Models of disequilibrium and shortage in centrally planned economies Christopher Davis and Wojciech Charemza,editors Chapman and Hall,London and New York, 1989, 501 pp.

Portes applied the econometric disequilibrium model of market economies to Centrally Planned Economies (CPEs) to show that the consumer goods sector was in equilibrium. Kornai considered these models inapplicable to CPEs and regarded CPEs as chronic shortage economies. Arguments on both sides of the debate are presented in this book. The conflict between Portes and Kornai lies in their microeconomic view of CPEs. While Portes acknowledges the welfare loss from shortages, Kornai analyzes and emphasizes it. Portes' view implies that changes in relative prices can reestablish equilibrium in CPEs. Kornai disagrees because CPEs do not respond to price changes like market economies. Only total reform, now attempted in many transition economies, can eliminate the imbalances.     

Monetary policy on the 75th anniversary of the federal reserve system Edited by Michael T. Belongia Amsterdam: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1991, 278 pp.

Conclusion Printed on the back cover of this volume is a summary of its contents that includes the statement that the book “…is perhaps best seen not as the end-product of a recent research agenda but as a roadmap for future research on unresolved issues in monetary theory and policy.” This certainly is truth in advertising. Although the roadmap provided in this book is not unflawed, it is brilliantly colored and well marked and should be widely read by students and practitioners alike.     

The economics of regulation: Principles and institutions Alfred E. Kahn Cambridge,MA: MIT Press, 1988, Vol. I, 199 pp., Vol. II, 360 pp.

Conclusion Although Kahn's theorizing may be criticized in various ways, there is no doubt that he succeeds in arriving at the correct conclusion. Significant social benefits were to be attained through increasing competition, i.e., through deregulation, in all of the industries that are considered in his analysis. As chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board, Kahn courageously and effectively acted to bring about the benefits from deregulation that he predicted would be forthcoming, for which this nation, if not the world, should be grateful.In this book, Kahn argues persuasively for increasing thecompetitive component in regulated industries in order to achieve greater economic efficiency. The message of the book endures, as is befitting the book's stature as a classic.The author expresses his appreciation to the Book Review Editor of this journal, the two anonymous referees, Janice A. Sears, Khy and Anne Alexis Daniel, and Tonya Katsoulis for their tolerance, encouragement, and suggestions. The author alone is responsible for any errors.     

Pollution and the firm Robert E. Kohn Edward Elgar, 1998, 251 pp.

The book, Pollution and the Firm, by Robert E. Kohn, provides a detailed and nearly definitive look at the application of Pigouvian taxation applied to competitive polluting firms in a static, general equilibrium framework. The reader is offered the most thorough examination of how the firm's long-run scale of output is related to the activities of pollution abatement and avoidance of which this reviewer is aware. While the reader would be advised to treat with skepticism some of the results of the models involving uncertainty, the overall set of models offers an excellent set of derivations and conclusions. Any student of firm-generated externalities would gain by exposure to this book.     

Monetary policy in interdependent economies: A game theoretic approach Matthew B. Canzoneri and Dale W. Henderson MIT Press, 1991, 133 pp.

This article reviews the recent book by Matthew Canzoneri and Dale Henderson on international monetary policy. The review discusses the basic model used by the authors to illustrate the welfare losses that arise as a result of non-cooperative behavior and the proposed solutions for moving closer to the socially optimal cooperative solutions. The proposed solutions are then examined in detail and the reviewer asks whether these solutions accurately describe the way he believes cooperation has occurred in the last two decades. Finally, this work is compared to recent research on policy cooperation that does not have game-theoretic foundations.     

Stee-rike four! What's wrong with the business of baseball? edited by Daniel R. Marburger praeger press, 1997, 218 pp.

This is a review of a 14-article volume edited by Daniel R. Marburger. These articles examine such topics as collective bargaining, player salaries, antitrust issues, and the problems of and future prospects for baseball. Major league baseball is an unregulated monopolist whose plant (stadium) is government-subsidized and whose unionized workers (players) share the monopoly profit with management. This sharing has led to considerable labor strife including strikes and lockouts. The major issues discussed in the book include the competitive imbalance as a result of large differences in team revenues, the player salary cap, and revenue sharing. The principal conclusions of the book include the marginal economic impact and benefits of a team on a city and the need to permit low-revenue teams to migrate.     

The legacy of Ricardo Giovanni A. Caravale,Ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 1985, 325 pp.

Conclusion The existence of competing interpretations of classics such as Ricardo, is one aspect of the continuation of distinct lines of inquiry in economic theorizing. This feature of economic knowledge may be related to the fact that theorizing in economics is often characterized by the specialized use of ordinary economic language, so that each theory generally derives its primitive terms from ordinary language through what one might call semantic specialization.Awareness of the history of economic concepts is essential to the interpretation of current economic controversies. Moreover, the history of economic thought should be based upon explicit recognition that alternative patterns of semantic specialization do exist in economic analysis and that distinct lines of inquiry are derived therefrom. Explicit recognition that disagreement is possible is an essential prerequisite for dialogues between distinct lines of research.The collection edited by Caravale is an important contribution which provides impressive evidence of the fundamental role that theoretical beliefs play in matters of textual interpretation. As such, the book is essential reading both to Ricardian scholars and to economists interested in the general issue of how analytical work and intellectual history interact upon each other in the formation of economic knowledge.This review article is part of the exchange of reviews between theAtlantic Economic Journal and theRivista Internatzionale Di Scienze Economiche E Commerciali (International Review of Economics and Business). L. E. Johnson is doing the reciprocal review of this book. The author acknowledges research support from the Italian National Research Council (CT 86.01257.10).     

