Political economy Books

Book SynopsisChina''s Economic Development, 1950-2014: Fundamental Changes and Long-Term Prospects is a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of Chinese economic development from 1950-2014 focusing on current world-wide attention to the economic reform. Chu-yuan Cheng covers a wide range of topics, including the cultural effects and ideological influences on China''s economic development; the process of China''s transition from a planned to a market economy, leadership changes and the root of the Cultural Revolution; the machine-building industry and scientific and engineering manpower in China; China''s new development plans in the twenty-first century and the process and consequence of the Quiet Revolution; the international economic relations including the U.S.-China, Sino-Japanese economic relations and access to WTO; economic relations across the Taiwan Strait and the formation of the Greater China Economic Sphere; and the long-term development prospect of the Chinese economy in the twenty-firTrade ReviewFor novices of the Chinese economy, China's Economic Development, 1950-2104 by Professor Chu-yuan Cheng is an excellent introduction that provides sound direction for further studies. For experienced readers, this is a systematic overview of Chinese economic development based on meticulous analyses and insightful interpretations. In a sense, Professor Cheng's latest book is a comprehensive summary of his own works in Chinese economics during his long academic career. It may serve as a model for senior authors who wish to present their scholarship in a similarly reflective and responsible manner. -- Cho-Yee To, University of MichiganTable of ContentsI. Ideological Background (1) Culture Factors in the Modern Economic Growth of Four East Asian Countries (2) The Originality and Creativity of Sun Yat-sen’s Doctrine and Its Relevance to the Contemporary World (3) The Economic Thought of Mao Zedong II. Process of Development: (1) China’s Transition from a Planned to a Market Economy: New Breakthroughs and Hurdles (2) Economic Development in China since the CCP 12th Party Congress (3) China’s Economy after the CCP 14th Party Congress (4) China's Economic Policies after the CCP 16th National Congress: Agenda and Challenges (5) Chinese Society in Transition (6) Leadership Changes and Economics in China III. Basic Industry and Scientific Manpower (1) Machine-building Industry in Mainland China (2) Energy Resources (3) Scientific and Engineering Manpower in China IV. The New Development Plans: (1) China’s New Development Plans Strategy, Agenda and Prospects (2) China’s Quiet Revolution. Process and Consequences (3) China’s New Deal in the 21st Century: Building a Harmonious Society. Significance and Prospect V. International Economic Relations (1) The Future Prospect of US-China Economic Relations (2) Sino - Japanese Economic Relations: Interdependence and Conflict (3) Economic Implications of China’s Access to WTO: Opportunities and Challenges VI. Economic Relations across the Taiwan Straits: (1) Economic Relations across the Taiwan Strait: Progress, Effects and Prospects (2) Economic Development on both Sides of the Taiwan Straits -- New Trends for Convergence (3) Concept and Practice of a “Greater Chinese Common Market” VII. China's Economic Comprehensive Reforms and Long-term Prospects (1) China's Economic Development Toward the 21st Century and beyond (2) China’s New Comprehensive Reform: Programs, Progress, and Prospects

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Book SynopsisThe failures of "free-market" capitalism are perhaps nowhere more evident than in the production and distribution of food. Although modern human societies have attained unprecedented levels of wealth, a significant amount of the world's population continues to suffer from hunger or food insecurity on a daily basis. In Agriculture and Food in Crisis, Fred Magdoff and Brian Tokar have assembled an exceptional collection of scholars from around the world to explore this frightening long-term trend in food production. While approaching the issue from many angles, the contributors to this volume share a focus on investigating how agricultural production is shaped by a system that is oriented around the creation of profit above all else, with food as nothing but an afterthought. As the authors make clear, it is technically possible to feed to world's people, but it is not possible to do so as long as capitalism exists. Toward that end, they examine what can be, and is being, done to create a human-centered and ecologically sound system of food production, from sustainable agriculture and organic farming on a large scale to movements for radical land reform and national food sovereignty. This book will serve as an indispensable guide to the years ahead, in which world politics will no doubt come to be increasingly understood as food politics.

