In all of the contemporary economics textbooks that have been written there is typically at least one chapter that addresses 'market failure.' Markets Don't Fail! is a response to what author Brian Simpson sees as a fundamental error in the thinking of some economists. The chapter titles of this book are crafted against the premises of 'market failure' arguments, and a significant portion of this book focuses on exposing the invalid premises upon which the claims of market failure are based and providing a proper basis upon which to judge the free market. The material in this book provides a strong antidote to the arguments typically presented in contemporary economics textbooks. Through example and argument, Brian Simpson shows that the claims against the free market are not true. In fact, he demonstrates how free markets succeed, how they raise the standard of living of all individuals who live within them, and how free markets allow human life to flourish. However, the book goes much deeper than economics by providing a moral and epistemological defense of the free market. Markets Don't Fail! gets to the fundamental, philosophical reasons why the claims of market failure are false and why markets actually succeed. Through an integration of economics and philosophy Simpson is able to provide a comprehensive, rigorous, and logically consistent defense of the free market. The specific topics covered in the book include monopoly, antitrust laws and predatory pricing, 'externalities,' the regulation of safety and quality, environmentalism, economic inequality, 'public goods,' and asymmetric information. This book is an invaluable tool for anyone who wants to gain a sound understanding of the free market.

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Comparative Economic Systems: Culture, Wealth, and Power in the 21st Century" explains how culture, in various guises, modifies the standard rules of economic engagement, creating systems that differ markedly from those predicted by the theory of general market competition. This analysis is grounded in established principles, but also assumes that individual utility seeking may be culturally determined, that political goals may take precedence over public well-being, and that business misconduct may be socially detrimental.

The book clarifies conceptual misunderstandings about the comparative merit of free competition and perfect governance, showing in many cases how the same results are attainable using either mechanism, or by combining them. It illuminates why engineering variables such as the quantity and quality of fixed and variable inputs, management, entrepreneurship, technological progress, and economic governance do not adequately explain disorders like the increasing poverty of the world's poorest nations.

End-of-chapter questions and an extensive glossary enhance the book's utility and enable readers to fully comprehend the key features of each chapter.

This book testifies that the economic thinking of Karl Marx is still valid for the 21st century, introducing readers to unknown materials buried in archives which portray Marx's attitudes to democracy. With contributions from a variety of leading Japanese scholars and edited by one of the most respected Marx experts in the world, Marx for the 21st Century will be read and enjoyed by students and academics in many different areas from political economy to the history of economic thought.

This volume provides a challenging and controversial explanation of the recent events in Russia. It examines the causes, processes, and consequences of Russia's recent political development. Drawing on, and criticising the existing literature, the book also shows how the recent Russian experience can cast light on general theories of revolution and comparative political developments.

'Hutnyk packs more dynamite in his sentences than any other writer I know.' Amitava Kumar, Penn State University Cultural Studies commonly claims to be a radical discipline. This book thinks that's a bad assessment. Cultural theorists love to toy with Marx, but critical thinking seems to fall into obvious traps. After an introduction which explains why the 'Marxism' of the academy is unrecognisable and largely unrecognised in anti-capitalist struggles, Bad Marxism provides detailed analyses of Cultural Studies' cherished moves by holding fieldwork, archives, empires, hybrids and exchange up against the practical criticism of anti-capitalism. Engaging with the work of key thinkers: Jacques Derrida, James Clifford, Gayatri Spivak, Georges Bataille, Homi Bhabha, Michael Hardt and Toni Negri, Hutnyk concludes by advocating an open Marxism that is both pro-party and pro-critique, while being neither dogmatic, nor dull.

With the development of the Internet from a research network to a commercial and integrated network which must satisfy heterogeneous user demand, prices for Internet usage play an important role. This study analyzes the pricing of Internet transport services and interconnection. It explains why appropriate pricing requires popular flat rates to be abandoned. They should be replaced by usage-based prices which are load-sensitive and take different service qualities into consideration. The aim of this work is to give an overview of Internet pricing proposals, to classify, investigate, and evaluate these pricing schemes as well as to elaborate on relations between them. Evaluations are based on normative criteria for Internet pricing from the point of view of social welfare and the perspectives of both Internet service providers and users. Moreover, this book shows what efficient settlement rules look like at the interconnection level. Since these interconnection pricing agreements are closely related to retail pricing models the compatibility between them is also analyzed.

