An Illustrated Guide to the American Economy - Hardcover

Too often we lack the basic facts we need to understand and judge what we learn about the U.S. economy. The New Illustrated Guide to the American Economy is a valuable asset for anyone seeking to make sense of economic news or -- more important -- to place it in a broader context. The book consists of straightforward, objective statements about the United States, each one explained in a page of text and a page of bold, four-color charts. At the same time it deals with the uncertainties of the data and the interpretations based on them.Listening to TV or reading newspapers raises a long list of questions whose answers would be relevant to the national discussion but are commonly unknown, ignored, or misunderstood, such as- How rich is the American economy compared with other times and other countries?- What is the extent of poverty in America?- What has happened to productivity and real earnings?- What is happening to the relative earnings of women or blacks compared with white males?- How heavy are American tax burdens today compared with earlier times and other countries?- What caused the large increase of the U.S. trade deficit?This thoroughly revised second edition brings the information up to date and expands the treatment of many subjects, including- the economics of health- problems in measuring changes in the quality of life- government capital and infrastructure, natural resources, and research and development- small business, multinational corporations, and trade unions- the distribution of income and its change