The collection considers several aspects of the transformation of the former state socialist countries: social and economic outcomes; forces in the transformation process; problems of consolidation of the new regimes; and alternative scenarios. Comparisons are made between the successful central European countries now members of the European Union with those of the former Soviet Union. The impact of the collapse of the USSR and the course of transformation is considered on China, Cuba, and North Korean. The book also contemplates the alternative types of society that might replace state socialism, particularly state capitalism and market socialism.

Decentralization is changing the face of South East Europe. This book provides practical analysis of the devolutionary measures reshaping post-Communist economies. Decentralization of government to regional and local levels, in both is administrative and fiscal forms, has taken place to different extents in the countries of South East Europe and this book discusses the many factors and three main forms that make this so. Going through Europe's history, looking at religion and economical growth and understanding the politics of a nation under a Communist regime, this book analyses the extent and evolution of the decentralization and local development in South East Europe in the 1900s.

Islamist capital accumulation has split the Turkish bourgeoisie and polarized Turkish society into secular and religious social groupings, giving rise to conflicts between the state and political Islam. By providing a long-term historical perspective on Turkey's economy and its relationship to Islamism, this volume explores how Islamism as a political ideology has been utilized by the conservative bourgeoisie in Turkey, and elsewhere, to establish hegemony over labor. The contributors analyze the relationship between neoliberalism and the political fortunes of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP), and examine the similarities and differences amongst new factions in the secular and Islamic middle class that have benefited economically, socially, and culturally during the AKP's reign. The articles also investigate the impact of the Gulen Movement and the role of the media in shaping the contours of intra-class struggle within contemporary Turkish political and social life.

Banking Reforms in South-East Europe gives a critical and detailed overview of banking system restructuring in the transitional countries of South-Eastern Europe - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania and Yugoslavia - and offers suggestions for future reforms. The book opens with a comparison of the experiences of Central European advanced transitional economies with those of the Balkan countries. Proposals are put forward for ways in which positive aspects of the Central European experience can be applied to banking reform in the Balkans. The authors examine the importance of regional collaboration for the overall economic and social transition in the region, and consider whether it can facilitate the next stage of banking reform. They also analyse the results of currency board arrangements as a possible alternative to classical central banking, using the experiences of Bulgaria, Bosnia and the Yugoslav Republic of Montenegro. The book concludes with an analysis of the experience of individual economies and consists of a number of country-specific banking studies, covering all the transitional economies of South-East Europe. The book will be of great interest to both scholars of transition economies and policymakers in finance and financial institutions.

"Economic Freedom and the American Dream" explores the effects of economic freedom on America in several areas, such as, markets, politics, and opportunities. By focusing on the economic liberty of individuals, corporations, and markets, and the conflicts among them, the book offers an original perspective on some of the nation's most difficult dilemmas. Shaanan challenges the view that unrestricted economic freedom enhances our economic and political well being. He demonstrates that while economic freedom provides benefits, its unchecked version, including the right to profit through government, inflicts a heavy toll on democracy, free markets and, paradoxically, on economic freedom itself.

From Thomas Piketty to David Harvey, scholars are increasingly questioning whether we are entering into a post-capitalist era. If so, does this new epoch signal the failure of capitalism and emergence of alternative systems? Or does it mark the ultimate triumph of capitalism as it evolves into an unstoppable entity that takes new forms as it engulfs its opposition? After Capitalism brings together leading scholars from across the academy to offer competing perspectives on capitalism's past incarnations, present conditions, and possible futures. Some contributors reassess classic theorizations of capitalism in light of recent trends, including real estate bubbles, debt relief protests, and the rise of a global creditocracy. Others examine Marx's writings, unemployment, hoarding, capitalist realism, and coyote (trickster) capitalism, among many other topics. Media and design trends locate the key ideologies of the current economic moment, with authors considering everything from the austerity aesthetics of reality TV to the seductive smoothness of liquid crystal. Even as it draws momentous conclusions about global economic phenomena, After Capitalism also pays close attention to locales as varied as Cuba, India, and Latvia, examining the very different ways that economic conditions have affected the relationship between the state and its citizens. Collectively, these essays raise provocative questions about how we should imagine capitalism in the twenty-first century. Will capitalism, like all economic systems, come to an end, or does there exist in history or elsewhere a hidden world that is already post-capitalist, offering alternative possibilities for thought and action?

2010 marks a turning point for international politics. The impact of the global crisis is reflected in the readiness of both national governments and international organisations to rebuild relations between state and market within a safer regulatory framework. New models of development gained ground during the crisis: investments in new energy technologies, medical research, education, security and employment. In Europe, novel ideas interact with major institutional changes put into effect by the Lisbon Treaty. A wide range of policies, from the field of European security to the problems of migration and from EU enlargement to Euro-American cooperation, are affected by the changes on all these levels. The Constantinos Karamanlis Institute for Democracy Yearbook 2010 addresses vital aspects of the European and international agenda, bringing together prominent scholars and policymakers from a variety of national backgrounds.