The decades following the Second World War have been depicted as a kind of "golden age of capitalism." In Western societies, an unprecedented economic growth and a balancing of the competing claims of capital and labour had, apparently, been brought under the control of political and democratic institutions. However, efforts to combine this outstanding economic performance with social security appear to be endangered half way through the first decade of the 21st century. This book draws together an international team of contributors, including Douglass North, Harold Demsetz and Michael Piore to assess the current world order.

This book takes a new look at the golden age in neoclassical growth theory and explores in detail sustainability and optimum growth in China, the US and Europe. Innovation, foreign direct investment, trade and growth dynamics are key elements in modern economies - including perspectives on green growth and aspects of the knowledge production function in the context of multinational companies. As such the book considers the role of foreign direct investment in a modified growth model and discusses innovation in an enhanced Mundell-Fleming macro model. Moreover, for the first time it directly links a knowledge production function to the macro production function in a broader context, including real money balances in the production function. It shows - also with empirical relevance - that FDI inward stocks relative to the GDP of host countries, the number of researchers and per capita income are relevant drivers of new knowledge and the stock of knowledge, respectively. This new Schumpeterian theoretical approach lends itself to important policy conclusions for both OECD members and newly industrialized countries.

For many years the countries of East Asia challenged the Washington consensus and offered an alternative development paradigm; their economies were regulated, their financial systems 'repressed' and their states interventionist. However, Asian capitalism was disrupted in the 1990's following Japan's stagnation and the financial crisis of 1997-98. Treading the unexplored theoretical terrain created by the simultaneous decline of the Washington Consensus and Asian developmentalism, this book analyzes the comparative political economy of East Asia and Latin America. leading academics analyze the impact of government intervention, institutional malfunction, social transformation and financial change as well as that of conflict and power on economic development. Written in four distinct parts, it covers * theoretical framework * results of globalization * converging and diverging of paths of economic development * finance and regionalism. Institutionalist and Marxian; from prestigious contributors including Ben Fine and KS Jomo, this book will be of significant interest to students and academics of development economics.

In all of the contemporary economics textbooks that have been written there is typically at least one chapter that addresses "market failure." Markets Don't Fail! is a response to what author Brian Simpson sees as a fundamental error in the thinking of some economists. The chapter titles of this book are crafted against the premises of "market failure" arguments, and a significant portion of this book focuses on exposing the invalid premises upon which the claims of market failure are based and providing a proper basis upon which to judge the free market. The material in this book provides a strong antidote to the arguments typically presented in contemporary economics textbooks. Through example and argument, Brian Simpson shows that the claims against the free market are not true. In fact, he demonstrates how free markets succeed, how they raise the standard of living of all individuals who live within them, and how free markets allow human life to flourish. However, the book goes much deeper than economics by providing a moral and epistemological defense of the free market. Markets Don't Fail! gets to the fundamental, philosophical reasons why the claims of market failure are false and why markets actually succeed. Through an integration of economics and philosophy Simpson is able to provide a comprehensive, rigorous, and logically consistent defense of the free market. The specific topics covered in the book include monopoly, antitrust laws and predatory pricing, "externalities," the regulation of safety and quality, environmentalism, economic inequality, "public goods," and asymmetric information. This book is an invaluable tool for anyone who wants to gain a sound understanding of the free market.

China's explosive economic growth since 1988 has not resulted in an equal increase of income among all Chinese citizens. The authors explore a range of reasons for the disparity and base their conclusions on strong empirical evidence--especially the 1996 survey conducted by the State Statistical Bureau.

