Central / national / federal government policies Books

Book SynopsisThrough economics, our politicians have the power to transform people's lives for better or worse. Think Deng Xiaoping who lifted millions out of poverty by opening up China; Franklin D Roosevelt whose 'New Deal' helped the USA break free of the Great Depression. Or Peron and his successors in Argentina who brought the country to the brink of ruin.In this magisterial history, economist and politician Vince Cable examines the legacy of 16 world leaders who transformed their countries' economic fortunes and who also challenged economic convention. From Thatcher to Trump, from Lenin to Bismarck, Money and Power provides a whole new perspective on the science of government. Examining the fascinating interplay of economics and politics, this is a compelling journey through some of the most significant people and events of the last 300 years.Trade ReviewVince Cable brings economics to life in this thrilling history, revealing how 16 leading politicians over the last 250 years have used it in their own totally different ways to make the world anew. * Sir Anthony Seldon, author of May at 10 *A wonderful journey through the economic ideas that have shaped leading politicians throughout history. * Dame Minouche Shafik, Director of LSE *Impressive... The essay on Robert Peel lucidly explains his pioneering influence on the politics of trade. Similarly, thechapter on Juan Peron is an excellent summary of his political career as prime minister and the Peronist model of government and economics. * Irish Times *From Hamilton and Lenin to Abe and Trump, these brilliant essays are true to the dictum that 'people don't believe in ideas, they believe in people who believe in ideas'. This is a book which will change the way you think about politics and the leaders and ideas which have driven it forward in the last three centuries. * Lord Andrew Adonis *Vince Cable brings out with spectacular clarity how important and radical leaders end up combining economic theory, political ideology and practical administration. This book needs to be read by anyone who is interested in how the world's economies are really run. * Sir Oliver Letwin *Money and Power provides a masterly analysis of how economic policy has determined the success and failure of political leaders through the ages. * Vicky Pryce, former Joint Head of the UK Government Economic Service *As a former policymaker, Cable has an eye for the sort of political detail that brings a historical episode to life. It's an accessible read that helps us see the long-standing links between money and power all over the world. * Linda Yueh, author of The Great Economists: How Their Ideas Can Help Us Today *Cable shows the influence of leaders in the course of history and the influence of economic ideas on their thoughts and actions. A brilliant project and splendidly delivered. * Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, LSE *A fast-paced, highly readable account of political leaders who transformed their countries - for better or worse - through the economic ideologies of their time. As an economist turned politician, Vince Cable is uniquely placed to provide a critical, but fair judgment of those who have shaped today's major economies. * Dame DeAnne Julius, senior adviser, Chatham House *A lucid, erudite analysis of the global economy, and Britain's place in it. * Observer on After the Storm *A remarkably rounded work... Cable has produced a book that makes a serious and relevant contribution to the continuing debate about banking, infrastructure, housing, China, executive pay, short-termism and many of the other topics which continue to top the business and political agenda. * Evening Standard on After the Storm *The undisputed heavyweight champion of the credit crunch in parliament'. * Robert Peston *Table of Contents0: Introduction: Politicians and the Politics of Economics 1: Hamilton: The Economic Founding Father 2: Peel: Free Trade 3: Bismarck: The Economics of 'Iron and Blood' 4: Lenin: From War Communism to State Capitalism 5: Roosevelt: The Keynesian Revolution Without Keynes 6: Erhard: The Social Market and Ordoliberalism 7: Erlander: The Social Democratic Model Made Real 8: Perón: Peronism and Economic Populism 9: Park: The Development State and Hypergrowth 10: Lee: The Eclectic Economics of Lee Kuan Yew 11: Thatcher: Thatcherism and Its Cousin, Reaganomics 12: Deng: China's Economic Architect 13: Manmohan Singh: The Quiet Reformer 14: Balcerowicz: Big Bang Theory and Practice 15: Abe: Japan Pioneers Abenomics 16: Trump: Trumponomics, Economic Nationalism and Pluto-populism 17: Conclusion: Sixteen Politicians: Sixteen Varieties of Economics

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"One of the Financial Times' Best Books of 2019: Economics""One of the Financial Times' Readers' Best Books of 2019""One of Business Insider's Richard Feloni's best books of 2019 on how we can rethink today's capitalism and improve the economy""A Project Syndicate Best Read in 2019""The result is nothing less than a crisis theory of law. Law as it currently functions is, for Pistor, constitutive of the order that creates and perpetuates inequality, opacity, dysfunction, and crisis, and ultimately puts at risk the legitimacy of the rule of law as such."---Adam Tooze, New York Review of Books"Almost anybody who reads this book will benefit; a must-read for corporate lawyers, investment bankers, capital providers."---Rahul Saikia, Financial Times"Those of us concerned with inequality should be focusing a great deal of attention on the basics of valuation, which means looking hard at the way law makes money."---Roy Kreitner, LPEblog"The wealth drawn from both the digital darkness and the dark pools of Wall Street exists only by virtue of the law’s encasement. . . . [Pistor's] metaphors allow us to see how, by ceding democratic control of law, we’ve 'depoliticized critical questions of self-governance,' preserving mobility for some and blocking it for others."---Quinn Slobodian, Boston Review"So much discussion around wealth and inequality involves gawking at statistics people don’t understand. Katharina Pistor offers a fascinating argument as to why inequality is increasing, and does so without having to construct class identities, as Marxists feel compelled to do, or to make heroic assumptions about the rationality of human beings, as rational choice theorists would have it."---David Murphy, Open Letters Review"Through extensive case studies, Pistor demonstrates that no one deliberately set out to construct the ‘empire of law.’ Rather, it is the result of a decentralized, unplanned process in which individual private lawyers helped individual clients protect their assets through the use of pre-existing legal constructs."---Nouriel Roubini, Project Syndicate"The Code of Capital is a welcome interdisciplinary contribution which attaches fresh dimensions to debates on the political economy of wealth and inequality. . . .it is a valuable resource for anyone seeking to grapple with the formidable nature of global capital."---Juvaria Jafri, LSE US Centre"Pistor has exploded the belief of most people that financial instruments traded across the world are creatures of law of sovereign states and are secure . . . . [The Code of Capital is] a truly remarkable book bringing out clearly one of the major causes of periodic financial crisis."---Madras Sivaraman, International Journal of Environment Studies"In possibly one of the most important non-fiction books of the decade, Pistor shines a clear and sharp light on how legal codes – increasingly determined in private law offices in New York and London – shape the contours of economic activity, ownership, and control under contemporary global capitalism"---Jayati Ghosh, Project Syndicate"A thought-provoking read." * Business & Management *

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Book SynopsisMoore's classic Creating Public Value offered advice to managers about how to create public value, but left unresolved the question how one could recognize when public value had been created. Here, he closes the gap by helping public managers name, observe, and count the value they produce and sustain or increase public value into the future.Trade ReviewThe idea that public managers should operate more like business managers gained momentum in the 1980s, and it continues today. Many reformers and politicians insist that managers should identify the 'customers' for public services and measure agency performance. Moore's new book examines the difficulties in applying this approach to public services, particularly with respect to performance measurement. He argues that private sector methods do not measure the 'public value' created by a wide range of state and local agencies...His case studies demonstrate that it is possible for public managers to incorporate helpful elements of private sector performance measurement, but that it is essential to recognize the special nature of the public value created by public service agencies. -- M. E. Ethridge * Choice *

