Economics in America: An Immigrant Economist Explores the Land of Inequality

"In 1995, the editor of the newsletter for the Royal Economic Society, who was a fan of Alistair Cooke's Letter from America on BBC Radio 4, suggested to Angus Deaton that he write a Letter about economic events in America. Twenty-five years later, Deaton, now a Nobel laureate and one of the world's most respected economists, submitted his fiftieth and final Letter from America. Over the years Deaton wrote about many topics, from the War on Terror to healthcare to becoming a US citizen, all from the perspective of a Scottish/British economist. In the letters he writes about both the economics profession in America as well as American society more generally. The letters show how he admired many aspects of American life while watching others with "fascinated horror." He wrote about the positive and negative aspects of American economics, including aspects that fostered and stifled new ideas. About American society, he "frequently wrote about aspects of American inequality, not only in income and wealth, but inequality across race and citizenship, and my evolving understanding that the American government, unlike the British government, which my parents and I had confidently looked to for protection, was frequently an oppressor, more often redistributing upthan down.""--
"From the Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times-bestselling coauthor of Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism, candid reflections on the economist's craftWhen economist Angus Deaton immigrated to the United States from Britain in the early 1980s, he was awed by America's strengths and shocked by the extraordinary gaps he witnessed between people. Economics in America explains in clear terms how the field of economics addresses the most pressing issues of our times-from poverty, retirement, and the minimum wage to the ravages of the nation's uniquely disastrous health care system-and narrates Deaton's own account of his experiences as a naturalized US citizen and academic economist.Deaton is witty and he pulls no punches. In this incisive, candid, and funny book, he describes the everyday lives of working economists, recounting the triumphs as well as the disasters, and tells the inside story of the Nobel Prize in economics and the journey that led him to Stockholm to receive one. He discusses the ongoing tensions between economics and politics-and the extent to which economics has any content beyond the political prejudices of economists-and reflects on whether economists bear at least some responsibility for the growing despair and rising populism in America.Blending rare personal insights with illuminating perspectives on the social challenges that confront us today, Deaton offers a disarmingly frank critique of his own profession while shining a light on his adopted country's policy accomplishments and failures"--
From the Nobel Prize–winning economist and New York Times bestselling coauthor of Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism, candid reflections on the economist’s craftWhen economist Angus Deaton immigrated to the United States from Britain in the early 1980s, he was awed by America’s strengths and shocked by the extraordinary gaps he witnessed between people. Economics in America explains in clear terms how the field of economics addresses the most pressing issues of our time—from poverty, retirement, and the minimum wage to the ravages of the nation’s uniquely disastrous health care system—and narrates Deaton’s account of his experiences as a naturalized US citizen and academic economist.Deaton is witty and pulls no punches. In this incisive, candid, and funny book, he describes the everyday lives of working economists, recounting the triumphs as well as the disasters, and tells the inside story of the Nobel Prize in economics and the journey that led him to Stockholm to receive one. He discusses the ongoing tensions between economics and politics—and the extent to which economics has any content beyond the political prejudices of economists—and reflects on whether economists bear at least some responsibility for the growing despair and rising populism in America.Blending rare personal insights with illuminating perspectives on the social challenges that confront us today, Deaton offers a disarmingly frank critique of his own profession while shining a light on his adopted country’s policy accomplishments and failures.