Michael Walden

Smart Economics (eBook, PDF)

Commonsense Answers to 50 Questions about Government, Taxes, Business, and Households

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

Budget deficits, gas prices, health care costs, social security, job security.... Anxiety over the economy pervades our daily lives-from reports on the early morning newscasts to gossip around the water cooler to dinner table debate. Yet most citizens are woefully ignorant when it comes to understanding how the economy works and how to interpret the impact of policies and business decisions. It's easy to slip into generalities: government spending is wasteful, taxes are too high, good-paying jobs are being shipped overseas, Americans don't save enough. Other issues become hijacked by political partisans to advance their agendas: trade must be fair!, tax cuts will pay for themselves!, there will be no money left in the social security till after the baby boomers loot it! In Smart Economics, Michael Walden provides an antidote: take 50 of today's top economic issues and explain their meaning, implications, and potential solutions in a logical, straightforward, commonsense, and non-partisan way. Has Government Spending Been Out of Control? Is Profit Bad? Walden applies basic economic concepts and logical argumentation to help readers get their bearings-to separate fact from fiction and ultimately make better economic decisions themselves. The result is an entertaining and highly informative introduction to economic principles and their influence on our behavior. In Smart Economics, Michael Walden provides an antidote: take 50 of today's top economic issues and explain their meaning, implications, and potential solutions in a logical, straightforward, commonsense, and non-partisan way. From Has Government Spending Been out of Control? to Is Profit Bad? to Why Are Pro Sports Stars Paid So Much? Walden demystifies the dismal science, using basic concepts and logical argumentation to help readers get their bearings-to separate fact from fiction and ultimately make better decisions, when it comes to spending, investing, saving, and voting. The result is an entertaining and informative introduction to economic principles and their influence on our behavior.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury Publishing Inc
• Seitenzahl: 216
• Altersempfehlung: ab 7 Jahre
• Erscheinungstermin: 30. August 2005
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780313051326
• Artikelnr.: 37838844

Autorenporträt

Michael L. Walden is Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics, North Carolina State University, where he teaches courses in consumer economics, macroeconomics, microeconomics, and resource economics. He is the author of several books and over 200 academic articles, research monographs, conference presentations, and research reports on economic and consumer behavior. He writes and co-produces two radio programs, The Economic Perspective and The Economic Focus, writes the bi-weekly newspaper column, You Decide, and conducts public programs on issues of economic forecasting, behavior, and development.

Inhaltsangabe

ECONOMIC QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT GOVERNMENT DOES, WHAT GOVERNMENT DOESN'T DO,
AND HOW GOVERNMENT SPENDS OUR MONEY Has Government Spending Been Out of
Control? Will the National Debt Sink Our Economic Future? Do Budget
Deficits Increase Interest Rates? Can Government Spending Be Cut by
Eliminating Waste? Does Government Spend Too Much, or Not Enough, on the
Poor? Does Spending on War Help the Economy? Does More Spent on Education
Pay-off in Student Achievement? Has the Social Security Surplus Been
Stolen? Is Social Security Going Bankrupt? Should Our Money Be Backed by
Gold? Should Government Enforce a Living Wage? Should the Government
Control the Prices of Necessities? Should Government Pay Businesses to
Create Jobs? Can Government Create Prosperity? ECONOMIC QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW
MUCH TAXES ARE PAID, WHO PAYS TAXES, AND THE FAIRNESS OF THE TAXES Do We
Pay 60% to 80% of Our Income in Taxes? Does a Tax Bracket of 40% Mean the
Government Takes 40% of Your Income? Can Cutting Tax Rates Increase Tax
Revenue? Will a Tax Cut of $1 Create $7 to $10 of New Income? Do
Corporations Pay Too Little in Taxes? Would Rich Investors Benefit from a
Flat Tax? Is the Sales Tax Regressive? Do the Rich Get a Break on Social
Security Taxes? Has the Marriage Tax Ended? ECONOMIC QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT
BUSINESS DOES AND WHY AND HOW THAT AFFECTS JOBS, CONSUMERS, AND THE COUNTRY
Is American Manufacturing Dying? Are Low-Paying Jobs Replacing High-Paying
Ones? Are Companies Out-Sourcing Good-Paying Jobs? Will Free Trade Destroy
Our Economy? Can U.S. Workers Compete with Low-Paying Foreign Workers? Do
Countries Only Prosper If They Run a Trade Surplus? Is a "Strong" Dollar
Good and a "Weak" Dollar Bad? Are Profits Bad? Does Business Make Obscene
Profits? Does Big Business Control the Economy? Can Pro Teams and
Facilities Hit Economic Home Runs? Why Are Pro Sports Stars Paid So Much
for Playing a Game? Are We Running Out of Farmers, Farmland, and Food? Are
Gas Prices at an All-Time High?? Do Big Oil Companies Manipulate Oil
Supplies and Gas Prices? Should We Become Energy Self-Sufficient? Is
Immigration Hurting Our Economy? ECONOMIC QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW HOUSEHOLDS
LIVE AND HOW THEY EARN AND SPEND MONEY Is Everything More Expensive Today,
or Should You Wish for the "Good Old Days"? Does It Take Two Incomes for
Families to Get Ahead Today? Are Americans Drowning in Debt and Not Saving?
Do Women Earn Less Than Men? Are the Rich Getting Richer and Everyone Else
Getting Poorer? Is Poverty Getting Worse? If It Saves One Life, Is It Worth
the Cost? Can Families Afford College? Would Importing Drugs Lower their
Prices? Can the Government Lower Consumers' Health Costs?