Economic systems and structures Books

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Book SynopsisSocialism has particular appeal to intellectuals - the teachers, journalists and other commentators who pass comment on public policy without any special expertise on economic matters. This work explains the enduring appeal of socialist ideas.

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Book Synopsis10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION: UPDATED WITH A NEW PREFACE''Superb ... At a time when government action of any kind is ideologically suspect, and entrepreneurship is unquestioningly lionized, the book''s importance cannot be understated'' GuardianAccording to conventional wisdom, innovation is best left to the dynamic entrepreneurs of the private sector, and government should get out of the way. But what if all this was wrong? What if, from Silicon Valley to medical breakthroughs, the public sector has been the boldest and most valuable risk-taker of all?''A brilliant book'' Martin Wolf, Financial Times''One of the most incisive economic books in years'' Jeff Madrick, New York Review of Books''Mazzucato is right to argue that the state has played a central role in producing game-changing breakthroughs'' Economist''Read her book. It will challenge your thinking'' ForbesTrade ReviewRead her book. It will challenge your thinking * Forbes *One of the most incisive economics books in years * New York Review of Books *This book has a controversial thesis. But it is basically right * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisFrom twice-Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Steve Coll comes Private Empire, winner of the FT/GOLDMAN SACHS BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2012The oil giant ExxonMobil makes more money annually than the GDP of most countries; has greater sway than US embassies abroad; and spends more on lobbying than any other corporation. Yet to outsiders it is a mystery. In Private Empire, award-winning reporter Steve Coll tells the truth about the world''s most powerful and shadowy company.From the Exxon Valdez accident in 1989 to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, via Moscow, the swamps of the Niger Delta and the halls of Congress, he reveals a story of dictators, oligarchs, civil war, blackmail, secrecy and ruthlessness. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and newly declassified documents, this is a chilling portrait of unchecked power.Reviews:''Magisterial ... a revealing history of our time'' New York Review of Books''Meticulous, multi-angled and valuable ... Coll''s prose sweeps the earth like an Imax camera'' Dwight Garner, The New York Times ''Jaw-dropping reading'' Kirkus Reviews''The definitive work on its subject ... at every stop there are vivid anecdotes, sharp insights and telling details'' Ed Crooks, Financial TimesAbout the author:Steve Coll is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Bin Ladens. He is president of the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy institute headquartered in Washington, D.C., and a staff writer for The New Yorker. He won a Pulitzer prize for explanatory journalism while working at the Washingon Post. He is the author of six other books, including the bestseller Ghost Wars, which won him a second Pulitzer prize. He lives in Washington and New York.Trade ReviewMagisterial ... a revealing history of our time -- Bill McKibben * New York Review of Books *Meticulously researched and elegantly written, it is likely to be the definitive work on its subject for many years to come. Steve Coll ... is honest about Exxon's strengths as well as its flaws, and presents both sides of the arguments with scrupulous even-handedness ... At every stop there are vivid anecdotes, sharp insights and telling details -- Ed Crooks * Financial Times *Masterful ... Coll's in-depth reporting, buttressed by his anecdotal prose, make Private Empire a must-read ... [His] portrait of ExxonMobil is both riveting and appalling... Yet Private Empire is not so much an indictment as a fascinating look into American business and politics * San Francisco Chronicle *Meticulous, multi-angled and valuable ... Coll's prose sweeps the earth like an Imax camera -- Dwight Garner * New York Times *A thorough, sobering study of the pernicious consolidation of Big Oil ... jaw-dropping reading * Kirkus Reviews *

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Book SynopsisA FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR A call to action for the creative class and labour movement to rally against the power of Big Tech and Big Media. Corporate concentration has breached the stratosphere, as have corporate profits. An ever-expanding constellation of industries are now monopolies (where sellers have excessive power over buyers) or monopsonies (where buyers hold the whip hand over sellers) — or both. Scholar Rebecca Giblin and writer and activist Cory Doctorow argue we’re in a new era of ‘chokepoint capitalism’, with exploitative businesses creating insurmountable barriers to competition that enable them to capture value that should rightfully go to others. All workers are weakened by this, but the problem is especially well illustrated by the plight of creative workers. From Amazon’s use of digital rights management and bundling to radically change the economics of book publishing, to Google and Facebook’s siphoning away of ad revenues from news media, and the Big Three record labels’ use of inordinately long contracts to up their own margins at the cost of artists, chokepoints are everywhere. By analysing book publishing and news, live music and music streaming, screenwriting, radio, and more, Giblin and Doctorow deftly show how powerful corporations construct ‘anti-competitive flywheels’ designed to lock in users and suppliers, make their markets hostile to new entrants, and then force workers and suppliers to accept unfairly low prices. Chokepoint Capitalism is a call to workers of all sectors to unite to help smash these chokepoints and take back the power and profit that’s being heisted away — before it’s too late.Trade Review‘Provocative … What makes this book so refreshing is that it never lets its reader off the hook … I see it as a kind of manual that will arm you with the technical knowhow (and the confidence) to demand more.’ -- Kitty Drake * The Guardian *‘Nerdy, sharp, radical, and readable.’ -- Tim Harford * Financial Times *‘Chokepoint Capitalism tells us how the vampires crashed the party, and provides protective garlic.’ -- Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale‘A welcome intervention.’ -- Oscar Williams * New Statesman *‘We all know something is wrong about every click, stream, and purchase we make — unfairly depriving value creators of their worth, while enriching the wealthiest and most extractive entities in human history. Instead of just complaining about the corporate stranglehold over production and exchange, Giblin and Doctorow show us why this happened, how it works, and what we can do about it. An infuriating yet inspiring call to collective action.’ -- Douglas Rushkoff, author of Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus and Survival of the Richest‘An urgent, profound, and approachable take on what it's going to take to save our culture. If you care about books, movies, or music, read this book right now. And share a copy with a friend.’ -- Seth Godin, author of The Practice‘Chokepoint Capitalism is not just a fascinating tour of the hidden mechanics of the platform era, from Spotify playlists to Prince's name change, but a compelling agenda to break Big Tech's hold. It presents a clear new way to think about corporate power — and a path to taking that power back for cultural creators and all of us.’ -- Eli Pariser, author of The Filter Bubble and cofounder of Avaaz‘The great myth of the American economy is that it rewards creators and producers. But Chokepoint Capitalism dares to tell the real story of how it actually rewards the all-powerful middlemen fleecing both workers and consumers. This book is an absolute must-read for anyone who senses that the predominant economic mythology is a lie, who wants to know what's really happening in this economy — and who is ready to finally start fixing the problem.’ -- David Sirota, writer of Don't Look Up and founder of The Lever‘[A] lucid and damning exposé of how big business captured the culture markets … Interwoven with maddening tales of exploitation are detailed discussions of statutory licensing reform, copyright infringement detection systems, and other technical matters … The book’s broad scope, expert policy recommendations, and flashes of wit make it a must-read for anyone involved in these industries.’ -- Publishers Weekly, starred reviewGiblin and Doctorow persuasively argue that copyright can’t unrig a rigged market — for that you need worker power, antitrust, and solidarity.’ -- Jimmy Wales, cofounder of Wikipedia‘I loved this book … It helps us all see the locks and chains, and the ways to chisel through them.’ -- Zephyr Teachout, law professor and author of Corruption in America and Break ‘Em Up‘Creators are being ground up by the modern culture industries, with little choice but to participate in markets … Giblin and Doctorow show why, and offer a range of powerful strategies for fighting back.’ -- Lawrence Lessig, Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School‘Capitalism doesn’t work without competition. Giblin and Doctorow impressively show the extent to which that’s been lost throughout the creative industries, and how this pattern threatens every other worker.’ -- Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist‘A tome for the times … The revolution will not be spotified!’ -- Christopher Coe, artist and cofounder of Awesome Soundwave‘Chokepoint Capitalism couples its legal-economic critique with provocative, sometimes utopian, prescriptions for fairly remunerating authors and performers.’ -- Jane C. Ginsburg, Morton L. Janklow Professor of Literary and Artistic Property Law at Columbia University School of Law‘Searing, essential, and incredibly readable.’ -- Adam Conover, comedian and host of The G-Word‘If you have ever wondered why the web feels increasingly stale, Chokepoint Capitalism outlines in great detail how it is being denied fresh air.’ -- Mat Dryhurst, artist and researcher at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music‘Chokepoint Capitalism is more than a clarion call for a new, necessary form of trustbusting. It’s a grand unified theory of a decades-long, corporate-led hollowing out of creative culture.’ -- Andy Greenberg, writer for WIRED and author of Sandworm and Tracers in the Dark‘Rebecca Giblin and Cory Doctorow lay out their case in plain and powerful prose, offering a grand tour of the blighted cultural landscape and how our arts and artists have been chickenised, choked, and cheated.’ -- Kaiser Kuo, host and cofounder of The Sinica Podcast‘A masterwork … It’s a necessary read for any artist in the entertainment industry.’ -- David A. Goodman, writer, executive producer of The Orville, and former president of the WGA West‘Every creator will find inspiration here.’ -- Anil Dash, CEO of Glitch’[T]his is an important and powerful book not least because it crushes the myth of artists as out-of-touch elitists. Rather than painting creatives as different, Giblin and Doctorow emphasise the similarities between the problems they face and those endured by the great bulk of the population at a time when 40 per cent of Americans say they could not find $400 to cover an unexpected expense … If we want change, Giblin and Doctorow say we need to act collectively. That’s true for artists; it’s also true for non-artists … It’s only together that we’ll shake it off.’ -- Jeff Sparrow * The Saturday Paper *‘A searing and comprehensive take on the oligopolies that control creative markets, from publishing to music distribution to film distribution.’ * Alta *‘[Chokepoint Capitalism] is a dark portrait of a cultural system captured by billionaires … [and] helps us start the daunting task of taking back control.’ -- Justin O'Connor * The Conversation *‘Chokepoint Capitalism is the book we need now. Comprehensive and accessible, stirring and enlightening, it is a roadmap for taking immediate action against the corporate chokepoints that are crushing our creative workers and, increasingly, the rest of the middle class as well.’ * The Progressive *‘Totally readable.’ * The Spinoff *‘Giblin and Doctorow explain how companies such as Amazon, Google and Facebook — and the big publishers — use their anti-competitive market powers to exploit creators, consumers and employees. The authors argue for collective action and minimum wages for creatives as some possible solutions to unblock the “chokepoints”.’ -- Justine Hyde, The Saturday Paper Best of 2022‘Chokepoint Capitalism offers an admirable antidote to the fiction that our economic systems operate the way they do because that’s how they are, rather than because a few companies managed to take early advantage of new technologies to manipulate those systems for their own benefit. You might not expect to find much hope in a book about the exploitation of people trying to earn a living doing what they love. But Giblin and Doctorow make a convincing case that taking on Big Tech and Big Content — seemingly a lonely and demoralising endeavour — is, in fact, an opportunity for community. Indeed, the fight demands community.’ -- Adam M. Lowenstein * The Atlantic *Praise for Information Doesn't Want to Be Free: ‘Doctorow breaks down the complex issues and tangled arguments surrounding technology, commerce, copyright, intellectual property, crowd funding, privacy and value — not to mention the tricky situation of becoming “Internet Famous.” … Doctorow has spoken and written on these issues many times before but never quite so persuasively. Required reading for creators making their ways through the new world.’ -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review‘Chokepoint Capitalism is a call to unite and it also highlights other key actions that need to take place to build a future where creative workers get a fair share of the wealth generated by their work.’ -- Celina Lei * ArtsHub *Praise for Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom: ‘Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom is black-comedic sci-fi prophecy on the dangers of surrendering our consensual hallucination to the regime. Fun to read, but difficult to sleep afterwards.’ -- Douglas Rushkoff, author of Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus and Survival of the RichestPraise for Code Wars: ‘With a combination of acute observation, close analysis and clear-headed honesty, Rebecca Giblin leads the reader to share her conclusion that there is no legislative, judicial, commercial or technical panacea for copyright infringement which P2P software facilitates, but that even now it is not too late to improve the manner in which the rights-owning and distribution sectors address the challenges that P2P poses.’ -- Jeremy Phillips, Olswang, and Intellectual Property Institute

