Business, Finance & Law Books
Profile Books Ltd Free Lunch: Easily Digestible Economics - revised
Book Synopsis'Free of jargon, obfuscation and interminable subordinate clauses, his prose is just the job' The Times A fully updated and revised edition of the classic guide. The economy has never been so relevant to so many people as it is now. 'There's no such thing as a free lunch' is the one phrase everyone has heard from economics. But why not? What does economics tell us about the price of lunch - and everything else? Set out like a good lunchtime conversation, Free Lunch will escort you through the mysteries of the economy. Your guides will be some of the greatest names in the field, including Smith, Marx and Keynes. This clever and witty introduction to economics is essential reading in these times of economic uncertainty, and far more satisfying than even the most gourmet banquet.Trade ReviewDavid Smith skilfully cuts through the mind-numbing waffle that surrounds much of modern economics, delivering a highly accessible guide to a subject that many claim to understand but very few do. -- Jeff Randall, BBC Business EditorSmith ... is an amiable and talented dining companion -- Martin Hemming * Observer *Free of jargon, obfuscation and interminable subordinate clauses, his prose is just the job -- Ross Leckie * The Times *
£10.44
Profile Books Ltd QBQ!: The Question Behind the Question:
Book SynopsisNo one can successfully achieve goals and new objectives, provide outstanding service, engage in exceptional teamwork, make change in their community or lead other people without personal accountability. After decades of working with organisations and individuals, John G. Miller knows that the troubles that plague them cannot be solved by pointing fingers and blaming others. Rather, the real solutions are found when each of us recognizes the value of our own accountability. In this book, Miller explains how negative, ill-focused questions like "Who dropped the ball?" harm rather than help. Conversely, when we begin to ask better questions - QBQs, questions behind the questions - and to see power in ourselves, then our lives and organisations are transformed. Succinct, insightful and practical, this book provides the tools for putting personal accountability into daily action, with astonishing results.Trade ReviewThis is a quick but deep book that explores the role of personal accountability in one's work and personal life. * Publishers Weekly *
£8.54
Profile Books Ltd Surviving the Daily Grind
Book SynopsisWe spend a lot of our time at work and would be depressed with nothing to do. But when it gets to Monday, many of us are already longing for the weekend and the prospect of escape. How did work become so tedious and stressful? And is there anything we can do to make it better?Based on his popular Economist Bartleby column, Philip Coggan rewrites the rules of work to help us survive the daily grind. Ranging widely, he encourages us to cut through mindless jargon, pointless bureaucracy and endless meetings to find a new, more creative - and less frustrating - way to get by and get on at work.Incisive, original, and endlessly droll, this is the guide for beleaguered underlings and harried higher-ups alike. As Rousseau might have said: "Man was born free, but is everywhere stuck in a meeting." If you've ever thought there must be a better way, this is the book for you.
£10.44
Hay House UK Ltd How to Start a Business on Your Kitchen Table
Book SynopsisPractical tools, expert advice and innovative ideas to help you create a successful business that reflects your values, supports your lifestyle and creates real fulfilment. In 2014, in her farmhouse kitchen in Wales, Shann Nix Jones started to manufacture a relatively unknown probiotic goat's milk called kefir. It was a powerful healing remedy that cured her son's eczema and even saved her husband from a life-threatening MRSA infection. Today, the business she started on her kitchen table has 300,000 customers and an annual turnover of £4.5 million.In this book, Shann shares the innovative methods that helped her turn her passion into a sustainable business. Following these steps, you'll learn how to: · develop an idea into a viable business that supports any lifestyle· operate with meaningful values and stand out from the competition· convert every obstacle into a launch pad· balance work and family - and even weave both together to enhance your family lifeShann believes that anyone can start a business following her 13 steps, and that doing so can bring you closer to creating a life in which you are the CEO of your business and your destiny.
£14.99
Hay House UK Ltd Move the Needle: Yarns from an Unlikely
Book SynopsisDiscover how to harness the power of 'can't' and turn it into creative energy to help you pursue your passions - both personal and professional - and shape a successful, thriving life.‘Move the Needle overflows with passion, wisdom and hard-won business (and life) lessons.’ Jeff Walker, #1 New York Times bestselling author of LaunchLearn how to make your big, impossible dreams a reality with help from a creative entrepreneur who’s turned her passion into a global force.People always ask Shelley Brander what possessed her to leave the successful advertising firm she founded with her husband to open a local yarn store. And then they wonder how that one storefront grew into an e-commerce business, and from there into a global movement to Knit the World Together. In Move the Needle, Shelley shares stories from her life to show that you can pursue your life’s passions – personal and professional – no matter how quirky or impossible they may seem to everyone around you. Whether you’re an entrenched or aspiring entrepreneur, or have a passion that just won’t let you go, Shelley shares lessons from her journey that reveal how to: · put your passion first and make your creative side hustle your main gig· recognize the true value of creativity and experimentation· have hope against all odds· surround yourself with supportive people· believe in the power of your weird, impossible dream!Shelley invites you to hold space for your seemingly improbable (but totally possible) goals, dreams and purpose.
£15.19
Hay House UK Ltd The People Part: Seven Agreements Entrepreneurs
Book SynopsisGrowing your business sustainably and successfully isn't just about systems, visions and values. The secret to a thriving business? It's in the team - the people part.Do you want your business to thrive – without having to do and think of everything yourself? Success in business today means responding to change at an ever-increasing pace. Delivering more value with fewer resources is the name of the game. But even when a business is winning, the leaders and teams playing the game often feel like they are losing – plagued by overwhelm and burnout.Most business books try to address this problem with systems, structures and values. What’s missing? The ‘People Part’ – the often-misunderstood area of a business where leaders and team members do the actual thinking, interacting and performing together. Drawing on Annie’s 30 years of working with people in business, this dynamic and engaging book outlines seven easy-to-implement agreements to build a high-performance team. You’ll learn how to:· lead in a way that supports others to perform at their best, by strengthening your own self-leadership· create psychological safety – the environment that empowers team members to collaborate at the highest levels· develop leaders and team members to take on responsibilities with the same commitment level as the owners· supercharge your team productivity with Annie’s signature toolsIf you’re an entrepreneur just starting out, a CEO trying to work ‘on’ rather than ‘in’ your business, a leader needing a breakthrough for yourself and your team or a team member wanting to make your best contribution yet, The People Part is for you.
£14.99
Hay House UK Ltd Overdeliver: Build a Business for a Lifetime
Book Synopsis‘If you want to learn from one of the greatest marketing minds alive, read this book.’Joe Polish, founder, Genius NetworkMarketing isn’t everything, according to Brian Kurtz. It’s the only thing. If you have a vision or a mission in life, why not share it with millions instead of dozens? And while you are sharing it with as many people as possible and creating maximum impact, why not measure everything and make all of your marketing accountable. That’s what this book is all about.In the world of direct marketing, Brian Kurtz has seen it all and done it all over four decades. He lives by the philosophy ‘Those who did it have a responsibility to teach it.’ Here’s a small sample of what you’ll learn:· The Four Pillars of Being Extraordinary· The Five Principles of why ‘Original Source’ matters· The Seven Characteristics of world-class copywriters· Multiple ways to track the metrics that matter· That the most important capital you own has nothing to do with moneyWhether you’re new to marketing or a seasoned pro, this book gives you a crystal-clear roadmap to grow your business, make more money, maximize your impact in your market and love what you’re doing while you’re doing it. Kurtz takes you inside the craft to help you use all the tools at your disposal so you can succeed wildly, exceed all your expectations and overdeliver every time.
£19.92
Hay House UK Ltd Chill and Prosper: The New Way to Grow Your
Book SynopsisWant to make twice as much money with half the work? It's time to shift your mindset, recognize your worth, and become a successful entrepreneur on your own terms!‘Denise is a much-needed voice of practical wisdom.’ Marie Forleo, founder of B-SchoolFeeling burned-out by your business? Sick of the ‘hustle and grind’ culture of your industry? There’s a better way. Get over your perfectionism, chill, and prosper!With her trademark humour and down-to-earth wisdom, money mindset coach Denise Duffield-Thomas shares the invaluable buisness and counterintuitive millionaire mindset lessons (no blood, sweat or tears necessary) that will set you on the path of abundance – without all the hard work.You’ll discover how to find the business model that works perfectly for your personality, and learn key concepts – such as the Golden Goose and the Keyless Life – to help you work less and earn more. Plus, Denise talks you through the small but important details of being an entrepreneur, including how to deal with awkward money situations and find the most effective ways to price offers. With real business case studies and practical advice, Chill and Prosper challenges the old, boring assumptions of what it takes to create success.This is a revised and updated edition of the book previously published as Chillpreneur.
