Identifies eight rules for amassing fortune based on case studies of people who became millionaires while earning an average income

Getting Rich In America: Eight Simple Rules For Building A Fortune--And A Satisfying Life

Business & Money

McKenzie, Richard B.

Lee, Dwight R.

Personal Finance

HarperBusiness

Picking up where the smash bestseller The Millionaire Next Door leaves off, Getting Rich in America reveals eight simple, practical, commonsense rules anybody can follow to save a million dollars--without sacrificing quality of life. Based on years of research studying self-made millionaires, and a phi-losophy that has proven successful for the authors, internationally acclaimed economists Dwight R. Lee and Richard B. McKenzie unveil a profound truth in the quest to become wealthy: Getting rich is a choice--and choosing to be rich, especially in America, has never been easier.
With its emphasis on achieving balance, Getting Rich in America is filled with exercises and easy-to-execute calculations that reveal how the "little things" really do add up and practical tips for saving and making your money work harder--so you don't have to.

Getting Rich in America

HarperPB

Things have never been better--and tomorrow they'll be better still. So argues Richard B. McKenzie in this provocative new book, The Paradox of Progress. Despite all the press stories of lay-offs and stagnant wages, despite all the talk of economic insecurity, says McKenzie, Americans have never lived so well, or had so many opportunities. The question, he writes, is not why things aren't better, but why does everyone keep complaining. In The Paradox of Progress, McKenzie demolishes the idea that the nation is in economic decline--and explains why we still feel so insecure. Writing with tremendous passion and insight, he marshals an array of data to show that the American standard of living has never been higher in real terms. Our perception of decline, he argues, comes from the press, which has long since learned that bad news sells; but he demonstrates how the 1980s--much-maligned by the media--in fact heralded a new age of prosperity and opportunity. The corporate downsizing of recent years signals the change: the old monolithic firms of the past are adjusting to an era of smaller companies, mobile capital, and new entrepreneurship. A new economic frontier is opening up--the "New West," as he calls it--as the rapid growth of electronic technology creates fresh room for growth and creativity. Government needs to get out of the way and accept the shift in "economic tectonics." And the message for workers, McKenzie writes, is clear: "Become more productive. Work harder and smarter. Get more education and skills. Get competitive. Do more than others have been doing or will likely do. Stop complaining." Public anxiety is justified, McKenzie adds, but it is misplaced: for if the shift in "economic tectonics" is ultimately a positive development, it has been accompanied by a "moral tectonics" earthquake that has been highly destructive. McKenzie attacks this moral earthquake head on, passionately echoing the words of Nobel Laureate F. A. Hayek, arguing that it is essential that we follow rules of social conduct, even if we don't like them or can't explain them rationally. Sweeping changes in the economy, and wrong-headed government programs, have undermined personal responsibility. The real social divide, he writes, is not between haves and have-nots, but between those who play by the rules, and those who refuse to. Members of the first group will eventually get ahead; those of the latter won't, and will blame everything--and everyone--except themselves. Writing with tremendous wit, personality, and force of mind, Richard McKenzie offers a provocative and deeply optimistic book. In it, he presents a bold vision of a new era in which Americans can and will compete and win, if they simply seize the opportunities that await them.

The Paradox of Progress: Can Americans Regain Their Confidence in a Prosperous Future?

Economics

Oxford University Press

Incentives are the most powerful tools executives can use to improve worker performance. This is particularly true in today's empowered workplace, where incentives can ensure that workers apply their initiative toward company goals. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Richard McKenzie and Dwight Lee show how to select the right incentives and how to use them for best results. Generously illustrated with examples from business, industry, government, academia, and professional sports, this superb volume offers a comprehensive overview of incentives, both in theory and in practice, providing a wealth of ideas managers can use to get employees to work harder, smarter, and more cooperatively. Much of the book is quite eye-opening. For instance, while McKenzie and Lee recognize that money is the prime motivator, they urge managers not to overlook the power of non-monetary incentives, carefully evaluating such motivators as fringe benefits, psychological incentives, education, and training. And they examine a host of other issues, including how to take advantage of executive "overpayment" to increase profits; the limits of piece-rate and other pay-for-performance schemes; finding the right balance between current pay and a more generous pension plan; the value of tough bosses; and hostile takeovers as a form of managerial incentive. How workers are rewarded is often more important than how much they are rewarded, say the authors. The job of good managers is getting the incentives right. Managing Through Incentives shows managers how to apply proven motivators to help any size firm energize the work force, increase its profits, and meet the awesome challenges of today's fiercely competitive global economy.

Managing through Incentives: How to Develop a More Collaborative, Productive, and Profitable Organization

Business Culture

The new world of economics: Explorations into the human experience (The Irwin series in economics)

R.D. Irwin

"Explorations into the Human Experience."

The New World of Economics: Explorations Into the Human Experience (Irwin Series in Finance)

The new world of economics: Explorations into the human experience (The Irwin publications in economics)

The Best of the New World of Economics...and Then Some

TULLOCK, GORDON

Richard D.Irwin

Why Popcorn Costs So Much at the Movies, And Other Pricing Puzzles unravels the pricing mysteries we encounter every day. Have you ever wondered why all movies, whether blockbusters or duds, have the same ticket prices? Why sometimes there are free lunches? Why so many prices end with "9"? Why ink cartridges can cost as much as printers? Why merchants offer sales, coupons, and rebates? Why long lines are good for shoppers? Why men earn more than women, around the globe – and why they always will? Richard McKenzie goes on to show how the 9/11 terrorists still kill Americans every day, because their attack distorted the perceived risks and relative prices of air vs. automobile travel, and jacked up both security costs and flight delays. Professor McKenzie also explores the unintended consequences of well-meaning efforts to spur the use of environmentally friendly fuels: starvation among millions of people around the world, and the destruction of rainforests in Malaysia and Indonesia. How can these things be? If you think you know the answers, think again. Why Popcorn Costs So Much at the Movies, And Other Pricing Puzzles shows you that the real reasons are sophisticated and surprising – and in Professor McKenzie’s hands, both informative and entertaining. You won’t need a degree in economics to enjoy this fascinating book, just an armchair and an inquiring mind.

Why Popcorn Costs So Much at the Movies: And Other Pricing Puzzles

Reference

Copernicus

In Defense of Monopoly offers an unconventional but empirically grounded argument in favor of market monopolies. Authors McKenzie and Lee claim that conventional, static models exaggerate the harm done by real-world monopolies, and they show why some degree of monopoly presence is necessary to maximize the improvement of human welfare over time. 
Inspired by Joseph Schumpeter's suggestion that market imperfections can drive an economy's long-term progress, In Defense of Monopoly defies conventional assumptions to show readers why an economic system's failure to efficiently allocate its resources is actually a necessary precondition for maximizing the system's long-term performance: the perfectly fluid, competitive economy idealized by most economists is decidedly inferior to one characterized by market entry and exit restrictions or costs.
An economy is not a board game in which players compete for a limited number of properties, nor is it much like the kind of blackboard games that economists use to develop their monopoly models. As McKenzie and Lee demonstrate, the creation of goods and services in the real world requires not only competition but the prospect of gains beyond a normal competitive rate of return.

In Defense of Monopoly: How Market Power Fosters Creative Production

University of Michigan Press

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Books by McKenzie, Richard B.