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Book SynopsisEntrepreneurs, business owners, investors: here is the rare, no-nonsense advice you haven’t heard—straight from Paychex founder and billionaire philanthropist Tom Golisano—to overcome the most common (and some not so common) obstacles to live a successful life.Watching his father struggle to support his family through bigotry and other challenges in being an Italian immigrant, Tom Golisano learned early on the value of thinking outside the box and not letting perception sway your view of reality.Now, for the first time, Golisano shares the political shenanigans, behind the scenes stories, significant characters from his remarkable life, and key insights to thrive in your career. Filled with humor and wisdom, The Italian Kid Did It!: Reveals the secrets behind much of Golisano’s success and teaches you how to apply those same success-hacks to your own life. Emboldens you to see the world differently in

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Book SynopsisA Pulitzer Prize-winning economics journalist argues that our thirty year experiment in unfettered markets has undermined core values required to make capitalism and democracy work

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Book SynopsisA pocket is formed when two or more people come together in agreement. The resistance is against the inhumanity of the new world economic order. This work features essays about - Rembrandt, Palaeolithic cave painters, a Romanian peasant, ancient Egyptians, an expert in the loneliness of certain hotel bedrooms, and a man in a radio station.Trade Review"John Berger writes: 'The pocket in question is a small pocket of resistance. A pocket is formed when two or more people come together in agreement. The resistance is against the inhumanity of the new world economic order. The people coming together are the reader, me and those the essays are about - Rembrandt, Palaeolithic cave painters, a Romanian peasant, ancient Egyptians, an expert in the loneliness of certain hotel bedrooms, dogs at dusk, a man in a radio station. And unexpectedly, our exchanges strengthen each of us in our conviction that what is happening to the world today is wrong, and that what is often said about it is a lie. I've never written a book with a greater sense of urgency.'

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Book SynopsisThe Nobel Prize–winning economist, in partnership with a leading progressive European think tank, presents a bold new economic platform to restore prosperity in Europe.Trade Review"Rewriting the Rules is a powerful statement from a group of influential writers from both sides of the Atlantic, led by one of the most eminent economists, a Nobel Prize winner and global activist. The ‘rules’ are in opposition to the once-dominant Washington Consensus, but what is most important is that they are gradually making their way into mainstream economics and policy-making. If this continues, then we can really hope to rewrite the rules both in Europe and maybe even in the USA." -- Marek Belka, former prime minister of Poland and former president of the Polish National Bank

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Book SynopsisEconomics in Minutes condenses key economics concepts into 200 short and easily digested essays. Featuring not only fundamental ideas, such as the role of money and how the stock market works, but also subjects that are increasingly important to us today - unemployment, government debt and corporate tax avoidance, for example - it is the ideal introduction to a complex contemporary field. Key topics are succinctly described and accompanied by illustrations, making them simple to read and easy to remember. This convenient little reference guide will allow readers to understand the theories underpinning a subject that affects our lives on a daily basis. Chapters include: Supply and demand, Globalization, Market failure, GDP and happiness, Risk and uncertainty, Living standards and productivity, Game theory, Economics and culture.Table of ContentsIntroduction. Markets, efficiency and fairness. Money and finance. Firms and industry. Income, unemployment and inflation. Economic policy and the government. The international economy. Society and the economy. Growth and development. Glossary. Index.

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Book SynopsisLearn the rules of the game of capitalism so you can play to win and build wealth Crash Course on Capitalism and Money: Lessons from the World's Most Expensive City is not your typical personal finance guide. Written by the founders of the top personal finance blog in Singapore, this book acknowledges the frustrations many young people feel as they enter the world of money, and it shows you how to develop the mindset necessary to thrive for the rest of your life. Through visual storytelling, Crash Course on Capitalism and Money melds personal finance, economics, sociology, and psychology to create a book that shows you the path to financial success. If you're ready to rise above discontentment, accept the reality you find yourself in, and put in the work it takes to survive, then thrive in today's worldthen this is the book for you. In this book, you'll find a collection of the most popular comics by The Woke Salaryman. The stories are accompanied by commentaries that offer additional context on how each story fits within the bigger framework of approaching the daunting challenge of navigating money, life and purpose in these times. Why you should get the book: It's a guided tour from the perspective of the disillusioned youth who feel like the game is rigged and the odds are stacked against their favor. The comics and illustrated essays make the technical and boring aspects of personal finance more accessible and interesting. Actionable step-by-step tips on how to make your first steps after graduation. The point is not just to make as much money as possible, but rather to think about personal finance as an important strategic aspect in your life, from which you can then achieve your life goals. For young people just beginning their personal finance journeys, as well as anyone who wants to make better financial and life choices while navigating the rules of capitalism and wealth, Crash Course on Capitalism and Money is a fun and enlightening read.Table of ContentsFOREWOR CHAPTER 1: ACCEPT THAT LIFE IS UNFAIRCHAPTER UNFAIR How much in life is actually up to you? The Four Horsemen of Success Stop blaming the poor for being poor CHAPTER 2: START YOUR FINANCIAL REVOLUTIONCHAPTER REVOLUTION The first 100k is the hardest, but it gets easier Young people are obsessed with investing (they shouldn’t) The 10 timeless principles to increase your income Why you should think like a business (sometimes) CHAPTER 3: THE REALITIES OF THE 2020sCHAPTER 2020s My generation had it worse! Why inequality looks the way it does How I feel about foreigners moving into my homeland CHAPTER 4: BE WEALTHIER THAN THE RICHCHAPTER RICH The one big reason why some rich people will never be happy Why I’m shamelessly downgrading Should I hustle? Or should I lie flat? CHAPTER 5: PARTING WORDS CHAPTER WORDS APPENDIX