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Book SynopsisIn Wealth, Poverty, and Politics , Dr. Thomas Sowell of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, examines the reasons for large differences in income and wealth between nations and among groups within nations. A wide range of geographic, demographic, cultural, and political factors are examined, not to find a single factor or a single combination of factors that will explain all economic differences, but to show how particular combinations of factors limit or expand the possibilities for specific nations and peoples at specific times and places.Dr. Sowell also examines some popular explanations of these differences and shows why they will not stand up under scrutiny. In doing so, he takes on some of the reigning titans of the redistributionist movement,including John Rawls, Thomas Piketty, Paul Krugman, and Joseph Stiglitz,and shows how a remarkable number of their claims cannot withstand plain common sense, expressed in plain English.Trade ReviewConservative Book Club "Transcending partisanship through a careful examination of data, Wealth, Poverty, and Politics reveals the truth about the most explosive political issue of our time." Washington Times "A calmly phrased but damning indictment of perhaps the world's most rhetorical blunt political instrument: class hatred." Townhall "A true gem in terms of exposing the demagoguery and sheer ignorance of politicians and intellectuals in their claims about wealth and poverty... Dr. Sowell's new book tosses a monkey wrench into most of the things said about income by politicians, intellectuals and assorted hustlers, plus it's a fun read." Breitbart "[Wealth, Poverty and Politics should be one of the most influential works of the 2016 election season. This isn't just a work of characteristic brilliance from Sowell-it's a laser-guided intellectual weapon aimed at the foundations of liberal envy politics... Dr. Sowell's book is a masterful fusion of science and common sense on the subject of why some groups are impoverished, and what society can do to lift them out of poverty... Every presidential candidate should read this book immediately, and require all campaign surrogates to digest it as well... Wealth, Poverty, and Politics provides the sharp intellectual weapons necessary to cut through that argument, and its wisdom can help conservatives design policies that might actually make a difference." Booklist "This...book will enhance and promote ongoing and important debates and discussions." Kirkus Reviews "A provocative analysis of the universal causes of economic success and failure... While Sowell offers no pat solutions, his implied argument that cultural considerations must inform any serious attempt at improving the economic prospects of an underperforming nation or group merits serious consideration." Wall Street Journal "In his latest tome, [Sowell] draws from this well of research to do what he has done so well for so long: question basic assumptions behind public policy and follow the facts where they lead him." Forbes "It's a scandal that economist Thomas Sowell has not been awarded the Nobel Prize. No one alive has turned out so many insightful, richly researched books. His latest is another triumph of crackling observations that underscore the ignorance of our economists and policymakers. His take on how culture, geography, politics and social factors affect how societies progress-or don't-will rile those addicted to political correctness but leave everyone else wiser." National Review "Sowell has done us a great service by placing our current controversies in international context." American Spectator "Sowell's latest book, latest of 52 by my count, contains the kind of acute analysis and fearless commentary his readers have relied on since 1971's Economics: Analysis and Issues... his writing is crystal-clear, free of academic jargon and the kind of specialist clutter that often disfigures the writing of academics... Most of his books remain in print and repay the time of thoughtful readers, as does Wealth, Poverty, and Politics. Santa should be aware of this."

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Book SynopsisA New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year A Washington Post Best Book of the Year A Businessweek Best Business Book of the Year A Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year In this brilliant, essential book, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Thomas L. Friedman speaks to America's urgent need for national renewal and explains how a green revolution can bring about both a sustainable environment and a sustainable America. Friedman explains how global warming, rapidly growing populations, and the expansion of the world's middle class through globalization have produced a dangerously unstable planet--one that is hot, flat, and crowded. In this Release 2.0 edition, he also shows how the very habits that led us to ravage the natural world led to the meltdown of the financial markets and the Great Recession. The challenge of a sustainable way of life presents the United States with an opportunity not onl

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Book SynopsisWelfare states vary across nations and change over time. And the balance between markets and government; free enterprise and social protection is perennially in question. But all developed societies have welfare states of one kind or another - they are a fundamental dimension of modern government. And even after decades of free-market criticism and reform, their core institutions have proven resilient and popular. This Very Short Introduction describes the modern welfare state, explaining its historical and contemporary significance and arguing that far from being ''a failure'' or ''a problem'', welfare states are an essential element of contemporary capitalism, and a vital concomitant of democratic government. In this accessible and entertaining account, David Garland cuts through the fog of misunderstandings to explain in clear and simple terms, what welfare states are, how they work, and why they matter. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewGarland's brief but magisterial and penetrating analysis of the welfare state should, and doubtless will be, a major presence in criminology, as well as in social science and public debate ... written with the sophisticated skill, scholarship and style ... this wise, informative and inspiring book will help immensely in working for a positive future for us all. * The British Journal of Criminology *Table of ContentsREFERENCES; FURTHER READING; INDEX

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Book SynopsisThe bestselling author of Simpler offers a powerful, provocative, and convincing argument for protecting people from their own mistakes Based on a series of pathbreaking lectures given at Yale University in 2012, this powerful, thought-provoking work by national best-selling author Cass R. Sunstein combines legal theory with behavioral economics to make a fresh argument about the legitimate scope of government, bearing on obesity, smoking, distracted driving, health care, food safety, and other highly volatile, high-profile public issues. Behavioral economists have established that people often make decisions that run counter to their best interestsproducing what Sunstein describes as behavioral market failures. Sometimes we disregard the long term; sometimes we are unrealistically optimistic; sometimes we do not see what is in front of us. With this evidence in mind, Sunstein argues for a new form of paternalism, one that protects people against serious errors but also recognizes the risk of government overreaching and usually preserves freedom of choice. Against those who reject paternalism of any kind, Sunstein shows that choice architecturegovernment-imposed structures that affect our choicesis inevitable, and hence that a form of paternalism cannot be avoided. He urges that there are profoundly moral reasons to ensure that choice architecture is helpful rather than harmfuland that it makes people's lives better and longer.Trade Review"Cass Sunstein’s quest is an important one."—Andrew Stark, TLS"While we tend to think that offering information merely allows us to choose our means more carefully, without affecting what ends we actually want to pursue, Sunstein argues quite convincingly that for that government to highlight certain information may actually affect our goals."—Sarah Conly, author of Against Autonomy: Justifying Coercive Paternalism

