Political economy Books

Book SynopsisEuropean integration has had many successes and failures, Brexit being one of the biggest failures. Despite the setbacks, the EU has been acquiring more functions and members and has now reached a stage where it needs to become a political adult. In this book, one of the world’s leading authorities on Europe provides a lucid and wide-ranging appraisal of contemporary European affairs – of how the EU became what it is today and the key challenges Europeans must now confront. These challenges include the search for a common foreign and security policy that will also require a more symmetrical transatlantic relationship; the search for democracy beyond the nation state; more inclusive societies; the development of the euro into a fully fledged currency; a higher degree of autonomy in high technology; and the greening of economies. In Tsoukalis’ view, what is at stake in these challenges is whether the EU can exercise effective political power in a multipolar, highly asymmetrical and increasingly unstable world, and whether it can find a workable relationship between global markets and domestic social contracts. Willing and able countries should lead the way. The stakes are high – and not just for Europe. A declining and marginalized Europe would not be able to defend fundamental interests and values, including freedom and security for its citizens. And the world would greatly benefit from the moderating influence of a regional power that operates on the basis of broad consensus and compromise. This bold and ambitious book, based on extensive experience of European affairs, will be of value to anyone interested in Europe and its future as well as anyone concerned with the great political challenges of our time.Trade Review‘A vision of the EU's future based on lucid analysis without concessions but all imbued with a strong belief in the European project. This is the approach of one of the best experts on the Union, Loukas Tsoukalis, an engaged spectator. War and climate are creating a new world. The EU must be given the means to preserve and deepen its unique model. We are too dependent on others today to play a full geopolitical role. The EU must protect people better and make them stronger. We need more democracy and more leadership. I wholeheartedly agree with all these messages.’Herman van Rompuy, Emeritus President of the European Council ‘There are two reasons why this book is a masterpiece. The first is that no scholar can, better than Loukas Tsoukalis, make sense of the complex intertwining between European and national debates. The second is that a deep understanding of these debates requires both economic and political culture. Experience and depth are called for, and he has both.’Jean Pisani-Ferry, Sciences Po, Paris / EUI, Florence / Bruegel, Brussels / PIIE, Washington DC ‘This book is the story of a lifelong love affair. Loukas Tsoukalis is not unaware of how far from perfection is the object of his affections – the EU. But he does show how and why its creation and subsequent development have been not only essential, but also successful. It is a pity that so many in the UK fail to understand these great truths.’Martin Wolf, Financial Times ‘One of the most knowledgeable people about, and clearest writers on, the European Union sets out, in characteristically forthright and highly readable fashion, the challenges facing the Union, and how it should best respond to them. A must read for anyone who claims to be informed about the EU.’Anand Menon, King’s College London, Director of UK in a Changing Europe‘Loukas' book is a brilliant reminder of all that a united Europe still must do. Every informed pro-European should read it.’The Progressive Post'Loukas Tsoukalis’s latest book assembles together the analyses, observations and personal experiences of a European citizen who has minutely researched European construction… Tsoukalis offers a gripping read which holds the reader’s interest page after page… remarkable pedagogical quality, excellent writing, the sharing of personal experiences and a rigour which does not sacrifice humour. Scholars of Europe will read this book with delight, while students will come to see it as a definitive text which clarifies and illuminates the obscurities of a political system which emerged through an unplanned process of incremental sedimentation'Revue française de science politique, Yves Mény, Emeritus President, European University Institute, Florence‘Traversing issues from migration and economic crises to Brexit and the war in Ukraine, Tsoukalis’s rich analysis will be of interest to anyone concerned with Europe’s history and future.'LSE Review of Books‘Tsoukalis has a gift for summarizing complex economic issues for the general reader, and he is clear about the problems that he sees ahead'Mark Mazower, The Nation“Europe’s Coming of Age is a well-written book, presenting an insightful overview of the challenges facing Europe today, and will be particularly engaging for non-academics interested in European politics.”Journal of Common Market StudiesTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction Declaration of Intent PART ONE. Extracts from a Diary on the European Journey 1 When Everything Seemed Possible 2 Learning from Crises 3 The Ability to Surprise 4 When the Facts Change PART TWO: Main Challenges and Choices 5 How Many Presidents and Crises for the Euro? 6 ‘That’s Your Bloody GDP, Not Ours’ 7 Digital Laggard and Green Pioneer 8 Defending Common Interests – Against Whom? 9 Delivering the Goods: Elites and Democracy 10 Who Needs Europe, and What For? Notes

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Book SynopsisMoney is mysterious. We love it, we hate it, but few people can tell you what the heck it really is. Wouldn't it be good to get out of the fog? This book will help you understand both the way money works and how to leverage its power. The authors take you on an illuminating journey from your piggy bank to the Federal Reserve with no pesky jargon or complex math. Once you see money clearly, life will never be the same. You'll know what really goes on in banks and what the cash in your wallet represents. You'll know how government really spends and why it can’t run out of money. You'll know what money can actually do — and how we can make it work for us.Trade Review“BRILLIANT!! Tally-ho!”James K. Galbraith, The University of Texas at Austin“This short illustrated book contains more wisdom on money than all the textbooks in the world.”Steve Keen, author of The New Economics: A Manifesto“Economics can be intimidating, but this book provides an excellent introduction for high school students.”Rose Rodriguez, retired teacher, Modesto School DistrictTable of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1. Money: An Introduction Chapter 2. Money: An Origins Story Chapter 3. Money: The Story of Redemption Chapter 4. Currency: The Government’s Money Chapter 5. Can Government Run Out of Currency? Chapter 6. Anyone Can Create Money? Chapter 7. Private Bank Money Chapter 8. The Central Bank’s Money: Lender of Last Resort Chapter 9. Central Bank Money: Government Finance Chapter 10. Government’s Debt is Our Asset Chapter 11. Money as Scorekeeping Chapter 12. Rise of the Winners-Take-All Economy Chapter 13. The Way Forward: We Take Care of our Own

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Book SynopsisAn outline of all the contracted obligations of former recognized Chinese governments and China's potential financial capacity.

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Book SynopsisToday, the word “neoliberal” is used to describe an epochal shift toward market-oriented governance begun in the 1970s. Yet the roots of many of neoliberalism’s policy tools can be traced to the ideas and practices of mid-twentieth-century liberalism. In Illusions of Progress, Brent Cebul chronicles the rise of what he terms “supply-side liberalism,” a powerful and enduring orientation toward politics and the economy, race and poverty, that united local chambers of commerce, liberal policymakers and economists, and urban and rural economic planners. Beginning in the late 1930s, New Dealers tied expansive aspirations for social and, later, racial progress to a variety of economic development initiatives. In communities across the country, otherwise conservative business elites administered liberal public works, urban redevelopment, and housing programs. But by binding national visions of progress to the local interests of capital, liberals often entrenched the very inequalities of power and opportunity they imagined their programs solving. When President Lyndon Johnson launched the War on Poverty—which prioritized direct partnerships with poor and racially marginalized citizens—businesspeople, Republicans, and soon, a rising generation of New Democrats sought to rein in its seeming excesses by reinventing and redeploying many of the policy tools and commitments pioneered on liberalism’s supply side: public-private partnerships, market-oriented solutions, fiscal “realism,” and, above all, subsidies for business-led growth now promised to blunt, and perhaps ultimately replace, programs for poor and marginalized Americans. In this wide-ranging book, Brent Cebul illuminates the often-overlooked structures of governance, markets, and public debt through which America’s warring political ideologies have been expressed and transformed. From Washington, D.C. to the declining Rustbelt and emerging Sunbelt and back again, Illusions of Progress reveals the centrality of public and private forms of profit that have defined the enduring boundaries of American politics, opportunity, and inequality— in an era of liberal ascendance and an age of neoliberal retrenchment.Trade Review"Countering the scholarly and popular tendency to sharply segment American political economy between New Deal and neoliberalized 'orders,' Cebul makes the case that, with certain modifications, supply-side progressivism was the throughline that bridged the policies, strategies, and ultimate convictions of most New Deal liberals and their New Democrat heirs." * Phenomenal World *"An immeasurably valuable resource for understanding both the historical achievements and the profound historical failures of American liberalism—an understanding that is needed if liberalism is to be reinvented in the present day." * Public Seminar *"Illusions of Progress offers a new and incisive view of the enormous transformations in American liberalism from the New Deal to the New Democrats of the late 1990s and beyond. Cutting through old assumptions about liberal largesse as well as new theories that neoliberalism has supplanted all pretense of the welfare state, Brent Cebul introduces the notion of “supply-side liberalism” to examine the United States’ peculiar approach to pressing social issues by wedding public policy to private enterprise. Cebul’s book provides crucial insights and analysis into contemporary debates over the role of the state in the provision of social goods and services." * Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author of Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership *"Illusions of Progress is a remarkable book—wide-ranging, theoretically powerful, and a striking intervention in historical thinking about the twentieth-century United States. Brent Cebul's interpretation and his emphasis on the role of local business elites in making postwar liberalism what it was offers a new way of thinking about liberalism, conservatism, and neoliberalism, and much else besides." * Kim Phillips-Fein, author of Fear City: New York's Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics *"In Illusions of Progress, Brent Cebul provides a deeply researched, revisionist history of Democratic policymaking from the New Dealers to the New Democrats of the 1990s. It is an important contribution to our understanding of the origins of neoliberalism in the United States." * Joseph Crespino, author of Strom Thurmond’s America: A History *

