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Books > Business & Economics > Economics > Economic systems > General
As Frances Fox Piven and Richard Cloward argued in the early
seventies, in a capitalist economy, social welfare policies
alternatingly serve political and economic ends as circumstances
dictate. In moments of political stability, governments emphasize a
capitalistic work ethic (even if it means working a job that will
leave one impoverished); when times are less politically stable,
states liberalize welfare policies to recreate the conditions for
political acquiescence. Sanford Schram argues in this new book that
each shift produces its own path dependency even as it represents
yet another iteration of what he (somewhat ironically) calls
"ordinary capitalism," where the changes in market logic inevitably
produce changes in the structure of the state. In today's ordinary
capitalism, neoliberalism is the prevailing political-economic
logic that has contributed significantly to unprecedented levels of
inequality in an already unequal society. As the new normal,
neoliberalism has marketization of the state as a core feature,
heightening the role of economic actors, especially financiers, in
shaping public policy. The results include increased economic
precarity among the general population, giving rise to dramatic
political responses on both the Left and the Right (Occupy Wall
Street and the Tea Party in particular). Schram examines
neoliberalism's constraints on politics as well as social and
economic policy and gives special attention to the role protest
politics plays in keeping alive the possibilities for ordinary
people to exercise political agency. The Return of Ordinary
Capitalism concludes with political strategies for working
through-rather than around-neoliberalism via a radical, rather than
status-quo-reinforcing, incrementalism.
This is a condensed edition of 'The Road to Serfdom' republished in
this edition with 'The Intellectuals and Socialism' (originally
published in 1949). In 'The Road to Serfdom' F. A. Hayek set out
the danger posed to freedom by attempts to apply the principles of
wartime economic and social planning to the problems of peacetime.
Hayek argued that the rise of Nazism was not due to any character
failure on the part of the German people, but was a consequence of
the socialist ideas that had gained common currency in Germany in
the decades preceding the outbreak of war. Such ideas, Hayek
argued, were now becoming similarly accepted in Britain and the
USA. On its publication in 1944, 'The Road to Serfdom' caused a
sensation. Its publishers could not keep up with demand, owing to
wartime paper rationing. Then, in April 1945, Reader's Digest
published a condensed version of the book and Hayek's work found a
mass audience. This condensed edition was republished for the first
time by the IEA in 1999. Since then it has been frequently
reprinted. There is an enduring demand for Hayek's relevant and
accessible message. The 'Road to Serfdom' is republished in this
impression with 'The Intellectuals and Socialism' originally
published in 1949, in which Hayek explained the appeal of socialist
ideas to intellectuals - the 'second-hand dealers in ideas'.
Intellectuals, Hayek argued, are attracted to socialism because it
involves the rational application of the intellect to the
organisation of society, while its utopianism captures their
imagination and satisfies their desire to make the world submit to
their own design.
Handbook of Economic Stagnation takes a broad view, including
contributions from orthodox and heterodox economists who examine
situations in countries and worldwide regions, including Japan and
the Euro area. To be sure, stagnation is periodically relieved by
short economic bursts usually brought on by unsustainable asset
price bubbles. Once the bubbles burst, stagnation returns. This
book's fresh, comprehensive approach to the topic makes it the
premier source for anyone affected by these cycles.
Challenges the mainstream understanding of BRICS and US dominance to situate the new global rivalries engulfing capitalism.
BRICS is a grouping of the five major emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Volume five in the Democratic Marxism series, BRICS and the New American Imperialism challenges the mainstream understanding of BRICS and US dominance to situate the new global rivalries engulfing capitalism. It offers novel analyses of BRICS in the context of increasing US induced imperial chaos, deepening environmental crisis tendencies (such as climate change and water scarcity), contradictory dynamics inside BRICS countries and growing subaltern resistance.
The authors revisit contemporary thinking on imperialism and anti-imperialism, drawing on the work of Rosa Luxemburg, one of the leading theorists after Marx, who attempted to understand the expansionary nature of capitalism from the heartlands to the peripheries. The richness of Luxemburg’s pioneering work inspires most of the volume’s contributors in their analyses of the dangerous contradictions of the contemporary world as well as forms of democratic agency advancing resistance.