£12.59
Hay House UK Ltd Be Better Than Your BS: How Radical Acceptance
Book SynopsisA book on DEI in the workplace that speaks not only to executives but to employees at all levels of a company, by award-winning diversity consultant Risha Grant.DEI consultant and corporate speaker, Risha Grant, shares her practice of learning how to welcome and embrace people’s full humanity, without BS, full stop. What’s BS? It’s bullshit for sure, but more specifically it’s the powerful and often invisible belief systems we’ve been steeped in since birth—the judgment and bias we carry with us that impact our own lives and the many others we encounter every day. Risha teaches us about the inner work and the outer work we need to do to dismantle our “biasphere,” and change how we see ourselves and how we interact with others. The more people are willing to acknowledge and address the biases inherent in their belief systems, the more those biases will dissipate and the better our work environments will become.Readers will learn how to:– Recognize when your BS manifests as “isms” and phobias that follow you to work– Cure scarcity mentality, a damaging byproduct of fear– Validate other people’s experiences– Become a real ally– Engage in micro efforts that can effect change on a macro level– Create an environment that fosters a sense of belonging for everybody; that is, “get in where you fit in”– Abolish groupthink and create space for diverse ideas– Design explicit feedback channels– Generate truly inclusive policies that people can trust– Spot and stop bullying (it doesn’t always look the way you think it does)– Understand that equality isn’t equity; the difference leads to everyone getting what they need
£11.69
Hay House UK Ltd Mentor to Millions: Secrets of Success in
Book SynopsisKevin Harrington, one of the original "sharks" of the TV hit Shark Tank, and serial entrepreneur Mark Timm take you on a journey that radically redefines what it means to truly succeed--at work, at home, and in every area of life.On one of the best days of his life as an entrepreneur, Mark Timm found himself sitting in his car at the end of his driveway. In just a minute he would go into the house and greet his wife and children. But as he basked in the success he'd just had, he also had to face a surprising realization: he didn't really want to go home.Mark knew that once he stepped into the happy chaos of his family, the euphoria of the day would evaporate. His work life and his home life might as well have been two different worlds. And at that moment, he acknowledged--as he puts it--that "my businesses were getting my first and my best, while my family got my last and my least."Mentor to Millions charts Mark's journey from that pivotal moment to a whole new understanding of how work, life, and relationships can coexist and thrive together. His guide through this journey: his accomplished mentor, Kevin Harrington, one of the original "sharks" from Shark Tank, who shares amazing stories and imparts invaluable wisdom about how to win in business and in every area of life.This deeply personal, easy-to-follow book invites you to join Mark and Kevin on the journey. Every page pulls back the curtain on entrepreneurship at the highest level, revealing priceless business lessons--which lead to the biggest lesson of all: combining the best of business, family, and personal life. If you're succeeding in business, struggling, or just starting out, and want your life at home to be what you've always dreamed it can be, this is the lesson you need to learn: the most valuable business you'll ever own, work for, or be a part of isn't the business you go to every day, it's the one you go home to.
£11.99
Hay House UK Ltd Traffic Secrets: The Underground Playbook for
Book SynopsisMaster the evergreen traffic strategies to fill your website and funnels with your dream customers in this timeless book from the $100M entrepreneur and co-founder of the software company ClickFunnels.The biggest problem that most entrepreneurs have isn't creating an amazing product or service; it's getting their future customers to discover that they even exist. Every year, tens of thousands of businesses start and fail because the entrepreneurs don't understand this one essential skill: the art and science of getting traffic (or people) to find you.And that is a tragedy.Traffic Secrets was written to help you get your message out to the world about your products and services. I strongly believe that entrepreneurs are the only people on earth who can actually change the world. It won't happen in government, and I don't think it will happen in schools.It'll happen because of entrepreneurs like you, who are crazy enough to build products and services that will actually change the world. It'll happen because we are crazy enough to risk everything to try and make that dream become a reality.To all the entrepreneurs who fail in their first year of business, what a tragedy it is when the one thing they risked everything for never fully gets to see the light of day.Waiting for people to come to you is not a strategy.Understanding exactly WHO your dream customer is, discovering where they're congregating, and throwing out the hooks that will grab their attention to pull them into your funnels (where you can tell them a story and make them an offer) is the strategy. That's the big secret.Traffic is just people. This book will help you find YOUR people, so you can focus on changing their world with the products and services that you sell.
£13.49
Agenda Publishing The Gig Economy
Book SynopsisThe “gig economy” is a relatively recent term coined to describe a range of working arrangements that have previously been denoted as precarious, flexible and contingent. These may include casual workers, temporary agency workers, those on zero-hours contracts and dependent contractors. This books seeks to get behind the contemporary buzz surrounding the term and provide some theoretical and empirical analysis of the gig work phenomenon. The book seeks to assess more critically some of the rhetorical claims made about gig work and to provide a balanced appraisal of the ramifications for individuals, employers and the economy and society in general of an increasingly insecure workforce. The regulatory framework, in particular, is examined and is shown to have lagged behind crucial developments in the gig economy, with many labour laws still historically rooted to the notion that a worker has to be an employee to be covered by employment rights. The authors show that in many respects there is nothing new about the gig economy and that its growth in recent years was in some sense predictable. Perhaps its real significance, they argue, is its potential as a business model to “gig-ize” other business operations far beyond relatively low-skilled work. When combined with automation and digitalization, the gig economy presents us with an opportunity to re-evalute our understanding of the nature of work.Table of Contents1. Introduction2. Theorizing the gig economy3. Working in the gig economy: international trends4. Regulation and the lived experience of the gig economy5. Conclusions and implications: from wage economy to gig economy to automated ("no") economy
£56.25
Agenda Publishing The Economics of Construction
Book SynopsisThe construction of housing, commercial property and infrastructure projects – roads, bridges, tunnels, railways, airports – for both the private and public sectors is one of the biggest industries in the world. It contributes around 10 per cent of world GDP, employs 7 per cent of the global workforce, and consumes around 20 per cent of the world’s energy. It is also a highly fragmented industry with very low profit margins and a high risk of failure for the many firms operating in its complex supply chain. Stephen Gruneberg and Noble Francis present an up-to-date analysis of how construction markets operate, how firms collaborate on projects, and how their business models work. They explore the many distinctive features of the economics of the industry, such as the use of cost-reduction rather than profit-maximizing behaviour, the processes of tendering and procurement, and the often cyclical nature of demand. Particular challenges for the industry, such as the frequency of disputes between firms and the low productivity of the sector, are shown to be the outcomes of a business model that tends to focus on the volatility of demand and managing risk at the expense of improving efficiency. As well as discussing industry-wide issues, the authors also examine how individual projects are costed. The book offers authoritative analysis and expert insight into the economics of a much misunderstood industry and is suitable for a range of courses in business schools and departments of architecture and the built environment.Table of Contents1. Getting to grips with construction industry statistics2. Economic theory of markets and construction3. Running a construction firm4. The firm and economies of growth5. Productivity and the construction market6. The game of construction7. The underlying causes of conflict in construction8. Construction and cyclicality9. Projects10. The economics of construction project management
£24.99
Agenda Publishing The Russian Economy
Book SynopsisSince Tsarist times, Russia’s leaders, rather than pursue economic growth for its own sake, have sought control over economic activity as a means to manage their own support base, respond to perceived security threats and to facilitate their wider geopolitical ambitions. Balancing the needs of an authoritarian state with the tentative and inconsistent use of the market has defined Russia’s modern economic history from the nineteenth-century Stolypin reforms to Lenin’s New Economic Policy through to the high Soviet years, Gorbachev’s perestroika, and Yeltsin and Gaidar’s shock therapy. And it is no more evident today than in Putin’s management of Russia’s natural resource-based economy. Yuval Weber provides a concise economic history of modern Russia, which explains how its economy works both at an economic level but also strategically serving its elites’ personal and political agendas. At a time when the global importance of Russia’s oil and gas reserves is in full view, the book examines the Russian Petrostate and considers the long-term challenges for an economy reliant on natural resources for its resilience. The country’s regional imbalances, the demands of its huge military-industrial complex and the legacy of centralization are considered alongside the rising consumerism of its citizens, and other human factors, such as ethnicity, health and demography. The book offers readers seeking to understand Russia’s economic resilience in an increasingly fractured global economy, an illuminating historical perspective on Russia’s political economy and the power structures underpinning Putin’s governance.Trade ReviewA clever book that delivers much more than its title promises, as it places Russia's economy within the wider context of the periodic decay and renewal of an authoritarian system and the foreign policy dilemmas this creates. Managing at once to be novel, readable and insightful, it is very highly recommended. -- Mark Galeotti, author of A Short History of RussiaAn illuminating account of how the Russian economy works. Weber has provided a detailed, comprehensive analysis of the interplay of economic and political factors in shaping one of the world's most significant – and most widely misunderstood – economies. -- Chris Miller, The Fletcher School, Tufts University and author of Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical TechnologyTable of ContentsIntroduction: “Surely the goat will be dead” 1. Power versus markets 2. Russian economic reform in historical perspective 3. How Putin’s economy is governed: commanding heights and controlling elites 4. Measuring Putin’s economy: the victory of resilience over growth 5. Social factors in Putin’s Russia 6. The Russia you see is the Russia you get: formalizing informality and informalizing power via sistema Conclusion: resilience, war and Russia’s future Chronology of Russian history
£999.99
Agenda Publishing The Japanese Economy
