This volume offers an authoritiative selection of the best published articles on the great speculative manias and stock market crashes, which highlights their important similarities. These phenomena disrupt the normal activities of investors who use financial markets to accumulate diversified portfolios of assets. The attraction of rapid capital gains entices the unwary to abandon their customary investments, exposing them to ruin when prices of hot new assets collapse. The mania for tulips in seventeenth century Holland and schemes to refinance government debt in eighteenth century France and Britain burned many investors and transformed financial markets. The volatile American stock market of the nineteenth century and bursting regional real estate bubbles brought down many financial institutions, threatening economic stability. The striking parallels between the stock market crashes of 1929 and 1987 raise basic questions about the stability of the capital markets. By examining whether these phenomena represent rational movements of the market or some mania or fad, these articles focus on the central policy question of whether these markets require regulation to serve the investing public.

Social science theorists from various scholarly disciplines have contributed to a recent literature that examines how the finance industry has expanded and now wields increasing influence across a variety of economic fields and industries. In some cases, this tendency towards a more sizeable and influential finance industry has been referred to as "the financialization" of the economy. This book explains how what is referred to as the finance-led economy (arguably a more neutral and less emotionally charged term than financialization) is premised on a number of conditions, institutional relations, and theoretical propositions and assumptions, and indicates what the real economic consequences are for market actors and households. The book provides a theoretically condensed but empirically grounded account of the contemporary finance-led economy, in many cases too complicated in its design and rich in detail to be understood equally by insiders-empirical research indicates-and lay audiences. It summarizes the relevant literature and points at two empirical cases, the construction industry and life science venturing, to better illustrate how the expansion of the finance industry has contributed to the capital formation process, and how the sovereign state has actively assisted this process. It offers a credible, yet accessible overview of the economic conditions that will arguably shape economic affairs for the foreseeable future. The book will find an audience amongst a variety of readers, including graduate students, management scholars, policymakers, and management consultants.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers, the oldest and fourth-largest US investment bank, in September 2008 precipitated the global financial crisis. This deepened the contraction in economic activity that had already started in December 2007 and has become known as the Great Recession. Following a sluggish and uneven period of recovery, levels of private debt have recently been on the rise again making another financial crisis almost inevitable. This book answers the key question: can anything be done to prevent a new financial crisis or minimize its impact? The book opens with an analysis of the main elements responsible for the 2007/2009 financial crisis and assesses the extent to which they are still present in todays financial system. The responses to the financial crises - particularly the Dodd-Frank Act, the establishment of the Financial Stability Board, and attempts to regulate shadow banking - are evaluated for their effectiveness. It is found that there is a high risk of a new bubble developing, there remains a lack of transparency in the financial industry, and risk-taking continues to be incentivised among bankers and investors. Proposals are put forward to ameliorate the risks, arguing for the need for an international lender of last resort, recalling Keynes' idea for an International Clearing Union. This book will be of significant interest to scholars and students of financial crises, financial stability, and alternative approaches to finance and economics.

Macroeconomic analysis has undergone profound and controversial changes during the past twenty-five years and, as such, economists have developed and evolved their approaches to the discipline. Reflections on the Development of Modern Macroeconomics presents a collection of eight original essays, from leading scholars, each of which focuses on an important issue relating to these developments.These accessible, reflective surveys include: to stabilize or not to stabilize: is that the question? Brian Snowdon and Howard Vane the rhetoric and methodology of modern macroeconomics Roger Backhouse how relevant is Keynesian economics today? Keith Shaw what remains of the monetarist counter-revolution? Thomas Mayer macroeconomics: before and after rational expectations Patrick Minford the ups and downs of modern business cycle theory Cillian Ryan and Andrew Mullineux the role of imperfect competition in new Keynesian economics Huw Dixon politics and the macroeconomy: endogenous politicians and aggregate instability Brian Snowdon and Howard Vane This book will attract a wide readership among intermediate undergraduates, as well as postgraduates and lecturers in the fields of macroeconomics and the history of economic thought.

Persistent Disparity provides a comprehensive examination of the magnitude and scope of racial economic disparity in the United States. The authors directly assess the extent of black economic progress in the US since World War II and address the controversy of whether the racial income gap is closing or widening as America approaches the 21st century. Darity and Myers explicitly make the connection between what the theory of racial inequality espouses and corresponding policy recommendations for remedying such disparity such as affirmative action and reparations. The authors challenge the cultural-genetic explanation and advance a new theoretical explanation that incorporates a more expansive characterization of the nature and role of discrimination. They also conclude that conventional anti-discrimination efforts are unlikely to be sufficient to close the gap. This book will be essential reading for anyone interested in US social and economic history, political economy, African-American studies, and public policy.

