Hong Kong is among the richest cities in the world. Yet over the past 15 years, living conditions for the average family have deteriorated. Successive governments have been reluctant to invest in services for the elderly, the disabled, the long-term sick, and the poor, while education has become more elitist. The political system has helped to entrench a mistaken consensus that social spending is a threat to financial stability. In this trenchant attack on government mismanagement, Leo Goodstadt traces how officials have created a 'new poverty' in Hong Kong and argues that their misguided policies are both a legacy of the colonial era and a deliberate choice by modern governments, and not the result of economic crises.

The Arab world increasingly falls into two divisions, the capital-poor and the capital-rich countries (where capital means, in essence, oil). In the capital-rich countries shortage of labour is the chief constraint on growth. In the capital-poor countries analysis of the labour market is equally central, as shortage of labour compounds the already existing problem of shortage of capital. This book surveys the labour markets of the Arab world state by state, evaluating them by demand and supply analysis, and analysing the different elements in trends of employment. It forecasts the areas of stress in the next decade and suggests ways of minimising them. The book, based on much previously unpublished information and on extensive on-the-spot research in the respective Arab countries, sets out the economic and social conditions which underly the impending crisis of development in the Arab region. First published in 1980.

Constructing Neoliberalism presents a rich analysis of the shift to neoliberal economic policies in four Anglo-American democracies - Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand - over the course of the 1980s and 1990s. This period witnessed a dramatic shift away from traditional post-war consensus policies of active state economic intervention, public ownership, and full employment toward those informed by an ideological commitment to deregulation, privatization, entrepreneurialism, and freer trade. Jonathan Swarts argues that this transformation was not simply a marginal adjustment in existing economic policies, but rather the result of political elites seeking to reshape what he calls their societies' "political-economic imaginaries." Swarts demonstrates that this shift cut across traditional party lines, and that in all four cases, the result was a new set of intersubjective norms about appropriate economic policies, the role of the state in the economy, the expectations and aspirations of citizens, and the very nature of an advanced industrial democracy in a globalizing world.

Economists and bankers have long been much maligned individuals; but never more so than in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis. Working as an economist for various financial institutions, for more than 25 years Russell Jones had a foot in both camps, plying his trade in a number of global financial centres and points in between, and experiencing at first hand the extraordinary ebb and flow of an industry that came to exert a disproportionate influence on the lives of almost everyone on the planet. In the process, he met some remarkable people, witnessed dramatic shifts in the balance of global economic and political power, explored in detail the labyrinthine complexities involved in managing modern day macroeconomies, and observed all the arrogance, hubris and day-to-day absurdities of an industry that was in effect allowed to run out of control. It was quite a ride. And not one without its moments of pathos and humour.

Neoliberal economic theories are powerful because their domestic translators make them go local, hybridizing global scripts with local ideas. This does not mean that all local translations shape policy, however. External constraints and translators' access to cohesive policy institutions filter what kind of neoliberal hybrids become policy reality. By comparing the moderate neoliberalism that prevails in Spain with the more radical one that shapes policy thinking in Romania, Ruling Ideas explains why neoliberal hybrids take the forms that they do and how they survive crises. Cornel Ban contributes to the literature by showing that these different varieties of neoliberalism depend on what competing ideas are available locally, on the networks of actors who serve as the local advocates of neoliberalism, and on their vulnerability to external coercion. Ruling Ideas covers an extended historical period, starting with the Franco period in Spain and the Ceausescu period in Romania, discusses the economic integration of these countries into the EU, and continues through Europe's Great Recession and the European debt crisis. The broad historical coverage enables a careful analysis of how neoliberalism rules in times of stability and crisis and under different political systems.

The idea that Brazil, Russia, India and China (The 'BRICs') are the economic stars of our times is now widely accepted. Jim O'Neill now introduces us to four new rising stars in the economic firmament: the 'MINT' countries (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey). However, the struggling 'old' developed nations have still not adjusted to the challenges posed by the new world order. This book looks closely at the role of China in this new order, and in particular at its influential role in Africa where more nations are beginning to emerge as significant economic players to be reckoned with. What is the scale of South-South trade and, crucially, how is this new aspect of globalization being accommodated in global economic governance? How should the world engage with the new economic powerhouses?

As most Americans know, conflicts of interest riddle the US health care system. They result from physicians practicing medicine as entrepreneurs, from physicians' ties to pharma, and from investor-owned firms and insurers' influence over physicians' medial choices. These conflicts raise questions about physicians' loyalty to their patients and their professional and economic independence. The consequences of such conflicts of interest are often devastating for the patients--and society--stuck in the middle.
In Conflicts of Interest and the Future of Medicine, Marc Rodwin examines the development of these conflicts in the US, France, and Japan. He shows that national differences in the organization of medical practice and the interplay of organized medicine, the market, and the state give rise to variations in the type and prevalence of such conflicts. He then analyzes the strategies that each nation employs to cope with them.
Unfortunately, many proposals to address physicians' conflicts of interest do not offer solutions that stick. But drawing on the experiences of these three nations, Rodwin demonstrates that we can mitigate these problems with carefully planned reform and regulation. He examines a range of measures that can be taken in the private and public sector to preserve medical professionalism--and concludes that there just might be more than one prescription to this seemingly incurable malady.

