This book deals with the Neglected Links in economics and society. These neglected links are the inner bonds and lines which keep the society and economy together and are almost interconnected although they are very often treated and discussed separately in different discourses. Contemporary discussion has forgotten to think universally and to integrate items into one common field of observation. Instead, too often particular items are studied and discussed as being independent of each other without acknowledging a broader context. The book gives an exemplary instruction on how to treat reciprocal links and how to work in an interdisciplinary way, which tackles history, sociology and economics at least. By so doing, the book as also serves as an educational instruction for integrative and interdisciplinary science instead of recapitulating mono-disciplinary approaches. Discussion includes topics such as social and economic inequality research, limits of rationality, and orthodoxies and heterodoxies of economic research, as well as a discussion of the heroes of interdisciplinary thought.

The literature of monetary economics has been characterised by controversy and changes in the received wisdom throughout its history. The controversies have related not merely to the effects on incomes and prices of changes in the money supply, but even to the question of whether causality runs from money to incomes and prices or vice versa. This book begins with the pioneering work of the sixteenth century French writer Jean Bodin, followed by the celebrated John Law, and John Locke (and his eighteenth century critics). It considers both the theory and the evidence involved in the controversy between the Currency and Banking schools. Closely related to this was the work of two writers, Thomas Joplin and Walter Bagehot, both of whom provided perspectives strikingly different from those of the main controversialists and, in so doing, advanced the subject of monetary economics. The book seeks, through the examination of monetary controversies, to provide an historical perspective on modern understanding of monetary policy. It will be essential reading for economists with an interest in monetary economics and the history of economic thought.

The book presents a new theoretical approach to the description of economic phenomena over time. A realistic and meaningful description of economic phenomena over time is one of the basic preconditions for the success of any economic theory. The presented theoretical solution or proposal has two main characteristics. The first is a modification of the theory of subjective value in the form of the claim that one perceives the satisfaction of one's needs in the context of one's overall individual portfolio of goods. The causal relationship of the "old" theory in the form of "need is satisfied by good" is modified in terms of "sum of needs is satisfied by portfolio of goods (sum of goods)". This is a small modification, which, however, brings several important elements to the description of economic phenomena over time. The old theoretical approach did not enable us to operate over time because of different value context of goods which is changing over time. However, the portfolio of goods is, in fact, a formally-logical homogeneous construction of the mind, which is applicable over time. The second characteristic is the anchoring of this modification of the theory of subjective value in evolutionary (intersubjective) apriorism. The book will be of interest to any Austrian and Mainstream Economists who deal with problems of description of economic phenomena in time. Also, for those involved in topics such as estimating of future, why entrepreneurs are successful or the problem of social ordering or equilibration and those who are interested in the new evolutionary approach to the emergence of criteria for rational decision-making.

On the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of the 20th century's most accomplished and controversial economists, scholars from around the world reflect on the legacy of Joan Robinson's work. Addressing Robinsonian themes in growth, money, trade and methodology, their essays provide fresh perspectives on old questions. Joan Robinson's first priority was not theoretical perfection or abstract rigor. The arcane debates of the profession had little practical relevance and became increasingly tedious to her. Ironically, much of current economic theory embraces the realism she was striving toward. Indeed, as the essays in this volume show, she was in many ways ahead of her time. The volume begins by tracing the intellectual contours of her work and discussing the people and events that shaped her thinking. The succeeding chapters address her theories on accumulation, capital, and equilibrium, her interpretation of Marx, as well as the influence of Piero Sraffa. Several chapters analyze and extend her theory of growth, illustrating the wide applicability of her approach. A compelling exploration of Joan Robinson's contributions, this volume will be of great interest to scholars interested in growth, income distribution, post-Keynesian economics, macroeconomics, history of thought, money, capital theory, international trade and finance.

The general store in late-nineteenth-century America was often the economic heart of a small town. Merchants sold goods necessary for residents' daily survival and extended credit to many of their customers; cash-poor farmers relied on merchants for their economic well-being just as the retailers needed customers to purchase their wares. But there was more to this mutual dependence than economics. Store owners often helped found churches and other institutions, and they and their customers worshiped together, sent their children to the same schools, and in times of crisis, came to one another's assistance.