Predicting foreign exchange rates has presented a long-standing challenge for economists. However, the recent advances in computational techniques, statistical methods, newer datasets on emerging market currencies, etc., offer some hope. While we are still unable to beat a driftless random walk model, there has been serious progress in the field. This book provides an in-depth assessment of the use of novel statistical approaches and machine learning tools in predicting foreign exchange rate movement. First, it offers a historical account of how exchange rate regimes have evolved over time, which is critical to understanding turning points in a historical time series. It then presents an overview of the previous attempts at modeling exchange rates, and how different methods fared during this process. At the core sections of the book, the author examines the time series characteristics of exchange rates and how contemporary statistics and machine learning can be useful in improving predictive power, compared to previous methods used. Exchange rate determination is an active research area, and this book will appeal to graduate-level students of international economics, international finance, open economy macroeconomics, and management. The book is written in a clear, engaging, and straightforward way, and will greatly improve access to this much-needed knowledge in the field.

Written by distinguished Keynesian and Post-Keynesian economists from diverse national backgrounds, this book examines the economic growth and employment experiences of both large areas of the world and specific economies. Dealing with critical issues in macroeconomic theory and policy, this book puts current issues in a historical perspective. Emphasising developments during and after the Great Recession, and paying due attention to the impacts of austerity policies, chapters explain that high growth of aggregate demand is as essential as ever to achieving full employment and rising living standards. Organised into three distinct thematic parts, the book moves from discussing theoretical considerations, to aggregate demand and employment in the EU, Latin America and the developing world, to individual country studies including Canada, India and Japan. Economics students, particularly those interested in heterodox economics and macroeconomics, will find the accessible language and perspectives on a range of major regions helpful. This will also be a useful read for macroeconomic policy-makers looking for a more in-depth understanding of the importance of boosting aggregate demand. Contributors include: H. Bougrine, J.K. Galbraith, B.K. MacLean, J.W. Mason, L. Osberg, L.-P. Rochon, M. Sawyer, M. Seccareccia, S. Sen, J. Toporowski, M. Vernengo

This important new book brings together a significant body of new essays on some of the central economic problems facing governments, firms and individuals in the 1990s. Under the direction of Paul Davidson and Jan Kregel, an international group of distinguished economists provide new perspectives on key issues including employment, corporate and work place restructuring, economic growth and development, financial integration and transformation of the former command economies. Combining rigorous scholarly assessments of the issues with policy prescription, the contributors seek to provide solutions to the problem of providing full employment, to identify the factors determining the expansion of the economy, and to analyse the impact of financial markets, financial derivatives and international regulations on domestic and global economic performance. Employment, Growth and Finance will be welcomed by all those interested in the solutions to international economic problems being developed by post Keynesian economists.

The success of an economy to adapt quickly, flexibly, and effectively to the demands of the changing international economic environment can only be investigated using the achievements of other national economies or regions as a benchmark. This book analyzes the fundamental factors of competitiveness, which will, in turn, facilitate economic development and growth, in the new post-crisis environment. In the economic, social, legal, and technological environment that has emerged in recent years, as well as in the period after the recent financial crisis, it is critical to define, assess, and implement new pathways to competitiveness and economic development. The book covers all aspects of competitiveness and economic growth, from financial intermediaries to tourism and the digital economy, and from regulation and corporate governance to exchange rate dynamics and monetary policy issues. It uses empirical findings from a variety of different countries with divergent economic structures and policies. It examines the new system of production, and the technological, commercial, financial and institutional environment, with the aim of recommending a proportional division of benefits and costs of economic growth. It offers a fresh, holistic, and flexible concept to underscore the new relationship between competitiveness and economic growth. Such an approach is needed, whereby competitiveness is no longer a zero-sum game between countries, but is achievable for all countries. The book recommends future directions and offers policy solutions, and as such, will appeal to students, researchers, and policymakers, as well as those interested in the role of competitiveness in the operation of markets, productivity, and economic development, and how it might foster innovation and growth.

The book is motivated by the disruptions introduced by the financial crisis and the many attempts that have followed to propose new ideas and remedies. Assembling contributions by authors from a variety of backgrounds, this collection illustrates the potentials resulting from the marriage of financial economics, complexity theory and an out-of-equilibrium view of the economic world. Challenging the traditional hypotheses that lie behind financial market functioning, new evidence is provided about the hidden factors fuelling bubbles, the impact of agents' heterogeneity, the importance of endogeneity in the information transmission mechanism, the dynamics of herding, the sources of volatility, the portfolio optimization techniques, the financial innovation and the trend identification in a nonlinear time-series framework. Presenting the advances made in financial market analysis, and putting emphasis on nonlinear dynamics, this book suggests interdisciplinary methodologies for the study of well-known stylised facts and financial abnormalities. This book was originally published as a special issue of The European Journal of Finance.

