This non-technical introduction to economics is designed specifically to help non-professionals understand the economic setting in which they will play out their lives. It emphasizes the operation of the economy as a system, so that contemporary problems are examined in the broader context of the system that gives rise to them -- increasingly a market-oriented system for many nations.

Integration with the world economy is crucial to economic success for most, if not all, transitional economies. Rapid development of successful exports is vital to that aim. Governments can help through export promotion policies. These include the general macroeconomic policies governing the level of domestic demand and the exchange rate, but also direct support through institutions to provide insurance, finance and marketing assistance for exporters. As important market failures affect foreign trade, governments have good reason to intervene. In transitional economies market failures are even more common and acute because of their recent history of planned allocation, but their attempts to correct for market failures and support exporters have been weak so far. There is much scope for improvement and for lessons to be learned for both them and for latecomers to transition.

Designed to meet the special needs and interest level of non-economics majors at the undergraduate level, this "principles of economics" textbook makes two important modifications to the traditional introductory approach. First, the author emphasizes the operation of the economy as a system, so that contemporary problems are examined in the broader context of the system that gives rise to them, which in our case is a "market" system. This emphasis is particularly important since so many nations are shifting to market-oriented economies. Second, precisely because economic theory is important, the author is selective and purposeful in its inclusion and introduces it only when it contributes positively to the student's understanding -- not in all its refinements, and not for its own sake. The overriding objective of this text, therefore, is to help students understand the economic context in which they will play out their personal and professional lives, both in the United States and in the world.

Now expanded to cover Russia's 1998 financial collapse, New Rich, New Poor, New Russia focuses on the social consequences of this modern-day Great Depression. The authors draw on abundant statistical material and survey research data to present a carefully assembled portrait of the life circumstances of contemporary Russians. They document the unequal distribution of the costs and benefits of reform in Russia, its impact on the socioeconomic structure of the population, and the ways in which these changes have violated social perceptions of equity and fairness. Among the major issues examined in this context are:
-- the emergence of the "new poor";
-- the changing economic and social status of women;
-- the highly differentiated impact of marketization on various sectors of the workforce;
-- the social sources of recruitment of Russia's new entrepreneurial class and business elite;
-- the causes and consequences of the August 1998 financial crisis.

CONTENTS

Introduction to the Second Edition

1. Free Market Ideology and the Specter of Inequality

2. Critical Responses to Radical Reform

3. The Rise of Mass Poverty

4. A Question of Difference: Women as Losers

5. Wage-Earners: Winners and Losers

6. A New Capitalist Class: Entrepreneurs and the Economic Elite

7. Why No Social Democracy in Russia?

Epilogue: The Failure of Market Bolshevism

The most destructive force in the Americas today is not El NiNo-it is the criminal enterprises that recognize no geographic, legal or moral boundaries. This book exposes the main characteristics and effects of criminal enterprises in the Americas and considers realistic strategies for combating them. Looking at how crime penetrates private business, government, and the everyday lives of the people, this collection examines the impact of criminal enterprises on the legitimate economy and the ability of states to promote the rule of law. It compares criminal enterprises in the Americas with other regions, and considers the foreign policy concerns of the US. With a recent upsurge in the scope, sophistication and cooperation among groups, this book is essential tool for understanding one of the greatest challenges to security, peace and democracy in the Americas.

In A Theory of Full Employment, Y. S. Brenner reviews the current drift toward a society he finds neither economically expedient nor morally attractive, and N. Brenner-Golomb discusses the risks involved for science and society in the newfangled sophism hiding behind post-modern ideas and "political correctness." Both authors emphasize the need to revive the public's political engagement and revise economic theory to restore to society the humane perspective that inspired the welfare state. They contend that if people will abandon outworn habits of thought, consider alternatives, and renew their political engagement, they may find useful employment for all who are able and willing to work and end the fear of destitution.

Although scientists' philosophical backgrounds seldom influence their answers, they do determine their questions, and the final outcome can depend on this. Neoclassical economists are ill equipped to ask questions about the long-term dynamic processes of our complex economic reality. They leave out of their models variables not easily quantified and prefer mathematical precision to the study of the intricacy of life. Paul Samuelson, Robert Solow, and others have tried to overcome this by grouping self-adjusting elements into "proxy" variables, thus synthesizing neoclassical and Keynesian ideas. But most of today's critics of the ruling dogma go largely unheard.

