Comparison of Economics Explained and Caught in the Crisis
The underlying premise of Economics Explained and Caught in the Crisis is that the American economy should be aided by the government and other public institutions if it is to remain competitive in the future. Heilbroner and Thurow's Economics Explained is a clear and concise explication of the workings of the American capitalist economy. This is not to say, however, that their analysis is totally devoid of value judgments. Rather, Heilbroner and Thurow conclude by saying that "[t]his book is titled Economics Explained, but one lesson should be clear from its pages. It is that the real challenge does not lie in our economic problems, but in the political and moral values that always enter into our economic determinations" (1994, p. 260). Amott also includes value judgments in her analysis. She is particularly concerned with the negative effect the conservative policies of the government during the 1980s had on the economic position of women and minorities.
Heilbroner and Thurow define economics as "mainly `about' capitalism (1994, p. 26). They argue that economics is "an effort to explain how a society knit together by the market rather than tradition or command, powered by a restive technology rather than by inertia, could hang together, how it would work" (Heilbroner & Thurow, 1994, p. 26). Following a survey of the development of the capitalist system, they give a somewhat omnipotent and objective overview of the capitalist economy. Amott's approach is necessarily more focused and specific. She also gives an overview of America's movement toward a capitalist system, but she focuses more on the slow and still unequal inclusion of women and minorities into the system.
Heilbroner and Thurow argue that America's GNP has grown 1.5 percent per capita between 1900 and 1980 (1994, pp. 56-60). They credit the rise to an increase in the quantity (labor force) an...