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Book SynopsisBanks have taken a backseat since the global financial crisis over a decade ago. Today, our new financial masters are asset managers, like Blackstone and BlackRock. And they don't just own financial assets.The roads we drive on; the pipes that supply our drinking water; the farmland that provides our food; energy systems for electricity and heat; hospitals, schools, and even the homes in which many of us live-all now swell asset managers' bulging investment portfolios.As the owners of more and more of the basic building blocks of everyday life, asset managers shape the lives of each and every one of us in profound and disturbing ways. In this eye-opening follow-up to Rentier Capitalism, Brett Christophers peels back the veil on ""asset manager society.""Asset managers, he shows, are unlike traditional owners of housing and other essential infrastructure. Buying and selling these life-supporting assets at a dizzying pace, the crux of their business model is not long-term investment and careful custodianship but making quick profits for themselves and the investors that back them.In asset manager society, the natural and built environments that sustain us become one more vehicle for siphoning money from the many to the few.Trade ReviewAt its best when [Christophers'] passion comes through, stripping away the spin of an industry that likes to portray itself as benefiting teachers, nurses and firefighters but which disproportionately enriches itself. -- Philip Augar * Financial Times *An illuminating interrogation of asset-manager society and its pathologies. -- John Cassidy, author of How Markets Fail: The Rise and Fall of Free Market EconomicsIf big banks were the villains of the 2008 financial crisis, big asset managers may well be at the heart of the next global economic trauma. In this must read book, Brett Christophers outlines how the world's top fund managers and private equity titans have taken over not only our portfolios, but the homes in which we live, the hospitals we go to when we are sick, the food we eat and the water we drink. Our very lives are now financialized - with disturbing consequences that have yet to be understood, or grappled with -- Rana Foroohar, Global Business Columnist and Associate Editor, Financial TimesThere are few financial topics as deserving of more thorough examination than asset management and its myriad modern manifestations. What insiders often blandly call "non-bank financial institutions" are in reality the new powerhouses of modern capitalism. Brett Christophers ably shows that their dominion has increasingly extended from financial assets to "real" assets - the roads we drive, the water we drink, the homes where we live, and sometimes even the hospitals where we die. As Christophers points out, the broader societal consequences are significant. -- Robin Wigglesworth, Editor, FT Alphaville, and author of Trillions: How a Band of Wall Street Renegades Invented the Index Fund and Changed Finance ForeverAn excellent book that sheds light on the grim reality of modern asset management unfolding at the heart of our society: the homes where we live and the energy infrastructures we depend on. The study of the asset-manager 'society' provides a sobering mapping of the relentless control exerted by asset managers - their portfolios establishing commercialised dependencies across our economy. Christophers successfully uncovers how such investment operations-often under a veil of non-transparent ownership-- put families and their livelihoods at the mercy of rent-seeking corporations. His book is a captivating take on a consequential multitrillion-dollar industry for everyone seeking to understand the configurations of an increasingly unequal and non-transparent economic system. -- Mariana Mazzucato, Professor at University College London and author of The Value of Everything: making and taking in the global economyWhen we shop, park, care for our loved ones, pay rent or our utilities bills, you and I are often little more than tiny trickles of income for companies whose names are not on our bills and that we may not even know. How did this happen and what does it say about where power lies? As ever, Brett Christophers makes a lucid, knowledgeable and impressively unimpressable guide to terrain usually fenced off from the public. -- Aditya Chakrabortty, Senior economics commentator, The GuardianChristophers lays out an essential guide to the many ways a poorly understood force in the global economy - asset management - structures our physical world, from housing to food to clean energy. As useful for curious academics as for organizers on the ground, Our Lives in Their Portfolios is a forensic account of an industry so ubiquitous as to go unnoticed. Christophers' engaging, easy to grasp account shines much-needed light on an industry that thrives in darkness, busting open the dangerous myths it tells about itself. -- Kate Aronoff, co-author of A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New DealIf you are interested in politics, but don't know much about asset managers like Brookfield and Blackstone, you need to read this book. What Brett Christophers reveals in Our Lives in Their Portfolios is the secret fight over who controls our social infrastructure, and whether it will be a small clique of financiers who live in gilded cities, or whether it will be the public. From the rent we pay on our housing to energy grids, sewer systems, and telecom networks, these firms are as important as they are opaque. Christophers shines a light into this secretive arena, and exposes how power works and what the real stakes of our political debates over finance really are. -- Matt Stoller, author of Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and DemocracyChristophers takes up the global money trail, highlighting how investors have been quietly buying up critical infrastructure in Europe and beyond. -- Joe Humphreys * Irish Times *An incisive overview of the outsized returns made on physical assets by a small class of global elites, and the price the rest of society may ultimately pay. * Spear's *Worth persevering for the good stuff. Christophers chronicles how Britain has become the focus for Macquarie and the like. -- John Arlidge * The Sunday Times *An impressive feat...Christophers does what few other economists are able to convincingly undertake in less than three hundred pages. He has written a book on the creeping financialization of our daily lives that an informed, generalist audience can understand, and told it through engaging and relatable case studies. -- Adam Almeida * Jacobin *Incisively dissects - and criticises - the landscape of this novel stage of capitalism. -- Chris Dorrell * City A.M. *[One] of the best analysts of contemporary global capitalism. -- Kojo Koram * Times Literary Supplement *Christophers' neat dissection of the industry ... reveals how, while purporting to work for our retirements, it disproportionately enriches itself. -- Moira O’Neill, Best summer books of 2023 * Financial Times *Necessary reading for anyone wanting to stay abreast of our dysfunctional economic times. -- Will Davies * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisIn the last 40 years of China's economic reforms, the country has made unprecedented progress in its economic development and its position in the global stage. As a result, interest in China has resulted in numerous books focusing on the world's second largest economy. A single volume, however, cannot possibly explain the complex nature of China's economic system and its relationship with the rest of the world. China's Economic Reforms: Successes and Challenges contributes to the understanding of China's reforms by offering a detailed analysis of critical components of the country's economic architecture.Within the context of the global economy, the book illustrates the performance of the Chinese economy at both the aggregate and individual sector levels before and after reforms. Comparisons and contrasts are made with the economies of the US, Japan, South Korea, India, and Russia. The book presents the challenges facing the Chinese reform process, and explain how these challenges affect the domestic economy, the rest of the world, and the overall success of China's reforms.

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Book SynopsisA Nobel Peace Prize-winner outlines his radical economic vision for a better future. Muhammad Yunus is the economist who invented microcredit, founded Grameen Bank, and earned a Nobel Peace Prize for his work towards alleviating poverty. Here, he proposes his vision for a new kind of capitalism, where altruism and generosity are valued as much as profit making, and where individuals not only have the capacity to lift themselves out of poverty, but also to affect real change for the planet and its people. A World of Three Zeroes offers a challenge to young people, business and political leaders, and ordinary citizens everywhere to improve the world for everyone before it’s too late.Trade Review‘A book to make Wall Street quake — if Wall Street paid attention to the developing world … The author's humane proposal for economic reform, far from impractical, makes for provocative reading for development specialists.’ * Kirkus Reviews *‘The book has a lotto like and Yunus's faith in the entrepreneurial spirit is uplifting. His focus is on communities in developing countries but with lessons for everyone, and a wealth of ideas.’ * In The Black *

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Book SynopsisBoth campaigns are treating people like simpletons. In More Human, read the truth about Brexit, from someone who really knows.In this powerful manifesto, Steve Hilton argues that the frustrations people feel with government, politics, their economic circumstances and their daily lives are caused by deep structural problems with the systems that dominate our modern world systems that have become too big, bureaucratic and distant from the human scale. He shows how change is possible, offering us a more human way of living.Trade ReviewRevolutionary and thrilling * Sunday Telegraph *A provocative book that challenges us all to reclaim our lives from a distant elite * The Sunday Times *Hilton’s plea will strike many chords with readers * Guardian *A powerful and authentic voice … captivating * Private Eye *I was both startled and then seduced by his words and ideas … [a] globally respected thinker * Independent *