Book SynopsisAlthough still the world’s third largest economy, Japan continues to feel the effects of the collapse of a massive asset price bubble in the early 1990s. In recent years further setbacks, including both the Asian and global financial crises, and the 2011 Fukushima earthquake, have only added to the economy’s difficulties and made its prospects under Abenomics at best mixed. Hiroaki Richard Watanabe examines the ups and downs of Japan’s postwar economic history to offer an up-to-date and authoritative guide to the workings of Japan’s economy. The book highlights the country’s distinct business networks and its unique state–market relationship. It explores the characteristic institutional complementarity that exists among different sectors and business practices and gives particular attention to human factors, such as labour market dualism, gender discrimination and migration. Although often associated in western minds with futuristic automated efficiency, Japan’s economy, Watanabe shows, retains many inefficient and peculiar business practices that do not comply with global standards. The book provides readers with a concise survey of Japan’s recent economic history, the economy’s characteristic features and the challenges it faces.Trade ReviewThe Japanese Economy provides a brief but compelling account of the history of Japan’s political economy. While it deals with almost all significant issues based on academic research in each period, it conveys non-technical narratives that can be read by those with a general interest in Japan. In short, readers without much knowledge of Japan could understand the country’s economy over two decades as it went from economic miracle to prolonged recession. -- Kwang-Yeong Shin, Journal of Contemporary AsiaWatanabe argues that Japan’s reforms have been a mix of market-oriented liberalizations in some sectors alongside the preservation of non-market-oriented business practices in other sectors supported by a state that still plays a compensation and redistribution role… the quirky case studies in the final chapter make fascinating, though discouraging, reading… examples of a tendency to expend great efforts and resources on innovations or complex systems that lock Japan out of global success rather than open doors to competitive advantage. -- Journal of Japanese StudiesTable of Contents1. Introducing the Japanese economy2. The formation of the postwar Japanese economy, 1945–903. The transformation of the Japanese economy since the early 1990s4. The structure of the Japanese economy5. The human and labour factors of the Japanese economy6. A distinctive Japanese economic feature: “Galapagos syndrome”7. Conclusion: Prospects and challenges for the Japanese economy
£22.99
Agenda Publishing Turkey in the Global Economy: Neoliberalism,
Book SynopsisSince the late-1990s Turkey has emerged as a significant economic power. Never colonized and straddling the continents of Europe and Asia, it plays a strategically important role in a region of increasing instability. Bülent Gökay examines Turkey’s remarkable domestic political and economic transformation over the past two decades within the context of broader regional and global changes. By situating the story of Turkey’s economic growth within an analysis of the structural changes and shifts in the world economy, the book provides new insights into the functioning of Turkey’s political economy and the successes and failures of its ruling party’s economic management.Trade ReviewThis is a superb long durée perspective on the political economy of contemporary Turkey over the last two decades, one we ignore at our own peril. -- Vassilis K. Fouskas, University of East London, and founding editor of the Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern StudiesUsing insights gathered from world systems analysis and global shift approaches, this book departs from Eurocentric lenses and casts a critical eye on Turkey’s geopolitical and economic positionality in a highly informative and engaging manner. It consequently fills an important gap in Turkish studies, global political economy and international relations. -- Tunc Aybak, Middlesex UniversityThis is an important book. It shows us the developmental trajectory of Turkey over the last two decades. Similar to the impact of China, middle-sized rising powers like Turkey have huge potential to shift the global power structure with profound implications. Professor Gokay reminds us in this book that despite the destructive strategies of neoliberalism there are opportunities for global powers to collaborate in the pursuit of their own development and growth strategies. -- Qingan Huang, Guangdong University of Finance and EconomicsTurkey in the Global Economy examines the transformation of the country over the past two decades, from an underdeveloped and weak economic power into an important regional player with a dynamic economy and a significant role in global networks. In laying out this trajectory, Bulent Gokay deploys two optics. On the one hand, he offers a broad view of Turkey in the context of what he refers to as the 'global shift' of political and financial power from the developed West and North to the countries of the East and South. This shift is most apparent in the emergence of the BRIC quartet, but Gokay argues that it opened up vital opportunities for other middle-range regional powers such as Turkey as well, allowing them to enhance their regional and global influence. At the same time, the book provides a more granular focus on the political and economic transformation of Turkey itself. This took the form of a wide-ranging neoliberal reform aimed at creating an export-oriented industrial sector and restructuring Turkey's financial system. These external and internal processes are examined against the backdrop of a domestic political scene in Turkey dominated by the AKP party of Recep Erdogan, who paradoxically sought to advance the neoliberal agenda while co-opting traditionalist-Islamist elements into Turkey’s ruling elite for the first time in its modern history. The book is a stimulating work of impressive scholarship and considerable originality. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the development of modern Turkey and the Middle East, and it is very highly recommended for those desiring a more synthetic and sophisticated understanding of the dynamics that have reshaped global geoeconomics and geopolitics in the new millennium. -- Mark Bassin, Center for Baltic and East European Studies, Södertörn University, SwedenTable of ContentsIntroduction Part I Global shift and the world economy1. An emerging market economy2. The Turkish economy in the twentieth century Part II The AKP 1: populist neoliberalism3. Deep financial and economic crisis: Turkey prepares the ground for the AKP4. The “golden age”: stable growth, fiscal discipline and “heaven” for foreign direct investment5. Crisis at the global centre Part III The AKP 2: authoritarian neoliberalism6. The global financial crisis and Turkey’s response7. Turkish foreign policy: the Arab Spring and the Syrian catastrophe8. The Taksim Gezi protests and the authoritarian turn9. The 2016 failed coup and crackdown Part IV The crisis of global hegemony10. The US–Turkey stand-off, trade wars and new partners11. Turkey and uncertain predictions for the world economy12. The Covid-19 pandemic13. Towards a conclusion: some key trends
£24.99
Agenda Publishing Cultural Economics
Book SynopsisThe cultural industries and their products and services make a significant contribution to the global economy and are seen as strategic sectors for sustainable economic growth. However, industries such as art, design, film, music, performing arts, publishing, television and radio, present particular challenges for economic analysis. They can be goods or services that are both public and private, protected by copyright and freely available, consumed and created, as well as susceptible to fashion and technological development. In this fascinating introduction to the cultural economy, Christiane Hellmanzik examines the market for creative work and reveals the economic relationships between human creativity, intellectual property and technology. Through the careful use of case studies, the book explores the core economic considerations such as supply and demand, competition and pricing, alongside macro trends such as globalization, digitalization and the internet, which are changing the industry’s business models.Table of Contents1. Introduction to cultural economics2. Markets, prices and agents3. Society and culture4. Demand for culture5. Artists, superstars and creativity6. Quality in the arts and culture7. The organization of cultural industries8. The impact of the Internet9. Globalization
£25.20
Agenda Publishing The South Korean Economy
Book SynopsisSouth Korea has the tenth largest economy in the world and is one of only two Asian members of the OECD. It has achieved this remarkable level of economic development since its independence from Japan in 1945. Indeed, it has achieved this transformation, exceptional for any postcolonial state, despite one of the most brutal fratricidal conflicts fought since the Second World War. Sunil Kim and Jonson Porteux chart this astonishing economic and political development and explain the puzzle that is the South Korean economy. The authors examine how South Korea has developed a highly innovative economy based on advanced technologies and infrastructure – counter-intuitively, given its postcolonial legacy of military leaders and lack of fully developed free markets. The longstanding family-owned and run industrial conglomerates – the chaebol – characteristic of the Korean economy are shown to have been behind the shift to high-tech industrialization, albeit under the strict influence of the state. The challenges of increased global interconnectedness, the precarious and fragile relationship with North Korea, the slowdown of domestic demand, recent assaults on the chaebol and their families, together with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, are furthermore addressed. The book offers new insights and frameworks for understanding the fascinating history and future trajectory of South Korea’s political economy as well as the causes and consequences of industrialization and democratization more generally.Table of Contents1. Introducing the South Korean economy 2. Explaining the South Korean “miracle” 3. The transformation of state-business relations 4. Making the economy: the state-labour nexus and the Korean miracle 5. Measuring the Korean economy 6. The Korean economy: the human factor 7. Consequences of economic development 8. Conclusion
£999.99
Agenda Publishing Blockchain and the Digital Economy: The
Book SynopsisBlockchain technology has the potential to disrupt digital interaction across our economy and society. As the internet has changed our lives, the potential for blockchain and distributed ledger technologies to do the same is considerable. Fred Steinmetz, Lennart Ante and Ingo Fiedler assess this rapidly developing technology and its imminent economic and societal impact. The ideas behind blockchain technology stem from an open-source movement and build on existing technology to facilitate the exchange of value in general and assets in particular via a protocol on top of the internet. Current platform-based business structures face the risk of being replaced by evolving decentralized ecosystems and individuals are set to become empowered by sovereignty over their digital data and footprints. The book begins by explaining the key concepts of blockchain technology and presents an overview of the involved technical and economic elements. These form the basis for a discussion of the socio-economic implications of this new technology. This is followed by an in-depth analysis of significant case studies in the sectors of energy, digital identity, capital markets, logistics and gambling that outline the risks and benefits of the technology. The book strives to be non-technical and accessible, and to demystify the functionalities of blockchains and their potential for a range of readers in the wider social sciences.Table of Contents1. Introduction2. Blockchain’s functionality3. Blockchain’s basic components4. Socio-economic effects of decentralization5. Applications of blockchain technology in different domains6. Future directions
£56.25
Agenda Publishing Belt and Road: The First Decade
Book SynopsisThe Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is one of the most talked about yet little understood policy initiatives of the People’s Republic of China. This book offers a comprehensive, balanced and policy-oriented assessment of the BRI’s first ten years and what it has meant for the world’s businesses, polities and societies. The authors explore China’s role as a globally significant source of development finance and investment capital, and examine the political, economic, normative, environmental and social implications of its increased presence in the world. Aimed at researchers and academics, business professionals and policy analysts, as well as informed readers, the book seeks to answer some of the most pressing questions that China’s rising economic presence in global markets poses: how is the BRI organized? Is it China’s grand strategy? Is it green, is it corrupt, and what are its social effects? Is there even a future for the BRI in a world beset by new uncertainties? The book offers a sober analysis of the most prevalent narratives that cast China as a "threat" and as an "opportunity" and considers the specific challenges that it presents for the liberal international order.Trade ReviewAn accessible yet sophisticated primer on China’s most ambitious global project, this book stands out with its clear-eyed assessments of the rhetoric and reality of a major force in international development. -- Ching Kwan Lee, Professor of Sociology, UCLARogelja and Tsimonis have written a remarkably concise and clear-sighted book highlighting the Belt and Road Initiative's most important aspects. It is a must-read for anyone invested in the ways in which China is shaping the future of our planet. -- Jeremy Garlick, Prague University of Economics and BusinessA forensic, evidence-based and highly readable account of the world’s biggest infrastructure initiative in which the authors avoid cliches on all sides. If you only read one BRI book, make it this one. -- Isabel Hilton, founder of China DialogueTable of Contents1. What is this book about? 2. How is the BRI organized? 3. Is it China's grand strategy? 4. Is it green? 5. Is it corrupt by design? 6. Is it socially responsible? Conclusion: Is there a future for the BRI?
