This book reviews the key policy debates during the post-crash era, describing the issues that policymakers grappled with, the decisions that they took and the details of the policy instruments that were created. Focusing specifically on issues in monetary and fiscal policy, chapters demonstrate that very little that was done during this period conformed to the simple textbook treatment of macroeconomic policy: central banks cutting policy rates or finance ministers cutting the rate of income tax. The author guides the reader through the revolution in the conduct of macroeconomic policy in an engaging and approachable manner, and illuminates the key innovations in the toolkit and themes in the debate over past years with great detail, from negative rates to quantitative easing, and from austerity versus financial repression, restructuring and default to productivity puzzles and deflation.

This book questions whether it is possible for globalization to be reversed and constructs a model for anticipating this potential development in future years. The first part focuses on the preliminary problems of globalization, constructing a model (or index) of its various phases of evolution. It then goes on to consider four problems which represent the principle worries of middles classes when considering globalization: terrorism, inequality, immigration and political representation. It depicts a scenario for the coming years in which globalization may slow down, or fall back altogether, taking care to describe the mechanism whereby either situation would happen.

This book analyzes evolution of monetary policy in Rwanda since it was first implemented by the National Bank of Rwanda in 1964 when the bank was established. It contributes to the understanding of monetary policy which is formulation and implementation in different stages of development of a financial system that comprises the financial market (money market and capital market), financial intermediaries such as commercial banks, and the financial sector infrastructures such as payment systems and the credit reference bureau. The book breaks down applied empirical research on the assessment of key assumptions of a monetary targeting framework, namely the stability of money multiplier and money demand using econometrics of time series, through a number of case studies. Presenting a detailed empirical analysis of the monetary transmission mechanism, one of the most analyzed topics in central banks in advanced economies, this book is a valuable read for central bankers and other researchers of monetary policy, particularly in developing economies.

This book provides fresh insights into concepts, methods and new research findings on the causes of excessive food price volatility. It also discusses the implications for food security and policy responses to mitigate excessive volatility. The approaches applied by the contributors range from on-the-ground surveys, to panel econometrics and innovative high-frequency time series analysis as well as computational economics methods. It offers policy analysts and decision-makers guidance on dealing with extreme volatility.

This book refutes prevailing theories that attribute post-1950 state per capita income convergence to (1) neo-classical adjustment mechanisms, (2) institutional sclerosis, and (3) southern industrialization. Wheat and Crown argue that southern income was low because of slavery's legacy--sharecropping, agricultural dependence, low urbanization, poor education, high Black population percentages, and low wage rates. The legacy's dominant feature was the sharecropper-tenant farmer system, which replaced slavery. Sharecropping was the foundation of southern poverty. Sharecropping's collapse, beginning around 1950, affected all of the other features of slavery's legacy. For example, millions of sharecroppers out-migrated from the South, shifting poverty to the North and lowering the South's Black percentage. This out-migration, white in-migration, and the civil rights movement jointly raised educational attainment in the South, further boosting southern income. Southern industrialization had only a marginally significant effect. In 1950's high income region, the West, the transport cost element in the price of manufactured goods shrank because of (1) transportation improvements and (2) rapid manufacturing growth, which reduced the need for long distance imports from the Manufacturing Belt. The resulting decline in the West's relative cost of living led to wage adjustments. Consequently, the West--despite having the highest manufacturing growth rates--had the nation's lowest per-capita income growth rates. Agricultural decline and educational gains stimulated income growth in the Plains. Nationally, per-capita employment gains were a strong influence.

This book presents selected papers from the 30th Eurasia Business and Economics Society (EBES) Conferences, held in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). The theoretical and empirical papers gathered here cover diverse areas of business, economics and finance in various geographic regions, including not only topics from HR, management, finance, marketing but also contributions on public economics, political economy and regional studies.

