Commodity Prices and Markets
Commodity Prices and Markets, edited by Takatoshi Ito and Andrew K. Rose, is currently available from the University of Chicago Press for $99.00. This is the twentieth volume in the NBER's East Asia Seminar on Economics series.
Commodity Prices and Markets helps us to understand the consequences of fluctuations in commodity prices, including the price of oil, and provides both a general analysis and a particular focus on the countries of the Pacific Rim. The volume addresses three subjects in particular: the difficulties in forecasting commodity prices; the effects of commodity price shocks on the domestic economy; and the relationship between price shocks and monetary policy.
Ito and Rose are both Research Associates in the NBER's Program on International Finance and Macroeconomics. Ito is also a professor of economics at the University of Tokyo and Rose is a professor of economic analysis and policy at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business.
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Explorations in the Economics of Aging
Explorations in the Economics of Aging, edited by David A. Wise, will be available this spring from the University of Chicago Press for $110.00.
As baby boomers become eligible for Social Security and Medicare over the next twenty years, the United States will undergo a dramatic demographic transition. This NBER Conference Report includes important new findings on how economic decisions by households and policy choices by governments will influence the effects of that shift in the population.
Wise directs the NBER's Program on the Economics of Aging and is the John F. Stambaugh Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
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The Economics of Climate Change: Adaptations Past and Present
The Economics of Climate Change: Adaptations Past and Present, edited by Gary D. Libecap and Richard H. Steckel, is available from the University of Chicago Press this spring for $110.00.
This NBER Conference Report takes a close look at the ways in which economies-particularly that of the United States-have adjusted to the challenges posed by climate change, including developing new crop varieties, using both irrigation and flood control, and creating ingenious ways to extend cultivation to new geographic areas.
Libecap and Steckel are Research Associates in the NBER's Program on the Development of the American Economy. Libecap is also a professor of economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Steckel is a professor of economics at Ohio State University.
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Economic Aspects of Obesity
Economic Aspects of Obesity, edited by Michael Grossman and Naci Mocan, will be available this spring from the University of Chicago Press for $110.00.
Over the past thirty years, the number of obese adults in the United States has doubled; the number of obese children has nearly tripled. Economic analysis has shown that weight gain results from individual choices that respond to the economic environment, and that incentives can influence individual behaviors, which in turn will affect weight. Food prices, the availability of food outlets and recreational facilities, health insurance, and minimum wage levels all influence what we eat, whether we exercise, and how we control our weight.
This timely NBER Conference Report provides a strong foundation for evaluating the costs and benefits of various proposals designed to control obesity rates. Editor Michael Grossman directs the NBER's Program on Health Economics, of which co-editor Naci Mocan is a member. Grossman also directs the Ph.D. Program in Economics at City University of New York Graduate Center, and Mocan is a professor of economics at Louisiana State University.
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Accelerating Energy Innovation: Insights from Multiple Sectors
Accelerating Energy Innovation: Insights from Multiple Sectors, edited by Rebecca M. Henderson and Richard G. Newell, will be available from the University of Chicago Press this spring for $99.00.
This NBER Conference Report explores the roles of public and private policy in enabling and sustaining innovation in a variety of industries, from agriculture and the life sciences to information technology. The book includes chapters highlighting the factors that have determined the impact of past policies. The research results reported here suggest that effectively managed federal funding, strategies for increasing customer demand, and enabling aggressive competition from new firms are all important for encouraging innovative activity.
Henderson is a Research Associate in the NBER's Program on Productivity and Heinz Professor of Environmental Management at Harvard Business School. Newell is the Gendell Associate Professor of Energy and Environmental Economics at Duke University and administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
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