There is no better guide than Paul Krugman to basic economics, the ideas that animate much of our public policy. Likewise, there is no better foe of zombie economics, the misunderstandings that just won't die. Arguing with Zombies is Krugman "the most hated and most admired columnist in the US" (Martin Wolf, Financial Times) at his best, turning readers into intelligent consumers of the daily news with quick, vivid sketches of the key concepts behind taxes, health care, international trade and more. In this new book, in which he builds on and expands his The New York Times columns and other writings, "the most celebrated economist of his generation" (The Economist), offers short, accessible chapters on topics including the European Union and Brexit, the fight for national health care in the United States, the financial meltdown of 2007-2008, the attack on Social Security and the fraudulent argument-the ultimate zombie-that tax cuts for the rich will benefit all.

This timely volume presents a critical analysis of the industrialization process in Malaysia, which has one of the fastest growing economies in Asia. Since 1987, Malaysia has experienced a sustained economic boom based on export-oriented manufacturing. The essays in "Industrializing Malaysia" consider Malaysia's experiences with foreign investment, technology transfers, free trade zones, industrial linkages, and labor flexibility in the manufacturing sector. The volume includes case studies of the Malaysian automobile, electronics, and textile industries.
Despite growing concerns over environmental damage and the sustainability of economic growth, many developing countries continue to associate industrialization with progress. By focusing on Malaysian industrialization, the essays in this volume assess the strengths and weaknesses of such an approach. The contributors, most of whom have served as consultants to the Malaysian government, suggest policy changes that would ensure more balanced, coherent, equitable, and sustainable industrialization under national auspices.
Contributors: Jomo K. S., Chris Edwards, Guy Standing, Anuwar Ali, Wong Poh Kam, Rajah Rasiah, Leslie O'Brien, Ashwani Saith, Anuwar Ali, David C. O'Connor, and S. Jayasankaran.

• Introduces the dynamics, principles and mathematics behind ten macroeconomic models allowing students to visualise the models and understand the economic intuition behind them. • Provides a step-by-step guide, and the necessary MATLAB codes, to allow readers to simulate and experiment with the models themselves.

In contemporary shopping sites new modes of subjectivity, inter-personal relationships and models of social totality are being "tried on", "taken off" and "displayed" in much the same way that one might shop for clothes. These are not the modernist spaces of goal-directed individuals and utopian projects. Rather it is a space of carnivalesque inversions of the present order of things. The multiple masks of the postmodern person "who wears many hats" in different groups and surroundings form a veritable "dramatis personae". In such masks of the individual and the social world may be found a new spatialization and new intuitive perceptions of time and space. This representation of contemporary social life grows out of the work of Henri Lefebvre, Michel Maffesoli, Walter Benjamin and Mikhail Bakhtin. It is an attempt to take seriously the idea that we live in a postmodern consumer culture and to follow through the implications and possibilities of this idea. Cases are drawn from Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and Singapore to illustrate the new intersections between people, mass culture and consumption.

Major changes which have occurred since this book was first published have been included in this edition. In particular, the chapter on Germany has been substantially revised and now includes a separate section on easter Germany. The other five countries covered in the book have also witnessed changes in their business culture and these have been taken into consideration. This book examines the background to business practice in Europe of six major countries: Germany, France, Italy, the UK, Spain and the Netherlands. Each chapter tracks the commercial development of that country in the late 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, focusing on the business environment, special features affecting business, and the response to the EC's single market. The business culture section in each is divided further into business and government, business and the economy, business and the law, business and finance, business and the labour market, business and trade unions and business training, education and development. The test is organized in such a manner to enable cross-referencing between countries, and maps have been included in the new edition.

Pandemic Economics applies economic theory to the Covid-19 era, exploring the micro and macro dimensions of the pre-pandemic, pandemic, and post-pandemic phases. Using core economic tools such as marginal analysis, cost-benefit analysis, and opportunity cost, this book explores the breadth of economic outcomes from the pandemic. It shows that a tradeoff between public health and economic health led to widespread problems, including virus infections and unemployment. Taking an international and comparative approach, the book shows that because countries implemented different economic policies, interventions, and timelines during the crisis, outcomes varied with respect to the extent of recession, process of recovery, availability of medical equipment, public health, and additional waves of the virus. Pedagogical features are weaved throughout the text, including country case studies, key terms, suggested further reading, and discussion questions for solo or group study. On top of this, the book offers online supplements comprising PowerPoint slides, test questions, extra case studies, and an instructor guide. This textbook will be a valuable resource for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate courses on pandemic economics, macroeconomics, health economics, public policy, and related areas.

