The Wealth of Choices
Use the New Economy to Put Power in Your Hands and Money in Your Pockets
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- $3.99
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
The world has been turned upside down. The economy is unpredictable. And it’s time for you to take control.
There’s no better guide to being a savvy buyer and a smart investor than Alan Murray, the Washington bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal. A clear and confident voice in times of chaotic change, Murray combines the big picture and street-smart tactics that will help you profit and live well. He begins with a perceptive overview of a rapidly changing economy, pointing out that even with the stock market zigging and zagging, the American economy is opening up more and more power to the individual consumer and investor. There is indeed a wealth of choices. Alan Murray doesn’t just talk about the new economic landscape—he shows you how to live in it.
Health care: The most potentially traumatic change will be in the relationship between you and your doctor. Murray explains what you need to know to be an effective consumer.
Education: The price of a good education has gone sky high. But your mind is your most important investment. Murray shows how to cut costs and cut deals that will help you grow.
Your job: The revolution in the workplace means that you have to think of yourself as a brand. Murray shows you how to compete and excel.
Investing: “Professional money manager” is an oxymoron. Money managers don’t know much more than you do. Murray provides easy-to-use rules that will let you get great returns on your own.
Retirement: Old age isn’t what it used to be. Murray explains why the traditional three-legged stool (social security, private pension, personal saving) is rickety—and what to do about it.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Over the past two decades, globalization, deregulation and digitization have produced sweeping changes in the way companies are organized and do business. For those wondering what the new economy offers the average consumer, Murray, the Washington bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal and coauthor of Showdown at Gucci Gulch, provides a lively and accessible primer that will orient readers confused by rapid changes and those trying to make the new economic conditions work for them. According to Murray, pervasive free-market competitive pressures force companies to court consumers as never before, offering more variety in their products and responding to consumer needs. In addition, easy-to-use methods of comparison shopping on the Internet have given consumers previously unavailable knowledge of prices and a level of bargaining power that approaches that described by classical economist Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations in 1776. If the good news is that consumers are now in charge, the less good news is that to wield their power they must first do their homework. To make the most of that bargaining advantage, Murray has developed a series of handy outlines of the opportunities he sees for personal empowerment in the workplace, education, investing, health care and retirement planning. And although much of what Murray says boils down to common sense ("you should be in a job that makes you feel like you are contributing"), his optimism about consumers' increased choice and bargaining power is infectious.