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe volume presents a nuanced analysis of material heritage and its strategic use during the socialist period in Romania's capital city Bucharest and its continued legacy today. What is refreshing in this book, apart from the careful documentation and wealth of archival sources consulted, is the fact that the author brought together sources from fields that are not seemingly directly connected to heritage studies. Grama gracefully moves across different areas through with her use of secondary sources, bringing together urban planning, political studies, economic and social analyses. Grama also brings together key anthropological research studies on Romania, both national and international. -- Cristina Clopot * International Journal of Heritage Studies *The strengths of this book are the breadth of the data sources, which have enabled the author to uncover in detail how change in a particular historic urban landscape is shaped by broader issues of power and identity (in both socialist and post-socialist contexts). Socialist Heritage will be of interest to postgraduate students and academic researchers in disciplines such as history, anthropology, human geography, urban studies and sociology. For anybody wanting to understand Bucharest's Old Town there is no better source available. Indeed, over the course of 25 years I have frequently wandered around the Old Town and found myself asking "why is it like this?". Now, after reading Socialist Heritage, I know. -- Duncan Light * Eurasian Geography and Economics *Grama does a brilliant job bringing this story to our attention and explaining why we should care about it. Her book deserves to be widely read. * Survival *An outstanding contribution in the field of anthropology of heritage. -- Dana Domsodi * Sociologia *Grama takes us through a journey of how the heritage discourse was first constructed and operationalized through archaeological, historiographic, and urban planning activities under state socialism, and then repurposed as well as contested after 1989, with results that show profound fissures in the ability to deploy "heritage" as a successful legitimating tool. . . . Overall, the book offers a vivid and provocative analysis of the politics of urban planning in Bucharest after World War II. The arc of the narrative highlights the huge gaps between policy makers and citizens who bear the brunt of these heritage entrepreneurs' ambitions for power and money. -- Maria Bucur * ANTHROPOLOGICAL QUARTERLY *The book is beautifully written, and readers from different disciplinary backgrounds interested in topics as diverse as socialism and postsocialism, the materiality of the state and city, architecture and its political power, including the making of urban heritage, will find enough to enrich their own reflections. -- Antonela Capelle Pogacean * H-Urban *Emanuela Grama's Socialist Heritage: The Politics of Past and Place in Romania is a compelling exploration of heritage making as state-making through the lens of the postwar and postcommunist transformations of Bucharest's Old Town. . . . A theoretically dense but engagingly written book, Socialist Heritage is a must-read not only for specialists of (post)socialist Romania and eastern Europe, but also for students and researchers of nationalism, urbanization and heritage making, history (re)writing, the role of experts under socialism, postcommunist efforts of Europeanization, and privatization as gentrification, or ruination as commodification. -- Diana Georgescu * Slavic Review *This book is well-grounded in empirical data, especially archival (for the socialist period) and ethnographic (for both socialist and especially postsocialist circumstances)—the interpretation of the sources and the extracts from the documents and interlocutors' statements vividly reveal discourses of politics, experts and residents related to the Old Town's (re)making, and not just regarding the area's heritage. -- Srdjan Radovic * Comparative Southeast European Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroduction1. Tensed Urban Visions: Making Bucharest into a Socialist Capital2. Matters of State: Archaeology, Materiality, and State-Making 3. Time-Travelling Houses and Histories Made Invisible 4. Lipstick and Lined Pockets: Strategic Devaluation and Postsocialist Wealth 5. Displacements: Property, Privatization, and Precarity in a Europeanizing CityConclusionBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisLooks at the ways governments have supported entrepreneurs and venture capitalists across decades and continents. This title provides insights into why some public initiatives work while others are hobbled by pitfalls, and offers suggestions for how public ventures should be implemented.Trade ReviewCo-Winner of the 2010 Gold Medal Book Award in Entrepreneurship, Axiom Business Winner of the 2009 PROSE Award in Business, Finance & Management, Association of American Publishers "[S]uperb."--Edward L. Glaeser, New York Times' Economix blog "Lots of governments would like to promote high-tech entrepreneurship and venture capital in their regions--but many don't know how to do it effectively. In his new book Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Josh Lerner ... examines which types of policies to promote entrepreneurship and venture capital tend to work--and which don't. Lerner supports his carefully researched analysis with numerous examples chosen from around the globe."--MIT Sloan Management Review "Can governments spark start-up activity and job creation by getting into the venture capital business? Or do they just waste taxpayer money whenever they try? Those are the two questions that animate the new book from Harvard Business prof Josh Lerner, Boulevard of Broken Dreams... [W]hile the stories of failures are entertaining, what's most useful about Boulevard are the examples of governments that have gotten it right... [A] really readable collection of data, anecdotes, and thoughtful arguments."--Scott Kirsner, Boston Globe blog "Innovation Economy" "Today, calls for more innovation and entrepreneurship are more fashionable than ever, especially within government, where politicians and bureaucrats wastefully attempt to manufacture, via policy and subsidies, fresh batches of master agents and adventurers. But can government policy trigger entrepreneurship and subsequent growth? The title of a new book suggests not, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, by Harvard professor Josh Lerner. Much of Broken Dreams is a first-rate handbook for policy makers keen to avoid interventions that have proven track records as disasters. Lerner produces example after example of bad program design, bad implementation and plain dumb, even corrupt, policy making."--Terence Corcoran, National Post "Mr. Lerner provides more than a dozen rules of thumb for effective government intervention in the private sector."--Harry Hurt III, New York Times "[A] useful book."--David Brooks, New York Times "During economic turmoil, many look to the government to boost the economy by investing in entrepreneurship. But is that a good idea? Josh Lerner wrestles with that question in Boulevard of Broken Dreams, which considers the history of the public sector's involvement in entrepreneurship and venture capitalism--what's worked, from Silicon Valley to Singapore, and what's gone horribly awry... This book aims to steer policymakers in the right direction."--BizEd Magazine "The book is instructive, well researched and contains some wise lessons from the past in terms of the government's role in promoting entrepreneurship and growth businesses... [T]ake note, politicians and mandarins: this book can provide much-needed advice and perhaps a shortcut to developing more effective policies... [R]ecommended reading to any local economic development practitioner who takes an interest in the big policy questions of today, and [it has] direct relevance to local economic development."--Glenn Athey, Local EconomyTable of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgments vii CHAPTER ONE: Introduction 1 PART ONE: CAN BUREAUCRATS HELP ENTREPRENEURS? 23 CHAPTER TWO: A Look Backwards 25 CHAPTER THREE: Why Should Policymakers Care? 43 CHAPTER FOUR: Things Get More Complicated 65 PART TWO: THREADING THE NEEDLE 87 CHAPTER FIVE: The Neglected Art of Setting the Table 89 CHAPTER SIX: How Governments Go Wrong: Bad Designs 111 CHAPTER SEVEN: How Governments Go Wrong: Bad Implementation 137 CHAPTER EIGHT: The Special Challenges of Sovereign Funds 162 CHAPTER NINE: Lessons and Pitfalls 181 Notes 193 Index 219

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Book SynopsisFrom New York Times bestselling author and economics columnist Robert Frank, a compelling book that explains why the rich underestimate the importance of luck in their success, why that hurts everyone, and what we can do about it How important is luck in economic success? No question more reliably divides conservatives from liberals. As conservatiTrade ReviewHonorable Mention for the 2017 PROSE Award in Economics, Association of American Publishers One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2016 One of Bloomberg View's "Five Books to Change Conservatives' Minds," chosen by Cass Sunstein Longlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year 2016 "The reminder about the important role of luck is welcome."--Enlightened Economist "Frank is not just arguing that luck plays an important role in the lives of successful people such as Al Pacino. If that were all he was doing, his book would be engaging but trivial. But it is much more interesting than that."--Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution "Frank's book gives a compelling argument for why we should consider our collective needs more when we look to change society for the better."--Jill Suttie, Psy.D., Greater Good "Well reasoned, coherent, and compelling--Frank is one of the great writers of economics."--Fortune "The most striking of Frank's arguments is a computer-simulated proof of luck's importance, even in very nearly meritocratic situations."--Tim Smith-Laing, Daily Telegraph "Reading Success and Luck is almost like having a robust conversation over dinner--a simple premise, some explanation, a few examples... It is commendable that he is addressing the problem with an actual solution in mind."--Kris Rothstein, Bookslut "Frank makes his points persuasively."--Australian Financial Review "This is a bold vision and, although controversial, has a good deal more realism than the dangerous siren calls from the left for wage caps or punitive income tax rates for high earners."--Matthew Syed, The Times "Like any good economist, Frank backs up his argument with studies and statistics; and like any good behavioral economist, he investigates why this obvious fact is so hard for so many Americans to accept, and offers some strategies for overcoming that resistance."--Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing "Frank points out that for every big winner, there are scores of people who are as skilled, hard-working and intelligent, but came in just behind. The lack of a lucky break can be the difference between wild success and a near miss or worse."--Barry Ritholtz, Bloomberg View "Success and Luck is an important book: elegantly written, well argued and desisting from self-indulgence in its length."--Tim Wigmore, New Statesman "The book is diverting and easy to read... He makes a compelling case for the role of luck in much of the wealth held by people in developed societies."--Ouida Taaffe, Financial World "[An] occasionally humorous, yet most insightful book."--David Marx Book Reviews "Robert Frank's enjoyable treatise, Success and Luck, might be the better bet for fixing society. His case histories show that while winners often need talent and hard work to succeed, they also need simple, dumb luck."--Debora MacKenzie, New Scientist "How important is luck in monetary success?... Is luck as important as hard work in becoming successful?... These important questions--we ponder them often--that economists rarely bother to study. Except for one of my favourite economists Robert Frank."--Ross Gittins, Sydney Morning Herald "What makes Success and Luck different is that Frank connects the importance of luck in determining personal economic success with a set of larger policy recommendations."--Dr. Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed "Success and Luck is written in a clear, engaging and personable style, not least because it is littered with anecdotes and stories illustrating the huge effects that tiny chance events can have. I found examples from Frank's own life especially compelling."--Dan McArthur, LSE Review of Books "Though hard work, effort, and schooling are important factors, Frank demonstrates convincingly that pure, random luck also matters (a lot)... This book is well reasoned, coherent, and compelling--Frank is one of the great writers of economics."--ChoiceTable of ContentsPreface xi Acknowledgments xix 1 Write What You Know 1 2 Why Seemingly Trivial Random Events Matter 21 3 How Winner-Take-All Markets Magnify Luck's Role 40 4 Why the Biggest Winners Are Almost Always Lucky 56 5 Why False Beliefs about Luck and Talent Persist 69 6 The Burden of False Beliefs 86 7 We're in Luck: A Golden Opportunity 109 8 Being Grateful 128 Appendix 1: Detailed Simulation Results for Chapter 4 151 Appendix 2: Frequently Asked Questions about the Progressive Consumption Tax 158 Notes 173 Index 183