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Book SynopsisA groundbreaking consideration of death from capitalism, from the seventeenth to the twenty-first centuryFrom a 2013 Texas fertilizer plant explosion that killed fifteen people and injured 252 to a 2017 chemical disaster in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, we are confronted all too often with industrial accidents that reflect the underlying attitude of corporations toward the lives of laborers and others who live and work in their companies’ shadows. Dead Labor takes seriously the myriad ways in which bodies are commodified and profits derived from premature death. In doing so it provides a unique perspective on our understanding how life and death drive the twenty-first-century global economy.James Tyner tracks a history from the 1600s through which premature death and mortality became something calculable, predictable, manageable, and even profitable. Drawing on a range of examples, including the criminalization of migrant labor, medical tourism, life insurance, and health care, he explores how today we can no longer presume that all bodies undergo the same processes of life, death, fertility, and mortality. He goes on to develop the concept of shared mortality among vulnerable populations and examines forms of capital exploitation that have emerged around death and the reproduction of labor. Positioned at the intersection of two fields—the political economy of labor and the philosophy of mortality—Dead Labor builds on Marx’s notion that death (and truncated life) is a constant factor in the processes of labor. Considering premature death also as a biopolitical and bioeconomic concept, Tyner shows how racialized and gendered bodies are exposed to it in unbalanced ways within capitalism, and how bodies are then commodified, made surplus and redundant, and even disassembled in order to accumulate capital.Trade Review"We know that many workers must sell their labor power in order to live. James Tyner reminds us that many of them will die doing so. He forces us to think again on what exploitation really means: capitalism kills—not metaphorically, but really kills. And it does not kill just anybody, but those whose deaths promise a higher return than their lives. Important and profoundly unsettling, Dead Labor is proof that political economy can be gut-wrenching." —Geoff Mann, author of In the Long Run We Are All Dead: Keynesianism, Political Economy, and Revolution "James Tyner has pushed a complicated set of ideas with clarifying precision and helped to embody the valuation of life and death through this sophisticated and timely book. That premature death is so abundantly on display in the 21st century means this book should be required reading for anybody interested in the political economy of life itself." —Nik Heynen, University of Georgia"Tyner brings the political economy of premature death into the 21st century. Tyner looks at over 400 years of exploitation of labor—specifically through the study of premature deaths of the vulnerable and marginalized—to lay out a persuasive argument that capitalism not only exploits labor but actually kills people. Tyner posits that we need to define life not only as biological but as an economic commodity that certain people and corporations get to manage for the sake of profit."—CHOICE"Dead Labor is a fluent, accessible and illuminating read, and will be of interest to scholars of labour, health, borders and carcerality. One hopes that it will stimulate discussion beyond the American context of the complicated network of social relations which sustain the devaluation of life under capitalism."—LSE Review of Books"The book raises an important point: the capitalist profit imperative overrides concerns of health and wellbeing of workers, and capitalism causes unnecessary and avoidable premature death."—Environment and Urbanization"This short book is about businesses profiting by truncating lives, turning workers into human capital in a more literal fashion than even Becker imagined."—Labour History"Tyner offers a cohesive overview of the hellish near-future of necrocapitalism. The aspirational nature of the project is evident in the book’s sub‐title, but this compact work points the way to several avenues of further inquiry into precarity and premature death under advanced capitalism."—H-Net Reviews"Anyone interested in political economy, historical materialism, biopolitics, and capitalism would do well to read this book."—Anthropology of Work Review Table of ContentsContentsPreface1. Living Labor2. Commodified Labor3. Surplus Labor4. Redundant Labor5. Disassembled BodiesPostscript: From Premature Death to Truncated LifeAcknowledgmentsNotes

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Book SynopsisA groundbreaking consideration of death from capitalism, from the seventeenth to the twenty-first centuryFrom a 2013 Texas fertilizer plant explosion that killed fifteen people and injured 252 to a 2017 chemical disaster in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, we are confronted all too often with industrial accidents that reflect the underlying attitude of corporations toward the lives of laborers and others who live and work in their companies’ shadows. Dead Labor takes seriously the myriad ways in which bodies are commodified and profits derived from premature death. In doing so it provides a unique perspective on our understanding how life and death drive the twenty-first-century global economy.James Tyner tracks a history from the 1600s through which premature death and mortality became something calculable, predictable, manageable, and even profitable. Drawing on a range of examples, including the criminalization of migrant labor, medical tourism, life insurance, and health care, he explores how today we can no longer presume that all bodies undergo the same processes of life, death, fertility, and mortality. He goes on to develop the concept of shared mortality among vulnerable populations and examines forms of capital exploitation that have emerged around death and the reproduction of labor. Positioned at the intersection of two fields—the political economy of labor and the philosophy of mortality—Dead Labor builds on Marx’s notion that death (and truncated life) is a constant factor in the processes of labor. Considering premature death also as a biopolitical and bioeconomic concept, Tyner shows how racialized and gendered bodies are exposed to it in unbalanced ways within capitalism, and how bodies are then commodified, made surplus and redundant, and even disassembled in order to accumulate capital.Trade Review"We know that many workers must sell their labor power in order to live. James Tyner reminds us that many of them will die doing so. He forces us to think again on what exploitation really means: capitalism kills—not metaphorically, but really kills. And it does not kill just anybody, but those whose deaths promise a higher return than their lives. Important and profoundly unsettling, Dead Labor is proof that political economy can be gut-wrenching." —Geoff Mann, author of In the Long Run We Are All Dead: Keynesianism, Political Economy, and Revolution "James Tyner has pushed a complicated set of ideas with clarifying precision and helped to embody the valuation of life and death through this sophisticated and timely book. That premature death is so abundantly on display in the 21st century means this book should be required reading for anybody interested in the political economy of life itself." —Nik Heynen, University of Georgia"Tyner brings the political economy of premature death into the 21st century. Tyner looks at over 400 years of exploitation of labor—specifically through the study of premature deaths of the vulnerable and marginalized—to lay out a persuasive argument that capitalism not only exploits labor but actually kills people. Tyner posits that we need to define life not only as biological but as an economic commodity that certain people and corporations get to manage for the sake of profit."—CHOICE"Dead Labor is a fluent, accessible and illuminating read, and will be of interest to scholars of labour, health, borders and carcerality. One hopes that it will stimulate discussion beyond the American context of the complicated network of social relations which sustain the devaluation of life under capitalism."—LSE Review of Books"The book raises an important point: the capitalist profit imperative overrides concerns of health and wellbeing of workers, and capitalism causes unnecessary and avoidable premature death."—Environment and Urbanization"This short book is about businesses profiting by truncating lives, turning workers into human capital in a more literal fashion than even Becker imagined."—Labour History"Tyner offers a cohesive overview of the hellish near-future of necrocapitalism. The aspirational nature of the project is evident in the book’s sub‐title, but this compact work points the way to several avenues of further inquiry into precarity and premature death under advanced capitalism."—H-Net Reviews"Anyone interested in political economy, historical materialism, biopolitics, and capitalism would do well to read this book."—Anthropology of Work Review Table of ContentsContentsPreface1. Living Labor2. Commodified Labor3. Surplus Labor4. Redundant Labor5. Disassembled BodiesPostscript: From Premature Death to Truncated LifeAcknowledgmentsNotes

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Book SynopsisA collection of previously untranslated writings by Henri Lefebvre on rural sociology, situating his research in relation to wider Marxist workOn the Rural is the first English collection to translate Lefebvre’s crucial but lesser-known writings on rural sociology and political economy, presenting a wide-ranging approach to understanding the historical and rural sociology of precapitalist social forms, their endurance today, and conditions of dispossession and uneven development. In On the Rural, Stuart Elden and Adam David Morton present Lefebvre’s key works on rural questions, including the first half of his book Du rural à l’urbain and supplementary texts, two of which are largely unknown conference presentations published outside France. On the Rural offers methodological orientations for addressing questions of economy, sociology, and geography by deploying insights from spatial political economy to decipher the rural as a terrain and stake of capitalist transformation. By doing so, it reveals the production of the rural as a key site of capitalist development and as a space of struggle. This volume delivers a careful translation—supplemented with extensive notes and a substantive introduction—to cement Lefebvre’s central contribution to the political economy of rural sociology and geography. Trade Review"On the Rural is a remarkable collection. Lefebvre wrote as a historian, a sociologist, a geographer, a political-economist, and a philosopher. This makes for challenging reading at times but there are also brilliant passages that will goad readers on to the next page. "—Cleveland Review of BooksTable of ContentsFrom the Rural to the Urban and the Production of SpaceStuart Elden and Adam David MortonNotes on TranslationAcknowledgments1. Introduction to From the Rural to the Urban (1969)2. Problems of Rural Sociology: The Peasant Community and its Historical-Sociological Problems (1949)3. Social Classes in Rural Areas: Tuscany and the mezzadria classica (1950)4. Perspectives on Rural Sociology (1953)5. Social Relations, Population Phenomena, and Labor Problems in the Agricultural Sector of Underdeveloped Countries (1954)6. The Village Community (1956)7. The Theory of Ground Rent and Rural Sociology (1956)8. The Marxist–Leninist Theory of Ground Rent (1964)9. Introduction to the Psychosociology of Everyday Life (1960)10. The New Urban Complex: Lacq-Mourenx and the Urban Problems of the New Working Class (1960)11. Experimental Utopia: For a New Urbanism (1961)12. The Valley of Campan: A Study in Historical Sociology (1963)Publication HistoryIndex

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Book SynopsisA groundbreaking feminist perspective on Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) rule in Bolivia and the country’s radical transformation under Evo Morales The presidency of Evo Morales in Bolivia (2006–2019) has produced considerable academic scholarship, much of it focused on indigenous social movements or extractivism, and often triumphalist about the successes of Morales’s Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS). Turning a new lens on the movement, Cash, Clothes, and Construction presents the first gender-based analysis of “pluri-economy,” a central pillar of Bolivia’s program under Morales, evaluating the potential of this vision of “an economy where all economies fit” to embrace feminist critiques of capitalism and economic diversity. Based on more than twelve years of empirical research exploring the remarkable transformations in Bolivia since 2006, this book focuses on three sectors—finance, clothing, and construction—in which indigenous women have defied gendered expectations. Kate Maclean presents detailed case studies of women selling secondhand high street clothes from the United States in the vast, peri-urban markets of Bolivian cities; Aymaran designers of new pollera (traditional Andean dress) fashions, one of whom exhibited her collection in New York City; and the powerful and rich chola paceña, whose real estate investments have transformed the cultural maps of La Paz and El Alto. Cash, Clothes, and Construction offers a gendered analysis of the mission of MAS to dismantle neoliberalism and decolonize politics and economy from the perspective of the Indigenous women who have radically transformed Bolivia’s economy from the ground up. Trade Review "At times, it feels like the global capitalist system is the only way to organize the urban economy, but in this exciting book, Kate Maclean offers absorbing insight into a place where quite different economic worlds are enacted. Based on in-depth research conducted over many years, this book constitutes a timely intervention into the entangled workings of economic plurality, cultural power, and urban change." —Julie Cupples, University of Edinburgh