In the midst of the current world economic crisis, many claim there is a necessity to return to the Marxian and Keynesian traditions in order to better understand the dynamics of market economies. This book is an important step in that direction. It presents a critical examination of the foundations of macroeconomics as developed in the traditions of Marx, Keynes and Kalecki, which are contrasted with the current mainstream. Particular attention is given to the problem of market forms and their relevance for macroeconomics. Professional economists and postgraduate students in economics, in particular those concerned with macroeconomics and the history of economic thought in the 20th century, will find this insightful resource invaluable. This book should be required reading for a large proportion of the economics profession who are dissatisfied with the mainstream. Contents: Foreword Preface 1. Introduction 2. The Marxian Notion of a Monetary Economy and the Critique of Say's Law 3. General Overproduction Crises 4. Keynes s Critique of Say s Law 5. Keynesian Underemployment Equilibria 6. A Critique of Keynes s Microfoundations 7. Kaleckian Macroeconomics: An Outline 8. The Problem of Market Forms in Modern Macroeconomics 9. Concluding Remarks A. A Formalization of Marx s Schemes of Reproduction B. Effects of Wage Changes in Keynes s Model C. Price Determination and Income Distribution in Kalecki

While research evaluation has achieved particular significance in the United Kingdom, there is growing interest and activity in this area among Scandanavian countries. Funded by the Swedish Council for Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences, this book is a product of the increasing recognition of the importance of evaluations. The principal aim of "Economics of Sweden" is to locate Swedish economic research in an international setting and from there, to identify the strengths and weaknesses of Swedish economics. Throughout, an effort has been made to relate to recent work on evaluation by developing a theoretical foundation for assessing the future of Swedish economic research. The authors have achieved this by maintaining close two-way contact with the profession and by combining different empirical methods. This has taken the form of continuous interaction with the economics profession in seminars and on site visits to various economics departments. Although the study is focused on Sweden the analysis should also be relevant to several other countries, particularly the other Nordic countries, Canada, Australia and Israel.

In a unique survey, based on new census data, "Geographic Perspectives on Soviet Central Asia" highlights the region's geographic, economic and ecological problems since 1945. Painting a grim picture, this book investigates how the combination of rapid population growth and declining per capita investment is causing economic conditions to slide in rural areas and encouraging an ecological catastrophe. The authors discuss the effects of low rural out-migration, and show that at current growth rates the rural working-age population will double with each generation. Unprecedented in a developed country, this is causing the region to become more rather than less rural. Soviet Central Asia is an area of low productivity, and the book considers the lack of support from Soviet central government to the region. Wishing to maximize their return to capital and labour, the government is concentrating its investment in the European West and directing insufficient funds for a growing workforce in Central Asia. Soviet Central Asia also faces grave ecological problems; the declining level of the Aral Sea, extensive soil salinization and water pollution. This book should be of interest to undergra

This book argues that the shift in general equilibrium theory, from its early long-period to the modern very-short-period versions, has had very important consequences which are insufficiently appreciated by large parts of the economics profession. This shift has produced new difficulties, and has undermined central tenets of neoclassical macroeconomic theory (such as the negative dependence of aggregate investment on the interest rate, or the existence of a downward-sloping demand curve for labour) which had their basis in the long-period versions where capital was treated as a single factor. According to the author, what makes it difficult to appreciate these consequences is the current imperfect grasp of the long-period method (an approach common to classical and to the first generations of neoclassical economists, but nowadays often confused with steady-growth analysis). The origins of this problem date back to the 1930s, and to this day still obscure the history and the logic of the neoclassical approach. The book explains the analytical differences between long-period, steady-growth, and short-period general equilibrium analyses, and proves that on this basis considerable clarification can be achieved, not only in many aspects of the history of economic theory, but also in fundamental issues in the theories of value, distribution, capital, investment, employment and money. For example, the reasons for the disagreements in the 'Cambridge controversies' over capital theory become very apparent. This stimulating critique on the present state of economic theory will appeal to academics and researchers with an interest in macroeconomics, the history of economic thought, and the theory of value and distribution. It will also enlighten and inform anyone wanting to understand the reasons behind the current dissatisfaction with neoclassical economics.

