|
Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > Economic history
We might think sustainable management is a new idea, created in the
1960s by enlightened modern scientists. We might think that it puts
us on a new path, beyond what management was originally about. But
this is not true. Sustainable management is as old as civilization
and was a foundation stone of management science as it was formed
in the first decade of the 20th century. Recovering this forgotten
past provides deeper roots and greater traction to advance
sustainable management in our own times. This book charts a history
of sustainable management from premodern times, through the birth
of management science as an offshoot of the conservation movement,
to the present day. The authors argue that modern tools like Triple
Bottom Line reporting and multiple Sustainable Development Goals
may be less useful than a return to a more fundamental and holistic
view of management.
The epic successor to one of the most important books of the century: at once a retelling of global history, a scathing critique of contemporary politics, and a bold proposal for a new and fairer economic system.
Thomas Piketty’s bestselling Capital in the Twenty-First Century galvanized global debate about inequality. In this audacious follow-up, Piketty challenges us to revolutionize how we think about politics, ideology, and history. He exposes the ideas that have sustained inequality for the past millennium, reveals why the shallow politics of right and left are failing us today, and outlines the structure of a fairer economic system.
Our economy, Piketty observes, is not a natural fact. Markets, profits, and capital are all historical constructs that depend on choices. Piketty explores the material and ideological interactions of conflicting social groups that have given us slavery, serfdom, colonialism, communism, and hypercapitalism, shaping the lives of billions. He concludes that the great driver of human progress over the centuries has been the struggle for equality and education and not, as often argued, the assertion of property rights or the pursuit of stability. The new era of extreme inequality that has derailed that progress since the 1980s, he shows, is partly a reaction against communism, but it is also the fruit of ignorance, intellectual specialization, and our drift toward the dead-end politics of identity.
Once we understand this, we can begin to envision a more balanced approach to economics and politics. Piketty argues for a new “participatory” socialism, a system founded on an ideology of equality, social property, education, and the sharing of knowledge and power. Capital and Ideology is destined to be one of the indispensable books of our time, a work that will not only help us understand the world, but that will change it.
This important textbook offers a comprehensive look into the two
main traditions in contemporary macroeconomics ? New Classical and
Keynesian ? and examines the work of economists who have drawn on
principles from both traditions to form a new, integrated approach
known as New Neoclassical Synthesis. Importantly, this provides the
theoretical foundation for much of current mainstream economics and
the work done by central banks around the world. With a dual focus
on research methods and policy applications, this book bridges the
gap between intermediate macroeconomic and advanced graduate-level
texts, making it an ideal resource for senior undergraduate and
Masters students in applied economics programs. Key topics
include:? a concise summary of intermediate macroeconomics,
including the foundational ideas of both the New Classical and
Keynesian traditions? the Lucas critique of standard methods for
evaluating policy design? debt sustainability and austerity vs.
stimulation debate? optimal inflation rates? tax reform and growth
analysis? alternative monetary policies for pursuing price
stability? theories of unemployment.Students and instructors will
find additional useful resources on the book?s companion website,
including practice questions for each chapter.
Globalization and the Politics of Institutional Reform in Japan
illuminates Japan's contemporary and historical struggle to adjust
policy and the institutional architecture of government to an
evolving global order. This focused and scholarly study identifies
that key to this difficulty is a structural tendency towards
central political command, which reduces the country's capacity to
follow a more subtle allocation of authority that ensures political
leadership remains robust and non-dictatorial. Thus, Motoshi Suzuki
argues that it is essential for a globalizing state to incorporate
opposition parties and transgovernmental networks into
policy-making processes. Providing an in-depth analysis of the
theories of institutional change, this book introduces readers to a
wealth of perspectives and counterarguments concerning analysis of
political decision-making and policy adjustment on both the
national and international scale. Placing Japanese policy reform in
the global context and relating policy reform to leadership's
political strategies, the author gives a detailed chronological and
analytical overview of Japan's challenging institutional, political
and bureaucratic transformations since the Meiji Restoration of the
late nineteenth century. Analysis of globalization and policy
reform in a non-liberal state, and the relationship between
politicians and bureaucrats from an international perspective is
included. For those interested in historical and contemporary
Japanese politics from a theoretical perspective, particularly the
implications of globalization and the politician-bureaucrat
relationship, this is an indispensable resource.
