For too long now, the issue of health care reform has been dominated by the techniques of mainstream economics and the constant application of the tools of cost-benefit analysis to an area that does not suit it.
Issues such as privacy, genetic testing and the allocation of organ transplants require a more sensitive approach to the setting of budgets, and so a more socially responsible attitude towards health care economics is emerging. John Davis has gathered together an impressive range of contributors to explore these phenomena.

Werner Sombart (1863-1941) may well have been the most famous and controversial social scientist in Germany during the early twentieth century. Highly influential, his work and reputation have been indelibly tainted by his embrace of National Socialism in the last decade of his life. Although Sombart left an enormous opus spanning disciplinary boundaries, intellectual reaction to his work inside and outside of Germany is divided and ambivalent. Sombart consistently responded to the social and political developments that have shaped the twentieth century. "Economic Life in the Modern Age" provides a representative sampling of those portions of Sombart's work that have stood the test of time. The volume opens with a substantial introduction reviewing Sombart's life and career, the evolution of his major intellectual concerns, his relation to Marx and Weber, and his political affiliation with the Nazis. The editors' selection of texts emphasizes areas of Sombart's economic and cultural thought that remain relevant, particularly to those intellectual trends that seek a more broadly based, cross-disciplinary approach to culture and economics. Sombart's writings on capitalism are represented by essays on the nature and origin of the market system and the diversity of motives among the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. Also included is an excerpt from Sombart's controversial "The Jews and Modern Capitalism," exploring the widely perceived relation between economic life and Judaism as a religion. In essays on the economics of cultural processes, Sombart's comprehensive and expansive idea of cultural science yields prophetic insights into the nature of urbanism, luxury consumption, fashion, and the cultural secularization of love. The volume's final section consists of Sombart's reflections on the social influences of technology, the economic life of the future, and on socialism, including the influential essay "Why is there no Socialism in the United States." Encapsulating the most valuable aspects of his work, "Economic Life in the Modern Age" provides clear demonstration of Sombart's sense for fine cultural distinctions and broad cultural developments and the predictive power of his analyses. It will be of interest to sociologists, economists, political scientists, and specialists in cultural studies. Nico Stehr is professor at the Max Planck-Instit3t f3r Meteorologie in Hamburg. Reiner Grundmann is professor at the Aston Business School of Aston University in Birmingham, U.K.

This book offers wide-ranging insights into the organising capacities of workers in Asia today. Nine case-studies examine workers' responses to class relations through independent unions, non-government organisations (NGOs) and more (dis)organised struggles. Countering the notion that globalisation holds entirely negative consequences for labour organisation, the authors reveal some of the openings for local activism which can arise from transnational production arrangements.
The volume covers the "second-tier" industrializers - China, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, India and Bangladesh. Interdisciplinary in nature, it will be of great interest to students and scholars of Asian studies, development studies and international labour studies.

This book offers wide-ranging insights into the organising capacities of workers in Asia today. Nine case-studies examine workers' responses to class relations through independent unions, non-government organisations (NGOs) and more (dis)organised struggles. Countering the notion that globalisation holds entirely negative consequences for labour organisation, the authors reveal some of the openings for local activism which can arise from transnational production arrangements. They reject the assertion that globalisation is the main determinant of labour's weakness and marginalisation in the region.
The volume covers the "second-tier" industrializers - China, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, India and Bangladesh. Interdisciplinary in nature, it will be of great interest to students and scholars of Asian studies, development studies and international labour studies.

This work remains one of the all-time classics of 20th-century intellectual thought. For over half a century, it has inspired politicians and thinkers around the world, and has had a crucial impact on our political and cultural history. Hayek argues that, while socialist ideals may be tempting, they cannot be accomplished except by means that few would approve of. Addressing economics, fascism, history, socialism and the Holocaust, Hayek unwraps the trappings of socialist ideology. He reveals to the world that little can result from such ideas except oppression and tyranny. Today, more than 50 years on, Hayek's warnings are just as valid as when "The Road to Serfdom" was first published.

