Volatile States: Institutions, Policy, and the Performance of American State Economies - Hardcover

Crain, William Mark

9780472113033: Volatile States: Institutions, Policy, and the Performance of American State Economies

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0472113038 ISBN 13: 9780472113033

Publisher: University of Michigan Press, 2003

Why do American state economies grow at such vastly different rates and manifest such wide differences in living standards? Volatile States identifies the sources of rising living standards by examining the recent economic and fiscal history of the American states. With new insights about the factors that contribute to state economic success, the book departs from traditional analyses of economic performance in its emphasis on the role of volatility.
Volatile States identifies institutions and policies that are key determinants of economic success and illustrates the considerable promise of a mean-variance criterion for assessing state economic performance. The mean-variance perspective amends applications of growth models that rely on the mobility of productive factors keyed to income levels alone. Simply measuring the level of growth in state economies reveals an incomplete and perhaps distorted picture of performance. Taking the volatility of state economies explicitly into account refines the whole notion of "economic success."
This book is essential reading for economists, political scientists, and policy-makers who routinely confront questions about the consequences of alternative institutional arrangements and economic policy choices.
W. Mark Crain is Professor of Economics and Research Associate, James M. Buchanan Center for Political Economy, George Mason University.

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About the Author:

W. Mark Crain is Professor of Economics and Director for of the Center for Study of Public Choice at George Mason University.

Review:

"In the vast and vigorous field of economic growth, Volatile States is the greatest of rarities: a book with a genuinely new idea. Crain provides important new perspectives on economic performance and fiscal policy that will be of interest to economists, political scientists, and policymakers."

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