This volume is intended to convince professional economists who study the economic system as a whole to reexamine some of the assumptions behind reigning economic theories. A second objective is to explain to the general public why currently fashionable policies cannot solve massive long-term unemployment. Finally, it shows that if political engagement is revived, we may escape the economic morass and moral wasteland into which, the fashionable policies have been leading us since the 1970s. This book will appeal to economists, politicians, sociologists, and a wider public concerned about today's economic malaise.

The issue of rights is increasingly gaining interest among scholars of developing societies. This probably reflects the growing prominence of rights on political agendas in general. A great deal of research is centred around classical human rights, but other types of rights have also come into focus in the context of development, some under the candidacy of human rights. We talk about cultural rights, social rights and property rights - for example, rights to natural resources or to intellectual property.

The publication by Longman of P J Cain and A.G. Hopkins two-volume study of "British Imperialism" (1688-1914; 1914-1994) caused a sensation amongst historians of European imperialism and economic international history. The theory of `gentlemanly capitalism' - the complex of economic, social and political power centring on the City of London - which they developed to explain Britain's imperial expansion has since been expanded , both in its original theory and its implications. Here now is a purpose-built volume prepared in collaboration with the original authors which reviews the latest state of scholarship in the field and develops it further.

The issue of rights is increasingly gaining interest among scholars of developing societies. This probably reflects the growing prominence of rights on political agendas in general. A great deal of research is centred around classical human rights, but other types of rights have also come into focus in the context of development, some under the candidacy of human rights. We talk about cultural rights, social rights and property rights - for example, rights to natural resources or to intellectual property.

Representing an innovative approach to the analysis of the economic geography of capitalism, this stimulating book develops an analytical political economic framework. Part 1 provides an introductory overvi9ew fo some of the fundamental debates about price, profits and value in economics which underlie the analytical political economy approach. Part 2 analyzes the special role of space and transportation in commodity production and the spatial organization of the economy that this implies. Parts 3 and 4 examine the conflicting goals and actions of different social clases and individuals and how these are complicated by space, concluding with a detailed analysis of capitalists' strategiesas they cope with uncertainty and disequilibrium.

Considering how the British policy process deals with "conscience" issues, this book covers eight topics discussed by Parliament in the last quarter of a century - abortion, censorship, divorce, Sunday trading, homosexuality, war crimes, disability rights and animal welfare.

Considering how the British policy process deals with "conscience" issues, this book covers eight topics discussed by Parliament in the last quarter of a century - abortion, censorship, divorce, Sunday trading, homosexuality, war crimes, disability rights and animal welfare.

Discontent with public education has been on the rise in recent years, as parents complain that their children are not being taught the basics, that they are not pushed to excel, and that their classrooms are too chaotic to encourage any real learning. The public has begun to reject school bond levies with regularity, frustrated by what it perceives to be mounting education costs unaccompanied by increased achievement or accountability.

Coulson explores the educational problems facing parents and shows how these problems can best be addressed. He begins with a discussion of what people want from their school systems, tracing their views of the kinds of knowledge, skills, and values education should impart, and their concerns over discipline, drugs, and violence in public schools. Using this survey of goals and attitudes as a guide, Coulson sets out to compare the school systems of civilizations both ancient and modern, seeking to determine which systems successfully educated generations past and which did not. His historical study ranges from classical Greece and ancient Rome, through the Islamic world of the Middle Ages, to nineteenth-century England and modern America.

Drawing on the historical evidence of how these various systems operated, Coulson concludes that free educational markets have consistently done a better job of serving the public's needs than state-run school systems have. He sets out a blueprint for competitive, free-market educational reform that would make schools more flexible, more innovative, and more responsive to the needs of parents and students. He describes how education for low-income children might be funded under a market system, and how the transition from monopolistic public education to market education might be achieved.

Coulson's Market Education touches on a wide range of issues, including declines in academic achievement, minority education, the role of public school teachers, and mismanagement and corruption in educational bureaucracies. Coulson examines alternative reform proposals from vouchers and charter schools to national standards for school curricula. This timely and engaging book will appeal to parents, educators, and others concerned with the quality and cost of schooling, and will serve as an excellent resource in college courses on the economics and history of education.