The world economy today is at an historical inflection point. The neoclassical (industrial) model of economics is self-destructing while a new life-mimicking model, based on radically different assumptions, is emerging. Although rarely acknowledged in economic journals, Nordic countries, which pioneered the life-mimicking model, have become world leaders in prosperity and productivity while those operating on the older neoclassical/industrial model are trapped in downward spirals. By approaching economies as sub-systems of life rather than super-systems that transcend life, we gain transformative insights. Such thinking led to the first circular economy experiments in Kalundborg (Denmark) during the 1970s, then quickly spread to the rest of the Nordic world. By placing a higher value on living assets (people and Nature) than on non-living capital assets, this approach generates harmony rather than exploitation and conflict. Because Nordic people feel vested in the system and responsible for its success, they are extraordinarily innovative and productive. That is why Nordic companies are regularly rated among the world's most sustainable and profitable in their fields - even though their region holds less than half of one percent of the world's population. Written in an accessible way for non-economists, the book is ideal for readers interested in the benefits of biomimicry and methods of guiding democratic countries along a proven path of self-renewal. Economies That Mimic Life will also provide useful background for corporate leaders in scenario planning and strategic thinking. Knowing which way the political-economic wind is blowing will become increasingly important to corporate survival.

Since the onset of the twelfth Five-Year Plan, China has been at the forefront as an innovative nation based on a carefully designed strategy. Despite this, it can be argued that the Chinese government requires a series of more effective and systematic fiscal and taxation policies. This book analyses the status quo and possible optimization of China's fiscal and taxation policies. By drawing comparisons with other countries, as well as a practical investigation into the lessons China has drawn from elsewhere, the author shows how a nation should make steadily growing and optimized financial investments in science and technology in order to foster the optimum environment for innovation. It is shown that institutional innovation should be a systematic project which involves top-level design and top-down leadership. This volume will be a useful reference for students, scholars, and policy makes who are interested in financial policy.

The Brazilian economy has long been defined by its enormous potential. Over the past 30 years, some of this has at last been realised. Latin America's largest economy has rapidly risen in global importance while poverty at home has declined. Yet, despite periods of progress, Brazil remains prone to economic crisis. It is also beset with stubborn inefficiencies and income disparities. This book considers the structural challenges which will need to be overcome if Brazil is to break with the past and finally embark on a path of sustained, inclusive growth. This book aims to give the reader a clear knowledge of the nature of these structural challenges, why they exist and the effectiveness of attempts to overcome them. Through this, readers will gain a deep understanding of the contemporary Brazilian economy. The challenges discussed fall into three areas: those centring on competitiveness and the supply side, those arising from critical macroeconomic issues and those connected with environmental sustainability and social inclusion. This volume systematically examines each of these domains, highlighting such vital topics as export competitiveness, human capital formation, environmental policy and the role of financial market reform. Where appropriate, this book sets Brazil's experience in an international comparative context. It points out that many of the challenges faced by Brazil are shared by other emerging economies. In this sense, the policy lessons which stem from this volume have broader international relevance. This book will be vital reading for all those seeking in-depth understanding of one of the world's most important, yet troubled, economies. This readership is likely to include undergraduate and postgraduate students on development economics and Latin American area studies programmes, policymakers wanting an up-to-date and coherent analysis of Latin America's largest economy, and financial professionals.

The Brazilian economy has long been defined by its enormous potential. Over the past 30 years, some of this has at last been realised. Latin America's largest economy has rapidly risen in global importance while poverty at home has declined. Yet, despite periods of progress, Brazil remains prone to economic crisis. It is also beset with stubborn inefficiencies and income disparities. This book considers the structural challenges which will need to be overcome if Brazil is to break with the past and finally embark on a path of sustained, inclusive growth. This book aims to give the reader a clear knowledge of the nature of these structural challenges, why they exist and the effectiveness of attempts to overcome them. Through this, readers will gain a deep understanding of the contemporary Brazilian economy. The challenges discussed fall into three areas: those centring on competitiveness and the supply side, those arising from critical macroeconomic issues and those connected with environmental sustainability and social inclusion. This volume systematically examines each of these domains, highlighting such vital topics as export competitiveness, human capital formation, environmental policy and the role of financial market reform. Where appropriate, this book sets Brazil's experience in an international comparative context. It points out that many of the challenges faced by Brazil are shared by other emerging economies. In this sense, the policy lessons which stem from this volume have broader international relevance. This book will be vital reading for all those seeking in-depth understanding of one of the world's most important, yet troubled, economies. This readership is likely to include undergraduate and postgraduate students on development economics and Latin American area studies programmes, policymakers wanting an up-to-date and coherent analysis of Latin America's largest economy, and financial professionals.