This book, first published in 1986, is an important contribution to the economic analysis of new firms. It emphasises the importance of analysing the economic inter-relationship between new and established firms. These links are especially relevant in the assessment of the employment effects of formation activity.

This book, first published in 1936, analyses the then-recent phenomenon of industrial combination. Concentration was new. Industrial combination was new. The interlocking of finances was new. The role of banks in regard to industry was new. The domination of financial capital over large sectors of industry was new. The author examines the new industrial system as it was, on the cusp of new world-economic conditions, resulting from and manifesting themselves in a revolution in transport, the creation of concentrated mass supply and mass demand, changes in the distribution of raw material supplies and the adaption of the technical and economic structure of the industrial unit to these new conditions.

Concern over conglomerate mergers increased dramatically in the latter part of the twentieth century. An acceleration in conglomerate merger activity rekindled firms' takeover fears and swamped trustbusters, and attention focused on the political and economic issues surrounding conglomerate mergers. Of particular importance is the possibility that conglomerate mergers may increase aggregate concentration and eventually create a 'zaibatsu' economy. This book, first published in 1984, addresses the issue by examining the mutual forbearance hypothesis. More specifically, do multi-market contacts among diversified firms affect market competition?

China's recent economic reforms have led to impressive growth, and an unprecedented enthusiasm for establishing foreign enterprises in China. Since 1993, China has been the second largest recipient of foreign direct investment in the world after the USA and is now considered to be the world's third biggest economy after the USA and Japan. Its greater economic integration with the rest of the world, especially since its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), has further accelerated its market-oriented economic reforms. China is now opening its protected markets and beginning to submit to the rule of international law. This ongoing transition and increasing participation in the world economy has resulted in significant changes in human resource, management and social welfare practices in China's enterprises. The book examines the key areas, all of which are linked, where China is grappling with institutional reforms as it opens up to the outside world - state-owned enterprise reform; capital markets and financial reform; human resources and labor market reform; social welfare reform; and China's accession to the WTO and the growth of the private sector.

In this book prominent scholars from around the world debate two major themes: the past and future of the capitalist world-economy, and the ways in which a capitalist economy shapes Western research, the academy, and broader knowledge structures. Putting the two themes together, they also analyze the relationship between scholarship and the rest of the world. The book is published to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Fernand Braudel Center. Contributors Samir Amin, Christopher Chase-Dunn, Bart Tromp,. Claudia von Werlhof, Giovanni Arrighi, Pablo Gonzalez-Casanova, Marcel van der Linden, Randall Collins, Mahm ood Mamdani, Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Janet Abu-Lughod, Maurice Aymard, and Immanuel Wallerstein.

The modern welfare state finds itself in the middle of two major upheavals: the impact of technology and immigration. Having taken in more refugees per capita than most other countries, the pillars of the Swedish welfare state are being shaken, and digital technologies are set to strengthen already existing trends towards job and wage polarization. The development of skills to keep pace with technology will enter into a critical period for the labor market in which inadequate policy responses could result in further inequality and polarization. In this regard, a platform-based labor market could help by opening up a vast range of new work opportunities. Marten Blix examines the implications of these trends that drive change in developed economies and, in particular, the impact that they have on Sweden and other European countries with rigid labor markets and comprehensive tax-financed welfare services. Increasing costs from immigration and rising inequality could further reduce the willingness to pay high taxes and erode support for redistribution. Failure to address challenges like this one could herald much more drastic changes down the road. There are already signs of economic and political tensions and there is a risk that the social contract could crack. This new discussion on the future of work and the welfare state will be of interest not only to scholars but in policy circles and corresponding societies in sociology, labor relations, political science and public administration.