Baumol's Cost Disease is the inevitable escalation of the real costs that occur in labour-intensive industries like the arts, health care and education. The labour costs in these industries tend to increase at the same rate as other industries, but their scope for utilizing labour-saving technical progress is either small or non-existent.The book opens with an introduction by Ruth Towse in which there is an overview of William Baumol's work. In this discussion Ruth Towse examines Baumol's work in the context of the development of the economics of the arts. The volume is then divided into parts and begins by introducing William Baumol's work through several autobiographical essays. This is followed by some of his early contributions to cultural economics and the cost disease. William Baumol's leading macroeconomic work on the 'unbalanced growth model' is also included and the debate about it at its inception. In parts three and four some of the more empirical papers on the arts are presented as well as essays on policy implications for the arts. Following this are chapters on the theatre and publishing as well as historical studies of the arts and the implications of the cost disease for libraries, health care and education. This book contains William Baumol's contribution to cultural economics and spans over 30 years of writing on the subject, much of which is not widely available. It provides a real insight into the development of Baumol's analysis and his perception of the problems of the arts and other labour-intensive sectors.

This book examines the history of what became one of Portugal's largest banks, the Caixa Geral de Depositos. The bank was founded in 1876 by the state to run public deposits, and evolved into a savings bank, catering for both public and private deposits. Its history goes beyond the history of banking, as it ties in with the role of the state in the banking sector and financial markets. The book weaves in and out of different political and international contexts, following the many changes of the Portuguese political regime and of its interactions with the national and international economy. The most important lesson from the study is that publicly owned institutions can compete successfully with the private sector when they simultaneously cater for the interests of policy makers as well as those of the public, in this case, the depositors. The history of the Caixa Geral de Depositos therefore shows how the state of a peripheral economy is capable of successfully managing a large financial institution when the right set of incentives is in place. This work will be a valuable resource for researchers and students of financial and economic history at both the advanced undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It will also provide interesting insights for practitioners in the financial sector.

Following a study on the world flows of American products during early globalization, here the authors examine the reverse process. By analyzing the imperial political economy, the introduction, adaptation and rejection of new food products in America, as well as of other European, Asian and African goods, American Globalization, 1492-1850, addresses the history of consumerism and material culture in the New World, while also considering the perspective of the history of ecological globalization. This book shows how these changes triggered the formation of mixed imagined communities as well as of local and regional markets that gradually became part of a global economy. But it also highlights how these forces produced a multifaceted landscape full of contrasts and recognizes the plurality of the actors involved in cultural transfers, in which trade, persuasion and violence were entwined. The result is a model of the rise of consumerism that is very different from the ones normally used to understand the European cases, as well as a more nuanced vision of the effects of ecological imperialism, which was, moreover, the base for the development of unsustainable capitalism still present today in Latin America. Chapters 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, and 13 of this book are freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com

Regulation is a public policy approach closely related to calculations of the equilibrium of supply and demand and to cost-benefit analyses. Governments combine a variety of incentives and restrictions on behavior, including laws and regulations, in order to guide enterprises and smaller entities within the economy toward pursuing policies in the public interest. This book offers an in-depth and systematic review of the economic theory of regulation, with particular emphasis on the Chinese context. The basic concepts cover economic and social regulation, regulatory process, regulation under asymmetric information, and capture theory. Drawing on a broad range of cases from across the telecommunications, electric power, and water sectors since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the author explores economic regulation in China with reference to natural monopoly, investment, price level and price structure, entry, and competition. In addition, he discusses theories of externalities and asymmetric information, which are analyzed in the light of China's environmental and product quality regulation. The author argues that the Chinese government has deregulated its economy to a large extent in the past and proposes that the Chinese government will enforce more social regulation in the future. Students and scholars of government regulation, economics, and industrial organization will find this volume to be an essential guide.

This book answers a number of important questions about the distribution of wealth among people and the way that this distribution has changed over time. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the personal distribution of wealth from many dimensions: economic, statistical, ethical, political, sociological and legal. Using data from 21 countries, this book demonstrates how inequality in the distribution of wealth varies between different parts of the world and how it evolves, with particular emphasis on the claim that there has been a long-term and continued increase in inequality since the 1970s in most countries. It discusses alternative ways of measuring the degree of inequality, analyses Thomas Piketty's claim that society has become more unequal in recent decades, and assesses the relative importance of the various determinants of the distribution of wealth. The authors explain why the distribution of wealth is unequal, and discuss how it could be changed with alternative policies and the possible consequences of these policies for economic efficiency. The authors also compare the different distributions of wealth that are implied by alternative views of society. This is a valuable resource for students and academics in economics, political science and sociology seeking a state-of-the-art account of the theory and evidence surrounding inequality in the distribution of wealth.

