirely secular product of the Enlightenment, Benjamin M. Friedman demonstrates that religion exerted a powerful influence from the outset. Friedman makes clear how the foundational transition in thinking about what we now call economics, beginning in the eighteenth century, was decisively shaped by the hotly contended lines of religious thought within the English-speaking Protestant world. Beliefs about God-given human character, about the after-life, and about the purpose of our existence, were all under scrutiny in the world in which Adam Smith and his contemporaries lived. Friedman explores how those debates go far in explaining the puzzling behavior of so many of our fellow citizens whose views about economic policies--and whose voting behavior--seems sharply at odds with what would be to their own economic benefit. Illuminating the origins of the relationship between religious thinking and economic thinking, together with its ongoing consequences, Friedman provides invaluable insights into our current economic policy debates and demonstrates ways to shape more functional policies for all citizens.

KNOPF

From the author of Day of Reckoning, the acclaimed critique of Ronald Reagan’s economic policy (“Every citizen should read it,” said The New York Times): a persuasive, wide-ranging argument that broadly distributed economic growth provides benefits far beyond the material, creating and strengthening democratic institutions, establishing political stability, fostering tolerance, and enhancing opportunity. “Are we right,” Benjamin M. Friedman asks, “to care so much about economic growth as we clearly do?” To answer, Friedman reaches beyond economics. He examines the political and social histories of the large Western democracies—particularly of the United States since the Civil War—distinguishing times of generally rising living standards from those of pervasive stagnation to illustrate how rising incomes render a society more open and democratic. He shows, too, how our attitudes toward economic growth and its consequences have roots in the thinking of prior centuries, especially the Enlightenment, and also include significant strands of religious influence. Friedman also delineates the role of economic growth in determining which developing nations extend the broadest freedoms to their citizenry. He makes clear that growth, rather than just the level of living standards, is key to effecting political and social liberalization in the third world. But he also warns that the democratic values of countries even as wealthy as our own are at risk whenever incomes stagnate for extended periods. Merely being rich is no protection against a society’s retreat into rigidity and intolerance once enough of its citizens lose the sense that they are getting ahead. Finally, Friedman shows us why, if America is to strengthen democratic institutions around the world as a bulwark against terrorism and social unrest, we must aggressively pursue growth at home and promote worldwide economic expansion beyond what purely market-driven forces would create. And for the United States, he offers concrete suggestions for policy steps to achieve those objectives. A major contribution to the ongoing debate on the effects of economic growth and globalization.

The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth

Examines Reagan's economic policies, details their financial consequences, and presents the necessity of substantial tax increases

Day of Reckoning: The Consequences of American Economic Policy in the 1980's

New York: Random House

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Friedman, Benjamin M.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Friedman, Benjamin M.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Friedman, Benjamin M.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Does Debt Management Matter? (FIEF Studies in Labor Markets and Economic Policy)

Religious Influences on Economic Thinking: The Origins of Modern Economics (Karl Brunner Distinguished Lecture Series)

Day of Reckoning, the Consequences of American Economic Policy

Day of Reckoning: The Consequences of American Economic Policy

Religion and the Rise of Capitalism

Religion and the Rise of Capitalism

The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth

Day of Reckoning: The Consequences of American Economic Policy

Day of Reckoning: The Consequences of American Economic Policy in the 1980's

Day of Reckoning: The Consequences of American Economic Policy in the 1980's