This book explores the relationship between economic thought, proposals for reform of political institutions, and civil society in the period between the rise to power of Napoleon and the eve of the First World War in Italy and France - two countries with a similar cultural and political tradition and with personal mobility of the intellectual class. The first section of the book is devoted to the struggle for identity, justice, and liberty, including its economic dimensions. The relation between political and economic freedom and its effect on equity is then addressed in detail, and the third, concluding section focuses on the intellectual and political conflict between the social visions of liberalism and socialism in some of their various forms, again with consideration of the economic implications. The comparative nature of the analysis, combined with its interdisciplinary approach to the history of economic and political thought and social history, will enable the reader to understand more clearly the historical evolution of each country and the relevant contemporary political and economic issues.

In the last decades, women's role in the workforce has dramatically changed, though gender inequality persists and for women, gender identity still prevails over work identity. It is important not to forget or diminish the historical role of women in the labour market though and this book proposes a critical overview of the most recent historical research on women's roles in economic urban activities. Covering a wide area of early modern Europe, from Portugal to Poland and from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean, Bellavitis presents an overview of the economic rights of women - property, inheritance, management of their wealth, access to the guilds, access to education - and assesses the evolution of female work in different urban contexts.

The political ideas that resulted from confronting the crisis of the Great Depression and the New Deal of the early 20th century reshaped America. This documentary history collects a range of primary sources to illuminate this critical period in U.S. history. This accessibly written work provides a wide range of primary documents, offering American history students and teachers alike a handy reference volume that examines all important aspects of the Great Depression and New Deal-a core curriculum topic. By modeling how an expert scholar interacts with primary sources, the book enables readers to pick apart and critically evaluate firsthand the key documents chronicling this major American movement. The book leads with an introductory essay that outlines the scope of the volume, explains how the primary documents were selected, and identifies thematic trends and controversies. Annotations by scholars translate difficult passages into language that is easily comprehensible to modern readers and compare key passages throughout, encouraging the reader to cross-reference documents within the volume and connect the dots between them. Readers will be able to interpret the flow of events during the Great Depression, assess the legislative and executive actions that attempted to deal with the economic crisis, and perceive the differences between the fiscal ideas of Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt. Presents documents illustrating the Great Depression crisis and the New Deal response that enables readers to witness the clash of conservatism and liberalism in a time of crisis Offers essays and notes that explain the documents-which include posters, articles, speeches, and court decisions-in the context of historical events Provides a timeline that creates a background setting for a documentary history Contrasts the ideas and actions of President Hoover against those of President Roosevelt

Marx expected the working class to create 'a movement of immense majority, in the interests of immense majority'. However, there is not and never has been such a movement. At least a part of the reason is that the traditional Marxist picture of a two-class polarisation bears little resemblance to the diverse and complex society of today's Western world. In this book, Michal Polak attempts to move beyond the austerity of the two-class model to come closer to the empirical realities. In the process, the author re-examines the very foundations of the Marxist theory, demonstrating how an important critique of the theory can in fact be fruitfully interpreted as a generalisation of it. While remaining true to the Marxian spirit, he comes up with original and innovative extensions of the traditional concepts, which finally allow for the explanation of the diverse class map of the advance capitalist societies.

An interdisciplinary and global approach to the different roles and impact of gold on society and the global economy from the late 19th century to the modern day.
This book provides a historical analysis that integrates the different roles of gold--monetary, commodity, banking, industrial and cultural--with the multiple actors- central banks, mining groups, refineries, bullion houses and major banks - to provide an understanding of their particular interests and reciprocal influence on the global gold market from the late 19th century to the present day. Adopting an inter-disciplinary and global approach, it establishes an innovative and rich dialogue between different branches of the social sciences, including microeconomics, business history, sociology, political and economic history.
Coverage of the book will include a comprehensive overview of the many facets of the global gold market's organization, from the extraction of this precious metal to its consumption. Special attention is given to some of the major international gold markets, such as London, Hong Kong, and Zurich, and to the national and global regulations regarding the gold trade. The book studies both the legal and illegal circuits of gold, as well as their interrelation. Together, the contributions show the complex networks and actors involved in different phases of this commodity chain, from the main gold producers, such as South Africa; to the major European financial markets; and then to the traditional Arab and Asiatic hoarding centres.
This collection of essays, most of which utilise new archival resources, will be of great interest to students and researchers examining the role of this key element in monetary, financial, political and social history.

