This volume of seventeen previously published essays by William J. Baumol brings together work on the theory of contestable markets, welfare theory, antitrust, pricing, and the history of economic thought. Written between 1971 and 1983, they have sparked productive extensions and criticism in microeconomic theory and provide an engaging intellectual history of one of the leading figures in the field of economics. Baumol introduces each of the book's four parts, presenting his subsequent views on the subjects covered in the reprinted articles, including some important amendments.The book opens with an autobiographical essay that presents the intellectual climate of economics in the 1940s in which Kenneth Arrow, Frank Hahn, Martin Shubik, Otto Eckstein, and Gary Becker were beginning their careers. Baumol's introductory essays to the book's major sections take up the threads from this autobiographical piece and follow them to the development of concepts central to economic theory, applications, and methodology.Three essays in the first part provide an underpinning for the theory of contestable markets. In the second part five essays explore issues in welfare economics such as the role of diminishing and increasing returns may play the role of symmetric obstacles to Pareto optimality. Essays in the third part range from regulation and antitrust to urban economics to the Phillips curve and the pitfalls of using, in the analysis of real issues, dual values derived from linear models when the underlying reality is nonlinear. Those in the concluding part focus on the history of economic ideas such as the Smithian versus Marxian view of business morality and the social interest, the Marxian concept of value transformation, the iron law of wages, and Say's law.William J. Baumol is Professor of Economics by joint appointment at Princeton University and New York University.
Since introducing the aggregate supply/aggregate demand model as a fundamental tool for learning economics in the first edition of their textbook, William Baumol and Alan Blinder have, for over two decades, led the teaching and learning of economic with their authoritative and timely discussion of the field. Now in its eighth edition 2001 Update, Microeconomics: Principles and Policy remains a time-tested tool in teaching and learning the ever-evolving field of economics.
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With his characteristic acuteness and lucidity, William Baumol, one of America's foremost economists, tackles the problem of equity considerations in welfare economics by applying the novel "superfairness" criterion to the distribution of resources, product, income, and wealth that arises from economic decisions.Baumol extends the theory of fairness or equity in micropolicy beyond its more common technical analysis by exploring its applicability to a variety of practical and applied economic problems. He demonstrates that the tradeoff between fairness and efficiency in economic decision making does not have to be as great as generally believed, and he demonstrates a theory of fairness that provides economists with the analytic tools to make fairness analysis tractable.Superfairness covers a wide range of applications such as rationing, cross-subsidy pricing (as in telephone and utility services), predatory pricing, transfer payments and progressive taxation, wage negotiations, divorce settlements, and arbitration.William J. Baumol is Professor of Economics by joint appointment at Princeton University and New York University.
Since introducing the aggregate supply/aggregate demand model as a fundamental tool for learning economics in the first edition of their textbook, William Baumol and Alan Blinder have, for over two decades, led the teaching and learning of economics with their authoritative and timely discussion of the field. Now in its eighth edition, Macroeconomics: Principles and Policy remains a time-tested tool in teaching and learning the ever-evolving field of economics.
In this important book, William J. Baumol, Robert E. Litan, and Carl J. Schramm contend that the answers to these questions lie within capitalist economies, though many observers make the mistake of believing that "capitalism" is of a single kind. Writing in an accessible style, the authors dispel that myth, documenting four different varieties of capitalism, some "Good" and some "Bad" for growth. The authors identify the conditions that characterize Good Capitalism--the right blend of entrepreneurial and established firms, which can vary among countries--as well as the features of Bad Capitalism. They examine how countries catching up to the United States can move faster toward the economic frontier, while laying out the need for the United States itself to stick to and reinforce the recipe for growth that has enabled it to be the leading economic force in the world. This pathbreaking book is a must read for anyone who cares about global growth and how to ensure America's economic future.
The exploding cost of health care in the United States is a source of widespread alarm. Similarly, the upward spiral of college tuition fees is cause for serious concern. In this concise and illuminating book, well-known economist William J. Baumol explores the causes of these seemingly intractable problems and offers a surprisingly simple explanation. Baumol identifies the "cost disease" as a major source of rapidly rising costs in service sectors of the economy. Once we understand that disease, he explains, effective responses become apparent. Baumol presents his analysis with characteristic clarity, tracing the fast-rising prices of health care and education in the U.S. and other major industrial nations, then examining the underlying causes of the phenomenon, which have to do with the nature of providing labor-intensive services. The news is good, Baumol reassures, because the nature of the disease is such that society will be able to afford the rising costs.
A Brookings Institution Press and American Enterprise Institute publication The federal government's approach to regulating the spectrum remains largely administrative, causing major inefficiency and waste. Ironically, just as the FCC has begun to use market mechanisms, some people are pushing to treat spectrum as a common resource open to all entrants. Commons proponents maintain that with new, interference-avoiding technology, licensing is becoming unnecessary and impractical. In this brief study, noted economist William J. Baumol evaluates two options for spectrum governance—a tradable license (market) approach and a commons approach. He compares the practicality of each in terms of six key issues: interference, adequacy of investment in innovation, monopoly power, preservation of diversity, service to rural areas, and the tension between vested interests and the need for adaptable arrangements. Baumol demonstrates that, while neither approach is ideal, a commons regime has severe shortcomings. Above all, he emphasizes the importance of impermanence in the granting of licenses to preserve the flexibility to adapt to unforeseen technological and other developments.
An analysis of the economic theory of environmental policy and the factors influencing the quality of life. Recent research in environmental economics is incorporated as well as economic incentives for pollution control.
This book examines the effects of the market mechanism on economies and societies. It argues that perfect competition has a tendency to promote adulteration of products and a general deterioration in quality. It also contends that it is very difficult for competitive firms to behave in socially desirable ways - being kind to the environment, contributing to worthy social programmes, handling redundancy humanely. The book goes on to propose ways in which these flaws might be remedied without subverting the market mechanism.
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