In 1960, the GDP per capita in South East Asian countries was nearly half of that of Africa. By 1986, the gap had closed and today the trend is reversed, with more than half of the world’s poorest now living in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Why has Asia developed while Africa lagged? The Asian Aspiration chronicles the untold stories of explosive growth and changing fortunes: the leaders, events and policy choices that lifted a billion people out of abject poverty within a single generation, the largest such shift in human history.

The relevance of Asia’s example comes as Africa is facing a population boom, which can either lead to crisis or prosperity; and as Asia is again transforming, this time out of low-cost manufacturing into high-tech, leaving a void that is Africa’s for the taking. But far from the determinism of ‘Africa Rising’, this book calls for unprecedented pragmatism in the pursuit of African success.

The Definitive Guide to Doing Business in Africa

For global and Africa-based companies looking to access new growth markets, Africa offers exciting opportunities to build large, profitable businesses. Its population is young, fast-growing, and increasingly urbanized--while rapid technology adoption makes the continent a fertile arena for innovation. But Africa's business environment remains poorly understood; it's known to many executives in the West only by its reputation for complexity, conflict, and corruption.

Africa's Business Revolution provides the inside story on business in Africa and its future growth prospects and helps executives understand and seize the opportunities for building profitable, sustainable enterprises. From senior leaders in McKinsey's African offices and a leading executive on the continent, this book draws on in-depth proprietary research by the McKinsey Global Institute as well as McKinsey's extensive experience advising corporate and government leaders across Africa. Brimming with company case studies and exclusive interviews with some of Africa's most prominent executives, this book comes to life with the vibrant stories of those who have navigated the many twists and turns on the road to building successful businesses on the continent.

Combining an unrivalled fact base with expert advice on shaping and executing an Africa growth strategy, this book is required reading for global business executives looking to expand their existing operations in Africa--and for those seeking a road map to access this vast, untapped market for the first time.

Why do the Japanese play rugby? How did Einstein help create Eskom? Who is the richest man in history?

Johan Fourie explores these questions and many more in this revised and expanded second edition of his bestseller ​Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom – an entertaining, accessible economic history spanning everything from the human migration out of Africa 100 000 years ago to the present. This enriching journey through an African-centred history reveals the roots and reasons for prosperity.

Why does one group flourish, but another continues to struggle? Do we have better lives than our ancestors? Fourie shows in his unique and engaging style why the builders of societies – rather than the burglars – ultimately win.

Being a successful entrepreneur in the 2020s involves more than enthusiasm and a good eye for a new opportunity. A thorough understanding of the essential business functions, as explained in this edition of Business Management for Entrepreneurs, is a prerequisite for entrepreneurs who want to take their business to the next growth stage.

Business Management for Entrepreneurs guides the entrepreneur through the eight business functions: general management, finance, marketing, operations management, purchasing and the supply chain, human resources, information management and public relations. These management and managerial skills are essential to successfully managing a business which employs more people than when it was initially established.

This edition has been updated to highlight the economic factors and technologies that influence business functions relevant to entrepreneurs. Business Management for Entrepreneurs is an invaluable resource for students studying Entrepreneurship, all young entrepreneurs planning to start their own business, and entrepreneurs who have their own business but want to learn more about managing the business functions as the business grows.

This textbook is aimed at students of management who need to have an appreciation of the role of statistics in management decision making.

The statistical treatment of business data is relevant in all areas of business activity and across all management functions (i.e. Marketing, finance, human resources, operations and logistics, accounting, information systems and technology). Statistics provide evidence-based information which makes it an important decision support tool in management.

How does the South African economy work? Why do macroeconomic variables change? So what if they do? What happens next? How do economic processes and policy institutions really work? Which data must I use? What can policy do? And then the big questions: How can we reduce unemployment and maintain low inflation? What then about poverty, inequality, inclusive growth and development in South Africa?

The answers are found in How to think and reason in Macroeconomics – A South African text, a popular university textbook with very positive feedback from students, lecturers and practitioners. This fifth edition is completely up-to-date and comprehensive. It combines well-informed intuitive understanding with solid economic theory plus a concrete understanding of South African economic issues, processes, institutions and data. In this way it prepares you to analyse macroeconomic events and policies in a globalised and development context – and understand different perspectives in policy and political-economic debates.

