This is a collection of 43 essays about the economics and management of information technology markets. The first part of the book focuses on events, notable birth dates and longstanding trends. The unifying theme revolves around the role of human economic behavior in the face of uncertainty and confusion. The contributors' intent is to explain, educate and entertain — to go beyond the obvious.The next part contains writing about the Internet. It discusses the development of the online commercial world, and analyzes the macroeconomic side of the investment boom and bust related to...

The seventeenth volume of the National Bureau of Economic Research's Innovation Policy and the Economy provides an accessible forum for bringing the work of leading academic researchers to an audience of policymakers and those interested in the interaction between public policy and innovation. In the first chapter, Joel Waldfogel discusses how reduced costs of production have resulted in a "Golden Age of Television," arguing that this development has gone underappreciated. The second chapter, by Marc Rysman and Scott Schuh, discusses the prospects for innovation in payment systems,...