In this volume, a set of issue and country experts tackle the questions surrounding the challenges of a resurgent Russia for the world order as well as for relations between the European Union and the United States. Following a brief introduction laying out the circumstances of Russia's rise, the book proceeds in three sections. In the first, Russian scholars tackle the topic of how a newly resurgent Russia sees the world. The second section examines Russia's role in the contemporary global political economy in terms of trade and financial flows and nuclear energy. The third section looks at American and European responses to Russia, and the conclusion draws together the findings from each of the chapters and presents some broad propositions regarding Russia's rise and the challenges that it presents for the US, EU and the international order in the years to come. The implications of this collection are very broad and far-reaching, with ramifications for each of the players involved as well as for the development and refinement of general international relations theories concerning global conflict and cooperation, making the book relevant for both policy-makers and scholars of international relations, Russian studies, and international political economy."

The ultimate survival of an economic system depends on whether or not the interrelationships between its institutions and its members are consistent with each other. Consistency and Viability of Capitalist Economic Systems develops an original analytical framework to understand the relationship between the economic, political, and ideological structures, the external environment, and the process of reform that give rise to certain economic systems by establishing consistency. Consistency, however, is not enough; a consistent economic system must be flexible and have the internal mechanisms to be able to adapt to changes in social reality, thus making possible its survival over time. In other words, the economic system is viable when it is able to encourage increases in labor productivity and there is popular support. Thus the economic system, in its broad social science context, must be both consistent and viable. Economic systems examined in this text are the capitalist economics systems of Great Britain, Japan, European Union and Sweden.

The politics of international debt have received increasing attention in recent years. However, discussion of the politics of money has focused on Latin American and 'third' world countries. So far there has been little treatment of the politics of scarce money and of money as a political category in relation to 'advanced' countries. The central theme of the book is the limitations and constraints on state action which arise from the relation between the (nation) state and the global flow of money.

In this unique contribution to economic sociology, Jeffrey Hass examines the impact of culture, norms and political authority on Russia's post-socialist transition. The interactions and contradictions of moral economies and market relations are examined, exploring the often overlooked social dimension to market-building in Russia.

This book presents a state-of-the-art portrait of entrepreneurship in the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as well as Georgia and Ukraine. Based on new empirical evidence, it highlights major trends in, characteristics and forms of entrepreneurship common to countries in transition. The contributions cover topics such as levels of opportunity-based entrepreneurship, incentives for innovation, dominance of large-scale international corporations, the role of family businesses, and opportunities for grass-roots entrepreneurship. The first part of the book focuses on theoretical considerations regarding the establishment of sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems and private business. In turn, the second part offers cross-border studies of entrepreneurial environments and activities, while the third and fourth present case studies on the current state and unique characteristics of entrepreneurship in various countries of the CEE and CIS as well as Georgia and Ukraine. Finally, the last parts discuss the role of institutions and policy recommendations.

This book includes a series of reports that mainly discuss the Middle Income Trap against the backdrop of population ageing in China. It also offers practical suggestions on how to avoid it properly. Concretely, it argues that the government should accelerate the transition of economic development modes, resolve concentrated social conflicts, promote a balanced rural and urban development during the process of urbanization, and mitigate the effects of population ageing by fostering strengths and avoiding weaknesses. As for the challenges posed by population ageing in China, it puts forward five core suggestions tailored to China's unique situation. Assessing a number of real-world challenges, the general report and the special reports combine theory and empirical findings, using primary data for their analyses. Given the wealth of essential information it provides, the book offers a valuable reference resource for decision-makers.

Differences in the way national economies are organized have been highlighted in academic and policy debates. This book provides studies of key national economies, examining both enduring features of their economic institutions and how these have changed in response to international economic integration and divergent performance. Drawing on a wide range of sources, the contributors provide a comprehensive, up-to-date assessment of different national models of capitalism, how they operate and how they affect the fortunes of their citizens.

This book discusses Bangladesh's economic and social development that may be called a "miracle" since the country has achieved remarkable development progress under several unfavorable situations: weak governance and political instabilities, inequality, risks entailed in rapid urbanization, and exposure to severe disaster risks. The authors examine what led to this successful economic development, and the potential challenges that it presents, aiming to elicit effective policy interventions that can be adapted by other developing countries.