指令簿透明度增加与市场价格发现——基于计算实验金融方法的指令驱动市场研究

本文基于计算实验方法,在指令驱动市场的微观模拟平台基础上研究不同指令簿透明度的市场价格发现的变化规律。实验发现适度增加指令簿透明度有利于市场价格发现,但在指令簿透明度过高的市场中指令簿透明度增加后价格发现程度变化较弱甚至反而有所降低。因此,实验结果表明增加指令簿透明度并不一定会促进市场的价格发现。     

Murtuva säätyvalta,kestävä eliitti. Senaattori Lennart Gripenbergin sukupiiri ja sääty-yhteiskunnan muodonmuutos

Abstract

The third edition of Dr. Johannsen's famous work represents a thorough revision of the earlier editions, incorporating the multifarious findings of recent research; additions have also been made to the wealth of fascinating and instructive illustrations. It is evident that the author has made full use of the very comprehensive and sometimes not easily accessible literature on his subject. It is to be regretted that he did not find it possible to complete his book with a bibliography since this would have provided an indispensable tool for all future research in this vast and important segment of the history of human civilization. The book is provided, however, with a detailed index which makes it easy to refer to particular questions, and we are told that the source material is assembled in the Biicherei des Vereins deutscher Eisenhiitienleute in Dusseldorf where it is accessible to those interested.     

Internal sources of development finance: Concepts, issues and strategies P.C. Kumar Quorum Books, 1994, 161 pp.

Essentially a text book, this volume explores the operation of financial institutions and markets as they provide an important part of the institutional framework within which economic development is pursued. As such, Kumar provides a valuable summary of relevant material from the monetary and financial economics literature. The discussion of taxation as a source of financial capital is adept at addressing the special circumstances of developing counties as well as insights regarding supply-side effects of tax structure. Privatization as a development tactic is carefully considered and Kumar provides a service in demonstrating that one should not be naive in assuming privatization will yield efficiency or revenues gains in all market structures and with all organizational cultures. An excellent presentation of the comparative static analysis of the topic, the treatment would be strengthened by a more explicit and more extensive analysis of issues related to time and sequencing.     

J. Soedradjad Djiwandono,Bank Indonesia and the crisis

Soedradjad Djiwandono, Governor of Bank Indonesia during the critical early months of the Asian crisis, had already written extensively on the period (including in this journal), but this book brings a more comprehensive version of his story to a wider audience. His focus is on central bank issues—the exchange rate, interest rates, capital flows and the insolvency of the banking system—but as these are the defining issues of the crisis, the book provides a rare and valuable contribution to the still-incomplete history of this painful period. This review puts his account in context and offers some commentary on the issues.     

Notes and Communications, Horses for Courses: Why Europe Should Not Harmonise its Book Policies

European countries have similar cultural goals for books. The most common are the promotion of reading and the production of (literary) books (of a diverse nature). The extent to which the free market can achieve the cultural goals is uncertain and differs across countries. In cases where the free market does not achieve the goals or politicians do not want to accept uncertainty, a policy instrument is needed. Commonly used instruments in Europe include the fixed book price, subsidies, libraries, and lower VAT. We demonstrate that differences among European countries matter and that harmonisation of European book policies is not a good idea.     

Mining improbable postulates and the theory of diverting toys(Advances in General Equilibrium Theory) Donald A. Walker Edward Elgar, 1997, 165 pp.

Walker'sAdvances in General Equilibrium Theory summarizes his position on the usefulness and appropriateness of much of modern general equilibrium modeling. He argues that much of modern general equilibrium modeling does not have the objective of explaining the real economy. His comments concerning general equilibrium theory are easily seen to be related to his study of Walras. In his text, Walker is critical of the general equilibrium theorizing of a number of well-known economists. He spends the majority of the book tearing down general equilibrium theory and models as they are presented in literature. He concludes his book by summarizing his opinion about how realistic models of the economy should be structured.     