For this social and cultural history, Linda English combed store account ledgers from the 1870s and 1880s and found in them the experiences of thousands of people in Texas and Indian Territory. Particularly revealing are her insights into the everyday lives of women, immigrants, and ethnic and racial minorities, especially African Americans and American Indians.

A store's ledger entries yield a wealth of detail about its proprietor, customers, and merchandise. As a local gathering place, the general store witnessed many aspects of residents' daily lives--many of them recorded, if hastily, in account books. In a small community with only one store, the clientele would include white, black, and Indian shoppers and, in some locales, Mexican American and other immigrants. Flour, coffee, salt, potatoes, tobacco, domestic fabrics, and other staples typified most purchases, but occasional luxury items reflected the buyer's desire for refinement and upward mobility. Recognizing that townspeople often accessed the wider world through the general store, English also traces the impact of national concerns on remote rural areas--including Reconstruction, race relations, women's rights, and temperance campaigns.

In describing the social status of store owners and their economic and political roles in both small agricultural communities and larger towns, English fleshes out the fascinating history of daily life in Indian Territory and Texas in a time of transition.

In light of the recent and ongoing surge of interest in Alfred Marshall's work, this new and original reference volume fills a gap in the literature through a detailed examination of his thought and of his contributions to economics and social science. The Companion places Alfred Marshall's ideas in their historical context, highlighting the many streams of social research originating from them. The contributors form a remarkable cast of leading experts, covering a spectrum of Marshallian themes and issues, including: * his life and work * background and influences * scope and methodology of economics * economic analysis - including distribution theory, industrial economics and money * social and political issues * relations with his contemporaries * the Marshallian tradition * relevance to contemporary economics. This comprehensive and multidisciplinary Companion illustrates the relevance of Marshall to present-day economic reality and as such will prove an invaluable reference tool for general economists and a wide ranging audience: historians of economic thought; economic, political and cultural historians; industrial, regional and development economists; economists interested in institutional, cognitive and evolutionary economics.

This book develops new balance of payments statistics for the United States from 1790 to 1919, before official statistics were kept. Part I of this book justifies construction of a new balance of payments table, and Chapter 1 surveys existing tables from that standpoint. Chapter 2 shows how this book overcomes the limitations of Office of Business Economics and its North-Simon-Goldsmith foundation. Specific features are highlighted, including measurement decisions, improvement of OBE series, development of new series, and derived implications for the structure of the US economy and for the importance of individual sectors that loom large at various times: slave trade, shipping, manufacturing, and travel. The book then generates new time series of the movement of people, the movement of goods, the movement of funds, and the provision of services. Part VI puts the new balance of payments table to use in several ways: aggregates and balances within the table, structure of the US economy, and specific sectors of the economy (slave trade, shipping, manufacturing, travel). Finally, Part VII provides concluding comments.

This influential volume, which has been revised and updated for the twenty-first century, includes both new material and more detailed expositions of existing arguments. Although so-called 'real' theories of business cycles and growth are prevalent in contemporary mainstream economics, Controversies in Monetary Economics suggests that those economists who have instinctively focused on monetary factors in explaining macroeconomic behaviour are more genuinely 'realistic'. The author combines an explanation of past and present monetary controversy with practical proposals for the conduct of monetary policy in the contemporary global economy. Several alternative approaches are discussed, ranging from the traditional quantity theory to post Keynesian theories of endogenous money. This insightful book will be of interest to all those concerned with monetary economics and macroeconomics, including academic researchers, graduate and senior undergraduate students - particularly those looking for an alternative to current economic orthodoxy - and historians of economic thought. Practitioners in central banks, international financial institutions, the financial markets and finance ministries will also find this work invaluable.

This book explores the vital role of merchants within early modern China. Unlike European merchants, their Sino-colleagues have long been regarded as certain social pariahs after pre-Qin period, despite the fortune they made. The key mission of this monograph is to investigate whether the standing of merchants in the Ming Empire has been improved compared with their predecessors. Generally, their status is reflected in state-merchant relationship and their role in the market, which can be found in miscellaneous economic activities such as market monopoly, commercial taxation, international trade, and consumption. This book aims to be of relevance to students and researchers interested in early modern history, eastern commerce, Ming merchants, and contemporary global affairs.

