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Books > Business & Economics > Economics > Economic theory & philosophy
Have slums become 'cool'? More and more tourists from across the globe seem to think so as they discover favelas, ghettos, townships and barrios on leisurely visits. But while slum tourism often evokes moral outrage, critics rarely ask about what motivates this tourism, or what wider consequences and effects it initiates. In this provocative book, Fabian Frenzel investigates the lure that slums exert on their better-off visitors, looking at the many ways in which this curious form of attraction ignites changes both in the slums themselves and on the world stage. Covering slums ranging from Rio de Janeiro to Bangkok, and multiple cities in South Africa, Kenya and India, Slumming It examines the roots and consequences of a growing phenomenon whose effects have ranged from gentrification and urban policy reform to the organization of international development and poverty alleviation. Controversially, Frenzel argues that the rise of slum tourism has drawn attention to important global justice issues, and is far more complex than we initially acknowledged.
The book provides conceptual and empirical insights into the complex relationship between knowledge flows and regional growth in the EU. The author critically scrutinizes and enhances the RIS (Regional Innovation System) approach, discussing innovation as a technological, institutional and evolutionary process. Moreover, she advances the ongoing discourse on the role of space and technological proximity in the process of innovation and technological externalities. The book closes with an investigation of the role of technological change and knowledge spillovers in the dynamic growth and catching-up of EU regions. "
In Debt, Innovations, and Deflation, the authors analyze the deflation theories of Thorstein Veblen, Irving Fisher, Joseph A. Schumpeter, and Hyman Minsky. In so doing, they develop a paradigm for understanding the phenomenon of deflation. They explain how technological, organizational, and financial innovations, combined with developments related to the creation and use of debt, give rise to conditions in which both deflation and inflation can be present in the modern economy. The past several years have ushered in a new era in economic policy issues. After decades of concern over inflation, a series of studies brought to light the potentially greater danger of deflation. In response, the authors provide a critical re-examination of the literature and theories of deflation. A driving question behind the research is whether post-World War II capitalist economies rely on economic policies and institutional reforms to keep an inherent tendency toward deflation in check? And can the theories of Veblen, Fisher, Schumpeter and Minsky shed light on how the creation and use of debt can create a modern economy affected simultaneously by deflation and inflation? Scholars and students of economic history and finance will enjoy this insightful examination of the subject.
This volume deals with the very important and timely topic of dollarization, or the official adoption of the dollar as a nation's currency. The benefits and costs, as well as the type of nation that stands to gain from dollarization, are examined by some of the leading experts and participants in the current debate. Some advocate dollarization, some fixed exchange rates, some flexible. Contributors include R. Mundell (Columbia U), A. Berg (IMF), B. Eichengreen (U Cal - Berkeley).
The volumes in this set, originally published between 1934 and 1994, draw together research by leading academics in the area of monetary economics and provides a rigorous examination of related key issues. The volumes examine monetary management and policy, equilibrium theory and credit rationing, as well as the general principles and practices of monetary economics. This set will be of particular interest to students of economics and finance.
This book provides a new methodological approach to money and macroeconomics. Realizing that the abstract equilibrium models lacked descriptions of fundamental issues of a modern monetary economy, the focus of this book lies on the (stylized) balance sheets of the main actors. Money, after all, is born on the balance sheets of the central bank or commercial bank. While households and firms hold accounts at banks with deposits, banks hold an account at the central bank where deposits are called reserves. The book aims to explain how the two monetary circuits - central bank deposits and bank deposits - are intertwined. It is also shown how government spending injects money into the economy. Modern Monetary Theory and European Macroeconomics covers both the general case and then the Eurozone specifically. A very simple macroeconomic model follows which explains the major accounting identities of macroeconomics. Using this new methodology, the Eurozone crisis is examined from a fresh perspective. It turns out that not government debt but the stagnation of private sector debt was the major economic problem and that cuts in government spending worsened the economic situation. The concluding chapters discuss what a solution to the current problems of the Eurozone must look like, with scenarios that examine a future with and without a euro. This book provides a detailed balance sheet view of monetary and fiscal operations, with a focus on the Eurozone economy. Students, policy-makers and financial market actors will learn to assess the institutional processes that underpin a modern monetary economy, in times of boom and in times of bust.