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Book SynopsisA Financial Times "Best Book of 2017: Economics” 800-CEO-Read “Best Business Book of 2017: Current Events & Public Affairs” Economics is the mother tongue of public policy. It dominates our decision-making for the future, guides multi-billion-dollar investments, and shapes our responses to climate change, inequality, and other environmental and social challenges that define our times. Pity then, or more like disaster, that its fundamental ideas are centuries out of date yet are still taught in college courses worldwide and still used to address critical issues in government and business alike. That’s why it is time, says renegade economist Kate Raworth, to revise our economic thinking for the 21st century. In Doughnut Economics, she sets out seven key ways to fundamentally reframe our understanding of what economics is and does. Along the way, she points out how we can break our addiction to growth; redesign money, finance, and business to be in service to people; and create economies that are regenerative and distributive by design. Named after the now-iconic “doughnut” image that Raworth first drew to depict a sweet spot of human prosperity (an image that appealed to the Occupy Movement, the United Nations, eco-activists, and business leaders alike), Doughnut Economics offers a radically new compass for guiding global development, government policy, and corporate strategy, and sets new standards for what economic success looks like. Raworth handpicks the best emergent ideas—from ecological, behavioral, feminist, and institutional economics to complexity thinking and Earth-systems science—to address this question: How can we turn economies that need to grow, whether or not they make us thrive, into economies that make us thrive, whether or not they grow? Simple, playful, and eloquent, Doughnut Economics offers game-changing analysis and inspiration for a new generation of economic thinkers.Trade Review“I read this book with the excitement that the people of his day must have read John Maynard Keynes’s General Theory. It is brilliant, thrilling, and revolutionary. Drawing on a deep well of learning, wisdom, and deep thinking, Kate Raworth has comprehensively reframed and redrawn economics. It is entirely accessible, even for people with no knowledge of the subject. I believe that Doughnut Economics will change the world.”—George Monbiot, author; columnist at The Guardian“Raworth’s magnum opus. . . . A fascinating reminder to business leaders and economists alike to stand back at a distance to examine our modern economics."—Forbes, “Best Business Books of 2017”“An admirable attempt to broaden the horizons of economic thinking.”—Financial Times, Martin Wolf, “Best Books of 2017: Economics” “This is truly the book we’ve all been waiting for. Kate Raworth provides the antidote to neoliberal economics with her radical and ambitious vision of an economy in service to life. Given the current state of the world, we need Doughnut Economics now more than ever.”—L. Hunter Lovins, president and founder, Natural Capitalism Solutions“[A] sharp, insightful call for a shift in thinking . . . Raworth’s energetic, layperson-friendly writing makes her concept accessible as well as intriguing.”—Publishers Weekly“Can anyone seriously suppose that today’s economic orthodoxies are going to bring the world back from the brink of chaos? We need to fundamentally rethink the way we create and distribute wealth, and Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics provides an inspiring primer as to how we must now set about that challenge. I hope it ushers in a period of intense debate about the kind of economy we now so urgently need.”—Jonathon Porritt, author of The World We Made; founding director, Forum for the Future“What if it were possible to live well without trashing the planet? Doughnut Economics succinctly captures this tantalising possibility and takes up its challenge. Brimming with creativity, Raworth reclaims economics from the dust of academia and puts it to the service of a better world.”—Tim Jackson, author of Prosperity without Growth“Not long ago, well-known development economist Kate Raworth’s Doughnut graphic became an overnight sensation. Now this marvelous book clearly and succinctly explains her re-envisioning of the economy. On a bookshelf crowded with attempts to reframe economic thinking and the way forward, this book stands out—brilliantly.”—Juliet Schor, author of Plentitude“Economics rightly is under the microscope. Kate Raworth’s insightful Doughnut is what every budding economist should see when they first peer down the lens.” —John Fullerton, founder and president, Capital InstituteTable of ContentsWho wants to be an economist? 1. Change the goal from endless growth to thriving in balance 2. See the big picture from self-contained market to embedded economy 3. Nurture human nature from rational economic man to social adaptable humans 4. Get savvy with systems from mechanical equilibrium to dynamic complexity 5. Design to distribute from ‘growth will even it up’ to distributive by design 6. Create to regenerate from ‘growth will clean it up’ to regenerative by design 7. Be agnostic about growth from growth as a must to growth as a maybe not We are all economists now Annex: The Doughnut and its data Acknowledgements Notes Bibliography

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