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Book SynopsisA groundbreaking feminist perspective on Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) rule in Bolivia and the country’s radical transformation under Evo Morales The presidency of Evo Morales in Bolivia (2006–2019) has produced considerable academic scholarship, much of it focused on indigenous social movements or extractivism, and often triumphalist about the successes of Morales’s Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS). Turning a new lens on the movement, Cash, Clothes, and Construction presents the first gender-based analysis of “pluri-economy,” a central pillar of Bolivia’s program under Morales, evaluating the potential of this vision of “an economy where all economies fit” to embrace feminist critiques of capitalism and economic diversity. Based on more than twelve years of empirical research exploring the remarkable transformations in Bolivia since 2006, this book focuses on three sectors—finance, clothing, and construction—in which indigenous women have defied gendered expectations. Kate Maclean presents detailed case studies of women selling secondhand high street clothes from the United States in the vast, peri-urban markets of Bolivian cities; Aymaran designers of new pollera (traditional Andean dress) fashions, one of whom exhibited her collection in New York City; and the powerful and rich chola paceña, whose real estate investments have transformed the cultural maps of La Paz and El Alto. Cash, Clothes, and Construction offers a gendered analysis of the mission of MAS to dismantle neoliberalism and decolonize politics and economy from the perspective of the Indigenous women who have radically transformed Bolivia’s economy from the ground up. Trade Review "At times, it feels like the global capitalist system is the only way to organize the urban economy, but in this exciting book, Kate Maclean offers absorbing insight into a place where quite different economic worlds are enacted. Based on in-depth research conducted over many years, this book constitutes a timely intervention into the entangled workings of economic plurality, cultural power, and urban change." —Julie Cupples, University of Edinburgh

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Book SynopsisIn an era of post-globalization, the global political economy needs restructuring. This textbook examines the challenges facing the world economy as a result of climate change and social and economic inequality, and provides future-oriented solutions to them. Andersson presents and explains key concepts from Global Political Economy to show how to design and analyse potential reconstructions of the economic system. With a comprehensive exploration of the different ideological pathways that change might take, and taking account of gender, race and class, the author expertly guides the reader through thematic chapters, including: • the political economy of everyday life; • the regulation of global trade; • post-development; • the production of global value chains; • financial markets. This book will help readers see that global economic change is possible and support clear thinking about a global future that is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable.Table of ContentsChange Is Possible and Necessary; The Political Economy of Everyday Life; Markets Are What We Make Them; Trade Constructs; What Development?; Financial Markets and the Future; Globalized Production; Do Not Waste a Crisis.

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Book SynopsisIn an era of post-globalization, the global political economy needs restructuring. This textbook examines the challenges facing the world economy as a result of climate change and social and economic inequality, and provides future-oriented solutions to them. Andersson presents and explains key concepts from Global Political Economy to show how to design and analyse potential reconstructions of the economic system. With a comprehensive exploration of the different ideological pathways that change might take, and taking account of gender, race and class, the author expertly guides the reader through thematic chapters, including: • the political economy of everyday life; • the regulation of global trade; • post-development; • the production of global value chains; • financial markets. This book will help readers see that global economic change is possible and support clear thinking about a global future that is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable.Table of ContentsChange Is Possible and Necessary; The Political Economy of Everyday Life; Markets Are What We Make Them; Trade Constructs; What Development?; Financial Markets and the Future; Globalized Production; Do Not Waste a Crisis.

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Book Synopsis“This is a book you should read, for understanding what went wrong in the past is our only hope of doing better in the future?” - Paul Krugman, Nobel prize-winner Why did governments adopt austerity policies, and why were they so harmful? Why did the media largely ignore the experts who opposed these policies, and allow politicians to get away with lies? And why did voters choose Brexit when the economic consensus was that it would harm living standards? Simon Wren-Lewis, winner of the SPERI/New Statesman Prize for Political Economy, is one of Britain's most respected economists. Since 2012, his widely-read Mainly Macro blog has been an influential resource for policymakers, academics and social commentators around the world. This book presents some of his most important work, telling the story of how the damaging political and economic events of recent years became inevitable.Trade Review"We tend to agonise over the new forms of darkness unleashed by the internet. But we must also remember the points of intense light it has also allowed into our intellectual lives. Of those lanterns of enlightenment, few shine brighter than Simon Wren-Lewis' blog." Ben Chu, Economics Editor of The Independent"Since the financial crisis, Simon Wren-Lewis' pioneering blog has been essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the economics, and crucially the politics, of austerity and Brexit." Jonathan Portes, Kings College London"The book is particularly useful in understanding the role of the media. There are good observations on false balance …truth, and newspaper bias. It’s the kind of thing I’d have liked to have discussed during my journalism degree, and I hope it is finding its way onto reading lists for economics and media students." Make Wealth History"A very exciting book based on Wren-Lewis's blog that has captivated audiences across the globe since 2011…. compulsive reading on issues that will shape the British economy and politics for years to come." Gulcin Ozkan, University of York"Simon Wren-Lewis might just be Britain's answer to Paul Krugman. He writes with clarity, authority and no small amount of anger, and I have learned a lot reading and thinking about what he has to say." Tim Harford, The Undercover Economist"Simon Wren-Lewis's blog Mainly Macro already has a legendary status and a cult following. If you don't know it, read these collected posts and then follow the blog regularly; even if you do know it, read these collected posts and admire once again the analytical power and cumulative force of his take on the political economy of the UK and the country's fateful embrace of Brexit." Tony Payne, Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI)"Readers of this book will swiftly learn why Simon Wren-Lewis has become such an important and influential blogger. In it, he skewers the falsehoods used to justify premature austerity and other blunders. Read and weep." Martin Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times"Crisply-written and controversial, this book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys a challenge both to their own comfortable preconceptions and to the media's conventional wisdom." Tim Bale, Professor of Politics, Queen Mary University of London"Simon Wren-Lewis is the rare economist of both the science and the craft of his field. In this exemplary collection of his blog-writings, Wren-Lewis shows how economic theory, evidence, and sound judgement can be combined to produce good economic policy. Unfortunately, austerity policies, which Wren-Lewis opposed from the beginning, shared none of those features. This is an admirable and accessible guide to where macroeconomic policy in Britain (and elsewhere) has gone wrong in the last decade." Dani Rodrik, Harvard UniversityTable of ContentsPreface – Paul Krugman; Introduction; The Macroeconomics of UK Austerity; Eurozone; The Consequences of Austerity; The 2015 UK General Election; The Transformation of the Labour Party; Brexit; The Media, Economics and Electing Donald Trump; Economists and Policy Making; From Neoliberalism to Plutocracy; Conclusions.

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Book SynopsisThis accessible introductory text explains the political, economic and religious developments since the formation of the Islamic Republic in 1979 and provides an analysis of the domestic politics of Iran. It identifies the ways in which the country, often imagined as ‘isolated’, is actually integrated into the global capitalist economy. It also explains the often-heated relationship of the regional powerhouse with the outside world, especially with West Asian neighbours and the United States. Both rigorous and readable, the book covers: • Iran’s unusual path of capitalist development; • The relationship between politics and religion in what is known as ‘God’s Kingdom’; • The international and domestic factors that shape Iranian politics and society. Assuming no prior knowledge, this book is an ideal starting point for students and general readers looking for a thought-provoking introduction to contemporary Iran.Table of ContentsIntroduction Capitalist Development in Iran: Continuity and Change Oil, State, Power and Economy Islam, Politics and Power in Transition: Prologue to the 1979 Revolution Revolution: Theories and Practices State and Political Forces in Post-Revolutionary Iran The Dynamics of US–Iran Relations: Background, Evolution and Consequences Regional Influence and Ambitions Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThis accessible introductory text explains the political, economic and religious developments since the formation of the Islamic Republic in 1979 and provides an analysis of the domestic politics of Iran. It identifies the ways in which the country, often imagined as ‘isolated’, is actually integrated into the global capitalist economy. It also explains the often-heated relationship of the regional powerhouse with the outside world, especially with West Asian neighbours and the United States. Both rigorous and readable, the book covers: • Iran’s unusual path of capitalist development; • The relationship between politics and religion in what is known as ‘God’s Kingdom’; • The international and domestic factors that shape Iranian politics and society. Assuming no prior knowledge, this book is an ideal starting point for students and general readers looking for a thought-provoking introduction to contemporary Iran.Table of ContentsIntroduction Capitalist Development in Iran: Continuity and Change Oil, State, Power and Economy Islam, Politics and Power in Transition: Prologue to the 1979 Revolution Revolution: Theories and Practices State and Political Forces in Post-Revolutionary Iran The Dynamics of US–Iran Relations: Background, Evolution and Consequences Regional Influence and Ambitions Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThis agenda-setting book shows how freedom of movement has made the integration of Europe’s labour markets a contentious issue, for example in the aftermath of the eurocrisis, where workers had to make great sacrifices to enable the currency area to function. It argues that the process of market integration in Europe has undermined the power and influence of European workers and generated significant human costs. In starting from the position of labour, this book offers an alternative approach which balances the needs of justice and efficiency. With appeal across a wide range of readers interested in economic integration, it provides lessons for policymakers in how to integrate Europe’s member states to better protect workers and citizens.Table of ContentsI. A New Approach 1. Belaboured Europe 2. The Uniqueness of Labour 3. An Optimum Labour Area? II. Starting Points 4. From the Beginning 5. A Multitude of Labour Markets III. Adjustment Mechanisms 6. The Demise of Member State Policy Autonomy 7. Europe to the Rescue? 8. Money and People on the Move IV. Results 9. The Power of Labour 10. Reducing Workaway