How states develop the capacity to tax is a question of fundamental importance to political science, legal theory, economics, sociology, and history. Increasingly, scholars believe that China's relative economic decline in the 18th and 19th centuries was related to its weak fiscal institutions and limited revenue. This book argues that this fiscal weakness was fundamentally ideological in nature. Belief systems created through a confluence of traditional political ethics and the trauma of dynastic change imposed unusually deep and powerful constraints on fiscal policymaking and institutions throughout the final 250 years of China's imperial history. Through the Qing example, this book combs through several interaction dynamics between state institutions and ideologies. The latter shapes the former, but the former can also significantly reinforce the political durability of the latter. In addition to its historical analysis of ideological politics, this book makes a major contribution to the longstanding debate on Sino-European divergence.

This book examines the history of the first trust company, the Farmers' Loan and Trust, and its influence on the evolution of corporate law, regulation, and taxation.

Alfred Marshall and Modern Economics demonstrates that it is possible to take Marshall's theoretical insights in two distinctly different directions: one is to reject evolution and go down the equilibrium path, while the second is to reject equilibrium and go down the evolutionary path. Neil Hart re-examines Marshall's legacy and relevance to modern economic analysis with the more settled conventional wisdom concerning evolutionary processes allowing advances in economic theorising which were not possible in Marshall's life time. A more theoretically coherent and relevant approach to modern economic analysis is proposed by connecting aspects of Marshall's revitalised evolutionary economics with Post-Keynesian theories, in a manner which parallels Marshall's endeavour to maintain a unity between value theory and explanations of industry organisation and economic development. This book will be essential reading for all researchers and students interested in the history of economic thought.

This book provides a fully revised and up-to-date analysis of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). With four entirely new chapters on responses to the financial crisis and the debate on reform options, Tomann assesses the EMU in comparison with other currency regimes through the adoption of a historical analysis. The book discusses in detail basic issues with currency and comprehensively analyzes monetary policy, highlighting problems of policy coordination. Tomann explores new monetary institutions that have been established in response to the financial crisis, before addressing long-term issues and reviewing reform proposals. By focusing on monetary issues the book offers a better understanding of macroeconomic policies and international policy cooperation, and, by extension, provides a thorough economic assessment of the EMU as an institution as it stands today.

The impact of protectionism is currently a contentious policy issue. This book evaluates the effects of protectionism on the British interwar economy. In contrast to most studies of the period and the conclusions of orthodox economic theory, Kitson and Solomou show that the introduction of the General Tariff in 1932 provided a substantial stimulus to the domestic economy - a stimulus which can help to explain the trend improvement in British economic growth in the 1930s. The authors show that the tariff made encouraging import substitution and macroeconomic expansion. The empirical evidence is examined at two levels. First, a sectoral study shows that the newly protected sector of the 1930s saw an improvement in performance following the introduction of the tariff. Secondly, the large fall in manufacturing imports generated favourable effects on macroeconomic performance by helping to reduce the import propensity of the economy. The policy implication of this study is that trade policies should be constructed in the context of prevailing economic conditions and not solely with reference to sometimes inappropriate theoretical perspectives.

This book examines one of the most important economic outcomes in American history-the breakdown of the Keynesian Revolution. Drawing on economic literature, the memoirs of economists and politicians, and the popular press, Eric Crouse examines how economic decline in the 1970s precipitated a political revolution. Keynesian thought flourished through the presidencies of Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford, until stagflation devastated American workers and Jimmy Carter's economic policies faltered, setting the stage for the 1980 presidential campaign. Tracking years of shifting public opinion and colorful debate between free-market and Keynesian economists, this book illuminates a neglected era of American economic history and shows how Ronald Reagan harnessed a vision of small government and personal freedom that transformed the American political landscape.

Together with Mauritius, Botswana is often categorized as one of two growth miracles in sub-Saharan Africa. Due to its spectacular long-run economic performance and impressive social development, it has been termed both an economic success story and a developmental state. While there is uniqueness in the Botswana experience, several aspects of the country's opportunities and challenges are of a more general nature. Throughout its history, Botswana has been both blessed and hindered by its natural resource abundance and dependency, which have influenced growth periods, opportunities for economic diversification, strategies for sustainable economic and social development, and the distribution of incomes and opportunities. Through a political economy framework, Hillbom and Bolt provide an updated understanding of an African success story, covering the period from the mid-19th century, when the Tswana groups settled, to the present day. Understanding the interaction over time between geography and factor endowments on the one hand, and the development of economic and political institutions on the other, offers principle lessons from Botswana's experience to other natural resource rich developing countries.

