Against the Grain : Insights from an Economic Contrarian.

Intro -- _Hlk489962505 -- _Hlk505371102 -- _Hlk505347516 -- The author -- Foreword -- 1 Introduction -- This book -- Microeconomics and macroeconomics -- Sources -- References -- 2 Market structures and incentives -- Meat and potato pies and the Nobel Prize in economics -- Incentives, scarce resources and the refugee crisis -- The market for speeding points -- Bacon sandwich with sugar, anyone? -- Don't send bankers to jail. Just don't give them knighthoods -- Would harsher punishments deter the likes of Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes? -- Why can't students learn? University is not worthwhile for most -- Can Nanny make you stop drinking? -- Paying for performance can be bad. It's (almost) official -- Why teachers are just like bankers -- CEO compensation and Jamaican demands for reparations: two sides of the same coin -- Corporation tax: fostering the illusions of the electorate that someone else will pay -- Our Friends in the North are trapped in a monetary union -- Can game theory help the Greeks? -- With hurricanes raging, why can't politicians confront climate change? -- Ticket prices, fairness and behavioural economics -- Are the markets telling the truth? -- The value of experiments, both controlled and natural -- Rude Yorkshiremen, Milton Friedman and economic theory -- Banks and steel: thorny problems in economic theory -- Expert opinions are often built on sand -- References -- 3 Uncertainty and the limits to knowledge -- The World Chess Championship tells us how we really make decisions -- The 'gentleman in Whitehall' does not know best -- How expert are experts? Time to end the independence of the Bank -- Beer, evolution and failure -- Ninja Turtles, Nick Clegg and market failure -- Black Friday, games and the Stock Market -- Can England win the World Cup? -- References -- 4 Innovation.

Whatever happened to all those miners? Shocks and economic resilience -- Economics isn't always the dismal science -- Could Ernie replace Andy? The Bank's take on automation -- Neo-Luddites won't like it, but the UK must keep on (driverless) truckin' -- Always look on the bright side -- All we are saying: give capitalism a chance -- Artificial Intelligence and the future -- Biotech contradicts accusation of City short-termism -- Stranded assets and innovation -- Britain's New Industrial Policy: can we learn from the mistakes of the past? -- Why cricket is like spam -- References -- 5 Networks -- Thomas Schelling, polymath of genius -- A stitch in time. We need smarter government, but less of it -- Echo chamber of garbage -- Alas, poor Cecil! Economic theory and the death of a lion -- If it can happen to Google, who can feel safe? -- Um Bongo: a spotlight on modern social and economic behaviour -- Popular culture is the driving force of inequality -- What the Emily Thornberry saga tells us about macroeconomic policy -- References -- 6 Macroeconomics -- Want an economic forecast guv? Pick one, any one will do -- What a good job Keynes didn't believe in forecasting -- Inflation and the limits to knowledge -- A tale of two crises -- The private sector, not the state, drives America's recovery -- Cutting spending can be expansionary -- Is this a pleb I see before me? Reality and perception in the markets -- How big is my multiplier? -- The 'output gap': another piece of economic mumbo-jumbo -- We are much better off than the official statistics say -- Economists are not impressed by Piketty's views on inequality -- Capitalism is stable and resilient -- References -- A few suggestions for further reading -- About the IEA -- Blank Page.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.