Economics Books

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Book SynopsisA probing exploration of what the dollar really is and how its power can be harnessed to create the shared prosperity that has always been the great promise of American democracy.

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Book SynopsisAs it has periodically for decades, Congress is again considering how or whether to regulate campaign financing. The latest iteration of the debate over which kinds of groups should be permitted to spend funds on political advertisements, and how so, was renewed on January 21st, 2010, when the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The legislative response receiving the most attention to date - and the emphasis of this book - is the DISCLOSE (Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections) Act. This book provides an overview and analysis of major policy issues addressed in the DISCLOSE Act and congressional considerations and implications of enacting or not enacting it.

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Book SynopsisThis book provides a summary and legislative history of P.L. 111-139, focusing on the features of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Act of 2010. PAYGO establishes a process intended to enforce a rule of budget neutrality on new revenue and direct spending legislation. As a budget enforcement tool, it is aimed at preventing, or at least discouraging, net deficit increases arising from the enactment of direct spending and revenue legislation. Any costs designated as emergencies are excluded from the scorecards, and significant costs associated with four specified categories of legislation may be excluded as well. The statutory PAYGO process does not address deficit increases, stemming from changes in direct spending or revenue levels, that are projected to occur under existing law.

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Book SynopsisSince late 2008, relations between the United States and South Korea have been arguably at their best state in decades. By the middle of 2010, in the view of many in the Obama Administration, South Korea had emerged as the United States'' closest ally in East Asia. This book examines U.S.-South Korea relations; the EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement and its implications for the United States; the issues surrounding the U.S.-South Korea beef dispute; the Kaesong North-South Korean Industrial complex and major policy considerations for the U.S. and South Korean co-operation in the world nuclear energy market.

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Book SynopsisThe President and leading members of Congress have stated that fundamental tax reform is a major policy objective for the 112th Congress. These policymakers have said that fundamental tax reform is needed in order to raise a large amount of additional revenue, which is necessary to reduce high forecast budget deficits and the sharply rising national debt. Congressional interest has been expressed in both a major overhaul of the U.S. tax system and the feasibility of levying a consumption tax. This book examines the federal tax structure, provides some statistics on the tax system as a whole, tax reform, and presents analysis of selected tax concepts.

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Book SynopsisAsia has entered the 21st century as an economic superpower and is inevitably also becoming a political superpower. This evolution is the subject of this continuing series which includes in its scope the entire spectrum of contemporary politics and economics of Asia. The coverage is intended to deal with Asia, its political dynamics, economic policies, institutions and its future. Topics discussed include U.S.-South Korea relations; trade promotion authority and the Korea Free Trade Agreement; China''s military modernisation efforts; U.S.-Vietnam economic and trade relations; U.S.-China trade relations and China''s currency policy.

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Book SynopsisThis book examines the economic crisis and vulnerability with reference to certain countries in East Asia. The main reason that this book focuses on Indonesia is because since 1990 until recently Indonesia has been hit by two big economic crises. The first one was a regional economic crisis in Southeast Asia during the period 1997-98. The crisis was triggered by a sudden capital flight which led to currency crisis and ended up as financial/economic crises in Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and South Korea. The second crisis was the global economic crisis in the period 2008-09. The crisis rapidly developed and spread into a global economic shock, resulting in a number of bank failures, declines in various stock indexes, and large reductions in the market value of equities and commodities.

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Book SynopsisThe past few years have seen a sharp rise in the debt of the federal government. The surge in debt stems partially from lower tax revenues and higher federal spending related to the recent severe recession and turmoil in financial markets. However, the growing debt also reflects an imbalance between spending and revenues that predated those economic developments. This book examines federal debt issues and interest costs, as well as a history of the debt limit.

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Book SynopsisThe Bureau of the Census Director''s constitutional mandate to enumerate the U.S. population every 10 years has been summarized with deceptive simplicity: count each person whose usual residence is in the United States; count the person only once and count him or her at the right location. In reality, the attempt to find all U.S. residents and correctly enumerate them is increasingly complicated, expensive and it attracts congressional scrutiny. This book discusses the major innovations that were planned for the 2010 census; problems encountered, issues of census accuracy, coverage and fairness and the present status of census operations.

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Book SynopsisThis series spans the globe presenting leading research in economics. International applications and examples of economic progress are invaluable in a troubled world with economic booms bursting like so many penny balloons. Topics discussed include regulatory governance and framework for safeguarding financial stability; home equity conversion mortgages and the elderly; GDP and world economic performance; the art of home buyer assistance; disruption management in distributed organisations; lessons learned from the real estate bubble; unemployment and active labor market intervention; corporate social responsibility and industrial economics.