The growing turbulence of today's economic life requires innovative approaches to economics. There have been recent dissident works examining both micro- and macroeconomics which call into question orthodox indicators of economic performance--such as profit and gross national product. The present work adds to such innovative economic thought by offering an indeterministic conceptualization of different levels of an economy and by elaborating a variety of stages of economic development, each with its respective measure of performance. The main conclusions arrived at in this unique work suggest that the fundamental tenets of present-day economic thought must be re-examined. * The overall scheme of measuring changes in economics based on constant prices for some base year must be redesigned in order to avoid measuring development under the guise of measuring growth; * The market price of a business has to be set on the basis of the value of its potential. * It is advisable to measure the firM's current economic performance based on the criterion which designates the gap between the firM's potential and a properly defined ideal state; * Methods of teaching business should be distinguished depending on students' expected right-brain or left-brain orientation; * It is important to realize that the subjective elements of decision-making by the leaders of an economic system or subsystem are intrinsic to indeterministic development of the economy.
In this age of overlapping and mutually reinforcing deep global crises (financial convulsions, global warming, mass migrations, militarism, inequality, selfish nation-states, etc.), there needs to be more realistic dialogue about radical alternatives to the status quo. Most literature produced heretofore has focused on the surface causes of these crises without much attention given to the sorts of major societal changes needed in order to deal with the crises we face. This book moves the debate beyond the critiques and the false or not fully realised alternatives, to focus on what can be termed "practical utopias". The contributors to this book outline a range of practical proposals for constructing pathways out of the global economic, ecological and social crisis. Varieties of Alternative Economic Systems eschews a single blueprint but insists on dealing directly with the deep structural problems and contradictions of contemporary global capitalism. It provides a diverse array of complementary proposals and perspectives that can inform both theoretical thinking and practical action. This volume will be of interest to academics and students who study political science, ecological economics, international politics and socialism.
The last two decades have seen a reshaping of the international economy together with a radical weakening in the conditions of the working class. New productive techniques and methods in the organization of labour have been implemented on a world-wide scale partly as a consequence of the financialization of capital. The geographical diffusion of market relations has continued and with it the dominance of capital in all realms of social reproduction. In charting this change, the book offers an alternative view of contemporary capitalism. It has been suggested that we are entering a new phase where the 'globalization' of economic activities is fully achieved, where 'post-Fordist' regulation has overcome the crisis of Keynesian capitalism, and where the dominant tendency is towards the 'end of work'. In contrast to this view, the authors of this book argue that current internationalization is not a structure, but a contradictory process and that new patterns in the division of labour while successful in increasing the pressure over workers have not been able to supersede Fordism entirely. They conclude that the slow growth of the economies, caused by neoliberal economic policies, is a crucial factor in explaining unemployment and the fragmentation of labour.
Joseph Halevi, G. C. Harcourt, Peter Kriesler and J. W. Nevile bring together a collection of their most influential papers on post-Keynesian thought. Their work stresses the importance of the underlying institutional framework, of the economy as a historical process and, therefore, of path determinacy. In addition, their essays suggest the ultimate goal of economics is as a tool to inform policy and make the world a better place, with better being defined by an overriding concern with social justice. Volume II assess application and policies.
The Economics of Scientific Knowledge demonstrates how contemporary economic theories, such as rational choice theory, public choice theory, game theory, and neo-institutionalist economics can be successfully applied to resolve the issues currently existing in science studies and science and technology policy. Yanfei Shi criticizes the sociology of scientific knowledge and the traditional philosophy of science for their failures in justifying science as a rational enterprise. From an economic perspective, he explains why scientific enterprise as a public good is possible if individual scientists are self-interested and presents a new and convincing story of how scientific knowledge is produced in the contemporary society. With professional experience as a policy analyst, Yanfei Shi's economic perspective on scientists and their behaviors, and his institutional analysis will have great implications to the current discussions on science and innovation policy issues. Scholars and students in the fields of economics, philosophy and sociology as well as scientists, administrators and policy analysts will find this book a welcome addition to the literature of the increasingly important field of science studies.