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Book SynopsisThe COVID-19 pandemic is a Rorschach test for society: everyone sees something different in it, and the range of political and economic responses to the crisis can leave us feeling overwhelmed. This book cuts through the confusion, dissecting the new post-coronavirus capitalism into several policy areas and spheres of action to inform academic, policy and public discourse. Covering all the major aspects of contemporary capitalism that have been affected by the pandemic, Andreas Nölke deftly analyses the impacts of the crisis on our socio-economic and political systems. Signposting a new era for global capitalism, he offers alternatives for future economic development in the wake of COVID-19.Table of Contents1. Introduction: Confronting a Multidimensional Crisis of Capitalism Part 1: Capitalism and Society 2. Health Systems: Private or Public? 3. Welfare State: Restoration or Universal Basic Income? 4. Reproductive Work: Positive Re-evaluation or the Same Old Neglect? 5. Gendered Occupations: Equality or Back to Traditional Patterns? 6. Migration: Closed Borders or Open Doors? 7. Inequality: Increase or Reduction? Part 2: Domestic Institutions of Capitalism on the Demand Side 8. Monetary Policy: Democratic or Technocratic? 9. Fiscal Policy: Absolute Ceiling or no Limits to Deficit Spending? 10. Tax Policy: Conventional or Unconventional Measures? 11. Industrial Policy: Laissez-faire or State Leadership? Part 3: Domestic Institutions of Capitalism on the Supply Side 12. Corporate Governance: Public Responsibility or Shareholder Value? 13. Finance: Fragile or Stable? 14. Industrial Relations and Training: Strengthening or Weakening of Unions? 15. Innovation: Frugal or Radical? 16. Competition Policy: Economic Concentration as Vice or Virtue? Part 4: The International Institutions of Capitalism 17. Global Production Networks: Diversification or Reshoring? 18. Foreign Direct Investment: Promotion or Restriction? 19. Investor–State Dispute Settlement: Business as Usual or Moratorium? 20. Trade Policy: Liberalism or Protectionism? 21. Intellectual Property Rights: Global Commons for Vaccines or Private Property? 22. Global Health Governance: Intergovernmental or Private–Public Networks? 23. Foreign Debt in the Global South: Permanent Write-off or Temporary Relief? Part 5: Anthropocene Capitalism 24. Climate Change: Cheap Dirty Energy or Green New Deal? 25. Degrowth: Necessity or Fantasy? 26. Agriculture: Global Supply Chains or Local Community Support? Part 6: Geo-economic Shifts in Global Capitalism 27. China–US Struggle for Global Economic Hegemony: Contender or Incumbent? 28. EU Economic Governance: Erosion or Integration? 29. The Political Economy of Security: Less or More Protection? Part 7: Ideologies in Contemporary Capitalism 30. Authoritarian or Democratic Capitalism? 31. Liberal or Organized Capitalism? 32. Communitarian or Cosmopolitan Capitalism? 33. Conclusion: Competing Visions of Capitalism and their Perspectives

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Book SynopsisThe COVID-19 pandemic is a Rorschach test for society: everyone sees something different in it, and the range of political and economic responses to the crisis can leave us feeling overwhelmed. This book cuts through the confusion, dissecting the new post-coronavirus capitalism into several policy areas and spheres of action to inform academic, policy and public discourse. Covering all the major aspects of contemporary capitalism that have been affected by the pandemic, Andreas Nölke deftly analyses the impacts of the crisis on our socio-economic and political systems. Signposting a new era for global capitalism, he offers alternatives for future economic development in the wake of COVID-19.Table of Contents1. Introduction: Confronting a Multidimensional Crisis of Capitalism Part 1: Capitalism and Society 2. Health Systems: Private or Public? 3. Welfare State: Restoration or Universal Basic Income? 4. Reproductive Work: Positive Re-evaluation or the Same Old Neglect? 5. Gendered Occupations: Equality or Back to Traditional Patterns? 6. Migration: Closed Borders or Open Doors? 7. Inequality: Increase or Reduction? Part 2: Domestic Institutions of Capitalism on the Demand Side 8. Monetary Policy: Democratic or Technocratic? 9. Fiscal Policy: Absolute Ceiling or no Limits to Deficit Spending? 10. Tax Policy: Conventional or Unconventional Measures? 11. Industrial Policy: Laissez-faire or State Leadership? Part 3: Domestic Institutions of Capitalism on the Supply Side 12. Corporate Governance: Public Responsibility or Shareholder Value? 13. Finance: Fragile or Stable? 14. Industrial Relations and Training: Strengthening or Weakening of Unions? 15. Innovation: Frugal or Radical? 16. Competition Policy: Economic Concentration as Vice or Virtue? Part 4: The International Institutions of Capitalism 17. Global Production Networks: Diversification or Reshoring? 18. Foreign Direct Investment: Promotion or Restriction? 19. Investor–State Dispute Settlement: Business as Usual or Moratorium? 20. Trade Policy: Liberalism or Protectionism? 21. Intellectual Property Rights: Global Commons for Vaccines or Private Property? 22. Global Health Governance: Intergovernmental or Private–Public Networks? 23. Foreign Debt in the Global South: Permanent Write-off or Temporary Relief? Part 5: Anthropocene Capitalism 24. Climate Change: Cheap Dirty Energy or Green New Deal? 25. Degrowth: Necessity or Fantasy? 26. Agriculture: Global Supply Chains or Local Community Support? Part 6: Geo-economic Shifts in Global Capitalism 27. China–US Struggle for Global Economic Hegemony: Contender or Incumbent? 28. EU Economic Governance: Erosion or Integration? 29. The Political Economy of Security: Less or More Protection? Part 7: Ideologies in Contemporary Capitalism 30. Authoritarian or Democratic Capitalism? 31. Liberal or Organized Capitalism? 32. Communitarian or Cosmopolitan Capitalism? 33. Conclusion: Competing Visions of Capitalism and their Perspectives

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Book SynopsisLuck greatly influences a person’s quality of life. Yet little of our politics looks at how institutions can amplify good or bad luck that widens social inequality. But societies can change their fortune. Too often debates about inequality focus on the accuracy of data or modelling while missing the greater point about ethics and exploitation. In the wake of growing disparity between the 1% and other classes, this book combines philosophical insights with social theory to offer a much-needed political economy of life chances. Timcke advances new thought on the role luck plays in redistributive justice in 21st century capitalism.Table of Contents1. Introduction 2. The Egalitarian Turn in Liberalism 3. Where Liberalism Falls Short 4. The Problem of Contingency 5. Accounting for Uncertain Opportunities 6. A Social Analysis of Institutional Luck 7. Markets are Not Morally Neutral 8. Conclusion: The Tasks of Engaged Liberal Social Theory

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Book SynopsisIs the European Union (EU) in a state of crisis? Over recent years, a series of systemic and spontaneous challenges, including Brexit, the rise of Euroscepticism and the Eurozone and refugee crises, have manifested in landmark moments for European integration. First published as a special issue of the journal Global Discourse, this edited collection investigates whether these crises are isolated phenomena or symptoms of a deeper malaise across the EU. Experts from across disciplines analyse and rethink the forces which pull Europeans together, as well as those which push them apart.Table of Contents1. The Limits of EUrope – Russell Foster and Jan Grzymski Part 1: De-Europeanisation Theory 2. De-Europeanisation after Brexit: Narrowing and Shallowing – William Outhwaite 3. Theorising the EU in Crisis: De-Europeanisation as Disintegration – Ben Rosamond 4. What Are the Driving Forces of Disintegration? A Response to Rosamond and Outhwaite – Christoph O. Meyer 5. Comments on Rosamond and Outhwaite: European Disintegration – Pierre Vimont 6. How Not to Talk about Europe – Alex Callinicos 7. A Response to William Outhwaite – David Spence Part 2: Limits to European Identity and Memory 8. ‘Cry God for Harry, England, and Saint George’: Europe and the Limits of Integrating Identity – Russell Foster 9. A Response to Russell Foster – John Mills 10. What does Self-Determination Mean Today? The Resurgence of Nationalism and European Integration in Question – Gerard Delanty 11. Comments on Gerard Delanty’s Chapter ‘What Does Self-Determination Mean Today? The Resurgence of Nationalism and European Integration in Question’ – Roger Casale 12. Victimhood as victory: The Role of Memory Politics in the Process of De-Europeanisation in East-Central Europe – Peter Vermeersch 13. A Response to Peter Vermeersch’s ‘Victimhood as Victory’ – Martí Grau i Segú Part 3: Limits to European Space and Borders 14. Seeing like a EUropean border: Limits of the EUropean Borders and Space – Jan Grzymski 15. Reflections on Borders, Boundaries and the Limits of EUrope – Tobias Schumacher 16. Brexit: A Requiem for the Post-National Society? – Adrian Favell 17. Can a Post-National Vision Better Tackle Racial Discrimination than a National One? A Response to Adrian Favell: ‘Brexit: A Requiem for a Post-National Society?’ – Omar Khan 18. Migration, Solidarity and the Limits of Europe – Martina Tazzioli and William Walters 19. Response to ‘Migration, Solidarity and the Limits of Europe’ – Liz Fekete Part 4: Limits to Transformative and Normative Europe 20. Entering the ‘Post-Shame Era’: The Rise of Illiberal Democracy, Populism and Neo-Authoritarianism in EUrope – Ruth Wodak 21. Response to Ruth Wodak – Heather Grabbe and Andreas Aktoudianakis 22. Opportunistic Legitimisation and De-Europeanisation as a Reverse Effect of Europeanisation – Spasimir Domaradzki 23. Comments on ‘Opportunistic Legitimisation and De-Europeanisation as a Reverse Effect of Europeanisation’ – Krassen Stanchev 24. Is Homo Oeconomicus an Extinct Species, and Does it Matter for EUropean Integration? Attitudes towards Free Trade and Populism – Bogna Gawrońska-Nowak 25. The decline of 'Homo Oeconomicus' and the Crisis of Liberal EUropean Integration’: A Response to Bogna Gawrońska-Nowak – Federico Ottavio Reho

