{"product_id":"econospinning-isbn-9780471735137","title":"Econospinning","description":"Gene Epstein knows a thing or two about economic data. Before becoming the Economics Editor for Barron's in 1993, he was a senior economist at the New York Stock Exchange. Now in \u003ci\u003eEconospinning\u003c\/i\u003e, Epstein supplies readers with a book that attempts to cut through the veil of economic misinformation commonly reported in today's media.  \u003cp\u003eAssuming no prior knowledge on the readers part, each chapter of \u003ci\u003eEconospinning\u003c\/i\u003e is structured around fairly simple propositions about the economy or about specific economic data—from tracking employment numbers to measuring corporate profitability—that are then contrasted with the distortions of today's media coverage.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAlong the way, Epstein exposes bad reporting by the elite media, including \u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Financial Times, The New York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker, The Economist\u003c\/i\u003e—and especially by \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e and its economics columnist Paul Krugman,\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEpstein also deconstructs CNN newscaster Lou Dobbs’ coverage of outsourcing and globalization; the illusory connection between abortion and lower crime rates, and bad theories about the role of real estate brokers, featured in the bestseller \u003ci\u003eFreakonomics\u003c\/i\u003e; the treatment of the working class portrayed in Barbara Ehrenreich’s \u003ci\u003eNickel and Dimed\u003c\/i\u003e; and the sensationalized coverage of the employment report by CNBC’s \"Squawk Box.\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom the disputes over Social Security to misinterpretations of the unemployment rate, \u003ci\u003eEconospinning\u003c\/i\u003e points out the unfortunate lack of integrity that pervades mainstream economic reporting.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eGene Epstein (New York, NY) has been Barron's Economics Editor since 1993 and writes the column, \"Economic Beat.\" A frequent speaker on the conference circuit, Epstein has been interviewed on CNBC, CNN, NJN Public TV, and BBC TV. He holds an MA in economics from the New School and a BA from Brandeis University.\u003c\/p\u003e  Preface.  \u003cp\u003eAcknowledgments.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eChapter 1: Eldercare Fraud.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eChapter 2: Two Ways to Measure Employment.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eChapter 3: Bush League Economics.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eChapter 4: Long-Term Unemployment Myths.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eChapter 5: The Case of the Phantom Dropouts.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eChapter 6: Participation Rate Follies.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eChapter 7: What Does the Employment-Population Ratio Tell Us?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eChapter 8: May Average Hourly Earnings Rest in Peace.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eChapter 9: Hourly Compensation and the Unemployment Rate.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eChapter 10: Wages and Productivity.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eChapter 11: The Record Profit Boom That Never Happened.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eChapter 12: End the Monthly Madness: The Change in Payroll Employment Data.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eChapter 13: End the Monthly Madness: The Unemployment Rate.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eChapter 14: Greenspan Idolatry.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eChapter 15: Best-Selling Myths: \u003ci\u003eFreakonomics\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eChapter 16:Best-Selling Myths: \u003ci\u003eNickel and Dimed\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eChapter 17: Dobbs and Jobs.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAfterword.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNotes.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndex.\u003c\/p\u003e  \"Econospinning has everything going for it. The book's focus - how economists and publications mislead readers, often to buttress their ideological positions - is inherently important.\"--Australian Financial Review  \u003cp\u003e\"There is lots more to Epstein's book and it is all of the highest quality.\"  (\u003ci\u003eQuarterly Journal of Austrian Economics\u003c\/i\u003e, Winter 2007)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003eGENE EPSTEIN\u003c\/b\u003e has been Barron's Economics Editor since 1993 and writes the column, \"Economic Beat.\" A frequent speaker on the conference circuit, Epstein has appeared on CNBC, CNN, NJN Public TV, and BBC TV. He is a former senior economist at the New York Stock Exchange and has taught economics at St. John's University and the City University of New York. He holds an MA in economics from The New School and a BA from Brandeis University.  