Economism : bad economics and the rise of inequality /

Contents:
The best of all possible worlds -- The key to all things -- Blurry vision -- Economism and economics -- Ideas in the world -- The magic of the marketplace -- The long march of economism -- Ideas and interests -- Pioneers -- Industrialists -- Promoters -- Politicians -- The problem with a price floor -- In the real world -- The view from the top -- Pay = productivity -- How the rich get that way -- Deadweight triangles -- The anti-tax chorus -- Tax cuts for job creators -- Savings, labor, and growth -- The price of civilization -- Too much free stuff -- Consumer-driven utopia -- Bad choices -- Broken market -- The forgotten alternative -- Supply, demand, and capital -- Innovation unbound -- Toxic mortgages -- Toxic banks -- Economism unbowed -- Oranges and bananas -- Winners and losers -- The real impact of trade -- Bait and switch -- Cui bono? -- Where are we going? -- Beyond economism?

Includes bibliographical references and index.

This is a history and analysis of the Economics 101 ideology and its impact on contemporary politics and society. In order to illuminate the fallacies of economism, the author first offers a primer on supply and demand, market equilibrium, and social welfare: the underpinnings of most popular economic arguments. Then he provides a historical account of how economism became a prevalent mode of thought in the United States—focusing on the people who packaged Econ 101 into sound bites that were then repeated until they took on the aura of truth. He shows us how issues of moment in contemporary American society—labor markets, taxes, finance, health care, and international trade, among others—are shaped by economism, demonstrating in each case with clarity and élan how, because of its failure to reflect the complexities of our world, economism has had a deleterious influence on policies that affect hundreds of millions of Americans.

lje 08/01/2019,
ijb, 28/01/2019

Loans