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Book SynopsisWhy is finance so important? How do stock markets work and what do they really do? Most importantly, what might finance be and what could we expect from it? Exploring contemporary finance via the development of stock exchanges, markets and the links with states, Roscoe mingles historical and technical detail with humorous anecdotes and lively portraits of market participants. Deftly combining research and autobiographical vignettes, he offers a cautionary tale about the drive of financial markets towards expropriation, capture and exclusion. Positioning financial markets as central devices in the organization of the global economy, he includes contemporary concerns over inequality, climate emergency and (de)colonialism and concludes by wondering, in the market’s own angst-filled voice, what the future for finance might be, and how we might get there.Table of ContentsPrologue: A Bad Kind of Magic? 1. Why We Should Care about Finance Part 1: How the Markets Became 2. From Future Pigs to Present Prices, a Chicago Story 3. King William’s Overdraft 4. Mind Your Eye! 5. God Bless Margaret Thatcher Part 2: The Spectacular Science of Money 6. Finding Prices, Making Prices 7. Where Real Men Make Real Money 8. Wires! Shocks! Sausages! Part 3: Opportunity Lost 9. Other People’s Money 10. Fear and Loathing on Wall Street 11. The Burden of Empire 12. Extractive Industries Part 4: Financial Futures 13: Finance Takes Flight 14. The Temples of Capitalism Epilogue: The Market Replies

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Book SynopsisWhy is finance so important? How do stock markets work and what do they really do? Most importantly, what might finance be and what could we expect from it? Exploring contemporary finance via the development of stock exchanges, markets and the links with states, Roscoe mingles historical and technical detail with humorous anecdotes and lively portraits of market participants. Deftly combining research and autobiographical vignettes, he offers a cautionary tale about the drive of financial markets towards expropriation, capture and exclusion. Positioning financial markets as central devices in the organization of the global economy, he includes contemporary concerns over inequality, climate emergency and (de)colonialism and concludes by wondering, in the market’s own angst-filled voice, what the future for finance might be, and how we might get there.Trade Review"Far from a dull manual on the technical aspects of stock exchange building, Philip Roscoe’s How to Build a Stock Exchange presents a delightfully readable and engaging collection of vignettes on the history of the stock exchange." LSETable of ContentsPrologue: A Bad Kind of Magic? 1. Why We Should Care about Finance Part 1: How the Markets Became 2. From Future Pigs to Present Prices, a Chicago Story 3. King William’s Overdraft 4. Mind Your Eye! 5. God Bless Margaret Thatcher Part 2: The Spectacular Science of Money 6. Finding Prices, Making Prices 7. Where Real Men Make Real Money 8. Wires! Shocks! Sausages! Part 3: Opportunity Lost 9. Other People’s Money 10. Fear and Loathing on Wall Street 11. The Burden of Empire 12. Extractive Industries Part 4: Financial Futures 13: Finance Takes Flight 14. The Temples of Capitalism Epilogue: The Market Replies

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Book SynopsisLiberal democracies are under increasing pressure. Growing discontent about inequality, lack of political participation and identity have rekindled populism and a shift away from liberal values. This book argues that liberalism’s reliance on a utilitarian policy framework has resulted in increased concentrations of power, restricting freedom and equality. It examines five key areas of public policy: monetary policy, private property and liability, the structure of the state, product markets and labour markets. Drawing on the German ordoliberal tradition and its founding principle of the dispersal of power, the book proposes an alternative public policy framework. In doing so, it offers a practical pathway to realign policy making with liberal ideas.Trade Review“I liked Thomas Aubrey’s short book. It could alternatively be called, Confronting the weaknesses of the Anglo-Saxon economic model. But it does this in a thoughtful way, contrasting the utilitarian tradition of UK/US economic policy with (West) Germany and the “underlying ordoliberal principle of power dispersion.”” The Enlightened EconomistTable of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: The Liberal Order and Its Utilitarian Foundation Chapter 3 the Rise of Ordo Chapter 4 the West German Experiment and the Decline of Ordo Chapter 5 Monetary Policy: The Illiberal Practice of Inflation Targeting Chapter 6 Liability and Private Property: Confronting the Perfect Externalising Machine Chapter 7 Structure of the State: Community and Vitalpolitik Chapter 8 Labour Markets: Continuous Training and Flexibility Chapter 9 Product Markets: Enforcing the Price Mechanism Chapter 10: Confronting Liberalism’s Fatal Flaw Appendix: Methodology Used for Measuring the Dispersal of Public and Private Power by Policy Field

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Book Synopsis• A timely analysis of work on the digital shop floor of the platform economy. • Based on extensive fieldwork, including interviews with Amazon workers.Table of Contents1. Introduction Part 1: Examining The World of Work and Workers 2. How to Study Alienation: Marx’s Four Relations 3. How to Grasp Agency: The Power Resources Approach Part 2: The Birth and Growth of Platforms 4. Historicizing Three Generations of Platforms 5. Contextualizing Amazon’s Growing Empire Part 3: Workers on the (Digital) Amazon Shop Floor 6. Cog in the Machine: Working the Amazon Circulation Line 7. “I Am Not a Robot”: (Trans)national Labour Organization at the Warehouses 8. “Artificial Artificial Intelligence”: Gigging on Amazon Mechanical Turk 9. Instrumentalizing Technology: Digital Solidarity with and among MTurk Workers 10. Alienation Across Amazon and the Platform Economy 11. The Power of Amazon Workers and Platform Workers 12. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisRooted in an international political economy theoretical framework, this book provides unique insights into the global forces and local responses that are shaping education systems in Central America and the Latin Caribbean (CALC).

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Book SynopsisInnovation and entrepreneurship rank highly on the strategic agenda of most countries today. As global economic competition intensifies, many national policymakers now recognize the central importance of entrepreneurship education and the building of financial institutions to promote long-term innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth. Drivers of Innovation brings together scholars from the United States and Asia to explore those education and finance policies that might be conducive to accelerating innovation and developing a more entrepreneurial workforce in East Asia. Some of the questions covered include: How do universities in China and Singapore experiment with new types of learning in their quest to promote innovation and entrepreneurship? Is there a need to transform the traditional university into an “entrepreneurial university”? What are the recent developments in and outstanding challenges to financing innovation in China and Japan? What is the government’s role in promoting innovative entrepreneurship under the shadow of big business in South Korea? What can we learn about the capacity of services to drive innovation-led growth in India? Drivers of Innovation will serve as a valuable reference for scholars and policymakers working to develop human capital for innovation in Asia.

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Book Synopsis"The Texas Institutionalists".Table of ContentsThe Ayserian legacy, James Ronald Stanfield and Jacqueline Bloom Stanfield; EE Hale on economic theory and the real world, Ronnie J Phillips; Robert Montgomery - a gentle iconoclast in industrial organization, Robert Kling; Ruth Allen - frontier labor economist, Alexanda Bernasek and Douglas Kinnear; Alton Wiley - the most complete economist, Gerard F Vaughn; Erich W Zimmerman - the dynamics of resourceship, Stephen L McDonald.

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Book SynopsisIn this concise and lively volume, Ronald Edsforth presents a fresh synthesis of the most critical years in twentieth-century American history. The book describes the collapse of American capitalism in the early 1930s, and the subsequent remaking of the US economy during Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency. It is written for a new generation of readers for whom the Great Depression is a distant historical event.Trade Review"Edsforth has written an excellent one-volume study of the New Deal that will be useful for college students and general readers" CHOICE "Edsforth has done an admirable job of attempting to maintian a balanced appraoch." The Historian "From this brilliant description of the New Deal’s response to the Great Depression and its transforming commitment to social justice and economic security for all Americans, one understands why Franklin Roosevelt is ‘the man of the century’." -- William J. vanden Heuvel, President, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute "This lucid and insightful narrative brings us back to some essential truths that need to be retold about the human tragedy of the 1930s, the greatness of Franklin Roosevelt, and the achievements of his New Deal." – Michael E. Parrish, Professor of History, University of California, San DiegoTable of ContentsList of Figures. Acknowledgments. Introduction: The New Deal in Historical Perspective. 1. From New Era Prosperity to a World in Depression. 2. The Politics of the Great Depression. 3. Why the Old Deal Failed. 4. America Impoverished. 5. Out of Disorder, A New Deal. 6. A New Deal in One Hundred Days. 7. The Problem of Recovery. 8. Reconstructing Capitalism. 9. Democratic Reforms. 10. The End of the New Deal. Epilogue: The New Deal's Legacy. Appendix: A Partial Chronology of Civil Unrest and Financial Panic, The Winter of 1932-33. Notes. Index.

