The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics

by David R. Henderson

Overview

In this easily accessible, user-friendly volume, respected economist David R. Henderson brings together 152 of the most brilliant minds in economics to show how the analysis of economic topics can illuminate many aspects of the average person’s daily life. The more than 160 entries cover numerous topics including basic concepts, discrimination and labor issues, corporations and financial markets, issues in economic history, economics of legal issues, regulation, environmental regulation, taxes, economic policy, macroeconomics, money and banking, international economics, economics outside the United States, economic systems, schools of economic thought, and more.

David R. Henderson is a Research Fellow with Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and an Associate Professor of Economics at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780865976665
Publisher:	Liberty Fund, Incorporated
Publication date:	11/12/2007
Pages:	656
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Acknowledgments xv

ARTICLES

Advertising, George Bittlingmayer 1
Agricultural Subsidy Programs, Daniel A. Sumner 4
Airline Deregulation, Fred L. Smith Jr. and Braden Cox 6
Antitrust, Fred McChesney 11
Apartheid, Thomas W. Hazlett 14
Arts, Tyler Cowen 19
Auctions, Leslie R. Fine 21
Austrian School of Economics, Peter J. Boettke 23
Balance of Payments, Herbert Stein 27
Bank Runs, George G. Kaufman 29
Bankruptcy, Todd J. Zywicki 31
Behavioral Economics, Richard H. Thaler and
Sendhil Mullainathan 34
Benefit-Cost Analysis, Paul R. Portney 38
Bonds, Clifford W. Smith 40
Brand Names, Benjamin Klein 42
Bubbles, Seiji S. C. Steimetz 44
Business Cycles, Christina D. Romer 47
Campaign Finance, Jeffrey Milyo 51
Capital Gains Taxes, Stephen Moore 53
Capitalism, Robert Hessen 57
Cartels, Andrew R. Dick 61
Charity, Russell Roberts 63
Communism, Bryan Caplan 66
Comparative Advantage, Donald J. Boudreaux 69
Competing Money Supplies, Lawrence H. White 71
Competition, Wolfgang Kasper 73
Conscription, Christopher Jehn 76
Consumer Price Indexes, Michael J. Boskin 77
Consumer Protection, Daniel B. Klein 81
Consumption Tax, Al Ehrbar 83
Corporate Financial Structure, Annette Poulsen 86
Corporate Governance, Randall S. Kroszner 89
Corporate Taxation, Rob Norton 92
Corporations, Robert Hessen 95
Corruption, François Melese 98
Creative Destruction, W. Michael Cox and
Richard Alm 101
Crime, David D. Friedman 104
Defense, Benjamin Zycher 107
Demand, David R. Henderson 111
Disaster and Recovery, Jack Hirshleifer 113
Discrimination, Linda Gorman 116
Distribution of Income, Frank Levy 119
Economic Freedom, Robert A. Lawson 124
Economic Growth, Paul M. Romer 128
Education, Linda Gorman 131
Effciency, Paul Heyne 136
Effcient Capital Markets, Steven L. Jones and
Jeffry M. Netter 138
Electricity and Its Regulation, Robert J. Michaels 142
Empirics of Economic Growth, Kevin Grier 145
Energy, Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren 150
Entrepreneurship, Russell S. Sobel 154
Environmental Quality, Terry L. Anderson 158
Ethics and Economics, Stephen R. C. Hicks 160
European Union, Marian L. Tupy 163
Experimental Economics, Don Coursey 166
Externalities, Bryan Caplan 169
Fascism, Sheldon Richman 172
Federal Reserve System, Richard H. Timberlake 174
Financial Regulation, Bert Ely 178
Fiscal Policy, David N. Weil 182
Fiscal Sustainability, Laurence J. Kotlikoff 185
Forecasting and Econometric Models,
Saul H. Hymans 188
Foreign Aid, Deepak Lal 194
Foreign Exchange, Jeffrey A. Frankel 197
Free Market, Murray N. Rothbard 200
Free-Market Environmentalism, Richard Stroup 202
Free Trade, Alan S. Blinder 205
Futures and Options Markets, Gregory J. Millman 207
Game Theory, Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff 211
Gender Gap, Claudia Goldin 214