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Book SynopsisReagan’s Legacy in a World Transformed offers a timely retrospective on the fortieth president’s policies and impact on today’s world, from the influence of free market ideas on economic globalization, to the role of an assertive military in U.S. foreign policy, to reduction of nuclear arsenals in the interest of stability.Trade ReviewJeffrey Chidester and Paul Kengor have assembled an outstanding set of analysts to examine the presidency and ongoing impact of Ronald Reagan, who continues to stand as one of the most important political figures of the twentieth century. These authors may differ on how Reagan changed the world, but they leave little question that he did. -- Andrew E. Busch, Claremont McKenna CollegeChidester and Kengor have produced a volume that captures the life, leadership, and legacy of President Ronald Reagan on the world stage. For those who knew and worked with President Reagan, these essays will be a reminder of a great leader and significant accomplishments. For students and those seeking to learn about Ronald Reagan, this work both lays the foundation and provides deep understanding. -- Stewart D. McLaurin, The White House Historical Association

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Book SynopsisThe origins and evolution of technocratic fascism in wartime Japan.Trade ReviewDrawing on a wealth of largely untapped primary materials and journals, the work focuses specifically on a group of elite bureaucrats, predominantly graduates of Tokyo Imperial University, and army staff officers who were the driving force behind the reorganization of the Japanese economy in the late 1930s and 1940s... Mimura's is the first English-language synthesis that traces the history of central planning in Japan from its inception in the corridors of power in Tokyo, through the experimentation period in Manchuria, to its final implementation in Japan. Mimura’s contribution is particularly valuable precisely because it deals with men who were in a position to put their ideas into practice. -- Christopher W.A. Szpilman * Monumenta Nipponica *Mimura writes, moreover, with great economy, pinpoint clarity, and without embellishment or hint of hyperbole. If Planning for Empire does not, thus, aspire to 'best in show' honors for recent analyses of the Japanese empire, it deserves accolades as likely the most influential of the lot for its measured yet powerful confirmation of several critical trends in the study of early twentieth-century Japanese empire and war... it is a must read for all serious students of modern Japanese history. -- Frederick Dickinson * Journal of Japanese Studies *Mimura's detailed examination of the administration of Manchuria/Manchukuo offers a useful counterweight to Driscoll's portrayal of Kishi and Ayukawa as little more than misogynisticexploitative brutes... Mimura’s dissection of Japanese techno-fascism—of its appeal across traditional political dividesof its incremental ideological genesis and of its ultimate failure—makes Planning for Empire a welcome addition to a new body of scholarship that has sought to resurrect fascism as an analytical tool for our understanding of mid-twentieth-century Japan. -- Martin Dusinberre * Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History *Roles played by the Japanese civilian bureaucracy in the course of Japan's militarization before WW II have attracted little attention in academia, in contrast with scholars' heavy focus on the Japanese military. Mimura fills this void with this first in-depth English-language analysis of the Japanese "reform bureaucrats" who, as prominent advocates of "techno-fascism," endeavored to realize their vision of a "managerial state" and "controlled economy" in prewar Japan.... Highly recommended. * CHOICE *'Fascism' is a term of abuse today, but once it was an idea with a future, as Mimura shows in Planning for Empire. * The Japan Times *Anyone interested in the role of reform bureaucrats in Japan and the perpetual debate over fascism will want to read this well-researched, informative, and stimulating monograph. * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *Table of ContentsIntroduction1. Japan's Wartime Technocrats 2. Military Fascism and Manchukuo, 1930–36 3. Bureaucratic Visions of Manchukuo, 1933–39 4. Ideologues of Fascism: Okumura Kiwao and Mori Hideoto 5. The New Order and the Politics of Reform, 1940–41 6. Japan's Opportunity: Technocratic Strategies for War and Empire, 1941–45Epilogue: From Wartime Techno-Fascism to Postwar ManagerialismBibliography Index

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Book SynopsisAn exploration of the age-old complicity between sky watchers and war fighters, from the best-selling author of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry.Trade Review"Accessory to War is thought-provoking and reflective…" -- Nature"... wide-ranging and very readable history of the overlap between science and the military, penned with editor Avis Lang... The book is a fascinating exploration of humanity' s capacity to combine discovery with destruction…" -- BBC Sky at Night"In Accessory to War, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Avis Lang give a sweeping panoramic overview of the enduring alliance between astrophysics and the military—from the Greeks to Galileo to GPS. The book's key contribution is in documenting the various ways science has aided military endeavors over the millennia and making the sometimes-arcane source material accessible." -- Science"Throughout history, wars tend to be won by nations that are at the forefront of science. Thus astronomers and physicists have, since ancient times, benefited from an uneasy alliance with the military. This enlightening book explores the history and current implications of this partnership between space science and national security." -- Walter Isaacson

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Book Synopsis The health of American democracy ultimately depends on our willingness and ability to work together as citizens and stakeholders in our republic. Government policies often fail to promote such collaboration. But if designed properly, they can do much to strengthen civic engagement. That is the central message of Carmen Sirianni''s eloquent new book. Rather than encourage citizens to engage in civic activity, government often puts obstacles in their way. Many agencies treat citizens as passive clients rather than as community members, overlooking their ability to mobilize assets and networks to solve problems. Many citizen initiatives run up against rigid rules and bureaucratic silos, causing all but the most dedicated activists to lose heart. The unfortunateand unnecessaryresult is a palpable decline in the quality of civic life. Fortunately, growing numbers of policymakers across the country are figuring out how government can serve as a partner and catalyst for collaborative problem solving. Investing in Democracy details three such success stories: neighborhood planning in Seattle; youth civic engagement programs in Hampton, Virginia; and efforts to develop civic environmentalism at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The book explains what measures were taken and why they succeeded. It distills eight core design principles that characterize effective collaborative governance and concludes with concrete recommendations for federal policy.

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Book SynopsisSuspended Livesexplores the experiences of asylum seekers in the midwestern United States in vivid detail. Drawing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork among Cameroonian and other African asylum seekers, Bridget M. Haas traces the emotional and social effects of being embedded in the US asylum regime. Appealing to the United States for protection, asylum seekers are cast into a complex and protracted bureaucratic system that increasingly treats them as suspect. Haas shows how the US asylum system both serves as a potential refuge from past violence and creates new forms of suffering. She takes readers into the intimate spaces of asylum seekers' homes and communities, in addition to legal and bureaucratic settings that are often inaccessible to the public. Poignantly foregrounding the lives and voices of asylum seekers, Suspended Lives exposes the asylum system as a site of multiple, yet often hidden and normalized, forms of violence. Haas also illuminates how asylum seekers respond to tTable of ContentsContents Acknowledgments List of Acronyms Introduction 1. Violence of In/Visibility 2. Limbo and the Violence of Waiting 3. Socioeconomic Violence and Its Ripple Effects 4. Epistemic Violence in Asylum Adjudication 5. The Aftermaths of Asylum Decisions Conclusion Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisA streamlined edition of the book that restored the role of government in promoting science and technology.Trade ReviewPraise for the original edition: Profound and dazzling. The authors' analysis provides the foundations of an understanding of the progress and regress of nations. This is social science at its best. -- Sir Partha Dasgupta, University of Cambridge [A] sweeping work of macroeconomic theory. Harvard Business ReviewTable of ContentsPreface to the Reader's Edition Preface to the Original Edition Acknowledgments Introduction Part I. Creating a Learning Society: A New Approach to Growth, Development, and Social Progress: Basic Concepts and Analysis 1. The Learning Revolution 2. On the Importance of Learning 3. A Learning Economy 4. Creating a Learning Firm and a Learning Environment 5. Market Structure, Welfare, and Learning 6. The Welfare Economics of Schumpeterian Competition 7. Learning in a Closed Economy 8. The Infant-Economy Argument for Protection: Trade Policy in a Learning Environment Part II. Policies for a Learning Society 9. The Role of Industrial and Trade Policy in Creating a Learning Society 10. Financial Policy and Creating a Learning Society 11. Macroeconomic and Investment Policies for a Learning Society 12. Intellectual Property 13. Social Transformation and the Creation of a Learning Society 14. Concluding Remarks Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisOne of the grim comedies of the twentieth century was that miserable victims of communist regimes would climb walls, swim rivers, dodge bullets, and find other desperate ways to achieve liberty in the West at the same time that progressive intellectuals would sentimentally proclaim that these very regimes were the wave of the future. A similar tragicomedy is playing out in our century: as the victims of despotism and backwardness from Third World nations pour into Western states, academics and intellectuals present Western life as a nightmare of inequality and oppression. In The Servile Mind: How Democracy Erodes the Moral Life, Kenneth Minogue explores the intelligentsia's love affair with social perfection and reveals how that idealistic dream is destroying exactly what has made the inventive Western world irresistible to the peoples of foreign lands. The Servile Mind looks at how Western morality has evolved into mere "politico-moral" posturing about admired ethical causes--from solving world poverty and creating peace to curing climate change. Today, merely making the correct noises and parading one's essential decency by having the correct opinions has become a substitute for individual moral responsibility. Instead, Minogue argues, we ask that our governments carry the burden of solving our social--and especially moral--problems for us. The irony is that the more we allow the state to determine our moral order, the more we need to be told how to behave and what to think. Such is the servile mind.

