Mark J. Roe, Keyu Jin, and more for PS Read More

Narrative Economics, by Robert J. Shiller; Grow the Pie, by Alex Edmans; and more The PS Say More Newsletter | [View this message in a web browser]( [PS Read More]( In this week's edition of PS Read More, we share recommendations from Harvard Law School's Mark J. Roe, and highlight a forthcoming work – available for preorder – by Keyu Jin of the London School of Economics and Political Science. And don't miss recommendations from Fawaz A. Gerges, also of the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Yale's Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg, a former World Bank Group chief economist. Mark J. Roe Recommends... Economics:]( [How Stories Go Viral and Drive Major Economic Events]( By [Robert J. Shiller]( Shiller shows how simple economic stories, when widely believed, can shape policy decisions, as officials face pressure to act according to the public narrative. When the narrative is true, the results can be good. But not all narratives are true. A good example of this phenomenon, which I highlighted in my recent [Say More interview]( is the belief that stock buybacks have led to cash-starved firms – a belief that, though false, is reflected, in diluted form, in the just-passed Inflation Reduction Act. Even sincere public servants often fall victim to false narratives, because they lack the time to sort the facts from the stories that are commonly accepted. [Thinking, Fast and Slow]( By Daniel Kahneman This book offers additional perspective on the phenomenon Shiller describes. Kahneman shows how our immediate responses – our “fast thinking” – often lead us personally to make basic mistakes, such as accepting an appealing but wrong narrative, and rejecting a more complex and correct one. As it gains in popularity, a narrative that is misleading, incomplete, or just plain wrong can become the basis for public policy. Economists have made considerable progress in understanding the impact of fast-thinking and narrative in recent years. But corporate law academics have not yet done the same. There is [good reason]( for this: the field is highly specialized and rarely in the public eye. (When it comes to the specifics of corporate law policy, lawmakers and judges generally have plenty of time to think things through.) On those occasions that corporate law is in the public eye, however, we should take care not to underestimate these “fast-thinking” factors. the Pie: How Great Companies Deliver Both Purpose and Profit]( By Alex Edmans Edmans considers how the corporation can be made to work for everyone – and shows how hard it can be to succeed. Straightforward fixes that he carefully and insightfully outlines – such as better-structured executive compensation – could be readily adopted without government action. But they aren’t. From self-interest to lack of imagination, something seems too often to get in the way. [The Great Reversal:]( [How America Gave Up on Free Markets]( By Thomas Philippon The Great Reversal is all about market competition. Philippon’s thesis is that in recent decades, competitive structures in the US have been weakened much more than is generally acknowledged. Industrial and business concentration has increased. Other economists have made similar observations about increasing concentration, but consider this shift to be broadly efficient: the competition’s winner “takes all” (or most) for a period, but is eventually unseated by a new player. Either way, markets are more concentrated now than it ever was in most people’s lifetimes. [The Unwritten Law of Corporate Reorganizations]( By Douglas G. Baird This is a specialist’s book, aimed at corporate-reorganization professionals and academics. But it is accessible to the non-specialist, and holds important messages. Notably, Baird shows how even clearly defined laws can readily turn out not to be applied as written, if the implementing group – that is, the lawyers or judges – is small and cohesive enough. Norms and ideas become settled in the group, and the group then applies those norms and ideas. Don't miss Roe's recent [Say More interview]( in which he refutes the prevailing narrative that stock-market short-termism is killing R&D, describes a corporate-tax reform that would provide a real boost to the US economy, explains why pressure on corporations to advance the public good is misguided, and more. [Click here to read](. By a PS Contributor [The New China Playbook: Beyond Socialism and Capitalism]( By [Keyu Jin]( Jin says: “In The New China Playbook, I give an account, from the perspective of both an insider and an outsider, of how China has fashioned a unique model beyond capitalism and socialism to create one of the biggest economic success stories of modern times. It is a story of buoyant consumers, intrepid companies, and a paternalistic state. It is also a cautionary tale, showing the high costs of a high-growth path to development. Now, as China's economy comes of age, a new generation of Chinese – prosperous, privileged, and confident – will steer it into a new phase, in which common prosperity, greater independence, and a softer metric of development will rule the day. The book is an attempt to portray China 'in the original,' and to use data and evidence to debunk the many misconceptions that have shrouded our understanding of the world's second-largest economy." In "China Bets on Common Prosperity," Jin explains the logic of the country's new vision for economic development – and what critics get wrong about it. [Click here to read](. More Contributor Recommendations Fawaz A. Gerges Recommends... [After the Apocalypse: America’s Role in a World Transformed]( By Andrew Bacevich This is a trenchant critique of US foreign policy and the ideology of American exceptionalism. Bacevich calls for the country to rethink its foreign-policy fundamentals, advocating a far more prudent approach that recognizes the limits of the use of military force in international affairs. (From 2021) [Read more](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg Recommends... [The Third Pillar: How Markets and the State Leave the Community Behind]( By [Raghuram G. Rajan]( Economists have long wondered why the public resists policies that benefit the economy as a whole, such as opening up to trade and immigration. Recent research has emphasized the impact of municipality- or commuting-zone-level effects: policies with positive effects in the aggregate may still affect different local communities very differently. Rajan builds on this idea in a penetrating analysis of the interdependence of a society’s three pillars: markets, the state, and community. He shows how the decline of communities goes hand in hand with the breakdown of social structures and loss of identity. In the spirit of [Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism]( by [Anne Case]( and [Angus Deaton]( the book ties these phenomena to the recent decline of rural, white, blue-collar communities in the US and the rise of populism. (From 2020) [Read more](. [Register now for Forsaken Futures, streaming live on September 14 at 3:00 PM CEST]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [LinkedIn]( Project Syndicate publishes and provides, on a not-for-profit basis, original commentary by the world's leading thinkers to more than 500 media outlets in over 150 countries. This newsletter does not entitle the recipient to re-publish any of the content it contains. This newsletter is a service of [Project Syndicate](. [Change your newsletter preferences](. 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