March 2023 MBR The Economic Studies Shelf

The Economic Studies Shelf

What the Hell is An Economy?
Eric Johnson
Independently Published
B08HTSQNWR, $2.99 Kindle

https://www.amazon.com/What-Hell-Economy-Eric-Johnson/dp/1735631906

The title of Eric Johnson's book might lead some to think this is another basic primer on economic terminology, history, and structure; but What the Hell is An Economy? offers much more than a cursory overview of government and banking processes. It makes the case for a decentralized economy, pointing out the pitfalls of the historical direction of banking and business.

In the course of this exploration, Johnson (an engineer self-educated in finance and business) reveals not just answers to questions about economic direction and processes, but insights into the steps that consumers can make to protect their money through better understanding and decision-making. That his fifteen-year self-education resulted not just in personal empowerment and enlightenment, but this book lends to its accessibility by a far broader audience than the usual business reader or economics student.

Johnson assumes no prior reader familiarity with (or even an interest in) economic subjects. He goes beyond translating economic terms, creating lively discussions that clarify and survey such potentially confusing subjects as bitcoin: "Think of bitcoin as a ledger, a digital record of transactions, with this ledger copied on thousands of independent computers. The ledger stores a perfect record of an ever-growing list of all bitcoin transactions, keeping track of the transfer of ownership of bitcoin from one owner to the next. It helps to imagine that all bitcoins are stored in virtual lockboxes, where a "digital key" (a long unique number) is used to mathematically transfer the bitcoin from one lockbox to another. Whoever possesses the digital key to open the lockbox owns the bitcoin inside."

And for the definition of money itself: Money is anything that many believe can be used to store and transfer wealth." Whether it's bank transfers, government spending and borrowing, or investment funds under discussion, Johnson applies this same attention to detail, clarifying the processes and terms that allow newcomers to economic concepts complete access to all manner of business and government relationships and economic interactions.

The result is much more than a primer of terms. It's a wide-ranging, accessible discussion of the perils, pitfalls, and promises of management and economics that involves all levels of reader in better understanding money management on individual, corporate, and government-wide levels.

Containing a powerful message promoting decentralization, ("The same unwinding that normalizes interest rates will also push our economy back towards more decentralization. The decisions on the allocation of wealth will be made by the empowered many and not the few. It is the decentralized portions of the economy that will create the wealth that the centralized portions require for redistribution, and that will allow us to recharge the dollar wealth battery."), this second edition of What the Hell is An Economy? ideally should reach discussion groups interested in understanding the notion of economic centralization and decentralization and its influences on wealth, compassion, and social programs alike.

Adam Smith's America
Glory M. Liu
Princeton University Press
41 William Street, Princeton, NJ 08540
http://press.princeton.edu
9780691203812, $35.00, HC, 384pp

https://www.amazon.com/Adam-Smiths-America-Philosopher-Capitalism/dp/0691203814

Synopsis: Originally published in 1776, Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" was lauded by America's founders as a landmark work of Enlightenment thinking about national wealth, statecraft, and moral virtue. Today, Smith is one of the most influential icons of economic thought in America.

With the publication of "Adam Smith's America: How a Scottish Philosopher Became an Icon of American Capitalism", academician Glory Liu traces how generations of Americans have read, reinterpreted, and weaponized Smith's ideas, revealing how his popular image as a champion of American-style capitalism and free markets is an historical invention.

Drawing on a trove of illuminating archival materials, Liu tells the story of how an unassuming Scottish philosopher captured the American imagination and played a leading role in shaping American economic and political ideas. She shows how Smith became known as the father of political economy in the nineteenth century and was firmly associated with free trade, and how, in the aftermath of the Great Depression, the Chicago School of Economics transformed him into the preeminent theorist of self-interest and the miracle of free markets. Liu also explores how a new generation of political theorists and public intellectuals has sought to recover Smith's original intentions and restore his reputation as a moral philosopher.

Charting the enduring fascination that this humble philosopher from Scotland has held for American readers over more than two centuries, "Adam Smith's America" shows how Smith continues to be a vehicle for articulating perennial moral and political anxieties about modern capitalism.

Critique: An exceptional work of seminal and meticulous scholarship, "Adam Smith's America: How a Scottish Philosopher Became an Icon of American Capitalism" is an inherently fascinating and iconoclastic study that is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library Economic Theory & History collections. Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of an informative Introduction, a sixteen page Epilogue, a twenty-six page listing of References, and a nine page Index, "Adam Smith's America" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $19.25) for students, academia, economists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject.

Editorial Note: Glory M. Liu (https://www.gloryliu.com/about) is a college fellow in social studies at Harvard University. Her work has appeared in publications such as Modern Intellectual History, the Washington Post, and Aeon.