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Book SynopsisScience has never been more crucial to deciding the political issues facing the country. Yet science and scientists have less influence with the federal government than at any time since Richard Nixon fired his science advisors. In the White House and Congress today, findings are reported in a politicized manner spun or distorted to fit the speaker''s agenda or, when they''re too inconvenient, ignored entirely. On a broad array of issues-stem cell research, climate change, evolution, sex education, product safety, environmental regulation, and many others-the Bush administration''s positions fly in the face of overwhelming scientific consensus. Federal science agencies-once fiercely independent under both Republican and Democratic presidents-are increasingly staffed by political appointees who know industry lobbyists and evangelical activists far better than they know the science. This is not unique to the Bush administration, but it is largely a Republican phenomenon, born of a conserTrade Review"Mooney performs a useful service by researching all the details and interviewing as many of the protagonists as possible. He also enriches the narrative with much historical context, tracing over decades a gradual politicization of science that has culminated in the present farce." The Guardian "Chris Mooney, a liberal investigative journalist, has bravely decided to thwack his way into this jungle of propaganda and lies on our behalf...definitive...disturbing..." Independent on Sunday "Mooney takes several un-related charged debates - on climate change, stem-cell research, whether abortion harms women - and stitches them together to form... a pretty convincing tapestry". The Times "...Chris Mooney argues persuasively that the Bush Administration's hostility to science is not limited to denial of global warming and evolution, but spans the field, from family planning to missile defence. He is particularly illuminating about tactics: the method is not simply to rubbish the experts, but to sow doubt by nurturing a handful of maverick dissenters, so the non-expert public is left wondering who to believe." The Times (Best Science Books of 2005) "Rather than representing an isolated incident, Chris Mooney argues that the "hoax" argument about climate change forms part of a systematic undermining of science on the part of the Bush administration, which connects the teaching of creationism in schools to embryonic stem-cells and child obesity to the depletion of the ozone layers." The Irish Times "a valuable chronicle of Bush's persistent efforts to undermine the authority of science in the interests of his anti-regulatory and anti-abortion agendas." London Review of Books "The book is a well researched guide to the recent history and has to be praised in its original analysis of the tactics used by the new Right to starve the scientific advisory apparatus and in its bringing out the confrontational nature of the attitudes of the Bush Administration and its allies. It should be read by Americans and will be interesting to scientists everywhere. We should be grateful to Chris Mooney for his diligence." Time Higher Education Supplement "The American conservative movement, as Chris Mooney points out in this fiercely anti-Republican book, has brought together two powerful constituencies - big industry and the religious right - both of which have an interest in skewing scientific advice so that it says what they want to hear... (his) case is so appealing, his examples so glaring..." New Statesman"

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Book SynopsisBorn out of crisis a century ago, the Federal Reserve has become the most powerful macroeconomic policymaker and financial regulator in the world. The Myth of Independence traces the Fed's transformation from a weak, secretive, and decentralized institution in 1913 to a remarkably transparent central bank a century later. Offering a unique accountTrade Review"Finalist for the 31st D.B. Hardeman Prize, LBJ Foundation""Winner of the 2018 Gladys M. Kammerer Award, American Political Science Association""Winner of the 2018 Richard F. Fenno, Jr. Prize, Legislative Studies Section of the American Political Science Association""One of Project Syndicate’s Best Reads in 2017 (chosen by Koichi Hamada)""Even for readers who get through the day without thinking about monetary policy, Ms. Binder and Mr. Spindel offer compelling insights. . . . [An] impressively researched and often riveting study."---Roger Lowenstein, Wall Street Journal"Binder and Spindel have written an extremely thorough study of the Federal Reserve that shows how the institution, while in theory insulated from politics, is in reality anything but. Binder and Spindel persuasively argue that Congress and the Federal Reserve are interdependent entities. . . . Throughout, fascinating graphics depict the interrelationship between the Fed and congressional politics: one chart links the number of bills introduced to govern Fed policy with the unemployment rate. Binder and Spindel convincingly dispel the ‘myth' of the Fed’s independence as one of the Capitol’s urban legends." * Publishers Weekly *"The Myth of Independence is a timely analysis of political and economic countervailing forces that render the Fed and Congress interdependent."---Joseph M. Santos, EH.net

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewHonorable Mention for the 2017 PROSE Award in Economics, Association of American Publishers One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2016 One of Bloomberg View's "Five Books to Change Conservatives' Minds," chosen by Cass Sunstein Longlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year 2016 "The reminder about the important role of luck is welcome."--Enlightened Economist "Frank is not just arguing that luck plays an important role in the lives of successful people such as Al Pacino. If that were all he was doing, his book would be engaging but trivial. But it is much more interesting than that."--Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution "Frank's book gives a compelling argument for why we should consider our collective needs more when we look to change society for the better."--Jill Suttie, Psy.D., Greater Good "Well reasoned, coherent, and compelling--Frank is one of the great writers of economics."--Fortune "The most striking of Frank's arguments is a computer-simulated proof of luck's importance, even in very nearly meritocratic situations."--Tim Smith-Laing, Daily Telegraph "Reading Success and Luck is almost like having a robust conversation over dinner--a simple premise, some explanation, a few examples... It is commendable that he is addressing the problem with an actual solution in mind."--Kris Rothstein, Bookslut "Frank makes his points persuasively."--Australian Financial Review "This is a bold vision and, although controversial, has a good deal more realism than the dangerous siren calls from the left for wage caps or punitive income tax rates for high earners."--Matthew Syed, The Times "Like any good economist, Frank backs up his argument with studies and statistics; and like any good behavioral economist, he investigates why this obvious fact is so hard for so many Americans to accept, and offers some strategies for overcoming that resistance."--Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing "Frank points out that for every big winner, there are scores of people who are as skilled, hard-working and intelligent, but came in just behind. The lack of a lucky break can be the difference between wild success and a near miss or worse."--Barry Ritholtz, Bloomberg View "Success and Luck is an important book: elegantly written, well argued and desisting from self-indulgence in its length."--Tim Wigmore, New Statesman "The book is diverting and easy to read... He makes a compelling case for the role of luck in much of the wealth held by people in developed societies."--Ouida Taaffe, Financial World "[An] occasionally humorous, yet most insightful book."--David Marx Book Reviews "Robert Frank's enjoyable treatise, Success and Luck, might be the better bet for fixing society. His case histories show that while winners often need talent and hard work to succeed, they also need simple, dumb luck."--Debora MacKenzie, New Scientist "How important is luck in monetary success?... Is luck as important as hard work in becoming successful?... These important questions--we ponder them often--that economists rarely bother to study. Except for one of my favourite economists Robert Frank."--Ross Gittins, Sydney Morning Herald "What makes Success and Luck different is that Frank connects the importance of luck in determining personal economic success with a set of larger policy recommendations."--Dr. Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed "Success and Luck is written in a clear, engaging and personable style, not least because it is littered with anecdotes and stories illustrating the huge effects that tiny chance events can have. I found examples from Frank's own life especially compelling."--Dan McArthur, LSE Review of Books "Though hard work, effort, and schooling are important factors, Frank demonstrates convincingly that pure, random luck also matters (a lot)... This book is well reasoned, coherent, and compelling--Frank is one of the great writers of economics."--ChoiceTable of ContentsPreface xi Acknowledgments xix 1 Write What You Know 1 2 Why Seemingly Trivial Random Events Matter 21 3 How Winner-Take-All Markets Magnify Luck's Role 40 4 Why the Biggest Winners Are Almost Always Lucky 56 5 Why False Beliefs about Luck and Talent Persist 69 6 The Burden of False Beliefs 86 7 We're in Luck: A Golden Opportunity 109 8 Being Grateful 128 Appendix 1: Detailed Simulation Results for Chapter 4 151 Appendix 2: Frequently Asked Questions about the Progressive Consumption Tax 158 Notes 173 Index 183