Key features:

• Accessible analysis, theory and diagrams, combining intuitive understanding and sophisticated analysis.
• A choice of learning routes with different levels of difficulty and mathematics.
• Real-world economic reasoning skills, not dry theory.
• Online animations that provide unique insights into macroeconomic fluctuations and shocks.
• Explicit continuous focus on South Africa as an open economy in an African and global context shaped by China, Trump’s trade wars and Brexit.
• Theoretical and policy analysis of unemployment, inflation, low growth and inclusive growth, as well as the National Development Plan.
• Analytical case studies of the global financial crisis, quantitative easing, the Euro crisis and the Eskom crisis.
• First-hand, freshly updated insights into how South African policy institutions, processes and instruments work.
• Clear guides to access relevant South African data sources, with useful data tips.
• Thorough integration of the structural social and economic realities (notably inequality and poverty) of South Africa as a middle-income country.
• Incorporation of broader considerations such as human development, inclusive growth and sustainable development.

Supporting the economy, paying for healthcare, creating new jobs, preventing a climate apocalypse: how can we pay for it all?

Leading economic thinker Stephanie Kelton, shows how misguided that question is, and how a radical new approach can maximise our potential as a society. Everything that we've been led to believe about deficits and the role of money and government spending is wrong.

Rather than asking the self-defeating question of how to pay for the crucial improvements our society needs, Kelton guides us to ask: which deficits actually matter?

Public Economics is a southern African textbook on the subject, written by respected South African experts. The new edition deals with current issues such as social security and health care, and demonstrates how public economic theory is relevant to the real-world context.

Public Economics equips senior undergraduate and postgraduate students with basic analytic skills and demonstrates how these apply to practical issues.

A vital and timely investigation into how the consulting industry has made its way to the heart of our economies and governments - and what to do about it

There is an entrenched relationship between the consulting industry and hollowed-out, risk-averse governments and shareholder value-maximizing firms. Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington show that our economies' reliance on companies such as McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company, PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and EY stunts innovation, obfuscates corporate and political accountability and impedes our collective mission of halting climate breakdown. The 'Big Con' is possible in today's economies because of the unique power that consultancies wield through extensive contracts and networks - as advisors, legitimators and outsourcers - and the illusion that they are objective sources of expertise and capacity. The Big Con weakens our businesses, infantilizes our governments and warps our economies.

Mazzucato and Collington expertly debunk the myth that consultancies always add value to the economy. With a wealth of original research, they argue brilliantly for investment and collective intelligence within all organizations and communities, and for a new system in which public and private sectors work innovatively for the common good. We must recalibrate the role of consultants and rebuild economies and governments that are fit for purpose.

A revolution is taking place in the great marketplaces of the informal sector and it contains an unquantified scale and power as an economic engine and a way of life for the majority of our low income populations. The KasiNomic Revolution may still be a murmur in the streets, a grassroots economic groundswell, but it is the future of African economic activity.

Kasi is the South African term for the township – a teeming conurbation of homes and businesses, entertainment venues and social meeting places. GG Alcock uses the term KasiNomics to describe the informal sectors of Africa, whether they are in the township, a rural marketplace, at a taxi rank or on a pavement in the shadow of skyscrapers. Brought up in a rural Zulu community, GG has learnt and shares the lessons of African culture, language, stick fighting, lifestyle and tribal politics, along with shared poverty and community, which have prepared him for accessing the great informal marketplaces of Africa. He is uniquely placed to uncover the extraordinary stories of kasi businesses which not only survive but excel, revealing a revolutionary entrepreneurship which is mostly invisible to the formal sector.

KasiNomic Revolution is a story of kasi entrepreneurs on one side and, on the other, of great corporate successes and failures in the informal community. KasiNomic Revolution is at once a business book, and at the same time a deeply human book about the people and lives of rural and urban informal societies.

KasiNomic Revolution is about the lessons of marketing, distribution, culture and modernity in an informal African world.

Did you know …

• That the muti market is worth R3 billion a year, with 27 million consumers?
• That the average hawker earns R3000 a month and there are nearly 500 000 of them!?
• That the trade in goats is worth millions of rand?
• That the dagga trade can set the standard for market and distribution to the informal market?
• That Parmalat Cheese Slices have created a multi-million rand business in kotas, and why the Perfect Sishebo Show is the biggest food show in the country?

Do consumers modernise or westernise? What are the eight cultural megatrends of the South African kasi sector? One of them is modernising, another is spirituality, but how and why?

Feast on Mogodu Mondays and Shwam-shwams, visit sacrifice ceremonies and stokvels, meet sangomas and urban trendsetters. You will never look at the low income informal sector people and businesses in the same way again. With stories and anecdotes, from kayaking down the Tugela, Zulu dancing in the pyramids to hijacking a Kulula flight, GG’s true life stories and how they link to understanding and inspiration for marketing ideas will make you gasp, laugh and shake your head in wonder.

