The book interrogates privatisation in terms of its effectiveness vis-a-vis its stated goals and more fundamentally in terms of its success in delivering economic development. It investigates why privatisation was successful in the UK and other OECD countries and why it has not met with equal success in developing countries. In this regard, it further examines the policy prescriptions of the IMF and World Bank in relation to the conceptualised benefits and theoretical assumptions underlying these supposed benefits. The author assesses the extent to which culture and customs, indeed the mode of production, stand in determinate relationship to the goals, techniques and outcome of the process. Furthermore, Chang examines the degree to which socioeconomic and moral consequences of privatisation have been ignored in pursuit of the ideological imperative implicit in the Washington Consensus. Hence, the book contributes to the reflective thought that must necessarily be part of theory validation, and provides the basis for a balanced and empirically-valid theory of privatisation.

The book interrogates privatisation in terms of its effectiveness vis-a-vis its stated goals and more fundamentally in terms of its success in delivering economic development. It investigates why privatisation was successful in the UK and other OECD countries and why it has not met with equal success in developing countries. In this regard, it further examines the policy prescriptions of the IMF and World Bank in relation to the conceptualised benefits and theoretical assumptions underlying these supposed benefits. The author assesses the extent to which culture and customs, indeed the mode of production, stand in determinate relationship to the goals, techniques and outcome of the process. Furthermore, Chang examines the degree to which socioeconomic and moral consequences of privatisation have been ignored in pursuit of the ideological imperative implicit in the Washington Consensus. Hence, the book contributes to the reflective thought that must necessarily be part of theory validation, and provides the basis for a balanced and empirically-valid theory of privatisation.

The collapse of the American financial system in 2008 has brought the weaknesses of the edifice of financial risk management, upon which the Anglo-American economic model has been premised since the 1980s, into sharper focus. It has also given rise to the larger question regarding the certainty and, thus, the viability of free-market capitalism as a universal economic system; however, while there are several erudite accounts of the collapse of the financial system and its immediate aftermath, very little space has been given to addressing the larger question. As such, Aggressive Capitalism offers a frank and honest assessment of the opportunities and challenges ahead for both the US and the wider world. This book examines the leading economic, political, and social issues not only in the context of the several rational choice theories that have come to inform behavior since the late 1960s, but also in context of the emergence of the BRIC countries, primarily China, as a challenge to entrenched Western interests.

Coexistence in an atmosphere of mutual respect in a pluralist world order has become an even greater challenge in the practice of international relations since the murderous acts committed by al-Qaeda on September 11, 2001 (9/11) that demanded justice. This book looks beyond today's popular narratives. Dr. Chang explores the extent to which the tragedy of 9/11 has been exploited by the neoconservative-controlled U.S. administration as opportunity to launch its grand strategy for creating an American-centric order, necessary for the continuation of U.S. hegemony in the twenty-first century. Specific controversial concerns are extensively examined within the historical and theoretical context of territoriality and power. The state of the American economy; the Arab-Israel conflict; and the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath are treated as interrelated issues and examined in terms of the Westernization imperative inherent in the grand strategy that principally requires the containment of an emerging China.