Customer Reviews:
 Very interesting for both the general reader and the student January 4, 2006
22 out of 24 found this review helpful
This is a fascinating book, and that is an amazing achievement for a textbook. The approach David Weil takes to this very important subject allows the reader to get involved in the subject, understand why the easy conceptions we have about this subject are indeed too simple and why they are too simple, and develop some intuitions and models with somewhat greater understanding. It is written for a general reader or student with only a very basic understanding of economics (micro and/or macro). Not much math is required to read the chapters (very little, actually), and the discussions with more math are put in appendices for each chapter. So, if you want the math, it is there, but if it scares you - well, you can read the text of the chapter and skip over the appendices.
The overall approach is to provide an introduction to the topic, build some tools and approaches to the problems of economic growth through a series of important topics and then synthesize all of it in the concluding chapter. Weil provides seventeen chapters that are grouped into five parts. However, there are really three big sections to the book. The first section is Part I and the first two chapters that provide an introduction to the issues of economic growth and a basic framework for the discussion. The third broad section is Part V, the last chapter, that provides the conclusion to the book by summarizing all that has been discussed in the book. The second section makes up the bulk of the book and is comprised of Parts II, III, and IV.
Part II discusses the issues of Factor Accumulation. These are the problems around physical capital (not just money, but the tools of the economy as well), population issues, and human capital.
Part III examines productivity. Those of us who are not well versed in this topic have no idea how subtle and interesting this subject is. Just defining and measuring it are not easy, but then going after what the real order of causality is turns out to be far from obvious. That is one of the great things Weil does in this book, he shows us over and over again that the simple assumptions one might make about what causes what is not as obvious as we might have assumed. However, he doesn't leave us in a state of confusion. He shows us how to tease out some knowledge and to frame questions for future investigation (both in later chapters and for future research).
Part IV deals with issues of government involvement in the economy, income inequality, culture, geography, and resources. In each of these discussions it is a matter of degree and what choices a society makes in seeking its desires. What costs is it willing to bear? Rapid growth and resource exploitation might cost some environmental degradation. Importing resources from other places might have a limit as world population soars to ... what point? Culture tends to change as societies become rich and subsequent generations throw off some of the values of those that provided the riches. What is the effect of that change in work habit and moral behavior?
The book also has interesting articles in each chapter that are shaded in blue and provide very interesting insight into the topic under discussion. And since it is a textbook, there are questions, vocabulary, and such at the end of each chapter. There is also an extended resource list, a very helpful glossary, and an index. The book also points you to a website with very helpful resources.
I recommend this book for anyone interested in this topic. It is written so well that a motivated general reader will have no problems with it and students will have a much better experience with it than most of the textbooks produced nowadays.
Fine read and a great text!
Very Accessible! July 29, 2004
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Professor Weil has provided a very readable text for the senior or graduate student. His organization is excellent, as he steps logically through a description and analysis of the main drivers of economic growth. There is just enough math to display the Cobb-Douglas and Solow models and how they help understand economic growth. Additional appendices with mathematical proofs. Topics covered include physical and human capital formation, productivity, share of a nation's resources devoted to investment, population, technology and institutional elements. A most enjoyable read - I recommend it.
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