While various forms of resistance are highlighted, among them water protests, mass worker strikes, anti-corporate campaigning and forms of cultural critique, this volume grapples with the challenge of renewing anti-imperialism beyond the NGO-driven World Social Forum and considers the prospects of a new horizontal political vessel to build global convergence. It also explores the prospects of a Fifth International of Peoples and Workers.
It now seems to be a given that the principles that presided over
the birth of liberalism and capitalism are no longer relevant. To
understand the evolution of this ideology and economic system,
Liberalism and Capitalism Today examines the work of the two
authors who have contributed the most to the analysis of the
conditions that lead to the emergence of these types of
organization: Alexis de Tocqueville of France and Max Weber of
Germany. This book thus analyzes how the evolution of the general
environment of a civilization leads to the emergence of new ways of
approaching economic life, and then to its development, thanks to
innovations in many fields. This historical perspective makes it
possible to understand the transformations that liberalism and
capitalism could offer. It suggests a potential path that does not
involve simply returning to a way of life that has been totally
altered by the evolution of civilizations and the economy, but
instead leads to a more peaceful way of living in most countries of
the world.
The study supports policy makers in designing legal and operational
frameworks and practices to enhance cooperation between tax
authorities and Law Enforcement Agencies at the domestic and
international levels, and to build on synergies between
investigations and enforcement in the context of tax crimes, money
laundering and corruption.
Why are some countries rich and others poor? Why does a farmer
in Sweden have a higher standard of living than a farmer in South
Africa? Why does a schoolteacher in Switzerland earn more than one
in Chicago? According to leading economic theorist John Kay,
economic markets are key to the wealth or poverty of the world's
nations. In Culture and Prosperity, Kay explores why market
economies outperform socialist or centrally directed markets -- and
why the imposition of market institutions often fails. His search
for the truth about markets takes him from the shores of Lake
Zurich to the streets of Mumbai, through theories of evolutionary
psychology and moral philosophy to the flower market at San Remo
and Christie's salesroom in New York.
Witty, engaging, and grounded in cutting-edge economic theory,
Culture and Prosperity is essential for understanding the state of
the world today.
Networking Games: Network Forming Games and Games on Networks
applies game theory methods to network analyses. Its concentration
on rigorous mathematical techniques distinguishes it from other
books on game theory. Developed by a mathematician and game
theorist with extensive contributions to applied mathematics, game
and probability theory, and written for graduate students and
professionals, the book's illuminations on network games can be
applied to problems in economics (in industrial organization,
regulation and competition policy, for instance) and operations
research.
The EU has experienced serious economic and political crises such
as the sovereign debt crisis and Brexit in the past few years.
However, despite these issues, the EU has implemented considerable
institutional, fiscal, and collective improvements during the
unification process to continue as a significant actor in the
global economy. The Handbook of Research on Social and Economic
Development in the European Union provides a multidisciplinary
evaluation of the institutional, economic, and social development
of the European Union and makes inferences for the future dynamics
and collaborations of the EU, the global economy, and other
countries. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as
energy security, gender discrimination, and global economics, this
book is ideally designed for government officials, policymakers,
world leaders, politicians, diplomats, international relations
officers, economists, business professionals, historians, market
analysts, academicians, researchers, and students concerned about
the multifaceted integration processes surrounding the EU.
From Consent to Coercion examines the increasing assault against
trade union rights and freedoms in Canada by federal and provincial
governments. Centring the struggles of Canadian unionized workers,
this book explores the diminution of the welfare state and the
impacts that this erosion has had on broader working-class rights
and standards of living. The fourth edition witnesses the passing
of an era of free collective bargaining in Canada - an era in which
the state and capital relied on obtaining the consent of workers
and unions to act as subordinates in Canada's capitalist democracy.
It looks at how the last twenty years have marked a return to a
more open reliance of the state and capital on coercion - on force
and on fear - to secure that subordination. From Consent to
Coercion considers this conjuncture in the Canadian political
economy amid growing precarity, poverty, and polarization in an
otherwise indeterminate period of austerity. This important edition
calls attention to the urgent task of rebuilding and renewing
socialist politics - of thinking ambitiously and meeting new
challenges with unique solutions to the left of social democracy.
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