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Books > Business & Economics > Economics > Economic systems
In what ways do the actions and economic behavior of today's multinational corporations resemble the functioning and processes of the old command economics of the Soviet Union? By ignoring questions about power relations in markets, mainstream neoclassically-oriented economists conclude that there are no significant power structures operating in market systems to control allocation and distribution. This book argues to the contrary that there are fundamental and systemic power structures - monopoly, access to information or finance, employer power, etc. - at work in market economies, which affects their ability to achieve real "competition" in much the same way as state-controlled, command economies hinder business activities. Thus, for example, the biggest firms at the hubs of financial "networks" wield a kind of "shaping power" upon large numbers of relatively autonomous firms, not only upon those that belong to the networks but also on the many firms outside them that are also affected.
A collection of 13 essays based on two national surveys of household income in China - in 1985 and 1995 - and prepared and carried out by the research team. These essays explore a wide range of aspects of the rapidly changing income distribution during this period.
This work aims to show that Japan even at it's height of success, while the successful version of capitalism was blighted at it's core, being unsustainable. This revised edition features n introduction which gives an analysis of Japan's contemporary crisis.
Resilience has emerged as a key concept in EU foreign policy. The policy debate around this concept has been vigorous, but theoretical attempts to develop the concept are few. Covering fields of strategical importance, such as economic governance; growth and sustainable development; energy, environment and climate action; education, the labour market, and foreign affairs, this book is one of the first attempts to profoundly theorise the concept of 'resilience' in international relations by looking at several policy areas and countries. Faced with multiple crises (the economic crisis, the Brexit referendum, the refugee crisis, terrorist attacks, geopolitics such as events in the Ukraine), and challenges with its integration process, the European Union needs to become not only more intelligent, more inclusive and more sustainable, but also more resilient and more capable of reacting to different internal and external shocks. This book integrates a systemic assessment of the regions' specific shocks and risks in relation to internal vulnerabilities (i.e. structural economic, social, institutional and political fragility) and to their long and medium-term impact on the stability, security and sustainable development in the region.
Werner Sombart (1863-1941) may well have been the most famous and controversial social scientist in Germany during the early twentieth century. Highly influential, his work and reputation have been indelibly tainted by his embrace of National Socialism in the last decade of his life. Although Sombart left an enormous opus spanning disciplinary boundaries, intellectual reaction to his work inside and outside of Germany is divided and ambivalent. Sombart consistently responded to the social and political developments that have shaped the twentieth century. "Economic Life in the Modern Age" provides a representative sampling of those portions of Sombart's work that have stood the test of time. The volume opens with a substantial introduction reviewing Sombart's life and career, the evolution of his major intellectual concerns, his relation to Marx and Weber, and his political affiliation with the Nazis. The editors' selection of texts emphasizes areas of Sombart's economic and cultural thought that remain relevant, particularly to those intellectual trends that seek a more broadly based, cross-disciplinary approach to culture and economics. Sombart's writings on capitalism are represented by essays on the nature and origin of the market system and the diversity of motives among the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. Also included is an excerpt from Sombart's controversial "The Jews and Modern Capitalism," exploring the widely perceived relation between economic life and Judaism as a religion. In essays on the economics of cultural processes, Sombart's comprehensive and expansive idea of cultural science yields prophetic insights into the nature of urbanism, luxury consumption, fashion, and the cultural secularization of love. The volume's final section consists of Sombart's reflections on the social influences of technology, the economic life of the future, and on socialism, including the influential essay "Why is there no Socialism in the United States." Encapsulating the most valuable aspects of his work, "Economic Life in the Modern Age" provides clear demonstration of Sombart's sense for fine cultural distinctions and broad cultural developments and the predictive power of his analyses. It will be of interest to sociologists, economists, political scientists, and specialists in cultural studies. Nico Stehr is professor at the Max Planck-Instit3t f3r Meteorologie in Hamburg. Reiner Grundmann is professor at the Aston Business School of Aston University in Birmingham, U.K.
This book examines the failure of economic reform in Russia since 1991, when Boris Yeltsin proclaimed his commitment to economic stabilization, privatization, and price liberalization. Optimism over Russias market reforms vanished with the crash of August 1998, when the ruble lost over 70 percent of its value and banks defaulted on their debts and forward currency contracts. Contrary to Yeltsins reform promises, the Russian economy of the 1990s more closely resembled a Soviet model than a market-driven one. The Logic of Economic Reform in Russia illuminates the general problems of establishing market economies in settings where the institutional system to support the market has not had decades to develop. Suggesting that corruption may be associated with growth in the early stages of capitalism, Jerry F. Hough argues that the disappointing results of Yeltsins reform efforts were not the product of Russian culture or history, but the logical consequences of rational men responding to the incentive system created by economic reform.
This book offers wide-ranging insights into the organising
capacities of workers in Asia today. Nine case-studies examine
workers' responses to class relations through independent unions,
non-government organisations (NGOs) and more (dis)organised
struggles. Countering the notion that globalisation holds entirely
negative consequences for labour organisation, the authors reveal
some of the openings for local activism which can arise from
transnational production arrangements.