£25.20
Agenda Publishing Feminist Political Economy: A Global Perspective
Book SynopsisFeminist political economy is essential to understanding the power relations and hierarchies that shape and sustain contemporary capitalism. Motivated by the rejection of gender-blind approaches in economics feminist political economy provides compelling insights into the relations between the economic, the social and the political in the reproduction of inequality. Sara Cantillon, Odile Mackett and Sara Stevano have written a much-needed introduction to key topics in feminist political economy, including the global division of labour, social reproduction, child and elder care, the household and intra-household inequalities, labour market inequalities, welfare regimes, the feminization of poverty and economic indicators. The authors take a global perspective throughout and engage in debates that are relevant for the Global North and/or the Global South. The book offers readers a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the role of power relations and inequality in the economy and is suitable for a variety of courses in political economy, feminism, gender studies, economics, social policy and development studies.Trade ReviewInnovative and boundary-crossing, this book brings to light how gender inequality is shaped by and shapes global hierarchies of power, in intersection with race and class. It is unique in paying attention to both the Global South and Global North and the importance of considering how particular forms of gender inequality are located in the global economy. It is an excellent and stimulating text for use in advanced undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the social sciences. It is also essential reading for anyone in international organizations working on gender equality. -- Diane Elson, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of EssexAt last we have it: a book on feminist political economy that is going to become a basic and invaluable resource. It is at once an introduction to the approach and to major topics, and a sophisticated discussion of historical and contemporary issues, with a global perspective that foregrounds the role of power in economic life. This book is not just for economists or social scientists: it is important for anyone who wants to understand our world and why people’s lives play out so differently. -- Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts AmherstThis excellent field guide to feminist political economy identifies multidimensional aspects of collective identity and conflict across a global terrain. Its eloquent and intersectional commitment to social justice makes it an invaluable resource for policymakers and activists, as well as for researchers and students seeking to understand the complex dynamics of exploitation. -- Nancy Folbre, Professor Emerita of Economics, Political Economy Research Institute, AmherstFeminist political economy operates at the intersections of feminist economics, political economy, gender and development. In this groundbreaking and quite brilliant new book, these intersections coalesce organically into a volume that is essential reading for students and scholars alike across these interdisciplinary domains. -- Haroon Akram-Lodhi, Professor of Economics and International Development Studies, Trent UniversityTable of ContentsForeword by Naila Kabeer 1. A global perspective on feminist political economy 2. Global division of labour 3. Social reproduction 4. Care 5. Households 6. Intra-household inequalities 7. Labour market inequalities 8. Welfare regimes 9. Feminisation of poverty 10. Economic crises 11. GDP and its alternatives
£28.49
Agenda Publishing The Mexican Economy
Book SynopsisMexico is the sixteenth largest economy in the world and Latin America’s biggest exporter and importer. Despite the country’s relative macroeconomic stability, there are two Mexicos: one more prosperous, advanced and modern, the other poor, isolated and disadvantaged, and this polarization characterizes much of the country’s recent economic development. Enrique Cárdenas provides a concise survey of Mexico’s recent economic history and examines its attempts to address the economic challenges thrown up by regional disparities, low productivity and an export-fuelled economy overwhelmingly dependent on demand from its largest neighbour. The book investigates the relative robustness of the macroeconomic fundamentals alongside specific industry-level economic trends, especially those sectors dependent on free trade agreements. Demographic trends, in particular migration to the north, urbanization, poor labour relations, organized crime and entrenched corruption are all shown to have impacted the economic path Mexico has taken. The book offers an up-to-date analysis of Mexico’s economic development, social reform programmes and political economy suitable for a range of courses in Latin American studies and development studies.Table of Contents1. Introducing the Mexican economy 2. The making of modern Mexico 3. The evolution and shape of development 4. Major components of the modern economy 5. A diverse society 6. Mexico’s uniquenesss 7. Prospects
£71.25
Agenda Publishing The European Central Bank
Book SynopsisThe European Central Bank administers monetary policy for the eurozone and is tasked with maintaining price stability by keeping inflation below 2 per cent. This brief mandate belies the complexity of managing the monetary policy for the 19 member states of the euro, not to mention the political implications thereof. This book sets out the history, development and day-to-day workings of this key institutional pillar of the European Union. It assesses its work, independence, the policies and instruments at its disposal and the evolution of its role during, and after, the eurozone crisis of 2010. Incomplete monetary union, Germany's hegemonic ambitions and different economic policies from individual member countries are shown to pose formidable challenges to the ECB's macroeconomic management.Trade ReviewA very well-written book providing a comprehensive overview of the ECB and the major challenges facing European Monetary Union over the past two decades. -- Peter Bofinger, Würzburg University and former member of the German Council of Economic ExpertsTable of Contents1. Introduction: European integration2. From Bretton Woods to European Monetary Union3. The Maastricht Treaty and the Stability and Growth Pact4. The ECB’s structure and its political and legal framework5. Preconditions for a stable monetary union6. The failure of the 2-pillar strategy of the ECB and the revival of Wicksell7. Increasing economic fragility before the financial market crisis8. Monetary policy and the Great Recession9. Monetary policy and the escalation of the euro crisis up to 201210. The ECB holds the euro together11. The fiscal policy framework in the ECB12. Financial market supervision, banking union and financial market regulation13. Prospects for European policy making and the EMU
£22.99
Agenda Publishing China's Hong Kong: The Politics of a Global City
Book SynopsisIn 1997, Hong Kong became a special administrative region of China under the “one country, two systems” framework. In this new edition, Tim Summers brings his analysis of the politics of Hong Kong fully up to date and discusses the ramifications for the city of the mass demonstrations of 2019–20 and the city’s intensifying confrontational politics that have culminated in China’s new national security law for Hong Kong. In the process, Hong Kong has lost the sweet spot it occupied for four decades in a world of intensifying economic globalization and decent US–China relations, all the more so after Covid-19. Instead it finds itself at the frontline of US–China strategic rivalry. Summers explores how the city’s future will be shaped by the interaction of these global tensions with Hong Kong’s polarized local politics and its relationship with Beijing.Trade ReviewThis readable overview of twenty-first-century Hong Kong by Summers, a former British diplomat and resident commentator in the city, succinctly reviews the major events of globalization that have impacted the city, shaped by its changing relations with China and the rest of the world. -- ChoiceA comprehensive guide for those interested in a changing Hong Kong and the wider set of political and economic developments in China and the rest of the world… convincingly spells out the situation in Hong Kong from the handover to mid-2020 and attempts to go beyond the dominant “Beijing vis-à-vis Hong Kong” framework in Hong Kong studies. -- China PerspectivesSummers's work provides a ground-breaking re-assessment of modern Hong Kong, from an observer with decades of experience in the region. -- Biblio-FiendTable of ContentsPreface to the second editionIntroduction1. Hong Kong before 1997 2. Implementing the handover settlement3. Hong Kong’s economy, globalization and the rise of China4. The Occupy movement and its aftermath5. International dimensions of the Hong Kong SAR6. A year of protest7. Hong Kong’s future
£999.99
Agenda Publishing Industrial Policy
Book SynopsisWell-designed industrial policies can improve a nation’s economic performance. Using a range of tools, such as subsidies, tax incentives, infrastructure development, protective regulations, and R&D support, governments are able to support specific industries or economic activities. Steve Coulter examines the patterns of industrial policymaking across late capitalist societies. Drawing on case studies from a range of countries, each with different growth models, national capabilities, policy traditions, and political/welfare state regimes, he is able to offer a nuanced comparative assessment of states’ responses to specific economic challenges. The book draws broad conclusions about the trajectories of industrial policy and highlights key technical and political drivers that policymakers consider when addressing whether best practice should centre on general or nationally-specific approaches. The book also focuses on fresh challenges and opportunities for industrial policy and questions the sustainability of current policy practice.Trade ReviewEverything you always wanted to know about industrial policy but were afraid to ask – all in one place in Steve Coulter’s short book. Written for the novice in universities, the politician and their aides, the seasoned lobbyist, and the journalist. Even old hands in the field will find a lot of interest here. Coulter looks back to the heyday and the demise of industrial policy, clearly sets out ways of thinking about it, what could work, and what may go wrong. But most importantly, he makes you think again about industrial policy, industrial strategy and the political economy underpinning the idea. In this new, post-Covid, post-crisis era, with its renewed interest in the role of government in the economy, this book is a handy guide into the debates, the possibilities and the pitfalls. -- Bob Hancké, Associate Professor in Political Economy, London School of EconomicsTable of Contents1. Introduction: industry, economy and industrial policy 2. States, markets and growth: the economics of industrial policy 3. Implementing industrial policy: the experiences of five countries 4. New horizons for industrial policy 5. Conclusion
£25.20
Agenda Publishing Political Football: Regulation, Globalization and
