Economic Growth is Great
348888
This insightful book does a great job of explaining the many aspects of economic growth, from poverty to policy, inequality to the environment. At its core, it gives a compelling reason for why economic growth is necessary for human development as a whole. The book is clear and concise, and uses examples that most normal people will understand, a nice break away from other economic texts that seem to be written only for their doctorate economic colleagues. Finally, this book really addresses various situations going on around the world in terms of economic growth and does not focus mainly on a Western or USA only point of view. This definitely gives hope to developing countries and developed countries that there is potential in the world's future.
204503
Good food, great quality, and good for us.
4848819
I picked up this book after seeing all the positive reviews and having previously seen this book mentioned as a very good book on economic trends happening before our very eyes in the US.

This is a great book.  The subject matter, which is how the economy is transforming itself around in ways that are unexpected but yet in some way predictable is a fascinating read.  I have read Thomas Friedman's book "The World is Flat" and I thought his observations were pretty spot on.  However, given that many of Friedman's predictions don't seem to be happening, perhaps his analysis was incomplete.

Moretti really brings up some amazing interesting trends, such as the movement to certain places is precisely because the great divergence is due to like attracting like.  Sure, the internet is a great leveler, but not in the was we may have thought about.  Moretti discusses how certain features of great cities cannot be instantly duplicated by just having the internet, but rather, whole support systems must be available.  Moretti argues, quite effectively that people will migrate to job growth, which is happening to cities where innovation occurs.  And this innovation is not just high-technology either.  And if knowledge workers, and the ancillary support systems aren't attracted to a certain location because of the lack of 'support networks,' no matter of education or government intervention will prevent the inevitable.

Of course, this argument means that this Great Divergence is not just based in income levels, but also on whole hosts of organic systems that cannot just be grown instantly.  And naturally, this means places like Detroit will never again be like the 1950's.  The consequences of Moretti's book are fascinating and chilling because whole populations of the US will forever be left behind due to no fault of their own.  And education, especially the kind of education necessary for innovation, will become ever more valuable.

Overall, this is an extremely well-written book and very enjoyable to read.  Recommended.
2056121
Outstanding analysis of the cause for the economic situation the country now finds itself in.  The service provided by Amazon was outstanding - low price and arrived in 2 days.
2005560
"The Elusive Quest for Growth" is an eye-opening book.  Very clearly written and incisive, I join the other reviewers in recommending it strongly.

One of the most powerful and, for me, thought-provoking chapters came later in the book.  Certain ideas from political economy are applied to explain how nations that are very divided along either ethnic or income lines have lower growth rates, higher budget deficits, more governmental mismanagement and greater chances of civil war and genocide.  Ethnically unified nations with a strong middle class (South Korea is the perfect example) tend to have high growth rates and low levels of corruption.  This argument and the data Easterly used to support it absolutely blew me away.  I wanted to make special mention of it because it was not being discussed in the preceding reviews.

One other interesting argument the book makes is the feedback loop between optimism, educational self-advancement and savings/investment.  This feedback loop is another crucial contributor to growth.  I'm of course familiar with the idea of network effects but this was a very novel and valuable view to take of the concept.

Anyway, go read this book.
237166
I have read this book and find that if you have to read something on Economic History this is pleasant and very informative.  We are all looking at how this entire economy is somehow so out of whack that we see big problems on the horizon for the problem of inequality and patrimonial capitalism.  Nile Furguson talks about similar problems of the game being rigged against the regular guy.

Piketty does a great job analyzing the history of capital and distribution going back about 300 years.  He offers some real solutions that are a little left of me but very much sensible.  These ideas will not happen in the current environment but may work if we come to a near crisis like the early days of the labor movement or frozen money markets.
981742
Excellent read what is neeeded is fair trade. With free trade the welfare of the community,the happiness of workers,the health of the planet are secondary. The economy is a tool to serve the needs of society,not a tool to be used at society's expense.
693828
This book provides an excelet review of basics on economic growth facts and theory. I recomend it for lecturing at the undergraduate level.
2399482
The articles are relevant, factual, and interesting. It gives the reader a good world perspective of issues and economics.
3784478
This story eerily describes the current state of our country. Due to the incomptence of the last two administrations and refusal of our Congress to provide a safe context for growing prosperity (as in the story), those who can help promote such growth are penalized and, I fear, have been "backing out" of the American business scene. Read this book, think about its lessons and help save our great nation. Our leadership simply wants to take care of itself (again, as in the story).
3773838
Since the introduction of market-based economic reforms in 1978, China has become one of the world's fastest growing economies.  During the economic liberalization, Mr. Zhang's friends started to do small business first and they eventually developed to marvelous enterprises.  It tells the genuine people and true events in China since 1978.  I highly recommend people not in China to read this book.
3618967
Population increase is not the number one problem. Our food production has kept pace. We are making great strides in world health. Extremist positions as supported in this book are not only horribly wrong, they polarize and make constructive dialog difficult. We do need to be conservators of the earth. We, as the only super power, need to lead by getting the the largest polluters to act now and not strip our Economy by reaching for unreachable and expensive goals when our contribution to the pollution is far smaller than much of the rest of the world. Works such as this book will do great harm if they gain traction.
The real reason to read this work is come to grips with how wrong headed some misguided people are and far from true scientific procedures they have strayed. There are some good points in this book however and it does tell of the background of some the opinions.
1829932
The author hits on the truth with this book, even though the timing is a bit early. He tells the truth about what is happening in Western Civilization, although it's not a pretty picture. He has the courage to step away from the beaten path and announce to his audience that things are not the same as they once were. Subsequent events have demonstrated that the United States is careening towards collapse. I've been following the financials in reference to this country, and everything is pointing to a great financial catastrophe that's going to make the Great Depression pale in comparison. I think that the most intelligent thing to do being faced with this situation is to expect the best, but to prepare for the worst. I'd like to believe that America is as strong as ever, but with record budgetary and trade deficits, waging expensive wars around the world while D.C. burns, the export of virtually the entire manufacturing sector, the record number of bankruptcies, the reliance of new home buyers on adjustable rate mortgages in this interest rate environment, etc., all portends for future financial ruin for the average American. Just because we haven't seen the evidence of the collapse yet doesn't mean that it isn't going to happen. The fundamental elements of the American economy are not pretty, even with the contrived, highly optimistic official statistics. I'm not a doomsayer, but someone who does his homework. The book is a great one, and I believe that it would be of immense benefit for everyone to read this book.
3323552
Tyler Cowen is in general well written and thoughtful. This is a fairly short treatise on why we (OCED countries) might be seeing a decades long slow down in growth. Despite the title it doesn't predict a dismal future. It just assumes that the slow down is a result of the natural progression of idea discovery and that we might expect to see the rate of growth slow down to less than the phenomenal rate we saw in the 20th century.