It is often assumed that privatization leads to profit, and that well-delineated property rights and a strong private sector will help boost an economy. This book investigates the property rights in Chinese enterprises in the reform era, finding that distinction between the public and the private are blurred, that national reform policies are implemented unevenly across the country, and that enterprises owned by local governments, in Shanghai, for example, are actually extremely profitable.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203456114

The constitutional structure and statutory duties of the central bank lie at the heart of academic debate about the optimal design of monetary policy. There is a growing consensus that governments can achieve lower inflation at a reduced social cost by granting autonomy to their central banks. Nowhere is the debate more relevant than in the transition states of eastern Europe, where the newly established central banks' attempts to stabilise prices have come into conflict with the social objectives of national governments. This book, written by a multinational team of distinguished European academics, explores the changing face of central banking in eastern Europe in the light of the modern macroeconomic thinking, providing insights into the design of monetary policy institutions. The approach is to combine theory with case studies drawn from Poland, Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria.

For much of the twentieth century, rivalry existed between centrally planned and capitalist solutions to the problems of economic stability and growth. This changed in the 1990s. In that same decade, the period of rapid growth of the Japanese economy came to an end and by the close of the century, the American model of capitalism was seen as the only possible option. Modern capitalism has achieved spectacular rates of innovation and growth but the system is still menaced by financial crises and economic recessions. Furthermore, there is an unacknowledged diversity of capitalist systems. Contributors to this volume argue that to understand capitalism in evolution, this diversity of systems and approaches must be taken into account and their individual evolutions analysed. This book represents a major understanding of the evolution of capitalism in the twenty first century and brings together a distinguished group of experts with perspectives from America, Europe and Japan.

This is an economic, social and cultural analysis of the nature and variety of production and consumption activities in households in the counties of Kent and Cornwall. It yields important new insights on the transition to capitalism in England.

This book tells the story of what might have been considered an unlikely source of dynamic change in Russia - formerly state-owned manufacturing enterprises and their managers. Based on interviews conducted over a six-year span with managers at 47 manufacturing, light industry, consumer durable, and food processing firms in four Russian cities, the study documents the real world challenge of turning hidebound, often dysfunctional manufacturing operations into thriving companies. With analytical rigor and theoretical creativity, this work will dispel some common misconceptions about the Russian economy and make a contribution to the literature about management, company strategies, and corporate governance.

In this thought-provoking work, writer and journalist John Plender explores the model of capitalism advocated by English-speaking countries and asks the following pertinent questions:

• Why are developing countries financing the world's richest economy, instead of the other way round?

• How have the markets come to appear so unstable?

• What is causing the erosion of the wealth creation process? and

• Is the conventional view of this model actually correct?

Economic Lessons from the Transition focuses on major transitions in the 1990s: the transition from central planning and communism to market capitalism and the global integration of national financial systems. The transitions were supposed to raise most peoples' standard of living; instead they dramatically worsened the lives of most people in the countries involved. While most attempts to explain this failure focus on policies, the authors of this book argue that failure of economic theory to fully understand these transitions has led to bad policies that made the transitions unnecessarily painful and costly. The book suggests answers to the following questions: How should basic economic theory as taught in introductory economics courses be revised in light of the failure of market-oriented economics to effect a successful transition in so many former communist economies? Could the theory be revised and presented in a different manner? How can basic economic theory be used to help explain the past failures in understanding transition problems and to avoid future mistakes? This volume is a must read for all who teach economics or apply economics to the real world. The lessons in

This book situates the evolution of the high growth economies along Asia's Pacific Rim after the Second World War within broader global political and economic changes. Specifically, it charts the growth of capitalist economies in the region throughout periodic crises and successive waves of restructuring, and links changes in the world economy to shifts in the domestic political economies of East and Southeast Asia. It suggests that the financial crisis of 1997-98 laid the basis for a new phase of regional economic integration in Pacific-Asia.
Key issues examined include:
* comparison of patterns of state intervention and industrial organization in individual countries
* history of US power in the region
* analysis of class and state-society relations
* how shifts in regional dynamics can effect changes in the world economy
Through this detailed analysis of regional economic growth and integration since 1945, "Capitalist Restructuring and the Pacific Rim" concludes that the continued accumulation of capital in East and Southeast Asia is undermining the material foundations of US power.
This comprehensive survey of the emergence of Asia's Pacific Rim will intrigue and inform scholars of Asian Studies, Sociology and Development Studies alike.