Julian L. Simon

The description for this book, The Ultimate Resource, will be forthcoming.

Arguing that the ultimate resource is the human imagination coupled to the human spirit, Julian Simon led a vigorous challenge to conventional beliefs about scarcity of energy and natural resources, pollution of the environment, the effects of immigration, and the "perils of overpopulation." The comprehensive data, careful quantitative research, and economic logic contained in the first edition of The Ultimate Resource questioned widely held professional judgments about the threat of overpopulation, and Simon's celebrated bet with Paul Ehrlich about resource prices in the 1980s enhanced the public attention--both pro and con--that greeted this controversial book.Now Princeton University Press presents a revised and expanded edition of The Ultimate Resource . The new volume is thoroughly updated and provides a concise theory for the observed Population growth and increased income put pressure on supplies of resources. This increases prices, which provides opportunity and incentive for innovation. Eventually the innovative responses are so successful that prices end up below what they were before the shortages occurred. The book also tackles timely issues such as the supposed rate of species extinction, the "vanishing farmland crisis," and the wastefulness of coercive recycling.In Simon's view, the key factor in natural and world economic growth is our capacity for the creation of new ideas and contributions to knowledge. The more people alive who can be trained to help solve the problems that confront us, the faster we can remove obstacles, and the greater the economic inheritance we shall bequeath to our descendants. In conjunction with the size of the educated population, the key constraint on human progress is the nature of the economic-political talented people need economic freedom and security to bring their talents to fruition.

This book provides a comprehensive and balanced assessment of the state of the Earth and its inhabitants at the close of the twentieth century. More than fifty scholars from all over the world present new, concise and accessible accounts of the present state of humanity and the prospects for its social and natural environment. The subjects range from deforestation, water pollution and ozone layer depletion to poverty, homelessness, mortality and murder. Each contributor considers the present situation, historical trends, likely future prospects, and the efficacy or otherwise of current activity and policy. The coverage is worldwide, with a particular emphasis on North America. The State of Humanity is a magnificent and eye-opening synthesis of cultural, social, economic and environmental perspectives. It will interest all those - including geographers, economists, sociologists and policy makers - concerned to understand some of the most pressing problems of our time.

Julian Simon was depressed for 13 long years, living each day under a black cloud of sadness and pain. Simon consulted psychiatrists and psychologists of several schools, and read widely and critically in the psychological literature, desperate to find some therapy that would banish his depression. Eventually he began to find help in the writings of cognitive therapists. Simon cured his own depression within weeks, and remained depression-free for the rest of his life. He made innovative contributions to the cognitive approach, resulting in his own distinctive technique, Self-Comparisons Analysis.

Most people in the United States believe that our environment is getting dirtier, we are running out of natural resources, and population growth is a burden and a threat. These beliefs according to Simon, are entirely wrong. Why do the media report so much false bad news about these? And why do we believe it? Those are the questions distinguished scholar, Julian Simon set out to answer in this book.

In his long and distinguished career as a writer and scholar Julian Simon came to be known as one of the leading--and most controversial--authorities on population economics. An immensely productive writer, his work is unified by a basic core belief: that human intellect and ingenuity are ever-renewable resources in the use and preservation of natural resources. Inevitably, Simon's position provoked the hostility of doctrinaire environmentalists, both in academia and in the movement at large. However, Simon's arguments were invariably built from facts and powerful evidence that stood him well in many high-profile public debates.The first part of Simon's autobiography takes the reader through his childhood, his years as a midshipman and then as an officer in the Navy, plus a stint in the Marines, and his experiences as a copywriter in an advertising firm. Simon's plan after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago was to be an entrepreneur, which would afford him enough money to care for his parents and allow him free time for writing fiction. He ran a small mail-order business for two years, during which time he wrote his first book, How to Start and Operate a Mailorder Business, which has since gone through seven editions. Deciding to seek a professional career, in 1963, he accepted a position at the University of Illinois.Although he spent thirty-five years of his life as a faculty member at three universities, his autobiography contains almost no discussion of departmental affairs or university politics, topics about which Simon had little or no interest. Rather, after the personal chronology and experiences, the book includes substantive chapters on research methods, population economics, and immigration. It also explains how Julian Simon became the economist he was. He analyzes crucial periods in his life when he developed his ideas on fundamental issues.Written in an engaging and amusing manner, Julian Simon's autobiography is a combination of personal memoir and professional contribution to important ideas in economics, research methods, and demography. His observations and personal reflections will interest the general reader on a humanitarian level as well as environmentalists, sociologists, and economists on a professional level.

Simon is best known for his research in demography, population and the economics of natural resources, and gained fame when the noted biologist Paul Ehrlich selected five commodities and bet Simon that scarcity would drive their prices up over the period of the bet (in fact, their prices all dropped). The New Statistics contains a number of examples in Resampling Stats, a computer program originated by Simon, but can be read on its own without the program. Covers probability, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals and sample size calculations and is an excellent introduction to simulation, bootstrap methods (sampling with replacement from the observed data to assess variability of a sample statistic), and permutation tests (comparison of observed differences between samples to differences obtained by randomly shuffling the samples together and re-dividing them).

