Rating: 
Summary: An accessible book on a wide range of economic topics.
Review: The Accidental Theorist was written by Paul Krugman, an economics professor at Princeton and a contributing author to Slate and Fortune magazine. (For more bio information, check out Dr. Krugman's personal site .The Accidental Theorist is a collection of essays written for various journals and are categorized into six sections. Krugman showcases his belief in the markets and his contempt for supply-side economics all in one very accessible book. Part 1: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
Part 2: Right-Wing Wrongs
Part 3: Globalization and Globaloney
Part 4: Delusions of Growth
Part 5: The Speculator's Ball
Part 6: Beyond the Market Part 1: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs This section discusses the misconceptions that the average Joe has about there only being a set amount of work to be done and that if this work is done by machine or sent overseas the economy will suffer. Part 2: Right-Wing Wrongs Krugman appears to reserve certain contempt for supply-side economics and has reserved a whole section to for the topic.
Part 3: Globalization and Globaloney In Part 3 Krugman harps back to Part 1 and discusses the advantages of Globalization. Part 4: Delusions of Growth
Part 4 is a grab bag of topics and covers topics such as: Inflation, Fed targeting employment rate, Japan's slump, Technology so-called productivity gains and others. This is the best section in the book and is worth the price of the book by itself.
Part 5: The Speculator's Ball
Part 5 discusses the currency markets. There was a lot of activity in this area in the 90's and is a good read.
Part 6: Beyond the Market Part 6 discusses where markets fail. Here Krugman discusses the environment, taxes, the economics of democracy and traffic jams. All in all a very good read. The language is easily accessible and very informative. Though he does tend to repeat himself (expected in a collection of essays) each essay reveals more of Krugman's world view. There are places where Krugman seems to counter himself. At one point he says that the 1950-2000 technology change is not very impressive compared to 1900-1950, however when discussing inflation he claims there has been a huge increase in the quality of life over the same time period.
In summary The Accidental Theorist is a concise but valuable read.
Rating:
Summary: An accessible book on a wide range of economic topics.
Review: The Accidental Theorist was written by Paul Krugman, an economics professor at Princeton and a contributing author to Slate and Fortune magazine. (For more bio information, check out Dr. Krugman's personal site . The Accidental Theorist is a collection of essays written for various journals and are categorized into six sections. Krugman showcases his belief in the markets and his contempt for supply-side economics all in one very accessible book. Part 1: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
Part 2: Right-Wing Wrongs
Part 3: Globalization and Globaloney
Part 4: Delusions of Growth
Part 5: The Speculator's Ball
Part 6: Beyond the Market Part 1: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs This section discusses the misconceptions that the average Joe has about there only being a set amount of work to be done and that if this work is done by machine or sent overseas the economy will suffer. Part 2: Right-Wing Wrongs Krugman appears to reserve certain contempt for supply-side economics and has reserved a whole section to for the topic.
Part 3: Globalization and Globaloney In Part 3 Krugman harps back to Part 1 and discusses the advantages of Globalization. Part 4: Delusions of Growth
Part 4 is a grab bag of topics and covers topics such as: Inflation, Fed targeting employment rate, Japan's slump, Technology so-called productivity gains and others. This is the best section in the book and is worth the price of the book by itself.
Part 5: The Speculator's Ball
Part 5 discusses the currency markets. There was a lot of activity in this area in the 90's and is a good read.
Part 6: Beyond the Market Part 6 discusses where markets fail. Here Krugman discusses the environment, taxes, the economics of democracy and traffic jams. All in all a very good read. The language is easily accessible and very informative. Though he does tend to repeat himself (expected in a collection of essays) each essay reveals more of Krugman's world view. There are places where Krugman seems to counter himself. At one point he says that the 1950-2000 technology change is not very impressive compared to 1900-1950, however when discussing inflation he claims there has been a huge increase in the quality of life over the same time period.
In summary The Accidental Theorist is a concise but valuable read.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent! Definitely a classic!
Review: This book is essentially a collection of Krugman's short articles from various sources in 1996 and 1997. I read some of them online after the 97 Asian Crisis. Today is 24th Oct 2002. What, and simply all, he said are still true today. He's a genius and really deserves a Nobel prize. To me, he already has. I think it becomes more appropriate to quote the praise of a Nobel Laureate from the back cover of the book than to write more myself:-(I checked that it's not on the editorial review here on Amazon)
"When it comes to popularized economic wisdom, there are a lot of balloons of ignorance out there, many of them reinforced by self interest and self confidence. Fortunately Paul Krugman is also out there, popping those balloons with intelligence, style and wit. You can learn a great deal, about economics and otherwise, by reading these delightful essays."
Robert M. Solow, Nobel Laureate
MIT
Rating:
Summary: COMPLEX THEORIES THROUGH SIMPLE EXAMPLES
Review: This compilation of some of Paul Krugman's articles provides the reader wih an insight to a number of economic theories. Krugman's book doesn't require the reader to have an economic encyclopedia by his/her side while reading it - the examples are very basic and down to earth, and even those that are totally clueless when it comes to economics are able to understand what Krugman is trying to say. He has skillfully taken many a complex theory and broken it down into a language that can be comprehended by the massses. In fact Krugman at times makes fun of those other economists that make simple economic theories look highly complicated. While reading the book you will also come across Krugman's sly sense of humor which livens things up dramatically. Krugman also emphasises the connection between international relations and economics - you will understand the intricacies of these two worlds, and the way in which they are intertwined. An extremely interesting and enjoyable read.
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