The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in which some members of the European Union have joined, has prompted much discussion of monetary union. Most of this discussion has focused on the immediate issues, such as prospects for the Euro and the possibility of expanding the Euro-zone. This book stands back and considers the relevant theory or what lessons might be drawn from other unions that have been formed in the past as well as looking at EMU directly.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203417917

"Greece and Turkey" is a pioneering study of two neighboring nations at different stages of economic development. Gianaris thoroughly examines dominant characteristics of each country's economy and assesses developmental trends toward closer cooperation, not only between themselves but among other nations as well. He demonstrates that their history of conflict and mutual suspicion, especially over Cyprus, is now more counterproductive than ever--inhibiting important economic and geopolitical benefits to both countries. The volume is divided into three parts, beginning with an examination of the historical context within which the two economies developed. The next section describes each country's domestic economic problems, exploring issues such as resources and productivity, sectoral resource allocation, fiscal policies, monetary policy, and inflation. The final chapters address opportunities for cooperation between Greece and Turkey, and their relations with the EEC and with other nations.

The book develops an explanation of distribution between profits and wages, which is both logically coherent and supported by reality. It is centred upon a concept of the money rate of interest as the variable that governs the normal profitability of capital.

This work sets out to show the state of macroeconomics at the end of the 20th century from three main perspectives: methodology, theory and economic policy. It is built on extensive conversations with some of the world's leading macroeconomists. These are based on wide questionnaires, covering jointly almost all the topics of macroeconomic theory, as well as questions of methodology, real economy, and even academic systems and future lines of research. Some of the questions have been put to all the respondents or many of them, with the aim of bringing out their different positions. References about authors and themes are also provided.

In the late 1950s, the Filipino economy could reasonably have been described as more advanced than those of its South Asian neighbours. Ever since then, however, it has consistently lagged behind and only really started to grow strongly in the mid-1990s and even then it failed to achieve the growth rates of the rest of Southeast Asia ten years earlier.
This book critically analyses the Filipino economy and attempts to explain the problems that it has faced, as well as the solutions that need to be put into practice.
This accessible and comprehensive book will be of great use to students, academics and business professionals with an interest in the economies of Asia.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203169271

An understanding of price structures and their impact on trade, productivity, and other related factors will aid in formulation of price policies promoting economic growth and development. Price formulation issues are examined within the context of nonmarket and imperfect market conditions, providing insightful linking of exchange rates and domestic prices to a wide array of factors that determine economic growth. Different facets of primary commodity price formation are explored, arriving at such conclusions as the fact that the dramatic rise in oil prices during the 1970s had little to do with the Latin American debt crisis or with the world recession that followed. Some new techniques for analysis are used, and commonly used techniques in price comparison studies are discussed.

A distinguished international group of central bankers, commercial bankers, entrepreneurs, academic advisors, policymakers, and representatives of development finance organizations and donor agencies, brought together by KfW, examines in this book the future of financial sector development in Southeast Europe. They explore ways to strengthen the banking sector in Southeast Europe, further promote SMEs, and improve access to financial services in the region. Experts and decision-makers assess the opportunities and challenges presented by the EU accession process and Basel II, and offer candid insight into the expanding role of the private sector in developing the financial landscape. The perspectives presented in this book will prompt discussion and intellectual exchange that will serve as a new starting point for further successful cooperative initiatives.

The growth of interest in fiscal decentralization has meant that there has been something of a rush to enshrine this in policy - The World Bank has reported that about 70 countries see this as a major part of their development strategy. This book critically examines the case for decentralization.
This collection of contributions comes from a worldwide team of experts, including Albert Breton, Piero Giarda and Anwar Shah. After analyzing fiscal decentralization in general, the book goes on to look at intriguing case studies of various regions around the world including:
* The European Union
* Hungary and Slovakia
* Russia and China
* Asia and Africa

eBook available with sample pages: 0203219996

To explain the pronounced instability of the world economy since the 1970s, the book offers an important and systematic theoretical examination of money and finance. It re-examines the classical foundations of political economy and the creator of money. It assesses all of the important theoretical schools since then, including Marxist, Keynesian, post-Keynesian and monetarist thinkers. By presenting important insights from Japanese political economy previously ignored in Anglo-Saxon economics, the authors make a significant contribution to radical political economy based on a thorough historical analysis of capitalism.