Book SynopsisFootball has been largely exempt from the development of the regulatory state and has been left to govern itself. However, new media have raised the profile of the game and globalization has created new pressures as football clubs become pawns in the ambitions of states, consortia and wealthy individuals. Clubs offer an important sense of identity for fans, but the impersonality and distance of ownership can set up new tensions. In addition, corruption in the international governing body has been a significant problem and the sport’s symbiotic relationship with gambling continues to be a concern. Wyn Grant examines the political economy of football and its uneasy relationship with the market. There are no off-the-shelf solutions for regulation, he argues, but the complexities of the game and its economic size demand more attention from government.Trade ReviewHistorically football and politics only coincided when there were photo opportunities or bandwagon-jumping in relation to a World Cup bid or appearance. In recent years football’s ever increasing impact has moved from the back to the front pages of newspapers, and people from the industry with large social media followings, such as Gary Neville and Marcus Rashford, have helped to highlight issues and influence policy decisions. Wyn Grant’s Political Football is therefore essential reading, looking at the impact of the game as a microcosm of both national and international political and social developments. Issues such as governance, abuse of power, wealth distribution, racism, corruption, misogyny and homophobia cannot be solved by the industry itself, and the self-regulation mantra of those in control helps to preserve the status quo. This book is a thought-provoking summary of where football presently stands in relation to these issues and offers some suggestions as to how to help the football world make progress. -- Kieran Maguire, author of The Price of FootballA brilliant analysis of what has gone wrong with the world’s most popular sport ... the chapter on women’s football is the strongest detailing the long history of sexism, misogyny and patriarchy in the game. -- Times Higher EducationTable of Contents1. Introduction2. Globalization3. Football as a business4. Labour, migration and racism5. Football and gambling6. Women's football7. Regulation8. Finding solutions: a new regulatory framework
£24.99
Agenda Publishing The Magic Money Tree and Other Economic Tales
Book SynopsisThis lively and provocative look at the tension between economics and politics examines why so many mistakes in economic policy-making are made for political reasons and ignore the economic truths. Using short-term economic gains to ensure electoral success, argues Lorenzo Forni, inevitably spells macroeconomic disaster. Using the state budget, trade policy and monetary policy to prop up labour markets and the wider economy in order to boost voter approval ratings, while ignoring budget constraints can only result in longer recessions and economic downturns. Which then can incur the painful austerity measures needed to bring the economy back into balance. Forni looks at many unsustainable economic policies that have been implemented in parts of the world when the economic realities – there is no magic money tree! – would recommend a different and more prudent economic course.Trade ReviewAn insightful journey through politics and economics, addressing why the former might mismanage the latter. Lorenzo Forni describes in depth the causes and consequences of many policy 'mistakes', all characterized by a common error: forgetting the economic constraints. -- Francesco Giavazzi, economic adviser to the Italian prime ministerThis book aptly distills lessons about sound macroeconomic policies from theory and international experiences in a non-technical and user-friendly way. It will be especially useful to non-economists who want to form well-informed opinions about important current debates on the appropriate stance of fiscal and monetary policies. I especially like its key message that prolonged expansionary policies cannot raise potential GDP growth rates. Doing so requires structural fiscal, financial, and regulatory reforms. The book highlights the political economy challenges that such reforms face. -- Teresa Ter-Minassian, former Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, International Monetary FundA most enjoyable and instructive read with many fascinating country examples. As fiscal deficits explode and central banks remain big buyers of government bonds, Forni's lucid warnings about unsustainable macroeconomic policies could not be better timed. -- Philip Turner, University of Basel, and former Senior Manager, Bank for International SettlementsLive by the printing press, die by the printing press. This is the no-free-fiscal-lunch message of Lorenzo Forni, a premier economic advisor to countries across the globe. The Money Magic Tree is a sobering wake-up call for the United States and other advanced economies who think they can live well beyond their means. -- Larry Kotlikoff, Boston UniversityThis book is about magic. Yet, the magic tricks work and are exciting only when the audience does not know what to expect. With magical economic policy-making, the audience have been conned before. This book shows that harsh economic truths are much less exciting than magic but are inescapable. -- Aleh Tsyvinski, Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics, Yale UniversityForni’s main target is the politicians who, in targeting their short-term advantage, undermine the medium and long-term prospects for their countries ... SPE members who need to find support for economic rationality in dealing with their clients, masters, or even the friends in the pub will find useful material in here. -- Society of Professional EconomistsTable of ContentsIntroduction: pandemic economics 1. The clash between politicians and economists 2. The magic potion of credit 3. The multiplication of loaves and fishes 4. Something for nothing? 5. Are the advanced economies different? 6. Italy: the sick man of Europe Epilogue: economists and the magic money tree Appendix: budget constraints
£999.99
Agenda Publishing The Economics of Airlines
Book SynopsisThe airline industry is fundamental to the workings of the global economy. Yet, ironically for an industry of such sheer scale and economic muscle, profit margins are razor thin and many airlines struggle to break even. The precarious economics of the sector were fully revealed when Covid-19 grounded flights across the world prompting many national carriers to seek government bailouts, while smaller airlines collapsed. In this updated and expanded new edition Volodymyr Bilotkach explains the economic realities of the airline industry and the challenges that the sector now faces after the seismic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The impact of such a large-scale external shock on the industry is considered across each of its sectors and for each of its primary economic determinants. The book also includes new material on changes to cost structures, the pricing of add-on services, cargo, airport slot allocation and the impact of climate change. The book remains a comprehensive introduction to the economics of airlines, how carriers compete, how they develop their business, and how demand and cost structure, coupled with the complex regulatory regime, produces the industry we see today.Trade ReviewA charming read on airline economics, written by someone with a close affinity to the sector. -- AerospaceTable of Contents1. IntroductionPART I Demand and Cost 2. Demand 3. Costs 4. Airline pricingPART II Airline Markets 5. Market structure 6. Competition and consolidation 7. Alliances and joint ventures 8. Regulation and deregulation 9. Aviation safety and security10. Air cargo PART III External Effects of Aviation 11. Congestion and delays 12. Pollution and climate change 13. Positive benefitsPART IV Economics of Related Markets 14. Airports 15. Air navigation services 16. Aircraft manufacturing
£999.99
Agenda Publishing Squalor
Book SynopsisBritish society is increasingly divided into the haves and the have-nots. Housing epitomizes this division with spiralling rents, exorbitant prices, lack of council provision, poorly maintained stock, and polluted cities with ever decreasing green space. Daniel Renwick and Robbie Shilliam provide a recent history of squalor culminating in the Grenfell Tower fire. In doing so they reveal a profound political failure to provide fair and just solutions to shelter – the most basic of human needs. Renwick and Shilliam argue that agents of change exist within those populations presently damned by a racist and class-riven system of housing provision.Trade ReviewIn this compelling history of squalor’s political and racial construction, Renwick and Shilliam debunk right-wing attempts to cast today’s squalid living conditions forced on many across the UK as a matter of morality and show them to be one of mortality. This is perhaps most poignantly exposed in their discussion of the Grenfell Fire, a touchpoint throughout the book. A truly significant contribution to the contemporary rethinking of one of Beveridge’s five impediments to social progress. -- Gurminder Bhambra, Professor of Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies, University of SussexA thought-provoking, foundational history of housing policy and development within the United Kingdom... a must in the academic arsenal of an undergraduate or postgraduate student. -- Capital & ClassA gripping read, Squalor powerfully describes the long-term historical processes that have shaped deprivation in our time. Left me feeling madly angry. -- Arun Kundnani, author of The Muslims are Coming! Islamophobia, Extremism, and the Domestic War on TerrorSqualor is a beautifully-written collaboration unified by the authors’ clear commitment to acknowledging, documenting and detailing the organised and in many cases, purposeful negligence of Britain’s working classes. But its key achievement is its engagement with a particular aspect of political education that focuses on the evolution of regulations, which plainly demonstrate that housing, or the right to a dignified life in one’s home, should be the ultimate unifier of the polity. This is a book which illuminates exactly why everyone should be paying attention to the politics of housing. -- Chantelle Jessica Lewis, Pembroke College, University of OxfordThis brilliant work treads the trajectory of spatial arrangement in granular detail, and skillfully dispels several key myths along the journey. It concretizes the macro decisions, taken at the highest levels of political office, that have continually reordered the nitty-gritty micro level of day-to-day life across the century. This is an indispensable resource in the attritional war for the human right to safe and secure housing. -- Lowkey, hip hop artist and journalistTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. A moral history of squalor 2. Housing policy and national reform 3. A postwar consensus? 4. Demolishing slums, building up 5. The struggle for the city 6. The right to buy 7. Organized negligence 8. Twenty-first-century squalor 9. Social murder
£20.80
Agenda Publishing Disease
