This volume examines how the application of economic analysis has affected U.S. policymaking since the 1960s.

In November 1999 the Brookings Institution and Yale University jointly sponsored a conference to reconsider the national economic policies of the 1960s and the theories that influenced them, in light of subsequent events in the economy and of developments in economic theory and research. This volume contains the papers and comments of the participants. The 1960s were years of difficult challenges to U.S. policymakers and of important initiatives to meet them. The economic doldrums at the start of the decade gave way to strong expansion and prosperity, which, however, ended with excessive inflation. The decade that followed was the most turbulent of the postwar period, with global shock waves from oil prices, two deep recessions, and historic changes in the international financial system. Both policymaking and economic thinking have evolved since the 1960s. The papers gathered in this volume examine the economics of the 1960s as the starting point in this evolution.Several of the contributors to this volume were involved in policymaking in the 1960s. Their papers provide firsthand insights to the analyses and priorities of that period and a prelude to examination of subsequent ideas and policies. Younger scholars represented in the volume bring different perspectives. All participants have been active in economic research since the 1960s; collectively they represent a wide range of expertise in economic analysis.This volume is dedicated to the memory of Arthur Okun, a major figure in economics and economic policy throughout the Kennedy-Johnson era, at Yale, at the Council on Economic Advisers, and at Brookings. He served as chairman of the council and chief economic adviser to President Johnson. At Brookings, he and George Perry founded the Brookings Panel on Economic Activity and its journal, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity.

This book places economic debates in their historical context and outlines how economic ideas have influenced swings in policy.

Controlling inflation is among the most important objectives of economic policy. By maintaining price stability, policy makers are able to reduce uncertainty, improve price-monitoring mechanisms, and facilitate more efficient planning and allocation of resources, thereby raising productivity. This volume focuses on understanding the causes of the Great Inflation of the 1970s and ’80s, which saw rising inflation in many nations, and which propelled interest rates across the developing world into the double digits. In the decades since, the immediate cause of the period’s rise in inflation has been the subject of considerable debate. Among the areas of contention are the role of monetary policy in driving inflation and the implications this had both for policy design and for evaluating the performance of those who set the policy. Here, contributors map monetary policy from the 1960s to the present, shedding light on the ways in which the lessons of the Great Inflation were absorbed and applied to today’s global and increasingly complex economic environment.

This unique volume offers a definitive new history of European economies at war from 1914 to 1918. It studies how European economies mobilised for war, how existing economic institutions stood up under the strain, how economic development influenced outcomes and how wartime experience influenced post-war economic growth. Leading international experts provide the first systematic comparison of economies at war between 1914 and 1918 based on the best available data for Britain, Germany, France, Russia, the USA, Italy, Turkey, Austria-Hungary and the Netherlands. The editors' overview draws some stark lessons about the role of economic development, the importance of markets and the damage done by nationalism and protectionism. A companion volume to the acclaimed The Economics of World War II, this is a major contribution to our understanding of total war.

From Nobel Prize–winning economist and New York Times bestselling author Robert Shiller, a groundbreaking account of how stories help drive economic events—and why financial panics can spread like epidemic viruses Stories people tell—about financial confidence or panic, housing booms, or Bitcoin—can go viral and powerfully affect economies, but such narratives have traditionally been ignored in economics and finance because they seem anecdotal and unscientific. In this groundbreaking book, Robert Shiller explains why we ignore these stories at our peril—and how we can begin to take them seriously. Using a rich array of examples and data, Shiller argues that studying popular stories that influence individual and collective economic behavior—what he calls "narrative economics"—may vastly improve our ability to predict, prepare for, and lessen the damage of financial crises and other major economic events. The result is nothing less than a new way to think about the economy, economic change, and economics. In a new preface, Shiller reflects on some of the challenges facing narrative economics, discusses the connection between disease epidemics and economic epidemics, and suggests why epidemiology may hold lessons for fighting economic contagions.

Covers trends from 1957 to 1995.