From the author of Day of Reckoning, the acclaimed critique of Ronald Reagan s economic policy ( Every citizen should read it, said The New York Times): a persuasive, wide-ranging argument that economic growth provides far more than material benefits.
In clear-cut prose, Benjamin M. Friedman examines the political and social histories of the large Western democracies particularly of the United States since the Civil War to demonstrate the fact that incomes on the rise lead to more open and democratic societies. He explains that growth, rather than simply a high...

What tools are available for setting and analyzing monetary policy?

World-renowned contributors examine recent evidence on subjects as varied as price-setting, inflation persistence, the private sector's formation of inflation expectations, and the monetary policy transmission mechanism. Stopping short of advocating conclusions about the ideal conduct of policy, the authors focus instead on analytical methods and the changing interactions among the ingredients and properties that inform monetary models. The influences between economic performance and monetary policy regimes can be...

What are the goals of monetary policy and how are they transmitted?

Top scholars summarize recent evidence on the roles of money in the economy, the effects of information, and the growing importance of nonbank financial institutions. Their investigations lead to questions about standard presumptions about the rationality of asset markets and renewed interest in fiscal-monetary connections. Stopping short of advocating conclusions about the ideal conduct of policy, the authors focus instead on analytical methods and the changing interactions among the ingredients and properties...