Inside the Global Economy: A Practical Guide
A WEA alternative text, this comprehensive and informed book offers a practical introduction to the workings of the global economy. Drawing on his hands-on experience in international finance and economic policy, Andrew Vonnegut clearly explains economic concepts and illustrates them with cogent case studies. He describes the global economy by combining principles of economics with investment finance, decision theory, economic history, behavioral psychology, and accounting. Within a rigorous framework that sheds light on the reasons behind international economic events and trends, he brings the people, institutions, incentives, and money flows of the global economy to life.
Oriented toward professionals and students, working or intending to work in the global economy, this book fills an important void. It will be invaluable for practitioners in business, investment finance, public policy, consulting, global studies, and journalism. Providing the tools needed to understand international economics, Vonnegut enlightens readers on the people, behaviors, and institutions behind trade and investment flows in today’s globalized economies, and how they all contribute to the volatile and dynamic world we are experiencing. The book can be used as a text with resources available, including PowerPoint slides for each class session, quizzes, a mid-term, supplemental readings, a final project format, and a Moodle site set up that can be duplicated and modified.
Reviews
“Since the financial crisis, we have all been stuttering through economics and finance. Thanks to Andrew Vonnegut’s excellent new book, we will all be more fluent in the language that shapes our world.” (Parag Khanna, National University of Singapore, author of Connectography: Mapping the Future of Global Civilization)
“Andrew Vonnegut brings a fresh perspective and accessible examples to a topic often dominated by dry and outdated theories. Inside the Global Economy offers a practical approach to understanding economics in a readable and relevant style that will resonate with students of international economics and international business.” (Vivian Faustino-Pulliam, University of San Francisco)
“Vonnegut gives readers an informative and easy-to-follow guide to understanding the fundamentals of how the international economy works and then addresses some of the critical economic issues that we will all need to face in the near future.” (Daniel Schydlowsky, Harvard Kennedy School)
About Andrew Vonnegut
With a career spanning academia, finance, consulting, and business, Andrew Vonnegut currently teaches Global Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, advises on economics and finance, and owns a small manufacturing company based in southern California. Before returning to his home state, Andrew worked abroad for 16 years in international finance and management consulting. He has advised governments and companies on economic policy and finance in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey, Oman, Egypt, Montenegro, and Serbia, among other countries.
Andrew earned his PhD in Applied Economics and Statistics from the University of Minnesota, after graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California Santa Barbara with degrees in International Relations and English Literature. He was a Fulbright fellow and MacArthur scholar. His experience includes working at three of the largest investment banks in Turkey, as a senior economist for the United States Agency for International Development, and for the international consulting firms Booz Allen Hamilton and Booz and Co.