From the former economics columnist for Harper’s and The New York Times, a bold indictment of some of our most accepted mainstream economic theories—why they’re wrong, and how they’ve been harming America and the world. Ideas have the power to change history. But what happens when they are bad? In a tour de force of economics, history, and analysis, Jeff Madrick shows how theories on austerity, inflation, and efficient markets have become unassailable mantras over recent years, to the detriment of the country as a whole. Working backwards from the Great Recession, Madrick pulls no punches as he reconsiders seven of the greatest false idols of modern economic theory, from Say’s Law to Milton Friedman, illustrating how these ideas have been damaging markets, infrastructure, and individual livelihoods for years. Trenchant, sweeping, and empirical, Seven Bad Ideas resoundingly disrupts the status quo of modern economic theory.

Seven Bad Ideas: How Mainstream Economists Have Damaged America and the World

Business & Money

Madrick, Jeff

Business Culture

Vintage

A bold indictment of some of our most accepted mainstream economic theories—why they’re wrong, and how they’ve been harming America and the world. Budget deficits are bad. A strong dollar is good. Controlling inflation is paramount. Pay reflects greater worker skills. A deregulated free market is fair and effective. Theories like these have become mantras among American economists both liberal and conservative over recent decades. Validated originally by patron saints like Milton Friedman, they’ve assumed the status of self-evident truths across much of the mainstream. Jeff Madrick, former columnist for The New York Times and Harper’s, argues compellingly that a reconsideration is long overdue. Since the financial turmoil of the 1970s made stagnating wages and relatively high unemployment the norm, Madrick argues, many leading economists have retrenched to the classical (and outdated) bulwarks of theory, drawing their ideas more from purist principles than from the real-world behavior of governments and markets—while, ironically, deeply affecting those governments and markets by their counsel. Madrick atomizes seven of the greatest false idols of modern economic theory, illustrating how these ideas have been damaging markets, infrastructure, and individual livelihoods for years, causing hundreds of billions of dollars of wasted investment, financial crisis after financial crisis, poor and unequal public education, primitive public transportation, gross inequality of income and wealth and stagnating wages, and uncontrolled military spending. Using the Great Recession as his foremost case study, Madrick shows how the decisions America should have made before, during, and after the financial crisis were suppressed by wrongheaded but popular theory, and how the consequences are still disadvantaging working America and undermining the foundations of global commerce. Madrick spares no sinners as he reveals how the “Friedman doctrine” has undermined the meaning of citizenship and community, how the “Great Moderation” became a great jobs emergency, and how economists were so concerned with getting the incentives right for Wall Street that they got financial regulation all wrong. He in turn examines the too-often-marginalized good ideas of modern economics and convincingly argues just how beneficial they could be—if they can gain traction among policy makers. Trenchant, sweeping, and empirical, Seven Bad Ideas resoundingly disrupts the status quo of modern economic theory.

KNOPF

This book, reminiscent of the bestsellers Politics of Rich and Poor and Day of Reckoning, tells the real truth about America's long term economic decline—what caused it, what it has done to Americans, and what Americans should do about it. As the stock market soars, inflation recedes, and the federal budget deficit shrinks, the earnings of the typical American worker are still lower, adjusted for inflation, than they were a decade ago. Family income is only beginning to regain its lost ground, a higher proportion of Americans are living in poverty today than ten years ago, and the distribution of income remains the most unequal in the advanced industrial world. In this brilliantly clear, groundbreaking book, Jeffrey Madrick explains why prosperity has eluded so many Americans and why, since the early 1970s, our rate of economic growth has declined so dramatically. Madrick cuts through the illusions and hypocrisy that accompany the political rhetoric of both parties and shows that before we can fix the economy, we have to recognize what went wrong. Praise for The End of Affluence “The most straightforward account of the disappearing of the American Dream.”—Commentary “In the tradition of the economists Robert Heilbroner and John Kenneth Galbraith, Mr. Madrick makes sophisticated economics easy reading.”—The New York Times “One of the best books on what’s happening in the American economy to be published in years.”—Richard Nelson, Columbia University “For the layman looking to make sense of the 1990s economy, this is a short, accessible primer that clears away a lot of the underbrush and highlights the central truth about the American economy.”—The Washington Post “Without question, The End of Affluence has begun to make a real impact on the future course of U.S. economic policy.”—Richard Gephardt, Democratic leader, U.S. House of Representatives

The End of Affluence: The Causes and Consequences of America's Economic Dilemma

Economics

Random House]

Invisible Americans: The Tragic Cost of Child Poverty

"A clarion call to address this most unjust blight upon the American landscape. Madrick has provided a valuable service in presenting a highly readable and cogent argument for change."--Mark R. Rank, The Washington Post By official count, more than one out of every six American children live beneath the poverty line. But statistics alone tell little of the story. In Invisible Americans, Jeff Madrick brings to light the often invisible reality and irreparable damage of child poverty in America. Keeping his focus on the children, he examines the roots of the problem, including the toothless remnants of our social welfare system, entrenched racism, and a government unmotivated to help the most voiceless citizens. Backed by new and unambiguous research, he makes clear the devastating consequences of growing up poor: living in poverty, even temporarily, is detrimental to cognitive abilities, emotional control, and the overall health of children. The cost to society is incalculable. The inaction of politicians is unacceptable. Still, Madrick argues, there may be more reason to hope now than ever before. Rather than attempting to treat the symptoms of poverty, we might be able to ameliorate its worst effects through a single, simple, and politically feasible policy that he lays out in this impassioned and urgent call to arms.