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Book SynopsisThe most accessible policy text available.Table of ContentsPART I: POLITICS Chapter 1: The Market and the Polis PART II: GOALS Chapter 2: EquityChapter 3: EfficiencyChapter 4: WelfareChapter 5: SecurityChapter 6: Liberty PART III: PROBLEMS Chapter 7: SymbolsChapter 8: NumbersChapter 9: CausesChapter 10: InterestsChapter 11: Decisions PART IV: SOLUTIONS Chapter 12: IncentivesChapter 13: RulesChapter 14: PersuasionChapter 15: RightsChapter 16: Powers

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Book SynopsisCreating a sustainable economy - having enough to be happy without cheating the future - can't be easy. Governments needs to engage citizens in a process of debate about the difficult choices that lie ahead and rebuild a shared commitment to the future of our societies. This title starts an important conversation about how we can begin.Trade ReviewOne of The Globalist's Top Books of 2012 "In The Economics of Enough, Ms. Coyle adds a knowledgeable and earnest voice to the discussion about how to face these global challenges... Ms. Coyle has written a thoughtful, sprawling work. I was impressed with both the magnitude of the subject matter and her keen grasp of it... Ms. Coyle has made an important contribution to the debate on the nature of global capitalism."--Nancy F. Koehn, New York Times "If widely read, [The Economics of Enough] could be the twenty-first century's basic action manual. Like the best political philosophers, Coyle does not merely present the gritty reality of politics (or political economy, in this case), but gives us a roadmap out of our collective swamp... [T]he book is a small wonder."--Joel Campbell, International Affairs "If Diane Coyle had written The Economics of Enough a year or so earlier, a British political party would probably have laid claim to its message during the general election campaign. Coyle's work manages to tie up fiscal policy, inequality and the environment with reflection on civil society... Coyle makes a particularly effective assault on the view, often espoused by environmentalists, that economic growth ought not to be a policy goal. While she calls for other objectives--and the use of a greater range of economic indicators--she backs output growth as an objective... [A] solid guide to the challenges that face governments in the coming years."--Christopher Cook, Financial Times "[Coyle's] insistence that the crisis is essentially one of trust and governance is important--and increasingly relevant as we watch our leaders failing to tame our reckless financial overlords."--Fred Pearce, Independent "Coyle's book is ... a very welcome supplement to the current dearth of smart, broad, readable economic literature now available... Coyle's book demonstrates her to be a political economist of the old school, concerned with economics as a truly social science rather than an abstract mass of numbers. As such, her work merits a much broader audience than it is likely to find in our contemporary political climate."--Matthew Kaul, Englewood Review of Books "Are we bankrupt? Are countries like the US and the UK in as much fiscal trouble as Ireland or Greece? The bond markets say no: they've been quite content to lend to the UK and the US as though they were low-risk propositions, and perhaps they are right. But even if bond holders look safe enough, citizens may not be. Diane Coyle, author of a new book, The Economics of Enough, argues that we need to go beyond traditional measures of debt in thinking about future obligations."--Tim Harford, Financial Times "Designed for readers well versed in economics, this book offers an in-depth economic analysis that often supports arguments with philosophical and sociological theories."--Caroline Geck, Library Journal "A grim view of the economic future and suggestions on how to sway the outcome, one penny at a time. In this highly informed analysis, British economist Coyle (The Soulful Science: What Economists Really Do and Why It Matters, 2007, etc.) posits as a given that 'more money makes people happier because it means they can buy more.' ... There's much to digest here, so the author's tendency to repeat herself turns out to be helpful. Tough trekking but well worth the journey for this top-rank economist's view from the summit."--Kirkus Reviews "There is much good sense in The Economics of Enough, and Coyle writes efficiently and clearly."--Howard Davies, Times Higher Education "There is much good thinking and plenty of good ideas in [T]he Economics of Enough. For many readers, the book will be a revelation in just how far we have moved from economics as a 'dismal science.' For the business reader, Coyle opens up a range of broader perspectives that will on the one hand challenge the neo-classical economic purist and, on the other, will encourage those who want their children to have more than a dismal future, to do something about it."--Roger Steare, Management Today "[A] compelling call to action... [T]his is a powerful, thought-provoking and timely contribution to the debate on the evolving shape of society."--Dimitri Zenghelis, Nature Climate Change "From the somewhat playful Sex, Drugs, and Economics, to the more descriptive and objective The Soulful Science, economist and superb writer (too often mutually exclusive categories) Coyle presents her more general assessment in The Economics of Enough. Blending economics with politics and philosophy, she uses the recent financial crisis as an opportunity to discuss a number of grander themes with the goal of a better and sustainable future, which is to be aided and abetted by a better-informed citizenry led not by an invisible hand but by the fist of more enlightened government."--Choice "The Economics of Enough is a thoughtful and reflective piece addressing the interplay between governments and markets in a 'post-financial crisis' world... The book serves as a good foil for deeper discussions of the implications and results of the attempt to govern complex systems--both political and economic--fraught with their inevitable webs of adverse selection, moral hazard, and self-interest."--Bradley K Hobbs, EH.NetTable of ContentsOverview 1 PART ONE: CHALLENGES CHAPTER ONE: Happiness 21 CHAPTER TWO: Nature 55 CHAPTER THREE: Posterity 85 CHAPTER FOUR: Fairness 114 CHAPTER FIVE: Trust 145 PART TWO: OBSTACLES CHAPTER SIX: Measurement 181 CHAPTER SEVEN: Values 209 CHAPTER EIGHT: Institutions 239 PART THREE: MANIFESTO CHAPTER NINE: The Manifesto of Enough 267 Acknowledgments 299 Notes 301 References 313 Illustration Credits 327 Index 329

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Book SynopsisComplexity science--made possible by modern analytical and computational advances--is changing the way we think about social systems and social theory. Unfortunately, economists' policy models have not kept up and are stuck in either a market fundamentalist or government control narrative. While these standard narratives are useful in some cases, tTrade Review"Colander and Kupers reframe the standard public policy debate in terms of complexity theory and describe their approach as evolutionary... The authors provide a strong case that current positions, government control, and market fundamentalism are inadequate to addressing contemporary social problems... Recommended for public policy specialists who seek a qualitative introduction to complexity theory and its application to social issues."--Jennifer M. Miller, Library Journal "[G]roundbreaking."--Sam McNerney, 250 Words "[A]n inspiring new book... Colander and Kupers's book ought to be on every policy maker's reading list."--Mark Buchanan, Bloomberg View "Complexity and the Art of Public Policy is a milestone in the application of scientific knowledge to problem solving in the real world. If it is widely read and applied, it is not an exaggeration to say that the world will become a better place."--David Sloan Wilson, This View of Life "[I]deal for anyone with a serious interest in economics and public policy."--ValueWalk "This is a must read for anyone interested in understanding the potential of a complexity approach for public and economic policy... It is intellectually stimulating and might inspire new research and applications of social simulation as a policy modelling tool."--Flaminio Squazzoni, JASSSTable of ContentsAcknowledgments vii PART I. THE COMPLEXITY FRAME FOR POLICY Chapter 1. Twin Peaks 3 Chapter 2. Government With, Not Versus, the Market 19 Chapter 3. I Pencil Revisited: Beyond Market Fundamentalism 31 Chapter 4. The Complexity Policy Frame 44 PART II. EXPLORING THE FOUNDATIONS Chapter 5. How Economics Lost the Complexity Vision 67 Chapter 6. How Macroeconomics Lost the Complexity Vision 89 Chapter 7. Complexity: A New Kind of Science? 109 Chapter 8: A New Kind of Complexity Economics? 131 Chapter 9. Nudging toward a Complexity Policy Frame 156 PART III. LAISSEZ-FAIRE ACTIVISM IN PRACTICE Chapter 10. The Economics of Influence 179 Chapter 11. Implementing Influence Policy 195 Chapter 12. Laissez-Faire Activism 214 Chapter 13. Getting the Ecostructure of Government Right 237 PART IV. THE LOST AGENDA Chapter 14. Getting the Ecostructure of Social Science Education Right 259 Chapter 15. The Lost Agenda 270 Notes 281 Bibliography 291 Index 301

