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Books > History > History of specific subjects > Economic history
This timely book studies the economic theories of credit cycles and
disturbances in the 20th century, presenting a nuanced view of the
role of finance in the economy after the financial crash of 2008.
Focusing on the work of economists from Marx onwards, Jan
Toporowski moves beyond conventional monetary theory to offer an
insightful critical alternative to current financial
macroeconomics. The book features an extended discussion of Marx's
approach to credit and finance, new insights to Minsky's ideas and
a reconsideration of the financial theories of Kalecki and Steindl.
Economic researchers and postgraduate students seeking to extend
their knowledge of critical approaches to finance will find this an
invaluable read, as well as practitioners and policy makers who
seek to understand financial instability and unstable markets. This
will also be an insightful read for economic historians looking to
understand the nuances of different key economic theories and their
practical applications. This timely book studies the economic
theories of credit cycles and disturbances in the 20th century,
presenting a nuanced view of the role of finance in the economy
after the financial crash of 2008.
The United States has two separate banking systems today-one
serving the well-to-do and another exploiting everyone else. How
the Other Half Banks contributes to the growing conversation on
American inequality by highlighting one of its prime causes:
unequal credit. Mehrsa Baradaran examines how a significant portion
of the population, deserted by banks, is forced to wander through a
Wild West of payday lenders and check-cashing services to cover
emergency expenses and pay for necessities-all thanks to
deregulation that began in the 1970s and continues decades later.
In an age of corporate megabanks with trillions of dollars in
assets, it is easy to forget that America's banking system was
originally created as a public service. Banks have always relied on
credit from the federal government, provided on favorable terms so
that they could issue low-interest loans. But as banks grew in size
and political influence, they shed their social contract with the
American people, demanding to be treated as a private industry free
from any public-serving responsibility. They abandoned less
profitable, low-income customers in favor of wealthier clients and
high-yield investments. Fringe lenders stepped in to fill the void.
This two-tier banking system has become even more unequal since the
2008 financial crisis. Baradaran proposes a solution: reenlisting
the U.S. Post Office in its historic function of providing bank
services. The post office played an important but largely forgotten
role in the creation of American democracy, and it could be
deployed again to level the field of financial opportunity.
Offering a comprehensive guide to financial shocks and crises, this
book explores their increasing occurrence in current market
economies, as well as their power to wrench the macroeconomy. It
discusses three critical questions: what causes financial shocks;
which channels may exacerbate their impact; and what policies could
help avoid them or limit their negative effect on the economy and
society at large. Drawing together contributions from top scholars
in the field, this Modern Guide addresses both the causes and
consequences of financial instability after the Global Financial
Crisis (GFC) at both micro and macro levels. Chapters conceptualise
financial crises, highlight their main channels of transmission,
and explore the role of public policies, looking at how to learn
from past financial crises to prevent future ones. The book further
examines why financial shocks will be a permanent trait in the
future, and the potential impacts of market economics continuing to
expand financialisation as they have done over recent decades. This
Modern Guide will be a timely resource for economics students and
scholars, particularly as it compares the impacts of the GFC and
Covid-19 and explores why these are so different. It will also be
an important read for policy makers seeking advice on how to manage
and avoid financial crises.
Tom Palley has made a significant contribution to understanding the
meaning and significance of neoliberalism. This chronicle collects
some of his best work to explain how global adoption of neoliberal
policies over the past thirty years has increased income inequality
and created tendencies to stagnation. The book explores the impact
of neoliberal policies on the US, Europe, and global economy. It
shows how the 2008 financial crisis and Great Recession were
predictable outcomes of the neoliberal policy experiment, as is the
emergence of global "race to the bottom" competition. It also
explains how Europe's economic fragility is connected to the
neoliberal design of the euro. Neoliberalism creates a particular
variety of capitalism. It is a political choice. That means society
is tacitly engaged in a "war of ideas", the outcome of which will
determine our future political economic trajectory. Students,
scholars, and readers in economics and political science will find
this rich collection illuminating in their efforts to better
understand the policy matrix that currently dominates the political
landscape.
