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Books > Business & Economics > Economics > Economic systems > General
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.
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.
This title was first published in 2002. This useful collection brings together scholars from diverse standpoints to examine the transition from Communism a decade after it began. The result is a book that illuminates the changes, and particularly the problems, that have accompanied attempts to introduce representative democracy and a viable market economy into formerly Communist states. Specialist chapters on the Former Soviet Union, Russia, Poland, Azerbaijan and the former East Germany, institutional accounts of postcommunist states and conceptual chapters result in this volume being ideally suited to university courses, policy makers and NGOs that have an interest in transition countries.
The first comprehensive history of America's attempts to promote international development by exporting private enterprise, a story marked by frequent failure and occasional success. Foreign aid is a primary tool of US foreign policy, but direct financial support and ventures like the Peace Corps constitute just a sliver of the American global development pie. Since the 1940s, the United States has relied on the private sector to carry out its ambitions in the developing world. This is the first full account of what has worked and, more often, what has failed in efforts to export American-style capitalism. Ethan Kapstein draws on archival sources and his wide-ranging experience in international development to provide penetrating case studies from Latin America and East Asia to the former Soviet Union, Afghanistan, and Iraq. After WWII the Truman and Eisenhower administrations urged US companies to expand across the developing world. But corporations preferred advanced countries, and many developing nations, including Taiwan and South Korea, were cool to foreign investment. The Cold War made exporting capitalism more important than ever, even if that meant overthrowing foreign governments. The fall of the Soviet Union brought new opportunities as the United States promoted privatization and the bankrolling of local oligarchs. Following the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the United States believed it had blank slates for building these economies, but ongoing conflict eroded such hopes. Kapstein's sobering history shows that private enterprise is no substitute for foreign aid. Investors are often unwilling to put capital at risk in unstable countries. Only in settings with stable governments and diverse economic elites can private enterprise take root. These lessons are crucial as the United States challenges China for global influence.
This title was first published in 2000: The Asian financial crisis and its aftermath provide a crucible in which Chinese diaspora capitalism has been tested, and a prism through which its strengths and weaknesses may be seen in a different light. The papers collected in this volume are in many ways still tentative. Some represent work-in-progress reports on as yet uncompleted research. In other cases, outcomes explored are still unclear or have not even yet fully unfolded. The aim is to focus on the consquences for diaspora Chinese capitalists and to start trying to identify losers and winners in the new landscape, re-evaluating their business culture, strategies and modes of operation, and their likely future direction and potential. The book begins by setting the scene for the Asian crisis and the achievements of the "Asian miracle". It then goes on to examine the causes of the financial crash, the firms that were able to ride the crisis, the Taiwanese economy as a whole, the fortunes of diaspora ventures in China, the small and medium enterprises at the heart of Chinese diaspora capitalism, the impact of the crisis on large Chinese business groups, and finally, the book debunks the theory that the rise of East Asia was initiated by Japan.
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.
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 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.
According to renowned Marxist economist Samir Amin, the recent Arab Spring uprisings comprise an integral part of a massive "second awakening" of the Global South. From the self-immolation in December 2010 of a Tunisian street vendor, to the consequent outcries in Cairo's Tahrir Square against poverty and corruption, to the ongoing upheavals across the Middle East and Northern Africa, the Arab world is shaping what may become of Western imperialism - an already tottering and overextended system. The Reawakening of the Arab World examines the complex interplay of nations regarding the Arab Spring and its continuing, turbulent seasons. Beginning with Amin's compelling interpretation of the 2011 popular Arab explosions, the book is comprised of five chapters - including a new chapter analyzing U.S. geo-strategy. Amin sees the United States, in an increasingly multi-polar world, as a victim of overreach, caught in its own web of attempts to contain the challenge of China, while confronting the staying power of nations such as Syria and Iran. The growing, deeply-felt need of the Arab people for independent, popular democracy is the cause of their awakening, says Amin. It is this awakening to democracy that the United States fears most, since real self-government by independent nations would necessarily mean the end of U.S. empire, and the economic liberalism that has kept it in place. The way forward for the Arab world, Amin argues, is to take on, not just Western imperialism, but also capitalism itself.
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.
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.
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.
Examining the innovations of economic policy in the UK, France and Germany in the 1960s, this book originally published in 1968, assesses the degree of success of these policies and draws conclusion for the oreintation of future policy. The book contrasts the long history of national planning in France with the equally long history of anti-p[lanning ideology in Germany and by close examination of the actual policies, brings out the relaities that lie behind the public attitudes. It discusses the problems which lead to planning interventions, followed by a chapter on the UK, France and Germany. It examines in details particular adaptations of policy: namely quantitative programming, monetary policy, fiscal policy, public expenditures, regional policy, prices and incomes policy and the balance of payments, comparing developments in all 3 countries. It also looks at the beginning of economic planning at the level of the EEC, with particular implications for British entry.
Now expanded to cover the consequences of Russia's 1998 financial collapse, this book focuses on the social consequences of a modern-day great depression. The text examines the unequal distribution of the costs and benefits of Russia's leap into capitalism. The topics covered include: the emergence of the "new poor"; the recruitment of a business elite; the changing social and economic status of women; and the impact of marketization on employment. The study draws on a range of statistics and survey research data to present a portrait of the lives and circumstances of comtemporary Russians.
This book, first published in 1986, is an important contribution to the economic analysis of new firms. It emphasises the importance of analysing the economic inter-relationship between new and established firms. These links are especially relevant in the assessment of the employment effects of formation activity.
Concern over conglomerate mergers increased dramatically in the latter part of the twentieth century. An acceleration in conglomerate merger activity rekindled firms' takeover fears and swamped trustbusters, and attention focused on the political and economic issues surrounding conglomerate mergers. Of particular importance is the possibility that conglomerate mergers may increase aggregate concentration and eventually create a 'zaibatsu' economy. This book, first published in 1984, addresses the issue by examining the mutual forbearance hypothesis. More specifically, do multi-market contacts among diversified firms affect market competition? |
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