Mindful Economics: How the US Economy Works, Why it Matters, and How it Could be Different | 
| Author: Joel Magnuson
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $15.16
You Save: $9.79 (39%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 45051
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.9 x 1
ISBN: 1583228470
Dewey Decimal Number: 330.973
EAN: 9781583228470
Publication Date: September 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Are the huge profits garnered by corporations each year a case of a few bad apples in the business world taking advantage of unmonitored dealings? Is this consolidation of wealth made at the expense of the overall economy and the well-being of the average citizen? Will the planet be saved by developing more “green businesses” and “green-collar” jobs? Joel Magnuson delivers a powerful response to the current misconceptions about the US economy in his brilliantly accessible Mindful Economics. The troubles we face are not the result of a good system gone awry, but rather a system that is built to do exactly what it is doing: corporations are designed to reap profits for shareholders?at any cost. The greater welfare of society, or of the environment, will never be as important as financial gain. Magnuson shows us the relationship between the current wars abroad; rising oil prices; the recession; ballooning incomes of top CEOs; the mortgage crisis; and the health care, insurance, and auto industries, and he teaches us that the best way to understand the US economy is to think like an economist. With stunning clarity, Magnuson shows the interconnectedness of the local with the global, and offers real alternatives to this capitalist model. "Joel Magnuson has written an excellent guide to one of the most deliberately mystified fields of human endeavor. If you ever wondered what all those words and concepts mean, this is the book to turn to. And though I don't agree with all his prescriptions for making things better, they're great spurs to both talk and action." --Doug Henwood, editor of Left Business Observer, and author of Wall Street and After the New Economy Joel Magnuson, a professor of economics, writes extensively on the political economy and on environmental issues related to capitalist development. He is a member of an international research group based in Cambridge, England, which is building a new philosophical foundation for economic theory and practice, known as mindful economics.
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| Customer Reviews:
Finally - An Alternative to the Chicago School of Unsustainable Growth September 10, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
For decades now, economic history has been deliberately suppressed in colleges and universities by a group of very deluded academics who worship Ayn Rand and her ideology of selfishness. Margaret ("There is no society") Thatcher and Alan (It's not my fault) Greenspan are among her devotees. Also known as the Chicago School, they launched their first major master plan using Pinochet in Chile in 1977 to overthrow the democratically elected socialist Allende (on 9/11 of that year, by the way. It was a disaster but they called it a success. (Mission Accomplished!) Various members of these minions went on to loot national currencies from Wall Street, and indoctrinate our country into a embracing selfish greed and gains at the unjust expense of others.
Then we were hoodwinked into NAFTA and CAFTA. Banks went national and credit was released from it's cage with no training. Extremely important and effective legislation from the 1930's that protected us by keeping separate the various components of financial and insurance worlds were repealed. Crazy hyper-leveraged financial instruments made unsustainable debt levels a game of hot potato. What is worse though is that we are being mentally manipulated and tricked by opposite-speak everywhere we turn. We are being deprived even of unambiguous language to describe economic and political subjects.
"Free Markets" are anything but democratic, or "free" for that matter. When we say we want to bring democracy to a country, we really mean forcing them to sell us their resources at pennies on the dollar and stripping the country of its assets. It doesn't matter, Democrat or Republican, "Wealth Creation" is really "Debt Creation," and both parties will strive to protect financial paper, no matter how inflationary, at the expense of productive capital and the general prosperity of all Americans except a very few. (Ralph Nader is the only candidate who has for 40 years demonstrated that he is capable of resisting the puppet strings of Wall Street, and by the way, he is on the ballot in 45 states, most likely including yours. You have no more excuses!!)
Joel Magnuson's work is one of the greatest steps I have seen toward restoring economic literacy to America. This is a marvelous text that is easy to read and understand without oversimplifying anything. He tears the curtain from the Wizard's booth and reveals the humbug of micro and macro economic mathmatics, among so many other things. He offers lists of questions to ask the Chicago School instructors in class as each subject comes up. If you like making your professors and instructors actually earn their share of the higher education booty, you will love this feature. It is also reasonably priced, unlike most college texts that are obscenely over-priced in their anything-but-free market bookstores.
Buy extra copies of this book. You will want to lend them out and give them away as I do.
Best Economics Book I have ever read September 1, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is perhaps the best economics book I have ever read. It covers so much, is beautifully written and is just amazing. You'll learn so much from his work.
I am an economics major with a poly sci minor, and, this book is just so much macro/mirco concepts nothing has come close.
Fresh Critical Perspective & Well Written July 25, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book is the perfect counterbalance to mainstream economics. Magnuson provides real world information about the US economy and its history, and suggests ways to begin building real economic alternatives. The book contains much useful information and is accessible to people who have no background in economics. Mindful Economics is very informative and an interesting read.
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