Regulation and the Valuation Relevance of Book Value and Earnings: Evidence from the United States*

Electric utilities in the United States are subject to a cost-plus normal profits pricing that is designed to align the market value of equity with the balance sheet book value. Perfect alignment implies the equality of the market and book values. Extant empirical evidence suggests that, for these utilities, actual cost/profit recovery does not follow a pure cost-plus pricing, raising the prospect that income statement items contribute to the determination of market value. What is not obvious is the extent to which the noted departure from pure cost-plus pricing results in misalignment of the market and book values, or the relative contribution of income statement items to the valuation of electric utility shares. This study pursues this question, using benchmark results for a sample of manufacturing firms to highlight the degree of market-to-book alignment for regulated and competitive firms. The results show a considerable alignment of the market and book values for utilities. In examining the relevance of book value and income statement items in the determination of market value, it is found that the contribution of earnings level to explaining market value diminishes markedly in the presence of book value for electric utilities, and the contribution of earnings change to explaining returns diminishes markedly in the presence of earnings levels. Earnings level complements book value in explaining market value for manufacturing firms, while earnings change complements earnings level in explaining returns. The results further show that the market and accounting values exhibit pronounced misalignments in returns-earnings models, especially for utilities.     

Calculating credibility: print culture,trust and economic figures in early eighteenth-century England1

Credit in early modern England has been studied by both social historians of the market and historians of the book. The intersection of these literatures is explored by asking the question: how did producers of books about interest (which was closely connected to credit) convince readers that their books could be trusted? One particular book is considered: a palm-sized book of interest calculations by John Castaing. Most importantly, and unusually, many copies of this book contain his signature, which, it is argued, must be interpreted in the context of the particular role that signatures played in guaranteeing financial transactions.     

The macrodynamics of business cycles: A comparative evaluation Mohammed H.I. Dore Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1993, 242 pp.

In his latest book, Mohammed Dore has provided a much needed exposition of macroeconomic and business cycle theory since the advent of Keynes' General Theory. The book provides under one cover extended derivations of the main models that must be mastered if one is to be proficient in macroeconomic theory. It is, however, much more than just an expository volume; it is also a work of highly structured evaluation and criticism. The theories considered fall into the broad classifications of New Classical, New Keynesian, and endogenous cycle theories. The theories are rated on how well they account for ten stylized facts describing business cycles. The winner of the Dore sweepstakes is Richard M. Goodwin's endogenous cycle theory. While heartily endorsing Dore's criticism of representative agent models, this review expresses reservations about abandoning micro foundations.     

Integration between the London and New York Stock Exchanges, 1825–1925

In this article the integration between the London and New York Stock Exchanges is analysed during the era when they were still developing as asset markets. The domestic securities on both exchanges showed little sustained integration, even when controlling for the different characteristics of stocks, which implies that the pricing of securities in the US and UK was still being driven by local factors. These results place a limit on the view that the pre‐First World War period was the first era of globalization in terms of capital markets. However, there was considerable integration between New York and those listings on London that operated internationally. This suggests that the listing of foreign securities may be one of the primary mechanisms driving asset market integration.     

New light on eighteenth century Sweden

Abstract

The second part of the late Professor Eli F. Heckscher's Economic History of Sweden,¹ with its 894 pages of text, together with notes, tables, diagrams, maps and index, is a large work even by comparison with the first part, which, in 707 pages of text, covered both the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In his introduction the author regrets that he was unable to retain the same clarity of layout. In fact, however, too concentrated an exposition would not have rendered justice to the astonishing research and the intensive thought, which have gone into the making of this book, and Heckscher's ability to capture the reader's attention by his lucidity of style and accessible presentation of his subject-matter is here shown to full advantage.²     

The federal reserve: Lender of last resort Gillian Garcia and Elizabeth Plautz Ballinger: Cambridge,MA, 1988, 310 pp.

Conclusion Garcia and Plautz have provided a real service to the profession by illuminating the important issues concerning the Federal Reserve System as lender of last resort. At one point in the book [p. 97] the authors refer to the preference by most economists to discuss the LLR concept via “...a practical, intuitive, rather than a theoretical, approach” that is in contrast to use of a “...formal theory of liquidity assistance...based on a mathematical framework, which is often the preferred approach among academic economists.” They imply here that the former is to be preferred to the latter, given the complexity of the LLR concept and the related public policy issues. After reading the book, this reviewer reaches the opposite conclusion. There are so many interrelated issues associated with the conduct of LLR policy that what is needed are more concrete analyses of the problem by academic and non-academic economists. Formal theories, such as those provided by Kanatas [1986] and by Waller [1990], are sorely needed as policymakers continue to search for the appropriate LLR Policy structure. Garcia and Plautz have taken the practical, intuitive approach just about as far as it can go. Hopefully, their work will stimulate new attempts to provide theoretical guidance toward a welfare-maximizing LLR policy. This review has benefited from very helpful comments by an anonymous referee.     

Economic theory and ideology inMarx and modern economic analysis Giovanni A. Caravale,editor Edward Elgar, 1991, 512 pp.

The collection of essays edited by Giovanni Caravale has the explicit aim of letting the reader know the principal positions that have characterized the long-lasting debate in the themes of Marxian economics. In particular, the book is concerned with the contributions of those authors who recognize the relevance of Piero Sraffa's analysis for the interpretation of Marxian economic thought, showing that, even among these authors, opinions on the topic are deeply different. The book consists of two volumes: the first one, "Values, Prices and Exploitation," deals with the main theme of Marxian value theory, while the second, "The Future of Capitalism and the History of Thought," deals with discussion of the law of the falling rate of profit and of the role of Marx's theory in the history of economic thought.