This book offers the first systematic exposition and critique of the major approaches to periodizing capitalism, bringing to bear both deep rooted theoretical questions and meticulous empirical analysis to grapple with the seismic economic changes capitalism has experienced over the past 150 years. Westra asks why - despite the anarchic and crises tendencies captured in radical analyses - capitalism manages to reload in a structured stage that realizes a period of relatively stable accumulation. He further evaluates arguments over the economic forces bringing stages of capitalist development to a crashing end. Particular attention in the periodization literature is devoted to examining the economy of the post World War II golden age and what followed its unceremonious demise. The final chapters assess whether what is variously dubbed neoliberalism, globalization or financialization can be understood as a stage of capitalism or, rather, an era of capitalist disintegration and extinction.

It is commonplace that political power is becoming more centralized and remote: faceless people, sometimes in unknown places, determine our circumstances and our opportunities. This ground breaking book argues that this happened through a slow development which began before globalization.
Power in Business and the State queries our freedom to make our own history. Current circumstances may be so far from our own choosing that our history is now being made for us, rather than something we control ourselves. Political power is so centralized, and economic power so concentrated, that popular control of democratic government has become increasingly difficult.
The sheer magnitude of the author's research underpinning this book, and the uncluttered methodological framework in which it is presented, provides a highly readable text.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203453174

Since the early 1980s, Korea's financial development has been a tale of liberalization and opening. After the 1997 financial crisis, great strides were made in building a market-oriented financial system through sweeping reforms for deregulation and the opening of financial markets. However, the new system failed to steer the country away from a credit card boom and bust in 2003, a liquidity crisis in 2008, and a run on its savings banks in 2011, and has been severely tested again by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Financial liberalization, clearly, has been no panacea. This study analyzes the deepening of and structural changes in Korea's financial system since the early 1980s and presents the empirical results of the effects of financial development on economic growth, stability, and the distribution of income. It finds that, contrary to conventional wisdom, financial liberalization has contributed little to fostering the growth and stability of the Korean economy and has exacerbated income distribution problems. Are there any merits in financial liberalization? The authors answer this query through empirical examinations of the theories of finance and growth. They point to a clear need to further improve the efficiency, soundness, and stability of Korean financial institutions and markets.

What is the animating 'spirit' behind what may appear to be the coldly calculating world of markets and business enterprise? Though often mathematically modelled in dry terms, markets can be looked at instead as meaningful domains of human activity. To economists, markets have been seen as nothing but objective 'forces' or allocation 'mechanisms'. This book, however, argues that they can be seen as involving the human spirit, personal expression and moral commitments. It presents the view that markets are not so much things that need to be measured as meanings that need to be narrated and interpreted. The aim of this book is to introduce two scholarly fields to one another, economics and cultural studies, in order to pose the question: how does culture matter to the economy? When we look at the economy as a legitimate domain of culture, it transforms our understanding of the nature of business life. By viewing markets as an integral part of our culture, filled with the drama of human creativity, we might begin to better appreciate their role in the world.

Over the last hundred years the history of capitalism hardly supports the idea of a dynamic equilibrium between democracy and capitalism. The unprecedented triumph of global capitalism and its stronger power of transformation are changing the nature of political community and its institutions, transforming the conditions of democratic politics and governance. The writings collected in this volume present leading statements of theories of democracy and capitalism in Italy starting from Vilfredo Pareto who firstly focused on the transformation of democracy into a plutocracy in which vested interests use the government as a tool for their own profit, until Norberto Bobbio who expressed a strong defence of democracy and a deep critique of capitalism. As Marx, Weber, and Schumpeter-from different perspectives-have pointed out capitalism rather then just an economic mode of organization, is a "mentality," a "social logic," a "form of living," that influences and reshapes political structures, and culture. The globalized economic order is challenging the foundations and political principles upon which liberal democracy is based. Global markets have unleashed economic forces that are becoming too powerful for democratic institutions to control. Even if the formal elements of democracy still survive, the "government by the people, for the people" is declining; elections, debates, parties, are evacuated, and bypassed by new, less accountable processes.

