Better Living through Economics

“The contributions are uniformly excellent and written by top economists.”—Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution

“In this series of articles, contributors discuss how economics has come to change the world in ways that other disciplines could only dream of. Through a series of examples including trade liberalization, emissions trading, antitrust regulation, and things as complicated as deferred-acceptance algorithms, they show the profound impact economic theory has had on the quality of life across the globe. They also remark on how quickly these changes have occurred when one compares the time to impact in other comparable fields. The book’s contributors are among the most respected economists in the discipline, which further contributes to the work’s impact on the reader. This volume should be on the shelf of any self-respecting economist and would make for a perfect supplemental text for any introductory or intermediate class in economics… It is also written at a level allowing people who are economically illiterate to read with enjoyment.”—P. Shaw, Choice

“The contributors to this volume are in each case economists who have been in the forefront in applying economic analysis in a policy setting. Their essays are concise, clear, and consistently written at a level within the reach of undergraduate economics students. Each addresses an area of public policy in which economic reasoning and research methods have been applied successfully to generate a policy change or refinement, leading to a large increase in welfare.”—Richard Caves, Harvard University