Millenarian Bolshevism had its origins in a debate between positivist and idealist Marxists at the turn of the 20th Century. This book, originally published in 1987, charts the development of Millenarian Bolshevism by studying the careers of Bogdanov and Lunacharsky and analyzing their relations with Lenin, Gorky and other left Bolsheviks. In discussing their relationship with Lenin, the author maintains that the millenarian Bolsheviks gave expression to the voluntarist, idealist spirit which was inherent in the program and organization of Bolshevism and which provided the philosophy of Soviet socialist idealism.

For many the East European revolutions of 1989 and the disintegration of the USSR represented not only the overdue demise of Soviet-style communism, but also the obsolescence of all utopian ways of thinking. This text argues history has reached its end-state in the form of a victorious liberal-democratic capitalism and all attempts to imagine an alternative social order were now damned as both futile and quixotic. Beyond Utopia? rejects the belief that utopian thinking is a necessary condition for the development of alternative solutions to the problems of the present and thus for historical progress. This text is emphatically not an attempt to breathe new life into existing utopian models, whether state socialist or neo-liberal, which are seen as misunderstanding the nature of learning and knowledge in a modern economy. The author's utopianism is based on an examination of the potential for an alternative future based on the growth of knowledge-intensive production, one whose feasibility would derive from its ability to respond to the needs of rapidly-changing industrial economies.

This book explains the changes that have occurred in welfare states since the early 1970s and considers some of the policy dilemmas that have arisen. Each of the chapters begins with an introduction to set the scene, followed by an examination of the theoretical and conceptual perspectives of the sector under discussion. Chapters analyse the major changes in the sectors, with issue-based conclusions highlighting the policy dilemmas identified in the chapters. The influence of ideology and values is given prominence throughout. Although each of the sectors has its own chapter, the book emphasises the importance of the relationships between the sectors, allowing each sector's place in the production and delivery of welfare to be assessed.

This comprehensive analysis deals with the range of issues raised by the rise of transnational corporations from emerging markets. This insightful book shows that foreign direct investment (FDI) from emerging markets has grown from negligible amounts in the early 1980s to $210 billion in 2007, with the stock of investment now being well over $1 trillion. This reflects the rise of firms from these economies to become important players in the world FDI market. The contributors to this book comprehensively analyze the rise of emerging market TNCs, the salient features of the transnational activities of these firms, the relationship of outward FDI and the competitiveness of the firms involved, their impact on host and home countries and implications for the international law and policy system. The subject of this study is both topical and important and poses a number of challenges that will require considerable policy attention in the future. It will appeal to academics interested in FDI as well as emerging markets. Karl P. Sauvant has gathered together a group of leading academics that makes this an informative and valuable read for anyone interested in the subject, including academics, students at all levels and private sector entities, as well as government officials dealing with outward FDI.

A flagship annual document of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, the Economic Survey reviews the developments in the Indian economy over the previous twelve months, summarizes the performance on major development programmes, and highlights the policy initiatives of the government and the prospects of the economy in the short to medium term. This document is presented to both houses of Parliament during the Budget Session, tabled a day ahead of the Union Budget. With detailed analysis of recent developments--international, domestic, as well as sectoral--the Survey is the most authoritative and updated source of information on India's economy. This year, it analyses radical policy actions by the government, in particular, GST and demonetization, and advocates broader societal shifts for overcoming the meta-challenges like inefficient redistribution, weak state capacity, and ambivalence towards private sector and property rights. Embracing 'Big Data', the Survey produces the first-ever estimate of the flow of goods and people within the country, to assess the effectiveness of targeting of major current schemes. Further, it brings to the fore a discussion on Universal Basic Income as a means of achieving social justice and economic productivity.

Hannah Arendt's 1958 The Human Condition was an impassioned philosophical reconsideration of the goals of being human. In its arguments about the kind of lives we should lead and the political engagement we should strive for, Arendt's interpretative skills come to the fore, in a brilliant display of what high-level interpretation can achieve for critical thinking. Good interpretative thinkers are characterised by their ability to clarify meanings, question accepted definitions and posit good, clear definitions that allow their other critical thinking skills to take arguments deeper and further than most. In many ways, The Human Condition is all about definitions. Arendt's aim is to lay out an argument for political engagement and active participation in society as the highest goals of human life; and to this end she sets about defining a hierarchy of ways of living a "vita activa," or active life. The book sets about distinguishing between our different activities under the categories of "labor", "work", and "action" - each of which Arendt carefully redefines as a different level of active engagement with the world. Following her clear and careful laying out of each word's meaning, it becomes hard to deny her argument for the life of "action" as the highest human goal.

