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.

We live in a time of dynamic, but generally regressive regime change-a period in which major political transformations and a rollback of a half-century of legislation are accelerated under conditions of a prolonged and deepening economic crisis and a worldwide offensive against the citizenry and the working class. Written by two of the world's leading left-wing thinkers, Imperialism and Capitalism in the Twenty-First Century takes the form of a number of analytical probes into some of the dynamics of capitalist development and imperialism in contemporary conditions of a system in crisis. It is too early to be definitive about the form that capitalism and imperialism -and socialism-might be or is taking, as we are in but the early stages of a new developmental dynamic, the conditions of which are too complex to anticipate or grasp in thought; they require a closer look and much further study from a critical development and Marxist perspective. The purpose of this book is to advance this process and give some form to this perspective.

In 1953, John Gallagher and Ronald Robinson shook the foundations of imperial history with their essay 'The Imperialism of Free Trade'. They reshaped how historians saw the British empire, focussing not on the 'red bits on the map' and the wishes of policy makers in London, but rather on British economic and political influence globally. Expanding on this analysis, this volume provides an examination of imperialism which brings the reader right up to the present. This book offers an innovative assessment and analysis of the history and contemporary status of imperial control. It does so in four parts, examining the historical emergence and traditions of imperialism; the relationships between the periphery and the metropolitan; the role of supranational agencies in the extension of imperial control; and how these connect to financialisation and international political economy. The book provides a dynamic and unique perspective on imperialism by bringing together a range of contributors - both established and up-and-coming scholars, activists, and those from industry - from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds. In providing these authors a space to apply their insights, this engaging volume sheds light on the practical implications of imperialism for the contemporary world. With a broad chronological and geographical sweep, this book provides theoretical and empirical engagements with the nature of imperialism and its effects upon societies. It will be of great interest to a broad range of disciplines across the humanities and social sciences, especially those working in History, Politics, and Management and Organisation Studies.

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.

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.

Majority rules are generally unstable and not binding for future voters, and so are insufficient for the required security of a market economy. In this challenging book, Peter Moser argues that stability can be achieved by democratic political institutions limiting the influence of majorities. Peter Moser examines the contribution to stable policy choices of a wide range of political institutions including constitutional rules, the organizational structure of legislatures and administrative and judicial procedures. He contributes new insights about the importance of decision rules in democracies by combining theory with empirical studies. He analyses legislative procedures in the US, the European Union and Switzerland, tests a novel explanation for central bank independence, discusses the implications of political decision rules for regulatory behavior, and provides a concise survey of recent critical research on democratic institutions. This book will be particularly welcomed by public choice scholars as well as other economists and political scientists interested in the role of democratic institutions.

The Handbook of the International Political Economy of Production offers a comprehensive, state-of-the-art overview of the changing world of global production. The book explores the topic in a range of directions, including the human material 'used' in production across the globe and alternatives proposed from different quarters.Chapters cover the geography of why and where jobs are moving in both manufacturing and services. The doubling of the world's available labor supply after the opening up of the planned economies in Europe and Asia has sharply tilted the balance of power towards giant corporations. Labor and the politics of work is analyzed in a number of key countries. Possible signs of a recovery of organized labor's negotiating power on this vastly expanded playing field are discussed in separate chapters, and a complete overview is provided of labour research networks currently active. This important volume addresses topics relating to the human and natural basis on which production rests, from the consequences of the exploitation of the body and mind to sex work, biotechnology, and the prospects for ecological re-balancing. Written by a team of authors from fourteen different countries and comprising some of the biggest names in contemporary social science as well as topical specialists, this Handbook will prove a critical resource to political economists at all levels, trade unionists and NGO activists in the labor and human rights sphere, politicians and journalists. Contributors: J. Baines, A. Bhattacharjee, M. Boyer, D. Bradanini, U. Brand, J. Chan, C.B.N. Chin, M. Davies, R. Delgado Wise, R. Desai, A. Fishwick, A. Freeman, S. Gindin, K. Gray, J.-C. Graz, Y. Gromyko, J. Harrod, O. Holman, R. Ihara, Y. Jang, S. Kay, D.T. Martin, S. McGrath, J. Merk, P. Moore, L. Panitch, M. Paterson, N. Pun, A. Roy, S. Sassen, M. Selden, B. Selwyn, G.M. enalp, OE. enalp, W. Seppmann, B.J. Silver, K. Strauss, M. Wissen, J. Wullweber

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.

We have long been suspicious of corporations recklessly pursuing profit and amassing wealth and power.

But the story of the corporation didn't have to be like this. For most of history, they were not amoral entities, but public institutions designed to promote the societies that granted them charter. Magnuson reveals how the corporation has evolved since its beginnings in the ancient world. What happens in this next chapter of the global economy depends on whether we can return to their public-minded spirit, or whether we have sunk irrevocably into the swamp of high profit at all costs.

Epic and compelling in scope, For Profit illuminates the roles corporations played, for good and evil, in the making of the modern world.

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.

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.

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.