The way the economy is interpreted can influence many things, from economic policy and business decisions to investment planning and trading strategies. Yet with general interest magazines devoting ever more space to economic issues, with books on these issues routinely making the bestseller list, and with hundreds of media outlets providing 24\/7 coverage of economic data, it is harder than ever to separate the substance from the spin.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cp\u003eThat's the finding of Gene Epstein, who should know a thing or two about the economy, having covered the subject for Barron's since 1993, when he became the Dow Jones financial weekly's first Economics Editor and began writing the regular column, \"Economic Beat.\" Now, in Econospinning, Epstein cuts through the veil of economic misinformation commonly reported in today's media. Each chapter of Econospinning is structured around fairly simple propositions about the economy or about specific economic data—from tracking employment numbers to measuring corporate profitability—that are then contrasted with the distortions of today's media coverage.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAlong the way, Epstein exposes loose reporting by focusing almost strictly on the elite media, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, and The Economist.Wherever relevant, Epstein expands on criticisms originally leveled against the reportage of New York Times columnist Paul Krugman by the paper's then-public editor Daniel Okrent. At the time, Okrent touched off a firestorm of protest from bloggers and credentialed professionals eager to defend their champion, even when his criticisms were more than transparently valid, as Epstein shows in painstaking detail.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEconospinning also devotes separate chapters to the coverage of outsourcing and globalization by CNN newscaster Lou Dobbs, whose slant on these topics Epstein finds to be jingoistic at bottom; to the bestseller Freakonomics, whose better-known arguments—on the connection between abortion and lower crime rates, and on the deleterious role of real estate brokers—are exposed as groundless; and to the semi-classic Nickel and Dimed, whose core thesis—that hard work by the working poor is a sucker's game—is easily disproved. The book also critiques coverage of the employment numbers by the CNBC-TV show Squawk Box.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs a corrective to certain key misconceptions about the economy and economic data, and as a series of lessons on how to discriminate between spin and substance, Econo-spinning is an informative, entertaining, and unforgettable read.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cb\u003ePRAISE FOR \u003ci\u003eECONOSPINNING\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e  \u003cp\u003e\"We know that economists are dismal scientists, but scientists nevertheless. This book casts doubt about the science of economic journalism by showing that it's often politically biased, superficial, and inconsistent with facts. An important book.\"\u003cbr\u003e —Baruch Lev, Philip Bardes Professor of Accounting and Finance, New York University Stern School of Business\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eEconospinning\u003c\/i\u003e shines the spotlight on how economic data are chronically misreported by journalists and manipulated by political pundits. Epstein raises the bar in how to think about and interpret economic statistics.\"\u003cbr\u003e —Bill Dudley, Advisory Director, The Goldman Sachs Group\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Bull markets in bad economic ideas are a lot like bubbles in financial assets—it takes just the right mixture of the cynical and the credulous to produce really extreme outcomes. And, as with asset bubbles, the sooner bad ideas are deflated, the less damage they do. Gene Epstein's clear-eyed analysis in Econospinning is a timely corrective for many of the flawed notions that have made their way into circulation in recent years.\"\u003cbr\u003e —Lou Crandall, Chief Economist, Wrightson ICAP\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"A shocking and provocative book. Econospinning shows how the brightest and most credentialed economists—from Krugman in the Times to bestselling author Steven Levitt—abuse data, and in rather blatant ways at that.\"\u003cbr\u003e —Amar Bhidé, Lawrence D. Glaubinger Professor of Business Columbia University Graduate School of Business\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Gene Epstein preaches that a statistic is not how it's labeled; it's how it's collected. Beware the intersection of an emotionally evocative label and a spuriously precise number.\"\u003cbr\u003e —Neal Soss, Managing Director, Credit Suisse\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Gene Epstein's book will raise journalistic standards and cause readers everywhere to mind the news with more care. Paul Krugman has now met his match.\"\u003cbr\u003e —Kent Smetters, Associate Professor of Insurance and Risk Management, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wiley","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47989103165669,"sku":"NP9780471735137","price":33.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780471735137.jpg?v=1761782805","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/econospinning-isbn-9780471735137","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}