In this whimsical fantasy adventure, a novelist’s search for an author takes him to a magical city, a villainous literary scholar, and perilous catacombs. Optimus Yarnspinner’s search for an author’s identity takes him to Bookholm―the so-called City of Dreaming Books. On entering its streets, our hero feels as if he has opened the door of a gigantic second-hand bookshop. His nostrils are assailed by clouds of book dust, the stimulating scent of ancient leather, and the tang of printer’s ink. Soon, though, Yarnspinner falls into the clutches of the city’s evil genius, Pfistomel Smyke, who treacherously maroons him in the labyrinthine catacombs underneath the city, where reading books can be genuinely dangerous . . . In The City of Dreaming Books, Walter Moers transports us to a magical world where reading is a remarkable adventure. Only those intrepid souls who are prepared to join Yarnspinner on his perilous journey should read this book. We wish the rest of you a long, safe, unutterably dull, and boring life! Praise for The City of Dreaming Books “German author and cartoonist Moers returns to the mythical lost continent of Zamonia in his uproarious third fantasy adventure to be translated into English, a delightfully imaginative mélange of Shel Silverstein zaniness and oddball anthropomorphism à la Terry Pratchett’s Discworld. . . . A wonderfully whimsical story that will appeal to readers of all ages.” —Publishers Weekly “A salmagundi of whimsy, imagination and book lore—remarkable fun.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer “Moers puts Tolkien through some sort of Willy Wonka sweetening process and comes up with characters such as Optimus Yarnspinner, who, names being fate and all, just has to be a storyteller.” —Kirkus Reviews
Is the business cycle obsolete?" This often cited title of a book edited by Bronfenbren ner with the implicit affirmation of the question reflected the attitude of mainstream macroeconomics in the Sixties regarding the empirical relevance of cyclic motions of an economy. The successful income policies, theoretically grounded in Keynesian macroec onomics, seemed to have eased or even abolished the fluctuations in West,ern economies which motivated studies of many classical and neoclassical economists for more than 100 years. The reasoning behind the conviction that business cycles would increasingly become irrelevant was rather simple: if an economy fluctuates for whatever reason, then it is almost always possible to neutralize these cyclic motions by means of anti-cyclic demand policies. From the 1950's until the mid-Sixties business cycle theory had often been consid ered either as an appendix to growth theory or as an academic exercise in dynamical economics. The common business cycle models were essentially multiplier-accelerator models whose sensitive dependence on parameter values (in order to be called busi ness cycle models) suggested a rather improbable occurrence of continuing oscillations. The obvious success in compensating business cycles in those days prevented intensive concern with the occurrence of cycles. Rather, business cycle theory turned into sta bilization theory which investigated theoretical possibilities of stabilizing a fluctuating economy. Many macroeconomic textbooks appeared in the Sixties which consequently identified business cycle theory with inquiries on the possibilities to stabilize economies 2 Introduction by means of active fiscal or monetary policies.
This research was supported by the World Bank and the Social Sciences and Humanities R~search Council of Canada. Neither institution is responsible for the views expressed in this paper. The author is indebted to V. Corbo, A. Haymer, Y. Kanemoto, K. Lee, K. Mera, Hal Varian and A. Walters for helpful comments and to Elizabeth Lambert, Shehnaz Motani', and Jeanette Leigh Paisley for excellent typing services. I would like to dedicate this book to my wife, Virginia. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction . . . •. . ••. . •. ••. •••. . . . •. . . . . •. •. . . •. . . •. •. •. . •. . . •. ••. • 2. A Simple Producer Benefit Measure . . ••. •••. ••••. •••••••••••. ••••••. • 8 3. Willingness to P~v Functions and Marginal Cost Functions ••••••••••• 15 4. Approximate Benefit Measures 30 5. Problems with the Producer Benefit Measure ••••••••••••• ! ••••••••••• 41 5. 1. Static versus Dynamic Benefit Measures ••••••••••••••••••• 41 5. 2. The Problem of Endogenous Prices for Local Goons ••••••••• 48 5. 3. The Neglect of Consumer Benefits' ••••••••••••••••••••••••• 56 6. Alternative Approaches to Benefit Measurement •••••••••••••••••••••• 70 6. 1. The Questionnaire or Sample Survey Approach •••••••••••••• 70 6. 2. Ex Post Accounting Approaches •••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 72 6. 3. Engineering and Mathematical Programming Approaches •••••• 74 6. 4. The Applied General Equilibrium Modelling Approach ~ •••••• 75 6. 5. The Differential Approach •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 77 6. 6. The Econometric Approach . . •••••••••. •. ••••••. •••••••••. •• 79 7.
Back in the good old days on the fourth floor of the Altbau of Bonn's Ju ridicum, Werner Hildenbrand put an end to a debate about a festschrift in honor of an economist on the occasion of his turning 60 with a laconic: "Much too early." Remembering his position five years ago, we did not dare to think about one for him. But now he has turned 65. If consulted, he would most likely still answer: "Much too early." However, he has to take his official re tirement, and we believe that this is the right moment for such an endeavor. No doubt Werner Hildenbrand will not really retire. As professor emeritus, free from the constraints of a rigid teaching schedule and the burden of com mittee meetings, he will be able to indulge his passions. We expect him to pursue, with undiminished enthusiasm, his research, travel, golfing, the arts, and culinary pleasures - escaping real retirement.
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