The Economics and Politics of European Integration offers a comprehensive history of European integration, from the conceptualization of a United States of Europe, to the present day. The special role of the United States in this process of integration, and the expansion and evolution of the European Union, is critically analyzed. The book also thoroughly discusses the current view of the EU and the complex crises emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. While the book focuses primarily on Europe, the role of other countries is also examined. The rise of hostile enemies from Turkey, Russia, the US and China is explored, and the history and outcome of Brexit also receives unique focus. Maps are used throughout to clearly depict the enlargement process. This illuminating text will be valuable reading for students and researchers across international economics, economic history, political economy and European studies.

Over the years the theoretical structure of input-output analysis has been refined and its applications have been widened. This three volume set presents an overview of this development and an assessment of the current state of the subject. It offers a comprehensive collection of previously published articles which present some of the most significant theoretical and empirical contributions of leading scholars to multisectoral economic analysis. The first volume is devoted to the foundations of input-output analysis, to dynamic models and to multisectoral extensions of the multiplier principle. Volume II explores approaches to the modelling of economics and the environment, to the analysis of foreign trade and to regional and interregional economic activities. The third volume discusses the methodologies developed for the investigation of economic structures, offers an analysis of various versions of price models and investigates the problems related to the estimation of input-output data.

The Economics and Politics of European Integration offers a comprehensive history of European integration, from the conceptualization of a United States of Europe, to the present day. The special role of the United States in this process of integration, and the expansion and evolution of the European Union, is critically analyzed. The book also thoroughly discusses the current view of the EU and the complex crises emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. While the book focuses primarily on Europe, the role of other countries is also examined. The rise of hostile enemies from Turkey, Russia, the US and China is explored, and the history and outcome of Brexit also receives unique focus. Maps are used throughout to clearly depict the enlargement process. This illuminating text will be valuable reading for students and researchers across international economics, economic history, political economy and European studies.

There is wide consensus on the importance of knowledge for economic growth and local development patterns. This book proposes a view of knowledge as a collective, systemic and evolutionary process that enables agents and social systems to overcome the challenges of the limits to growth. It brings together new conceptual and empirical contributions, analysing the relationship between demand and supply factors and the rate and direction of technological change. It also examines the different elements that compose innovation systems. The Economics of Knowledge, Innovation and Systemic Technology Policy provides the background for the development of an integrated framework for the analysis of systemic policy instruments and their mutual interaction the socio-political and economic conditions of the surrounding environment. These aspects have long been neglected in innovation policy, as policymakers, academics and the business community, have mostly emphasized the benefits of supply side strategies. However, a better understanding of innovation policies grafted on a complexity-based approach calls for the appreciation of the mutual interactions between both supply and demand aspects, and it is likely to improve the actual design of policy measures. This book will help readers to understand the foundations and working of demand-driven innovation policies by stressing the importance of compent and smart demand.

This book presents a comprehensive overview of three key areas: heterodox macroeconomics, development economics and classical political economy. It offers an alternative macroeconomic framework to analyse policies with an emphasis on issues of equity and justice. With contributions by leading economists from across the world, it examines the growth and distribution of income; trade and finance in developing countries; classical political economy and Marxist theory; dualism in the US economy; economic crisis; and agrarian economy in poor countries. It explores themes such as the effect of an exogenous shock to wage share; Harrodian instability and Steindlian solutions; economics and politics of social democracy; the role of power in the macroeconomy; economic development through the promotion of domestic value chains; and reflections on primitive accumulation. Going beyond the neo-classical tradition, the volume opens up a new vista of economics by discussing unexplored questions. It provides a refreshing treatment of time-tested ideas as well as discussions of recent developments and current research. A major intervention in heterodox macroeconomics and a tribute to macroeconomist Amit Bhaduri, this book will be useful to scholars and researchers of economics, political economy, development studies, sociology, political science, public administration, economic theory, economic history, economic geography and critical studies, as well as professionals, economists and policymakers.