German industry in particular is a central focus for studying technical and organizational changes in industry due to its pivotal position in international markets, its technological sophistication and its well-established training systems. Originally published in 1992, this study brings together contributions which contain both theoretical approaches and extensive empirical studies, on the manufacturing industry in Germany, including comparisons to other european countries. It looks at the developments of new technology, identifying trends in rationalization and the influences they have on organizational behaviour. As it discusses the relationships between technology and the work-force it includes discussion on flexible specialization, labour processes, union relations, small and large firms and training processes.
This book sheds new light on the political economy of public management reform. It examines the new forms of economic decentralization and macroeconomic adjustment, and discusses their implications for policy design and regulation.The authors discuss leading-edge research on public management reform, privatization and decentralization in both industrialized and aid-dependent countries, concentrating on the meso-level of institutional response. Combining theory, case studies and institutional analysis, they focus on issues including public/private partnerships, public finance and aid allocation. The authors also present new ideas on the design of a regulatory framework. This book will be welcomed by academics and researchers working in the fields of development studies, development economics, political economy and international public management as well as policymakers working for government agencies and NGOs in developing countries.
This is a book on the basics of mathematics and computation and their uses in economics for modern day students and practitioners. The reader is introduced to the basics of numerical analysis as well as the use of computer programs such as Matlab and Excel in carrying out involved computations. Sections are devoted to the use of Maple in mathematical analysis. Examples drawn from recent contributions to economic theory and econometrics as well as a variety of end of chapter exercises help to illustrate and apply the presented concepts.
not gentle to the capitalists" (Schumpeter, 1991). Thus, by instead portraying the conflict between entreprenuerial activity and the sociology of the modern state, he came quite close to the analysis carried out by Thorstein Veblen some decades earlier, who emphasized the conflict between p- gressive technology and the institutions of a contemporary "predatory dynastic State of early modern times, superficially altered by a suffusion of democratic and parliamentary institutions" (Veblen, 1964, p. 398). Modern neo-Schumpeterian approaches have continued to build on this groundwork provided by their master. During recent years there has been a great upsurge of discussion on technology, innovations, technological regimes, etc. from the dynamic perspective provided by Schumpeter (Dosi, 1984, Rosegger, 1985; Dosi et al., 1988). Thus the search process for (t- poral) extra profits has been stressed and has been used for modelling attempts. The wider institutional framework for technological change and innovation activity has also been strongly developed more recently. Hence emphasis has grown in the study of technological and industrial regimes, path dependency, and the network approach, developed recently, that social relationships structure the opportunities and constraints that face firms and agents that, for example, carry out innovations (Snehota, 1990).
This thoroughly revised and updated second edition provides a comprehensive guide to Post Keynesian methodology, theory and policy prescriptions. The Companion reflects the challenges posed by the global financial crisis that began in 2008 and by the consolidation of the New Neoclassical Synthesis in macroeconomic theory. There are 41 entirely new entries, marking the emergence of a new generation of Post Keynesian scholars. The central issues that were dealt with in the first edition remain at the core of the book, but much more attention is paid in this second edition to financial markets, to Post Keynesian economics outside its traditional Anglo-American heartland and to gender issues and environmental policy. Including major theoretical, methodological and policy issues in Post Keynesian economics, this enriching Companion will strongly appeal to postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students in economics as well as related social science disciplines including international political economy, international relations, politics, public policy and sociology. Contributors: A. Altuzarra, P. Arestis, T. Asada, A. Barba, T. Baskoy, J. Bibow, S. Blankenburg, R.A. Blecker, H. Bloch, A. Brown, D. Bunting, F.J. Cardim de Carvalho, V. Chick, J. Cornwall, W. Cornwall, J. Courvisanos, C. Danby, F. Dantas, P. Davidson, L.F. De Paula, D. Dequech, S.C. Dow, P. Downward, S. Dullien, S.P. Dunn, A.K. Dutt, S. Fazzari, F. Ferrari-Filho, B. Fine, G. Fontana, M. Forstater, G. Fujii, R. Garnett, B. Gerrard, M. Glickman, G.C. Gu, G.C. Harcourt, J.T. Harvey, M. Hayes, E. Hein, J.F. Henry, G. Hewitson, M.C. Howard, P. Howells, T. Jefferson, J. Jespersen, T.