This book, set out over three-volumes, provides a comprehensive history of economic thought in the 20th century with special attention to the cultural and historical background in the development of theories, to the leading or the peripheral research communities and their interactions, and finally to an assessment and critical appreciation of economic theories. Volume II addresses economic theory in the period between the two world wars in which the economic theory went through a process of criticism of old mainstream, deconstruction and reconstruction and theoretical ferment which involved the intellectual communities of economists emphasizing their nature of evolving interacting entities. This work provides a significant and original contribution to the history of economic thought and gives insight to the thinking of some of the major international figures in economics. It will appeal to students, scholars and the more informed reader wishing to further their understanding of the history of the discipline.

This book, the first of two volumes, examines ancient civilizations to explore the ethical foundations of modern economic systems. The origin of ethical values is analyzed from a historical context and, through investigating the spread of the Aryan civilization from India into the rest of the world, the links between ancient Russia, India, Japan, and Greece are highlighted. By examining the business management in these societies, the development of an ethical system is explained. This book aims to highlight how trust is fundamental to transactions within an exchange economy. It will be relevant to those interested in economics, development studies, international relations, and global politics.

This volume studies information as an economic resource in the Roman World. Information asymmetry is a distinguishing phenomenon of any human relationship. From an economic perspective, private or hidden information, opposed to publicly observable information, generates advantages and inequalities; at the same time, it is a source of profit, legal and illegal, and of transaction costs. The contributions that make up the present book aim to deepen our understanding of the economy of Ancient Rome by identifying and analysing formal and informal systems of knowledge and institutions that contributed to control, manage, restrict and enhance information. The chapters scrutinize the impact of information asymmetries on specific economic sectors, such as the labour market and the market of real estate, as well as the world of professional associations and trading networks. It further discusses structures and institutions that facilitated and regulated economic information in the public and the private spheres, such as market places, auctions, financial mechanisms and instruments, state treasures and archives. Managing Asymmetric Information in the Roman Economy invites the reader to evaluate economic activities within a larger collective mental, social, and political framework, and aims ultimately to test the applicability of tools and ideas from theoretical frameworks such as the Economics of Information to ancient and comparative historical research.

This book presents a multi-sited ethnographic study of the global development of the Taiwanese Buddhist order Fo Guang Shan. It explores the order's modern Buddhist social engagements by examining three globally dispersed field sites: Los Angeles in the United States of America, Bronkhorstspruit in South Africa, and Yixing in the People's Republic of China. The data collected at these field sites is embedded within the context of broader theoretical discussions on Buddhism, modernity, globalization, and the nation-state. By examining how one particular modern Buddhist religiosity that developed in a specific place moves into a global context, the book provides a fresh view of what constitutes both modern and contemporary Buddhism while also exploring the social, cultural, and religious fabrics that underlie the spatial configurations of globalization.

More than five years have passed since South Korea fell prey to the Asian financial crisis. Bringing together experts from Korea and a variety of other countries, this book aims to better understand the three stages of the Korean crisis: the onset, the policy reaction, and the economic response. Providing an integrated analysis of the event and its consequences, the chapters in the book consider the causes of the crisis, the response of the US government and International Monetary Fund, adjustments in the Korean monetary and fiscal policies, and the success of financial and corporate restructuring. The concluding chapters bring the story up to date, describing the aftermath of the crisis and assessing whether there has been sufficient reform to facilitate the country's recovery and growth. International and also Asian economists will find this a thoroughly accessible and illuminating book, as will specialists on Korea, political scientists and political economists.

This open access book provides a readable narrative of the bubbles and the banking crisis Japan experienced during the two decades between the late 1980s and the early 2000s. Japan, which was a leading competitor in the world's manufacturing sector, tried to transform itself into an economy with domestic demand-led mature growth, but the ensuing bubbles and crisis instead made the country suffer from chronicle deflation and stagnation. The book analyses why the Japanese authorities could not avoid making choices that led to this outcome. The chapters are based on the lectures to regulators from emerging economies delivered at the Global Financial Partnership Center of the Financial Services Agency of Japan.