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Book SynopsisThis book examines the possibility of the federal government reaching its statutory debt limit and not raising it, with a particular focus on government operations. The nature of the federal government''s debt is explained, as are the processes associated with federal borrowing, and historical events that may influence prospective actions. This book also includes an analysis of what could happen if the federal government may no longer issue debt, has exhausted alternative sources of cash, and, therefore, depends on incoming receipts or other sources of funds to provide any cash needed to liquidate federal obligations.

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Book Synopsis"China was defeated during the first Sino-Japanese war and Japan was defeated during World War II including the second Sino-Japanese war. Since then, the relationship between China and Japan has varied between good and bad. This book does not discuss various trivial disputes between China and Japan; instead it considers the real cause, which is the competition to become a Pacific Empire, which would lead to the third Sino-Japanese war and would eventually challenge the current Pacific Empire, the United States of America. Under such a circumstance, the book discusses various aspects on the third Sino-Japanese war from a Chinese viewpoint."--Publisher''s description.

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Book SynopsisThere are probably few concepts less understood, more cursed and blamed for everything imaginable, and yet perhaps result in so many outstanding developments as globalisation. Globalisation is the process of denationalisation of markets, politics and legal systems, i.e., the rise of the so-called global economy. The consequences of this political and economic restructuring on local economies, human welfare and environment are the subject of vigorous debate among businesses of all sizes, various international organisations, governmental institutions and the academic world. This book presents current research in the field of globalisation.

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Book SynopsisSince the end of the recession, the gross domestic product has grown slowly and unemployment has remained at a high level. While the economy is still recovering and in need of careful attention, there is widespread agreement on the need to look not only at the near term but also at steps that begin to change the long-term fiscal path as soon as possible without slowing the recovery. With the passage of time, the window to address the challenge narrows and the magnitude of the required changes grows. This book examines and identifies federal programs, agencies, offices, and initiatives which have duplicative goals or activities that may save tax dollars, enhance revenue and reduce the rapidly building fiscal pressures facing our national government.

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Book SynopsisThis book provides details about new and exciting ways of administering elections so that each jurisdiction can chart the future of its own system of election administration with the most information possible. States and localities will need to evaluate their own processes before any change in election administration is advisable. Alternative voting methods discussed are changing the date of the Federal Election Day, instituting a uniform poll closing time, and voter hotlines and websites.

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Book SynopsisThe electoral college system has evolved continuously since the first presidential election. Despite a number of close contests, this arrangement has selected the candidate with the most popular votes in 48 of 52 presidential elections since the current voting system was established. Three times, however, candidates were elected who won fewer popular votes than their opponents (1876, 1888, 2000). These controversial elections occurred because the system requires a majority of electoral, not popular, votes to win the presidency. This book examines the history of the electoral college, contemporary analysis and possible reform proposals.

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Book SynopsisEconomists generally acknowledge that trade liberalisation enhances the economic welfare of all trade partners, but with stiffer global competition, many firms and workers also face difficult adjustment problems. Congress has responded to these adjustment costs by authorising four trade adjustment assistance (TAA) programs to assist trade-impacted workers, firms, farmers and communities. This book examines the TAA program, which provides technical assistance to trade-affected firms to help them develop strategies and make other adjustments to remain competitive in the changing international economy.

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Book SynopsisThe choices facing the 112th Congress come at a time when the federal government''s debt has increased dramatically in the past few years and when large annual budget deficits are projected to continue indefinitely under current laws or policies. Beyond the coming decade, the ageing of the U.S. population and rising health care costs will put increasing pressure on the budget. If federal debt continues to expand faster than the economy, as it has since 2007, the growth of people''s income will slow, the share of federal spending devoted to paying interest on the debt will rise more quickly, and the risk of a fiscal crisis will increase. This book examines options that would reduce projected budget deficits covering an array of policy areas from defence to energy, to entitlement programs, to provisions of the tax code.

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Book SynopsisCentral America faces significant security challenges. Criminal threats, fragile political and judicial systems, as well as social hardships such as poverty and unemployment contribute to widespread insecurity in the region. Consequently, improving security conditions in these countries is a difficult, multifaceted endeavour. Because U.S. drug demand contributes to regional security challenges and the consequences of citizen insecurity in Central America are potentially far-reaching, the United States is collaborating with countries in the region to implement and refine security efforts. This book examines the extent of the security problems in Central America, the current efforts being undertaken by Central American governments to address them, and U.S. support for Central American efforts through the Central American Regional Security Initiative.