Economic theory reached its highest level of analytical power and
depth in the middle of the nineteenth century among John Stuart
Mill and his contemporaries. This book explains classical economics
when it was at its height, followed by an analysis of what took
place as a result of the ensuing Marginal and Keynesian Revolutions
that have left economists less able to understand how economies
operate. Chapters explore the false mythology that has obscured the
arguments of classical economists, clouding to the point of near
invisibility the theories they had developed. Steven Kates offers a
thorough understanding of the operation of an economy within a
classical framework, providing a new perspective for viewing modern
economic theory from the outside. This provocative book not only
explains the meaning of Say's Law in an accessible way, but also
the origins of the Keynesian revolution and Keynes's pathway in
writing The General Theory. It provides a new look at the classical
theory of value at its height that was not based, as so many now
wrongly believe, on the labour theory of value. A crucial read for
economic policy-makers seeking to understand the operation of a
market economy, this book should also be of keen interest to
economists generally as well as scholars in the history of economic
thought.
For most economists, 'Austrian economics' refers to a distinct
school of thought, originating with Mises and Hayek and
characterised by a strong commitment to free-market liberalism.
This innovative book explores an alternative Austrian tradition in
economics. Socialist in spirit but too diffuse to be described as a
single school of thought, it shares a common conviction that the
market, while possibly a good servant, is a very poor master.
Demonstrating how the debate on the economics of socialism began in
Austria long before the 1930s, this unique book analyses the work
and impact of many leading Austrian economists. Beginning with the
Austro-Marxist theorists Otto Bauer and Rudolf Hilferding and
moving through to the new generation of social democratic
economists, most prominently Kurt Rothschild and Josef Steindl, The
Alternative Austrian Economics provides insight into the history
and evolution of socialist economics in Austria. Offering a
previously underrepresented discussion of a century of Austrian
socialist economics, this engaging book will prove to be of great
value to Marxian and heterodox economists, historians of economic
thought and political scientists interested in political economy.
Global inequality has been a burning issue for years now. As the
economies progress, it is expected that the benefits of growth will
percolate to the lower sections of society. However, this
percolation takes place in a discriminating manner. Inequality can
be observed in terms of health, income, education, wealth, gender,
availability of opportunities, and other socio-economic parameters.
The governing authorities and international agencies have been
taking various corrective measures to reduce the widening levels of
inequality. However, certain external factors like the pandemic can
wash away the efforts taken and deteriorate the progress made on
the inequality levels in economies. Emerging Trends and Insights on
Economic Inequality in the Wake of Global Crises discusses the
impact of global disasters and crises on economic inequality. It
provides an overview of the evolution of global inequality over the
years, increasing different forms of inequalities amidst crises,
the corrective measures taken by the national and international
agencies, and the way forward for economies with worsening
inequalities. Covering topics such as crisis management, digital
agriculture, and economic welfare, this premier reference source is
an essential resource for economists, business leaders and
executives, government officials, students and educators of higher
education, sociologists, researchers, and academicians.
'This wise and lucid guide to pluralism in economics embodies the
values of its cause. Generous, open-minded, fair, accurate and
accessible: John Harvey's new book is a fine achievement that every
economics major should read.' - James K. Galbraith, The University
of Texas at Austin, USJohn Harvey's accessible book provides a
non-technical yet rigorous introduction to various schools of
thought in economics. Premised on the idea that economic thinking
has been stunted by the almost complete rejection of anything
outside the mainstream, the author hopes that this volume will open
readers' minds and lead them in new and productive directions. In
his exploration of Neoclassical, Marxist, Austrian, Post Keynesian,
Institutionalist, New Institutionalist and Feminist schools of
thought, unique features of each approach are highlighted,
complemented by discussions of methodology, world views, popular
themes, and current activities. Accurate and impartial, every
chapter covering a heterodox school of thought has been vetted by
an acknowledged expert in that field. Though written for use in
undergraduate courses, this guide will no doubt offer a great deal
to any scholar wishing to gain a fresh perspective and greater
understanding of the variety and breadth of current economic
thinking.