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Book Synopsis''A well-researched, enjoyable and thoughtful book''. - Calum Chace, ForbesExtraordinary innovations in technology promise to transform the world, but how realistic is the claim that AI will change our lives? In this much needed book the acclaimed economist Roger Bootle responds to the fascinating economic questions posed by the age of the robot, steering a path away from tech jargon and alarmism towards a rational explanation of the ways in which the AI revolution will affect us all. Tackling the implications of Artificial Intelligence on growth, productivity, inflation and the distribution of wealth and power, THE AI ECONOMY also examines coming changes to the the way we educate, work and spend our leisure time.A fundamentally optimistic view which will help you plan for changing times, this book explains AI and leads you towards a more certain future.Trade ReviewIn his new and uplifting book The AI Economy, Roger Bootle provides tangible grounds for optimism. -- Mark Littlewood * The Times *a well-researched, enjoyable and thoughtful book. -- Calum Chace * Forbes *A very good read ... as an introduction to the debate as a whole, this book is invaluable. -- Charlie Paice * Adam Smith Blog *Bootle admits from the off that AI was a new topic to him when researching the book, which comes as a relief to the average reader and means we are not bogged down in technical jargon, with tricky concepts explained succinctly and clearly. ... [Bootle] does not shy away from the fact that AI will be a massively disruptive force on the economy, which will force some workers to find new employment, but The AI Economy is a somewhat reassuring read if you are spooked by the idea that robots will steal all the jobs, or wince at the idea of inserting a microchip under your skin. -- Jess Clarke * City AM *This book will probably annoy technophiles, not only because of its lack of technological detail but also because it is finely written by a polymath. It will be a long time before a computer can mesh the thoughts of Voltaire, Malthus, Keynes, Dawkins and Harari. -- Jane Fuller - co-director of the CFSI * Financial World *

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Book SynopsisCapitalism shapes every aspect of our world, beyond just our economic structures; it moulds our values and influences the way we write laws, wage wars and even conduct personal relationships. From its beginnings to the present day, Capitalism: A Graphic Guide tells the story of capitalism's remarkable and often ruthless rise, evolving through strife and struggle as much as innovation and enterprise. This non-fiction graphic novel explores the key developments that have shaped our modern world, from early banking to the Opium Wars, financial crashes, the rise of service economies and concerns about sustainability. It also introduces us to the leading proponents and critics of capitalism, providing both a theoretical and practical understanding of this fascinating subject.

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Book SynopsisCapitalism faltered at the end of the 1990s as corporations were rocked by fraud, the stock-market bubble burst and the American business model unfettered self-interest, privatization and low tax faced a storm of protest. But what are the alternatives to the mantras of market fundamentalism?Leading economist John Kay unravels the truth about markets, from Wall Street to Switzerland, from Russia to Mumbai, examining why some nations are rich and some poor, why one-size-fits-all' globalization hurts developing countries and why markets can work but only in a humane social and cultural context. His answers offer a radical new blueprint for the future.

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Book SynopsisThis book shows how a system of private banks without a central bank can bring about financial stability through self-regulation. If one bank stretches credit too far, it will be reined in by the others before the system as a whole gets out of control.

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Book SynopsisFramed by a critical analysis of global capitalism, this book examines how the six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council are powerfully shaping the political economy of the wider Middle East. Through unprecedented and fine-grained empirical research - encompassing sectors such as agribusiness, real estate, finance, retail, telecommunications, and urban utilities - Adam Hanieh lays out the pivotal role of the Gulf in the affairs of other Arab states. This vital but little recognised feature of the Middle East''s political economy is essential to understanding contemporary regional dynamics, not least of which is the emergence of significant internal tensions within the Gulf itself. Bringing fresh insights and a novel interdisciplinary approach to debates across political economy, critical geography, and Middle East studies, this book fills an important gap in how we understand the region and its place in the global order.Trade Review'This brilliant book by one of the most thoughtful scholars of the Gulf states is deeply researched, coruscatingly lucid, and profoundly important. It shows all the ways in which Gulf capital permeates and shapes Middle Eastern economies, in the agricultural, construction, industrial and banking sectors. It carefully traces the processes of financialisation that are so fundamental to Gulf capital accumulation and shows the political effects of Gulf capital's economic power. In so doing Hanieh casts an urgently needed light on the machinery of Middle Eastern political economy and social relations.' Laleh Khalili, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London'Framed by a sophisticated spatial analysis that rejects a sharp distinction between class and state, Adam Hanieh decisively establishes that we cannot understand the Gulf solely through the lens of oil. The GCC countries have become increasingly prominent in the international circulation of money, commodities, and people. Money, Markets, and Monarchies demonstrates that Gulf capital is a central factor in both global capitalism and the broader political economy of the Middle East and North Africa. Money, Markets, and Monarchies should change the way we view the region and its place in the world.' Joel Beinin, Stanford University, California'In this well researched and lucid book, Hanieh convincingly illustrates how the GCC is embedded in international and regional circuits of accumulation. By stitching together various vectors of neoliberal capitalism, Money, Markets, and Monarchies, helps us understand how class relations are reproduced within the Gulf region as well as the Arab Middle East. As such, it is essential reading for scholars of the Middle East as well as all who are interested in the processes that have produced wealth and inequalities internationally in recent decades.' Arang Keshavarzian, author of Bazaar and State in Iran: the Politics of the Tehran Marketplace'The book is accessible to the non-specialists but is also a great resource for scholars whose subject matter expertise is the GCC. [It] brings unique insights and an interdisciplinary approach to debates across the political economy of the ME and its position on the global stage.' Omar Darwazah, Arab Studies QuarterlyTable of ContentsAcknowledgements; 1. Framing the Gulf: space, scale, and the global; 2. Gulf financial surpluses and the international order; 3. Boundaries of state and capital: mapping the Gulf's business conglomerates; 4. From farm to shelf: Gulf agro-commodity circuits and the Middle East; 5. The Arab built environment, accumulation, and the Gulf; 6. Spaces of financialisation in the Middle East; 7. Visions of capital: the GCC and the 'new normal'; 8. Future paths and political ends; References.

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Book SynopsisWhat can prosperity possibly mean in a world of environmental and social limits?The publication of Prosperity without Growth was a landmark in the sustainability debate. Tim Jackson's piercing challenge to conventional economics openly questioned the most highly prized goal of politicians and economists alike: the continued pursuit of exponential economic growth. Its findings provoked controversy, inspired debate and led to a new wave of research building on its arguments and conclusions.This substantially revised and re-written edition updates those arguments and considerably expands upon them. Jackson demonstrates that building a post-growth' economy is a precise, definable and meaningful task. Starting from clear first principles, he sets out the dimensions of that task: the nature of enterprise; the quality of our working lives; the structure of investment; and the role of the money supply. He shows how the economy of tomorrow Trade Review‘It is hard to improve a classic, but Jackson has done it… a clearly written yet scholarly union of moral vision with solid economics.’ — Herman Daly, University of Maryland, USA‘I remember exactly where I was when I first read Prosperity Without Growth. It cut through the intellectual clamour with clarity, courage — and hope.’ — Naomi Klein, Author of This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate‘An excellent critical review of mainstream academic thoughts on poverty in the contemporary global system; a convincing illustration of the shortcomings of these thoughts on the case of Canada’ — Samir Amin, Professor of Political Economy, Director of Third World Forum and Chair of World Forum For Alternatives, Egypt‘With much of the world in turmoil, calling for higher economic growth is every politician’s comfort blanket of choice. But Tim Jackson compellingly urges those politicians to give up their comfort blanket, to re-think our continuing dependence on economic growth, and to start preparing – urgently – for a world where such growth is no longer viable as its environmental cost massively exceeds its benefits. Prosperity Without Growth remains the single most important book addressing this most critical of contemporary challenges.’ — Jonathon Porritt, Founder Director of Forum for the Future, UK. ‘Tim Jackson's Prosperity without Growth systematises and renders tangible an essential project few believed to be practical: recovering the dream of shared prosperity and human development through decoupling it from the bandwagon of growth. Essential reading for those refusing to succumb to a dystopic future.’ — Yanis Varoufakis, DiEM25 co-founder and Professor of Economics, University of Athens, Greece. ‘Tim Jackson has brought his ground-breaking book bang up to date and substantially deepened its arguments. This extensively revised edition sets out more clearly than ever the dimensions of a new and different economics – working for people, planet and prosperity. There isn’t a better exposition out there of why and how we need to move beyond growth.’ — Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton, Pavilion and a member of the Green Party, UK. 'One of the most important essays of our generation: both visionary and realistic, rooted in careful research and setting out difficult but achievable goals, it gives what we so badly need - an alternative to passivity, short-term selfishness and cynicism.' — Dr Rowan Williams, The Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge University and was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, UK. ‘This challenge to the prevailing growth-based economic paradigm confronts an inescapable dilemma: how to reconcile "our aspirations for the good life with the limitations and constraints of a finite planet." Its thoughtful and penetrating critique is enriched by an outline of credible programs to achieve this end. A very valuable contribution to urgent concerns that cannot be ignored.’ — Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor & Professor of Linguistics, MIT, USA. ‘Tim Jackson spearheads the obvious truth that GDP growth is not necessary in order to achieve higher well-being in the rich world. Government intervention can produce the desired result, namely full employment, less inequity and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.’ — Jorgen Randers, author of "2052 – A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years"(2012) and co-author of "One Percent is Enough. Managing economic growth to reduce unemployment, inequity and greenhouse gas emissions." (2016)"Tim Jackson’s revised second edition of his Prosperity without Growth continues to provide a stimulating and accessible account of the issues facing the planet, an assessment of how we’re dealing with the problems, and the kinds of solutions that are necessary for us to be able to continue to live and thrive here." --Jonathan Warner, Quest University, CanadaTable of ContentsForeword to the first edition Prologue to the second edition1 The Limits to Growth 2 Prosperity Lost 3 Redefining Prosperity 4 The Dilemma of Growth 5 The Myth of Decoupling 6 The ‘Iron Cage’ of Consumerism 7 Flourishing – Within Limits 8 Foundations for the Economy of Tomorrow 9 Towards a ‘Post-growth’ Macroeconomics 10 The Progressive State11 A Lasting Prosperity