First Published in 1979 Economic Growth and Development in Jordan is a comprehensive analysis of the economies of pre-1967 Jordan and the post-1967 East Bank. Part I includes statistical data that measures the growth performance of Jordan's prewar economy and presents the first quantitative explanation of its concentration in the service sector. Part II surveys the postwar East Bank economy, including a critical analysis of statistical data. The third section of the book covers Jordan's development policies and experiences in the areas of agriculture, industry, and planning. Dr Mazur concludes with speculations on the future of the Jordanian economy with and without a Middle East peace settlement. This is an interesting read for students and researchers of economics, Middle East studies and Middle East economics.

The digital transformation of finance and banking enables traditional services to be delivered in a more effective and efficient way but, at the same time, presents crucial issues such as fast growing new asset classes, new currencies, datafication and data privacy, algorithmization of law and regulation and, last but not least, new models of financial crime. This book approaches the evolution of digital finance from a business perspective and in a holistic way, providing cutting-edge knowledge of how the digital financial system works in its three main domains: banking, insurance and capital markets. It offers a bird's eye view of the major issues and developments in these individual sectors. The book begins by examining the wider framework of the subsequent analysis and over the next three parts, discusses the opportunities, risks and challenges facing the digitalization of these individual financial subsectors, highlighting the similarities and differences in their digitalization agenda, as well as the existing linkages and dependencies among them. The book clarifies the strategic issues facing the development of digital finance in these major subsectors over the coming years. The book has three key messages: that digital transformation changes fundamentally the way financial businesses operate; that individual trades have their own digitalization agenda; and that the State with its regulatory power and central banking and money has a particularly important role to play. It will be of interest to scholars, students and researchers of finance and banking, as well as policymakers wishing to understand the values and limitations of new forms of digital money.

Current systems are failing the poor because these systems are unable to provide the financial inclusion needed for basic subsistence and commerce, which in turn would drive micro and macro-economic growth. This book introduces the reader to a new way of thinking about how value can be created, captured, measured and understood, economically and financially, and within in the context of social contract. It underscores the need to revisit such models through technological advancements, namely Industrial Revolution 4.0, in order to solve pressing global issues like economic inclusion and poverty eradication. The book proposes that for humanity to make the leap forward and for any real sustainable development to occur, the world needs a disruptive approach to value creation using currency systems, considering that currencies underpin value exchange. This disruption will result in a level of decentralization that facilitates peer-to-peer value exchange and drives financial inclusion, all of which should be underscored by a new, digital social contract. The author asserts that a time-based digital currency could address these issues by creating a new and truly inclusive currency model that allows economies to gain more value than previously possible. In addition, by leveraging 4IR technologies, a currency system can be designed where each unit of money accurately reflects the context and range of socio-economic factors that influence each human interaction. This book is aimed at futurists, technologists, researchers, policymakers, and anyone that is curious about how technology could make a difference in our collective futures. It cuts across a range of subject areas from economics, finance, philosophy, innovation to social development and takes an interdisciplinary approach to present a logical framework and theoretical foundation for the monetization of time as a digital currency.

For years, China's transformation from one of the world's poorest nations was lauded as a triumph that lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. There were always questions about data reliability and growth sustainability, but the general views on China have recently taken a decidedly sour turn. Concerns abound about state interference in the economy, an ageing population, and high debt level. Making Sense of China's Economy untangles China's complex economic structure, evolving issues and curious contradictions, and explains some key features of this most puzzling of global economic powerhouses. This book reveals how factors such as demographics, the initial stage of development in 1978, the transition away from full state ownership and central planning, the dual urban-rural society, and a decentralised governance structure have combined to shape the economy, its development and its reforms. It shows how the pragmatic and adaptive nature of China's policymaking upends familiar perspectives and hinders simple cross-country comparisons. The book also explores crucial topics including the property market, debt accumulation and environmental challenges. In this book, Tao Wang innovatively weaves the multiple strands of China's economy into a holistic and organic tapestry that gives us unique insights from both a Chinese and an international perspective. This book is critical reading for business leaders, investors, policymakers, students, and anyone else hoping to understand China's economy and its future evolution and impact, written by a specialist who has studied the country from both inside and out.

The distinguished contributors in this volume provide a variety of essays, which are written in honor of Emmanuel Drandakis. These essays fall into four uniform areas of economics: economic growth, general equilibrium, labor economics and game theory and applications.The editors focus on a select set of issues that stand high on the agenda of academic research. They provide fresh insights and approaches to the analysis of these issues, and thus open up wider avenues for our understanding of the dilemmas posed for theory and policy. Readers are offered new empirical evidence on such thorny social problems as, for example, unemployment, the intergenerational transmission of human capital and the response of wages to price and endowment changes. These contributions, in conjunction with the realisation that the papers are written by some of the most distinguished economists in the respective areas, make the volume an attractive addition for all who are interested in the contemporary research and teaching of economics.

