Understanding American Economic Decline

by Edited by Michael A. Bernstein , David E. Adler , Foreword by Robert Heilbroner

• ISBN13: 9780521450638
• ISBN10: 0521450632
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1994-07-29
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The public has long been painfully aware of the economy's stagnation. The contemporary recession has brought to the foreground problems which have been germinating for decades. Falling real wages, slow productivity growth, and the loss of international competitiveness in major industries all are outgrowths of long-term developments that predate this crisis. As the United States moves from a position of global economic leadership to one of economic interdependence, we need alternative approaches to explain the dramatic changes in the US economy. This collection of essays, written by leading scholars, presents a systematic analysis of the nation's economic woes. The authors furnish more than hard-hitting criticisms of the US economy. They provide hope as they offer solutions to America's most pressing economic problems.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction David E. Adler

2. Understanding American economic decline Michael A. Bernstein

3. The new economic stagnation and the contradictions of economic policymaking Robert A. Blecker

4. Chickens home to roost: from prosperity to stagnation in the postwar US economy David M. Gordon

5. Right-wing economics in the 1980s: the anatomy of failure David M. Gordon, Thomas E. Weisskopf and Samuel Bowles

6. A comparative analysis of the sources of America's relative economic decline Jeffrey A. Hart

7. Relative wages and international competitiveness in US industry James K. Galbraith and Paulo Du Pin Calmon

8. Corporate behavior and contemporary economic performance William H. Lazonick

9. The effects of structural change on women and blacks Rhona M. Williams and M. V. Lee Badgett

10. Economic imperatives at the turn of the century.