This title was first published in 2002: From Individualism to the Individual treats finance as a social and cultural process, exploring the unseen side of academic discourse and the many obstacles the deeply entrenched elite puts in the way of alternative thinking. Opening with a detailed discussion of the role of ideology in the perpetuation of the limited methodological bias of the profession toward markets, the book then examines the more specific effects of such ideological limitations on theoretical and empirical research in finance. The authors develop alternative ways to examine finance both as a profession and as a field of inquiry. This book will be of particular value to researchers and practitioners working in finance, as well as those in other social science disciplines whose research relates to finance, culture and society.

This title was first published in 2002.Banking reform lies at the heart of economic reform in China and is central to sustaining the countries high economic growth. This timely book covers an important economic policy issue in China, namely the existing and potential roles of the financial sector in the development of the Chinese economy. It explores for the first time the relationship between the reforms of the financial sector, of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and of the social welfare system. Donald D. Tong presents a wealth of valuable data accompanied by original insights and interpretations. The author also examines the original estimates of the cost of the social welfare burden given that social services such as old age pension, housing, healthcare and education are provided by the SOEs rather than by the private or public sector directly.

Based on previously unpublished archival records, this book studies the origins of Hong Kong's post war rise to global prominence. It explores the expansion of the gold market, stock market, banking system, foreign exchange market, and insurance in the years 1945-1965.
This book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the development of Hong Kong, the impact of financial regulation and, more broadly, the role of financial centres in the international economy in the post war period.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203183290

The title was first published in 2001: In 1979, China opened the door to the West and implemented a series of economic reforms that led the accounting system to depart from the Soviet model. This book investigates the development of Chinese accounting in a broad social, economic and cultural environment and analyzes the environmental influences on the development of accounting in China. Including the latest accounting systems, which have to date received little scholarly attention, this cutting-edge analysis makes a worthy addition to a growing area of research.

This title was first published in 2002. In State socialist societies, informal economies were essential for the functioning of the economy as well as for household provision. Since the beginning of social transformation they have been flourishing better than ever before. They are a main outlet on the market for the newly emerging middle classes, stabilize the situation of many workers and pensioners, and in countries on the downward slope they are essential for the survival of large impoverished groups. Presenting recent research on the social importance of informal economies, especially in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Russia, the editors give a short introduction for each country, and a common compilation of basic economic and social data follows in the appendix. Household strategies in the 'shadow', groups of informal winners and losers, informal employment in town and countryside, outcomes from informal activities, the macro-economic importance of informal economies, and researching methods are all investigated.

This title was first published in 2002: As the twenty-first century began, it was easy to assume that the reforms to the international financial system undertaken in the last half of the 1990s were adequate to the core tasks of ensuring stability, sustained growth and broadly shared benefits in the world economy. That comfortable consensus has now been shattered. This volume critically assesses fundamental issues including: -the elements and adequacy of recent G7-led efforts at international financial reform -current causes of and prospects for growth in the new global economy -the challenges of crisis prevention -private sector participation and IFI responsibilities -the world's monetary supply and sovereignty in the face of market forces. These key topics are examined by leading economists and scholars of political economy from both academic and policy communities in G7 countries, making it an essential addition to the collections of all those concerned with the challenges facing the world economy in the coming years.

In "The Courage to be Profitable," small business financial expert Ruth King shows business owners the easy steps to really understanding the financial part of their businesses. Real life stories drawn from her client experiences are sprinkled through the book to illustrate mistakes that small business Iowners make without realizing they are making them.
Written in English rather than accounting babble, profit and loss statements, balance sheets, proper pricing, and cash flow come alive and are easily understood. Anyone who can use a calculator can follow this simple, three step process to avoid being another failure statistic. "The Courage to be Profitable" shows business owners how easy it is to get and stay profitable in less than 30 minutes per month.

Money has been an important part of modernity ever since it was exchanged for goods centuries ago. The evolution of systematically standardized monetized exchanges expedited trade between localities across space, standardized exchanges over time, and transformed work into wage labor. Money also generated the possibilities for specialization which were not possible under a system of barter, and solidified the emergence and development of the modern epoch. The contemporary changes in monetised exchanges, such as the electrification and globalization of monetary processes and financial markets, are unequivocal indicators of contemporary globalization. They are also some of the most important, and far-reaching, social changes of our time. Understanding and managing global financial flows and their impact of social spaces and people, is one of the most complex and difficult tasks facing politicians and social theorists today. Helping to meet the challenges posed by these changes, this important volume focuses on three questions central to the interplay between globalization, valorization and marginalization.

