Judging Economic Policy

In this engaging volume

The editors present the influential work of economist Gottfried Haberler, whom Paul Samuelson judges qualified for about two-and-a-half Nobel prizes in economics. Throughout the book, Haberler's essays reveal the clarity of his analyses and his ability to identify crucial policy choices, whether grappling with issues of inflation, unemployment, trade, or development.

Presenting Haberler as the eclectic economist he is, the editors show that far from being an ideologue, Haberler is an economist who uses whatever approaches and theories are appropriate for the problems he considers. Paul Samuelson judges that Gottfried Haberler's work should qualify him for about two-and-a-half Nobel Prizes in economics—one for his quantum improvement in trade theory beyond Ricardo's paradigm of labor's comparative advantage, one for his definitive synthesis of business cycle theory, and beyond these, his policy wisdom over a period of six decades. It is Haberler's policy wisdom that serves as the basis for this comprehensive collection of the eminent economist's work.

Throughout the book, Haberler's contributions demonstrate the clarity of his analyses for exploring the complex economics of policy issues and for identifying key governmental responses to problems of unemployment, trade, and development. Presenting Haberler as the eclectic economist he is, the editors show that far from being an ideologue, Haberler is an economist who uses whatever approaches and theories are appropriate for the problems he considers. The portrait that emerges is one of a multifaceted thinker, able to choose freely among competing theories and to effectively apply them to complex and demanding policy issues.