Whether the reader is a newcomer starting from scratch on a shoestring budget,or an established business person looking to cash in on the mail-order boom,Julian Simon's definitive book provides A-to-Z coverage of how to plan,execute,and maintain a successful mail-order operation. Step-by-step,Simon shows how to strike it rich in mail order from selecting the right products,to promoting them effectively,to creating ads and copy that sell,and much more. In each information-packed page,the fifth edition reports on today's trends and developments in this fast-changing field,while continuing to offer the expert guidance that has stood the test of time. Readers will learn how Use computers,databases,and desktop publishing to simplify and enhance operations; Take advantage of the emerging opportunities in international direct marketing; Benefit from insider advice from the field's biggest success stories thanks to special chapters by David Ogilvy,John Caples,Victor Schwab,and Paul Bringe; Deal with postal increases,legal requirements,cash flow,competition,and a host of potential pitfalls; Make smart tactical decisions about customer service,mailing lists,trial offers,selling a business,and more.

One of Julian Simon's last works-in-progress--cut short just before completion by his death in early 1998-- The Great Breakthrough and Its Cause explores the question of why human progress accelerated in Western Europe starting around 1750. Why did life expectancy, the household consumption level, speeds of travel and communication, the literacy rate, and other aspects of the standard of living leap above those in the previous centuries and millennia? What forces caused this extraordinary development to occur when it did--or even to occur at all--rather than centuries or millennia earlier or later?Simon answers this question by arguing persuasively that the total quantity of humanity--and the nexus of human numbers with technology--has been the main driving force behind what he calls "Sudden Modern Progress." Further, he continues, if population numbers had risen more rapidly than they did, the "Great Breakthrough" would have occurred earlier. He also asserts that institutional changes, phenomena often credited for human progress, are from a very long-run perspective a result of population growth. And finally, he seeks to refute two seeming counterexamples, China and India, that reached high population densities prior to the modern period without accelerated growth in consumer welfare. In his inimitable style, Simon meticulously backs up his arguments with extensive use of a wide variety of data. Along the way, he also takes on the arguments of other writers on the subject of population growth and progress, such as Joel Mokyr and Eric Jones.Completed and polished by Timur Kuran, this exploration into the great explosion of consumer welfare will stimulate, challenge, and foster high-level intellectual debate on the question of human progress. It will be of particular interest to demographers, economic historians, and a broad array of social scientists.The late Julian Simon was most recently Professor of Business Administration, University of Maryland, College Park.

This practical resource shows business professionals how to improve their decision-making skills and enhance their ability to develop effective interpersonal relationships with co-workers and clients. The book covers a wide range of topics -- identifying tastes and preferences, personal skill assessment, cost-benefit analysis, risk and uncertainty, multi-tasking, human resource management, time constraints, data collection, and more. Designed to help busy professionals make the most effective use of time and energy, it will also be useful in the study of organizational behavior and business psychology.

This book undertakes an objective and comprehensive inquiry into the economic consequences of immigration into the United States and concludes that immigration is, on the whole, beneficial to US natives. Among the many novel features of Simon's analysis are a comparison between the received theory of the international movement of goods and the movement of capital, from which he concludes that they are far less similar than supposed; the analysis of the cost of the use of capital by immigrants; the estimate of the cost of use of demographic capital. Although the book is based on experience in the United States, its investigations apply to most of the developed countries.

This is the first of a two volume collection of the late Julian Simon's important and radical contributions to a wide variety of economic problems. Often considered as controversial and unorthodox, these essays challenge conventional approaches. The book begins with introductory chapters in which the author discusses his background and experiences as a controversial scholar. Divided into six parts, the first part considers some basic concepts on issues such as welfare, natural resources, causality and product differentiation. The second part contains essays on managerial economics as well as general microeconomics including monopoly, duopoly and oligopoly. Advertising is discussed in the third part and industrial organization in the fourth. Part five focuses on policies for exchange and auction considering, among other issues, airline overbooking, and the final section features articles on macroeconomics. This collection of controversial essays will be welcomed by academics and students interested in unorthodox approaches to various economic theories and concepts.

This popular text explains the basic parameters of language,concepts,and methods in lucid,simple language,and skillfully leads students-step by step-through the problems and obstacles commonly confronting student researchers. This edition is enhanced by four completely new chapters. Chapter 26-Uses of Various Analytic Statistics. Chapter 27-An Exposition of Path Analysis. Chapter 28-Some Other Analytic Techniques,and Chapter 29-Making Sound Predictions.