David Laidler is one of the leading scholars in the history of economic thought and macroeconomics. This important collection brings together nineteen of his essays on topics in the history of macroeconomics. It begins with a paper on Adam Smith and ends with a discussion of the implications of Newclassical economists' ideas on the role of economic ideas in conditioning agents' activities. Other chapters deal with the major themes developed by monetary economists in the intervening years. Two of the essays appear in their current form for the first time, and several others are reprinted from difficult-to-obtain sources. They should be of interest not just to historians of economic thought, but also to economists more generally.

The last few decades have witnessed an outpouring of literature on macroeconomic models in the broad 'heterodox' tradition of Marx, Keynes, Robinson, Kaldor and Kalecki. These models yield an alternative analytical framework in which the big questions of our day - such as how inequality is related to growth or stagnation, and whether long-run growth is stable or unstable - can be fruitfully addressed. Heterodox Macroeconomics provides an accessible, pedagogically oriented treatment of the leading models and approaches in heterodox macroeconomics with clear, step-by-step presentations of core models and their solutions, properties and implications. The book begins with an overview and comparison of heterodox and mainstream approaches to long-run growth. Next it covers the core classical-Marxian, neo-Keynesian and neo-Kaleckian models of growth and distribution in the heterodox tradition. Numerous contemporary extensions, developments and alternatives are then explored, including models of financial instability, 'supermultiplier' models, and debates about whether capacity utilization converges to a 'normal' rate. The book also gives extensive coverage to models of growth in open economies, emphasizing the role of Kaldorian cumulative causation in fostering divergence among national economies, and the limitations imposed by balance-of-payments constraints on countries that rely on export-led growth. Heterodox Macroeconomics will prove to be an invaluable text for graduate and advanced undergraduate students of macroeconomics as well as those in courses on post-Keynesian theory, structuralist macroeconomics, or other heterodox approaches to economics.

Inflation plays a central role in macroeconomic and financial policy regulation, and its dynamic formation has gradually become a popular research topic in this field. This book comprehensively studies the dynamic mechanism of inflation in China from the perspective of New Keynesian economics. By combining the dynamic trajectory of price changes since China's reform and opening-up under Deng Xiaoping as well as the underlying economic operating characteristics, the book deploys a multifaceted approach to understand the mechanism of inflation dynamics. The author explores the microfoundations of inflation dynamics, and underlines their importance in the context of modern monetary policy. In particular, he builds upon the traditional New Keynesian Phillips curve to include factors of globalization and financialization within the inflation formation regime of modern China. As the book explores the dynamic mechanism of China's inflation from different perspectives including inflation cycle theory, price index internal conduction, price index chain transmission, capital rotation, and industry inflation mechanisms, international readers will gain a full understanding of China's inflation, monetary policy, and economy.

Originally published in 1984 Theories of Welfare looks at theories of social administration developed in different social science disciplines. The book ranges widely and gives concise coverage to the historical and intellectual background in which the theory emerged, the implicit or explicit value assumptions, and account of the most important theoretical concepts and the major criticisms of them, an indication of the relevance to social administration and a guide to further reading.

The concept of money illusion, a recently resurrected phenomenon of behavioral economics, is a real fact of economic life, the potential role of which should no longer be dismissed. Despite money illusion being utterly suppressed by mainstream economists, small deviations from rationality, together with trends in behavioral economics, alleviate the denial of money illusion induced by the rational expectations revolution. This book argues that money illusion seems to be a ubiquitous phenomenon, affecting various areas such as financial markets, housing markets, labor markets, consumption-saving decisions, and even development at the aggregate level induced by coordination issues. Furthermore, in light of the educational efforts of central banks and other institutions, it is worth considering whether solid economic training would provide guidance for the public regarding their decision-making and thereby alleviate the effects of money illusion. The emerging field of experimental economics provides a unique opportunity for us to verify the presence of money illusion. Specifically, attention is devoted to the experimental investigation of reduction in the direct and indirect effects of money illusion with respect to the level of economic literacy acquired through economic education. Economic Literacy and Money Illusion will be of interest to the general audience and to those who are interested in behavioral economics, economics education, and experimental economics, as well as to policy makers and institutions. Last but not least, it will help develop students' interest in alternative economic theories. NB. The research and writing of this book was made possible with the support of the University of Economics, Prague, Faculty of Economics, Department of Economics.

During the latter part of the nineteenth century and the beginning of this century both international trade and national economies grew exponentially, with international trade growing considerably faster than national income. Contributors to these two volumes question whether trade's more rapid growth was an engine pulling successful economies, or whether government policies of trade protection had a greater impact upon national economic growth. The essays in this collection analyse four major driving forces of the period's sustained economic growth: changes in tariff policies; the technological 'revolution' in transportation costs; the population and income growth effects upon demand; and the alterations to comparative advantage brought about by technological changes and resource discoveries.