This book gathers several important texts to offer an overview of
the institutionalist approach to money developed in France since
the 1980s. This material highlights the specificities of the French
monetary approaches and their main contributions to the
understanding of monetary phenomena - not just in developed market
economies but in other societies as well. By bringing these works
to an English-speaking audience for the first time, this book will
provide a much needed and valuable direct insight into this subject
area and contribute to related post-Keynesian, neo-chartalist and
sociological approaches to money. This book highlights the need for
a global vision of money and for a clearer grasp of the link
between money and the political sphere. It will appeal to students
and researchers across various disciplines including but not
limited to economics, anthropology, sociology, history and
philosophy.
An insightful collection of essays focused on American men, women,
and children from a range of economic classes and ethnic
backgrounds during the Great Depression. Who were the people
waiting in the bread lines and living in Hoovervilles? Who were the
migrants heading North and West? Did anyone survive the Depression
relatively unscathed? Giving a voice to stories often untold, Great
Depression: People and Perspectives covers the full spectrum of
American life, portraying the experiences of ordinary citizens
during the worst economic crisis in the nation's history. Great
Depression shows how specific groups coped with the traumatic
upheaval of the times, including rural Americans, women, children,
African Americans, and immigrants. In addition, it offers revealing
chapters on the conflict between social scientists and policymakers
responding to the crisis, the impact of the Depression on the
health of U.S. citizens, and the roles that American technology and
Hollywood movies played in helping the nation survive. 11 expert
contributors, including well-established scholars who bring new
perspectives to the study of the Great Depression A wide range of
primary sources such as news articles, photographs, diaries, and
letters that provide a deeper understanding of daily life during
the Depression
This book brings together for the first time more than half a dozen
proposals for an imperial paper currency in the mid-eighteenth
century British Atlantic, to show how manage colonial currency and
banking in the expanding empire. Existing studies have looked at
the successes and failures of schemes in individual colonies. But
some had grander ambitions, such as Benjamin Franklin, and offered
proposals for 'imperial' or 'continental' paper currencies and
monetary unions which would help knit together colonial territories
throughout North America and even the Caribbean into a cohesive
whole during a moment of imperial reform. This book brings together
these proposals for the first time, including several never studied
before, to show how thinkers and writers on empire, currency and
finance drew on financial practices, precedents and principles from
across the British Atlantic to present their own visions of
monetary union and the future of empire. In doing so it makes an
important and original contribution to the wider histories of
monetary and financial thought and theory and the roots of American
monetary policy, and the links between finance, empire, politics,
reform and revolution. It will be of interest to academics working
on the history of finance, banking and currency in the British
Isles, North America and the Caribbean in the eighteenth century,
as well as those working on the political economy of the British
Empire, including mercantilism, trade, warfare and the politics of
empire in the decades leading up to the American Revolution.
What were the consequences of the German occupation for the economy
of occupied Europe? After Germany conquered major parts of the
European continent, it was faced with a choice between plundering
the suppressed countries and using their economies to produce what
it needed. The decision made not only differed from country to
country but also changed over the course of the war. Individual
leaders; the economic needs of the Reich; the military situation;
struggles between governors of occupied countries and Berlin
officials, and finally racism all had an impact on the outcome. In
the end, in Western Europe and the Czech Protectorate, emphasis was
placed on production for German warfare, which kept these economies
functioning. New research, presented for the first time in this
book, shows that as a consequence the economic setback in these
areas was limited, and therefore post-war recovery was relatively
easy. However, plundering was characteristic in Eastern Europe and
the Balkans, resulting in partisan activity, a collapse of normal
society and a dramatic destruction not only of the economy but in
some countries of a substantial proportion of the labour force. In
these countries, post-war recovery was almost impossible.
This groundbreaking book provides the first comprehensive account
of the "juridiction consulaire," ""or Merchant Court, of
eighteenth-century Paris. Drawing on extensive archival research,
Amalia D. Kessler reconstructs the workings of the court and the
commercial law that it applied and uses these to shed new light on
questions about the relationship between commerce and modernity
that are of deep and abiding interest to lawyers, historians, and
social scientists alike. Kessler shows how the merchants who were
associated with the court--and not just elite thinkers and royal
reformers--played a key role in reconceptualizing commerce as the
credit-fueled private exchange necessary to sustain the social
order. Deploying this modern conception of commerce in a variety of
contexts, ranging from litigation over negotiable instruments to
corporatist battles for status and jurisdiction, these merchants
contributed (largely inadvertently and to their ultimate regret) to
the demise of corporatism as both conceptual framework and
institutional practice. In so doing, they helped bring about the
social and political revolution of 1789. Highly readable and
engaging, "A Revolution in Commerce" provides important new
insights into the rise of commercial modernity by demonstrating the
remarkable role played by the law in ideological and institutional
transformation.
