Contrary to the claims made by neoliberal governments and mainstream academics, this book argues that the huge increase in trade in recent decades has not made the world a fairer place: instead, the age of globalization has become a time of mass migration caused by increasing global inequality. The theory of unequal exchange challenges the free trade doctrine, claiming that transfers of value from poorer to richer countries are hidden behind apparently equivalent market transactions. Following a critical review of the existing approaches, the book proposes a general theory of unequal exchange in the light of an innovative reconstruction of Marx's international law of value, in which money and exchange rates play a crucial role in decoupling value captured from value produced by different countries, even in perfectly competitive world markets. On this theoretical basis, the book provides an empirical analysis of the international transfers of value in both traditional trade and Global Value Chains. The resulting world mapping of unequal exchange shows the geographical hierarchy of capital global exploitation by revealing a world divided into two quite separate camps of donor and receiving countries, the former being the poorer countries and the latter the richer countries. This book is addressed to scholars and students of economics and social sciences, as well as activists of the North and the South, interested in a better understanding of the asymmetric power relations implied in global trade. It makes a significant contribution to the literature on political economy, trade, Marxism, international relations, and economic geography.

Contrary to the claims made by neoliberal governments and mainstream academics, this book argues that the huge increase in trade in recent decades has not made the world a fairer place: instead, the age of globalization has become a time of mass migration caused by increasing global inequality. The theory of unequal exchange challenges the free trade doctrine, claiming that transfers of value from poorer to richer countries are hidden behind apparently equivalent market transactions. Following a critical review of the existing approaches, the book proposes a general theory of unequal exchange in the light of an innovative reconstruction of Marx's international law of value, in which money and exchange rates play a crucial role in decoupling value captured from value produced by different countries, even in perfectly competitive world markets. On this theoretical basis, the book provides an empirical analysis of the international transfers of value in both traditional trade and Global Value Chains. The resulting world mapping of unequal exchange shows the geographical hierarchy of capital global exploitation by revealing a world divided into two quite separate camps of donor and receiving countries, the former being the poorer countries and the latter the richer countries. This book is addressed to scholars and students of economics and social sciences, as well as activists of the North and the South, interested in a better understanding of the asymmetric power relations implied in global trade. It makes a significant contribution to the literature on political economy, trade, Marxism, international relations, and economic geography.

This book covers the state of the art of energy efficiency in household appliances and lighting which can be used now and in the near future to achieve significant and cost-effective energy savings. Recent developments in advanced appliance and lighting technologies by some of the largest manufacturers are also presented. Although energy-efficient household appliances and lighting technologies can save a huge amount of electricity, they still have not been widely adopted. The barriers which can hinder the adoption of those technologies are presented. Policies and programmes to promote the large-scale penetration of energy-efficient technologies and the market transformation are featured in the book, describing the experiences gained in different parts of the world. This extensive coverage includes contributions from relevant institutions in the European Union, North America, Latin America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

There is widespread interest throughout the world in improving appliance energy efficiency. Methods to reach that end include energy labeling, energy efficiency standards and market conditioning (e.g, energy efficient procurement and DSM programs). Energy efficiency standards, which started out as an action to reduce demand for energy in individual countries, has now become a subject of regional and even worldwide dimension, particularly in the context of global climate change mitigation. Mandatory energy efficiency standards are in place for some appliances in China, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines and the United States. Standards for refrigerator/freezers will take effect in Australia and the European Union in 1999. Voluntary energy efficiency standards are in place for refrigerators in Brazil, India and Korea and for air conditioners in India, Japan and Korea. Table I showed potential global energy use reductions from codes and standards in buildings. If individual country data can be assembled, a more accurate approach to estimating potential reductions in energy use and carbon emissions would be to perform a bottom-up analysis for energy using equipment on an end-use basis in as many large developing countries as possible. The impact of standards would be assessed as more efficient appliances replaced existing stock models and new purchases that increased saturation rates were made at higher efficiencies than would otherwise be the case. This approach would show the slow but steady buildup of annual energy savings from efficiency standards or other programs to improve energy efficiency.