Certainly the most advanced countries have seen a slow down in growth for the last 20 years. It's starting to look as if the slow down isn't a periodic slowdown, but instead a change to a slower rate of progress. If that is truly the case then this book offers one possible hypothesis as to why that's the case.
4787193
This is a book that will make you understand what economy is all about. In this book you will learn about how economy has evolved from the ancient times to the present. You will also learn how economy affects our lives, and most of all, it raises awareness that we have a big contribution to the success of the current economic system to make it an ideal one that will work for all. Great job to the author.
945524
Today's advanced societies admire economic growth, as principally measured by gross domestic product (GDP). It has become a proxy for national well-being. Author Pilling, however, contends that measure is increasingly at variance with reality - and supports that conclusion by pointing out that despite record GDP levels, voters are also rejecting existing institutions and ideals, seen in their voting for Trump, Brexit, and turning against Western liberalism in India, Brazil, Russia, the Philippines, Turkey, Poland and Hungary.

Prior to the 18th-century Industrial Revolution, there was no such thing as economic growth. The output of agricultural societies was essentially driven by weather; a nation's 'economy' grew only if it conquered new areas. GDP was invented in the 1930s as a tool to counter the Great Depression. It excludes illegal activities, includes government spending, and measures production of anything and everything, whether good or bad. Spending money on cleaning up pollution, repairs after Hurricane Katrina, reconstructing cities after warfare, large police forces, etc. are seen as equivalent to producing food and housing, inferior to significantly reducing highway deaths through low/no-cost safety measures. Activities that don't involve payment, however, are ignored - eg. housework, caring for a relative, and the labor involved in DIY projects. A medication becomes 'more valuable' after its price is doubled, and a $500 washing machine that immediately breaks down is equivalent to one that lasts twenty years.

Prior to the Great Recession of 2008, our GDP measures failed to tell us that growth then was built on a flimsy foundation of exploding household debt and even riskier financial engineering. Even our economic gurus, like Alan Greenspan, were mislead and supported more of the same. GDP also tells us nothing about growing wealth/income inequality - adding a billion dollars to a billionaire's wealth is considered equal to adding $1,000 each to that of a thousand poor citizens.  (This also makes eg. measures of average income misleading.)
117245
Dr. Ghesquiere does a fantastic job of describing, in fascinating detail, the economic development of Singapore's rapid economic development between 1960 and 2000.  The book is an easy read because it piques the reader's interest by minimizing overly technical descriptions and using easy to interpret tables and graphs to convey meaning and insight.  He presents relevant and informative data that helps showcase the bonds between economic outcomes, policies, institutions, values, and leadership development. These are interdependent and necessary to engineer economic growth.

From the beginning and throughout, Ghesquiere explains Singapore's success as a unique combination of factors that makes duplication of its economic development extremely difficult despite having only received its independence in 1965.  With a population of 4.3 million people on an island less that 40km by 20km, its naturally deep-water ports and strategic location give it a clear and distinct advantage as an international trade depot.  Supporting its development is a constant focus to include multinational corporations (MNCs), a low tolerance for corruption and criminal activity, and reliance on export-oriented industrial strategies.

He presents not only the pros, but also the cons to show that progress does not take place without sacrifice and that Singapore is not without issues and concerns.  For example, its use of the Central provident Fund (CPF) has allowed funds originally intended to supplement retirement income to be previsioned into a home finance program.  As a result, many retirees do not have sufficient savings to support a steady income stream to offset the costs of leaving.  Additionally, private ownership, to a certain extent, has been sacrificed to support public enterprises.  Even advances in education are hampered by a reliance on mandarin teaching and testing traditions.  One of more critical aspects of the country is the single political party - the People's Action Party (PAP) that has been in power since 1959.

Engineering is central to Singapore.  Ghesquiere demonstrates its influence on society and the phenomenon that produced, on average, an 8 percent average annual rate of growth over the past four decades.  Central to the engineering theme is the enlightenment experienced by the ruling elite where they found it feasible and in their best interests to spread the benefits of economic growth.  This helped prevent widespread discontent and possible political, social, and financial unrest.

I strongly recommend this book for all who are interested in tracing the phenomenal development of Singapore from its infancy as a newly independent nation, through its rise as an economic force of uncompromising technological knowhow.  From chapter to chapter, Ghesquiere's brilliant frameworks lead the reader on a historical, economic joyride of cause and effect to answer the ultimate question: Can we apply Singapore's economic successes to other countries?