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Book SynopsisRebellion was in the air. Workers were on strike, students were demonstrating on campuses, discipline was breaking down. No relation of domination was left untouched – the relation between the sexes, the racial order, the hierarchies of class, relationships in families, workplaces and colleges. The upheavals of the late 1960s and early 1970s quickly spread through all sectors of social and economic life, threatening to make society ungovernable. This crisis was also the birthplace of the authoritarian liberalism which continues to cast its shadow across the world in which we now live. To ward off the threat, new arts of government were devised by elites in business-related circles, which included a war against the trade unions, the primacy of shareholder value and a dethroning of politics. The neoliberalism that thus began its triumphal march was not, however, determined by a simple ‘state phobia’ and a desire to free up the economy from government interference. On the contrary, the strategy for overcoming the crisis of governability consisted in an authoritarian liberalism in which the liberalization of society went hand-in-hand with new forms of power imposed from above: a ‘strong state’ for a ‘free economy’ became the new magic formula of our capitalist societies. The new arts of government devised by ruling elites are still with us today and we can understand their nature and lasting influence only by re-examining the history of the conflicts that brought them into being.Trade Review‘A comprehensive account, both historical and systematic, of how and why in the 1970s business began to perceive democratic capitalism as ungovernable, and what it tried to do about this: from corporate reform to strengthening the state while weakening democracy. The book adds importantly to our understanding of the neoliberal revolution, its origins and objectives, successes and failures.’Wolfgang Streeck, Emeritus Director and Senior Research Associate, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne, Germany ‘Grégoire Chamayou provides a dazzling and wide-ranging genealogy of the intellectual ideas and political strategies which were used to undermine democracy and roll back the economic security and greater equality of the post-war years. An original and rewarding read.’Andrew Gamble, SPERI, University of Sheffield‘With this elegant and important work, Chamayou will surely succeed in bringing out your inner critic of the powers that be.’French CultureTable of ContentsTable of contents:Introduction Part I. Indocile workers Chapter One. Indiscipline on the shop floor Chapter Two. Human resources Chapter Three. Social insecurity Chapter Four. War on the unions Part Two. Managerial revolution Chapter Five. A theological crisis Chapter Six. Ethical managerialism Chapter Seven. Disciplining the managers Chapter Eight. Catallarchy Part Three. Attack on free enterprise Chapter Nine. Private government under siege Chapter Ten. The battle of ideas Chapter Eleven. How to react? Chapter Twelve. The corporation does not exist Chapter Thirteen. Police theories of the firm Part Four. A world of protesters Chapter Fourteen. Corporate counter-activism Chapter Fifteen. The production of the dominant dialogy Chapter Sixteen. Issue management Chapter Seventeen. Stakeholders Part Five. New regulations Chapter Eighteen. Soft law Chapter Nineteen. Costs/benefits Chapter Twenty. A critique of political ecology Chapter Twenty-One. Making people responsible Part Six. The ungovernable state Chapter Twenty-Two. The crisis of governability of the democracies Chapter Twenty-Three. Hayek in Chile Chapter Twenty-Four. The sources of authoritarian liberalism Chapter Twenty-Five. Dethroning politics Chapter Twenty-Six. The micropolitics of privatization Conclusion Notes Index

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Book SynopsisWinner of the first Paul A. Baran-Paul M. Sweezy Memorial Award for an original monograph concerned with the political economy of imperialism, John Smith's Imperialism in the TwentyFirst Century is a seminal examination of the relationship between the core capitalist countries and the rest of the world in the age of neoliberal globalization.Deploying a sophisticated Marxist methodology, Smith begins by tracing the production of certain iconic commodities-the Tshirt, the cup of coffee, and the iPhone-and demonstrates how these generate enormous outflows of money from the countries of the Global South to transnational corporations headquartered in the core capitalist nations of the Global North. From there, Smith draws on his empirical findings to powerfully theorize the current shape of imperialism. He argues that the core capitalist countries need no longer rely on military force and colonialism (although these still occur) but increasingly are able to extract profits from workers in the Global South through market mechanisms and, by aggressively favoring places with lower wages, the phenomenon of labor arbitrage. Meticulously researched and forcefully argued, Imperialism in the TwentyFirst Century is a major contribution to the theorization and critique of global capitalism.

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Book SynopsisExplores capitalism’s role in creating the current state of climate emergency Over the last 11,700 years, during which human civilization developed, the earth has existed within what geologists refer to as the Holocene Epoch. Now science is telling us that the Holocene Epoch in the geological time scale ended, replaced by a new more dangerous Anthropocene Epoch, which began around 1950. The Anthropocene Epoch is characterized by an “anthropogenic rift” in the biological cycles of the Earth System, marking a changed reality in which human activities are now the main geological force impacting the earth as a whole, generating at the same time an existential crisis for the world’s population. What caused this massive shift in the history of the earth? In this comprehensive study, John Bellamy Foster tells us that a globalized system of capital accumulation has induced humanity to foul its own nest. The result is a planetary emergency that threatens all present and future generations, throwing into question the continuation of civilization and ultimately the very survival of humanity itself. Only by addressing the social aspects of the current planetary emergency, exploring the theoretical, historical, and practical dimensions of the capitalism’s alteration of the planetary environment, is it possible to develop the ecological and social resources for a new journey of hope.Trade ReviewJohn Bellamy Foster has returned Marxism to a serious and sincere engagement with nature. He is as adept at navigating the latest scientific literature as he is comfortable with the immense body of Marxist theory. JBF is a key reference for the elaboration of our political struggles and for the expansion of our political imagination. -- " Vijay Prashad, Director, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research"

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Book SynopsisIn the midst of the current financial crisis, John Gray revisits his brilliant polemic against the forces of global capitalism and deregulation. Written over ten years ago, False Dawn is a remarkably prescient book, sharply criticizing the greed and unsustainable economic practices which have proved to be the seeds of a worldwide recession. In a substantial new chapter, Gray considers how the economic landscape has shifted in a decade, and asks the crucial question: where do we go from here?Trade ReviewA prophetic book -- Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of THE BLACK SWANA powerful analysis of the deepening instability of global capitalism -- George SorosGray was more right, sooner, than anyone else * Independent *The central message is that we are going to hell in a handcart, as free markets rip up established communities. The idea of a world of liberal democratic and prosperous states on the American model is, he argues, a fantasy ... Gray is right -- Andrew Marr * Independent *