Book SynopsisIn 1942 life expectancy at birth was 66 for women and 60 for men. Death was usually due to degenerative and infectious diseases. The greatest postwar success in the fight against disease was the establishment of the NHS and care that was free at the point of delivery. Life expectancy rose dramatically, but since 2011 incremental improvements have stalled and even, in some regions, begun to reverse. Infant mortality rates have crept up and the postcode lottery of health provision underscores the level of social inequality in the UK. Good health is not simply the absence of disease. It is the collective of physical, social and mental well-being. It is the product of nutrition and genetics, of healthy lifestyles and preventative health interventions. It is the interaction between the conditions in which we live, work, play and age. Yet access to many of the things that make and keep us healthy are not evenly distributed in the population. Achieving good health is then deeply entwined with all aspects of society and cannot simply be solved by policies in one area alone. In our rediscovery of Beveridge, the shadow of the pandemic looms large. It is has never been more urgent to address the underlying causes of Disease. And it has never been clearer that these determinants are not only social or physiological, but also political.Trade ReviewThis conceptually and empirically rich book outlines how health and disease have been unequally experienced across the country both before and during the Coivid-19 pandemic. It argues powerfully that we cannot go back to ‘business as usual’ and should instead harness a new ‘spirit of 45’ to truly build back better and reduce health inequalities. -- Clare Bambra, Professor of Public Health, Newcastle UniversityThis is an important and illuminating book that sheds light on two persistent and intractable calamities – our alarmingly low levels of population health and the injustice of inequalities in health. Read this book and feel your outrage, then read it again to focus on what we need to do to create transformative change. -- Kate Pickett, Professor of Epidemiology, University of York, and co-author of The Spirit LevelFran Pollock sets out the hard truth of how political choices have deprioritized ordinary people’s health and well-being and sets out how we can stand together to oblige leaders to protect us all. Reading her book shocks but also empowers us to act. -- Ben Phillips, author of How to Fight InequalityTable of Contents1. Introduction: a revolutionary moment 2. Disease: an evolving giant 3. Unequal health and the behemoth of today 4. From cradle ... 5. ... to grave: the problem of age 6. Inequity and inferiority: a dismantled health and social care service 7. Continuing challenges, contemporary crises 8. Shoring up “Assumption B”
£20.80
Agenda Publishing Ignorance
Book SynopsisAs a universal experience school provokes strongly-held opinions. The views of teachers, parents, pupils compete with those of educational theorists, social engineers and ideologues. Although undoubtedly much improved since the time of Beveridge, the provision of education remains beset with challenges. Sally Tomlinson’s engaging, and at times personal, journey through Britain’s postwar experience of schooling and education reform draws on her many years of working in the sector. She explains how legacies of different systems and countless policy initiatives have led to the persistence of social inequalities, entrenching them in society and perpetuated by the power dynamics that they create between class, race and gender. Furthermore, she shows how the increasing mania for testing, targets, choice and competition, which has made schools into a marketplace and young people into consumers, threatens to undermine schools as a place where citizens can share learning and the democratic values that are needed as much today as they were in Beveridge’s time.Trade ReviewSally Tomlinson’s book is a really good read. I urge you to buy it: her analysis of what has happened to education in England since Beveridge is perceptive and incisive. The sheer amount of information and the pace at which it is delivered will leave you breathless: there is not one wasted word. Superb. -- Derek Gillard, in FORUM"This book, by our internationally leading sociologist of educational diversity, could not be more timely. The urgent need for radical educational reform to prevent the widespread return of ignorance is clearly stated in this admirable book." -- Stewart Ranson, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of Warwick"The provision of maintained – ‘state’ – education has improved dramatically since the 1942 Beveridge Report. But it remains a policy landscape riven with strong opinion, prejudice and ideology. Some of those nostrums seem to stem from the personal but universal experience of school (and can consequently manifest sweet or sour nostalgia), some of them indicate a complete absence of reality or recognition of changing needs, some are really useful. The competing views of educational theorists, teachers, parents, along with the wider societal and political concerns (or lack of them) about meaningful quality, equity or equality of opportunity are difficult to navigate. It’s perhaps no surprise, therefore, that successive governments, despite countless Education Acts, have yet to slay and banish the Giant of Ignorance. Sally Tomlinson is a passionate defender and upholder of educational and teaching standards and her journey through Britain’s chequered postwar history of education provision draws on her long, broad and unrivalled experience of the sector. She throws into stark relief the challenges which teachers continue to face as they are confronted by the giddying sets of policy initiatives and frameworks. Too often, the ‘changers’ deny the resources necessary to implement the changes. Even more frequently, they put what should be diagnostic tools of testing, targets and reporting in place of infant and adolescent well-being and motivation as well as the learning and application of knowledge and experience. ‘Knowledge is power’ we are told, but regrettably, ignorance is not without influence either. That’s why Professor Tomlinson’s assault on the Giant should be made mandatory reading for all policymakers who truly want to topple the tyrant.” -- Lord Kinnock, former Leader of the Labour PartyTable of Contents1. Introduction: ignorance evolves 2. Breaking out of ignorance, 1945–80 3. Market forces and ignorance in the 1980s 4. Redistributing ignorance in the 1990s 5. Bog standard schools and academies, 2000–09 6. Weirdos and misfits, 2010–20 7. Ignorance in Covid/post-Covid schooling, 2020–21 8. Conclusion
£20.80
Agenda Publishing Want
Book SynopsisPoverty in modern-day Britain looks different to the form it took in Beveridge’s day but it has not disappeared. For 14 million people across the UK the lack of access to the goods and services necessary to live a decent life and to participate fully in society remains a grim reality. Despite rising standards of living, social and economic structures continue to trap those at the bottom in constant job insecurity, ill-health, overcrowded housing and educational disadvantage. Helen Barnard considers what it might take to finally slay the giant of poverty in Britain. She examines how we might build a fairer, more equal society, and what a modern welfare state should aim to achieve, including an honest appraisal of the trade-offs and choices involved in creating it.Trade ReviewA tour d’horizon of social injustice in Britain today – and a twenty-first-century manifesto for rooting it out. At every turn, she presses not only the question of what substantively will have to be done to slay the giant of 'want', but asks how can we foster the political conversation that is a prerequisite for getting it done. Her demand for meaningful public deliberation, not least with those who are on the wrong end of anachronistic top-down services, is an urgent one – not only for social policy, but for the wider health of our democracy too. -- Tom Clark, Contributing Editor, Prospect, and author of Hard Times: Inequality, Recession, AftermathAt times painful, but also painfully needed, this updating of Beveridge shines a light on what poverty looks like in twenty-first-century Britain. Barnard encourages us to ask what we want for the UK’s future, and rightly suggests it is not just more of the status quo. -- Torsten Bell, Resolution FoundationA clear, perceptive and timely discussion of poverty in the UK that for all its authority never loses sight of a key question: how did we, as a society that prides itself on being compassionate and just, get here? -- Patrick Butler, Social Policy Editor, The GuardianHelen Barnard distills all her extensive expertise on modern poverty into this book – the result is a vital primer for anyone thinking of having an opinion on this subject. -- Ben Chu, Economics Editor, NewsnightHelen Barnard is consistently one of the most interesting thinkers on social policy in Britain, even when – or perhaps especially when – you disagree with her. -- Robert Colvile, Centre for Policy StudiesThis is a fascinating and carefully researched book, written with Helen Barnard’s trademark friendly style and warmth. She examines the challenges of finding a new path after Covid with the same motivation and ambition that must have powered the original Beveridge Report. Best of all, it’s a book that’s full of possible solutions, written with optimism and a real sense of hope. -- Felicity Hannah, award-winning independent journalistA thoroughly-evidenced, sensitively-reported and utterly terrifying anatomy of the collapse of our welfare state. A vital study for this moment as the UK’s safety net appears to be in maximum danger. -- Anoosh Chakelian, Britain Editor, New StatesmanTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Defining decency 2. Hard pressed families 3. Disabled people and carers 4. Renting pensioners 5. Young, Black and held back 6. Stigma and shame or dignity and respect? 7. Equality and discrimination 8. What is social security for? 9. Public services for the digital age 10. Reimagining work 11. Managing modern markets 12. Tax, wealth and housing Conclusion
£20.80
Agenda Publishing The Economics of Music
Book SynopsisThe music industry is one of the most dynamic and fascinating business sectors. Its business model has had to evolve and adapt to continually changing technologies that impact at every level from distribution to artist management. Its latest challenge has been the closure of live music venues during the Covid-19 pandemic. The second edition of this much used introduction to the economic workings of the music business has been updated to include analysis of the impact of the pandemic as well as new trends in the industry, such as the increasing dominance of tech companies and big data and the growing importance of collective management organizations as market players, which has impacted on new business contracts. At a time when live performance outstrips music sales as the primary source of income for today’s musicians, this new edition also examines how different stakeholder positions have shifted. The book remains a rigorous presentation of the industry’s business model, the core sectors of publishing, recording and live music, and the complex myriad of licensing and copyright arrangements that underpin the industry. The revenue streams of recording companies are analysed alongside the income stream of artists to show how changing formats and distribution platforms impact both industry profit margins and artists’ earnings.Trade ReviewComprehensive and well documented, drawing on the author's prodigious knowledge of the industry. -- David Throsby, Times Literary SupplementTable of ContentsIntroduction1. A short economic history of the music business2. Microeconomics of music: music as an economic good3. The economics of music copyright4. Music publishing5. Sound recording6. Live music7. Secondary music markets8. Music labour markets9. Economics of the digital music businessConclusionGlossary
£22.99
Agenda Publishing The Urban Field
Book SynopsisA critical examination of the relationship between capital and the state, and the generation of an urban governmentality centred on the economization of knowledge and technology. A rethinking of the role of contemporary urbanism in today's knowledge-intensive capitalism.
