In the face of globalization, workers feel less secure in their jobs and fear wage losses and unemployment. This book explores these issues, asking whether the concerns are warranted.It brings together recent work in an important and rapidly expanding area. It provides comprehensive coverage of both theoretical and empirical aspects. It takes popular concerns about globalization seriously.Although economists have long pointed to the aggregate gains from increased economic integration, the popular perception of globalization is much more pessimistic.

Kristi A. Olson asks: What is a fair income distribution? She rejects equal income shares: equal pay undercompensates workers in dangerous and onerous jobs. The envy test, which takes both income and work into account, fares better. Yet, a distribution in which no one prefers someone else's circumstances to her own-as the envy test requires-is unlikely to exist, and even when it does exist, the normative connection between envy and fairness has not been established. After critiquing existing answers, Olson invokes the idea of mutual justifiability: when someone claims that her situation should be improved at someone else's expense, she must be able to give a reason that cannot be reasonably rejected by a free and equal individual who regards everyone else as the same. To give the answer bite, Olson distinguishes two types of envy. Reasons based on personal envy can be reasonably rejected; reasons based on impersonal envy cannot. Olson then tests the solidarity solution against the theories of Ronald Dworkin, Philippe Van Parijs, and Marc Fleurbaey and applies it directly to the concrete issues of the gender wage gap and taxation. By providing a new approach to problems of fair resource allocation, The Solidarity Solution establishes philosophical discussion as critical to today's fight to end economic injustice.

What actually was the economic situation in 1929 and what happened to the stock market? Harold Bierman's fresh look at the Crash of '29 provides provocative answers that challenge the "facts" and overturn previously held assumptions concerning the catastrophic events that led to ten years of economic depression and very likely created the fertile soil of despair and unrest that ultimately led to World War II. This cogent re-evaluation takes a different tack and arrives at a different set of conclusions than John Kenneth Galbraith's classic overview of the period, The Great Crash. Echoes of the great stock market price declines that ended ten years of the greatest prosperity the U.S. had ever experienced have continued to reverberate down the corridors of history. Bierman believes that a more complete understanding of these past events can enhance current market decisions; that by accurately assessing the stock market crash of 1929-1932, readers can better grasp the present market situation and more wisely forecast the future. Arriving at drastically different conclusions from most widely read books on the subject, the 11-chapter study takes the position that the stock market was not unreasonably high in October of '29, asserting that, in fact, there was reason for optimism. Bierman presents sound explanations for the initial decline that are not dependent on the assumption of overvaluation. He also clarifies the vital distinction between speculation and investment and shows how President Herbert Hoover's "war on speculation" may have contributed to the crash and subsequent depression. The first chapter outlines seven commonly held myths regarding 1929. Other chapters compare the stockmarket and profitability of corporations; attempt to determine whether RCA stock was outrageously overpriced or merely a reasonably priced growth stock; and look at the 1931 banking system hearings. The Mitchell, Wiggin, and Insull affairs are all given new, fact-based twists. Final chapters examine margin buying, probability, and short selling, develop important perspectives on the crash of 1987, and extract valuable lessons to be learned. The book effectively refutes prior notions and replaces them with solidly built, readable explanations that are most relevant to history courses dealing with the period or courses on investment in common stock. Any general reader with an interest in early twentieth century history or in investment will find this a rewarding read.

The world is changing rapidly. The global economic crisis has called into question the political decisions that have been made by all countries for decades and has led to a re-formulation of tools and aims. Adjustments to the new situation are necessary and entail considerable economic and social costs. The Balkan and Black Sea area is an important reference point for the European and global economy. Accordingly, the study of the economic development in the area is of great interest, engaging politicians and scientists alike. Under this framework, the matter of the relation between the area's countries and the E.U., the role of the banking system and the importance of the primary sector of the economy as an important developmental factor for the countries' economies are of great importance. "

A worsening economic crisis due to the shift in wealth over the past decade is the central concern of this carefully documented study. It profiles the current status of income inequality in the United States and discerns disturbing trends for the future. A wealth of data are collected, evaluated, and simplified into a straightforward look at both the economic changes brought on by misguided reforms of the 1980s and a proposed system for measuring income inequality which may help clarify the issues pertinent to the debate.

Folke Dovring perceives the current U.S. economy as an imminent threat to our democratic system, and urges increased awareness of the variables which will effect its return to a healthy state of balance where income inequality, necessary to a certain degree, sustains productivity and individual incentives. A general overview of the facts and problems associated with income distribution, viewed from historical, geographical, and sociological perspectives, establishes the study's priorities, and is followed by the development of criteria which can more accurately estimate the nature and extent of income inequality, moving the study closer to recommendations for systematic public policy which may promote continued economic growth. The urgency with which Dovring addresses this topic and the thoroughness of his presentation will compel scholars and policymakers, especially those interested in poverty economics, to give immediate attention to the issue of economic inequality through informed, meaningful discussion.