This book brings together a diverse range of responses to China's Marine Silk Road Initiative, which proposes to redraw the map of Asia, particularly South Asia. China's 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI) is a massive scheme to connect wide swaths of East, Southeast, South, and West Asia through a dense web of interconnected hard and soft infrastructure involving ports, roads, logistics facilities, special industrial zones, and free trade and investment agreements. This book will be invaluable for students of Chinese foreign security and foreign economic policy, those interested in South Asia including Indian foreign security and economic policy as well as Indian relations with China, those attentive to international economic developments in East and South Asia, and those interested in the political and economic situation in specific MSRI participant countries such as Pakistan, Maldives, and Sri Lanka as well as their political and economic relations with China.

A market economy is the only mechanism that can create jobs, distribute wealth, spur economic growth, and stabilize the economy for all. However, the current American market economy is not working - it is helping the "1%" instead of distributing wealth and yet simultaneously convincing the "99%" that this market is the only way to create jobs. The current unchecked system allows those wealthy few to "steal the American dream," as Hedrick Smith claimed. In order for the United States to grow the economy, the current system must first be modified to level the playing field, and then must be used to develop the market system's originally intended purpose: improving the quality of life for all.
In this follow up to From a Market Economy to a Finance Economy, Samli reflects on his more than half a century of economic experience and research, maintaining that financiers, the government, and many decision makers in both politics and the economy, do not really support the "free market." He puts forth key ideas for using the market mechanism correctly to benefit all Americans.

This volume contains papers presented in a workshop of international experts in September 2008 in Berlin. The experts discussed how environmental consequences of EU legislation can be incorporated in a more effective way. In other words, this contribution focuses on the question of which measures can strengthen the cons- eration of environmental effects in the EU impact assessment procedure and in the subsequent legislative decision-making process. This allows drawing conclusions for the impact assessment process in Germany. This volume begins with an introductory paper (Bizer/Lechner/Fuhr) which served as the basis for discussion in our workshop. The questions raised in this paper are addressed by the authors of the subsequent chapters. Stephen White (DG Environment, EU-Commission) discusses the impact assessment from an int- nal perspective within the Commission. Pendo Maro (European Environmental Bureau) reviews the impact assessment practice from the perspective of an en- ronmental NGO. Martin Schmidt et al. discuss the potential for more formalism to strengthen environmental issues within impact assessments and favour a checklist."

The book is a collection of contributed papers in honor of Roy Radner. Reflecting Radner's broad range of research interests, the papers cover quite diverse areas, ranging over general equilibrium analysis of the market mechanism, economies undergoing transition, satisficing behavior, markets with asymmetric information, organizational resource allocation and information processing, incentives and implementation, stable sets and the core, stochastic sequential bargaining games, perfect equilibria in a macro growth model, repeated games, and evolutionary games.

Structural change, economic growth and adequate exchange rate adjustment are key challenges in the context of EU eastern enlargement as are consistent macroeconomic policies. The authors focus on sectoral adjustment across industries in catching-up countries and explain changes in the composition of output this includes new aspects of the Chenery model. They describe and analyze the spatial pattern of specialization and adjustment in many countries. Theoretical and empirical analysis of foreign direct investment, innovation and structural change shed new light on economic dynamics in Old Europe and New Europe. As regards exchange rate dynamics both traditional aspects (such as the Balassa-Samuelson effect) and new approaches to understanding exchange rate developments are presented. Links between exchange rate changes and innovation are particularly emphasized.

The establishment of the Shanghai Stock Exchange in December 1990 was a landmark in China's institutional transformation. With this in mind, the authors consider the factors relating to institutional change - such as changes in the financial system, the scale and structure of stock market, operational efficiency and the regulatory system of the stock market. During the course of its development the Chinese stock market has experienced speculation, dramatic fluctuations and violations of market regulations of frequent and diverse natures. There is therefore, urgent need for the discussion contained within this volume of best procedure policies for the establishment of a properly ordered and regulated market. The authors assess the operational performance of listed companies, and changes in the external environment such as the impact of China's accession to the WTO on the stock market. The authors find that WTO accession will have a more serious impact on the more heavily protected agricultural sector and on capital-intensive industries such as automobile, instruments, cotton and wheat to name a few. They argue that the fundamental reason for the inefficiency of China's stock market is the weakness of the competitive mechanism leading to imperfect competition and rent-seeking activity. This book will be of great interest to academics and researchers of Asian studies and money and finance. Multinational enterprise managers, as well as brokers, dealers, business economists and others involved in the global financial markets will also find this book of value.

This text offers detailed analysis and informed comment on the future of emerging economic policies. It is essential reading for all postgraduates and scholars looking for expert discussion and debate on the issues surrounding economic policy.

Though the emerging sub-discipline of comparative political economy is now rich in studies of different advanced capitalisms, it still lacks a systematic consideration of the organizing frameworks and methodologies underpinning those studies. This definitive volume outlines the two great debates currently shaping the analysis of advanced capitalism. This book makes the case for a greater awareness of underlying theoretical issues in the design of empirical research, and demonstrates the value of exploring the interconnections between competing intellectual approaches.