A book as eclectic, mysterious and colourful as the marketplace it is written about.

“Crypto”, a loose term that means many things to different people, only entered public consciousness within the last five years or so, now evident by the volume of public discussion, commentary and analysis spread across every conceivable media outlet. It’s Mine digs into the history and concept of “ownership”, which ecosystems nurture it, and where we are now.

Filled with anecdotes, observations and interviews, the book takes an entertaining and accessible look at how Bitcoin made its mark, how its technology is being re-purposed to enable a revolution, and (in non-technical terms) how it all works.

It explores how these new crypto “life-forms” will interact with the rest of the virtual and physical world, while making some very rich and some very poor.

The Future of the Euro is an attempt by political economists to analyze the fundamental causes of the euro crisis, determine how it can be fixed, and consider what likely futures lie ahead for the currency. The book makes three interrelated arguments that emphasize the primacy of political over economic factors. First, the 'euro problem' is discussed as the result of the single currency's fundamental lack of institutional embeddedness, insofar as its original design omitted three 'forgotten unions' alongside of monetary union: a financial and banking union, mutually supporting institutions of fiscal union and economic government, and a political union holding similar legitimacy to the nation-state. Second, the 'euro experience' shows how the euro's unfinished design led to economic divergence - quietly altering the existing distribution of economic and political power within Europe prior to the crisis - which in turn determined the EU's crisis response. The book highlights how the euro's four most important members - Germany, France, Italy and Spain - each changed once they adopted the euro, why the crisis affected them so differently, and how each has since struggled to live with the commitments the euro necessitates. Third, the book examines three possible 'euro futures' through the lens of the politics of its reluctant leader Germany; through the lens of the EU's capacity to 'move forward' through crises; and through the geopolitical lens of the international monetary system. The book concludes that any successful long-term solution to the euro's predicament needs to start with the political foundations of markets.

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. This thought-provoking Research Agenda examines themes within economic studies that have become active areas of commentary for economists of the Austrian School. Contributors establish their own distinctive interpretations of how an Austrian Research Agenda should appear, clearly demonstrating there is no set dogma within Austrian economics. Chapters provide state-of-the-art dialogues surrounding the many complex dimensions of Austrian economics, including the School’s responses to behavioral economics and the theory of public goods. This book portrays Austrian economics as constantly evolving and its ultimate endeavour is to prompt further contributions and discussions surrounding the Austrian School. This erudite Research Agenda will be highly beneficial for graduate students studying political economics, market processes and economic development, seeking to understand the unique dimensions of Austrian economics. It will also be of great value to academics endeavouring to conduct comparative studies of different economic schools of thought.

This thought-provoking book investigates the political and economic transformation that has taken place over the past three decades in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE) since the fall of the Iron Curtain. Through an examination of both the successes and shortcomings of post communist reform and the challenges ahead for the region, it explores the topical issues of economic transition and integration, highlighting important lessons to be learned. Featuring contributions from both top academics and experienced policymakers, 30 Years of Transition in Europe first discusses the process of transition in CESEE from a historical perspective, analysing the impacts of differing approaches on economic and monetary policy, the role of central banks and the speed of reform in various countries of the region. Chapters also compare CESEE transformations to emerging economies in Asia, and examine contemporary concerns around financial and monetary stability, as well as exploring the long-term determinants of economic growth such as digitalization, climate change and demographic trends. Economists, central bankers, and policymakers in the banking sector and other international financial organizations will find this book an enlightening read. It will also be useful for academics in economics and politics with a particular interest in emerging European economies and European integration.

This Modern Guide explores central ideas, concepts, and themes in the Austrian school of economics, with a focus on how both the school and the overall theory have evolved over recent decades. Leading scholars offer their insights into potential directions of future research in the field, pointing towards contemporary debates and their potential conclusions, underdeveloped aspects and extensions of theory, and current applications of interest. Spanning theories of entrepreneurship to the theory of the business cycle, from methodology to sociology, and from cryptocurrencies to culture, this clear and concise Modern Guide provides an expert curation of the topic. Chapters offer an overview of the present state of scholarship in the field, including discussions on praxeology, the function of entrepreneurship in the market process, spontaneous orders, the Austrian theory of money, and banking. Written in an accessible style, this will be an invigorating read for economics scholars looking for an alternative to mainstream approaches. It will also be useful for scholars and practitioners seeking an introduction to Austrian economics.

The world is emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, more fragmented and further away from the more equal and equitable iteration imagined in 2015 when the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were conceptualised. As we hurtle, at seemingly lightning speed, towards the 2030 deadline to achieve these goals, the urgency is palpable. Although we have certainly strayed further away from the targets, there is still time to act in order to ensure that we inch closer to this vision.

