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Peddling Prosperity: Economic Sense and Nonsense in an Age of Diminished Expectations (Norton Paperback) Paperback – April 17, 1995
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Newsweek hailed Paul Krugman as "a superstar among economists" and went on to praise Peddling Prosperity as "the best primer around on recent U.S. economic history." Others joined the chorus.
This wonderfully received book finds him in top form, observing the years he's dubbed "the age of diminished expectations." The past twenty years have been an era of economic disappointment in the United States. They have also been a time of intense economic debate, as rival ideologies contend for policy influence. But strange things have happened to economic ideas on their way to power: they've been hijacked by policy entrepreneurs―economic snake-oil salesmen, right or left, who offer easy answers to hard problems. Supply-siders rose to power with Ronald Reagan and not only cured nothing but left behind a $3 trillion debt. Krugman finds an unhappy parallel in those who shape policy within the Clinton administration.- Print length320 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherW. W. Norton & Company
- Publication dateApril 17, 1995
- Dimensions5.5 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches
- ISBN-109780393312928
- ISBN-13978-0393312928
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Product details
- ASIN : 0393312925
- Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company; 59090th edition (April 17, 1995)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780393312928
- ISBN-13 : 978-0393312928
- Item Weight : 10.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,360,785 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,288 in Theory of Economics
- #2,703 in Economic History (Books)
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About the author

Paul Krugman writes a twice-weekly column for the op-ed page of the New York Times. A winner of the John Bates Clark Medal who was also named Columnist of the Year by Editor and Publisher magazine, he teaches economics at Princeton University.
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Krugman has great humor and style here. The book is basically told as a story that is organized chronologically. He talks of the Keynesian revolution in economics, then the attack on Keynes by monetarists, then the emergence of supply side economics, then the revival of Keynesian economics, then the emergence of strategic trade policy.
For those who have a good knowledge of economics, the humorous and stylistic presentation here makes it more entertaining than the usual dry economics. This book can be read in a day.
Such that I never paid Krugman much attention until he won that Nobel prize. Sure, I had read a couple of his NYT articles, but I didn't realize how well-respected he was academically until then. After Stockholm made its announcement, I decided to read a few of his books carefully -- to see what I was missing.
"Peddling Prosperity" is the second Krugman book I've read so far. It's very good. Krugman has a gift for explaining complicated ideas in a homely and memorable way. But I guess that's why he makes so much money.
Though this book can be characterized as an overall primer on macroeconomics, its major thrust is exploring what went wrong with productivity growth after 1973. It's an analysis of the problem paced in a leisurely enough way that you end up getting a lot of very useful background on the subject, although the book really goes nowhere and essentially concludes with Krugman admitting "we still don't know." But listening to his musings will improve you despite that admission.
The real problem with this book is that it sorely needs a second edition. It came out in 1994, before the productivity gains of the internet hit, before the Clinton surpluses, before the Bushian twin deficits, and, well, a lot else.
It's still very readable, and its merits far outweigh this shortcoming, but I wish Krugman would update it. About 20% or so of the text is totally useless by this point.
I think he's on to other things by this point, though.
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Amazon provide a decent service and I have no complaints except for the above.
About halfway through the book. It's more balanced, less angry, than I had expected. Well written.