Series Information:
Foundations of the Market Economy

Beginning with the development of credit-money theory in the twentieth century, Paul Dalziel derives a model that explains how interest rates are used by authorities to maintain price stability. His conclusions suggest ways in which the current policy framework can be improved to promote growth, without sacrificing that stability.


eBook available with sample pages: 0203187857

This title was first published in 2001. Containing a wide array of intellectual perspectives, this illuminating text takes an authoritative look at the rules, decision-making procedures and organizational resources at the heart of the institutions of global governance and provides a much-needed Asian perspective on key issues, dealing with new questions raised at the Okinawa summit. Particularly suitable for graduate courses in political science, international political economy, international organizations, corporate strategy and international business, as well as having implications for the public policy community.

"Monetary Policy and the Economy in South Africa" covers both modern theories and empirical analysis, linking monetary policy with relating house wealth, drivers of current account based on asset approach, expenditure switching and income absorption effects of monetary policy on trade balance, effects of inflation uncertainty on output growth and international spill overs. Each chapter uses data and relevant methodology to answer empirical and pertinent policy questions in South Africa. The book gives new insights into understanding these areas of economic policy and the wider emerging-markets.

This book, first published in 1989, assesses the existing tax and benefit systems as being beyond repair, and examines the case for integration. Integrated tax/benefit systems change the basis of entitlement from contribution record and contingency to citizenship and need. Having shown that full integration is not realistic, the author discusses four major partial integration options in detail. Basing her comparison on detailed analysis of specific models, she is able to compare the redistributive and incentive efforts of each scheme.

This book is a Festschrift to Annamaria Simonazzi and embraces the themes that she has contributed to over the years through her insightful and inspiring works. It brings together contributions from a number of distinguished European economists, which pay tribute to her by engaging in a dialogue with her research, simultaneously reflecting on the process of growing economic disintegration in the European Union, its causes and its possible remedies. The book shows the deep interrelations between macroeconomic issues and the social sphere, and points to the need to rethink the very foundations of European economic policies as an effective antidote to growing imbalances and disintegration. In particular, the effects of austerity are assessed alongside the dimensions of inequality, gender discrimination, poverty, and unemployment, broadening the perspective also beyond the Eurozone. The authors envision a progressive society, in which investments in research and intelligent industrial policies govern the processes of technological change and drive the economy towards a more efficient and more equal model of development characterized by high productivity and high wages. While some chapters deal directly with policy issues, policy suggestions and proposals are scattered throughout the whole book. This volume will appeal to academics, economists, and policy-makers interested in understanding the policy response of European institutions to the challenges posed by both the Great Recession and subsequent developments in the European economies. The book is written in an engaging and accessible way, and the themes are broad enough to generate interest from the international public.

Series Information:
Financial Sector of the American Economy

National currencies appear to be threatened from all sides. European Union member countries are due to abandon their national currencies in favour of a supranational currency by the year 2000. Elsewhere, the use of foreign currencies within national economic spaces is on the increase, as shown by the growth of eurocurrency activity, and currency substitution in many parts of the world. In the last decade, privately-issued sub-national local currencies have also proliferated in a number of countries, and predict the emergence of private electronic monies of the future.
In the light of these transformations, this book asks what the future holds for national currencies. The first half of the volume addresses issues relating to money leading up to, and during, the formation of national currencies. Ranging widely in their historical and geographical context, the papers problematise the relationship between money and nation-states by examining alternative forms and uses of currencies during this period. The second half look at contemporary challenges faced by national currencies.

This volume provocatively rethinks the economics, politics and sociology of money and examines the classic question of what is money. Starting from the two dominant views of money, as neutral instrument and as social relation, What is Money? presents a thematic, interdisciplinary approach which points to a definitive statement on money.
Bringing together a variety of neclassical and heterodox perspectives, this work collects the latest thinking of some of the best-known economics scholars on the question of money. The contributors are Victoria Chick, Kevin Dowd, Gilles Dostaler, Steve Fleetwood, Gunnar Heinsohn, Geoff Ingham, Peter Kennedy, Peter G. Klein, Bernard Maris, Scott Meikle, Alain Parguez, Colin Rodgers, T.K.Rymes, Mario Seccarreccia, George Selgin, Otto Steiger, John Smithin and L. Randall Wray.


eBook available with sample pages: 0203072693

This volume examines the future of European financial centres in the context of economic and monetary union (EMU). Based on original empirical research, it investigates the relative competitiveness of European financial centres, with special reference to London and Frankfurt, in the context of the single currency debate. Issues covered include:
* the evolution of financial centres
* optimal design of an international financial centre
* financial services regulation and EMU
* the competitiveness of world financial centres