-H. Jo, D.W. Katzner, S. Keen, S. Kelton, J.E. King, P. Kriesler, M. Lavoie, J. Leclaire, F.S. Lee, J. Lodewijks, M.C. Marcuzzo, J.S.L. McCombie, E.J. McKenna, A. Mearman, J. Melmies, W. Mitchell, G. Mongiovi, T. Mott, T. Mouakil, Y. Nersisyan, J.W. Nevile, T. Niechoj, R. O'Donnell, P.A. O'Hara, A. Pacella, T.I. Palley, G. Palma, C. Panico, S.D. Parsons, N. Perry, M. Pivetti, R. Pollin, S. Pressman, J. Priewe, A. Razmi, R. Realfonzo, C. Rider, L.-P. Rochon, C.J. Rodriguez-Fuentes, S. Rossi, C. Sardoni, M. Sawyer, R.H. Scott III, M. Setterfield, N. Shapiro, H.J. Sherman, P. Skott, J. Smithin, E. Stockhammer, R. Studart, P.R. Tcherneva, A.P. Thirlwall, Z. Todorova, J. Toporowski, G. Tortorella Esposito, A.B. Trigg, E. Tymoigne, L. Ussher, T. Van Treeck, A. Vercelli, M. Vernengo, M. Watts, E. Webster, A. Winnett, M.H. Wolfson, L.R. Wray, D.C. Zannoni
Economic Theory and Reality presents Tibor Scitovsky's latest thinking on the relationship between economic theory and economic reality. This volume features discussion of many of the important theoretical contributions made to economics over the last 40 years including the Keynesian revolution and the ideas of Lerner, Steindl, Hirsch, Frank and many others who extended and enhanced the economist's toolbox.Professor Scitovsky's attempt to make economic theory more realistic and thereby more useful is the subject of the first part of the volume which includes his work on the necessity of asymmetric markets, some market power and righteous behaviour as conditions of a progressive and properly functioning market economy. The second major theme is the shortcomings of the real-world economy and, in particular, its failure to maintain macroequilibrium, price stability and full employment. This part includes examinations of inflexible wages and prices, excessive claims, positional goods, and the impact of second-hand markets on the macroeconomy. Economic Theory and Reality improves access to Professor Scitovsky's most important recent work, much of which was originally published either in foreign languages or outside the mainstream literature. As well as improving our understanding of his approach to economics and the contributions which he has made to scholarship, this book addresses key questions about the relevance of economic theory and its future direction.
Keynes's personality was fixed by the clash between Moorean values - other-worldliness, idealism, pacifism - and Keynes's own nature which craved and attained worldly success, wealth and social influence and approbation. The result was an 'existential' outlook that caused him to become particularly sensitive to the human condition, to human suffering and to real concern. Accordingly, Keynes came to see the world through human, down-to-earth, social nd psychological categories, which were opposed to the 'devine' Platonism of classical economics. This book is thus opposed to the recent probability-based interpretations of Keynes's mature work.
Taiwan, the Republic of China, has been striving to reform its financial system, and in the process, become a financial power, both regionally within the Pacific Rim of Asia, and, globally, given the rapidly increasing economic and financial significance of this area. In a unique book written from an interdisciplinary and well-balanced legal, financial and economics perspective that is both theoretical and practical, Semkow comprehensively analyzes and discusses the scope and direction financial and capital market reform has taken in Taiwan, and its implications for existing and newly emerging financial institutions in Taiwan and elsewhere. Having introduced the problems underlying and the significance of Taiwanese financial reform, the author provides a thorough overview of the entire spectrum of existing and newly-emerging domestic and international financial institutions within Taiwan, and the various financial regulators, including the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of China, and the regulatory framework through which both financial institutions and regulators operate. The author examines in detail the various financial markets, including the financial, money, offshore banking, foreign exchange and securities (equity, debt and derivative) markets, and the major recent and imminent legislative and regulatory initiatives undertaken to reform these markets and elevate Taiwan's status as a regional, and by implication, a global financial center. This book will provide both foreign and Taiwanese financial, legal, business, and public policy and academic communities interested in Asian and Taiwanese business and finance an invaluable legal and financial guide to the rapidly emerging and increasing significance of Taiwanese banking and finance in this decade and into the next century.