Recently, the issue of inequality has regained attention in the economic and political debate. This is due to both an increase in income inequality, in particular among rich countries, and an increasing interest in this issue by researchers and politicians. In the last three decades, income inequality among rich countries increased. This period also witnessed the growth of "financial capitalism", characterised by the strong dependency of economies on the financial sector, by the globalisation and intensification of international trade and capital mobility, and by the "flexibilisation" of labour markets and the reduction of wage shares. From the 1980s to the present day, this book considers the theoretical aspects of inequality (its foundations, definitions, approaches and origins) and examines empirical evidence of income inequality in a wide range of advanced economies. The key arguments in this volume are that income inequality increased during this period because labour and welfare became seen as costs to be compressed in "financial capitalism" rather than as a fundamental part of aggregate demand to be expanded. However, the welfare state is not a drain on economic performance and competitiveness, nor is it a barrier to economic efficiency. Instead, it is demonstrated that in countries that adopt "welfare capitalism", welfare state expenditure not only contributes to a reduction in inequality but also fosters economic growth. Inequality in Financial Capitalism is of great importance to those who study economics, political economy, labour economics and globalisation.

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.

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.

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

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 whirlwind of financial globalization has descended upon emerging market economies and rapid change has brought both benefits and problems upon a dynamic group of nations.
This book examines the impact of ever increasing financial globalization on emerging market economies, both in the former communist countries of Eastern Europe and the developing world in general. This impressive volume covers themes and issues such as:
*global capital flows and financial liberalization
*global financial architecture
*financial and macroeconomic instability
Financial Globalization and the Emerging Market Economies will be of interest to students and academics in many areas including international economics, international finance and international political economy. It will also provide a useful source of information for those who work in the financial industry at large.

Contents:
Part One: Theoretical Considerations
1. Stock Market Regulation and Institutional Change in Reform China
2. Investors, Bureaucrats and the Institutions of the Chinese State
Part Two: Local Institutional Capture
3. Nascent Equity Markets and Local Institution Building, 1984-90
4. Institutional Capture by Local Leaders: Share Issuance and Other Problems, 1993-2000
5. Equity Developmentalism Unbound: The Capture of Secondary Market Institutions in Shenzhen and Shanghai, 1995-97
6. The Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges: From Local Control to 'Sons of the CSRC'
7. Local Institution-Making and the Securities Trading Centres
8. Institutional Creation and Development: The China Securities Regulatory Commission
9. Incoherence at the Centre: The State Council Securities Commission and CSRC/PBoC Relations
10. Drafting the Securities Law: The Role of the National People's Congress in Creating Institutions
Part Three: Conclusions
11. Socialist Market Regulation
12. China's Stock Market and the Changing Policy Priorities of the State Council
13. Equity Politics and Market Institutions

David Westbrook argues that we live in 'the city of gold' - a global, cosmopolitan polity where politics are done through markets, and where global capital markets, not states, have become the dominant force in our social life. In this wide-ranging, multi-tiered exploration of our contemporary global political economy, he touches on four major themes: the historical foundation of the city of gold; an assessment of its political scope; its current discontents; and ways to make a better - albeit imperfect - world from within it.

David Westbrook argues that we live in 'the city of gold' - a global, cosmopolitan polity where politics are done through markets, and where global capital markets, not states, have become the dominant force in our social life. In this wide-ranging, multi-tiered exploration of our contemporary global political economy, he touches on four major themes: the historical foundation of the city of gold; an assessment of its political scope; its current discontents; and ways to make a better - albeit imperfect - world from within it.

Contents:
List of Tables List of Figures Preface 1. Hybrid capitalism: demystifying Chinese capitalism 2. The dynamics of Chinese capitalism: globalization and actor-networks 3. The internationalization of Chinese capitalism 4. Transnational entrepreneurship 5. Transformations in social organization 6. Changing corporate governance and strategic management 7. The future of Chinese capitalism Notes Appendix References Index

Originally published in 1974. This book provides a rigorous and detailed introductory treatment of the theory of difference equations and their applications in the construction and analysis of dynamic economic models. It explains the theory of linear difference equations and various types of dynamic economic models are then analysed. Including plenty of examples of application throughout the text, it will be of use to those working in macroeconomics and econometrics.

The growing industrialization of Thailand due to the introduction of capitalist processes has had a revolutionary impact on the organization and structure of the society. New classes, groups and interests have arisen including a new urban-based industrial working class who are essential to the new capitalist procedures. This book examines how industrial workers have come to occupy a strategic place in the contemporary political economy and charts their long-term activism in seeking redress for a range of individual, social and political problems. This text focuses on how the state has become entangled in the processes through which workers have been organized, reorganized and disorganized as social and political actors in different historical periods. By examining the themes of labour weakness, political exclusion and insignificance of "class factors", this book brings back workers from the margins by demonstrating that both in the present and past the state has been involved in processes that determine the forms of their struggles. By utilizing new empirical data and historical material, Brown highlights how the working class have emerged as an enduring facet of Thai society.