This is the first comprehensive economic history of the Basotho
people of Southern Africa (in colonial Basutoland, then Lesotho)
and spans from the 1820s to the present day. The book documents
what the Basotho have done on their own account, focusing on their
systematic exclusion from trade and their political efforts to
insert themselves into their country's commerce. Although the
colonial and post-colonial periods were unfavourable to the
Basotho, they have, before and after colonial rule, launched
impressive commercial initiatives of their own, which bring hope
for greater development and freedom in their struggle for economic
independence.
This book is an edited collection by leading insurance historians,
examining the historical role of reinsurance (the insurance of
insurers) in the insurance markets of eight countries: USA,
Netherlands, Sweden, France, Spain, Italy, Mexico and Japan. All
the contributors are experts in their field and have widely
published in insurance history, providing the reader with new
insights into the insurance and economic history of these
countries. In particular, this is the first book to explore the
reinsurance markets in the USA, Netherlands, France, Italy and
Mexico. This book will be of interest to economic and business
historians, as well as insurance practitioners with an interest in
the history of their industry.
The Austrian Theory of Value and Capital provides a meticulous
account of Eugen von Bohm-Bawerk's life, his theory of value,
capital and interest within the context of 19th century German
economic thought and the development of neoclassical economic
theory.This book provides an insight into Bohm-Bawerk's
intellectual development, his political leanings and personal
background, including a wealth of previously unknown facts. The
study also considers the development of economic thought in the
19th century in Germany and Austria. It critically analyses the
work and contribution of Bohm-Bawerk and concludes that his
analysis belongs to traditional 19th century German economic
thought. Closely related to this is the clarification made by the
author of what is genuinely 'Austrian' in the 'Austrian theory of
value and distribution'. To complement the study of Bohm-Bawerk,
the book also contains the first English translation of his letters
to Knut Wicksell. This book will be of interest to economic
theorists, those interested in Austrian economics and the history
of economic thought and economic historians.
This book clarifies the challenges and outcomes of the Sunshine
Project, a national project in Japan for developing new energy that
was launched about 40 years ago at the time of the first oil crisis
in the early 1970s and ended, as planned, in the early 2000s. The
Sunshine Project was the government's national project for
developing new energy technologies such as solar energy and other
natural energy sources-what we call renewable energy today. The
book considers why policies were successful in some areas but did
not have the intended effect in other areas. It explains how
technology innovation was employed to achieve energy policy goals
and to tackle environmental issues. If we can present suggestions
for how to structure national projects, it may also be possible to
identify ways for industry, government, and academia to come
together to find solutions not only to environmental energy
problems, but also to other social problems. Herein lies the goal
of this book. Although the development of new energy is the main
subject of the book, the author also scrutinizes the governmental
decision-making process involved in planning policy, the creative
process, and the design of systems of collaboration between
industry, government, and academia as well as cases where
corporations have developed commercial versions of new energy
products. The main part of the book consists of three case studies
interspersed with two reflective chapters. The first case study
describes the Sunshine Project from the perspective of project
management based on the perspective of government. The second case
study is a detailed examination of the routines in all
organizations, whether industry, government, or academia, and of
the autonomy of the project organization. The third case study
increases the degree of detail to focus on the smallest unit of
analysis, the intentions and motivations of key individuals
participating in the project.
This book articulates a unified theory of capitalism as an attempt
to provide a comprehensive scientific theory of this social system.
A unified theory of capitalism is not the combination of the
predominant economic theories-neoclassical, classical, and
Keynesian-so as to make them compatible. It is not a composite
economic theory. It is a new economic theory. Predictions of the
theory's models were consistent with eight basic empirical
regularities of capitalism dealing with economic growth, income
inequality, employment level, and environment degradation.
Therefore, the unified theory can be accepted as a good
approximation of the real capitalist world. But the models were
constructed at a high level of abstraction. Also problematic was
the need to work out more fully the public policy implications of
the theory. It is, therefore, no wonder that essays on the unified
theory to answer these questions are a natural outcome of a new
scientific endeavor attempting to reach a unity of knowledge in
economics.
China has undergone a remarkable transition over the past thirty
years from a centrally-planned economy to a more market oriented
one. The transformation of business in China has been
correspondingly evident. This book gives an interdisciplinary
analysis of the evolution of business development in China and the
'marketization' of industry during this period within a complex
framework of legal, political, and economic reform aims.