German Economic Miracle, David R. Henderson 216
Global Warming: A Balance Sheet,
Thomas Gale Moore 219
Gold Standard, Michael D. Bordo 222
Government Debt and Deficits, John J. Seater 224
Government Growth, Robert Higgs 227
Great Depression, Gene Smiley 230
Health Care, Michael A. Morrisey 235
Health Insurance, John C. Goodman 241
Housing, Benjamin Powell and Edward Stringham 245
Human Capital, Gary S. Becker 248
Hyperinflation, Michael K. Salemi 251
Immigration, George J. Borjas 253
Industrial Concentration, William F. Shughart II 257
Industrial Revolution and the Standard of Living,
Clark Nardinelli 260
Inflation, Lawrence H. White 262
Information, Joseph E. Stiglitz 267
Information and Prices, Donald J. Boudreaux 270
Innovation, Timothy Sandefur 272
Insider Trading, Stanislav Dolgopolov 276
Insurance, Richard Zeckhauser 281
Intellectual Property, Stan Liebowitz 284
Interest Rates, Burton G. Malkiel 288
International Capital Flows, Mack Ott 290
International Trade, Arnold Kling 295
International Trade Agreements, Douglas A. Irwin 298
Internet, Stan Liebowitz 301
Investment, Kevin Hassett 304
Japan, Benjamin Powell 308
Job Safety, W. Kip Viscusi 311
Junk Bonds, Glenn Yago 313
Keynesian Economics, Alan S. Blinder 316
Labor Unions, Morgan O. Reynolds 319
Law and Economics, Paul H. Rubin 322
Liability, W. Kip Viscusi 326
Marginal Tax Rates, Alan Reynolds 329
Marginalism, Steven E. Rhoads 331
Market for Corporate Control, Jonathan R. Macey 333
Marxism, David Prychitko 337
Mercantilism, Laura LaHaye 340
Microeconomics, Arnold C. Harberger 343
Minimum Wages, Linda Gorman 346
Monetarism, Bennett T. McCallum 350
Monetary Policy, James Tobin 353
Monetary Union, Paul Bergin 358
Money Supply, Anna J. Schwartz 360
Monopoly, George J. Stigler 363
National Income Accounts, Mack Ott 366
Natural Gas: Markets and Regulation,
Robert J. Michaels 370
Natural Resources, Sue Ann Batey Blackman and
William J. Baumol 372
New Classical Macroeconomics, Kevin D. Hoover 376
New Keynesian Economics, N. Gregory Mankiw 379
OPEC, Benjamin Zycher 382
Opportunity Cost, David R. Henderson 385
Pensions, Henry McMillan 385
Pharmaceuticals: Economics and Regulation,
Charles L. Hooper 388
Phillips Curve, Kevin D. Hoover 392
Political Behavior, Richard L. Stroup 396
Pollution Controls, Robert W. Crandall 399
Population, Ronald Demos Lee 402
Poverty in America, Isabel V. Sawhill 405
Present Value, David R. Henderson 408
Price Controls, Hugh Rockoff 409
Prisoners’ Dilemma, Avinash Dixit and
Barry Nalebuff 412
Privatization, Robert W. Poole Jr. 414
Productivity, Alexander J. Field 417
Profits, Lester C. Thurow 419
Property Rights, Armen A. Alchian 422
Protectionism, Jagdish Bhagwati 425
Public Choice, William F. Shughart II 427
Public Goods, Tyler Cowen 431
Rational Expectations, Thomas J. Sargent 432
Recycling, Jane S. Shaw 435
Redistribution, Dwight R. Lee 437
Regulation, Robert Litan 439
Rent Control, Walter Block 442
Rent Seeking, David R. Henderson 445
Risk and Safety, Aaron Wildavsky and
Adam Wildavsky 446
Sanctions, Kimberly Ann Elliott, Gary Clyde Hufbauer, and
Barbara Oegg 451
Saving, Laurence J. Kotlikoff 456
Savings and Loan Crisis, Bert Ely 459
Social Security, Thomas R. Saving 463
Socialism, Robert Heilbroner 466
Spatial Economics, Wolfgang Kasper 468
Sportometrics, Robert Tollison 471
Sports, Gerald W. Scully 473
Standards of Living and Modern Economic Growth,
John V. C. Nye 475
Stock Market, Jeremy J. Siegel 478
Supply, Al Ehrbar 480
Supply-Side Economics, James D. Gwartney 482
Surface Freight Transportation Deregulation,
Thomas Gale Moore 485
Taxation, Joseph J. Minarik 489
Telecommunications, John Haring 494
Tragedy of the Commons, Garrett Hardin 497
Transition Economies, Anders ?slund 499
Unemployment, Lawrence H. Summers 502
Unintended Consequences, Rob Norton 505
Urban Transportation, Kenneth A. Small 507
Welfare, Thomas MaCurdy and Jeffrey M. Jones 510

