Studying Texts: A Gemara of the Israeli Economy

Michael W. Klein

NBER Working Paper No. 11352
Issued in May 2005
NBER Program(s):   EFG   IFM   ITI

This paper reviews six English-language books on the economy of Israel. Each book was written or edited by Israelis, and each is from a different decade. The earliest book, Don Patinkin’s The Israel Economy: The First Decade, was written in the late 1950s, and the most recent volume, The Israeli Economy, 1985 - 1998: From Government Intervention to Market Economics (edited by Avi Ben-Bassat), was published in 2002. While each book considers the Israeli economy at a different stage of its development, five common themes appear: (i) the relevant comparison group for considering the Israeli economy, (ii) the challenges of immigration, integration and inequality, (iii) the appropriate roles of the government and markets, (iv) openness and dependence, and (v) inflation, crisis, and stabilization. Overall, the chronology of economic views presented in these books corresponds to an increasing acceptance of the role of markets and an increasing desire for open trade in goods and assets.

(513 K)

Published: Klein, Michael W. "Studying Texts: A Gemara of the Israeli Economy." Israel Economic Review 3, 1 (August 2005): 121-47.

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