This comprehensive and far-reaching book describes the growth and economic integration of the European economy from 1500 to 1913. The authors apply macroeconomic techniques to identify growth rates, inflation, product markets, trade networks and business cycles across a set of countries over the period. The book demonstrates that growth was the natural state for European economies throughout the period although, under the impetus of the industrial revolution, growth rates generally accelerated by the end of the nineteenth century. Similarly, business cycles in the modern sense seem to have been in evidence at the beginning of the period but by the eighteenth century there is no doubt that modern cycles affected these countries, sometimes simultaneously. Inflationary episodes are both distinct and shared in this long period, with the long inflation of the sixteenth century attesting to the integration of European markets. Finally, the authors find abundant quantitative evidence to support the argument that economies linked by international trade in 1500 came close to achieving global integration by 1913. The European Macroeconomy will be of interest to scholars of economic history, international economics and macroeconomics.

Providing an exceptional overview and analysis of the global economy, from the origins of Homo sapiens to the present day, Colin White explores our past to help understand our economic future. He veers away from traditional Eurocentric approaches, providing a truly global scope for readers. A History of the Global Economy takes a holistic, interdisciplinary approach, beyond the narrow application of economic theory, to include the impact of climate change, genetics and culture. The main themes include the creative innovativeness of humans and how this generates economic progression, the common economic pathway trodden by all societies and the complementary relationship between government and the market. The book moves through the four key economic stages of human history - foraging, agriculture, industry and services - to finally examine where the direction of our future may lie. This comprehensive and ambitious book is a must-read for economists, particularly economic historians, as well as anthropology and political history scholars. It not only explores the history and origins of the global economy but also provides a valuable analysis of the current state of economic affairs, making it an ideal book for those wishing to understand more about our ever-evolving global society.

In the 1970s, the Keynesian orthodoxy in macroeconomics began to break down. In direct contrast to Keynesian recommendations of discretionary policy, models advocating laissez-faire came to the forefront of economic theory. Laissez-faire no longer stood as an exceptional policy endorsed for rare occurrences of market clearing; rather it became the policy standard. This book provides the definitive account of this watershed and traces the evolution of laissez-faire using the cases of its proponents, Frank Knight, Henry Simons, Friedrich von Hayek, Milton Friedman, James Buchanan and Robert Lucas. By elucidating the pre-analytical framework of their writings, Sherryl Kasper accounts for the ideological influence of these pioneers on theoretical work, and illustrates that they played a primary role in founding the theoretical and philosophical use of rules as the basis of macroeconomic policy. A case study of the way in which interwar pluralism transcended to postwar neoclassicism is also featured. The volume concludes that economists ultimately favoured new classical economics due to the theoretical developments it incorporated, although at the same time, since Lucas uncritically adapted some of the ideas and tools of Friedman, an avenue for ideological influence remained. Tracing the evolution of American macroeconomic theory from the 1930s to the 1980s, this book will appeal to those with an interest in macroeconomics and in the history of scholars associated with the Chicago School of economics.

Literary Representations of Precarious Work, 1840 to the Present sheds new light on literary representations of precarious labor from 1840 until the present. With contributions by experts in American, British, French, German and Swedish culture, this book examines how literature has shaped the understanding of socio-economic precarity, a concept that is mostly used to describe living and working conditions in our contemporary neoliberal and platform economy. This volume shows that authors tried to develop new poetic tools and literary techniques to translate the experience of social regression and insecurity to readers. While some authors critically engage with normative models of work by zooming in on the physical and affective backlash of being a precarious worker, others even find inspiration in their own situations as writers trying to survive. Furthermore, this volume shows that precarity is not an exclusively contemporary phenomenon and that literature has always been a central medium to (critically) register forms of social insecurity. By retrieving parts of that archive, this volume paves the way to a historically nuanced view on contemporary regimes of precarious work.