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Book SynopsisThis book examines the behavioral characteristics of U.S. investors wherein the primary goal is to identify common investment mistakes and to provide scholarly commentary from university professors and professionals in the fields of economics, business, finance, psychology and sociology. Insights are provided as to how investors make the initial decision to invest and why some are reluctant to invest at all. Many of the scholars cited here have made seminal contributions to the analysis of the human element of investing. Students of their work can learn much about the patterns and pitfalls associated with investor behavior.

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Book SynopsisThe United States, the third most populous country globally, accounts for about 4.5% of the world''s population. The U.S. population, currently estimated at 308.7 million persons, has more than doubled since its 1950 level of 152.3 million. More than just being double in size, the population has become qualitatively different from what it was in 1950. As noted by the Population Reference Bureau, "The U.S. is getting bigger, older, and more diverse." This book provides an overview of the inexorable demographic momentum taking place, which will have important implications for the economic and social forces shaping future societal well-being.

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Book SynopsisThe conventional wisdom is that the terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001 prompted a substantive change in U.S. immigration policy on visa issuances and the grounds for excluding foreign nationals from the United States. A series of laws enacted in the 1990s, however, may have done as much or more to set current U.S. visa policy and the legal grounds for exclusion. This book reviews the legislative developments in visa policy over the past 20 years and analysis of the statistical trends in visa issuances and denials provide a nuanced study of U.S. visa policy and the grounds for exclusion.

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Book SynopsisThe admission of refugees to the United States and their resettlement here are authorized by the immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended by the Refugee Act of 1980. The 1980 Act had two basic purposes: to provide a uniform procedure for refugee admissions and to authorize federal assistance to resettle refugees and promote their self-sufficiency. The intent of the legislation was to end an ad hoc approach to refugee admissions and resettlement that had characterized U.S. refugee policy since World War II. Under the INA, a refugee is a person who is outside his or her country and who is unable or unwilling to return because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion. This book examines the refugee admissions and assistance process with a focus on resettlement policy; economic self-sufficiency and refugee minors.

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Book SynopsisThis book presents research in the study of current politics and economics of South and Central America. Topics discussed include U.S.-Latin America trade; the proposed U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreement; agriculture in pending U.S. free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea; Mexico-U.S. relations; Argentina''s defaulted sovereign debt; politics and economic conditions of Paraguay and Uruguay; Brazil''s WTO case against the U.S. Cotton Program and gangs in Central America.

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Book SynopsisThis book presents current research in the study of the European Union (EU). Topics discussed include European Union enlargement and Turkey''s accession negotiations; maritime policy and economic performance in the European Union; The Lisbon Treat and the EU''s reform process; European parliament and climate change and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

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Book SynopsisThis book presents current research in the study of economic and political issues in Europe. Topics discussed include house price determinants in Liverpool, United Kingdom; participatory democracy and civil society''s role in governance in the perspective of the Lisbon Treaty; Transatlantic Regulatory Co-operation; long-range ballistic missile defence in Europe; current issues and updates in Greece and Bosnia and financial market supervision.

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Book SynopsisThis book presents new developments in the politics and economics of Northern and Western Asia. Topics discussed include Iran''s nuclear program and Tehran''s compliance with international obligations; the United Arab Emirates Nuclear Program and proposed U.S. nuclear cooperation; politics, elections and benchmarks in Iraq; private security contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan; U.S. relations with Qatar, Lebanon and the Palestinians; U.S. security assistance to the Palestinian authority and U.S. foreign aid to Israel.

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Book SynopsisThis book presents new developments in the politics and economics of South, South-eastern and Central Asia. Topics discussed include how enterprise risk management (ERM) could enhance shareholders'' wealth; the current state of the ERM implementation in Malaysia; household food expenditures in Central Asia; developments in Taiwan-U.S. relations; a temporal case-based procedure for cancellation forecasting; regional developments and implications for U.S. interests concerning Central Asia; U.S. relations with the Association of South-east Asian nations (ASEAN); Japan-U.S. relations and China''s political system.

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Book SynopsisThis book examines the service sector growth of both India and Malaysia. India''s service sector has grown rapidly since the 1990s. Domestic demand for services has increased as incomes have risen, triggering the expansion of industries such as banking, education and telecommunications. Exports have also increased rapidly, led by information technology and business process outsourcing (IT-BPO). India''s ability to offer low-cost, high quality IT-BPO services has made it a world leader in this industry. The growing global competitiveness of Malaysia''s service sector is reflected in steady growth in trade volumes. Malaysia''s cross-border trade in services increased at an average annual rate of 15 percent to $60.6 billion from 2004 through 2008, accounting for 13 percent of total Malaysian cross-border trade and about 1 percent of global services trade in 2008.

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