The book includes twelve original business case studies to provide
industry-specific analysis of the overarching macroeconomic and
legal developments. It examines both domestic enterprise reform in
China and the evolving treatment of foreign firms in the context of
both corporate laws and economic policies, and how business is
likely to evolve as economic and legal reforms rapidly increase
during the twenty-first century, notably with regard to China's
increasing global integration.
This book provides the first comprehensive study of the 'special
relationship' between Southern Rhodesia and South Africa. While
most studies approach this from the history of British and South
African relations or the history of South African territorial
expansion, this book offers new insights by examining Southern
Rhodesia's relations with South Africa from the former's
perspective. Exploring relations through the lens of settler
colonialism, the book argues that settler colonialism in the region
was marked by a competitive and antagonistic relationship between
settler communities, particularly Afrikaner and English
communities. The book explores the connections between these
countries by examining (high) politics, economic links, and social
and cultural ties, highlighting both instances of competition and
cooperation. Above all, it argues that economic ties were the
cornerstone of the relationship and that these shaped the rest of
the ties between the two countries. Drawing on archival records
from Britain, South Africa and Zimbabwe, as well as a number of
secondary sources, it offers a much more nuanced perspective of
this relationship than has been previously offered.
'Kurz and Salvadori have done researchers on Ricardo a great
service with their compilation of these essays.' - EH.Net 'Do we
have to know today what Ricardo wrote two hundred years ago? Can we
still learn from him? Of course, we can! The book edited by Heinz
D. Kurz and Neri Salvadori provides highly instructive insights
into the work and importance of David Ricardo, the ''economists'
economist'', as Paul Samuelson dubbed him.' - Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung Arguably one of the most important economists
who has lived, Ricardo's impact on the economics profession is
immense. This unique and comprehensive Companion elucidates his
significance and continuing legacy. Ricardo made major
contributions to all fields of the subject, from monetary issues to
value and income distribution, from capital accumulation, technical
progress and economic growth to foreign trade and international
specialization, and from taxes to public debt. What he called the
main problem of political economy, the distribution of income and
wealth, is again back on the political and economic agenda with a
vengeance. Leading experts in the field explore his influence and
offer novel interpretations of received doctrines. The concise yet
comprehensive entries are arranged alphabetically for ease of use
with cross references and suggestions for further reading. The
Companion will serve as the standard reference work for all those
engaged in the field of classical economics. It will also be
essential reading for scholars and researchers interested in the
history of economic thought, macroeconomics and political economy.
Contributors include: R. Arena, T. Aspromourgos, M.S. Asslander,
R.E. Backhouse, I. Barens, E. Bellino, C. Bidard, S. Blankenburg,
C. Casarosa, R. Ciccone, S. Cremaschi, M. Dardi, G. Deleplace, T.
Dome, G. Erreygers, G. Faccarello, R. Faucci, D. Fiaschi, S.
Fratini, G. Freni, C. Gehrke, A.F. Gilbert, G. Gilibert, P.
Groenewegen, D. Haas, H. Hagemann, A. Heertje, J.E. King, H.
Klausinger, H.D. Kurz, A. Maneschi, M.C. Marcuzzo, F. Meacci, M.
Milgate, G. Mongiovi, F. Moseley, D.P.O'Brien, A. Opocher, A.
Palumbo, S. Parrinello, C. Perrotta, M. Pivetti, P.L. Porta, A.
Quadrio Curzio, S.A.T. Rizvi, A. Rosselli, C. Rotondi, N.
Salvadori, R. Signorino, N. Sigot, M. Smith, A. Stirati, R. Sturn,
P. Trabucchi, H.-M. Trautwein, P. Tubaro, K. Watarai
What really caused the failure of the Soviet Union's ambitious
plans to modernize and industrialize its agricultural system? This
book is the first to investigate the gap between the plans and the
reality of the Soviet Union's mid-twentieth-century project to
industrialize and modernize its agricultural system. Historians
agree that the project failed badly: agriculture was inefficient,
unpredictable, and environmentally devastating for the entire
Soviet period. Yet assigning the blame exclusively to Soviet
planners would be off the mark. The real story is much more
complicated and interesting, Jenny Leigh Smith reveals in this
deeply researched book. Using case studies from five Soviet
regions, she acknowledges hubris and shortsightedness where it
occurred but also gives fair consideration to the difficulties
encountered and the successes-however modest-that were achieved.
|
You may like...
Karoo Food
Gordon Wright
Paperback
R300
R215
Discovery Miles 2 150
|