The Invisible Hand: Economic Thought Yesterday and Today

ISBN-13: 9783540023555 / Angielski / Twarda / 2004 / 263 str.

Ulrich Van Suntum; Ulrich Van Suntum; C. Hemingway

Opis

The economies of the European Union are today highly integrated. Constitutive part of this high degree of integration is the euro which unites most of the Member Stateswithintheeuro-zone. Inordertoensureprosperityandstabilityofthis Union in the spirit of the European Stability and Growth Pact, economic policies in both the Union and its Member States need to be monitored and co-ordinated appropriately. This applies in particular also because of the enlargement process which adds a further dimension to the continuous challenge of having to deal with different economic policy concepts and traditions in our Union. Understandingtheeconomicandsocio-politicaldebatesintheindividualM- ber States of the Union and elsewhere requires a solid knowledge not only of the economic but also of the social and historical background of these debates. In economics, more than in the natural sciences, human norms and conflicts play a central role in addition to logical relationships and empirical findings. Therefore, looking only at economic formulae and empirical facts will not be enough. Most economic textbooks, especially from the Anglo-Saxon area, tend to c- centrate more on the technically correct and often model-based presentation of their subject-matter than on its socio-political background. However, in view of the significance of economic reality for every citizen in Europe, it is also important to reach those who have not obtained a university degree in economics.

Spis treści

People and Markets (Microeconomics).- Crises of Market Economies (Macroeconomics).- Trade and Changes in the World Economy (Foreign trade).- The State and Social Matters (Public Finance).

O autorze

Ulrich van Suntum, geb. am 6.1.1954 in Hamm, ist ein deutscher Volkswirt. Von 1987-88 war van Suntum Generalsekretär des Sachverständigenrats zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung (Rat der Wirtschaftsweisen). Er entwickelte und berechnet regelmäßig die konjunkturellen Frühindikatoren des Handelsblatts. Van Suntum lehrt seit 1995 an der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster. Er ist Botschafter der vom Arbeitgeberverband Gesamtmetall finanzierten Initiative Neue Soziale Marktwirtschaft. Gemeinsam mit Frau und drei Kindern lebt er in Nordkirchen.