Everything you've wanted to know about the economy but were afraid to ask

books:


	• Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed? (And Other Unsolved Economic Mysteries) Jared Bernstein Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2008 - 225 pages average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Knowledge is Power

Went to see Jared Bernstein speak last Saturday and left feeling surprisingly uplifted despite the doom-and-gloom economic analysis. Being a member of the middle class myself, I can fully endorse his description of the "crunch" and I am already a firm believer that wealth distribution is a core problem in our society -so I wasn't expecting more than an endorsement of what I already believe. However, I came away feeling energized by his organizing theme that with knowledge we can "rechannel the power of economic analysis back to the service of those who need it most: the ones in the vise grip of the crunch." He has a great command of the telling economic detail & certainly gave me fact-fodder for a dozen arguments with 'fiscally conservative' relatives - but I found his interweaving of economic and policy ideas to be particularly compelling. Plus, his enthusiasm for his subject and his sincerity are infectious - so I bought the book. It hasn't disappointed. A well-written, easy to digest analysis with compelling arguments on every page. I'm ready to "rechannel the power."

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Everything you've wanted to know about the economy but were afraid to ask

I've always wondered whether I should believe the pundits who insist on "letting the free market take its course," and about why positive economic indicators don't seem to reflect the way people are really living. It never made sense to me. In Crunch, Jared Bernstein explains that the reason accepted economic wisdom doesn't always make sense is that some of it is just plain wrong.

One of the things I loved about this book is that it explains economic principles--as well as the motives of those who try to misrepresent them for their own purposes--in terms a non-economist can understand. I feel like I got an in on the knowledge that the experts had been hoarding for themselves. One of Bernstein's key arguments is that economics is about power, and in sharing this information he gives power back to those of us without PhDs in Economics.

Another thing I really liked is that this book doesn't stop with what's wrong. The author offers insights about and suggestions for how we can change to work through really big economic problems like health care, social security, and globalization.

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Highly recommended to community library economics shelves

Anyone can get a firm handle on the concept of economics claims "Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed(and Other Unsolved Economic Mysteries)". Speaking in plain terms, cutting away the misleading euphemisms and jargon that the modern media goes on and on with, author Jared Bernstein explains everything one would want to about America's current economic status, and makes it clear that it's all really about choices and that there is no clear cut right answer to make all the problems go away. "Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed(And Other Unsolved Economic Mysteries" is highly recommended to community library economics shelves and for anyone who wants to fully understand economics without a four year college course in the subject.

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clear tools for understanding where we are and where we're headed

Having long ago forgotten my college economics, I've been trying to make sense of the current talk of recession and the various stimulus proposals put out by politicians. Something about the viewpoint expressed by cable news pundits and economic leaders hasn't added up for me, but I couldn't articulate why. Jared Bernstein can and did in his book Crunch. In clear language, he explains how the current squeeze happened and gives the tools for evaluating how various issues--social security, globalization, immigration, and more--affect my pocketbook and what would move us towards, or away from, a fair society.

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Crunch Time In America

How many economists have you read or watched on television in recent years that claimed the economy was performing well while you struggled to make ends meet and keep up with the cost of living? Indeed, until recently a happy talk virus had infected a cabal of conservative plutocrats who preached the virtues of limited regulation, market forces and free trade as wages declined and predatory lenders had a party. It seemed we were hearing conservative politicians and their mouthpieces at the Heritage Foundation or Fox news refer to the economy as "the greatest story never told" at every opportunity.

Now that the housing and credit crisis has metastasized, conservative apparatchiks are fighting to minimize government intervention on behalf of regular folks while preserving corporate welfare. They accuse anyone who raises a fuss of waging class warfare. Instead these agents of the status quo prefer we erroneously obsess about Social Security going bust and agree to privatize it for Wall Street's benefit.

Thankfully, renowned economist and the director of the Living Standards Program for the Economic Policy Institute, Jared Bernstein is using his megaphone to fight the madness. With his new book, Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed? (And Other Economic Mysteries), Bernstein responds to dozens of questions asked by working Americans that relate to the dollars and cents concerns of real people. Bernstein who often appears as a commentator on CNBC wrote in the preface of his book that,

"I'm tired of being stuck in the studio engaging in rants with Darth Vaders with PhDs. Wouldn't it be more useful to have an open-ended, rant-free dialogue with real, everyday people about their economic questions."

With Crunch, Bernstein effectively validates the daily experience of working people struggling to keep up in a treadmill economy. He also adroitly writes with accessible prose and powerful anecdotes to both educate readers about economic nuances and empower them to influence politics in a more populist direction. Bernstein contends that the rich and powerful have as much influence on who benefits from the economy as the will of the market. He therefore hopes to inspire readers not to cede any more ground to the practitioners of hyper individualism at the expense of the American community.

You can also listen to a podcast interview with Bernstein at the Intrepid Liberal Journal weblog.

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reviews: page 1, 2

Is Social Security really going bust, and what does that mean to me? If I hire an immigrant, am I hurting a native-born worker? How much can presidents really affect economic outcomes? Why does the stock market go up when employment declines? What's a "living wage?" Why do I feel so squeezed?

If you'd like to know the answers to these questions, premier economist Jared Bernstein is here to help. In "Crunch" he answers these as well as dozens of others he has fielded from working Americans by email, on blogs, and at events where he speaks. Chances are if there's a stumper you've always wanted to ask an economist, it's solved in this book.

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