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Book SynopsisThe origins and evolution of technocratic fascism in wartime Japan.Trade ReviewDrawing on a wealth of largely untapped primary materials and journals, the work focuses specifically on a group of elite bureaucrats, predominantly graduates of Tokyo Imperial University, and army staff officers who were the driving force behind the reorganization of the Japanese economy in the late 1930s and 1940s... Mimura's is the first English-language synthesis that traces the history of central planning in Japan from its inception in the corridors of power in Tokyo, through the experimentation period in Manchuria, to its final implementation in Japan. Mimura’s contribution is particularly valuable precisely because it deals with men who were in a position to put their ideas into practice. -- Christopher W.A. Szpilman * Monumenta Nipponica *Mimura writes, moreover, with great economy, pinpoint clarity, and without embellishment or hint of hyperbole. If Planning for Empire does not, thus, aspire to 'best in show' honors for recent analyses of the Japanese empire, it deserves accolades as likely the most influential of the lot for its measured yet powerful confirmation of several critical trends in the study of early twentieth-century Japanese empire and war... it is a must read for all serious students of modern Japanese history. -- Frederick Dickinson * Journal of Japanese Studies *Mimura's detailed examination of the administration of Manchuria/Manchukuo offers a useful counterweight to Driscoll's portrayal of Kishi and Ayukawa as little more than misogynisticexploitative brutes... Mimura’s dissection of Japanese techno-fascism—of its appeal across traditional political dividesof its incremental ideological genesis and of its ultimate failure—makes Planning for Empire a welcome addition to a new body of scholarship that has sought to resurrect fascism as an analytical tool for our understanding of mid-twentieth-century Japan. -- Martin Dusinberre * Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History *Roles played by the Japanese civilian bureaucracy in the course of Japan's militarization before WW II have attracted little attention in academia, in contrast with scholars' heavy focus on the Japanese military. Mimura fills this void with this first in-depth English-language analysis of the Japanese "reform bureaucrats" who, as prominent advocates of "techno-fascism," endeavored to realize their vision of a "managerial state" and "controlled economy" in prewar Japan.... Highly recommended. * CHOICE *'Fascism' is a term of abuse today, but once it was an idea with a future, as Mimura shows in Planning for Empire. * The Japan Times *Anyone interested in the role of reform bureaucrats in Japan and the perpetual debate over fascism will want to read this well-researched, informative, and stimulating monograph. * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *Table of ContentsIntroduction1. Japan's Wartime Technocrats 2. Military Fascism and Manchukuo, 1930–36 3. Bureaucratic Visions of Manchukuo, 1933–39 4. Ideologues of Fascism: Okumura Kiwao and Mori Hideoto 5. The New Order and the Politics of Reform, 1940–41 6. Japan's Opportunity: Technocratic Strategies for War and Empire, 1941–45Epilogue: From Wartime Techno-Fascism to Postwar ManagerialismBibliography Index

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Book SynopsisNew York Times BestsellerWashington Post BestsellerLos Angeles Times BestsellerStress Test is the story of Tim Geithner’s education in financial crises.  As president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and then as President Barack Obama’s secretary of the Treasury, Timothy F. Geithner helped the United States navigate the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, from boom to bust to rescue to recovery. In a candid, riveting, and historically illuminating memoir, he takes readers behind the scenes of the crisis, explaining the hard choices and politically unpalatable decisions he made to repair a broken financial system and prevent the collapse of the Main Street economy. This is the inside story of how a small group of policy makers—in a thick fog of uncertainty, with unimaginably high stakes—helped avoid a second depression but lost the Ame

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Book SynopsisB. Guy Peters presents a critique of conventional policy design methods, placing emphasis on the need to formulate interconnecting designs for issues that cross multiple policy areas. He advocates the use of analytic categories for understanding problems rather than functional categories, such as defence and health, to change the perspective of problems and modernise policy design. Whereas previous literature takes a top-down, technocratic approach, this new perspective emphasises the importance of context and the pressing need to unite designs between policy areas. Effective methods should be open and inclusive by reviewing a wider range of policy alternatives. Chapters discuss the logic of policy design, the different problems that can arise in policy and how to successfully link these issues with the correct policy instruments. Peters also provides a set of ten key principles that can be used to improve the technique of policy formulation for effective and realistic designs. For any academic, researcher or student of public policy interested in the formulation of policy decisions, this book will be an essential tool for successful policy analysis. Current policy-makers and strategists will benefit from the in-depth discussion on tackling policy problems as well as improving and interconnecting policy designs.Trade Review'In the 1980s, Guy Peters pioneered the idea that public policy could be understood as a process of design. Three decades later, he returns with this new book which critically reflects on that idea's re-emergence under the banner of the ''new'' policy design. His analysis is, by turns, thought provoking, challenging and surprisingly uplifting. Highly recommended.' --Andy Jordan, University of East Anglia, UK'Much has been written recently about the ''new'' policy design orientation. But distinguishing what is ''new'' in this approach compared to earlier studies, and how exactly the new approach advances earlier work on the subject, is a critical activity not usually undertaken in enough detail to make a convincing and forward-looking case. In this very timely and comprehensive volume, B. Guy Peters, one of the founders of the field, draws upon his wealth of experience and knowledge to examine in depth both the ''new'' and ''old'' design literatures and to critically assess their merits and demerits. The book offers a solid grounding for both design approaches in better understanding the processes of problem identification and problem-solving. It is essential reading for all those interested in policy design and, more broadly, contemporary policy formulation, decision-making, implementation and evaluation.' --Michael Howlett, Simon Fraser University, CanadaTable of ContentsContents: Preface 1. The Logic of Policy Design 2. The Problem of Policy Problems 3. Wicked, Complex or Just Difficult Problems 4. Linking Policy Problems and Policy Instruments 5. The “New” Policy Design 6. Conclusion: Toward Better Policy Design References Index

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Book SynopsisIn Fierce Enigmas, prize-winning historian Srinath Raghavan argues that we cannot understand the US''s entanglement in South Asia without first understanding the long sweep of American interaction with the nations and peoples who comprise it. Starting with the first attempts by Americans in the late eighteenth century to gain a foothold in the India trade, Raghavan narrates the forgotten role of American merchants, missionaries, and travelers in the history of region. For these early adventurers and exploiters, South Asia came to be seen not just as an arena of trade and commerce, but also as a site for American efforts-religious and secular-to remake the world in its own image. By the 1930s, American economic interests and ideals had converged in support for decolonization; not only should the peoples of the region be free to determine their own governments and futures, but they should be fully integrated into a liberal capitalist global order. These dreams were part

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Book SynopsisJoseph O. Chapa, with unique credentials as Air Force officer, Predator pilot, and doctorate in moral philosophy, serves as our guide to understanding this future, able to engage in both the language of military operations and the language of moral philosophy.Through gripping accounts of remote pilots making life-and-death decisions and analysis of high-profile cases such as the killing of Iranian high government official General Qasem Soleimani, Chapa examines remote warfare within the context of the just war tradition, virtue, moral psychology, and moral responsibility. He develops the principles we should use to evaluate its morality, especially as pilots apply human judgment in morally complex combat situations. Moving on to the bigger picture, he examines how the morality of human decisions in remote war is situated within the broader moral context of US foreign policy and the future of warfare.

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Book SynopsisRivers, landscapes, whole territories: these are the latest entities environmental activists have fought hard to include in the relentless expansion of rights in our world. But what does it mean for a landscape to have rights? Why would anyone want to create such rights, and to what end? Is it a good idea, and does it come with risks? This book presents the logic behind giving nature rights and discusses the most important cases in which this has happened, ranging from constitutional rights of nature in Ecuador to rights for rivers in New Zealand, Colombia, and India. Mihnea Tanasescu offers clear answers to the thorny questions that the intrusion of nature into law is sure to raise.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments; Introduction; Rights Meet Nature; From Theory to Practice; Diversity of Practice; The Perils of Totality; From Practice to Theory; Conclusions; Bibliography.