£28.49
Agenda Publishing The Economics of Fund Management
Book SynopsisAlthough the asset management industry has come under increasing scrutiny since the financial crisis it still remains poorly understood and investment scandals continue to headline in the financial press. Whereas most literature on the industry focuses on the technical end – how managers invest and what tips others can glean – this book explores the way these businesses operate as businesses and how they make their money. The book explains how the industry is organized, how firms generate revenues through various types of fund, fees and charges and what cost pressures they face. It investigates the nature of their client relationships, the role played by star investors and the requirement for firms to integrate non-financial considerations into their investment process. The inherent tensions and potential conflicts of interest within asset managers that seek to keep both clients and shareholders happy is also examined. The book concludes by considering how the industry is evolving, the role of regulation and where it is struggling to change. Suitable for students of business and finance, those working in allied areas of the finance sector, and for anyone with a general interest in how financial institutions and markets operate, the book offers readers a balanced and incisive guide to the economics of an industry that globally controls more than $100 trillion of financial assets and a critical appraisal of the sector’s future.Trade ReviewThe investment management industry is huge, enormously influential, wildly profitable but often little-understood outside its own confines, with most of the literature focused on the approach of its most famous money managers. Ed Moisson ably explains the other pillars of asset management, explores how the business actually works and dissects what its future might look like. -- Robin Wigglesworth, Editor, FT Alphaville, and author of TrillionsA fascinating and extremely well researched insight into the business of asset management and how the industry makes – and sometimes loses – money. A must-read for anyone looking to delve deeper into an influential sector of the economy managing trillions of dollars. -- David Ricketts, author of When the Fund StopsThere are a lot of people in and around asset management who can paint little bits of this picture, but Ed Moisson is the only one with the skills and experience to show us the full landscape. A masterpiece. -- Magnus Spence, Director, FidesIQThis useful book walks the reader through the business of asset management – a business critical to the modern economy. Ed Moisson covers thorny topics such as conflicts of interest, scandals and regulatory intervention taking a balanced view. An important contribution to a better understanding of asset management. -- Heather Hopkins, Managing Director, NextWealthHaving started in investment management 50 years ago when the fund business was a cottage industry (with less than £1 billion under management), I found this book an excellent analysis of the vast industry it has become. It will enable any reader to understand the complex dynamics of today's business. -- Mark St Giles, co-author of Managing Collective Investment Funds, and Chairman, Cadogan FinancialA timely and important piece of work. Too few people understand investment management as a business and until there is a broader understanding of some of the conflicts and challenges that exist, the sector will remain in the shadows of banking and insurance. Opacity rarely goes hand in hand with excellence nor does it allow investment management to earn proper credit for the vital role that it plays in financing growth and wellbeing. -- Will Goodhart, Chief Executive, CFA Society of the UKTable of Contents1. Introduction 2. Organization 3. Business model 4. Managing money 5. Stars and scandals 6. Purpose and sustainability 7. Regulations and responsibilities 8. Sales and products 9. Fees and charging 10. Conclusions and the future
£71.25
Agenda Publishing The Economics of Fund Management
Book SynopsisAlthough the asset management industry has come under increasing scrutiny since the financial crisis it still remains poorly understood and investment scandals continue to headline in the financial press. Whereas most literature on the industry focuses on the technical end – how managers invest and what tips others can glean – this book explores the way these businesses operate as businesses and how they make their money. The book explains how the industry is organized, how firms generate revenues through various types of fund, fees and charges and what cost pressures they face. It investigates the nature of their client relationships, the role played by star investors and the requirement for firms to integrate non-financial considerations into their investment process. The inherent tensions and potential conflicts of interest within asset managers that seek to keep both clients and shareholders happy is also examined. The book concludes by considering how the industry is evolving, the role of regulation and where it is struggling to change. Suitable for students of business and finance, those working in allied areas of the finance sector, and for anyone with a general interest in how financial institutions and markets operate, the book offers readers a balanced and incisive guide to the economics of an industry that globally controls more than $100 trillion of financial assets and a critical appraisal of the sector’s future.Trade ReviewThe investment management industry is huge, enormously influential, wildly profitable but often little-understood outside its own confines, with most of the literature focused on the approach of its most famous money managers. Ed Moisson ably explains the other pillars of asset management, explores how the business actually works and dissects what its future might look like. -- Robin Wigglesworth, Editor, FT Alphaville, and author of TrillionsA fascinating and extremely well researched insight into the business of asset management and how the industry makes – and sometimes loses – money. A must-read for anyone looking to delve deeper into an influential sector of the economy managing trillions of dollars. -- David Ricketts, author of When the Fund StopsThere are a lot of people in and around asset management who can paint little bits of this picture, but Ed Moisson is the only one with the skills and experience to show us the full landscape. A masterpiece. -- Magnus Spence, Director, FidesIQThis useful book walks the reader through the business of asset management – a business critical to the modern economy. Ed Moisson covers thorny topics such as conflicts of interest, scandals and regulatory intervention taking a balanced view. An important contribution to a better understanding of asset management. -- Heather Hopkins, Managing Director, NextWealthHaving started in investment management 50 years ago when the fund business was a cottage industry (with less than £1 billion under management), I found this book an excellent analysis of the vast industry it has become. It will enable any reader to understand the complex dynamics of today's business. -- Mark St Giles, co-author of Managing Collective Investment Funds, and Chairman, Cadogan FinancialA timely and important piece of work. Too few people understand investment management as a business and until there is a broader understanding of some of the conflicts and challenges that exist, the sector will remain in the shadows of banking and insurance. Opacity rarely goes hand in hand with excellence nor does it allow investment management to earn proper credit for the vital role that it plays in financing growth and wellbeing. -- Will Goodhart, Chief Executive, CFA Society of the UKTable of Contents1. Introduction 2. Organization 3. Business model 4. Managing money 5. Stars and scandals 6. Purpose and sustainability 7. Regulations and responsibilities 8. Sales and products 9. Fees and charging 10. Conclusions and the future
£23.44
Agenda Publishing The Rise of State Capital: Transforming Markets
Book SynopsisThe past two decades have seen a rapid rise in large-scale, state-led transnational investment from countries as different as China, Norway and Russia. By bundling economic resources, these countries have entered global markets through massive state-led investments. This transformation of states into global economic actors is historically unprecedented and presents a major challenge for how states relate to each other in the international system. Milan Babic examines how states have become major corporate owners in the global economy and unpacks the lasting effects of this on our understanding of the state and international politics. Drawing on research into the largest firm-level dataset on state ownership to date, in combination with in-depth historical and conceptual analysis, the book offers a comprehensive analysis of the rise of the state in the global economy and its present and future consequences for international relations.Trade ReviewIn this innovative book, Babić muscles aside the sterile and incorrect dichotomy between state and market and its related debate about the return of state capitalism in favour of a detailed empirical analysis of something new: the expansion of transnational state capital through foreign direct and portfolio investment. Transnational state-owned enterprises are increasingly powerful actors in the global economy. -- Herman Mark Schwartz, Professor of Politics, University of VirginiaThis is illuminating and essential reading at a critical turn in world politics when geoeconomics is returning to centre stage. Babić accessibly – and based on a wealth of comprehensive data – guides the reader to see states as owners and investors in the global political economy, the strategies they employ vis-à-vis markets, and how all that matters in the current state of global capitalism and interstate rivalry. -- Naná de Graaff, Associate Professor in International Relations, Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamThis exciting new look at states and capital investment replaces the increasingly threadbare "standard" state–market dichotomy narrative and its "rise of state capitalism" trope with a more credible account of how both states and the firms they own and influence have integrated themselves into a "transnational agency space" that is fully compatible with globalization and private capital. This perceptive analysis of state responses to new opportunity structures of global markets presents both the big picture and the fine-grained, case-based data to support the theory. -- Geoffrey Underhill, Professor of International Governance, University of AmsterdamBabić argues convincingly through a range of case studies how states and markets are not that different in how they operate in a more open, interconnected and what we call heterarchical world political economy. In particular, he regards capitalism as being fundamentally underpinned, shaped, and made effective and profitable by states, i.e. that what we are dealing with is the transformation of state capitalism itself, capitalism created and shaped by states for their own purposes. -- European Review of International StudiesTable of ContentsForeword by Erik Jones 1. Introduction: states and markets are different things – or are they? 2. A short history of the re-emergence of state capital(ism) 3. Transnational state capital in the global political economy 4. Strategies of the competing state: controlling strategies 5. Strategies of the competing state: financial strategies 6. Consequences: Covid-19, geoeconomics, climate change 7. Conclusion: states, markets and the future of globalization
£28.49
Agenda Publishing Enough!: A Modest Political Ecology for an
Book SynopsisEnough! insists there is enough for all. Creating such a future is not about producing more or living with less. Instead, it starts with rethinking our politics, economics and approach to livelihoods. Mary Lawhon and Tyler McCreary develop a “modest approach” to justice and sustainability, drawing on ecology and postcolonial theory, as well as their research on infrastructure in African cities and the Canadian north. The authors chart a pathway beyond modernist and arcadian environmentalisms, emphasizing uncertainty while holding onto hope for creating better worlds. The chapters tack between conceptual contours, concrete examples, proposed inventions, and personal narrative. Theorizing from the struggles of the global south and Indigenous peoples, Enough! proposes delinking livelihoods from work through a redistributive basic income, which enables enough without overreliance on modern states. It also enables us to prevent conflicts over jobs, reduce some types of production, and deploy resources towards building postcapitalist worlds.Trade ReviewCan we imagine a future economy that is attractive, fair, sustainable and ... possible? Lawhon and McCreary have. In Enough! they hurtle us beyond the eco-twin romances of degrowth and techno-optimism to a world where basic income is guaranteed, Earth systems are protected, peoples' needs to thrive are met and the human economy remains vibrant, active, inventive, and full of possibility. Modesty, they show us convincingly, requires neither wearing a sack cloth nor boarding a spaceship. Recommended reading for an optimistic and progressive future. -- Paul Robbins, Dean, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and Professor, Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-MadisonIt is refreshing to read such a well-thought-out vision of a better future that so clearly understands and explains the foundational role that a universal, unconditional basic income has to play in underwriting and catalyzing that future. Enough ignoring or maligning UBI, and read this book to gain a larger more comprehensive view. -- Scott Santens, author of Let There Be MoneyAmidst a deepening climate crisis and growing inequalities, what changes are needed to constitute a good and sustainable life? What does 'enough' look like? This book provides a lively, thoughtful and eloquent response. It confronts the uncertainties of possible futures with confidence and care, and makes a compelling case for a redistributive and cooperative economy, universal basic income, and a modest politics to negotiate ecological conflicts and crises. -- Colin McFarlane, Professor of Urban Geography, Durham UniversityIt is a political act to find hope in this twenty-first-century moment of protracted ecological, economic and political malaise. Lawhon and McCreary sit with these troubled times and offer not so much a way out, but a way through. Propositional, curious, and joyful, this book invites us to see the radical in modest imaginaries of infrastructure politics, and the possible in the seemingly unattainable Universal Basic