This volume presents contributions that analyse the extraordinary impact of digital technology on business, services, and the production of value in many sectors of the economy. At the heart of this book is the fact that the entire digital economy is now worth almost 6% of global GDP, and it continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. The volume covers the general debate on taxation and the digital economy with the chapters by Russo, Makiyama and Boccia, before completing the analysis with discussion of three national case studies covering the U.S. (Pagano), U.K. (Leonardi) and Italy (Boccia and Leonardi). Contributors are leading experts in the fields of taxation and the digital economy and contextualise the key issues surrounding the digitalisation of the economy from an international perspective.

Kula contends that conventional time-dependent theories in welfare economics are based on the unwarranted assumption that people live forever, an assumption that underpins the criteria for many decision-making activities and one that leads public sector policy makers to discriminate against future generations. It is seen in its most extreme in decision making on such long-term projects as nuclear power facilities, whose effects will be visited upon many future generations. How did this assumption gain currency and influence? Kula says, this oddity has been imposed by mathematical economists who now dominate the scene. Kula aggressively challenges these theories, which he alleges are untrue and unjust, provides an alternative method for discounting, and shows how its application can yield dramatically positive results. His book is thus a unique, important contribution to the theory and practice of decision making in public endeavors, intended not only for academics but equally for their practitioner colleagues in all parts of the world.

Kula corrects the conventional theory by assuming societal models in which individuals are mortal and generations overlap. From this emerges a new discounting theory which leads to outcomes that are dramatically different from the old ones. The new criterion is called modified discounting, and can be readily applied to real-life projects. In Part I, Kula lays out his theory and constructs the new decision-making method, in which public policy makers accept the proposition that all generations ought to be treated equitably. Then, in Part II, he provides five case studies to illustrate his theory, each devoted to major public activities such as nuclear waste disposal, forestry, agriculture, and urban transport, and based on experiences in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.

This book collects selected articles addressing several currently debated issues in the field of international macroeconomics. They focus on the role of the central banks in the debate on how to come to terms with the long-term decline in productivity growth, insufficient aggregate demand, high economic uncertainty and growing inequalities following the global financial crisis. Central banks are of considerable importance in this debate since understanding the sluggishness of the recovery process as well as its implications for the natural interest rate are key to assessing output gaps and the monetary policy stance. The authors argue that a more dynamic domestic and external aggregate demand helps to raise the inflation rate, easing the constraint deriving from the zero lower bound and allowing monetary policy to depart from its current ultra-accommodative position. Beyond macroeconomic factors, the book also discusses a supportive financial environment as a precondition for the rebound of global economic activity, stressing that understanding capital flows is a prerequisite for economic-policy decisions.

The authors and editors of this book challenge traditional assumptions about economic growth, and develop the elements of a reoriented macroeconomics that takes account both of environmental impacts and social equity. Policies including carbon trading, revenue recycling, and reorientation of private and social investment are analyzed, providing insight into new paths for economic development with flat or negative carbon emissions. These issues will be crucial to macroeconomic and development policies in the twenty-first century.What are the likely economic effects of climate change? What are the costs of substantial action to avert climate change? What economic policies can be effective in responding to climate change? The debate has broad implications for public policy. However, it also raises fundamental questions about economic analysis itself, and moves issues of environmental policy from the microeconomic to the macroeconomic level. Taking global climate change seriously requires a re-examination of macroeconomic goals. Economic growth has been closely linked to expanded use of energy, primarily fossil fuels. The assumption of continuing economic growth, in turn, leads economists to discount future costs, including the generational impacts of climate change. Challenging conventional concepts of growth implies different development paths both for rich and poor nations. This volume brings together contributions from scholars around the world to address these issues. Scholars, researchers and students of economics and development studies along with policymakers and non-governmental organizations will find this insightful book of great interest.

This volume comprises papers presented at the 8th international conference "The Economies of the Balkan and Eastern European Countries in the Changing World" (EBEEC) held in Split, Croatia in 2016. The papers cover a wide range of current issues relevant for the whole of Eastern Europe, such as European integration, economic growth, labour markets, education and tourism. Written by experienced researchers in the field of economic challenges for Eastern Europe, the papers not only analyse recent problems, but also offer policies to resolve them. Furthermore, they offer insights into the theoretical and empirical foundations of the economic processes described. The proceedings of the conference appeals to all those interested in the further economic development of the Balkan and Eastern European countries.