This book addresses the divide that exists between the reality of
finance and the image it projects. A functioning financial system
is an essential feature of a modern economy, providing it with
money, credit, capital, and investments. Conversely, those who
provide this essential service are neither respected nor trusted.
The causes and consequences of this divide is explored using the
British experience from 1800 to the present, drawing upon a mixture
of factual evidence and contemporary fiction. Nothing of this scale
has been attempted before and this is the product of 50 years of
research.
This defining and original book explores the history of monopoly
power and of its relation to competition, focusing on the
innovative contributions of the Italian Marginalists ? Pareto,
Pantaleoni, De Viti de Marco and Barone. Manuela Mosca analyses
their articulate vision of competition, and the structural and
strategic entry barriers considered in their works to enrich
existing literature on the history of the sources of market power.
The book is not limited to the reconstruction of the elaboration of
pure theory, it also highlights its policy implications and how
this group applied their theories as cutting-edge experiments in
analysing the labour market, socialism, the Great War and gender
issues, against the background of the political situation of the
period. Monopoly Power and Competition is a vital resource for
historians of economic thought, as it explores a relatively
untouched area of microeconomics in historical perspective, and
reveals the theories surrounding monopoly power and competition.
Microeconomists and industrial organisation scholars would
similarly benefit from the knowledge of the origins of many
microeconomic tools and notions.
Patterns of Economic Change by State and Area: Income, Employment,
and Gross Domestic Product is a special edition of Business
Statistics of the United States. It presents data on personal
income, employment, and gross domestic product for the United
States as a whole, and by region, state, and metropolitan
statistical area (MSA). Data on personal income and employment
extends back to 1960 for the states and regions and to 1970 for the
MSAs. Patterns of Economic Change complements other Bernan Press
titles such as the State and Metropolitan Area Data Book and County
and City Extra. In contrast to their predominantly current and
detailed cross-section data on states and metropolitan areas, this
book contributes historical time-series measurements of key
aggregates that show how the economies of regions, states, and
metropolitan areas have responded over time to cyclical currents
and long-term trends. Statistics at the state level provide a
framework for analyzing current economic conditions in each state
and can serve as a basis for decision making. For example: Federal
government agencies use the statistics as a basis for allocating
funds and determining matching grants to states. The statistics are
also used in forecasting models to project energy and water use.
State governments use the statistics to project tax revenues and
the need for public services. Academic regional economists use the
statistics for applied research. Businesses, trade associations,
and labor organizations use the statistics for market research.
A jaw-dropping microhistory of the global economy over the last fifty years told through the many lives of a single ship.
At 94 meters long and 9,500 deadweight tonnes, once called the Bibby Resolution, is an unremarkable hulk, crossing the oceans unnoticed. And yet, the astonishing journey of this boat can tell us the story of the modern world.
First built as a Swedish offshore oil rig in the 1970s, it went on to become a barracks for British soldiers in the Falklands War in the 1980s, a jail off New York in the 1990s, a prison in Portland in the 2000s, and accommodation for Nigerian oil workers off the coast of Africa in the 2010s. It has been called Safe Esperia, HMP The Weare, even 'The Love Boat'. In each of its lives this empty vessel has been commanded by economic forces much larger than itself: private investment, war, mass incarceration, imperial interests, national sovereignty, inflation, booms, busts and greed.
Through its encounters with a world of island tax havens, the English court system, exploited labour forces, free banking zones or immigration politics, the ordinary boat at the heart of this story reveals our complex modern economy to us, connecting the dots of a dramatically changing world in the making, and warning us of its dangerous consequences.