This book describes and evaluates how institutional innovation and technological innovation have impacted on humanity from pre-historical times to modern times, and how societies have been transformed in history. The author interrogates the relationship between innovation and civilisation -- particularly the dynamic whereby innovation leads to empire-building -- and explores innovation efforts that stimulated economic and social synergies from the Babylonian Empire in 1900 BC up to the British Empire in the twentieth century. The author uses historical cross-cultural case studies to establish the factors which have given competitive advantages to societies and empires. This book will be of interest to researchers and students in political economy, economic history, economic growth and innovation economics.
What is the animating 'spirit' behind what may appear to be the coldly calculating world of markets and business enterprise? Though often mathematically modelled in dry terms, markets can be looked at instead as meaningful domains of human activity. To economists, markets have been seen as nothing but objective 'forces' or allocation 'mechanisms'. This book, however, argues that they can be seen as involving the human spirit, personal expression and moral commitments. It presents the view that markets are not so much things that need to be measured as meanings that need to be narrated and interpreted. The aim of this book is to introduce two scholarly fields to one another, economics and cultural studies, in order to pose the question: how does culture matter to the economy? When we look at the economy as a legitimate domain of culture, it transforms our understanding of the nature of business life. By viewing markets as an integral part of our culture, filled with the drama of human creativity, we might begin to better appreciate their role in the world.
In 1978, faced with the pressure to modernize and a declining budget, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) reluctantly agreed to join China's economic reform drive, expanding its internal economy to market-oriented civilian production. This work examines PLA's role in the economy up to 1998.
The great demonstrations at Seattle and Genoa have shown that we
are in a new era of protest. The neo-liberal economic policies
pursued by the Group of Seven leading industrial countries and the
international institutions they control are provoking widespread
resistance. Growing numbers of people in all five continents are
rejecting the values of the market and the vision of a world made
safe for the multinational corporations.
But what does the anti-globalization movement stand for? Is it,
as its most common name suggests, against globalization itself? Is
it opposed merely to the neo-liberal Washington Consensus that
became dominant in the 1980s and 1990s, or is its real enemy the
capitalist system itself? The World Social Forum at Porto Alegre
has popularized the slogan 'Another World is Possible'. But what is
that world? Alex Callinicos seeks to answer these questions in "An Anti-Capitalist Manifesto," He analyses the development of the movement, distinguishes between the different political forces within it, and explores the strategic dilemmas - notably over violence and the nation-state - that it increasingly confronts. He argues that the movement is directed against capitalism itself. The logic of competitive accumulation that drives this system is not only increasing global inequality and economic instability, but threatens ecological catastrophe and appalling conflict. To meet the challenge of global capitalism the new protest movement requires, according to Callinicos, a creative synthesis of its own inclusive and dynamic style and the best of the classical Marxist tradition.
A collection of 13 essays based on two national surveys of household income in China - in 1985 and 1995 - and prepared and carried out by the research team. These essays explore a wide range of aspects of the rapidly changing income distribution during this period.
This book examines the rapid deregulation and changing nature of Japan's financial marketplace as it emerges from its worst economic crisis since the end of the Second World War. The author focuses on how U.S. firms like Citibank, AIG, Merrill Lynch, GE Capital, Fidelity Investments, and American Express have made large investments and built strategic businesses in a market that was effectively closed to them only a few years ago. He also profiles Japan's major financial institutions, which are aggressively restructuring to defend their home turf from foreign competitors. Now that the economic crisis appears to be over, this exciting new book gives business students, scholars, and executives an in-depth analysis and understanding of the on-going transformation of the Japanese marketplace in banking, securities, insurance, asset management, mutual funds, and consumer credit.
As corporations search for new production sites, governments compete furiously using location subsidies and tax incentives to lure them. Yet underwriting big business can have its costs: reduction in economic efficiency, shifting of tax burdens, worsening of economic inequalities, or environmental degradation. "Competing for Capital" is one of the first books to analyze competition for investment in order to suggest ways of controlling the effects of capital mobility. Comparing the European Union's strict regulation of state aid to business with the virtually unregulated investment competition in the United States and Canada, Kenneth P. Thomas documents Europe's relative success in controlling -- and decreasing -- subsidies to business, even while they rise in the United States. Thomas provides an extensive history of the powers granted to the EU's governing European Commission for controlling subsidies and draws on data to show that those efforts are paying off. In reviewing trends in North America, he offers the first comprehensive estimate of U.S. subsidies to business at all levels to show that the United States is a much higher subsidizer than it portrays itself as being. Thomas then suggests what we might learn from the European experience to control the effects of capital mobility -- not only within or between states, but also globally, within NAFTA and the World Trade Organization as well. He concludes with policy recommendations to help promote international cooperation and cross-fertilization of ways to control competition for investment. |
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