Macroeconomics in The Books Store

�Mr. Minsky long argued markets were crisis prone. His 'moment' has arrived.� -The Wall Street Journal

In his seminal work, Minsky presents his groundbreaking financial theory of investment, one that is startlingly relevant today. He explains why the American economy has experienced periods of debilitating inflation, rising unemployment, and marked slowdowns-and why the economy is now undergoing a credit crisis that he foresaw. Stabilizing an Unstable Economy covers:

.
• The natural inclination of complex, capitalist economies toward instability.
• Booms and busts as unavoidable results of high-risk lending practices .
• �Speculative finance� and its effect on investment and asset prices .
• Government's role in bolstering consumption during times of high unemployment.
• The need to increase Federal Reserve oversight of banks.

Henry Kaufman, president, Henry Kaufman And Company, Inc., places Minsky's prescient ideas in the context of today's financial markets and institutions in a fascinating new preface. Two of Minsky's colleagues, Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, Ph.D. and president, The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, and L. Randall Wray, Ph.D. and a senior scholar at the Institute, also weigh in on Minsky's present relevance in today's economic scene in a new introduction.

A surge of interest in and respect for Hyman Minsky's ideas pervades Wall Street, as top economic thinkers and financial writers have started using the phrase �Minsky moment� to describe America's turbulent economy. There has never been a more appropriate time to read this classic of economic theory.

Are the huge profits garnered by corporations each year a case of a few bad apples in the business world taking advantage of unmonitored dealings? Is this consolidation of wealth made at the expense of the overall economy and the well-being of the average citizen? Will the planet be saved by developing more “green businesses” and “green-collar” jobs?

Joel Magnuson delivers a powerful response to the current misconceptions about the US economy in his brilliantly accessible Mindful Economics. The troubles we face are not the result of a good system gone awry, but rather a system that is built to do exactly what it is doing: corporations are designed to reap profits for shareholders—at any cost. The greater welfare of society, or of the environment, will never be as important as financial gain. Magnuson shows us the relationship between the current wars abroad; rising oil prices; the recession; ballooning incomes of top CEOs; the mortgage crisis; and the health care, insurance, and auto industries, and he teaches us that the best way to understand the US economy is to think like an economist. With stunning clarity, Magnuson shows the interconnectedness of the local with the global, and offers real alternatives to this capitalist model.

"Joel Magnuson has written an excellent guide to one of the most deliberately mystified fields of human endeavor. If you ever wondered what all those words and concepts mean, this is the book to turn to. And though I don't agree with all his prescriptions for making things better, they're great spurs to both talk and action." --Doug Henwood, editor of Left Business Observer, and author of Wall Street and After the New Economy

Joel Magnuson, a professor of economics, writes extensively on the political economy and on environmental issues related to capitalist development. He is a member of an international research group based in Cambridge, England, which is building a new philosophical foundation for economic theory and practice, known as mindful economics.

Somewhere along the line, the Age of Reason morphed into the Age of Emotion; this systemic erosion is costing time, money, jobs, and lives in the twenty-first century, leading to less fulfilment and growing dysfunction. LeGault provides a bold, controversial, and objective analysis of the causes and solutions for some of the biggest problems facing Western culture in the 21st century. From the over- load of reality TV shows and gossip magazines that have rendered curiosity of the mind and spirit obsolete to permissive parenting and low standards that have caused an academic crisis among our children, LeGault looks at all aspects of modern lives and points to how and where it all went wrong.