This book explores the US economy from 1960 to 2010 using a more Keynsian, Cowles model approach, which the author argues has substantial advantages over the vector autoregression (VAR) and dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models used almost exclusively today. Heim presents a robust argument in favor of the Cowles model as an answer to the pressing, unresolved methodological question of how to accurately model the macroeconomy so that policymakers can reliably use these models to assist their decision making. Thirty-eight behavioral equations, describing determinants of variables such as consumption, taxes, and government spending, are connected by eighteen identities to construct a comprehensive model of the real US economy that Heim then tests across four different time periods to ensure that results are consistent. This comprehensive demonstration of the value of a long-ignored model provides overwhelming evidence that the more Keynesian (Cowles) structural models outperform VAR and DSGE, and therefore should be the models of choice in future macroeconomic studies.

This book examines the global and domestic factors that have influenced the decline of South African manufacturing. Quantitative and econometric techniques are used to analyse the macroeconomic conditions that derive improved performance within the manufacturing sector. Empirical evidence is used to set out policy recommendations that would allow the South African National Development Plan to meet its objectives. This books aims to bring together analysis of industrial policy, competition policy, and merger remedies to produce a framework on how to preserve a competitive environment and support output, investment, and employment growth. It is relevant to those interested in African, development, and labour economics.

This book investigates the South African business cycle and its links to structural change in the economy. Against the backdrop of the democratic transition in 1994 and the global financial crisis, the authors study how business cycles in South Africa have changed and how cycles are related to key developments in the financial markets, international trade and business sentiment in the country. By focusing on peaks and troughs in economic activity - so-called 'turning-point cycles' - the book links up with the common approach of international policymakers to studying fluctuations in economic activity. The authors also introduce new approaches to measuring phases of the business cycle (to understand slow recoveries after the global crisis), provide comprehensive descriptions to complement quantitative analyses, and utilize new data sources that allow the measurement of economic activity over longer periods. As such, the book provides the first integrated overview of business cycles in an emerging market, providing academics and policymakers with a better understanding of the measurement challenges and drivers of the cycle.

Beyond Conventional Economics: Selected Works of E Ray Canterbery presents a collation of Canterbery's many contributions to economics. This volume marks the first time that his complete works have been presented, with the scope of the works ranging from microeconomics and macroeconomics to history of thought and methodology. If there is one theme that connects the contributions, it is Canterbery's long-abiding concern with the income and wealth distributions. They are front-and-center in his microeconomics, macroeconomics, history of thought, and even some of his theories of foreign exchange and speculation. Persona who appear in these pages include Abba Lerner, Harry Johnson, Hyman Minsky, Michal Kalecki, Pierro Sraffa, Kenneth Boulding, John Rawls, Robert Nozick, Alfred Eichner, Thorstein Veblen, John Kenneth Galbraith, Joan Robinson, Ayn Rand, Ronald Coase, Lester Thurow, Sven Arnt, and H Peter Gray. Canterbery's policy ideas still have relevance today, as some have been adopted worldwide. For example, in foreign exchange, his delayed peg has been utilitzed in countries that shy away from completely 'free' exchange rates. His criticism of monetary policy decision-making contributed to the idea of more frequent reporting on changes in the federal funds rate.

Developing countries comprise a two-thirds majority of the membership of the World Trade Organization, with nearly 30 of these classed by the UN as being among the 48 least-developed countries in the world. In order to ensure the equitable participation of these countries in the benefits of the global trading system, the GATT Uruguay Round Agreements that created the WTO accorded special and differential treatment to developing countries. This guide covers these provisions of the WTO Agreements, with detailed information on how developing countries can benefit from special rules governing such areas as; access to developed country markets in all major commodities and services, the dispute settlement process, trade policy review, foreign direct investment, environmental and labour standards, and technical assistance. The Guide also offers the reader case studies on how some developing country members of the WTO (Uganda, India, and Cote d'Ivoire) are making progress in working with the obligations and the benefits provided to them by the WTO Agreements.