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Book SynopsisWorld leaders have made a forceful statement that climate change is the greatest challenge facing humanity in the 21st century. However, little progress has been made in implementing policies to address climate change. In Climate Uncertainty and Risk, eminent climate scientist Judith Curry shows how we can break this gridlock. This book helps us rethink the climate change problem, the risks we are facing and how we can respond to these challenges. Understanding the deep uncertainty surrounding the climate change problem helps us to better assess the risks. This book shows how uncertainty and disagreement can be part of the decision-making process. It provides a road map for formulating pragmatic solutions. Climate Uncertainty and Risk is essential reading for those concerned about the environment, professionals dealing with climate change and our national leaders.Trade ReviewClimate Uncertainty and Risk is more than a book. Curry has produced a single-author counter to the IPCC that offers a radical alternative to the UN paradigm of climate change that could well serve as a manual for a future Republican administration.-RealClear Energy "Climate Uncertainty and Risk" provides a balanced, fair assessment of the content and conclusions of the IPCC ARs. It compares and contrasts some ancient but mostly more recent climate conditions and events in making the case for a broader inclusion of past situations to better understand and simulate the climate future. The book includes a thoughtful look at climate change versus COVID-19 risk, especially relative to applying the "precautionary principle." "Climate Uncertainty and Risk" is an essential contribution to understanding and mitigating climate change. Ms. Curry's goal is to better inform the reader "as to the uncertainties and the various values in play" surrounding the judgments as to "whether warming is dangerous or whether urgent action to reduce CO2 emissions is needed."-Anthony J. Sadar, The Washington Times "Climate Uncertainty" is a serious, nonpolitical book, which will help to elevate the level of scientific and political discourse. It should be read by everyone who writes or speaks about climate change, including the political and media class- Richard Rahn, The Washington Times "Judith A. Curry is one of the world's leading scholars of climate change and a deep thinker about how science copes with uncertainty. In this refreshing and comprehensive book, she shows with meticulous care and great clarity that exaggerated claims about climate change made for political purposes are wide of the mark. Instead, she shows the way to a rational and practical discussion of this polarized topic."-Matt Ridley, author of The Rational Optimist and How Innovation Works. "With climate models running too hot by a factor of 2 for 30 years, with everything that used to be called a weather event now a portent of climate change, and with billions being invested against this as opposed to other more pressing world needs, Judith A. Curry provides us with a much-needed and convincing rethink."-Michael Kelly, Emeritus Prince Philip Professor of Technology, University of Cambridge, UK. "Judith A. Curry leverages her background in climate science, weather forecasting, and devising risk management strategies to present the climate policy debate we have never had. Her balanced, evidence-based, and multifaceted discussion leaves the reader 'better informed as to the uncertainties and the various values in play' in designing climate policy."-Peter Hartley, George A. Peterkin Professor of Economics, Rice University, USA; MEECON Co-Director. Judith Curry's book Climate Uncertainty and Risk aims to provide a framework for understanding the climate change 'debate'. She argues that the climate change problem and its solution have been oversimplified; that understanding uncertainty can help in better assessing the risks; and that uncertainty and disagreement can be part of the decision-making process. Curry's book is divided into three parts. The first describes the climate change challenge. The second relates to the uncertainty of 21st century climate change, noting her emphasis on 21st century. The final section covers climate risk and response - Michael Muntisov & Greg Finlayson A new book by a leading climate change scientist gives reason for hope that the light of truth is shedding a few rays into the dark, dystopian, ideologically driven pseudoscience known as global warming- American Thinker The real import of Curry's book is her analysis of the forms of science and economics that are rallied to support extreme policy actions - Terence Corcoran, Financial PostTable of ContentsAuthor's Foreword; I The Climate Change Challenge; Introduction; Consensus, Or Not?; The Climate Change Response Challenge; Mixing Science And Politics; II Uncertainty Of 21st Century Climate Change; The Climate Change "Uncertainty Monster"; Climate Models; Ipcc Scenarios Of 21st Century Climate Change; Alternative Methods For Generating Climate Change Scenarios; What's The Worst Case?; III. Climate Risk And Response; Risk And Its Assessment; Risk Management; Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty; Adaptation, Resilience, And Development; Mitigation; Climate Risk And The Policy Discourse

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Book Synopsis'Entertaining and insightful' -- Evening Standard'One of the most important books of the year... Compelling' Jamie Bartlett, Literary Review'Timely' -- New StatesmanAs the world becomes better connected and we grow ever more dependent on technology, the risks to our infrastructure are multiplying. Whether it's a hostile state striking the national grid (like Russia did with Ukraine in 2016) or a freak solar storm, our systems have become so interlinked that if one part goes down the rest topple like dominoes.In this groundbreaking book, former government minister Oliver Letwin looks ten years into the future and imagines a UK in which the national grid has collapsed. Reliant on the internet, automated electric cars, voice-over IP, GPS, and the internet of things, law and order would disintegrate. Taking us from high-level government meetings to elderly citizens waiting in vain for their carers, this book is a wake up call for why we should question our unshakeable faith in technology. But it's much more than that: Letwin uses his vast experience in government to outline how businesses and government should respond to catastrophic black swan events that seem distant and implausible - until they occur.Trade ReviewEntertaining and insightful... The picture [Letwin] paints is bleak as he uses chapters that alternate between a fictional depiction of chaotic meltdown in the year 2037 and analysis of the real-life causes to show why such disaster could occur. * Evening Standard *One of the most important books of the year... compelling * Jamie Bartlett, Literary Review *Timely... it provides an insight into the mindsets that prevent politicians and civil servants from properly preparing for catastrophes. * New Statesman *A vivid and engaging account of how the risks inherent in our increasing dependence on technology could someday coalesce into a perfect storm with disastrous consequences. Apocalypse How? reads like a dystopian thriller, but makes it clear that the dangers are very real. * Martin Ford, New York Times bestselling author of The Rise of the Robots *A vital guide for anyone in business or government who wants to know how to respond when apparently distant and implausible events strike home. * Prospect *Masterful, disturbing and informed, Letwin takes us to the abyss - to a society paralysed by the total failure of its interconnected power and communications networks. His contingency plans should be mandatory reading. * Professor Richard Susskind OBE, Chair of Advisory Board, Oxford Internet Institute *From severe floods and accelerating climate change to cyber-attacks and space weather, there is a whole series of threats that could bring a modern country to a standstill. Oliver Letwin spent more time than any minister in recent history trying to understand, prevent and combat the unexpected disasters that could engulf a modern government. * David Cameron *Table of Contents0: Prologue 1: Could it happen? 2: The Cabinet Office 3: The social impact of black-swan events 4: Out in the darkness 5: Fragility and resilience 6: A difficult choice 7: Myths and realities 8: For whom the bell tolls 9: The global perspective

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Book Synopsis'He is as funny as Bryson and as wise as Orwell' ObserverIt was the spirit of our finest hour, the backbone of our post-war greatness, and it promoted some of the boldest and most brilliant schemes this isle has ever produced: it was the Welfare State, and it made you and I. But now it's under threat, and we need to save it.In this timely and provocative book, Stuart Maconie tells Britain’s Welfare State story through his own history of growing up as a northern working class boy. What was so bad about properly funded hospitals, decent working conditions and affordable houses? And what was so wrong about student grants, free eye tests and council houses? And where did it all go so wrong? Stuart looks toward Britain’s future, making an emotional case for believing in more than profit and loss; and championing a just, fairer society.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Ultimately, Leffler’s framework is one of the most perceptive, rigorous, and comprehensive analyses ofAmerican foreign policy in the last eight decades."---Jennifer M. Miller, H-Diplo Roundtable Review"[A] tour de force."---Jacqueline L. Hazelton, Texas National Security Review

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Book SynopsisThe End of Certainty is a classic study of power, personality and national destiny. From boom to recession, Hawke to Keating, and Labor's victory for the 'true believers' in 1993, Paul Kelly has written the ultimate inside story of how the 1980s changed Australia and its political parties forever. His detailed scrutiny of the inner working of the Hawke-Keating partnership and its slow disintegration, his unravelling of the crippling rivalries for the Liberal Party leadership and his burrowing into cabinet room struggles over the deregulation of Australia's financial system reveal the brutal realities of Australian politics and how it is played at the very top. But above all, he reminds us of the sheer pace of economic and social change the country lived through and the wake of uncertainty it left behind. Joining The Hawke Ascendancy, this second instalment in Paul Kelly's analysis of modern Australian politics, remains as compelling and incisive as when it was first written.

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