Although social scientists generally agree that technology plays a major role in the economy, economics and technology have yet to be brought together into a coherent framework that is both analytically interesting and empirically oriented. This book draws on the tools of science and technology...

In 2030, as 77 million baby boomers hobble into old age, walkers will outnumber strollers; there will be twice as many retirees as there are today but only 18 percent more workers. How will Social Security and Medicare function with fewer working taxpayers to support these programs? According to...

After decades of stability, labor-management relations are undergoing dramatic changes. The contributions collected in this book provide the best and most up-to-date summary of the extent and causes of this upheaval in industrial relations. They discuss challenges to union organizing, employer...

Markets for Power provides an unusually complete analysis of the economic, technical, and institutional aspects of the electric utility industry. The authors evaluate four currently popular options for deregulating this unique segment of the economy, and in a balanced program for reform, they...

Job Creation and Destruction is the culmination of a long, ongoing research program at the Center for Economic Studies. Using the most complete plant- level data source currently available--the Longitudinal Research Data constructed by the Census Bureau--it focuses on the U.S. manufacturing...

The NBER International Seminar on Macroeconomics brings together leading American and European economists to discuss a broad range of current issues in global macroeconomics. An international companion to the more American-focused NBER Macroeconomics Annual, the 2005 volume first explores...

What does a pack of cigarettes cost a smoker, the smoker's family, and society? This longitudinal study on the private and social costs of smoking calculates that the cost of smoking to a 24-year-old woman smoker is $86,000 over a lifetime; for a 24-year-old male smoker the cost is $183,000. The...

In this book environmentalist and lawyer William Shutkin describes a new kind of environmental and social activism spreading across the nation, one that joins the pursuit of environmental quality with that of civic health and sustainable local economies. In the face of challenges posed by often...

As Albert Einstein may or may not have said, "The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax." Indeed, to follow the debate over tax reform, the interested citizen is forced to choose between misleading sound bites and academic treatises. Taxing Ourselves bridges the gap between...

The past two decades have seen a gradual but noticeable change in the economic organization of innovative activity. Most firms used to integrate research and development with activities such as production, marketing, and distribution. Today, firms are forming joint ventures, research and...