Business Book report

Book Report: Students are required to submit one book report on one of the selected books on the following page. Books are selected based on current relevance, historical importance, current access and the degree to which they enhance the subject of Microeconomics.

The book report will represent 25% of the final grade. The book reports are to be no more than 12 pages and no less than 10 pages, double-spaced, 12-point font (TNR). Footnote or endnote all references except the primary text. Papers must be of acceptable business quality in terms of grammar, spelling and print quality. Book reports must be turned in at the beginning of class on the due date. Students need to submit a paper copy and email a digital copy. No late papers will be accepted. The book report will be graded for the content outlined on the following page.

Book Report

A number of people have asked for some guidance on the books. I put some note below on each book. If

you have not chosen a book yet, I hope this helps you decide. FYI, each of these books is available for

purchase on Amazon as a physical book, an EBook (which you can read with a Kindle or through an APP

in the Chrome browser) and an audio book.

Milton Friedman: Capitalism and Freedom – Milton Friedman is the intellectual Godfather of the

modern conservative movement. He was a major influence in 1980’s political policy and advocates for

free markets in all possible scenarios. Capitalism and Freedom is his best work on his philosophy and in

this book he lays out multiple of example markets that he wants to see change from controlled markets

to less controlled markets.

John Kenneth Galbraith: The Great Crash of 1929. This is by far the most influential and respected

historical accounting of the Great Crash. Excellently written and researched. If you are interested in a

detailed retelling of what the Great Crash was and was not, this is the best book to read. This book is

here for two reasons; first for students who learn through history, second is for those that want to

understand depression and recession issues. You may be shocked and disappointed at the similarities

between the 1929 crash/depression and our most recent recession.

Chrystia Freeland: Plutocrat. I recently added this book to the reading list. It covers the issue, brought

to prominence by the Occupy Movement and Bernie Sanders, of the growing disparity in the distribution

of income and wealth. This well researched book focus on North American markets, but includes

references to Asia and Europe too. The author is a reporter first and a social economist second. If you

are interested in what Occupy is all about or the more frequently referenced distribution of income

issues, this book details out the 99%/1% issue.

Thomas Sowell: Applied Economics. Thomas Sowell is a committed Free Market advocate. He haswritten almost a dozen books, but this is the best one for the purposes of this class. In my opinion it is

also his best book. Sowell is active in current policy debate and you can find him commenting almost

every week on regional or national Government market involvement. He also has a good personal story,

which will make your Author section research interesting.

Paul Krugman: The Conscience of Liberal. Krugman is recent Nobel Prize winner. He is also a prolific

writer. I limit our selection to just this book. The Conscience of Liberal is a good primer of how modern

Keynesian theory is utilized in current Gov policy. Krugman is our most liberal author (contrast him with

Sowell). You can frequently find explaining the beneficial role the government can play as both an actor

and referee.

Robert Reich: Supercapitalism . Robert Reich is another prolific writer, he was the Secretary of Labor for

President Clinton. In that role he was widely regarded as one of the best policy makers of the modern

era. Supercapitalism is Reich’s warning that the balance of power in the Market systems has changed

(remember that graph in Chapter three with Gov, Households and businesses). Reich promotes that

Households have lost much of their authority not to the Gov, but to the Business sector. The pastconcern that Government is the one element likely to get out of control is passé. Reich warns that multinational

companies have attained a power position more powerful than either Gov or households. Reich

has an inspiring personal history.

Robert Heilbroner: The Worldly Philosophers. This is a true history book. Heilbroner creates a

chronological timeline of all the major contributors to the theory of economics. This is the top selling

Economics books of all time. If you are a historical/time-line learner this is a great book for you. If you

want to see how economics has changed as the world has changed this is a great book. This book is

structured differently from the rest of the list and will require some adjustments to the outline in the

syllabus; I will go over that in class. If you want to truly understand economics from a social philosophy

perspective I recommend this book.

Joseph Stiglitz: The Price of Inequality. Academic and Political Economist Joseph Stigiltz reviews

growing disparity in the distribution of wealth and income. He discussed the impact of this reality and

the potential implications for democracy, monetary policy, budgetary policy, globalization and the

standing of living in the US. Sitglitz presents a cause for this reality and a potential solution.

Richard Thaler: Misbehaving: The Making of Behavior Economics. Richard Thaler has spent his career

challenging the notion that the central agents of the economy are rational automatons. Instead Thaler

presents research that the central agents in our economy are “human” – predicable but error-prone

individuals. This collection of research has impacted the underlying assumption of economics. This is an

excellent book with management, marketing, and policy lessons.

Joerg Rieger: No Rising Tide. Rieger is a Main–Line Theologian and this book is first a Theology book

then an economics book. He writes this book from a “Sermon of the Mount” perspective. He connects

Old Testament, Gospel and New Testament teaching to the current free market system. The Title of the

book is a criticism of JFK’s speech about “A rising tide lifts all boats.” The vocabulary is the vocabulary of

a Theologian. If you are a Biblical Studies major or minor you will be completely familiar with thevocabulary he uses, if you are not get ready to learn a few new terms. This is an intellectually and

spiritually challenging read. Due to the complexity of this book, I award the student an additional 5% for

selecting this text (your grade *1.05)

Thorstein Veblen: The Theory of the Leisure Class. We will discuss “Conspicuous Consumption” soon.

Veblen is the coiner and this book is his thesis on that concept. Veblen is a social critic and he identifies

“leisure class” social behavior, charts its history and identifies the positive and negative realities of this

class. If you are a Social Science major or a Marketing Major, this is a good book. Due to the complexity

of this book and the author determination to show off his vocabulary acumen (Veblen is a smart guy and

he wants his readers to know it), I award the student an additional 5% for selecting this text (your grade

*1.05)

Thomas Friedman: The World is Flat and The World is Hot, Flat and Crowded. These two books are

excellent books on Globalization. The author is open and honest about the pros & cons of Globalization.

The Worlds is Flat is the best book I know on the history, concept, interworking and potential of

Globalization. The World is Hot, Flat and Crowded is also about Globalization, but primarily about energy

and the environmental issues that Globalization is creating. These are long books and for that reason I

award the student an additional 5% for undertaking these texts (your grade *1.05).

Just a few quick suggestions.

1. Consider selecting a book that matches your major. These are all great books and most are

considered modern classics, take advantage of the application to your other studies.

2. Pick a book from a philosophical position opposite to yours. If you resonate with liberal politics

read Milton Friedman or Thomas Sowell. If you resonate with conservative politics read

Krugman or Reich. All these books are well done works by reasonable, highly educated and

successful authors. Get to know what other people think from the best sources.

3. Some of these books are an opportunity to learn the in-depth details of an issue. If you want to

understand specific issues on a deep basis (like Globalization, Climate Change, Distribution of

Income or Depression/Recession issues) select the appropriate text.