Browse our AEA Virtual Book Exhibit with Christian Pizarro Winting
Welcome to the Columbia University Press virtual exhibit booth for the 2021 American Economic Association annual meeting. I am Christian Pizarro Winting, the editor for CUP’s books in economics. This last year has been an undoubtedly tough one for all, but the field of economics has taken an even more prominent place in the public eye as the world considers how to rebuild economies and economic life in the wake of the pandemic.
In light of this prominence, my colleague Myles Thompson, who directs the Columbia Business School Publishing imprint, and I are pleased to introduce you to some of our prominent titles from 2020 and exciting new titles to come in 2021.
First, we are so pleased and proud that Paul Milgrom and his mentor Robert Wilson were awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Milgrom and Wilson’s work improving auction theory and inventing new auction formats has had transformational effects on real-world transactions, opening up new possibilities for our modern economy. Milgrom joins a growing group of CUP authors published in the Kenneth J. Arrow Lecture Series who have won the Nobel prize in economics. We are happy to now have Milgrom’s 2017 book Discovering Prices: Auction Design in Markets with Complex Constraints available in paperback. In the book, Milgrom describes how auctions can be used to discover prices and guide efficient resource allocations, even when resources are diverse, constraints are critical, and market-clearing prices may not even exist.
In Why Trust Matters: An Economist’s Guide to the Ties That Bind Us, Benjamin Ho details the subtle ways that trust plays an essential role in our day-to-day economic lives. Ho blends a rigorous yet accessible account of how economists have applied the mathematical tools of game theory and the experimental methods of behavioral economics with an approachable style and familiar examples to demonstrate with remarkable clarity how trust shapes the workings of the world.
Moving to a work on economic history, Albert O. Hirschman: An Intellectual Biography from Michele Alacevich reflects on Hirschman’s legacy and lasting influence. One of the most original social scientists of the twentieth century, Hirschman held a deep suspicion of all-encompassing theories, valuing instead doubt and a sensitivity to contingencies and unexpected consequences. Alacevich traces the many strands of Hirschman’s thought and their place in his multifaceted body of work, considering their limitations as well as their strengths.
This next book is essential for those working on visual presentations. Jonathan Schwabish’s Better Data Visualizations: A Guide for Scholars, Researchers, and Wonks demonstrates the do’s and don’ts of data visualization, the principles of visual perception, and the best ways to make subjective style decisions around a chart’s design. This book will guide you as you define your audience and goals, choose the graph that best fits your data, and clearly communicate your message. Be sure to pair it with Schwabish’s 2016 book, Better Presentations: A Guide for Scholars, Researchers, and Wonks.
We are also pleased to announce the forthcoming release of Undiversified: The Big Gender Short in Investment Management. Authors Ellen Carr and Katrina Dudley highlight the lack of women investment managers. They reveal the causes of this underrepresentation and the ramifications for firms’ and clients’ bottom lines. Undiversified makes a compelling case that increasing the number of women could help transform active investment management at a time when it is under threat from passive strategies and technological innovation.
Finally, we are pleased to introduce our newest addition to the Center on Global Energy Policy Series with Energy’s Digital Future: Harnessing Innovation for American Resilience and National Security. Amy Myers Jaffe provides an expert look at the promises and challenges of the future of energy, highlighting what the United States needs to do to maintain its global influence in a post-oil era. Energy’s Digital Future gives indispensable insight into the path the United States will need to pursue to ensure its lasting economic competitiveness and national security in a new energy age.
I’ve only just scratched the surface! Take a look around our booth and be sure to make use of the AEA discount code for CUP titles.
Save 20 percent on our conference titles on display when you use coupon code AEA at checkout from our website by March1, 2021.