BIOGRAPHIES

Editor’s Note 519

George A. Akerlof 521
Armen A. Alchian 522
Maurice Allais 523
Kenneth Arrow 523
Frédéric Bastiat 524
Gary Stanley Becker 525
Jeremy Bentham 525
Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk 526
James M. Buchanan 527
Arthur Frank Burns 528
Gustav Cassel 528
Ronald H. Coase 528
Gerard Debreu 530
Robert F. Engle 530
Irving Fisher 531
Robert W. Fogel 532
Milton Friedman 533
Ragnar Frisch 535
John Kenneth Galbraith 535
Henry George 536
Clive W. J. Granger 537
Trygve Haavelmo 538
Roy F. Harrod 539
John C. Harsanyi 539
Friedrich August Hayek 540
James J. Heckman 543
Walter Wolfgang Heller 544
John R. Hicks 544
David Hume 545
William Stanley Jevons 545
Harry Gordon Johnson 547
Daniel Kahneman 547
Leonid Vitalievich Kantorovich 549
John Maynard Keynes 549
Lawrence Robert Klein 551
Frank Hyneman Knight 551
Tjalling Charles Koopmans 552
Simon Kuznets 552
Finn E. Kydland 553
Oskar Ryszard Lange 554
Wassily Leontief 555
Abba Ptachya Lerner 556
W. Arthur Lewis 557
John Locke 558
Robert E. Lucas Jr. 559
Fritz Machlup 561
Thomas Robert Malthus 561
Harry Markowitz 562
Alfred Marshall 562
Karl Marx 563
Daniel L. McFadden 564
James Edward Meade 564
Carl Menger 565
Robert C. Merton 566
John Stuart Mill 566
Merton H. Miller 567
James A. Mirrlees 568
Ludwig von Mises 569
Franco Modigliani 569
Oskar Morgenstern 570
Robert A. Mundell 571
Gunnar Myrdal 572
John F. Nash Jr. 573
John von Neumann 574
Douglass C. North 575
Bertil Gotthard Ohlin 575
Arthur M. Okun 576
Vilfredo Pareto 577
Arthur Cecil Pigou 577
Edward C. Prescott 578
François Quesnay 579
David Ricardo 579
Lionel Robbins 581
Joan Violet Robinson 581
Paul Anthony Samuelson 582
Jean-Baptiste Say 584
Myron S. Scholes 584
Theodore William Schultz 585
Joseph Alois Schumpeter 586
Reinhard Selten 587
Amartya Sen 588
William F. Sharp 589
Herbert Alexander Simon 589
Adam Smith 590
Vernon L. Smith 592
Robert Merton Solow 593
Michael Spence 594
George J. Stigler 594
Joseph E. Stiglitz 596
John Richard Nicholas Stone 597
Jan Tinbergen 598
James Tobin 598
Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot 599
Thorstein Veblen 600
William S. Vickrey 600
Jacob Viner 601
Leon Walras 602
Max Weber 603
Knut Wicksell 603

APPENDIXES

Nobel Memorial Prize Winners in Economic Science 607
Chairmen of the Council of Economic Advisers 608
Presidents of the American Economic Association 609
Contributors 611

Index 615

Editorial Reviews

Editor Henderson (research fellow, Stanford U.; economics, Naval Postgraduate School) has compiled 168 articles by leading economists on issues that are of interest and relevance to people's daily lives. The editor notes that the goal of this collection is to illustrate how much economic analysis can shed light on the issues that affect us as voters, consumers, employees, and as people who care about the state of the world. The writing, contributed by authors from a variety of schools of thought, is accessible and defines where there is disagreement and where the opinions of the experts converge. The volume also includes biographies of 99 noted economists.

Reference & Research Book News,
May 2008


Henderson (Hoover Institution/Naval Postgraduate School) collected and edited the work of more than 150 other economists for this new, renamed edition of this encyclopedia. The contributor list includes several Nobel Prize winners and former presidential economic advisers. The goal of the more than 160 signed concept essays is to "show how the analysis of economic topics can illuminate many aspects of the average person's daily life." Topics include price and rent controls, game theory, taxation, various schools of economics, financial markets, inflation, unemployment, and free trade. The entries are all signed, and many contain footnotes and bibliographies with suggested further reading. Among the nearly 100 biographical sketches of prominent economists, 21 are new. To be included in this section, an economist must have won the Nobel Prize in economic science before 2004, been born before 1920 and died before 1992. This encyclopedia was first published as The Fortune Encyclopedia of Economics (1993)....For the price, this new version is a worthwhile addition to any library. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and general readers.

Choice,
May 2008

Compiled, organized and edited by David R. Henderson (Research Fellow with Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and an Associate Professor of Economics at the naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California), The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics is a superbly presented introduction to economics comprised of more than 160 entries which draw upon the experience and expertise of some 152 contributors. . . .The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics is substantively enhanced with the inclusion of succinct biographies of leading and influential economists and a comprehensive Index. . . .ideal and indispensable addition to personal, professional, academic, and community library Economic Studies reference collections.

The Midwest Book Review
December 2007

From the Publisher