Nearly 85 years ago, Wesley Clair Mitchell, the acknowledged leader of American economists during the first half of this century, wrote: "Important as the art of spending is, we have developed less skill in its practice than in the practice of making money. Common sense forbids our wasting dollars earned by irksome efforts; and yet we are notoriously extravagant. Ignorance of qualities, uncertainty of taste, lack of accounting, carelessness about pricesa. Many of us scarcely know what becomes of our moneya." More than ever, in our world of ever-increasing credit card debt, lenient bankruptcy laws, and runaway consumption, these words still ring true. This collection of Mitchell's essays, makes it easier for today's and tomorrow's economists and social scientists to become acquainted with Mitchell's many contributions to the study of the American economy. Regrettably, the passage of time can blur and even obliterate the reputation and achievements of yesterday's leaders of ideas and actions. Although the National Bureau of Economic Research, which Mitchell helped to found and which he led in the 1920s and 1930s, remains a leading research institution, relatively few of its associates, who represent the elite among U.S. academic economists, have any first-hand acquaintance with Mitchell's work. Eli Ginzberg rounds out this edition with Mitchell's comprehensive analysis of "Business Cycles," first published in 1929, an area that commanded most of his scholarly efforts. Ginzberg's essay on Mitchell, written in 1931 and published for the first time in 1997, serves as an appropriate introduction to this new edition. His afterword contains remarks delivered at the 50th anniversary of Mitchell's death at the meeting of the Allied Social Sciences Association held in Chicago early in 1998, a telling tribute to this undisputed giant in the field. "Wesley Clair Mitchell" (1874u1948) held major teaching posts at the University of California and Columbia University. One of the most eminent U.S. economists, Mitchell focused much of his research on the statistical investigation of business cycles. His two major works are "Business Cycles (1913) and Business Cycles: The Problem at its Setting, (1927). Eli Ginzberg" is A. Barton Hepburn Professor Emeritus at the Graduate School of Business, and Director of the Eisenhower Center for the Conservation of Human Resources at Columbia University.

Througout his life Hayek had a profound interest in money and its role within the economy. Money plays a critical part in his 1920s work on the trade cycle, which attempts to integrate capital theory and monetary theory. As late as the 1970s, Hayek was advocating radical reform of the monetary system, suggesting that the supply of money be turned over to private enterprise. This volume, together with Volume Six, Good Money, Part Two, collect all of Hayek's significant writings on money. Together they amply demonstrate both the significance of 'sound money' in Hayek's economic vision, and Hayek's importance as a monetary theorist.

The Economics of James Steuart reveals the particular importance of Steuart's work on monetary issues and highlights ways in which he prepared the ground for a new conception of economic relations. Featuring the work of an international team of leading scholars, this volume will be essential reading for those studying or researching the history of economic thought.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203443349

Does the Anglo-American approach to the relationship between banks and firms have a significant weakness compared to the German and Japanese approach? This book addresses issues on corporate finance using historical evidence. In particular it looks at the role of universal banks in relaxing the credit constraints of firms, supervising managers and stabilizing share prices. The key issue is whether the Anglo-American asset based financing is more effective than the main-bank approach used in Germany and Japan. Earlier studies have found that firms with a close relationship with a major bank have high market value compared to book value, although it is difficult to determine whether this is cause or effect. The case of the "Credit Mobilier" - the first universal bank - is interesting because the bank failed. If it was the links with the bank that caused high and stable share prices or relaxed customer constraints, the bank's bankruptcy should have precipitated the loss of these benefits. In fact the bankruptcy had almost no effect on the share prices or the investment behaviour of the relevant firms, casting doubts on the benefits of powerful banks.

Recent economic growth in China and other Asian countries has led to increased commodity demand which has caused price rises and accompanying price fluctuations not only for crude oil but also for the many other raw materials. Such trends mean that world commodity markets are once again under intense scrutiny. This book provides new insights into the modeling and forecasting of primary commodity prices by featuring comprehensive applications of the most recent methods of statistical time series analysis. The latter utilize econometric methods concerned with structural breaks, unobserved components, chaotic discovery, long memory, heteroskedasticity, wavelet estimation and fractional integration. Relevant tests employed include neural networks, correlation dimensions, Lyapunov exponents, fractional integration and rescaled range. The price forecasting involves structural time series trend plus cycle and cyclical trend models. Practical applications focus on the price behaviour of more than twenty international commodity markets.

Originally published in 1987, British Non-Bank Financial Intermediaries the book is the diversification of and overlaps in the operations of UK financial intermediaries forms. The book provides a coherent analysis of the broader implications of ongoing developments in the financial services sector and an insight into the 'back-room activities of the non-bank institutions. The book also focuses on institutions offering some form of financial markets, within which many of the financial intermediaries operate. In doing this, the book outlines a theoretical framework of financial intermediation and provides an overview of the broader evolution of the UK financial system. This volume will be of use to students and practitioners studying in the financial services sector.

Although economic growth has historically been an engine of prosperity in the United States, recent trends have generated uncertainty regarding the prospects for sustaining such growth. Economists disagree about the relative importance of many factors affecting future growth, including rapid technological advances, immigration, the growth of the financial sector, problems with the educational system, increasing income inequality, an aging population, and large fiscal imbalances that have not been addressed by the political system. This collection of chapters, authored by many of today's leading economists, addresses the prospects for economic growth in the United States over the next few decades. During a time of great economic uncertainty, this book engages with both sides in the debate over economic growth, focusing on policy options that increase the prospects for vigorous economic growth in the future.