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[0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism [author] author Akerlof, George A. [isbn] isbn 0691142335 [isbn13] isbn13 9780691142333 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 248 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.69 [num ratings] num ratings 2,226 [date pub] date pub 2009 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Feb 18, 2009 [rating] Lucas's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 1 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started Jan 26, 2011 [date read] date read Feb 13, 2011 [date added] date added Feb 05, 2011 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Hardcover [29] actions view [review] 
review The money illusion section was very good, none of the other economics books I've read have given it as much as attention as it gets here. I also reall The money illusion section was very good, none of the other economics books I've read have given it as much as attention as it gets here. I also really liked the chapter on the asymmetrical behaviour of compensation in economic down-turns vs. up-turns, again because the subject wasn't given significant text in other books. The book doesn't explore the solution space much- my first thought is that an progressive proportion of wages should be in the flexible form of stock options in the employers company heavily mixed with index funds for the employer's industry and also index funds for the entire market, with restrictions on sales or transfers within some time window of say anywhere from 5 years to retirement age of the employee. The employer would promise employees numerical unit contributions of those funds per year rather than be locked into dollar amounts, accomplishing the desired effect of reducing compensation in recessions without worker antagonism. Higher progressive income tax on dollar compensation coupled with lower taxes on options compensation might accomplish this. The chapter on the TARP (the bank bailout) is full of unexplained jargon and not very useful, also the chapter on affirmative action doesn't cohere well with the rest of the book. The title of the book isn't well justified in the text, and each usage of the term 'animal spirits' is clunky- simply calling some undesired effect to be due to it and therefore the author's solution is the only one that will work isn't very convincing. It would lose marketability but I wish I would hear an economist talk about linearization- various economics theories of the past are actually linearized approximations of actual behaviour, but behaviour outside of the valid linear range is either undefined (and maybe undefinable) or bears more research. ...more
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