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Crunch | 
 enlarge | Manufacturer: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Category: EBooks
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $9.99
You Save: $4.96 (33%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 3936
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 225
Dewey Decimal Number: 330.973
ASIN: B001AFF26G
Publication Date: April 21, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
In this lively and irreverent tour through everyday economic mysteries, premier economist Jared Bernstein helps readers decode economic "analysis", navigate through murky ethical quandaries, and make sound economic decisions that reflect their deepest aspirations for themselves, their families, and their country.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Debating Dad - We are Crunched but is the world improving? September 10, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
My Dad and I have been having this running debate about the direction the world is going. I say better, he says worse, and we never seem to come to any consensus. Crunch, by that rare bird a progressive economist, could be exhibit #1 in the evidence Dad presents to support his case. Bernstein makes the (valid) point that while our country has gotten much richer on the whole over the past two-decades, most folks feel economically "crunched" due to stagnating wages and significant increases in costs for housing, health care, and education. While some things have gotten cheaper due to globalization (like computers), this has not made up for the rise in expenses for the most important things we need, and just to keep up families have had to work longer hours in jobs that are increasingly less secure. Bernstein is an excellent writer, a clear minded economist (one of the first to recognize the growth in low-wage workers and a big source for my dissertation), as well as a player on the Washington policy scene. So is Dad right? I think that Bernstein's time horizons are simply too short, and the growth in living standards, health and longevity over the long run due to increases in technology and the spread of market economics are the really big stories. Sure, we should fight for a progressive agenda (and elect Obama), but Bernstein's observations and policies ideas are not in conflict with recognizing that on a macro sense we would not want to trade life in 2008 for life in 1958.
Sociology is Not Economics September 7, 2008
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
Let's start by understanding that Dr. Bernstein is not an economist. His Ph.D. is actually in the area of Social Welfare. And that tells us a lot about this book. In general, the only place in American academics where Marxism is still taught as a legitimate theory of economics is in Departments of Sociology.
Dr. Bernstein is correct to raise the concern that rigid adherence to certain economic assumptions can "lead to ideology." But he would do better overall to recognize that it is just as likely that ideology can lead to certain economic assumptions -- as is the case with his thinking.
In general, when reading this book, it is essential at the start to recognize that Dr. Bernstein's worldview is fundamentally Marxist/Keynesian in nature. He is a proponent of government action. He is a proponent of regulation (just better written). He sees corporations and wealthy people as unduly powerful. He exhibits a marginal belief in and understanding of markets, their functions and their powers.
Bernstein blames many things on so-called "bubbles." Unfortunately, he takes no pains to understand the nature of these events and he adopts a generally feckless approach to reasoning about these events and their effects. His conclusions are doubtful simply because his starting point is not solid.
I have rated the book a five not because I agree with any of its premises or conclusions, but because I would want fair minded people to read and understand how a left-leaning economic thinker approaches the issues of the day. I agree with almost nothing in the book, but I still think it is a good specimen of leftists' economics-styled politics framed in more formal economic terms.
At this point, I am going to reread the book and be back with specific commentary on important arguments in the book.
Good Counterpoint to the Neo-Con Side but not Fully Convincing September 5, 2008
I tend to side with free market economists on many issues, but I am always open to convincing arguments against that thinking. For me, Bernstein almost gets there. I agree that power is a major issue in many of the decisions that are made regarding economic policy, I just don't know if things play out as nefariously as Bernstein suggests. His approach also is a little too glib, which makes it a bit of a turn-off and a distraction from his fact-based arguments. For example, don't just repeat your claim that certain businesses are "addicted" to low-wage employees - show something empirical. Some of the Mexican workers in New York City's service industries may find this addiction beneficient.
Bernstein does have some serious and strong claims. For example, that growth is not benefitting people equally but rather mostly those at the top, leaving the vast middle class trailing, is a major problem. Also, the fact that the middle-class is hit hard by higher than overall inflationary increases in areas like housing and higher education, is also a serious issue that needs to be addressed.
I'm just not so sure that his solutions are the most workable. Where, ultimately, does sustained job creation come from? Is it from small businesses or from the large invesors whom Bernstein so disdains?