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Book SynopsisThe role of Africa in the global economy is changing as a result of new corporate strategies, changing international trade regulation and innovative ways of overseeing the globalized production and distribution of goods. African participants in the global economy are facing demands for higher levels of performance and quality. Their responses have generated the occasional success but also many failures. Noted researchers Peter Gibbon and Stefano Ponte describe the central processes that are at the same time integrating some into the global economy while marginalizing others. They show the effects of these processes on African countries, farms and firms through an innovative combination of Global Value Chain analysis and Convention Theory. In doing so, the authors present a timely overview of the economic challenges that lay ahead in Africa and point to ways to best address them.Trade Review"This is an exceptionally important piece of work. It simultaneously achieves a number of important objectives. The first is to situate Africa-typically seen in terms of marginalization-centrally on the landscape of specific post-adjustment forms of globalization and its impact. Second, it performs an important empirical service by providing an account of the new high value sectors (which extends beyond Africa of course). Third, it links convention theory with global value chains (as part of a project that rethinks the political economy of contemporary forms of capitalism). And all of this through a careful analysis of forms of governance and regulation and the ways in which quality and value are now central to the 'new' economy."-Michael Watts, Chancellor's Professor of Geography and Development Studies, University of California, Berkeley "Trading Down makes new, original, and creative contributions to understanding obstacles to African economic development. With detailed treatment of sub-Saharan Africa's role in global value chains-placing African performance squarely within the context of global capitalism-the authors bring much insight to a problem (weak African economic performance) that still cries out for new ideas. The combination of theoretical sophistication and detailed case knowledge is very impressive."-William Milberg, Associate Professor of Economics, New School UniversityTable of ContentsPreface1. The Age of Global CapitalismEconomic Globalization * Corporate Financialization and Shareholder Value * Saturated Markets and Oligopolistic * Rent Seeking * Buyer Power and Strategic Outsourcing * Supplier Adjustment in the World of Category * Management * Conclusion2. The New International Trade RegimeTrends in Africa's International Trade * The International Trade Regime Prior to WTO * The New International Trade Regime * Conclusion3. Global Value Chain (GVC) AnalysisMain Features * Governance * Upgrading * Conclusion4. The Rise of Buyer-Driven Global Value Chains in AfricaThe Rise of Buyer-Driven Chains * Main Actors in, and Configurations of, Selected Global Value Chains * Formal Regulatory Frameworks and Historical Changes in GVC Governance * Strategies of Lead Firms * Chain Driving? * Conclusion5. Entry Barriers, Marginalization, and UpgradingEntry Barriers for First- and Second-Tier Suppliers * Marginalization and Exclusion * Upgrading * Conclusion6. Quality Standards, Conventions, and the Governance of Global Value ChainsQuality in Economic Analysis * Convention Theory * Quality, Entry Barriers, and Governance in GVCs: Empirical Evidence from Africa * Conventions and the Governance of Global Value Chains * Conclusion7. Trading Down?Africa, Value Chains, and the Global Economy * Trading Down? * GVC Analysis and Future Research DirectionsNotesReferencesIndex

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Book SynopsisThe role of Africa in the global economy is changing as a result of new corporate strategies, changing international trade regulation and innovative ways of overseeing the globalized production and distribution of goods. African participants in the global economy are facing demands for higher levels of performance and quality. Their responses have generated the occasional success but also many failures. Noted researchers Peter Gibbon and Stefano Ponte describe the central processes that are at the same time integrating some into the global economy while marginalizing others. They show the effects of these processes on African countries, farms and firms through an innovative combination of Global Value Chain analysis and Convention Theory. In doing so, the authors present a timely overview of the economic challenges that lay ahead in Africa and point to ways to best address them.Trade Review"This is an exceptionally important piece of work. It simultaneously achieves a number of important objectives. The first is to situate Africa-typically seen in terms of marginalization-centrally on the landscape of specific post-adjustment forms of globalization and its impact. Second, it performs an important empirical service by providing an account of the new high value sectors (which extends beyond Africa of course). Third, it links convention theory with global value chains (as part of a project that rethinks the political economy of contemporary forms of capitalism). And all of this through a careful analysis of forms of governance and regulation and the ways in which quality and value are now central to the 'new' economy."-Michael Watts, Chancellor's Professor of Geography and Development Studies, University of California, Berkeley "Trading Down makes new, original, and creative contributions to understanding obstacles to African economic development. With detailed treatment of sub-Saharan Africa's role in global value chains-placing African performance squarely within the context of global capitalism-the authors bring much insight to a problem (weak African economic performance) that still cries out for new ideas. The combination of theoretical sophistication and detailed case knowledge is very impressive."-William Milberg, Associate Professor of Economics, New School UniversityTable of ContentsPreface1. The Age of Global CapitalismEconomic Globalization * Corporate Financialization and Shareholder Value * Saturated Markets and Oligopolistic * Rent Seeking * Buyer Power and Strategic Outsourcing * Supplier Adjustment in the World of Category * Management * Conclusion2. The New International Trade RegimeTrends in Africa's International Trade * The International Trade Regime Prior to WTO * The New International Trade Regime * Conclusion3. Global Value Chain (GVC) AnalysisMain Features * Governance * Upgrading * Conclusion4. The Rise of Buyer-Driven Global Value Chains in AfricaThe Rise of Buyer-Driven Chains * Main Actors in, and Configurations of, Selected Global Value Chains * Formal Regulatory Frameworks and Historical Changes in GVC Governance * Strategies of Lead Firms * Chain Driving? * Conclusion5. Entry Barriers, Marginalization, and UpgradingEntry Barriers for First- and Second-Tier Suppliers * Marginalization and Exclusion * Upgrading * Conclusion6. Quality Standards, Conventions, and the Governance of Global Value ChainsQuality in Economic Analysis * Convention Theory * Quality, Entry Barriers, and Governance in GVCs: Empirical Evidence from Africa * Conventions and the Governance of Global Value Chains * Conclusion7. Trading Down?Africa, Value Chains, and the Global Economy * Trading Down? * GVC Analysis and Future Research DirectionsNotesReferencesIndex

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Book SynopsisA fresh, responsible approach to addressing undocumented Mexican migration through substantial investment in Mexico's infrastructure and economyTrade Review"In this broad, comprehensive overview, Hing packages and re-packages ongoing debates about the forces that impel Mexican migrants to move northward... What makes the book special is the way Hing builds Canada (a NAFTA beneficiary) and Ireland into the puzzle of optimal and ethical policy strategies... Summing Up: Recommended." - ChoiceTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: A Time to Think Broadly 1. The NAFTA Effect 2. Revolutionary Mexico: A Brief Economic and Political History 3. Canadian Stability and Responsibility 4. The European Union Strategy 5. Celtic Tiger: The Irish Example 6. The Failed Enforcement Approach: "There Ain't No Reason to Treat Them Like Animals" 7. Contemplating North American Integration and Other Alternatives Epilogue: The Ethical Border: Thinking Outside the (Big) Box Notes Bibliography Index

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Book Synopsis Populists on both sides of the political aisle routinely announce that the American Dream is dead. According to them, the game has been rigged by elites, workers can’t get ahead, wages have been stagnant for decades, and the middle class is dying. Michael R. Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, disputes this rhetoric as wrong and dangerous. In this succinctly argued volume, he shows that, on measures of economic opportunity and quality of life, there has never been a better time to be alive in America. He backs his argument with overwhelming—and underreported—data to show how the facts favor realistic optimism. He warns, however, that the false prophets of populism pose a serious danger to our current and future prosperity. Their policies would leave workers worse off. And their erroneous claim that the American Dream is dead could discourage people from taking advantage of real opportunities to better their lives. If enough people start to believe the Dream is dead, they could, in effect, kill it. To prevent this self-fulfilling prophecy, Strain’s book is urgent reading for anyone feeling the pull of the populists. E. J. Dionne and Henry Olsen provide spirited responses to Strain’s argument. Trade Review "An inoculation against politically motivated misinformation." —George Will, The Washington Post "Strain sets a fine example in his short, approachable book. He shows that living standards have not stagnated in America. To the contrary, most prime-age workers today are better off than their parents were. There are real economic and social problems, which policymakers should address. But the economy is not rigged for all but those at the very top. One should hope his message is heard—and repeated—far and wide." —William J. Luther, Independent Review​ “[A] much-needed look at everything that’s going right in this country….People often fall into a belief that life was somehow better in the past. In The American Dream Is Not Dead, Michael Strain shows it wasn’t, while not denying that the U.S. faces real challenges even in our prosperous age. It’s a good gift for that pessimistic reactionary down the street.”—National Review “Michael Strain’s book delivers a passionate defense that opportunity and meritocracy still exist in America.” —The Adam Smith Institute​ “Michael Strain offers a trenchant look at U.S. households' material standard of living. If his message were summarized on a hat, it would read ‘Make America Grateful Again.’” —N. Gregory Mankiw, Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics, Harvard University and former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers “Michael Strain’s important book is a welcome antidote to the pervasive pessimism surrounding economic policy debates. I don’t agree on everything but feel better after reading it about our economy and more importantly, about how policy can make it better.” —Lawrence H. Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Harvard University and former Secretary of the Treasury "Without glossing over the real challenges that too many Americans face, Michael Strain makes a persuasive case that the American dream remains alive and well. And, he provides important policy recommendations that policymakers would do well to heed in order to strengthen the American dream." —Paul Ryan, former Speaker of the House of Representatives “In this important book, Mike Strain persuasively bolsters his title claim that ‘the American Dream is not dead.’ While the nation faces disruptive challenges from economic changes from trade and technology, those very changes help propel our prosperity. What could kill the American Dream, as Strain notes, is a populist call for protection. Every serious student of the current economic and political situation should read this book.” —Glenn Hubbard, dean emeritus and the Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia Business School, and former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers “Before you declare the American Dream is dead, you should take the time to read Michael Strain’s case to the contrary. Strain provides a thoughtful and balanced assessment of the evidence on the state of American workers and families, rejecting some of the claims from both the left and the right.” —Jason Furman, professor of practice, Harvard Kennedy School and former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers “Michael Strain is one of the keenest economists at work on the center-right today. In this brief but important book, he dares to bring facts to the overheated and often poorly informed debate over the state of the American Dream. Engaging and convincing, this book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand our economic present—and future.” —Rich Lowry, editor of National Review “In this lively contribution to our national debate, Michael Strain presents the evidence for how Americans are really doing. Strain shows we're faring better than you'd think from doom-sayers of left and right. He also argues that misunderstanding our real situation could lead to foolish and damaging policies that would make things worse, not better. An important short book.” —William Kristol, director, Defending Democracy Together "We have a bad news bias. Frequently, however, that creates an inaccurate picture of the world. In The American Dream Is Not Dead, Michael Strain shows that while there are very real challenges ahead of us as a country, Americans are living in the best, most prosperous time in our nation’s history. This book shows that hope and truth go together." —Arthur C. Brooks, professor of practice, Harvard Kennedy School Arthur C. Patterson Faculty Fellow, Harvard Business School “This vital book suggests we reconsider the doom and gloom economic narrative in favor of acknowledging that ongoing economic progress continues to deliver rising material prosperity each year, increasing opportunity, and greater freedom from want. The argument matters because the strongest foundation for a "small c" conservative perspective is that a system that delivers such progress is worth conserving. Strain's intellectual depth, policy breadth, and relentless honesty mark him as one of the leading conservative intellectuals of our time. I'm no conservative, partly because I might see the case for change more clearly than Strain. But Strain asks hard questions, presents uncomfortable data, and makes counterarguments more clearly than any other right-of-center wonk. Whatever side of politics you're on, this smart little book will make you a better wonk, with a clearer sense about the facts that underpin the biggest policy debates of our time.” —Justin Wolfers, professor of economics and public policy, University of Michigan "Just how good or bad are things in America right now? Michael Strain's The American Dream Is Not Dead is the most balanced and informative take on this question you are likely to see." —Tyler Cowen, professor of economics, George Mason University and coauthor of the Marginal Revolution blog “The American Dream is alive and well—not based on wishful thinking, but on abundant evidence. Michael Strain’s balanced and expert presentation, acknowledging problems but identifying the strengths in America’s economy, is exactly what the policy debate has needed: a data-driven look at good news that has been ignored by politicians of left and right alike.” —Charles Murray, F. A. Hayek Chair, American Enterprise Institute “While I’m not convinced that the American Dream is entirely healthy, I’m more optimistic about its prospects after reading this book. I’m regularly on the other side of an argument from Michael Strain, yet I crave reading what he writes because in it I’ll find more compelling reasoning than I’ll typically otherwise encounter. Michael’s willingness to engage constructively and convincingly makes him an important voice in any meaningful discussion about the American Dream.” —— Ali Velshi, host, “Velshi” on MSNBC “Michael Strain's The American Dream Is Not Dead should be read widely by people who think—or fear—otherwise. In clear and simple style, this accessible, no-nonsense treatise lays out the basic facts about the track record of the American economy and how the economy has delivered for ordinary Americans by such yardsticks as wage growth, middle class job creation, family income, and economic mobility. By these and other criteria, he argues, performance in recent decades has been tolerably good—certainly much better than many of us have been told.” —Nicholas Eberstadt, Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy, American Enterprise InstituteTable of Contents Introduction / 3 Part 1: The American Dream Is Not Dead 1. Defining the Dream / 9 2. Today’s Message: The Dream Is Dead / 11 3. We Have Real Challenges / 15 4. The American Dream Is Not Dead / 23 5. Today’s Economy Is Delivering / 27 6. Incomes Are Growing / / 33 7. Quality of Life Has Clearly Improved / 59 8. “Hollowing Out” Won’t Be the End of the Story / 63 9. America Is an Upwardly Mobile Society / 77 10. Advancing the Dream / 101 Part 2: Dissenting Points of View 11. Populism Isn’t the Problem: It’s a Response to Inequality by E. J. Dionne / 115 12. Why Economic Trends Support Conservative Populism by Henry Olsen / 125 13. A Response to E. J. Dionne and Henry Olsen / 133 Acknowledgments 143Notes / 145 About the Contributors / 151 About the Author / 153

