The Passionate Economist Hardcover - 2003 - 1st Edition

First line

As I mentioned in my author's note, I see the economy as an experience-based science-one that improves with the depth and spectrum of one's experiences in life.

From the jacket flap

Economics is one of the most powerful yet misunderstood sciences. Done well, sound economic policy decisions have improved the lives of millions. Done poorly, they have let corrupt governments abuse economic reforms, left vast populations in poverty, and created a breeding ground for envy and hate. At its very heart, economics is the study of collective human behavior, not some magic black box that doles out reams of forecasts or statistics that move the financial markets. It tells us more about how life will unfold on Main Street than Wall Street.

As the chief economist at one of the country's premier institutions-Bank One-and as an advisor to policymakers around the world, Diane Swonk believes that economics is as much social policy as financial policy. In The Passionate Economist: Finding the Power and Humanity Behind the Numbers, Swonk skillfully reveals how economics is not a hard science, but a behavioral science built on the foundation of human activity. A Washington insider, she presents her extremely knowledgeable perspective on the Federal Reserve and the power of money, and offers practical advice that will help you make wiser decisions on where to put your money.

Swonk brings a unique and somewhat unlikely perspective on money and finance. As a woman in a high-level corporate position in a male-dominated industry, as a child who saw the ravages of poverty firsthand, and as a person with a learning disability, she sees more in economics than merely the moving and counting of currency. In economics, she sees a global force with the power to remake the world. In this book, she clearly presents her secrets to success and her informed views on economic policy globally and locally-all while bringing humanity back into the humanities that economists study.

Shifting from the individual and the seen to the large, theoretical, and unseen The Passionate Economist will help you:

• Understand the great expansion of the 1990s, what shaped it, and how those shifts laid the groundwork for its own undoing
• See the strategic and intuitive side of the science that is often depicted as dry statistics
• Realize how the events of September 11 reshaped our economic landscape, and could permanently alter the course of global economic freedoms

Economics is about data, but in The Passionate Economist, Diane Swonk explores the interaction of personal feelings and needs with numbers. This book will broaden your perspective on economics and the economy by examining its very roots. If you want to truly understand economics as well as make better decisions about your own portfolio, The Passionate Economist will show you how.

Media reviews

Citations

• Publishers Weekly, 01/13/2003, Page 50