This book is a faithful record of China's economy that spans almost 70 years. Starting from 1949, it portrays in a panoramic picture how the economy has developed over these decades. From the initial restoration and retrenchment, to the great leap outward that resulted in the two phases of economic reform; from its accession to the WTO to the unprecedented process of urbanization, the book uses four chapters to depict in a chronological order how China becomes what it is today. For scholars on modern Chinese economy, this book offers a detailed account of a wide range of events that happened during clearly-divided time periods. On this basis, they can deepen their research on different individual subjects. Teachers of universities and colleges may use this book as a reference when preparing relevant courses. For economics majors, this book is a key that helps them clarify important issues. Learners who are interested in knowing more about China, especially the dramatic changes that have taken place in its economic scene, can equally acquire the needed facts and figures.

This fourth volume examines his time in Vienna and Chicago (1931-1950), when Hayek held the prestigious University of London Tooke Professorship of Economic Science and Statistics. Between Vienna and Chicago (1931-1950), although his business cycle work was apparently defeated, this study takes a closer look at Hayek's successes.

Arguing that Britain's sterling policy had a significant impact on its colonial economic policy, this book focuses on the connection between Britain's sterling and balance of payments policy, colonial economic policy, and the British government's decision to transfer power to colonial peoples. The volume considers such factors as sterling policy and the state of the British economy, U.S. and Western European pressure for multilateralism in Britain's trade and commercial policy, the movement toward independence in colonial territories, and the cost of financing colonial development and welfare. The book argues that in the postwar years the assumptions guiding British policies for colonial political reform were undermined by postwar developments in Ghana, Nigeria, and the Malayan Federation--the three greatest dollar-earning colonies. As these colonies moved toward independence, their demands for development finance forced Britain to face the prospect of meeting such demands at great costs when the expenditure could not be justified. Britain extricated itself from this dilemma by transferring power to colonial peoples.

This book argues that economic activity in the public sphere now underwrites private corporations, and rejects rigid adherence to traditional economic theories that no longer apply. Adam Smith's widely used "merchant's model" assumes that most investment is private, when in fact research demonstrates that public investment in the workforce through education and training far outweighs the private sector, and does not account for the growing presence of consensual pricing, the diversification of modern businesses, or the increasing internal authoritarianism of globalizing companies. With de facto public support for these adaptations undermining the universally presumed economic model, private corporations are able to increase their profits while misrepresenting the investment of their own global labor forces. This book suggests an "economy of laws" solution that balances the needed degree of central investment planning with the continuation of our pluralist economy of largely autonomous firms, principally by extending the full rights of citizens into the workplace itself.

What actually was the economic situation in 1929 and what happened to the stock market? Harold Bierman's fresh look at the Crash of '29 provides provocative answers that challenge the "facts" and overturn previously held assumptions concerning the catastrophic events that led to ten years of economic depression and very likely created the fertile soil of despair and unrest that ultimately led to World War II. This cogent re-evaluation takes a different tack and arrives at a different set of conclusions than John Kenneth Galbraith's classic overview of the period, The Great Crash. Echoes of the great stock market price declines that ended ten years of the greatest prosperity the U.S. had ever experienced have continued to reverberate down the corridors of history. Bierman believes that a more complete understanding of these past events can enhance current market decisions; that by accurately assessing the stock market crash of 1929-1932, readers can better grasp the present market situation and more wisely forecast the future. Arriving at drastically different conclusions from most widely read books on the subject, the 11-chapter study takes the position that the stock market was not unreasonably high in October of '29, asserting that, in fact, there was reason for optimism. Bierman presents sound explanations for the initial decline that are not dependent on the assumption of overvaluation. He also clarifies the vital distinction between speculation and investment and shows how President Herbert Hoover's "war on speculation" may have contributed to the crash and subsequent depression. The first chapter outlines seven commonly held myths regarding 1929. Other chapters compare the stockmarket and profitability of corporations; attempt to determine whether RCA stock was outrageously overpriced or merely a reasonably priced growth stock; and look at the 1931 banking system hearings. The Mitchell, Wiggin, and Insull affairs are all given new, fact-based twists. Final chapters examine margin buying, probability, and short selling, develop important perspectives on the crash of 1987, and extract valuable lessons to be learned. The book effectively refutes prior notions and replaces them with solidly built, readable explanations that are most relevant to history courses dealing with the period or courses on investment in common stock. Any general reader with an interest in early twentieth century history or in investment will find this a rewarding read.