In this groundbreaking new study, Clements assesses the impact of alternative foreign trade strategies--export promotion and import substitution--on employment and income distribution in Brazil. The first work to evaluate specifically the impact of Brazil's foreign trade policies on income distribution, this volume uses a modified input-output technique to assess income distribution questions.

Transition economies offer a test case for concepts and theories, for broader ideas and for the methods of scientific enquiry, but also for the multiplicity of ideological interpretations. Designing the strategies for the transition processes and testing the theories relative to economic, social and political change constitute an unprecedented challenge to intellectual capacity of the scientific community. This volume brings together a team of leading international economists to address the major issues of transformation, institutional design, the redistribution paradigm and the macroeconomic decisions to be made.

This volume analyzes changing patterns of authority in the global political economy with an in-depth look at the new roles played by state and non-state actors, and addresses key themes including the provision of global public goods, new modes of regulation and the potential of new institutions for global governance.

The Chilean economy over the last three decades has been a source of continuous interest and fascination for economists, political scientists and development analysts. Moving from a regime with significant protectionist policies to one with a very open economy, embracing free trade reforms, negotiating multilateral and bilateral agreements, the macroeconomic indicators suggest that the economy has prospered. This book explores the macroeconomic picture, complementing this with detailed sectoral evaluation and an analysis of the impacts at regional level. Evidence suggests an increasing need to drill down from the macroeconomic perspective to explore the degree to which economic development has or has not contributed to reducing disparities in level of welfare across the country.

Macroeconomics: Understanding the Global Economy, 3rd Edition is to help students and indeed anyone understand contemporary and past economic events that shape the world we live in, and at a sophisticated level. But it does so without focusing on mathematical techniques and models for their own sake. Theory is taken seriously so much so that the authors go to pains to understand the key aspects of theories in a way that will not put people off before they see how theories are useful to analyse issues. The authors believe that theories are essential to better understand the world, thus the book includes a wealth of historic and current episodes and data to both see how theories can help interpret the world and also to judge their validity. Economies today are very inter-connected; what happens in China matters pretty much everywhere; and what happens in one (even small) country in the euro zone has implications for the whole euro area and beyond, consequently Macroeconomics, 3rd Edition adopts a very international focus.

This volume collects a selection of refereed papers of the more than one hundred presented at the InternationalConference MAF 2008 - Mathematicaland Statistical Methods for Actuarial Sciences and Finance. The conference was organised by the Department of Applied Mathematics and theDepartment ofStatisticsoftheUniversityCa'Foscari Venice(Italy), withthec- laborationofthe Department ofEconomics and StatisticalSciences ofthe University ofSalerno(Italy).Itwas heldinVenice, fromMarch 26to28,2008, attheprestigious CavalliFranchettipalace, alongGrand Canal, oftheIstitutoVenetodiScienze, Lettere ed Arti. This conference was the ?rst international edition of a biennial national series begunin2004, whichwas bornof thebrilliantbeliefofthe colleagues -and friends- oftheDepartmentofEconomicsandStatisticalSciences oftheUniversityofSalerno: the idea following which the cooperation between mathematicians and statisticians in working in actuarial sciences, in insurance and in ?nance can improve research on these topics. The proof of this consists in the wide participation in these events. In particular, with reference to the 2008 internationaledition: - More than 150 attendants, both academicians and practitioners; - More than 100 accepted communications, organised in 26 parallel sessions, from authors coming from about twenty countries (namely: Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, USA); - two plenary guest-organised sessions; and - aprestigiouskeynotelecturedeliveredbyProfessorWolfgangHa ]rdleoftheH- boldt Universityof Berlin (Germany)

The book "The Greek Economy and the Crisis. Challenges and Responses" targets all those who think about the present and future of this (culturally) long-lived small geographic region (Greece), to form a personal view of its social and economic problems. A society that repeats the same types of behaviour over the centuries does not do so due to random mistakes. It contains intrinsic forces that affect it. These should be understood, to allow us to delineate future developments. However, the manner in which the social and economic process is perceived must be comprehensive and multidisciplinary: Economics, politics, social psychology and organizational psychology are essential to this analysis. Thus, the book is useful to those seeking information for their professional, scientific and personal development, allowing them to shape their social attitude. It is also useful to those responsible for taking decisions at national, European or enterprise level, in relation to the social and economic problems of Greece.