Income. A much-needed provocation, this book will trigger animated conversations in the classroom, the boardroom, and the street. -- Tatiana A. Thieme, Associate Professor in Geography, University College LondonWritten at the height of the pandemic which laid bare global injustices, intersecting crises and uncertainties, but also possibilities for drastic change, Enough! offers radical ideas for a world in which there will be enough for all. Through theoretical reflections and concrete examples on infrastructure and access to basic services from both the global North and South, Lawhon and McCreary make a compelling case for a modest politics which includes universal basic income and a reimagining of state citizenship relations, livelihoods and the economy that will enable justice and sustainability for all. Enough’s call to embrace a modest politics of sufficiency in an uncertain world leaves us with hope and immense possibilities to aspire and fight for a sustainable and just world in which all people can thrive and live well. -- Lyla Mehta, Professorial Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex and Visiting Professor at Norwegian University of Life SciencesEnough! begins with the premise that we all want a better world, and in doing so it is radically hopeful as well as accessible. Lawhon and McCreary's ‘modest’ proposal is inspiring and provocative, opening up big conversations on what really matters while remaining careful to recognize and work within the complexities of current economic, political and environmental life. In doing so, they encourage us to collectively work towards social and ecological well-being in ways that are sure to engage students and practitioners alike. -- Julia Corwin, Assistant Professor in Environment, London School of EconomicsAmidst the current anxieties and pessimism about the future, Lawhon and McCreary shake us to be optimistic for a future where we all live decent and dignified lives. A just and sustainable world where there is enough for all! Through well-described and contextualised fragments of life from the global north and south, that sits with the troubled realities of our times, Enough! showcases a pathway to a just and sustainable future we should look forward to. A hope-filled timely read for young scholars, activists and policy makers whose betterment of society is the core of their comradeship. -- Mwangi Mwaura, 2023 Rhodes Scholar elect, University of OxfordEnough! is a lucid and eloquent read on how the politics of nature–society relationships have evolved and how the arguments on modesty can renew foundational claims on political ecology. Keeping infrastructure politics as the cornerstone, the book contributes to a futuristic 'modest imaginary' analysis of the state, market forces and livelihoods. The book challenges the 'modern infrastructure ideal' and a 'usual inverted modernist' approach, presenting a more nuanced analysis and illustrations of modest environmental governance, setting the course for future sustainability. A must-read for future infrastructure practitioners, activists, students focusing on interdisciplinarity, and political ecologists. -- Sumit Vij, Assistant Professor, Sociology and Development Change Group, Wageningen University, the NetherlandsTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Polarising political ecologies of the future 2. Neither more nor less: cultivating a modest political ecology Interlude: radical potential of a universal, unconditional basic income 3. A modest economy: diverse and distributionist 4. A modest state 5. Modest livelihoods 6. Onwards
£28.49
Agenda Publishing Xiconomics: What China’s Dual Circulation
Book SynopsisMatters of ideology and security have become deeply entwined in China’s economic and business environment. The context is more politicized, more uncertain. At the heart of Xiconomics is the Dual Circulation Strategy, which marks out clear dividing lines between China’s domestic economy and the rest of the world. It sets out how China seeks to manage the links between the two just when western countries are also focusing on decoupling and "friendshoring". In order to prosper, business leaders and policy-makers need to understand these new international dynamics. In this concise and incisive analysis, Andrew Cainey and Christiane Prange explain what is happening in China and how this affects its relations with other countries. They identify what foreign companies need to do, how strategies need to change, and what this all means for managing the China business as part of a global portfolio, under a range of geopolitical scenarios.Trade ReviewThe authors provide a succinct picture of what it means to do business in China today. They provide an in-depth analysis of the intertwined historical, political and economic environment that managers must face up to and highlight the strategy options open to multinational companies. A must-read for everyone who seeks a nuanced understanding of China’s multifaceted business landscape beyond simplistic business headlines. -- Joerg Storm, Global Head IT Infrastructure, Mercedes Benz Mobility, StuttgartThis book is an essential immediate read for all senior business leaders with a responsibility for doing business inside China, or with the potential to encounter Chinese influenced businesses elsewhere. The authors deconstruct Xiconomics and their inside track enables them to decode and make Xiconomics accessible to those with a business interest in the potentially enormous benefits and significant risks associated with engaging with China. -- Wilf Blackburn, former CEO, Allianz China LifeAn invaluable guide for business people and policy makers facing the challenge of mapping out strategies for productive engagement with China going forward. -- Peter Williamson, Judge Business School, University of CambridgeXiconomics should be essential reading for anyone grappling with understanding, and adjusting to, the profound changes that have occurred to China’s business environment in Xi’s era. -- Xin Sun, King’s College LondonNow more than ever, business success in China means both understanding the broader social, political and historical context, and dealing with uncertainty. Drawing on their extensive experience, the authors describe how China is evolving and then lay out the strategic options and capabilities that companies need to succeed. This book is a must. -- Catherine Bradley CBE, non-executive director, Kingfisher plcCainey and Prange have pulled off a rare feat with this book: being incisive and detailed while remaining accessible and succinct. Anyone interested in the wider politics of international business in China will gain much from reading Xiconomics. -- William Hurst, Chong Hua Professor of Chinese Development, University of CambridgeTable of ContentsIntroduction Part I Dual circulation strategy and Xiconomics 1. What is dual circulation strategy? 2. Dual circulation: more continuity than change 3. Xiconomics and the China Policy puzzle 4. Putting the Xi into Xiconomics Part II Three questions for global business 5. How will China’s internal business environment develop? 6. What role will China play in the world of external circulation? 7. Internal and external: separate or connected? Part III Implications for global business 8. Multinationals and China 9. How dual circulation changes the game 10. Ambidexterity and connectivity 11 Resilience and agility in the face of uncertainty 12. Conclusion: navigating the contradictions in China’s ambitions
£23.74
Agenda Publishing Macroeconomic Policy Since the Financial Crisis
Book SynopsisEconomic policymakers use various macroeconomic models, but how reliable are they in real-world conditions? Starting from the premise that all models are wrong, but some are useful, Matteo Iannizzotto introduces and explains the workings of the key economic models available for policymaking. He shows that the inconsistencies and contradictions evident in the real world require the economist to make choices about which models to adopt in certain circumstances and when not to rigidly adhere to a single approach. The book uses a clear and critical step by step analysis to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each model, in a way that enables students to develop their own critical engagement with macroeconomic policymaking. In so doing, the book provides an understanding of the world economy’s fluctuations since the global financial crisis that embraces the uncomfortable fact that inconsistency and the need for a multiplicity of models is central to macroeconomic policy choices. For the many students bewildered by the disconnect between the models in their textbooks and the policy choices so hotly debated in the press, the book will be essential reading.Trade ReviewAt last, a textbook that is willing to confront the messiness of macroeconomic policymaking. For undergraduates who expect to find clear links between what policymakers do and what economic theorizing suggests, this is the biggest step-change in the literature for a long time. It deserves to be widely read. -- Peter Howells, Emeritus Professor of Monetary Economics, UWE, BristolTable of Contents1. The three equations model 2. Behind the three equations 1: the monetary rule and the IS curve 3. Behind the three equations 2: inflation and the Phillips curve 4. Expectations 5. The financial crisis of 2007/08 6. Financial instability 7. The open economy 8. Fiscal policy 9. Broken shards of fiscal policy. 10 Ambiguities and problems
£999.99
Agenda Publishing Rights versus Antitrust: Challenging the Ethics
Book SynopsisAntitrust or competition law is widely considered an essential part of the legal and political structures of most liberal democracies and an integral foundation of a market economy. In this book, Mark D. White disputes this understanding, drawing on concepts from economics, philosophy, and law to argue that the pre-eminent status accorded to the regulation of competition should be reconsidered by any government that claims to support basic property rights. Despite its populist origins, antitrust is usually understood today in terms of economic theory, which provides a solid foundation for the analysis of market competition. As this logic goes, governments restrict firms from engaging in behaviour regarded as uncompetitive, with the purpose of protecting consumers, other firms, or the very process of competition itself. However, this neglects the fundamental property rights on which the market economy is based, an unfortunate implication of the utilitarian ethics at the heart of economics. Firms are held responsible for promoting societal welfare and penalized for failing to do so, even when their actions violate no recognized rights of consumers or competitors. This view of commerce sees firms as agents of the state rather than opportunities for individuals to pursue their interests in exchange with others. As White explains, competition or antitrust law serves as an example of how economics privileges welfare and efficiency over rights and justice, promoting the maximization of outcomes while ignoring the rights of those who generate them. Accessible and non-technical, this book assumes no previous knowledge of economics, philosophy, or law, and provides a fresh and thought-provoking perspective on antitrust and competition law that will challenge readers from all backgrounds and political stances to question the degree to which its wisdom is taken for granted.Trade ReviewOriginal, well written, thought provoking . . . this is an important contribution to the ongoing debate on American antitrust law. An accessible and fruitful read for the novice and seasoned expert, who will find a different perspective on issues that are normally taken for granted. -- Nicola Giocoli, Professor of Economics, University of PisaWhite’s thought-provoking book challenges us to rethink the basic pillars of antitrust – from competition, to market power, to consumer welfare – and to confront the paradox of enforcing antitrust in a liberal society. In so doing, White raises a provocative question: What rights are we willing to sacrifice on the altar of economic welfare or populist ideals? -- Geoffrey A. Manne, President & Founder, International Center for Law & EconomicsReadable, refreshing, and relevant. A lively jaunt through the underpinnings of antitrust law from an all too rare perspective: one that champions individual rights. -- Anastasia Boden, Director, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato InstituteTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Overview 2. The economics of antitrust 3. The ethics of economics 4. Rights 5. Antitrust violations and rights 6. Harms and wrongs 7. The obligation to maximize welfare 8. Re-envisioning the market
£24.99
Agenda Publishing Future Finance
Book SynopsisA systematic rethinking of financialization, which explores how financial capitalism especially the asset management industry is organised, how the locus of power has shifted from public to private authority, and how its consequences have defined finance's societal purpose.
£28.49
Agenda Publishing The Political Economy of Deindustrialization
Book SynopsisA critical examination of the processes of deindustrialization that explores why it has become an issue of deep politics, informing right-wing populism, contemporary geopolitical tensions (with China), Brexit, the New Green Deal and levelling up.
£71.25
Agenda Publishing False Prophets of Economics Imperialism
Book SynopsisIn this deeply researched and wide-ranging intellectual history, Matthew Watson exposes the essential flaw in the claims of economics imperialists. Their market models reveal mathematical truths only about themselves, not social truths related to the world of directly lived experiences.
£57.00
Agenda Publishing The Social Foundations of Global Finance
£999.99
Agenda Publishing Heterodox Economics
Book SynopsisAndrew Trigg traces the heterodox tradition in economics from its origins in the anti-capitalism ideas of the first half of the nineteeth century, through to Keynes and the present day and considers the methodological challenge they present to mainstream economics.
£71.25
Agenda Publishing Heterodox Economics
Book SynopsisAndrew Trigg traces the heterodox tradition in economics from its origins in the anti-capitalism ideas of the first half of the nineteeth century, through to Keynes and the present day and considers the methodological challenge they present to mainstream economics.
£18.99
Agenda Publishing Gender Development and Macroeconomic Policy
Book SynopsisThis volume brings together seminal papers and contributions from Diane Elson's extensive back catalogue. The collection reflects the author's enduring fascination with the interaction of gender, development and economics and the relevance of her thinking for tackling inequality and economic problems today.
£18.99