Background
Adams, Walter was born on August 27, 1922 in Vienna, Austria. Son of Edward and Ilona (Schildkraut) Adams.
( The Bigness Complex confronts head-on the myth that org...)
The Bigness Complex confronts head-on the myth that organizational giantism leads to economic efficiency and well-being in the modern age. On the contrary, it demonstrates how bigness undermines our economic productivity and progress, endangers our democratic freedoms, and exacerbates our economic problems and challenges. This new edition has a thoroughly updated variety of issues, examples, and new developments, including government bailouts of the airline industry; regulation of biotechnology; the fiasco of recent electricity deregulation; and mergers and consolidations in oil, radio, and grocery retailing. The analysis is framed in the timeless context of American distrust of concentrations of power. The authors show how both the left and the right fail to address the central problem of power in formulating their diagnoses and recommendations. The book concludes with an alternative public philosophy as a viable guidepost for public policy toward business in a free-enterprise democracy.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0804749698/?tag=2022091-20
(This is a reprint of a previously published work. It deal...)
This is a reprint of a previously published work. It deals with the rules of th game of megamergers: the stategies, the legl maneuvers, the daring moves and counter-moves of corporate titans.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0394579674/?tag=2022091-20
( Is it the central purpose of American antitrust policy ...)
Is it the central purpose of American antitrust policy to encourage decentralization of economic power? Or is it to promote "consumer welfare"? Is there a painful trade-off between market dominance and economic "efficiency"? What is the proper role of government in this area? In recent years the public policy debate on these core questions has been marked by a cacophony of divergent opinions--theorists against empiricists, apostles of the "new learning" against defenders of the traditional structure-conduct-performance paradigm, "laissez-faire" advocates against "interventionists." Utilizing a distinctively innovative format, Walter Adams and James Brock examine these issues in the context of a courtroom dialogue among a proponent of the new learning (Chicago School), a prosecuting attorney, and a U.S. district judge. In contrast to bloodless "scientific" treatises or ideologically inspired polemical tracts, this book lays bare the central arguments in the debate about free-market economics and the latent assumptions and disguised terminology on which those arguments are based. The dialogue is both gripping and entertaining--designed by the authors to be reminiscent at times of the Theater of the Absurd. Originally published in 1991. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691602077/?tag=2022091-20
( Is it the central purpose of American antitrust policy ...)
Is it the central purpose of American antitrust policy to encourage decentralization of economic power? Or is it to promote "consumer welfare"? Is there a painful trade-off between market dominance and economic "efficiency"? What is the proper role of government in this area? In recent years the public policy debate on these core questions has been marked by a cacophony of divergent opinions--theorists against empiricists, apostles of the "new learning" against defenders of the traditional structure-conduct-performance paradigm, "laissez-faire" advocates against "interventionists." Utilizing a distinctively innovative format, Walter Adams and James Brock examine these issues in the context of a courtroom dialogue among a proponent of the new learning (Chicago School), a prosecuting attorney, and a U.S. district judge. In contrast to bloodless "scientific" treatises or ideologically inspired polemical tracts, this book lays bare the central arguments in the debate about free-market economics and the latent assumptions and disguised terminology on which those arguments are based. The dialogue is both gripping and entertaining--designed by the authors to be reminiscent at times of the Theater of the Absurd. Originally published in 1991. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691003912/?tag=2022091-20
( Adam Smith Goes to Moscow is a captivating dialogue be...)
Adam Smith Goes to Moscow is a captivating dialogue between the head of a hypothetical, formerly socialist East European country and a fervently market-minded American adviser. Their spirited give-and-take highlights the monumental political as well as economic complexities currently faced by the former Soviet bloc countries as they struggle to transform themselves into free market economies.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691000530/?tag=2022091-20
( Adam Smith Goes to Moscow is a captivating dialogue be...)
Adam Smith Goes to Moscow is a captivating dialogue between the head of a hypothetical, formerly socialist East European country and a fervently market-minded American adviser. Their spirited give-and-take highlights the monumental political as well as economic complexities currently faced by the former Soviet bloc countries as they struggle to transform themselves into free market economies.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691032831/?tag=2022091-20
(Designed as a supplement for either Principles or Interme...)
Designed as a supplement for either Principles or Intermediate Microeconomics, The Tobacco Wars is an interesting and unique way to illustrate the concepts of microeconomics as applied to real-life, current events. Not only does this lively discussion of the tobacco litigation provide insight into the recent and historical controversies, but it also follows along with the concepts taught in microeconomics.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0324012969/?tag=2022091-20
Adams, Walter was born on August 27, 1922 in Vienna, Austria. Son of Edward and Ilona (Schildkraut) Adams.
