| Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism Contributor(s): Akerlof, George A. (Author), Shiller, Robert J. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0691142335 ISBN-13: 9780691142333 Publisher: Princeton University Press OUR PRICE: $24.70 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: February 2009 Annotation: "This book is a sorely needed corrective. "Animal Spirits" is an important--maybe even a decisive--contribution at a difficult juncture in macroeconomic theory."--Robert M. Solow, Nobel Prize-winning economist "This is an important book that breaks the mold of the existing economics conversation. Readers outside of economics will probably wonder why economists have not fully embraced these ideas already."--Thomas I. Palley, author of "Plenty of Nothing: The Downsizing of the American Dream" and the "Case for Structural Keynesianism" ""Animal Spirits" makes a very timely and significant contribution to the development of a new dominant paradigm for economics that acknowledges the imperfections of human decision making, a need which the panic in financial markets makes all too apparent. I am not aware of any other book like this one."--Diane Coyle, author of "The Soulful Science: What Economists Really Do and Why It Matters" |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Political Science | Public Policy - Economic Policy - Business & Economics | Free Enterprise & Capitalism - Business & Economics | Economics - Theory |
| Dewey: 330.122 |
| LCCN: 2008052649 |
| Physical Information: 0.93" H x 6.34" W x 9.48" (1.09 lbs) 248 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: From acclaimed economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller, the case for why government is needed to restore confidence in the economy The global financial crisis has made it painfully clear that powerful psychological forces are imperiling the wealth of nations today. From blind faith in ever-rising housing prices to plummeting confidence in capital markets, animal spirits are driving financial events worldwide. In this book, acclaimed economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller challenge the economic wisdom that got us into this mess, and put forward a bold new vision that will transform economics and restore prosperity. Akerlof and Shiller reassert the necessity of an active government role in economic policymaking by recovering the idea of animal spirits, a term John Maynard Keynes used to describe the gloom and despondence that led to the Great Depression and the changing psychology that accompanied recovery. Like Keynes, Akerlof and Shiller know that managing these animal spirits requires the steady hand of government--simply allowing markets to work won't do it. In rebuilding the case for a more robust, behaviorally informed Keynesianism, they detail the most pervasive effects of animal spirits in contemporary economic life--such as confidence, fear, bad faith, corruption, a concern for fairness, and the stories we tell ourselves about our economic fortunes--and show how Reaganomics, Thatcherism, and the rational expectations revolution failed to account for them. Animal Spirits offers a road map for reversing the financial misfortunes besetting us today. Read it and learn how leaders can channel animal spirits--the powerful forces of human psychology that are afoot in the world economy today. |