In 1978, faced with the pressure to modernize and a declining budget, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) reluctantly agreed to join China's economic reform drive, expanding its internal economy to market-oriented civilian production. This work examines PLA's role in the economy up to 1998.

In this collection of his latest essays, John H. Dunning - renowned authority in international business - elaborates his theories on the current situation of foreign direct investment and multinational enterprises. Global Capitalism at Bay considers the unique characteristics of contemporary capitalism, and what must be done if it is to survive and prosper in the twenty first century.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203186036

Contents:
Part One: Causes and Correlates 1: The Twin Crises: The Causes of Banking and Balance of Payments Problems; 2: The Asian Financial Crisis: A Fait Accompli?; 3: Financial Crisis in the MIT Countries; 4: Japanese Banking Problems: Implications for Southeast Asia; Part Two: Cases and Caveats 5: Indonesia: The Long Road to Recovery; 6: The Malaysian Currency Crisis: Capital Flows Policy Responses and Macroeconomic Vulnerability; 7: Speculative Attack Theory and Currency Crisis in Korea; 8: Banking Crisis in Mexico; 9: Capital Flows and Economic Policy in Brazil; 10: The Yen that is too Strong: A Note on Japanese Crisis; 11: The Lessons from the Asian Financial Crisis; Part Three: Crisis Management and Reforms 12: The Asian Model, the Miracle, the Crisis and the Fund; 13:Financial Crises and Reforms: Towards an Assessment of the Emerging International Financial Architecture; 14: Sustainability, Vulnerability and Risk Management; 15: Should Capital Controls be Banished?

A collection of 13 essays based on two national surveys of household income in China - in 1985 and 1995 - and prepared and carried out by the research team. These essays explore a wide range of aspects of the rapidly changing income distribution during this period.

The great demonstrations at Seattle and Genoa have shown that we are in a new era of protest. The neo-liberal economic policies pursued by the Group of Seven leading industrial countries and the international institutions they control are provoking widespread resistance. Growing numbers of people in all five continents are rejecting the values of the market and the vision of a world made safe for the multinational corporations.

But what does the anti-globalization movement stand for? Is it, as its most common name suggests, against globalization itself? Is it opposed merely to the neo-liberal Washington Consensus that became dominant in the 1980s and 1990s, or is its real enemy the capitalist system itself? The World Social Forum at Porto Alegre has popularized the slogan 'Another World is Possible'. But what is that world?

Alex Callinicos seeks to answer these questions in "An Anti-Capitalist Manifesto," He analyses the development of the movement, distinguishes between the different political forces within it, and explores the strategic dilemmas - notably over violence and the nation-state - that it increasingly confronts. He argues that the movement is directed against capitalism itself. The logic of competitive accumulation that drives this system is not only increasing global inequality and economic instability, but threatens ecological catastrophe and appalling conflict. To meet the challenge of global capitalism the new protest movement requires, according to Callinicos, a creative synthesis of its own inclusive and dynamic style and the best of the classical Marxist tradition.

This timely collection brings together many well-known scholars to systematically explore China's current government and assess it's transition toward democracy. The contributors provide a comprehensive overview of China's domestic history, economy, and public political ideologies. The contributors show that there are many reasons to be skeptical about the short-term prospects for democracy in China, including historical failures, the underdevelopment of civil society, political apathy, and competing social values. Though China's political culture is essentially neither anti-democratic nor pro-democratic, it must still overcome many obstacles in order to achieve democracy.

This book examines the rapid deregulation and changing nature of Japan's financial marketplace as it emerges from its worst economic crisis since the end of the Second World War. The author focuses on how U.S. firms like Citibank, AIG, Merrill Lynch, GE Capital, Fidelity Investments, and American Express have made large investments and built strategic businesses in a market that was effectively closed to them only a few years ago. He also profiles Japan's major financial institutions, which are aggressively restructuring to defend their home turf from foreign competitors.