Focusing on the supply-side structural reform in China, this book investigates the impetus, implementation strategy, initial results and theoretical underpinnings of the revolution, assessing its significance in perfecting China's socialist market economic system. The supply-side structural reform launched in China in 2015 aims to thoroughly resolve the cyclical excess capacity and the habitual imbalance of economic structure; and form a long-term mechanism for economic stability, different from the supply-side policies under the Reagan Administration in the 1980s. Based on the analysis framework of aggregate demand and supply, combined with institutional and structural analysis, the title elucidates the reason, theory, measures and results that ground the reform. It explicates the three-step strategy to ensure the successful outcome, countermeasures against current supply-side problems, upgrading the economic structure, and most importantly the institutional reform and innovation. The author emphasizes the importance of reforming both market and government, and advances a "double-effect" model combining the effective market and government. This title will appeal to scholars, students and policymakers interested in economics, macroeconomic control and the Chinese economy and economic system reform.

Free market capitalism has created a divided American society. Conservative economic and social policy thinking drove the Right's Project from 1980 to its collapse in 2008, leaving the world in ruins and fascism on the march. The Vision of a Real Free Market Society challenges the Left to create new forms of the market economy that promote efficiency and equality while permanently thwarting concentrated power. Many recent commentators have offered policy recommendations based on existing economic institutions. By contrast, this book calls for root-and-branch changes to the inherent structure of American capitalism. The Vision of a Real Free Market Society: Re-Imagining American Freedom presents a Left-egalitarian case for limited government that overcomes the failures of conservatism while rescuing economic justice from the weaknesses of tax and transfer liberalism. The book explains why the system fails so many Americans in so many different ways, and outlines how we can build a better economy that simultaneously promotes freedom and social justice while crippling the powers of America's oligarchs. Exploring the idea of a left-wing case for strong but small government, the book makes the case for fundamental reforms that will lead to a truly free and fair society. This provocative book will be of great relevance to anyone with an interest in politics, philosophy or economics, and will challenge readers to rethink their assumptions concerning the prospects for combining justice with fairness in the modern world.

The book provides a meticulous analysis of economic development and concomitant problems in China since the late 1970s and advances suggestions on further economic modernisation and transition from both theoretical and practical angles. Based on theories from development economics and solid empirical studies, the authors, two renowned Chinese economists, provide a perceptive analysis of the Chinese development model in the post-Mao era. They shed light on questions that have perplexed many: How can China sustain the rapid growth of the past 40 years? Is there a unique "China path" to economic progress? They argue compellingly that China's development model has to switch from a manufacturing-driven one to a brand-new approach, centring on scientific and technical innovation and the integration of its existing economic structure into an increasingly complex global economy. Such transformation will help overcome the "middle-income trap" while addressing other institutional and economic challenges. The book will appeal to students, scholars and policymakers interested in the Chinese and global economies, as well as transnational studies in the post-COVID-19 world. General readers willing to obtain a grasp of Chinese economic development from the insider's perspective will also find it useful.

The UK's departure from the EU has profoundly affected the politics and economics of Northern Ireland. Brexit has shattered a political accommodation that was taking shape in the region that involved nationalism and unionism refraining from aggressively pursuing their own objectives or making excessive demands on each other. Economically, it has made the task of building an innovative economy in the region immeasurably more difficult. Without radical change, Northern Ireland is destined to be an economic outhouse of an under-performing UK economy. This book represents the first systematic study of the impact of Brexit on the political and economic future of Northern Ireland and Ireland. It provides a detailed assessment of the consequences of the Belfast Agreement and highlights how Brexit imperils the advances that have been made since its signing in 1998. It makes a dispassionate assessment of the changes that may be necessary to create a stronger Northern Ireland economy. On the one hand, demands for the immediate unification of Ireland that are now being made loudly and persistently by nationalists and republicans are considered too precipitous. The two economies on the island are not yet ready for Irish unity. On the other hand, the book argues the case for a radical reorientation of the Northern Ireland economy through the incremental creation of an all-Ireland economy. The book cuts through the rhetoric that characterizes so much discussion about the Northern Ireland economy and provides a hard-headed appraisal of not only its structure and performance, but also the economic feasibility of Irish unity.