Current economic problems

In this new edition the volume has been substantially rewritten and brought completely up to date. The march of history has called for sweeping changes in emphasis and content of a number of chapters, especially of those treating of our international economic position. A new chapter on the Soviet economic challenge has been added. The scope of the book has on the whole remained the same, as has its general organization.

The principal characteristics of the volume are easily enumerated. It is the work of a single author, and thus, it is hoped, brings some modicum of unity to a field where integration is not readily achieved. The treat ment is strictly modern, utilizing to the fullest possible extent the national income approach and the framework of macro-economics. Virtually all economic problems of the day are public problems and as such are in timately connected with the great aggregates which have become the concern of the economist.

While the problems are discussed from the national point of view, some specific regional issues are singled out for more than incidental treatment. The work is organized into four broad groups of problems centering around progress, security, freedom, and peace. This arrangement is designed to facilitate the integration of topics which otherwise may seem unrelated. It goes without saying that there are aspects of many topics which would justify their treatment under more than one of these headings. On the other hand, the contents of certain subjects which com monly are treated in separate chapters are dispersed over a number of them. This is the case, for example, with respect to business cycles, and monetary and banking problems. The cyclical behavior of economic variables is important in connection with so many problems that its separate treatment in a single chapter would seem to detract from its ubiquitous relevance. Moreover, in the field of economic theory the development of macro-economics has ushered in a new synthesis of the general aspects of the subject and of the substantive matters and tools of analysis formerly treated separately under the heading of business cycles. It seems that the presentation of applied economics should reflect the new integration of theory. Similar considerations apply to the field of money and banking. Thus, wherever such emphasis seems called for, honetary and banking aspects are pointed out throughout the work, instead of being limited to the confines of special chapters.