From the Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times bestselling coauthor of Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism,candid reflections on the economist's craftWhen economist Angus Deaton immigrated to the United States from Britain in the early 1980s,he was awed by America's strengths and shocked by the extraordinary gaps he witnessed between people. Economics in America explains in clear terms how the field of economics addresses the most pressing issues of our time-from poverty,retirement,and the minimum wage to the ravages of the nation's uniquely disastrous health care system-and narrates Deaton's account of his experiences as a naturalized US citizen and academic economist.Deaton is witty and pulls no punches. In this incisive,candid,and funny book,he describes the everyday lives of working economists,recounting the triumphs as well as the disasters,and tells the inside story of the Nobel Prize in economics and the journey that led him to Stockholm to receive one. He discusses the ongoing tensions between economics and politics-and the extent to which economics has any content beyond the political prejudices of economists-and reflects on whether economists bear at least some responsibility for the growing despair and rising populism in America.Blending rare personal insights with illuminating perspectives on the social challenges that confront us today,Deaton offers a disarmingly frank critique of his own profession while shining a light on his adopted country's policy accomplishments and failures.
Publisher: Princeton University PressISBN: 9780691247625Number of pages: 280Dimensions: 216 x 140 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
"(An) excellent new book...exploring everything from inequality to deaths of despair to the failures of the field in which he won the Nobel prize. It's all leavened with sardonic humor."--Nicholas Kristof"Deaton recounts his journey to understanding the political and economic dysfunctions of his adopted home. It's sort of like Alexis De Tocqueville's classic Democracy in America,but with more numbers,more economics,and more vitriol....Rare for an economist,Deaton offers a lucid and unsparing critique of America's political system."--Greg Rosalsky,NPR's Planet Money"Deaton's prose is lucid and tartly down-to-earth (the U.S. government works'to help rich predators make ordinary people poorer,'he writes),and he makes a convincing case that'economics should be about understanding the reasons for and doing away with the sordidness and joylessness that come with poverty and deprivation.'The result is a refreshing take on America's economic discontents.""This brilliant economics study will likely engage general readers and hold their attention to the end.""Informative,given the wide range of subjects; compelling,given Deaton's obvious authority and rich experience; and,given his flair for writing,enjoyable."--Vivek Arora,Finance & Development
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