The Damaging Effects of Global Inequality

World Bank economist Branko Milanović has a great introduction to global inequality in his The Haves and the Have-Nots: A Brief and Idiosyncratic History of Global Inequality. He uses history, literature, and stories straight out of today’s newspapers, to discuss one of the major divisions in our social lives: between the haves and the have-nots. 

Milanovic reveals just how rich Elizabeth Bennet’s suitor Mr. Darcy really was; how much Anna Karenina gained by falling in love; how wealthy ancient Romans compare to today’s super-rich; where in Kenyan income distribution was Obama’s grandfather; how we should think about Marxism in a modern world; and how location where one is born determines his wealth. 

He goes beyond mere entertainment to explain why inequality matters, how it damages our economics prospects, and how it can threaten the foundations of the social order that we take for granted.

The book, by the lead economist with the World Bank’s research division and one of the world’s leading experts on inequality, was discussed in a three part series in Think Progress:

Part 1:  Inequality: The Global View
Part 2: Five Things You Might Not Know About Inequality
Part 3: Why Rich People Hate Talking About Inequality

See also Finance & Development magazine on inequality.
         Branko Milanovic's article: More or Less
                                 podcast interview on inequality  
          IMF research: Andy Berg and Jonathan Ostry

Inequality may be hazardous to your growth
How inequality affects savings behavior

Branko Milanović talking about inequality research:

Tribute to Chinua Achebe

Good write-up in the Guardian on Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, the father of African literature, who died in Boston, aged 82:

"African literature burst onto the world stage with Achebe's 1958 novel Things Fall Apart, which portrays an Igbo yam farmer's fatal struggle to come to terms with British colonialism in the late 19th century. It remains the best-selling novel ever written by an African author, having sold more than 10-million copies in 50 different languages. Nelson Mandela, who read his books during his 27-year incarceration, once said of him: "He was the writer in whose company the prison walls came down."

Chinua Achebe peered deep into the Nigerian psyche

"Achebe's works do not fear to challenge those post-colonial, independent regimes in Africa who abuse personal power in every possible way – from banning political opposition, to corruption. His novel A Man of the People, a biting satire on corruption in freed African regimes, uses the blade of humour to alert us to official greed and the cant which legitimises it."  from "A mind able to penetrate the mystery of being human."

New York Times ran an eloquent obituary:

In his writing and teaching Mr. Achebe sought to reclaim the continent from Western literature, which he felt had reduced it to an alien, barbaric and frightening land devoid of its own art and culture. He took particular exception to "Heart of Darkness," the novel by Joseph Conrad, whom he thought “a thoroughgoing racist.” 

Do You Still Prefer Print?

Lots of people do. Laura Miller writes in Salon:

"If print could talk, it would surely be telling the world, Mark Twain-style, that reports of its demise have been greatly exaggerated. The market for e-books grew exponentially after Amazon introduced the Kindle, and it’s still one of the most fascinating and unpredictable sectors of a once hidebound industry. But the early-adapter boom is showing signs of flagging and the growth of the e-book market appears to be leveling out. E-books are definitely here to stay, but it seems that many, many readers — a threefold majority, in fact — still prefer print."

Read the Salon article. 

Wired on the future of book publishing.

What  about reselling your ebook? Does it pass your sniff test !!

Democracy Pays Off

Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty by Daron Acemoğlu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A nation's poverty or prosperity may have as much to do with politics as economics, says Daron Acemoglu.

The MIT professor argues that more democratic countries with inclusive political institutions create sustained prosperity, while “extractive” authoritarian regimes lead toward poverty.

Acemoglu discusses why China is not the exception.

Listen to an interview with Acemoglu: http://www.imf.org/external/podcast/2...

Exploring the Irrational

MIT professor Dan Ariely

Ariely, behavioral economist and author of Predictably Irrational, discusses the irrational decisions that influence our dating lives, our workplace experiences, and our general behavior, up close and personal.

In The Upside of Irrationality, Ariely explores the many ways in which our behavior often leads us astray in terms of our romantic relationships, our experiences in the workplace, and our temptations to cheat. Blending everyday experience with groundbreaking research, Ariely explains how expectations, emotions, social norms and other invisible, seemingly illogical forces skew our reasoning abilities.

He also talks about Wall St. bonuses, incentives, and the role of emotions in the workplace. 

Little Book of Economics

Harvard professor Greg Mankiw gives a thumbs up to Greg Ip, the U.S. Economics Editor of The Economist, based in Washington, D.C.:

"A terrific, very quick, and nontechnical introduction in economics (more macro than micro) is Greg Ip's Little Book of Economics. In case you don't know him, Greg writes for The Economist magazine and was previously at the Wall Street Journal. He now has a new edition of his book, together with an online guide to suggested readings."

See his website

Reexamining Economics

The global economic crisis and the subsequent weak recovery has shaken up macroeconomics.

A conference on the theme “Macro and Growth Policies in the Wake of the Crisis” took place at the IMF’s Headquarters in Washington, DC on March 7-8, 2011. The conference was hosted by four of the world’s most noted economists, including two Nobel laureates: Michael Spence (Stanford University), Joseph Stiglitz (Columbia University), Olivier Blanchard (Economic Counselor and Director of Research at the IMF), and David Romer (University of California, Berkeley). The event brought together leading policymakers and academics from both advanced and emerging countries, as well as representatives from civil society, the private sector, and the media.

The aim of the conference was to distill the policy lessons of the global financial crisis. Participants focused on six key areas: monetary policy, fiscal policy, financial intermediation and regulation, capital account management, growth strategies, and the international monetary system. They also sought to make concrete policy recommendations for how to revive sustainable growth while safeguarding macroeconomic and financial stability.

Review in F&D magazine
LSE review

Conference website In the Wake of the Crisis: Leading Economists Reassess Economic Policy by Michael Spence
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The global economic crisis has challenged Economics to the core. This is the first pass at reexamining Economics in the light of lessons learned and still being learnt.

The IMF held a conference of leading economists in 2011. Conference co-host and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz noted that “the models that were used before the crisis neither predicted the crisis nor gave us a framework for responding to the crisis when it happened.”

IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard said: "The global economic crisis taught us to question our most cherished beliefs about the way we conduct macroeconomic policy." http://blog-imfdirect.imf.org/2011/03...

This book is a collection of thoughts following the crisis and an examination of the future direction of the international monetary system.

View all my reviews