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

The forces that shape economic growth: The size of markets. Large markets make economies of scale possible and thus encourage saving, investing, and the development of new products. The availability of information and the literacy of the population. The spread of information gives people access to scientific and technical ideas, products, and productive farming, manufacturing, and marketing techniques. Natural resources. These seem like primary requirements but are not: they depend on markets for their commercial value. Surplus capital—savings—that can be used as investment. Basic economic rights such as guarantees of property and contracts. Entrepreneurialism, creativity, and the human drive for self-improvement. Technology and invention. While commonly seen as primary (or even the only) requirements for growth, these are strongly dependent on other factors.

Why Economies Grow

Basic Books

The size of government is arguably the most controversial discussion in United States politics, and this issue won't fade from prominence any time soon. There must surely be a tipping point beyond which more government taxing and spending harms the economy, but where is that point? In this accessible book, best-selling authors Jeff Madrick, Jon Bakija, Lane Kenworthy, and Peter Lindert try to answer whether our government can grow any larger and examine how we can optimize growth and fair distribution.

How Big Should Our Government Be?

Bakija, Jon

Kenworthy, Lane

Lindert, Peter

University of California Press

Chronicles the radical changes in American business practices since the first hostile takeover in 1974, when economic forces made it easier for a corporation to grow through acquisition rather than internal start up

Taking America: How We Got from the First Hostile Takeover to Megamergers, Corporate Raiding, and Scandal

Bantam]

Political conservatives have long believed that the best government is a small government. But if this were true, noted economist Jeff Madrick argues, the nation would not be experiencing stagnant wages, rising health care costs, increasing unemployment, and concentrations of wealth for a narrow elite. In this perceptive and eye-opening book, Madrick proves that an engaged government--a big government of high taxes and wise regulations--is necessary for the social and economic answers that Americans desperately need in changing times. He shows that the big governments of past eras fostered greatness and prosperity, while weak, laissez-faire governments marked periods of corruption and exploitation. The Case for Big Government considers whether the government can adjust its current policies and set the country right.
Madrick explains why politics and economics should go hand in hand; why America benefits when the government actively nourishes economic growth; and why America must reject free market orthodoxy and adopt ambitious government-centered programs. He looks critically at today's politicians--at Republicans seeking to revive nineteenth-century principles, and at Democrats who are abandoning the pioneering efforts of the Great Society. Madrick paints a devastating portrait of the nation’s declining social opportunities and how the economy has failed its workers. He demonstrates that the government must correct itself to address these serious issues.
A practical call to arms, The Case for Big Government asks for innovation, experimentation, and a willingness to fail. The book sets aside ideology and proposes bold steps to ensure the nation’s vitality.

The Case for Big Government (The Public Square)

Princeton University Press

Political conservatives have long believed that the best government is a small government. But if this were true, noted economist Jeff Madrick argues, the nation would not be experiencing stagnant wages, rising health care costs, increasing unemployment, and concentrations of wealth for a narrow elite. In this perceptive and eye-opening book, Madrick proves that an engaged government--a big government of high taxes and wise regulations--is necessary for the social and economic answers that Americans desperately need in changing times. He shows that the big governments of past eras fostered greatness and prosperity, while weak, laissez-faire governments marked periods of corruption and exploitation. The Case for Big Government considers whether the government can adjust its current policies and set the country right.
 Madrick explains why politics and economics should go hand in hand; why America benefits when the government actively nourishes economic growth; and why America must reject free market orthodoxy and adopt ambitious government-centered programs. He looks critically at today's politicians--at Republicans seeking to revive nineteenth-century principles, and at Democrats who are abandoning the pioneering efforts of the Great Society. Madrick paints a devastating portrait of the nation's declining social opportunities and how the economy has failed its workers. He looks critically at today's politicians and demonstrates that the government must correct itself to address these serious issues.
 A practical call to arms, The Case for Big Government asks for innovation, experimentation, and a willingness to fail. The book sets aside ideology and proposes bold steps to ensure the nation's vitality.

An essential, and impossible-to-ignore, examination of one of the most pressing, harmful, and heartbreaking problems facing our country: the widespread poverty among American children.\nBy official count, more than one out of every six American children live beneath the poverty line. But statistics alone tell little of the story. In Invisible Americans, Jeff Madrick brings to light the often invisible reality and irreparable damage of child poverty in America. Keeping his focus on the children, he examines the roots of the problem, including the toothless remnants of our social welfare system, entrenched racism, and a government unmotivated to help the most voiceless citizens. Backed by new and unambiguous research, he makes clear the devastating consequences of growing up poor: living in poverty, even temporarily, is detrimental to cognitive abilities, emotional control, and the overall health of children. The cost to society is incalculable. The inaction of politicians is unacceptable. Still, Madrick argues, there may be more reason to hope now than ever before. Rather than attempting to treat the symptoms of poverty, we might be able to ameliorate its worst effects through a single, simple, and politically feasible policy that he lays out in this impassioned and urgent call to arms.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Madrick, Jeff. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Madrick, Jeff

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Madrick, Jeff. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Seven Bad Ideas: How Mainstream Economists Have Damaged America and the World

Seven Bad Ideas: How Mainstream Economists Have Damaged America and the World

The End of Affluence: The Causes and Consequences of America's Economic Dilemma

Invisible Americans: The Tragic Cost of Child Poverty

Why Economies Grow

How Big Should Our Government Be?

Taking America: How We Got from the First Hostile Takeover to Megamergers, Corporate Raiding, and Scandal

The Case for Big Government (The Public Square)

The Case for Big Government (The Public Square)

Invisible Americans: The Tragic Cost of Child Poverty