Economic prospects for the countries of the Middle East and North Africa are assessed in light of the changing world economy, increasing integration of trade and financial markets, greater needs for educated labour, and growing concerns about poverty and environmental degradation. Cross-country papers on thematic topics by international scholars are presented. The need for major economic reforms is emphasized if the region is to use greater integration in the world economy as the basis for generating growth and jobs and reducing poverty.

The book presents the distributional consequences of the public sector. Examining both theoretically and empirically, both the effects of giovernment spending and taxation on personal distribution, i.e. on families and individuals and the relationship between the public sector and functional distribution of national income. Government expenditures are explored, asking who benefits from them, who from government transfer programs and who bears the tax burden?

Public silence in policymaking can be deafening. When advocates for a disadvantaged group decline to speak up, not only are their concerns not recorded or acted upon, but also the collective strength of the unspoken argument is lessened - a situation that undermines the workings of deliberative democracy by reflecting only the concerns of more powerful interests. But why do so many advocates remain silent on key issues they care about and how does that silence contribute to narrowly defined policies? What can individuals and organizations do to amplify their privately expressed concerns for policy change? In "Healthy Voices, Unhealthy Silence", Colleen M. Grogan and Michael K. Gusmano address these questions through the lens of state-level health care advocacy for the poor. They examine how representatives for the poor participate in an advisory board process by tying together existing studies; extensive interviews with key players; and, an in-depth, first-hand look at the Connecticut Medicaid advisory board's deliberations during the managed care debate. Drawing on the concepts of deliberative democracy, agenda setting, and nonprofit advocacy, Grogan and Gusmano reveal the reasons behind advocates' often unexpected silence on major issues, assess how capable nonprofits are at affecting policy debates, and provide prescriptive advice for creating a participatory process that adequately addresses the health care concerns of the poor and dispossessed. Though exploring specifically state-level health care advocacy for the poor, the lessons Grogan and Gusmano offer here are transferable across issue areas and levels of government. Public policy scholars, advocacy organizations, government workers, and students of government administration will be well-served by this significant study.

The epic successor to one of the most important books of the century: at once a retelling of global history, a scathing critique of contemporary politics, and a bold proposal for a new and fairer economic system.

Thomas Piketty’s bestselling Capital in the Twenty-First Century galvanized global debate about inequality. In this audacious follow-up, Piketty challenges us to revolutionize how we think about politics, ideology, and history. He exposes the ideas that have sustained inequality for the past millennium, reveals why the shallow politics of right and left are failing us today, and outlines the structure of a fairer economic system.

Our economy, Piketty observes, is not a natural fact. Markets, profits, and capital are all historical constructs that depend on choices. Piketty explores the material and ideological interactions of conflicting social groups that have given us slavery, serfdom, colonialism, communism, and hypercapitalism, shaping the lives of billions. He concludes that the great driver of human progress over the centuries has been the struggle for equality and education and not, as often argued, the assertion of property rights or the pursuit of stability. The new era of extreme inequality that has derailed that progress since the 1980s, he shows, is partly a reaction against communism, but it is also the fruit of ignorance, intellectual specialization, and our drift toward the dead-end politics of identity.

Once we understand this, we can begin to envision a more balanced approach to economics and politics. Piketty argues for a new “participatory” socialism, a system founded on an ideology of equality, social property, education, and the sharing of knowledge and power. Capital and Ideology is destined to be one of the indispensable books of our time, a work that will not only help us understand the world, but that will change it.