The book assesses the most exciting experiment in modern economic history - the German currency union of 1990 - on three levels. Firstly the international consequences are analysed utilising different paradigms of monetary theory. These controversial results lead to a closer look at the relationship between monetary policy and production in Germany, and thirdly, the book concludes with a reconsideration of the old economic question, whether money matters, applied to the German case.
Cooperative game theory is a booming research area with many new developments in the last few years. So, our main purpose when prep- ing the second edition was to incorporate as much of these new dev- opments as possible without changing the structure of the book. First, this o?ered us the opportunity to enhance and expand the treatment of traditional cooperative games, called here crisp games, and, especially, that of multi-choice games, in the idea to make the three parts of the monograph more balanced. Second, we have used the opportunity of a secondeditiontoupdateandenlargethelistofreferencesregardingthe threemodels of cooperative games. Finally, we have bene?ted fromthis opportunity by removing typos and a few less important results from the ?rst edition of the book, and by slightly polishing the English style and the punctuation, for the sake of consistency along the monograph. The main changes are: (1) Chapter 3 contains an additional section, Section 3. 3, on the - erage lexicographic value, which is a recent one-point solution concept de?ned on the class of balanced crisp games. (2) Chapter 4 is new. It o?ers a brief overview on solution c- cepts for crisp games from the point of view of egalitarian criteria, and presents in Section 4. 2 a recent set-valued solution concept based on egalitarian considerations, namely the equal split-o? set. (3)Chapter5isbasicallyanenlargedversionofChapter4ofthe?rst edition because Section 5. 4 dealing with the relation between convex games and clan games with crisp coalitions is new.
An examination of the future of economic policy in the next millennium, assessing the reasons for the shift to a more sceptical view of the role of government given the power of the financial markets and the impact of globalization. These contributions from within the political economy tradition emphasise the important lessons from the past about the varieties of forms of capitalism, the importance of public institutions and public policy and the limitations of the rival laissez-faire approach. The dangers of an unregulated and powerful financial sector for the real side of the economy are a particular focus of attention. Proposals to rectify the shortcomings of financial markets and shift the focus of policy to a greater concern for the poor and excluded are put forward. The message to the economic policy-makers of the future is that markets perform valuable economic and social functions, but perform these better when appropriately regulated and controlled.
This is the first book-length work to integrate the insights of cognitive science fully into economics. It reviews a wide range of related work in both fields and proposes new approaches to choice theory, rationality, and interaction (equilibrium) that are consistent with the limited cognitive capacity of real human beings. While joining with neoclassical economics in supporting the validity of supply-and-demand theory where it is literally applicable, McCain challenges most neoclassical theory, especially monopoly, oligopoly, and general equilibrium theory and welfare economics. His work aims to further and unite recent notions of behavioral and social economics. This important work will be of interest to behavioral, social, and Keynesian economists, as well as other social scientists and philosophers interested in economic phenomena.
Privatising firms and liberalizing their market environment generates in Eastern Europe a variety of problems, many of which are not common to the analogous attempts in industries countries. A first difference between the two experiences resides in establishing the value of the firm or of the assets that are being privatized. A second main difference concerns the lack of the record of market performance for the firm. The book explores these open questions through an overview of on-going and proposed processes in Section 1. In Section 2 theoretical foundations of privatization processes are proposed with respect to the financial market, industrial relations and foreign trade. A final key question is faced in Section 3: 'is there any alternative to privatization?'
This volume features 15 contributors who argue that technical change can fruitfully be interpreted as an institutionally-structured learning process. These essays show that the analysis of knowledge-generating institutions - including firms, industries, patenting systems and occupations - provides insights into the pace, direction and persistence of technological change. The authors use these insights to both reshape economic theory, and reinterpret the economic development of Britain, the United States, Germany and Japan. Other titles by Ross Thomson includes "The Path to Mechanized Shoe Production in the United States", "Business and Economic History", " The Journal of Economic History", "The New Palgrave", "Social Concept" and "Technology and Culture". |
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