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Book SynopsisDoes class determine economic options, or is class in our headsa matter of interpreting symbols and meanings? Cultural theorists have made the second claim, sidelining materialism. Now, amid deepening inequality, Vivek Chibber defends materialist analysis of class power, while arguing that we still have something to learn from cultural frameworks.Trade ReviewA quite thorough and impressive work, not only a compelling defense of materialism but also a fair-minded if highly critical engagement with cultural theory. It isn’t clear how culturalists—especially the anti-Marxist ones—can effectively respond to this broadside, tightly and cogently argued as it is. -- Chris Wright * CounterPunch *Chibber has accomplished something quite astounding in The Class Matrix—he has developed a sophisticated, elegant, and readable defense of the sociological significance of class structure in understanding and addressing the key problems inherent in capitalism. * Choice *The Class Matrix is a clear, compelling, and systematic statement of the view that class is an objective reality that predictably and rationally shapes human thought and action, one we need to grapple with seriously if we’re to comprehend contemporary society and its morbid symptoms. * Jacobin *Concisely and systematically argues the case for the continued importance of class for the radical left today. Vivek Chibber rigorously debunks various long held understandings that characterise radical left thought since the cultural turn. -- Chris James Newlove * Marx & Philosophy Review of Books *The Class Matrix is an important theoretical contribution to a wide and lively discussion in the humanities and social sciences about structural and cultural explanation. Chibber’s profound reassessment of the Marxist theory of class in the light of the new culturalist arguments shows in a sophisticated and convincing way that the capitalist economic system and its class structure of capital and wage labor have a special force in constraining the choices of action open to capitalists and wage-workers. -- Goran Therborn, University of CambridgeVivek Chibber’s magnificent new book carves a path forward for structuralist and materialist analysis in a post–cultural turn academic era. Chibber reformulates Marxist theory to recognize the fundamental role of class structure in shaping human well-being while allowing a place for contingency in the generation of collective action. He adroitly uses this framework to shed light on the trajectory of modern capitalism and class formation in the twenty-first century. The Class Matrix is the response to the cultural turn that structuralists like me have been waiting for, and the book does not disappoint. -- James Mahoney, Northwestern UniversityAlong with a materialist critique of the cultural turn, Chibber restores the centrality of class. Lucid theory from a brilliant mind. Sure to generate vigorous debate. -- Michael Burawoy, author of The Politics of Production

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Book SynopsisThe greatest dilemma our planet faces is the tradeoff between poverty alleviation, inequality reduction, and climate change. In Unsustainable Inequalities, economist Lucas Chancel confronts how to share prosperity without furthering environmental harm, arguing for policies that would direct the benefits of environmental protection to the poor.Trade ReviewRising inequality and global warming are the most pressing issues of our time. Written by one of world's leading experts on global inequality trends and sustainable development, this book demonstrates that they can and should be addressed together, and offers refreshing perspectives on how to do so. A must-read. -- Thomas Piketty, author of Capital and IdeologyIn this concise and precise book Chancel offers an indispensable metric to reveal the class conflicts that cut across the simplistic divide between ecology and social justice, reconciling those afraid of the ‘end of the world’ and those trying to ‘make ends meet.’ -- Bruno Latour, author of Facing Gaia[Chancel] analyses the links between environmental and economic inequality. His conclusion is that we cannot solve one without addressing the other. An original perspective on two of our most significant contemporary challenges. -- Martin Wolf * Financial Times *Well-structured, fluent, and sharp, Unsustainable Inequalities is a work of global relevance and paramount importance, even more so as inequalities as we have them make it impossible to confront the worsening climate crisis. -- Claude Henry, Sciences Po, ParisSobering but essential…[Chancel] identifies social inequality as a core driver of environmental unsustainability that leads to a vicious circle wherein the rich consume more and the poor lose access to environmental resources and become increasingly vulnerable to environmental shocks. -- Gillian Bowser * Science *This book has unpacked the intricate relationship between social injustice and environmental harm and argues for delinking the complex nexus they form with economic inequality…A highly relevant and thought-provoking read during the COVID-19 pandemic when millions are affected socially and economically by lockdowns and restrictions. -- Gayathri D. Naik * LSE Review of Books *Lucas Chancel reflects on the complex articulation of the environmental and the socioeconomic spheres… [The book] opens up avenues toward a more desirable and livable future. * Le Monde *[Chancel] relentlessly sheds light on the failure of liberal policies. * Politis *

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Book SynopsisFinance is widely seen as an obstacle to a better world.Principles of Sustainable Finance explains how the financial sector can be mobilized to counter this. Using finance as a means to achieve social goals, we can divert the planet and its economy from its current path to a world that is sustainable for all.Written for undergraduate, graduate, and executive students of finance, economics, business, and sustainability, this textbook combines theory, empirical data, and policy to explain the sustainability challenges for corporate investment. It shows how finance can steer funding to certain companies and projects without sacrificing return and thus speed up the transition to a sustainable economy. It analyses the Sustainable Development Goals as a strategy for a better world and provides evidence that environmental, social, and governance factors matter, explaining in detail how to incorporate these factors in the corporate and financial sectors.Tailored for students, Principles of Sustainable Finance starts each chapter with an overview and learning objectives to support study. It includes suggestions for further reading, lists and definitions of key concepts, and extensive uses of figures, boxes, and tables to enhance educational goals and clarify concepts. Principles of Sustainable Finance is also supported by an online resource that includes teaching materials and cases.Trade ReviewSustainable finance has emerged as a major new field for practitioners, but has largely bypassed the classroom for lack of a good textbook. Principles of Sustainable Finance is an impressive textbook that fills this important gap. It lucidly explains the fundamental challenge climate change poses for financial markets. It is extremely well-informed about the latest developments and weaves together a coherent account of widely dispersed approaches, including research that is otherwise inaccessible to the layman. It is essential reading for any student seeking to understand the main ideas and trends in sustainable finance. * Patrick Bolton, Professor of Business at Columbia University *The financial system is integral to achieving a smooth transition to a low carbon economy. Based on their extensive careers in finance and academia, Schoenmaker and Schramade set out an insightful vision for a sustainable financial sector, one where social and environmental dimensions are integrated within financial decisions. At a time when the need for a sustainable financial system becomes ever more pressing, this book furthers the debate on how to get there and what role each financial market participant has to play. * Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England *The UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 are predicated on the idea that current and future generations have the resources needed to ensure access to clean water, food, shelter, health, education and energy, irrespective of the place of birth, while caring and preserving our common home: The Earth. In Principles of Sustainable Finance, Dirk Schoenmaker and Willem Schramade discuss the importance of sustainable finance and how it can help allocate resources to individual and social needs, over time, while respecting our planetâs boundaries. It is an indispensable read for students, professionals and policy-makers. * Vitor Gaspar, Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department at the International Monetary Fun *I am sometimes asked what a biologist is doing at the Ministry of Finance. The answer is simple: there is no better place for a biologist than working with finance. With the monumental challenges we are facing, such as climate change and the loss of biodiversity, mainstream finance needs to become truly sustainable. This implies that a larger skillset is needed for those dealing with economics. This textbook contributes to the change needed. * Per Bolund, Minister for Financial Markets in Sweden *The investment decisions of today shape our future. We have a choice. Do we maximise short-term returns, or create long-term sustainable value? It is becoming increasingly clear that society is reaching ecological and social boundaries, and that we can only prosper if we respect these boundaries. Principles of Sustainable Finance provides investors and financiers with the tools to make the right decisions, now and in the future. * Eloy Lindeijer, Chief Investment Officer at PGGM *With this work, Schoenmaker and Schramade make an invaluable contribution to the role of finance in the transition of the global economy to a low carbon growth path. It should be required reading in the C-suite of any bank grappling with what climate change means for its lending strategy. * Stewart James, Managing Director at Public Affairs at HSBC *Principles of Sustainable Finance comes with a perfect timing: all around the planet a new, long-term and responsible capitalism is emerging. It requires to combine both a new academic perspective and attention to its concrete implementation. This is exactly what this important book achieves and makes it so valuable for both students, researchers and practitioners. * Fred Samama, Co-Head of Institutional Clients at Amundi *Table of ContentsPart I: What is Sustainability and Why Does it Matter? 1: Sustainability and the Transition Challenge Part II: Sustainability's Challenges to corporates 2: Externalities - Internalisation 3: Governance and Behaviour 4: Coalitions for Sustainable Finance 5: Strategy and Intangibles - Changing Business Models 6: Integrated Reporting - Metrics and Data Part III: Financing Sustainability 7: Investing for Long-Term Value Creation 8: Equity - Investing with an Ownership Stake 9: Bonds - Investing without voting power 10: Banking - New Forms of Lending 11: Insurance - Managing Long-Term Risk Part IV: How To Get There? 12: Transition Management and Integrated Thinking