Since 1970, Julian Simon has been challenging the doomsayers and their conventional beliefs in a series of controversial popular essays based upon his technical scholarly research. These have been his central Raw materials and energy are getting less scarce. The world's food supply is improving. Pollution in the United States has been decreasing. Population growth has long-term benefits, even though added people are a burden in the short run. The United States needs more immigrants. These essays are the core of Population Matters . The central vision is of human being who, on balance, create more than they destroy, if they have adequate incentive to create and guarantee protection of the fruits of their labors. The debate on these questions concerns the effect of the number of people on the standard of living. Simon sees the following mechanism at Population growth and increased income expand demand, and prices of natural resources are forced up, triggering the search for new supplies. Eventually new sources and substitutes are found, and humanity is better off. How quickly this happens is critical; and here the presence of economic liberty and respect for property are of central importance. There is no doubt that Julian Simon has influenced the professional consensus on these questions. But he does not preach complacency, nor does he think that new resources and economic advances are inevitable. He reminds us that institutions that protect property and reward initiative must be protected. Above all, we must remember that the ultimate resource is people, whose exercise of will and imagination for their own benefit inevitably benefits us all. Those who have read and enjoyed Simon's other books or his writings in the popular media will find this a spirited examination of the compelling issues of our day. Some of the most provocative essays in the volume have never before been published. Social and physical scientists may be stimulated to rethink some of their assumptions, and the general reader will be engaged by the force and style of his arguments.

Predicts what the world will be like at the turn of the century in terms of agriculture, world population, water resources, climate, minerals, oil, nuclear power, environmental quality, nutrition, and health

The economics of population has a long and controversial history as well as an exciting present. Vociferous popular debate, public policy, and population economics have unduly influenced one public debate and policy affect the erection of economists' conclusions just as the results of economists' studies influence debate and popular thought. The words and theories of John Maynard Keynes, Thomas R. Malthus, John Stuart Mill, and Friedrich Engels come to mind immediately. However, many writings on population economics had little or no influence on public thought at the time they were written, although they may be seen as "correct" in light of modern developments. In fact, many of the ideas contained in these writings were publicly debated but then ignored for a long time, reappearing much later or reinvented independently. The Economics of Population, edited by Julian L. Simon, traces the history of population economics. This is a century-spanning collection of essays from foremost influential economic theorists, arranged to illustrate thought development and its numerous reversals. The first section includes essays from Joseph J. Spengler, John Graunt, William Petty, Thomas R. Malthus, William Godwin, and David Ricardo. Theorists such as Alexander Everett, William Peterson, Simon Gray, Henry C. Carey, John Stuart Mill, Friedrich Engels, Henry George, and Charles Fourier are the subject of the volume's second section. Finally, Simon covers the effect of population density and cities on productivity, and the effect of density on agricultural practices and natural resources. Essays from this section include John Maynard Keynes' "Is Britain Overpopulated?" and "The Economic Consequences of Peace" as well as selections from Lionel Robbins, George Simmel, and Alvin H. Hansen. Simon's long-term focus reflects the evolution of population movements. He does not restrict himself to writings that have been important in the historical chain of intellectual influence. Rather, he guides us to key works which shed light on the intellectual history of population economics. Simon includes some essays that, while greatly influential, can also be seen as fundamentally wrong in light of later work. As such, The Economics of Population will be of great value to political economists, sociologists of knowledge, and historians of ideas.

The description for this book, The Economics of Population Growth, will be forthcoming.

The brain is the crucial erotic organ in the body -- along with being the crucial element in survival, occupational success, capacity to enjoy life, and ability to contribute to the welfare of others. With this book you can learn to use your brain more effectively and more wisely, and therefore live your life better.The book has two themes. The main theme is teaching ways to use your mind -- the thinking machinery in your brain -- so that you can improve your skills.

Suggests profitable mail-order products, discusses advertising, legal considerations, and direct-mail lists, and tells how to avoid common business errors

Making the case that population growth does not hinder economic progress and that it eventually raises standards of living, Julian Simon became one of the most controversial figures in economics during the past decade. This book gathers a set of articles--theoretical, empirical, and policy analyses--written over the past twenty years, which examine the effects of population increase on various aspects of economic development in less-developed economies. The studies show that within a century, or even a quarter of a century, the positive benefits of additional people counterbalance the short-run costs. The process is as increased numbers of consumers, and the resultant increase of total income, expand the demand for raw materials and finished products. The resulting actual and expected shortages force up prices of the natural resources. The increased prices trigger the search for new ways to satisfy the demand, and sooner or later new sources and innovative substitutes are found. These new discoveries lead to cheaper natural resources than existed before this process began, leaving humanity better off than if the shortages had not appeared.Originally published in 1992.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Offers a theory of economic effort, discusses industrial payment systems, and analyzes a variety of economic situations

This second volume of the late Julian Simon's articles and essays continues the theme of volume one in presenting unorthodox and controversial approaches to many fields in economics. The book features a wide range of papers divided into eight parts with a biographical introduction to the author's career and intellectual development as well as personal revelations about his background. Part One contains essays on statistics and probability which are developed in the second section on theoretical and applied econometrics. The third part considers individual behavior, including discussion of the effects of income on suicide rates and successive births, and foster care. Parts four and five present papers on population and migration, for which the author is best known. The sixth part contains Professor Simon's controversial discussion of natural resources and the articles in part seven relate to welfare analysis. In the final part some of the author's previously unpublished papers are presented, including discussions on duopoly and economists' thinking. Like the first volume this collection will be of interest to academics and students welcoming controversial and unorthodox approaches to a wide variety of theories and concepts in economics.