The pocket in question is a small pocket of resistance. A pocket is formed when two or more people come together in agreement. The resistance is against the inhumanity of the new world economic order.

The book's objective is to explore the challenge of thinking methodically - in a theoretically and empirically informed way - about alternative forms of capitalism. What are the most effective ways to conceptualize the existing models of capitalism that have captured the public imagination and are currently floating around in the public debate? How can one mobilize empirical analysis and theory in thinking about the realm of possibilities and about the future of economic order, but avoid the twin perils of scientism and historicism? This book is an attempt to respond to these and related challenges. First, it delves into the substantive aspect of the debate, taking a closer look at a set of particular forms and models of capitalism that are currently discussed both in mass media and in academic circles as plausible, or at least possible, alternatives to the status quo: Crony, State, Regulatory, and Entrepreneurial Capitalisms. By elaborating and clarifying those models, it engages in a heuristic exercise that leads to a better understanding of the task of conceptualizing and assessing, in a theoretically informed way, the diversity of forms of capitalism. Second, the book takes a step further, looking at the epistemic, theoretical and methodological dimensions of the discussion: What is involved, more precisely, in our classifying and theorizing of capitalist systems and their historical evolution? What is the epistemic basis for building plausible conjectures about the future evolution of an economic system? What are the logical and methodological parameters of our endeavors that deal with economic systems, or with the problem of continuity and change in comparative economic systems? Offering an original approach to the problem of alternative forms of capitalism, this book will be of great interest to scholars working in the field of comparative political economy.

Contrary to much Marxist thought, the author does not view socialism as an antithesis to capitalism, and in this text argues that socialism is, among other things an objective development of capitalism. As capitalism develops it creates the premises for social development which are also the bases for a socialist and democratic construction of society. Drawing on economics, urban geography, political theory and Marxism, the text examines the evolution of capitalism from its early industrial to its present urban and global forms. How Marx understood the economy as a unity of production, distribution, exchange and consumption engaged in social reproduction is also considered. The contradictory evolution of US corporations and urban development from 1945 to the present is explored. The author argues that urban space involves requirements for social and individual reproduction which extend well beyond limits inherent in transnational corporate private appropriation. Using his arguments, the author makes the case that economic expansion can now best be secured by forms of development that take us beyond the limits of capitalism and point towards a democratic and socialist society.

European market integration was originally seen as the way to overcome national enmities in the wake of World War II. Over time, it acquired the purpose of social melioration as well. Today, the advanced market societies are richer than they have ever been, yet each is driven by social and economic divisions as some groups thrive while others lose ground. The tension between the social demand for equity and security, and the market's drive to burst the bonds of state regulation both internally and at the border post, has taken on new complexity. It is this issue that underlies domestic political struggles over privatisation, safety-net programmes, immigration policies and trade agreements. Will European Union survive the stresses of high employment and the strains of German unification? These are some of the questions Dusan Pokorny considers in this second volume of his exploration of the efficiency-justice conundrum.

The book speaks to the widespread quest for concrete alternative ways forward 'beyond capitalism' in the face of the prevailing corporatocracy and a capitalist system in crisis. It examines a number of institutions and practices now being built in the nooks and crannies of present societies and that point beyond capitalism toward a more equal, participatory, and democratic society - institutions such as cooperatives, public banks, the commons, economic democracy. This seminal collection of critical studies draws on academic and activist voices from the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Cuba, and Argentina, and from a variety of theoretical-political perspectives - Marxism, anarchism, feminism, and Zapatismo.

This book is a comprehensive study of differential treatment for developing countries in international environmental law. It offers a compelling analysis of the legal dimension of the relationship between developed and developing countries in the environmental field and beyond. It first critically examines the principle of legal equality of states and then explores the conceptual framework behind the notion of differential treatment in international law and its relevance in bringing about substantive equality. The book examines the development of differentiation in international environmental law, considers its application in various environmental treaties and evaluates the legal status of existing differential norms. It also examines the contribution of differentiation to the implementation of environmental treaties and the extent to which differential treatment fosters the decentralization of international environmental policy making. It is an indispensable resource for all actors involved in environmental law and policy making, scholars and students.