This book uses differences in firm and market regulation and organization to explain differences in national economic performance. These differences affect the way in which firms process information, which is crucial to performance. Applying game theory, contract theory, and information theory, Aoki describes the rules and conventions in Japan, the USA, and the transitional economies. He shows how firms can achieveDSand in the case of Japan, maintainDScompetitive advantage in international markets.
In this significant new book, Bruna Ingrao and Claudio Sardoni
emphasize the crucial importance of considering credit/debt
relations and financial markets for a comprehensive understanding
of the world in which we live. The book offers both a thorough
historical and theoretical reconstruction of how 20th century
macroeconomics got (or did not get) to grips with the interactions
between banks and financial markets, and the 'real' economy. The
book is split into two distinct and thematic parts to expose the
different attitudes to banks and finance before and after the Great
Depression of the 1930s. Part I explores the period from the turn
of the 20th century to the late 1930s, when many important
economists devoted great attention to banks and credit relations in
their explanations of the working of market economies. Part II
discusses the post-war period up until the modern day, when banks
and financial markets ceased to be a major concern of mainstream
macroeconomics. The 2007-8 crisis gave rise to a renewed interest
in credit relations, but many problems inherited from the past
still remain open. The authors stress, in particular, the
implications of the uneasy, if not impossible, coexistence of the
endeavour to set macroeconomics within the framework of general
equilibrium theory with the attempt to develop the analysis of the
monetary and financial features of actual economies.
Macroeconomists will greatly benefit from this timely book as it
examines the historical evolution of the discipline, pointing out
the major factors that have largely prevented the development of
satisfactory analyses of the interrelations of credit, finance and
the macroeconomy. Those involved in current economic policy debates
will also benefit from the lessons offered in this book.
The international monetary system imploded during the Great
Depression. As the conventional narrative goes, the collapse of the
gold standard and the rise of competitive devaluation sparked a
monetary war that sundered the system, darkened the decade, and
still serves as a warning to policymakers today. But this familiar
tale is only half the story. With the Tripartite Agreement of 1936,
Britain, America, and France united to end their monetary war and
make peace. This agreement articulated a new vision, one in which
the democracies promised to consult on exchange rate policy and
uphold a liberal international system - at the very time fascist
forces sought to destroy it. Max Harris explores this little-known
but path-breaking and successful effort to revolutionize monetary
relations, tracing the evolution of the monetary system in the
twilight years before the Second World War and demonstrating that
this history is not one solely of despair.
Making Commercial Law Through Practice 1830-1970 adds a new
dimension to the history of Britain's commerce, trade manufacturing
and financial services, by showing how they have operated in law
over the last one hundred and forty years. In the main law and
lawyers were not the driving force; regulation was largely absent;
and judges tended to accommodate commercial needs, so that market
actors were able to shape the law through their practices. Using
legal and historical scholarship, the author draws on archival
sources previously unexploited for the study of commercial practice
and the law's role in it. This book will stimulate parallel
research in other subject areas of law. Modern commercial lawyers
will learn a great deal about the current law from the story of its
evolution, and economic and business historians will see how the
world of commerce and trade operated in a legal context.
In this bold reevaluation of a decisive moment in American history,
Michael Hiltzik dispels decades of accumulated myths and
misconceptions about the New Deal to capture with clarity and
immediacy its origins, its legacy, and its genius.
In this book Garbade, a former analyst at a primary dealer and
researcher at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, traces the
evolution of open market operations, Treasury debt management, and
the microstructure of the US government securities markets
following the 1951 Treasury-Federal Reserve. This volume examines
how these operations evolved, responding both to external forces
and to one another. Utilising a vast scope of primary material, the
work provides insight into how officials fashioned the instruments,
facilities, and procedures needed to advance their policy
objectives in light of their novel freedoms and responsibilities.
Students and scholars of macroeconomics, financial regulation, and
the history of central banking and the Federal Reserve will find
this volume a welcome addition to Garbade's earlier studies of
Treasury debt operations during World War I, the 1920s, and the
Great Depression and since 1983.
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