The Future Economy
Brandon Zemp
Forbes Books
https://books.forbes.com
9781955884006, $24.99, HC, 208pp

https://www.amazon.com/Future-Economy-Insiders-Dismantling-Traditional/dp/1955884005

Synopsis: Even as it has planted a flag in the economic currency mainstream, blockchain technology remains minimally understood by the public, and its true potential to improve every aspect of our lives is only just emerging.

With the publication of "The Future Economy: A Crypto Insider's Guide To The Tech Dismantling Traditional Banking", crypto currency expert Brandon Zemp (who hosts the popular BlockHash podcast and is a professional crypto-based entrepreneur), looks past the hype to examine the exhilarating real-world impact of this technology.

Zemp explains the major tokens and platforms in crypto and demystifies the little-known yet potentially revolutionary use cases of a technology that promises to alter the very way we think about money, banking, and life itself -- both online and offline.

Critique: Given the volatile performance of crypto currencies over the past few years (especially with the collapse of one of the most popular of them in 2022), "The Future Economy: A Crypto Insider's Guide To The Tech Dismantling Traditional Banking" must be considered essential reading for anyone involved or considering involvement with a crypto currency. Informed and informative, "The Future Economy" is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library Contemporary Economics & Crypto Currency collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted that "The Future Economy" is also currently available in a digital book format (Kindle, $0.99) from Amazon.

Editorial Note: Brandon Zemp is an entrepreneur, investor, trader, and host of the popular BlockHash podcast. He graduated from Pitzer College in 2017 with a BA in neuroscience before making a name for himself in the fast-growing world of cryptocurrency as CEO and founder of BlockHash, LLC, a consulting, coaching, and education company, and as head of Blocolombia, a Colombia-based crypto consultancy and one of the first of its kind in Latin America. (https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbooksauthors/people/brandonzemp/?sh=24c6854e343e)

The Evolution of China's Anti-Poverty Strategies
William N. Brown
Springer
https://www.springer.com/us
981197280X, $59.99, HC, 137pp

https://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Chinas-Anti-Poverty-Strategies-Changing/dp/981197280X

Synopsis: With the publication of "The Evolution of China's Anti-Poverty Strategies: Cases of 20 Chinese Changing Lives", Professor William N. Brown presents the findings of his three decades of studying China's evolving anti-poverty strategies.

Professor Brown argues that much of the billions that nations spend yearly on economic aid is used inefficiently or to treat the symptoms but not the root causes of poverty. China, however, has evolved an effective sustainable alternative by providing the means for self-reliance to not only relieve economic poverty but also poverty of spirit. As a result, the success of China's historic war on poverty has been due not only to top-down visionary leadership but also to the bottom-up initiatives of an empowered populace unswervingly united in ending poverty.

From 1993 to 2019, Professor Brown drove over 200,000 km around China and interviewed hundreds of people from all walks of life as he explored the evolution of China's anti-poverty strategies from simplistic aid and redistribution, which often engendered dependency and poverty of spirit.

Over time, the philosophy shifted to empowerment by fostering self-reliance -- or as the Chinese put it, "blood production rather than blood transfusion". The primary method of empowerment was to provide modern infrastructure, "Roads first, then riches," so rural dwellers in remote Inner Mongolia or the Himalayan heights of Tibet had the same access to markets, jobs and internet for e-commerce as their urban counterparts. People who seized the opportunities and prospered first then used their newfound wealth and experience to help others.

The stories comprising "The Evolution of China's Anti-Poverty Strategies: Cases of 20 Chinese Changing Lives" includes a Tibetan entrepreneur whose family was impoverished in spite of 300 years of service to the Panchen Lama, and the farm girl with 4 years of education who now has several international schools, as well as a biotechnology company, poverty alleviation projects across China, as well as the photographer who walked 40,000 km through deserts to chronicle the threat of desertification.

Their tales underscore how diverse people across China helped make possible China's success in alleviating absolute poverty and why Chinese are now confident in achieving a "moderately prosperous society".

Critique: Of special value to readers with an interest in China's economic policies, Professor William Brown's "The Evolution of China's Anti-Poverty Strategies: Cases of 20 Chinese Changing Lives" is critically important reading and an essential, core addition to personal, professional, community, college, university, and governmental library International Economics and Contemporary China Studies collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: William N. Brown (https://www.cambridgerivers.com/who-is-william-brown) has been on the faculty of Xiamen University since 1988. He is OneMBA Academic Director and Professor of Leadership and Strategy. Fujian's first foreign PR, he has driven over 200,000 km around China exploring its development, co-written and hosted over 400 TV episodes, and consulted with cities on urban and rural development. Honors have included China's "Friendship Award," "Honorary Citizen of Fujian" from then-governor Xi Jinping, "Top Ten Educator 1954-2014," and "CCTV's Moving China 2019" award. He published "Chasing the Chinese Dream" with Springer in 2021.

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