Bachelor magna cum laude, Brooklyn College, 1942. Master of Arts, Yale University, 1946. Doctor of Philosophy, Yale University, 1947.
Doctor of Laws (honorary), Center Michigan University, 1973. Doctor of Laws (honorary), Michigan State University, 1979. Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), Brooklyn College, 1989.
Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), Northern Michigan University, 1991. Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), Miami University, 1992.
Instructor, Yale University, 1945-1947. Assistant Professor, Association Professor, Professor, President, Michigan State University, 1947-1970, 1969-1970. Visiting Professor, University Grenoble, 1966, Salzburg Seminar, 1959, 1960, Falkenstein Seminar, 1971,1972, University Paris, 1982, Wake Forest University, 1983.
Economics Consultant United States Congressional Commission, 1950,1952,1959. Member, United States Attorney General National Committee Study Antitrust Laws, 1953-1955. Member, United States Advisory Committee Intematational Education and Cultural Affairs, 1961-1969.
Distinguished University Professor of Economics, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, Michigan., United States of America, since 1970. Editorial Boards, Quarterly Review of Economics and Business, since 1981, Women’s Policy Studies Yearbook, since 1976, Economics Perspectives, since 1979.
( Is it the central purpose of American antitrust policy ...)
( Is it the central purpose of American antitrust policy ...)
(Designed as a supplement for either Principles or Interme...)
( Adam Smith Goes to Moscow is a captivating dialogue be...)
( Adam Smith Goes to Moscow is a captivating dialogue be...)
( The Bigness Complex confronts head-on the myth that org...)
(This is a reprint of a previously published work. It deal...)
Author: (Book) Readings in Economics, 1948, Monopoly in America, 1955, From Main Street to the Left Bank, 1959, Ia the World Our Campus?, 1960, The Structure of American Industry 9th edition, 1994, The Test, 1971, The Bigness Complex, 1986, Dangerous Pursuits, 1989, Antitrust Economics on Trial, 1991, Adam Smith Goes to Moscow, 1993, The Tobacco Wars, 1998. Contributor articles to professional journals.
Throughout my professional career I have been concerned with the impact of concentrated economic power on democratic societies. In studying economic organisation, I have raised the central questions: ‘Who makes what decisions, at what cost, on whose behalf, for whose benefit and with what consequences? To whom are decision makers accountable and what mechanisms are available to correct their mistakes?’ One focus of my studies has been the analysis of individual industries exhibiting high levels of concentration, viz. steel, automobiles, petroleum, etc., in order to understand the relation between structure, conduct and performance, and (hopefully) to make recommendations for public policy based on this analysis. In these studies, I have applied not only the traditional tools of microeconomic theory, but also an historical and comparative approach.
For many years, I have been concerned with the proper role of the State in microeconomic organisation.
I was among the first American economists (1955) to advocate deregulation of the trucking and airline industries, arguing that the United States regulatory scheme in those industries was not an instrument for protecting consumers from exploitation but for protecting vested interests from competition. Similarly, and for the same reasons, I have fought against the growing move of protectionism in the United States and especially protection of such oligopolies as steel and automobiles. Here, too, I found that the role of the State was being perverted from servant of the public to a mask for monopolistic privilege.
Lately, I have also explored some
macroeconomic consequnces of concentrated economic power following the notion of ‘entitlements inflation’ (Anspruchsinflation) observed by G. Haberler as a problem not only in the United States but in other Western democracies. In some circumstances — where vested interests can subvert government stabilisation efforts — it is demonstrable that a good micro-policy is the most effective macroeconomic public policy.
Finally, a word about methodology. There is a danger, I think, that the current fascination with technique — the penchant to demonstrate virtuosity in the use of high-powered mathematical tools — is diverting economists from the study of substantive issues.
Some of our colleagues seem oblivious of the fact that algebra and geometry are a complement to, not a substitute for, thought. No wonder that intelligent laymen satirise our profession for having embraced a kind of rigour which resembles rigor mortis. It is time for the pendulum of fashion to swing back toward a more eclectic methodology in our discipline.
Member United States Advisory Commission International Educational and Cultural Affairs, 1961-1969, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. With Army of the United States, 1943-1945. Member American Association of University Professors (president 1972-1974), American Economic Association, Association Social Economics (president 1980-1981), Midwest Economic Association (president 1979-1980), Yale Club Michigan, Harvard Club Center Michigan, Delta Sigma Pi.
Married Pauline Gordon, August 23, 1943. 1 child, William James.