The age of diminished expectations: U.S. economic policy in the 1990s

Recent Books in Macroeconomics* Advanced Lectures in Quantitative Economics. Frederick Van Der Ploeg, ed. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, Inc., 1990. 628 pp. NPA ISBN o-12-711703-2. The papers in this volume were taken from lecture notes used for courses in the Dutch National Network for Doctoral Education in Quantitative Economics. The book is divided into three parts: Part I, Macroeconomics, contains papers on neo-Keynesian macroeconomics in an open economy, the use of a simulation approach to evaluate the prospects of global trade imbalances, and an analysis of general equilibrium models with price rigidities and rationing. Part II, Microeconomics, includes papers on incentives and allocation mechanisms, neoclassical labor economics in the postwar era, and international trade theory and the arbitrage principle. In Part III, Econometrics, subjects discussed include the estimation of models with unobserved rational expectations and dynamic econometric models and decisions under uncertainty. The Age of Diminished Expectations: U.S. Economic Policy in the 1990s. Paul Krugman. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1990. 204 pp. $17.95 ISBN O-262-11156-X. In this book, MIT economist Paul Krugman examines major problems facing the U. S. economy during the 1990s. He considers trends that have affected the American standard of living-productivity, income distribution, and unemployment. He addresses the problems of the trade deficit and inflation, and he discusses monetary policy, the budget deficit, the dollar, protectionism and Japan. Krugman also analyzes the savings and loan crisis, Third World debt, and corporate finance. Business Cycles: The Nature and Causes of Economic Fluctuations. Thomas E. Hall. New York, NY: Praeger Publishers, 1990. 256 pp. $38.95 ISBN o-275-93085-8. *Please mention the ]aurnczZ 3, when ordering from publisher.

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