I think that Bernstein poses serious questions but is weak on the answers.
Ecoomic Realities 101 August 9, 2008
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the facts behind the newspaper headlines. Bernstein doesn't bother with dry theories. He delves right into explanations. The book is worth reading just to debunk some widely believed myths, such as Social Security going bust and benefits of lobbying against technological changes.
Bernsein has made technical information accessible and even humorous. Commenting on a random graph, he writes (p 32): "I kind of see a little doggie running, but that's me."
The key to this book also comes on page 32:
"We're clearly kickin' back, spending money hand over fist, with little regard for what works and for what's cost effective and what's' not."
Although he's writing here about the medical system, this statement also applies to our programs of education, criminal justice, economic development, employment and poverty. Let's face it: societies don't run on scientific or logical principles.
I do have some quibbles about some of Bernstein's specifics and solutions.
To revamp the medical system (I like his term, "Medical Industrial Complex"), Bernstein supports a single payer system like Canada's. I lived in Canada for a few years (although as a certified medico-phobe, I never saw a doctor).
Countries with single payer systems have huge tax rates - higher than 50% at the upper levels. If you're earning $40-45K or more, you may be able to buy a comprehensive policy in the US for less than the additional sums you'd pay in taxes for a single payer system.
Single-payer systems require huge investments of time. I knew someone whose operation kept getting delayed till she got an infection and had to be admitted as an emergency. Others told me they had to return a dozen times for a simple check-up because doctors got paid small amounts for each office visit, whether it took 7 minutes or 70.
Often these systems are supplemented by private care or the overload is handled by paying US providers. I kept hearing about an underground market for health care: for as little as $1000 you could jump the queue.
I would also supplement Bernstein's answer to, "Why are teachers paid a lot less than stock traders?" Value and ability to measure output matter, but so do supply and demand. Desirable jobs pay less. Big companies pay more because they want to choose from a larger applicant pool. Airlines offer very low salaries to flight attendants, but thousands apply.
Of course supply can be controlled artificially, through rigid or even bizarre licensing requirements. Unions also can control supply. Unions tend to be most powerful with employees who feel powerless and/or are just not marketable or in demand. In unionized universities, English professors support unions and finance professors often wish they'd go away. On a micro-level, I would recommend staying marketable, not appealing to unions or waiting for the government to get around to fixing things.
On page 171, Bernstein notes that unions face organized opposition. Folks who have been in unions can be quite cynical too. The combination of dues and a long strike can wipe out financial gains. Union presidents tend to get very close to company presidents, not their own members. Unions make deals and enjoy wide latitude when deciding who they will help and how much, with little real accountability.
Finally, Bernstein addresses the opportunity costs of war. We could make an even stronger case for the opportunity costs of the criminal justice system, which is based on ideology and emotion, not scientific analysis of human behavior.
Overall, though, the book is intended more as a primer than a stimulus to thought or action. For this objective, Crunch is more successful and far more enjoyable than most.
America's Sick Economy Explained July 6, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a fantastic book. I love the author's no B.S. approach to the economic troubles that face Americans.
He explains why much of today's economic policy is little more than rationalized greed. In particular how the Federal Reserve Board's hiking of interest rates when labor markets get tight is great for the large investor class, (lowers wages by increasing the number of unemployed in a slowed economy), but hammers working people.
I also enjoyed the explanation of the "education myth", how it is naive to think the 70% of the population that does not attend college should somehow do so and all will be well. The author pointed out this is an easy way for the free market apologists to place the blame for gross inequality on "other people"...if only they would do this, or that, they could live worthwhile lives. Right. The devaluing of others labor and the addiction of American business to cheap labor in general is an age old sport.
Mr. Bernstein seems to enjoy poking fun at the free market zealots and economists who think all will be well for everyone through the magic of the market place. As if greed and injustice do not exist. This "Easter Bunny/Santa Claus" economic approach is ripped by the author and I loved every single line. Finally someone from Washington with the guts to tell it like it is.
This was just a great book. Easy to read, and gets to the heart of real issues impacting average Americans. I loved it.
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