Using quantitative research, this volume investigates the characteristics, problems and trends of the automobile society in China's mega cities and large cities. It also addresses topics related to cars and cities, traffic safety and cars' consumption. China has experienced more than 30 years of rapid economic development, and people's living conditions have greatly improved. One of the symbols of this is family-car ownership, which has increased year by year. China is rapidly becoming an automobile society like North America. But China has huge population and limited urban space, and most of the cities are deteriorating environmentally. Added to this are the low degree energy self-sufficiency and people's lack of awareness of traffic rules, all of which have brought various social problems, such as traffic congestion, lack of parking spaces, air pollution, energy shortage and frequent accidents. The volume presents a series of studies examining the characteristics and problems of China's automobile society development from the perspective of sustainable development. The reports in the volume are both academic and highly readable, making it an interesting resource for researchers and general readers alike. It offers insights into the trends and problems of private cars in China, as well as observations on China's social change through the unique medium of cars.

This book presents selected papers from the 32nd Eurasia Business and Economics Society (EBES) Conference - Istanbul. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the conference presentation mode has been switched to "online/virtual presentation only". The theoretical and empirical papers gathered here cover diverse areas of business, economics and finance in various geographic regions, including not only topics from HR, management, finance, marketing but also contributions on public economics, political economy and regional studies.

Focusing on the international dimension of macroeconomic policy, this handbook covers the main areas of modern macroeconomic policy in open economies. The emphasis is on policy applications rather than the development of economic theory. There are three basic goals: (1) an understanding of how economic theories affect actual policy making, (2) a description of the institutional and conceptual development of the international economy, and (3) an explanation of the way policy-making institutions deal with the so-called international economy. The handbook consists of an introductory chapter and four parts. The first treats macroeconomic policy-making from the home country versus the rest of the world perspective. The second part stresses policies among interacting and reacting countries. The third part considers the development of world capital markets and the international monetary system as important parts of the policy environment. The final part details macroeconomic policies in the G7 and Latin American countries.

This study examines the process of capital accumulation at the level of the business firm, linking it to the macro-level of the world-economy as explicated by Hopkins and Wallerstein. Focusing upon the timber industry in the nineteenth century, and using primary archival material, the work analyzes how capital operates in the resource sector in the world-economy. The purpose is to refine further our understanding of capitalism as a mode of social organization and production, and in the process, refine contemporary theories of social change. In terms of coverage, the book addresses the timber industry over the course of the nineteenth century and provides an historical reconstruction of that industry. Its primary focus, however, is on the main features of timber and lumber production as a process of capital accumulation. The study will be of interest to scholars of social change and economic transformation, economic history, and political sociology.

This textbook equips instructors and students with an overview of the existing literature so that the latter can attain an overall understanding of macroeconomic and microeconomic public finance. The literature on public finance has grown dramatically with theoretical studies and empirical analysis, and much of the focus has been on macroeconomic effects of public services. The standard textbook offerings, however, are mainly restricted to microeconomic topics of public finance. This text intends to fill this gap by presenting a theoretical-based, comprehensive explanation of public finance. Particular emphasis is directed at developing tools that can be applied theoretically and empirically to clarify essential economic concerns in the current public sector in advanced countries, including Japan. Such concerns include the macroeconomic effect of fiscal policy, the dependence on bonds for covering government deficits, and social security reform. The main text explains the standard concepts of public finance, and the appendix offers various advanced topics. The material will facilitate an understanding of how to investigate changes in the public sector, interpret results, and basically do research on fiscal policy. The textbook will be of value to a broad range of course offerings, including those generally focused on fiscal policy, on social security reform and on tax reform.