The Age of Diminished Expectations: U.S. Economic Policy in the 1990s

by Paul Krugman (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1994

  $4.40

  This guide to the economic landscape of the 1990s has been revised and updated to include a new introduction in which Krugman connects George Bush's fall from office to simmering dismay over a long-term economic slowdown. There is a new chapter on international finance that focuses primarily on European monetary affairs, and a new chapter on health care that examines why costs have exploded and explains how managed competition and alternative systems would work, and why it is so difficult to control rising health care costs. There are smaller additions throughout the rest of the book. These include: a discussion of how people misunderstand the relationship between productivity and competitiveness; the very minor industrial policy proposals that have been made thus far; new data reflecting even larger gains for the wealthy than have been thought; a prediction that Clinton's tax plan will have only a small impact; a discussion of the junk bond market collapse; and the startling productivity numbers for 1992. Discussions of unemployment and the trade deficit take into account that unemployment has risen, and there is a new section on how the Federal Reserve fumbled, as well as a new assessment of financial markers in light of the recession.

• Used

  Paperback
  1997

  $5.89

  Paul Krugman's popular guide to the economic landscape of the 1990s has been revised and updated to take into account economic developments of the past three years. New material in the third edition includes:- A new chapter-complete with colorful examples from Lloyds of London and Sumitomo Metals-on how risky behavior can lead to disaster in private markets.- An evaluation of the Federal Reserves role in reining in economic growth to prevent inflation, and the debate over whether its growth targets are too low.- A look at the collapse of the Mexican peso and the burst of Japans bubble economy.- A revised discussion of the federal budget deficit, including the growing concern that Social Security and Medicare payments to retiring baby boomers will threaten the solvency of the government. Finally, in the updated concluding section, the author provides three possible scenarios for the American economy over the next decade. He warns that we live in an age of diminished expectations, in which the voting public is willing to settle for policy drift-but with the first of the baby boomers turning 65 in 2011, the U.S. economy will not be able to drift indefinitely.