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Book SynopsisDiscover the vital relationship that will take your company from "What's next?" to "We have liftoff!" Visionaries have groundbreaking ideas. Integrators make those ideas a reality. This explosive combination is the key to getting everything you want out of your business. It worked for Disney. It worked for McDonald's. It worked for Ford. It can work for you. From the author of the bestselling Traction, Rocket Fuel details the integral roles of the Visionary and Integrator and explains how an effective relationship between the two can help your business thrive. Offering advice to help Visionary-minded and Integrator-minded individuals find one another, Rocket Fuel also features assessments so you're able to determine whether you're a Visionary or an Integrator. Without an Integrator, a Visionary is far less likely to succeed long-term ,and realize the company's ultimate goals--likewise, with no Visionary, an Integrator can't rise to his or her full potential. When these two people come together to share their natural talents and innate skill sets, it's like rocket fuel--they have the power to reach new heights for virtually any company or organization.Trade Review"Rocket Fuel is a powerful model for freeing up entrepreneurial visionaries to do what they do best. Gino and Mark provide a practical gameplan for building an organization that perfectly combines vision and integration." --Dan Sullivan, President and Founder of Strategic Coach(R) "In this brilliant book, Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters explain the vital importance of having both a visionary and an integrator--and show how that relationship can provide the 'rocket fuel' your company needs to achieve its full potential." --Bo Burlingham, Editor-at-Large of Inc. magazine and author of Small Giants and Finish Big: How Great Entrepreneurs Exit Their Companies on Top

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Book SynopsisThis text provides a comprehensive analysis of contemporary macroeconomics, within a European and global context. The authors balance the theoretical aspects with up-to-date policy examples throughout, allowing the reader to relate the concepts to their own economic environment.Trade ReviewBurda and Wyplosz have done a marvelous job for this eighth edition by further tweaking what has long since been an outstanding foundational book in macroeconomics. Macroeconomics: A European Text is superb in striking the right balance between theory and evidence and it remains peerless in integrating open economy aspects to the macroeconomics curriculum. The book continuous to be the go-to book for equipping undergraduate students with the thinking tools needed for understanding modern macroeconomics. * Mark Weder, Professor of Economics, Aarhus University *An excellent introduction to macroeconomics. It explains advanced concepts in easily understood models and language, with applications to real-world problems that helps students grow into mature economists. Many of Europe's economic challenges are different from those of the United States and other advanced countries, because of its unique nature of a large market made up of several smaller entities that have discretion over many aspects of economic management. It is most welcome to find a book that addresses these issues within a rigorous, yet approachable framework, that can help the reader engage in a well-informed discourse about our future. * Sir Christopher Pissarides, Regius Professor of Economics, London School of Economics *This is a superb and engaging macroeconomics text for those interested in Europe. It contains plenty of theory, empirics and case studies with excellent sections on income distribution and the global financial crisis. To be recommended strongly for those who want to teach macroeconomics for the real world. * Rick Van der Ploeg ,Professor of Economics, Oxford University *

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Book Synopsis“Magisterial history... one of the most comprehensive histories of modern capitalism yet written.”—Michael Hirsh, The New York Times Book ReviewTrade Review"...even-handed and objective." -- The Washington Post"Broad and ambitious in its sweep... One lesson with enormous contemporary resonance emerges: globalization is neither inevitable nor irreversible. Governments can choose to retreat into isolation and have often done so." -- Alan Beattie - FT Magazine"Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the history of globalization from 1870 to the present." -- John Bruton - Irish Independent

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Book SynopsisThis timely book contributes to discussions about the nature of property and capital in an era dominated by neoliberalism and resource privatization. Raising broad questions about the distribution of wealth and wealth inequality, this timely book will set the agenda in modern property theory.

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Book SynopsisFrom Finland to Kenya to Stockton, California, more and more governments and private philanthropic organizations are putting the idea of a Universal Basic Income to the test. But can the reality live up to the hype? The motivating idea of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) is radically simple: give people cash and let them do whatever they want with it. But does this simple idea have the potential to radically transform our society? Is a UBI the ultimate solution to the problem of poverty? Is it the solution to automation-induced unemployment? Can it help solve gender and racial inequality?This book provides the average citizen with all the information they need to understand current debates about the UBI. It recounts the history of the idea, from its origins in the writings of 18th century radical intellectuals to contemporary discussions centered on unemployment caused by technological advances such as artificial intelligence. It discusses current pilot programs in the United States and Trade ReviewIn this important book, Zwolinski and Fleischer provide a clear and comprehensive introduction to universal basic income in all its forms, including stakeholder grants, the earned income tax credit, and the child tax credit. As UBI spreads across the United States and the world, this new work is essential reading. * Anne Alstott, Yale Law School *A complete, thorough, and practical breakdown of UBI. Whether you're a supporter or a skeptic, Zwolinski and Fleischer's work is a must-read. * Andrew Yang, Entrepreneur and Former 2020 Presidential Candidate *This book provides a balanced, comprehensive exploration of Universal Basic Income, deftly tackling its many facets in an approachable manner. Without getting mired in excessive detail, it covers many frequently asked questions, serving as an essential primer for anyone wanting to participate in this crucial policy discussion. An accessible, bipartisan guide, it is an ideal starting point for better understanding this transformative idea that I personally believe is the most important policy discussion of all to be having this century. * Scott Santens, Senior Advisor for Humanity Forward *Universal Basic Income provides a fair and balanced explanation of an important topic...it would be good for our society. * Religion & Liberty *The book is quite simply a tour de force. It's clear, concise, and can easily be digested by anyone sufficiently curious: no academic background in economics, social science, or politics required. * David J. Herbert, Religion & Liberty Online *

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Book SynopsisIn this book . . . Nicolas Vandeput hacks his way through the maze of quantitative supply chain optimizations. This book illustrates how the quantitative optimization of 21st century supply chains should be crafted and executed. . . . Vandeput is at the forefront of a new and better way of doing supply chains, and thanks to a richly illustrated book, where every single situation gets its own illustrating code snippet, so could you. --Joannes Vermorel, CEO, Lokad Inventory Optimization argues that mathematical inventory models can only take us so far with supply chain management. In order to optimize inventory policies, we have to use probabilistic simulations. The book explains how to implement these models and simulations step-by-step, starting from simple deterministic ones to complex multi-echelon optimization. The first two parts of the book discuss classical mathematical models, their limitations and assumptions, and a quick but effective introduction to Python is provided. Part 3 contains more advanced models that will allow you to optimize your profits, estimate your lost sales and use advanced demand distributions. It also provides an explanation of how you can optimize a multi-echelon supply chain based on a simple—yet powerful—framework. Part 4 discusses inventory optimization thanks to simulations under custom discrete demand probability functions. Inventory managers, demand planners and academics interested in gaining cost-effective solutions will benefit from the "do-it-yourself" examples and Python programs included in each chapter. Events around the book Link to a De Gruyter Online Event in which the author Nicolas Vandeput together with Stefan de Kok, supply chain innovator and CEO of Wahupa; Koen Cobbaert, Director in the S&O Industry practice of PwC Belgium; Bram Desmet, professor of operations & supply chain at the Vlerick Business School in Ghent; and Karl-Eric Devaux, Planning Consultant, Hatmill, discuss about models for inventory optimization.The event will be moderated by Eric Wilson, Director of Thought Leadership for Institute of Business Forecasting (IBF):https://youtu.be/565fDQMJEEg Table of Contents Deterministic supply chains Inventory policies How much should I order? When should I order? Stochastic supply chains Safety stocks Inventory policies Stochastics lead times Advanced stochastic models Fill rate Cost and service level optimization Beyond normality Forecast Multi echelon inventory optimization Discrete inventory optimization Newsvendor Simple simulations Multi echelon inventory optimization simulations

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Book SynopsisPresents a practical, instructive approach to successfully implementing the freemium model into your software products by building analytics into product design from the earliest stages of development. This book provides guidelines for using data and analytics through all stages of development to optimize your implementation of the freemium model.Trade Review"Seufert’s book provides extensive guidance on analyzing the data generated by a freemium product to boost retention and drive revenue. By collecting and deploying analytics on large amounts of data generated by users of the product, through all stages of development and usage, the author explains how you can optimize your implementation of the freemium model." --Data and Technology Today, 2014Table of Contents1. What is the Freemium Model? 2. Analytics as the Heart of Freemium 3. Quantitative Methods for Product Management 4. Freemium Metrics 5. Lifetime Customer Value 6. Monetization and Downstream Marketing 7. Virality 8. Optimized User Acquisition

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Book Synopsis''The most important book about our economy and society to be published in my lifetime'' Irvine WelshFrom Paul Mason, the award-winning Channel 4 presenter, Postcapitalism is a guide to our era of seismic economic change, and how we can build a more equal society. Over the past two centuries or so, capitalism has undergone continual change - economic cycles that lurch from boom to bust - and has always emerged transformed and strengthened. Surveying this turbulent history, Paul Mason wonders whether today we are on the brink of a change so big, so profound, that this time capitalism itself, the immensely complex system by which entire societies function, has reached its limits and is changing into something wholly new.At the heart of this change is information technology: a revolution that, as Mason shows, has the potential to reshape utterly our familiar notions of work, production and value; and to destroy an economy based on markets an