Now that the economic crisis appears to be over, this exciting new book gives business students, scholars, and executives an in-depth analysis and understanding of the on-going transformation of the Japanese marketplace in banking, securities, insurance, asset management, mutual funds, and consumer credit.

As health care concerns grow in the U.S., medical anthropologist Linda M. Whiteford and social psychologist Larry G. Branch present their findings on a health care anomaly, from an unlikely source. Primary Health Care in Cuba examines the highly successful model of primary health care in Cuba following the 1959 Cuban Revolution. This model, developed during a time of dramatic social and political change, created a preventive care system to better provide equity access to health care. Cuba's recognition as a paragon of health care has earned praise from the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the Pan American Health Organization. In this book, Whiteford and Branch explore the successes of Cuba's preventive primary health care system and its contribution to global health.

Author Biography:
Teresa Brennan is Schmidt Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Florida Atlantic University, USA.

In this discipline-defining volume, some of the leading international scholars in the history of economic thought re-examine the concepts of "classical economics" and the "canon", illuminating the roots of the contemporary discipline, and the shape and form of its evolution. The investigation addresses three related issues. Firstly, the contributors attempt to determine which ideas are vital to classical economics, and whether these ideas distinguish classical economics from other approaches to economic questions. Secondly, the essays address the development of "classical economics" over time through sociological and intellectual processes, and attempt to determine why some writers and works are elevated to the "canon", while others are not. Thirdly, some contributions examine the intellectual consequences of this inevitable process of canonization. The book includes examinations of the work of major economists such as Marx, Smith, Ricardo, Bentham, Malthus, Keynes and Mill. Offering new perspectives on the way an intellectual discipine is constructed, this book should be of essential interest to all scholars of the history of economic thought.

Teresa Brennan marshalls the insights of Marx and Freud to provide a compelling and insightful analysis of the exhaustion pervading modern capitalism: environmental collapse, the rising poverty levels, and the increase in global economic disparity. Linking the consumption of environmental resources to our own depleted psychic life, she shows that modernity must be rethought if we are to find a sustainable future for both the environment and our own psychic life. This book should prove of value to political and social theorists, philosophers, economists, and anyone interested in the environment.

This book examines the rapid deregulation and changing nature of Japan's financial marketplace as it emerges from its worst economic crisis since the end of the Second World War. The author focuses on how U.S. firms like Citibank, AIG, Merrill Lynch, GE Capital, Fidelity Investments, and American Express have made large investments and built strategic businesses in a market that was effectively closed to them only a few years ago. He also profiles Japan's major financial institutions, which are aggressively restructuring to defend their home turf from foreign competitors.

Now that the economic crisis appears to be over, this exciting new book gives business students, scholars, and executives an in-depth analysis and understanding of the on-going transformation of the Japanese marketplace in banking, securities, insurance, asset management, mutual funds, and consumer credit.

In the early 1980s, many observers, argued that powerful organized economic interests and social democratic parties created successful mixed economies promoting economic growth, full employment, and a modicum of social equality. The present book assembles scholars with formidable expertise in the study of advanced capitalist politics and political economy to reexamine this account from the vantage point of the second half of the 1990s. The authors find that the conventional wisdom no longer adequately reflects the political and economic realities. Advanced democracies have responded in path-dependent fashion to such novel challenges as technological change, intensifying international competition, new social conflict, and the erosion of established patterns of political mobilization. The book rejects, however, the currently widespread expectation that 'internationalization' makes all democracies converge on similar political and economic institutions and power relations. Diversity among capitalist democracies persists, though in a different fashion than in the 'Golden Age' of rapid economic growth after World War II.

A comprehensive examination of the transformation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army into one of the most important actors in the Chinese economy -- an amalgam of military and commercial interests controlling a multi-billion dollar international business empire. The author provides the first documentary analysis of decision-making surrounding the origins of this post-1978 military- business complex. He offers a detailed picture of the system's wide-ranging structure and sectoral interests, and links this military commercialism to the rise of corruption in the ranks.