Tshilidzi Marwala paints a stark, and often grim, picture of our current context – one defined by monumental setbacks in the SDGs. Yet, as he carves out each developmental goal and its implications, it is apparent that there are tangible solutions that can be implemented, now. Tshilidzi’s assertion that now is the time to act is backed by intricate and actionable data with a simple mission statement: we must heal the future.

He offers a new narrative that addresses how we can translate the latent potential that exists through technology, innovation and new approaches to leadership and policy-making, to deal with, among others, poverty eradication, joblessness, an education system in crisis, declining economies and food insecurity.

Heal our World is a deep-dive into the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly relating to the African context, and looks toward securing a future in which our divisions are blurred, and our goals almost seem in reach again.

In a series of in-depth interviews with leading economists and policy-makers from different schools including Austrian, Monetarist, New-Keynesian, Post-Keynesian, Modern Monetary Theory, Marxist and Institutionalist, this intriguing book sheds light upon the behaviour of economists and the sociology of the economics profession by enabling economists to express their views on a wide range of issues. Exploring why the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis did not pave the way for an uptake in heterodox economic approaches, these key thinkers consider why mainstream economics still reigns supreme and explore whether an alternative approach can be developed to rival it. The most important issues facing the discipline are addressed, and the book offers a particular focus upon the extent to which radical economists can work together to provide a genuine alternative to orthodoxy. The analytical responses to important questions posed to each interviewee make this a critical read for practising economists both inside and outside of academia. It will also be a thought-provoking book for economics students focusing both on orthodox and heterodox viewpoints, as it offers important insights to the nuances between a vast range of different schools of thought.

Few international organizations embody the idea of historical progress as strongly as the European Union (EU). This book addresses the main shortcoming of treating EU as a vehicle of progress and political unity between European countries: the disregard of such an approach for the underlying diversity of the European continent. Critically examining the meta-ideology underpinning European integration, the author studies the implications of Europe's heterogeneity, disagreements over European policies, and of pluralism of values for the EU's governance. The book revisits legacies of post-communist transitions and the role played by international economic and political integration in Eastern Europe - as well as the implications of the EU's enlargements for the EU's governance. The result is a novel, polycentric perspective on the EU's governance. Policy practitioners, commentators, and other opinion leaders as well as academics and students interested in applied political economy and European studies will value this extensive exploration of Governing the EU in an Age of Division.

COVID-19 and other recent crises have proved the need to review the state-of-play and implement robust institutional frameworks in the complex, heterogenous and decentralised European supervisory architecture. This insightful book outlines what can be done to innovate the current set-up in the face of pressing issues such as climate change, BigTech and crypto assets. Revisiting the debate on financial sector oversight in Europe, a range of highly acclaimed international academics and influential policymakers discuss the scope of institutional arrangements. Chapters examine how the architecture of European financial supervision currently works, analysing the trends in banking supervision design and the influence that recent financial and economic crises have exerted. Providing a rare insight into the role that central banks play in the supervisory set-up, their accountability and democratic legitimacy, the book also considers the ways that macro- and micro-prudential and monetary policies interact. Gleaning lessons from the FinTech revolution and the COVID-19 crisis, the book ultimately concludes by seeking a path for optimal architecture for European financial supervision. With invaluable industry insights, this cutting-edge book will prove vital to academics in the field of financial economics and financial regulation, alongside policymakers looking to transform their current supervisory architecture.

This incisive book integrates the academic fields of sustainable production and consumption (SCP) and sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) as a framework for challenging the current economic paradigm and addressing the significant ecological and environmental problems faced by the contemporary business world. Outlining the growth and progress of consumption in the developed world, initial chapters explore the numerous problems that have emerged from the current mode of consuming resources, and how we might engage in more sustainable consumption practices. The book goes on to address the historical development of mass production and the ecological damage caused by an unsustainable linkage between mass consumption and mass production. Considering the future of the supply web, it illustrates how SSCM can play a leading role in the transition towards a more sustainable economic system if it is able to address contemporary ecological concerns more effectively. This insightful and optimistic platform for ecological supply chain management is a rousing call to arms for business and management scholars hoping to propose innovative methods of improving the sustainability of consumption, production and supply webs. It will also benefit the work of business practitioners and entrepreneurs looking to engage in more sustainable business operations.