This book revisits the economic relationship that ties the UK and Ireland to the United States in the aftermath of the greatest economic crisis of the past fifty years. When considering recent developments to these economic links, it appears that oppositional forces are at work. On one hand, globalization and the rise of new economic powers may undermine the ties. Besides, Ireland's and the UK's European Union membership could also loosen their economic ties with the US. Conversely, the future Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement may well strengthen trade and investment links between the US and Europe. Are the economic bonds between the US, the UK and Ireland waning, as some pundits purport? Or are those claims overstated? Could their economic relationship simply be going through a process of change? Although there may not be a single and straightforward answer to these questions, the authors seek to address these issues and provide insight into the changing dynamics of this historic economic relationship.

"Spanish Money and Banking" provides new insights into recent advances in financial and monetary history and theory, and demonstrates the significance of Spain to modern banking, monetary, and development theory. Using a comparative approach, it brings together a substantial amount of research carried out in Spain and abroad. It also contributes to scholarly debates on aspects of monetary and banking history, topics such as free vs regulated banking, metallic vs fiduciary money, specialized vs universal banking, bank- vs market-led finance, banking repression vs liberalization, the contribution of banking and money to growth, and the role of the state in financial and economic development. It also shows how financial and monetary mismanagement contributed to the decline of Spain in the early modern era, and how the development of the banking sector later on contributed to the first stirrings of development in modern Spain, especially in the 20th century, throwing light as well on the causes of the recent European crisis and the part Spain played in it.

The Post-Human Society is a rich, unique, path-breaking, belletristic and literary 'crie de coeur' work - a lyrical expose of all the internal infelicities (social, political, aesthetic) of the United States of America. In its vivid contrasting of the mores of competition, avarice, and greed to communitarian, co-respecting and co-operative values, it abounds with colorful, vibrant, breathtaking images and tropes. Utilizing a novel, First Person Narrative, the author Rajani Kanth offers a poignant critique of the rabid, runaway materialism that has been the bane of all modernist, European societies, to date. It is evocative in its approach to the fading genre of the iconic anthropology/sociology classics of the yesteryear. Ultimately, it is a critique of the ruling ethos of our times: Eurocentrism - i.e., selfish and acquisitive materialism, of which the contemporary USA is the trend-setter and the unchallenged gold standard. DR. RAJANI KANTH has an MA in Social Anthropology from the Delhi School of Economics, India, and a PhD in Economics from the New School for Social Research, New York, USA. After serving as Economic Advisor to the UN in New York, he taught as University Professor, and is currently based at Harvard University.

How did banking in early nineteenth-century Massachusetts evolve? Lu provides a compelling narrative about the connection between inclusive political systems and open access economies, hypothesizing that entry into banking was firstly made upon partisan grounds before later becoming open access/free entry. Lu investigates state level institutional change and studies the transition to open access from an economic perspective. What was the relationship between banking and political elites? Why were elites, who enjoyed privileges under dominant institutions, willing to dissolve these institutions and eliminate their privileges? The author provides new insights into American economic history, explaining how a society moves from limited access to one of openness.

Few would dispute that many Western industrial democracies undertook extensive deregulation in the 1970s and 1980s. Yet this narrative, in its most familiar form, depends upon several historiographical assumptions that bely the complexities and pitfalls of studying the recent past. Across thirteen case studies, the contributors to this volume investigate this "deregulatory moment" from a variety of historical perspectives, including transnational, comparative, pan-European, and national approaches. Collectively, they challenge an interpretive framework that treats individual decades in isolation and ignores broader trends that extend to the end of the Second World War.

A seeming constant in the history of capitalism, greed has nonetheless undergone considerable transformations over the last five hundred years. This multilayered account offers a fresh take on an old topic, arguing that greed was experienced as a moral phenomenon and deployed to make sense of an unjust world. Focusing specifically on the interrelated themes of religion, economics, and health-each of which sought to study and channel the power of financial desire-Jared Poley shows how evolving ideas about greed became formative elements of the modern experience.

This book addresses the comparative history of economic thought in Central European countries where there is a notable common historic heritage and political traits. The author explores issues of Central European identity, Habsburgian and Soviet influence, and nationalistic traditions, and reveals commonalities between Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Slovak economic thought: such similarities proceed to explain aspects of contemporary economic and social policies in these countries. This book aims to highlight connections among Central European economists and will be of interest to economists, economic historians, sociologists and historians.