Why Economies Rise or Fall

By: Peter Rodriguez, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Peter Rodriguez

How can a nation create the conditions for economic growth and prosperity? And what, once these conditions are achieved, can it do to sustain this progress? Discover the answers (which may surprise you) in these 24 lectures that guide you through a stimulating and, above all, accessible examination of what economists know and don't know about the elusive search for economic prosperity.

Here, you'll learn how countries as widely different as the United States and Vietnam have grown their economies; how countries like China and India were able to recover from economic reverses; and, most important, why the critical test of any economic policy is its ability to productively alter human behavior for everyone's ultimate benefit. By looking at economic growth as the result of incentivizing such productive behavior - "making productivity more profitable than all the alternatives" - Professor Rodriguez clears up an often-shrouded economic landscape. The result is a lecture series that brings the economic strategies chosen by nations down to street level by adding a newfound clarity to key issues: Why economies succeed or fail; how economic bubbles are created, why they burst, and how nations recover from them; the challenges posed by globalization; and more.

By the end of the last lecture, you'll understand as never before both the benefits granted and the costs extracted by the "instant economy" that technology and globalization have brought us. You'll grasp what China's expected economic dominance may soon mean. And you'll have a new appreciation of the juggling act policymakers perform as they try to heed history's latest lesson in achieving national growth and maximum human happiness.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2010 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2010 The Great Courses

Learned a lot

Learned a lot, great content. A bit repetitive at times but I learn something new in each chapter.

Great for Investors

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This lecture will help you to understand what to look for when considering local or global investments. You will understand what really drives an economy up or down.

Enjoyable and Interesting.

What made the experience of listening to Why Economies Rise or Fall the most enjoyable?

For the most part I listen to audiobooks to obtain information. Some books are easy to listen to while others just have useful information. This audiobook has a bit of both.

Great appetizer for macroeconomics field.

I liked: Clarity, Simplicity, Worldwide coverage.
I hated: "western"-oriented, slow (I used 2x speed, solved).

Too many words, not so many ideas

Overall the book is interesting but it can easily be cut 50-70% without loosing anything.

Just a few interesting ideas/concepts and examples and covered with obvious and unoriginal thoughts.