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Book SynopsisThe contributors to Alberta Oil and the Decline of Democracycritically assess the political peculiarities of Alberta and the impactof the government’s relationship to the oil industry on the livesof the province’s most vulnerable citizens. They also examine thepublic policy environment and the entrenchment of neoliberal politicalideology in the province. In probing the relationship between oildependency and democracy in the context of an industrialized nation,Alberta Oil and the Decline of Democracy offers a crucial testof the “oil inhibits democracy” thesis that has hithertobeen advanced in relation to oil-producing countries in the GlobalSouth. If reliance on oil production appears to undermine democraticparticipation and governance in Alberta, then what does the Albertacase suggest for the future of democracy in industrialized nations suchas the United States and Australia, which are now in the process ofexploiting their own substantial shale oil reserves? The environmentalconsequences of oil production have, for example, been the subject ofmuch attention. Little is likely to change, however, if citizens ofoil-rich countries cannot effectively intervene to influence governmentpolicy.

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Book SynopsisRapidly rising carbon emissions from the intense development of Western Canada's fossil fuels continue to aggravate the global climate emergency and destabilize democratic structures. The urgency of the situation demands not only scholarly understanding, but effective action. Regime of Obstruction aims to make visible the complex connections between corporate power and the extraction and use of carbon energy. Edited by William Carroll, this rigorous collection presents research findings from the first three years of the seven-year, SSHRC-funded partnership, the Corporate Mapping Project. Anchored in sociological and political theory, this comprehensive volume provides hard data and empirical research that traces the power and influence of the fossil fuel industry through economics, politics, media, and higher education. Contributors demonstrate how corporations secure popular consent, and coopt, disorganize, or marginalize dissenting perspectives to position the fossil fuel industry as a national public good. They also investigate the difficult position of Indigenous communities who, while suffering the worst environmental and health impacts from carbon extraction, must fight for their land or participate in fossil capitalism to secure income and jobs. The volume concludes with a look at emergent forms of activism and resistance, spurred by the fact that a just energy transition is still feasible. This book provides essential context to the climate crisis and will transform discussions of energy democracy.Contributions by Laurie Adkin, Angele Alook, Clifford Atleo, Emilia Belliveau-Thompson, John Bermingham, Paul Bowles, Gwendolyn Blue, Shannon Daub, Jessica Dempsey, Emily Eaton, Chuka Ejeckam, Simon Enoch, Nick Graham, Shane Gunster, Mark Hudson, Jouke Huizer, Ian Hussey, Emma Jackson, Michael Lang, James Lawson, Marc Lee, Fiona MacPhail, Alicia Massie, Kevin McCartney, Bob Neubauer, Eric Pineault, Lise Margaux Rajewicz, James Rowe, JP Sapinsky, Karena Shaw, and Zoe Yunker.

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Book SynopsisThe days of buoyant capital investment, jobs, and wealth are passing Alberta by as the boom-and-bust cycle runs its course and the global climate crisis becomes more acute. As the province scrambles to boost the dying oil economy and curb spending, one solution is all but ignored – a sales tax. In this collection, Alberta scholars and policy experts map out why and how a provincial sales tax should and can be implemented.Drawing on policy analysis, recent history, personal experiences, and conversations with Albertans, former politicians, and senior public servants, contributors build a decisive case for why a sales tax is a more efficient tax than corporate or personal income taxes. They examine energy revenues, household incomes, and political support as well as opportunities for improving democracy and reducing the volatility of government revenues. Finally, this volume offers recommendations on structuring a consultative review process to improve Alberta’s long-term fiscal sustainability.

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Book SynopsisDespite the transition from apartheid to democracy, South Africa is the most unequal country in the world. Its extremes of wealth and poverty undermine intensifying struggles for a better life for all.The wide-ranging essays in this sixth volume of the New South African Review demonstrate how the consequences of inequality extend throughout society and the political economy, crippling the quest for social justice, polarising the politics, skewing economic outcomes and bringing devastating environmental consequences in their wake.Contributors survey the extent and consequences of inequality across fields as diverse as education, disability, agrarian reform, nuclear geography and small towns, and tackle some of the most difficult social, political and economic issues. How has the quest for greater equality affected progressive political discourse? How has inequality reproduced itself, despite best intentions in social policy, to the detriment of the poor and the historically disadvantaged? How have shifts in mining and the financialisation of the economy reshaped the contours of inequality? How does inequality reach into the daily social life of South Africans, and shape the way in which they interact? How does the extent and shape of inequality in South Africa compare with that of other major countries of the global South which themselves are notorious for their extremes of wealth and poverty? South African extremes of inequality reflect increasing inequality globally, and The Crisis of Inequality will speak to all those – general readers, policy makers, researchers and students – who are demanding a more equal world.Table of Contents List of tables and figures Introduction The global crisis of inequality and its South African manifestations — Devan Pillay Part One: Inequality And Class: Polarities And Policies Chapter 1 Inequality in South Africa — Neva Makgetla Chapter 2 A national minimum wage in South Africa: A tool to reduce inequality? — Jana Mudronova and Gilad Isaacs Chapter 3 The politics of poverty and inequality in South Africa: Connectivity, abjections and the problem of measurement — Sarah Bracking Chapter 4 The financialisation of the poor and the reproduction of inequality — David Neves Part Two: The Politics Of Inequality Chapter 5 Liberal democracy, inequality and the imperatives of alternative politics: Nigeria and South Africa — Samuel Oloruntoba Chapter 6 Liberalism and anti-liberalism in South Africa. Or, is an egalitarian liberalism possible? — Daryl Glaser Chapter 7 Equality and inequality in South Africa. What do we actually want? And how do we get it? — Roger Southall Part Three: Social Dimensions Of Inequality Chapter 8 Analysis must rise: A political economy of falling fees — Stephanie Allais Chapter 9 Education, the state and class inequality: The case for free higher education in South Africa — Enver Motala, Salim Vally and Rasigan Maharajh Chapter 10 Still waiting: The South African government’s pending promise of equality for people with disabilities — Jacqui Ala and David Black Chapter 11 Big fish in small ponds: Changing stratification and inequalities in small towns in the Karoo region, South Africa — Doreen Atkinson Part Four: Land And Environment Chapter 12 Spatial defragmentation in rural South Africa: A prognosis of agrarian reforms — Samuel Kariuki Chapter 13 Mining, rural struggles and inequality on the platinum belt, South Africa — Sonwabile Mnwana Chapter 14 Challenging environmental injustice and inequality in contemporary South Africa — Jacklyn Cock Chapter 15 The geography of nuclear power, class and inequality in South Africa — Jo-Ansie van Wyk List of contributors Index

