Book Description

These eight lectures by noted economist William Cline provide a clear and concise account of some of the most important macroeconomic issues facing the world economy. Designed for the nonspecialist but a source of fresh insight for the specialist as well, the lectures synthesize the major trends in international economic policy for the 1990s. Major themes include domestic and international economic stagnation, adjustment to external imbalances, trade policy (including case studies of Japan and NAFTA), the debt crisis, reform in former communist states, the economic future of Europe, and environmental policy. Cline, who has made important contributions to the topics addressed, reviews the forces that have contributed to policy problems and then evaluates the prospects for resolution. He shows how an understanding of economics can help break down many policy problems into simple fundamentals, and how empirical evidence is the acid test of any policy theory. Cline's coverage of many of today's "hot" public policy issues is unique both in its accessibility and in its broadbrush approach to a set of concerns of immediate interest to economists, policymakers, and others concerned with international economic policy.