The major industrialized countries are undergoing a significant demographic transition associated with low fertility rates combined with reduced mortality rates. A major consequence of the current transition is that populations are expected to age substantially over the next forty years. This innovative book studies the effects of population ageing with the associated factor of immigration, on social expenditure and public finance. The authors begin by providing an introduction to some of the main issues concerning population ageing and migration. This is followed by a discussion of the demographic and economic aspects of the transition towards an older population which is taking place in the major industrialized countries. Within this framework the impacts of ageing on government budgets and the labour market are analysed. The book then turns to a discussion of some of the economic, social and demographic issues related to immigration. Particular emphasis is placed on the Australian economy, which provides an interesting case study in view of its high immigration levels, particularly over the last fifty years. The authors project population structure and social expenditure patterns under a variety of assumptions concerning the number and composition of immigrants. The quantitative techniques developed to produce these projections can be applied without modification to any other country. Population Ageing, Migration and Social Expenditure will be of use to academics and students with an interest in public finance, public policy and population studies.

The Economics of Inflation provides a comprehensive analysis of economic conditions in Germany under the Great Inflation and discusses inflationary conditions in general. The analysis is supported by extensive statistical material.
* For this translation the author thoroughly revised the original work
* Includes an appendix on German economic conditions in the years following the monetary reform, 1923-24.

This book shows that poverty is multidimensional and hence needs to be analyzed from a multidisciplinary point of view, which has to include economic, sociological, psychological, anthropological, philosophical, legal and evolutionary perspectives. It also presents the new ideas on poverty analysis that have become very popular in recent years - the participatory approach, the concept of empowerment, the notion of vulnerability and the distinction between chronic and transient poverty.

Egypt experienced an economic shift from a managed economic strategy to one of market-oriented resource allocation starting in the 1970s, and in 1987 signed a stabilization program agreement with the International Monetary Fund. This is an overview of these structural changes experienced by the Egyptian economy in the 70s and 80s. The main tool to assess the effectiveness of the policies and to evaluate growth prospects under different policy scenarios is an integrated macroeconomic-energy demand-input/output model. Four different policy scenarios are explored.

Libman and Vinokurov discuss the evolution of post-Soviet regional integration as a prominent case of 'holding-together regionalism' - integration of countries originally belonging to a single political entity. They provide a detailed account of the economic, political and social aspects of the interaction of post-Soviet countries, studying both formal regionalism and informal linkages between companies and individuals. The book pays particular attention to the political economy of this process, assessing both the reasons for the ineffectiveness of post-Soviet regionalism until recently and the driving forces of its persistence. It investigates migration flows, mutual trade and investments, as well as interaction in key sectors of infrastructure, such as telecommunications, transportation, agriculture and power utilities.

This book examines alternative economic policies for the European Union in the aftermath of the rejection of the European Constitution. The subject range includes macroeconomic policy and the European Constitution, EU financial integration, the reform of European regional policy, assessment and alternative proposals on European structural policies and labour market policies in the European Union.

This book provides an account of the principal phases in the development of the English banking system, and goes on to analyse the financial structure of the economy of the UK. The book focuses in detail on the regulatory and supervisory aspects of the UK banking system, and the interactions between the structural aspects of the banking and supervisory system.

This text addresses the understanding and alleviation of poverty, inequality, and inequity using a unique and broad mix of concepts, measurement methods, statistical tools, software, and practical exercises. Most of the book's measurement and statistical tools have been programmed in DAD, a well established and widely available free software program that has been tailored especially for income distribution analysis and is used by scholars, researchers, and analysts in nearly 100 countries worldwide. It requires basic understanding of calculus and statistics. There are examples and exercises using real data.

As the shock of the 2008 European financial crisis begins to subside, it is time for scholars to step back and analyze the crisis's causes and effects from a multidisciplinary vantage point. Europe in Crisis examines the current state of the European economy, society, and polity, both on the theoretical and political levels, by placing special emphasis on its current crisis. With important contributions from heterodox economists and radical social and political scientists, this innovative new edited collection seeks to evaluate past efforts and policies (mainly since World War II), criticize the failed neoclassical/neoliberal perspectives, and offer alternative strategies and policies to Europe's socioeconomic impasse and misery.

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.

Labour: A Heterodox Approach provides a theoretical reconstruction of the labour and job market by examining it in a rich historical context. It explores the fundamental implications of the theories of consumption and growth and aims at solving the difficulties raised by the dominant economic theories (neoclassical, Keynesian, supply side) by taking into account the dimension of the historical conflict of the labour market and the public intervention that results from it, such as the construction of a specific legal framework that is to say, labour law. The work focuses on providing a description of conflict and intervention, the market's leading characteristics, and demonstrates that they can be interpreted by introducing two major remedial hypotheses in economic fundamentals. It also contributes to solving several theoretical controversies and highlights the two main perspectives on the economic regulation of the labour market.