Inclusive Growth in Australia overturns two decades of assumptions that social policy is wasteful and a source of dependency. It reflects a global resurgence of the understanding that an active and effective social policy regime is vital not only for a flourishing society, but also for a strong economy. It explains this new paradigm of inclusive growth and shows how it can be implemented in Australia.Inclusive growth dismantles the idea that social development will automatically trickle down from untrammelled market based growth. Rather, growth must be managed so that it is employment centred, broad based across sectors and with a social security system promoting sustainability and equality of opportunity. The editors argue that productivity is 'nearly everything' when it comes to raising living standards. So while social policies will be about goals other than the economy, they must demonstrate their compatibility with an economic growth strategy.With contributions from leading national and international experts in the field including Marian Baird, Grant Belchamber, Gerald Burke, Saul Eslake, Roy Green and Peter Whiteford, Inclusive Growth in Australia shows that 'welfare state' spending is as much an economic investment as a measure of social protection. Written for policy makers, industry and NGOs as well as students, Inclusive Growth in Australia locates Australian economic and social policy within the most important emergent themes shaping international debate.

Urban and regional economics encompasses both the economics of geography and spatial economics to focus on the growth, behaviour, and economic performance of cities and regions. Over the last two decades, urban and regional economics has grown dramatically?both as a taught subject and as an active research area?and as work in the subdiscipline flourishes as never before, this new four-volume collection from Routledge meets the need for an authoritative reference work to make sense of the subject's vast literature and the continuing explosion in research output.

The collection, part of Routledge's Critical Concepts in Economics series, is edited by Philip McCann, author of the leading textbook in the field. He has carefully organized the collection to give users not only a thorough understanding of current ideas, but also a detailed exploration of the origin and development of these critical concepts to situate them within a number of rich analytical research traditions.

Urban and Regional Economics is fully indexed and includes a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editor. It is an essential collection destined to be valued by urban and regional economists?and those working in cognate areas?as a vital research resource.

In this book, Miguel Basanez presents a provocative look at the impact of culture on global development. Drawing on data from governments, NGOs, the World Values Survey and more addressing over one hundred countries, he argues that values, as the "building blocks" of culture, are directly related to the speed with which social, cultural and economic development occurs. Basanez utilizes quantitative survey data to delineate three cultural hyperclusters across the globe: cultures of honor, which prioritize political authority; cultures of achievement, which emphasize economic advancement; and cultures of joy, which focus on social interactions. According to Basanez, these cultures evolved chronologically, mirroring the development of agrarian, industrial and service societies. He argues that a country's developmental path is profoundly influenced by its people's values and culture, as crystallized through its formal and informal governing institutions. Culture is passed down over generations through families, schools, the media, religious institutions, leadership, and the law. Although culture and values are in a permanent state of evolution, leaders and policymakers can also push cultural change in order to promote desirable goals such as economic growth, democratization, and equality. Over the course of the book, Basanez introduces two new measures of development: the Objective Development Index (which blends rubrics such as health, education, income, gender equality, political rights and civil liberties, and economic inequality) and the Subjective Development Index (which uses responses to the World Values Survey to classify countries according to their values).

Routledge Library Editions: Development will re-issue works which address economic, political and social aspects of development. Published over more than four decades these books trace the emergence of development as one of the most important contemporary issues and one of the key areas of study for modern social science. The books cover the most important themes within development and include studies of Latin America, Africa and Asia. Authors include Sir Alexander Cairncross, W. Arthur Lewis, Lord Peter Bauer and Cristobal Kay. An extensive collection of previously hard to access or out of print books, this set presents an unrivalled opportunity to build up a wealth of material in the field of development studies, with a particular focus upon economic and political concerns. The volumes in the collection offer both a global overview of the history of development in the twentieth century, and a huge variety of case studies on the development of individual nations. For institutional purchases for e-book sets please contact [email protected] (customers in the UK, Europe and Rest of World)

Routledge Library Editions: Development will re-issue works which address economic, political and social aspects of development. Published over more than four decades these books trace the emergence of development as one of the most important contemporary issues and one of the key areas of study for modern social science. The books cover the most important themes within development and include studies of Latin America, Africa and Asia. Authors include Sir Alexander Cairncross, W. Arthur Lewis, Lord Peter Bauer and Cristobal Kay. An extensive collection of previously hard to access or out of print books, this set presents an unrivalled opportunity to build up a wealth of material in the field of development studies, with a particular focus upon economic and political concerns. The volumes in the collection offer both a global overview of the history of development in the twentieth century, and a huge variety of case studies on the development of individual nations. For institutional purchases for e-book sets please contact [email protected] (customers in the UK, Europe and Rest of World)

Mini-set A:History re-issues 10 volumes originally published between 1902 and 1984 and examines the legacy of British control in Persia and the origins of the conflict between Iran & Iraq. For institutional purchases for e-book sets please contact [email protected] (customers in the UK, Europe and Rest of World)

Mini-set D:Politics and Sociology re-issues 13 volumes originally published between 1977 and 1991. It discusses the revolution in Iran and what that has meant for the wider region of the Persian Gulf in terms of stability and relations with other countries, as well as issues of poverty in Iran and the position of minorities. For institutional purchases for e-book sets please contact [email protected] (customers in the UK, Europe and Rest of World)