Why read The Making of Economic Policy?

Book cover of The Making of Economic Policy: A Transaction-Cost Politics Perspective

Book description

The Making of Economic Policy begins by observing that most countries' trade policies are so blatantly contrary to all the prescriptions of the economist that there is no way to understand this discrepancy except by delving into the politics. The same is true for many other dimensions of economic policy.…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Making of Economic Policy as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Ranjit Lall

Author

This classic work of political economy—one of the first books I read on the subject—begins with the striking observation that few countries follow the advice of economists in setting trade policy. Rather, this choice must be recognized as fundamentally political.

The author sets out an innovative formal framework that explains policy outcomes in terms of the transaction costs that arise in economic interactions (such as trade). This parsimonious yet powerful approach has significantly shaped my understanding of how economic policymaking works in practice.

From Ranjit's list on international political economy.