This timely Research Agenda examines the ways in which public-private partnerships (PPPs) in infrastructure continue to excite policy makers, governments, research scholars and critics around the world. It analyzes the PPP research journey to date and articulates the lessons learned as a result of the increasing interest in improving infrastructure governance. Expert international contributors explore how PPP ideas have spread, transferred and transformed, causing supporting markets to develop and mature. Providing a multidisciplinary perspective on the topic, this thought-provoking Research Agenda proposes a range of future research directions, pointing towards the potential of fresh research approaches to PPP, the adoption of new theories and intellectual lenses, better balancing of public-private interests, and stronger public governance across what has now become a global phenomenon. It lights the way to diverse research frontiers ranging from financialization to psychology and behavioural science, as well as the continuing prominence of public administration, politics, economics, planning and law. A Research Agenda for Public-Private Partnerships and the Governance of Infrastructure will be an enticing read for students and scholars of regulation and governance, public management and administration, politics and economics as well as industry professionals across the domains of public policy, infrastructure and city planning.

Capitalist ideology wants us to believe that there is an optimal way to live. 'Making connections' means networking for work. Our emotional needs are to be fulfilled by a single romantic partner, and self-care equates to taking personal responsibility for our suffering. We must be productive and heterosexual, we must have babies and buy a house. But the kicker is most people cannot and do not want to achieve these goals. Instead we are left feeling atomised, exhausted and disempowered. Radical Intimacy shows that it doesn't need to be this way. Including inspiring ideas for alternative ways to live, Sophie K Rosa demands we use our radical imagination to discover a new form of intimacy. Including critiques of the 'wellness' industry that ignores rising poverty rates, the mental health crisis and racist and misogynist state violence; transcending love and sex under capitalism to move towards feminist, decolonial and queer thinking; asking whether we should abolish the family; interrogating the framing of ageing and death and much more, Radical Intimacy is the compassionate antidote to a callous society. Now as an audiobook, to listen to on the go.

Have you ever wondered how prices are determined, or why you bought a specific quantity of something? The answers to these and other questions, as well as the theories guiding decisions by consumers and producers, are explained in Microeconomics— a southern African perspective.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to microeconomics theory, offering traditional theories of consumer and producer behaviour set against a contemporary southern African background.

This second edition of Microeconomics – a southern African perspective provides a comprehensive and current introduction to microeconomic theory for the southern African context, while retaining the original ethos from the first edition. It addresses traditional theories of consumer and producer behaviour as prescribed in most introductory microeconomic modules and answers questions around how consumers and producers interact in the market, looking specifically at the choices made by producers in their endeavour to produce optimally.

Suitable for introductory semester-based courses in microeconomics, it facilitates learning through activities and self-evaluation exercises at the end of each chapter, with feedback to activities and answers to the exercises at the end of the book. The study of economics provides the tools for analysis and a framework for thinking that can aid you in making more informed decisions when faced with economic problems, making it suitable for economics students or those requiring an understanding of the economy within a specific financial field.

Large infrastructure projects often face significant cost overruns and stakeholder fragmentation. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) allow governments to procure long-term infrastructure services from private providers, rather than developing, financing and managing infrastructure assets themselves. Aligning public and private interests and institutional logics to create robust, decades-long service contracts subject to shifting economic and political contexts is a significant cross-sectoral governance challenge. This work summarizes over a decade of research conducted by scholars at Stanford s Global Projects Center and multiple US and International collaborators to enhance the governance of both infrastructure projects and institutional investors, whose long term, cash flow obligations align especially well with the kinds of long term inflation-adjusted returns that PPP infrastructure projects can generate. In these pages, multiple theoretical perspectives are integrated and combined with empirical evidence to examine how experiences from more mature PPP jurisdictions can help improve PPP governance approaches worldwide. The information contained here will appeal to engineering, economics, political science, public policy and finance scholars interested in the delivery of high-quality, sustainable infrastructure services to the citizens in countries with established and emerging market economies. Officials in national, state/provincial and local government agencies seeking alternative financing and service provision strategies for their civil and social infrastructure, and legislators and their staff members interested in promoting PPP legislation will find this book invaluable. It will also be of high interest to long-term investment professionals from pension funds, sovereign funds, family offices and university endowments seeking to deploy money into the infrastructure asset class, and practitioners seeking insights into methods for enhancing stakeholder incentive alignment, reducing transaction costs and improving project outcomes in PPPs. Contributors: B.G. Cameron, G. Carollo, C.B. Casady, E.F. Crawley, K. Eriksson, W. Feng, M.J. Garvin, K.E. Gasparro, R.R. Geddes, W.J. Henisz, D.R. Lessard, R.E. Levitt, T. Liu, A.H.B. Monk, D.A. Nguyen, C. Nowacki, W.R. Scott, R. Sharma, A.J. South