The Measure of Progress: Counting What Really Matters
By: Diane Coyle – University of Cambridge
The ways that statisticians and governments measure the economy were developed in the 1940s, when the urgent economic problems were entirely different from those of today. In The Measure of Progress, Diane Coyle argues that the framework underpinning today’s economic statistics is so outdated that it functions as a distorting lens, or even a set of blinkers. When policymakers rely on such an antiquated conceptual tool, how can they measure, understand, and respond with any precision to what is happening in today’s digital economy? Coyle makes the case for a new framework, one that takes into consideration current economic realities.
The New Economic Nationalism
By: Monica de Bolle, Jérémie Cohen-Setton, Madi Sarsenbayev – Peterson Institute for International Economics
Empires, city states, and nations have long pursued aggressive trade, tax, and investment policies to amass wealth. A new consensus emerged after the Great Depression and World War II supporting liberalized international trade, economic cooperation, and free markets. Today that consensus has shattered, replaced by a “new economic nationalism” of industrial policy, tariffs, and various methods of state support for the economy. Can this new approach deliver stability, national security, and prosperity? This book examines case studies revealing a decidedly mixed record. In some instances, economic nationalist policies have fostered growth and declining unemployment, though accompanied by fiscal costs and inefficiency. In much of the developing world, however, economic nationalist policies have produced corruption, debt burdens, inflation, and ultimately stagnation. By examining the past, The New Economic Nationalism provides a roadmap to an uncertain future.
Inflation – A Guide for Users and Losers
By: Mark Blyth, Nicolò Fraccaroli – Brown University, World Bank
Leading political economists Mark Blyth and Nicolò Fraccaroli reveal why inflation really happens, challenge how we think about it, and argue for fresh approaches to combat it. With accessible and engaging commentary, and a good dose of humor, Blyth and Fraccaroli bring the complexities of economic policy and inflation indices down to earth.
Policymakers around the world may have pulled off a so-called “soft landing,” but Inflation warns they must update their thinking. Now climate shocks, demographic change, geopolitical tensions, and politicians promising to upend the global order are all combining to create a more inflationary future, making a new paradigm for understanding inflation urgently necessary. Astute, timely, and engaging, Inflation is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the forces shaping our economy and politics.
This wonderful book demystifies competing narratives about inflation to prepare you for a world in which the winners and losers may have to deal with the price hikes caused by climate change and geopolitics.
Dani Rodrik, Harvard University
Our Dollar, Your Problem – An Insider’s View of Seven Turbulent Decades of Global Finance, and the Road Ahead
By: Kenneth Rogoff – Harvard University
Our Dollar, Your Problem argues that America’s currency might not have reached today’s lofty pinnacle without a certain amount of good luck. Drawing in part on his own experiences, including with policymakers and world leaders, Kenneth Rogoff animates the remarkable postwar run of the dollar—how it beat out the Japanese yen, the Soviet ruble, and the euro—and the challenges it faces today from crypto and the Chinese yuan, the end of reliably low inflation and interest rates, political instability, and the fracturing of the dollar bloc. Americans cannot take for granted that the Pax Dollar era will last indefinitely, not only because many countries are deeply frustrated with the system, but also because overconfidence and arrogance can lead to unforced errors. Rogoff shows how America’s outsized power and exorbitant privilege can spur financial instability—not just abroad but also at home.
