Big Picture Economics: How to Navigate the New Global Economy

by Joel Naroff, Ron Scherer

Navigate the economy with this insightful new book The world is awash with economic information. Governments release reports. Pundits give their interpretation on television. And the stock market may go its own way, confusing everyone. How can you better understand what it means for you? Big Picture Economics , a new book by award-winning columnist and futurist Joel Naroff and veteran journalist Ron Scherer, says the thread that ties everything together is "context." The authors show how consumers, business, the Federal Reserve, and government take into account what's going on around them to make critical decisions like buying new products, building new factories, changing interest rates, or setting budget goals. The book provides a clear roadmap to understanding the whole story behind the global economy. Big Picture Economics helps readers understand how context impacts decisions and decision makers.

- The Federal Reserve and Congress in formulating economic policy
- Consumers in a shopper nation and what makes us buy or not buy
- Corporations making decisions on whether to build new factories and buy other companies
- The federal budget that must deal with complex issues, including the reduction of health care spending
- A simple test for tax cuts or will they help the economy grow?
- Where to produce and where to sell in a global economy that is more like a Mobius strip than a flat world
- International events that can ripple through the economy and ultimately affect workers in the Midwest
- Technology, such as intelligent drones to wearable computers, are changing the future Experts laud the book for its perceptive

"It all sounds like common sense, but it is actually based on a close, expert reading of economic history and what that history implies for the future. Read this book to become a more educated judge of economic policy."
―Robert Moffitt , Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Economics at Johns Hopkins University

"Naroff and Scherer show how seemingly unrelated things like an upgrade of the Panama Canal, a Tex-Mex restaurant's menu change, or how many Americans are overweight turn out to be intricately linked to our daily experiences. What brings the book to life is the authors' focus on these hidden interconnections."
―Brendan Conway , blogger and columnist, Barron's

256 pages, Hardcover

First published February 6, 2013

Reviews

[Pcgowan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Big Picture Economics: How to Navigate the New Global Economy
by Joel Naroff, Ron Scherer

A good humoured, easy to read, fireside kind of chat regarding U.S. macroeconomics. The phrase "Big Picture Economics" in the title is not very original and has been used for other texts on macroeconomics playing on the meaning of the word "macro". I was disappointed with the title as it is not "Big Picture Economics" as I conceive it. I might have titled it "U.S. National Picture Window Economics". I was often reminded of statements by Mr. Heinz Kohler in his Economics textbook, "Scarcity Challenged" (1968) regarding preconceived ideas about Economics that exist within the general public. Mr. Naroff and Mr. Scherer do a decent job of highlighting preconceived ideas and explaining U.S. macroeconomics without a lot of jargon. Mr. Kohler divided the study of Economics into looking at full employment of resources, efficient employment of resources and growth of output. This is a viewpoint that is a little bit higher than this book.
With respect to navigating the new global economy, the authors of "Big Picture Economics: How to Navigate the New Global Economy" are narrowly focused on chasing dollars and yuans in a maze of the continental U.S. with the Federal Reserve and a bit of cheese at the center. I am reminded of Dr. Edward de Bono's picture that explains lateral thinking. The authors have gone straight down the road to the right, trapped in a narrow alley of economist thinking. Do I hear an economist or business journalist in the background explaining how profit taking by the big corporations today has led to some change in the price of something blah, blah, blah? Where's my blahblahmeter?!
I was also frequently reminded of information in the 6 volumes of "World Design Science Decade 1965-1975" by R. Buckminster Fuller and John McHale (World Resources Inventory, Southern Illinois University, 1963) with respect to economics, technological innovation, the shrinking size of the planet with respect to transportation and communications, etc. And then there is also Mr. Fuller's 1937 book "Nine Chains to the Moon" which has passages that are kind of similar to "Big Picture Economics" regarding taxes. Curious.
The authors do a fairly good job of maintaining a neutral stance but they do crack a few good jokes at politicians and certain political views with respect to tax cuts.
There are the occasional minor flaws that escaped the proofreaders. Overall, I would give it a 3 out of 5 stars. It's o.k.