science

Peddling Prosperity

Peddling Prosperity is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Peddling Prosperity rather than just read about it. In short: Peddling Prosperity: Economic Sense and Nonsense in an Age of Diminished Expectations is a book by Nobel laureate and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, first published in 1994 by W. W.

Key takeaways

Peddling Prosperity belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Peddling Prosperity to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Peddling Prosperity from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Peddling Prosperity: Economic Sense and Nonsense in an Age of Diminished Expectations is a book by Nobel laureate and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, first published in 1994 by W. W. Norton & Company.

Overview Shortly after its publication, Newsweek called it "the best primer around on recent U.S. economic history." In the book Krugman covers the US productivity slowdown that has occurred since the 1970s, changes in the ideology among economists, and offers critiques of both conservative supply side economics and liberal support for government intervention in the form of "strategic policy". Krugman argues the rise of the supply-side economics is produced by the inability of opposing economists to convincingly explain certain economic phenomena, such as the US productivity slowdown. He criticizes monetarism, rational expectations theory, and conservative economists' views on taxes and regulation. One of the major themes of the book is that the difference between real economic theory and "policy entrepreneurs", who peddle politically popular but academically wrong ideas, is as important as the polarization between the political left and right in America. Krugman describes these "policy entrepreneurs" as non-academics who promote particular intellectual positions and ideological policy prescriptions in areas where a problem is perceived to exist. The success of these so-called "policy entrepreneurs", according to Krugman's is at least partly due to the unwillingness and inability of competing economists to effectively communicate their opposing ideas in a rationally received manner; a shortcoming which Krugman's book is meant to address. A portion of the subtitle of the book refers to an earlier book by Krugman, Age of Diminished Expectations (1990).

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Peddling Prosperity

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Peddling Prosperity claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Peddling Prosperity before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Peddling Prosperity ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Peddling Prosperity

In research: Peddling Prosperity appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Peddling Prosperity in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Peddling Prosperity is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1990s books, 1994 non-fiction books, Books by Paul Krugman, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Peddling Prosperity outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Peddling Prosperity in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Peddling Prosperity means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Peddling Prosperity out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Peddling Prosperity in simple terms?

Peddling Prosperity: Economic Sense and Nonsense in an Age of Diminished Expectations is a book by Nobel laureate and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, first published in 1994 by W. W.

Why does Peddling Prosperity matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Peddling Prosperity?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Peddling Prosperity.