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA brilliant writer with a polymathic range. With The Anxious Triumph, he has produced a magnum opus, an accessible and genuinely global history of the transformative but unstable capitalist phenomenon. ... This is a book for today and tomorrow. -- Harold James * Financial Times *It is hugely erudite: everyone can learn from it. -- Paul Collier * New Statesman *Sassoon offers us a sprawling map, studded with fascinating details. ... It is quirkily brilliant -- Adam Tooze * Guardian *He is no apologist. His comprehensive account of the origins of modern capitalism make clear the human cost of a system of institutionalised greed -- Iain Macwhirter * Herald *

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Book SynopsisTrade Reviewa rich and absorbing narrative * John Plender, Financial Times *A thorough and comprehensive history of public debt * Paschal Donohoe, Irish Times *Discussions of sovereign debt are always the same, yet always different. Why debt finance? How much can we borrow? Should creditors worry? The authors take us on a fascinating 2500-year tour of sovereign debt through the ages, the discussions, the successes and the failures. The bottom line: Well-used, debt finance has been and is precious. The latest example: The use of debt during the Covid crisis. A must read for anybody interested in current debt debates. * Olivier Blanchard, Professor of Economics Emeritus, MIT, and Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics *An exceptionally comprehensive and readable history of public debt from ancient Greece to modern Greece and from Argentina to Australia to Asia to America. This book is rich with detail, studded with lessons learned, forgotten and learned again, and packed with analytical perspective that reflects decades of scholarship. It is a timely reminder to governments, lenders, investors and ordinary citizens that if you don't know where you've been, you probably don't know where you are going. * David Wessel, Director, Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, Brookings Institution *Repeatedly since the 1980s, Americans have been told to worry about the size of the federal debt. And yet the debt has continued to grow absolutely and as a share of gross domestic product, with few of the predicted adverse consequences. Building expertly on large and complex literatures in history, economics and political science, In Defense of Public Debt offers a balanced account of the positive and negative aspects of public debt, showing the vitally important role government borrowing can play in a time of crisis, but also the very real problems that can arise when debts grow too large. At a time when too many policymakers subscribe to naive ideas about public finance, this is a book that cries out for a readership beyond the academy. * Niall Ferguson, Milbank Family Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford *For a typical citizen, protection in war-time or in a pandemic reveals their government to be a problem-solver rather than 'the problem.' Yet the legacy of such episodes in the accumulated national debt is widely misunderstood, opening the way to too rapid a turn to austerity. In Defense of Public Debt provides enlightenment and reassurance by inviting the reader to follow how public debt—warts and all—has helped create the modern world. * Wendy Carlin, Professor of Economics, University College London *In Defense of Public Debt could not be timelier. It is an engaging and informative account of the use and misuse of government borrowing, from early times to the Covid pandemic. The unquestionable expertise of the authors, and their non-partisan reading of the evidence from our past, will serve to guide the intelligent reader as they wrestle with one of the most important issues of our time: Are we borrowing too much? * Raghuram Rajan, Professor of Finance, University of Chicago *How much debt should a country accumulate during a crisis? And afterwards? To know what works and what doesn't requires verdicts on past performances. The authors deliver the verdicts, applying sound principles in a definitive global history of public debt. * Peter H. Lindert, Distinguished Professor of Economics (Emeritus), University of California - Davis *With so much nonsense about the public debt in the air, it is refreshing to discover a work of such intelligence, balance, and erudition. Read In Defense of Public Debt for fun and profit. Then send an excerpt or two to your favorite politicians. * Alan S. Blinder, Gordon S. Rentschler Memorial Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, Princeton University *In this fascinating and comprehensive history, the authors provide a much-needed antidote to the simplistic accounts that so often dominate debates about government debt. From its earliest origins to today, public borrowing has sometimes led to spectacular failures, but it has also allowed societies to achieve objectives that would have been impossible in its absence. As we ask where we stand with public debt today, there is no better book to remind us of the lessons of history. * David Stasavage, Julius Silver Professor of Politics, New York University *In Defense of Public Debt, by Eichengreen, El-Ganainy, Esteves and Mitchener, could not have been better timed...As a work of economic history, it provides a comprehensive, clear and readable tour through the ages of sovereign debt that will be of interest to economists, historians, political scientists, philosophers, as well as to practitioners and the general public interested in current debates on debt sustainability. * Anahí Wiedenbrüg, Economics and Philosophy *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. Debt in Service of the State Chapter 3. States and the Limits of Borrowing Chapter 4. Democratization and Globalization Chapter 5. Caveat Emptor Chapter 6. Managing Problem Debts Chapter 7. Successful Consolidation Chapter 8. Warfare to Welfare Chapter 9. Cycles of Debt Chapter 10. Oil and Water Chapter 11. Missed Opportunities Chapter 12. Debt to the Rescue Chapter 13. COVID-19 Chapter 14. Conclusion References

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Book SynopsisThe Invisible Hand? offers a radical departure from the conventional wisdom of economists and economic historians, by showing that ''factor markets'' and the economies dominated by them -- the market economies -- are not modern, but have existed at various times in the past. They rise, stagnate, and decline; and consist of very different combinations of institutions embedded in very different societies. These market economies create flexibility and high mobility in the exchange of land, labour, and capital, and initially they generate economic growth, although they also build on existing social structures, as well as existing exchange and allocation systems. The dynamism that results from the rise of factor markets leads to the rise of new market elites who accumulate land and capital, and use wage labour extensively to make their wealth profitable. In the long term, this creates social polarization and a decline of average welfare. As these new elites gradually translate their economiTrade ReviewBas Van Bavel has given both public policy and comparative institutional history a great boost by asking big questions about where we are in the history of economic development, looking at contemporary quandaries through the lens of long-term historical patterns. * Hilton L. Root, Independent Review *Starting from a sharp focus on fundamental problems -- the long-term effects of society on market economies, the management of catastrophes -- Bas van Bavel tests existing theories and clearly formulates his innovative insights. * Wim Blockmans, Emeritus professor of medieval history, Leiden University *Bavel is excellent in providing numerical estimates... It is not only the plausibility of the mechanism of decline that gives strength to Bavel's thesis; it is also that he lists the manifestation of the decline * Branko Milanovic, globalinequality *A brief review...cannot do justice to wealth of material in this important new book, other than by noting that anyone interested in these issues should not miss it. * Gene Callahan, Cardiff University, History: Reviews of New Books *This a beautifully written book, easy to read, which makes it adequate for a wide audience. Above all, it is an original and intellectually challenging piece of scholarly work that breaks new historical grounds. Van Bavel is one of the few scholars alive who is equally an expert on history, economics, politics. This characteristic enables him a truly subtle analysis of texts and ideas. I want to make clear at the outset that economists and economic historians neglect this book at their peril, since it represents a methodological challenge to research as usual ... this book is going to be a vital contribution to the advancement of economic discourse as well as a crucial intervention in current political debate. * Stefano Zamagni, Journal of Economics *Van Bavel's deep expertise in the subject matter weaves an intricate web of connections of cultural, economic, and social aspects across time and space, and seamlessly draws the reader into a wonderful account * Mauricio Drelichman, Journal of Economic Literature *any social scientist interested in "big think" questions will benefit greatly from reading The Invisible Hand? While it presents only a piece of the "great divergence" puzzle, it is an understudied piece that is an important complement to existing theories based on institutions, culture, and governance. * Jared Rubin, EH.net *Table of Contents1: Introduction: Markets in economics and history 2: Markets in an early medieval empire: Iraq, 500-1100 3: Markets in medieval city-states: the centre-north of Italy, 1000-1500 4: Markets in late medieval / early modern principalities: the Low Countries, 1100-1800 5: Epilogue: Markets in modern states: England, the United States and Western Europe, 1500-2000 6: Conclusion: The fundamental incompatibility of market economies with long-run prosperity Bibliography

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Book Synopsis'Market failure' is a term widely used by politicians, journalists and university and A-level economics students and teachers. However, those who use the term often lack any sense of proportion about the ability of government to correct market failures. This arises partly from the lack of general knowledge -- and lack of coverage in economics syllabuses -- of Public Choice economics. Public Choice economics applies realistic insights about human behaviour to the process of government, and it is extremely helpful for all those who have an interest in -- or work in -- public policy to understand this discipline. If we assume that at least some of those involved in the political process -- whether elected representatives, bureaucrats, regulators, public sector workers or electors -- will act in their own self-interest rather than in the general public interest, it should give us much less confidence that government can 'correct' market failure. This complex area of economics has been

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