Anyone who wants to understand stock market cycles and develop a focused, thoughtful, and solidly grounded valuation approach to the stock market must read this book. Bolten explains the causes and patterns of the cycles and identifies the causes of stock price changes. He identifies the sources of risks in the stock market and in individual stocks. Also covered is how the interaction of expected return and risk creates stock market cycles. Bolten talks about the industry sectors most likely to be profitable investments in each stage of the stock market cycles, while identifying the stock market bubble and sinkhole warning signs. The role of the Federal Reserve in each stage of the stock market cycle is also discussed.

All the categories of risk are identified and explained while no specific risk is left undiscussed. The underlying causes for long-term stock price trends and cycles are highlighted. The book is useful in many areas including stock analysis, portfolio management, cost of equity capital, financing strategies, business valuations and spotting profit opportunities caused by general economic and specific company changes.

In this book, the author presents fresh perspectives on the theories surrounding European Monetary Union. Urging the reader to examine conventional ideas from new viewpoints, he discusses the events which led to EMU, analyses the current situation, and projects possible futures.
Essential reading for academics and professionals concerned with the background and implications of EMU, this book will also be of considerable interest to scholars in the fields of European studies, monetary economics, international economics and economic history.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203165926

This book examines the life of John Maynard Keynes, explores his influential writings and theories, and assesses his legacy. Davidson looks at the life of Keynes leading up to the writing of his seminal General Theory, and traces the roots of this work in Keynes' early influences, as well as examining the General Theory in detail, and exploring how it differs from classical theory. The impact of Keynes's work on the economy postwar and up to the present day is also assessed.

New Tides in the Pacific includes essays by prominent scholars from different countries examining prospects for cooperation in the Pacific basin. The volume as a whole emphasizes the gradually emerging framework of cooperation between the countries of the Pacific, and reflects the slow but steady growth of the cooperative process. Attention is also paid to the conflicting elements.

This volume forms part of a ten volume set on the origins of macroeconomics. The emergence of macroeconomics was probably the single most important development in economics in the twentieth century. The set draws on a broad, international range of sources, and encompasses works by lesser known thinkers who made significant contributions to the field, providing the definitive collection of materials on the origins of the discipline.

This volume forms part of a ten volume set on the origins of macroeconomics. The emergence of macroeconomics was probably the single most important development in economics in the twentieth century. The set draws on a broad, international range of sources, and encompasses works by lesser known thinkers who made significant contributions to the field, providing the definitive collection of materials on the origins of the discipline.

This volume forms part of a ten volume set on the origins of macroeconomics. The emergence of macroeconomics was probably the single most important development in economics in the twentieth century. The set draws on a broad, international range of sources, and encompasses works by lesser known thinkers who made significant contributions to the field, providing the definitive collection of materials on the origins of the discipline.

This volume forms part of a ten volume set on the origins of macroeconomics. The emergence of macroeconomics was probably the single most important development in economics in the twentieth century. The set draws on a broad, international range of sources, and encompasses works by lesser known thinkers who made significant contributions to the field, providing the definitive collection of materials on the origins of the discipline.

This volume forms part of a ten volume set on the origins of macroeconomics. The emergence of macroeconomics was probably the single most important development in economics in the twentieth century. The set draws on a broad, international range of sources, and encompasses works by lesser known thinkers who made significant contributions to the field, providing the definitive collection of materials on the origins of the discipline.

This volume forms part of a ten volume set on the origins of macroeconomics. The emergence of macroeconomics was probably the single most important development in economics in the twentieth century. The set draws on a broad, international range of sources, and encompasses works by lesser known thinkers who made significant contributions to the field, providing the definitive collection of materials on the origins of the discipline.

This volume forms part of a ten volume set on the origins of macroeconomics. The emergence of macroeconomics was probably the single most important development in economics in the twentieth century. The set draws on a broad, international range of sources, and encompasses works by lesser known thinkers who made significant contributions to the field, providing the definitive collection of materials on the origins of the discipline.

This volume forms part of a ten volume set on the origins of macroeconomics. The emergence of macroeconomics was probably the single most important development in economics in the twentieth century. The set draws on a broad, international range of sources, and encompasses works by lesser known thinkers who made significant contributions to the field, providing the definitive collection of materials on the origins of the discipline.