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Book SynopsisShadow of Liberation explores the twists, turns, contestations and compromises of the African National Congress’ (ANC) economic and social policy-making, with a particular focus on the transition era of the 1990s and the early years of democracy. Padayachee and Van Niekerk focus on the primary question of how and why the ANC, given its historical egalitarian, redistributive stance, did such a dramatic about-face in the 1990s and moved towards an essentially market-dominated approach. Was it pushed or did it go willingly? What role, if any, did Western governments and international financial institutions play? And what of the role of the late apartheid state and South African business? Did leaders and comrades ‘sell out’ the ANC’s emancipatory policy vision?Drawing on primary archival evidence as well as extensive interviews with key protagonists across the political, non-government and business spectrum, the authors argue that the ANC’s emancipatory policy agenda was broadly to establish a social democratic welfare state to uphold rights of social citizenship. However, its economic policy framework to realise this mission was either non-existent or egregiously misguided.With the damning revelations of the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture on the massive corruption of the South African body politic, the timing of this book could not be more relevant. South Africans need to confront the economic and social policy choices that the liberation movement made and to see how these decisions may have facilitated the conditions for corruption – not only of a crude financial character but also of our emancipatory values as a liberation movement – to emerge and flourish.Trade ReviewThis book seeks to answer the question of what happened between 1990 and 1996, years during which the ANC abandoned its earlier advocacy of a social democratic welfare state to embrace instead ‘market driven’ neo-liberalism. Padayachee and Van Niekerk’s achievement in researching this story from the surviving archival materials as well as the recollections of participants is impressive. Combining fi ne scholarship with vivid narrative, this is an economist’s detective story. — Tom Lodge, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Limerick When the prospect of a negotiated settlement came onto the political agenda in the 1980s, one outcome of policy discussions within the ANC was the birth of the Macro Economic Research Group (MERG). This book provides the first comprehensive account of what became of MERG, once considered the ANC’s ‘trickle up’ economic plan, and sheds interesting light on a chapter of our recent history that is often forgotten. — Z. Pallo Jordan, head of ANC’s Department of Information and Publicity from 1987, cabinet minister 1994–2009, and a member of National Executive Committee of the African National Congress until 2014.Table of ContentsAcronyms and AbbreviationsChapter 1 Setting the Scene on ANC Economic and Social PolicyChapter 2 African Claims, the Freedom Charter and Social Democracy, 1943–1960Chapter 3 Incarceration, Exile and Homecoming, c.1960–c.1991Chapter 4 Economic Policy Debates during a Decade of Liberation, 1985–1993Chapter 5 On the Way to GEAR, 1994–1996Chapter 6 Making Sense of the Economic Policy DebatesChapter 7 South African Reserve Bank Independence Chapter 8 The Politics of Health Policy-Making in the Transition EraChapter 9 Interpretation and ConclusionSelect BibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisThis volume of "Contributions to Conflict Management, Peace Economics and Development" includes some of the selected papers presented by scholars in a European Peace Science Network Meeting recently held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Chapters in this volume cover the conflicts in Maoist India, South America, and Sub-Saharan Africa. The authors have employed highly sophisticated quantitative techniques and principles of Economics and Political Science in determining the causes of these ethnic conflicts and effects on human and material resources.Table of Contents1) Forced migration as a deterrence strategy in Civil conflict Paola Palacios, ICESI University, Cali, Colombia 2) International Commodity Prices and Civil Wars. Theory and Empirical Application to Sub-Saharan Africa. Raul Caruso, Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy 3) A model of Sectarian Violence Ahmed Saber Mahmud, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA and Syed Mansoob Murshed, Institute of Social Studies, Netherlands and University of Birmingham, UK 4) Insurgent Violence and the Rural-Urban Divide: The Case of Maoist India. Topher L. McDougal, University of San Diego, San Diego, USA 5) The Onset versus the Spread of Insurgency-Nepal, a Single Country Analysis Gary Shiffman and Prabin B Khadka, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA 6) State Capacity, Manufacturing and Civil Conflict in Africa and Latin America, 1970-2007 Jacopo Costa, University of Florence, Italy and Roberto Ricciuti, University of Verona, Italy 7) Health and Conflict: Evidence from Mozambique Patrick Domingues, University of Paris 1 - Pantheon Sorbonne, Paris, France 8) A Methodology for the calculation of the Global Economic Costs of conflict Olaf J. de Groot, German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), Berlin, Germany 9) Experimental Research of Dynamic Strategic Decision Making with the Aid of an Online Simulator Module Ranan D. Kuperman, University of Haifa., Israel 10) Regional Alliance toward the formation of a Nation: A simulation through Lindhal-Walras Mechanism Toshitaka Fukiharu, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima City, Japan

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Book SynopsisAs a few alert mainstream and corporate economists rediscover the certain elements of Marx's analysis of capitalism, the essays in the first part of this volume demonstrate that they have far to go. To their discredit, mainstream understandings whether of capitalism's growth or of Western capitalism's interrelated long-term stagnation and financialization are derailed precisely by political aversion to, or ignorance of, Marxist categories and analyses. The chapters in the second part extend Marxist insights into assessing the value of the so-called information, or knowledge-based, commodities, and offer a Marxist critique of Lenin, the only world leader who earlier had deeply studied his own country's economy. The part also presents two important works in translation. The first, read in Russian by Marx himself, raises serious questions about the relevance of Hegel in the understanding of Capital and offers its own insightful analysis. The other, by a Marxist collective in the 1970s demonstrates the centrality of politics and the class struggle in the simplistically conceived economic devalorization of constant capital. The final part contains a debate on the merits of positivist Marxism sparked by an article in Volume 26 of this research series.Table of ContentsPART I: STAGNATION AND FINANCE IN TODAY'S CAPITALISM A Critique of Mainstream Growth Theory: Ways out of the Neoclassical Science(-Fiction) and Towards Marxism - Remy Herrera, Centre national de la Recherche scientifique (CNRS), Paris, France From Growth Stagnation to Financial Crisis: Unproductive Labour as a Missing Link in Mainstream Theory - Robert Chernomas and Fletcher Baragar, University of Manitoba, Manitoba, Canada Capitalist Crisis and the Great Recession: A Personal Journey from Marx to Minsky - Riccardo Bellofiore, Universita di Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy 'Financial' vs. 'Real': An Overview of the Contradictory Role of Finance - Ozgur Orhangazi, Roosevelt University, Chicago, USA PART II: REVITALIZING MARXIST THEORY Nikolai Sieber: An Introduction to a Political Economist Approved by Marx - James D. White, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK Marx's Economic Theory (1874, translated by James D. White) - Nikolai Sieber The Value and Price of Information Commodities: An Assessment of the South Korean Controversy - Heesang Jeon, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, UK Lenin's Economics: A Marxian Critique - Seongjin Jeong, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, South Korea Class Struggle in Production and Devalorization of Capital (1975, translated by Paul Zarembka) - A. D. Magaline (anonymous) PART III: COMMENTARY ON POSITIVIST MARXISM Marxism, Crisis and Economic Laws: A Comment -Gary Mongiovi, St John's University, New York, USA Marxism, Crisis and Economic Laws: A Response - Alan Freeman, London Metropolitan University, London, UK

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Book SynopsisIn periods of intense crisis the pressing need to take sides comes to the surface and trumps neutrality. The claim to objectivity, always a little problematic, can no longer be sustained, and becomes itself a ground of confrontation as the conflicts amongst economists and constitutional lawyers show. As the world is moving towards a state of permanent crisis the engaged intellectual and the committed media are coming back (Costas Douzinas, Professor of Law and Contributor to The Guardian). This is a crucial collection that provides a new perspective on the social dimension of crisis - exemplified in the new wave of social mobilization gaining ground across the globe. The collection is an invigorating addition to the market of ideas circulating at this time of uncertainty, austerity and social change. It is an important and timely contribution to the study of social movements and the rise of direct civil action in pursuit of democracy. In this milieu of social change, Athens is its muse. This book is one of the first collections of chapters devoted to the specificities of Greece's crisis in English that does not focus solely on economics. Its scope and intention aligns it with other recently published books on the 'Arab Spring' and the 'Occupy' movements, although its register moves away from journalistic commentary to academic considerations of futurity and the potential of the city to reinvent itself. This makes it a unique interdisciplinary project with a broad appeal.

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Book SynopsisDespite the global financial crisis in 2007-2008, neoliberalism has remained dominant and even informs the responses to the crisis. In his masterful analysis, Damien Cahill demonstrates that this resilience is due to neoliberalism being firmly embedded within wider class relations, institutions and ideological norms. And yet, as Cahill also argues, progressive change is possible provided it is based on large-scale political mobilisation. I most strongly recommend this book for reading.'- Andreas Bieler, Nottingham University, UK'Damien Cahill has emerged as one of the most penetrating social scientists on the politics of neoliberalism in the advanced capitalist societies. In his new book, he brings his many years of pouring over policy documents to examine neoliberalism in the new 'age of austerity'. The result is an impressive survey of the history and debates about neoliberal policies. But more powerful is Cahill's hard-headed analysis of why neoliberalism may not simply be in decline, despite the great social disasters it has produced: the 'Great Recession' of 2008 only being the most spectacular. Cahill insists on what many are only beginning to realize: that a new progressive political economy will not emerge as a result of the 'failure of neoliberal ideas', but only when an alternative vision of society fuses with new organized forms of social resistance.'- Greg Albo, York University, Toronto, CanadaWhen the global financial crisis hit in 2007, many commentators thought it heralded the end of neoliberalism. Several years later, neoliberalism continues to dominate policy making. This book sets out why such commentators got it so wrong, and why neoliberalism remains so durable in the face of crisis.This book is the first comprehensive critique of the dominant 'ideas-centered' approach to understanding neoliberalism. It offers an alternative view of neoliberalism as a policy regime that is embedded in institutions, class relations and ideological norms. Damien Cahill argues that the socially embedded nature of neoliberalism explains why policy makers continue to use neoliberal policies as forms of crisis response, even though the crisis itself resulted from several decades of neoliberal restructuring. It takes aim at dominant interpretations of neoliberalism, arguing that it is wrongly viewed as reflecting neoliberal free market ideals, or as resulting from the influence of fundamentalist neoliberal intellectuals. The book concludes with a prognosis of the future prospects for neoliberalism.The End of Laissez-Faire? is a compelling and insightful analysis of neoliberalism, which will appeal to scholars and students of public policy, political science, sociology, political economy, anthropology, human geography, industrial relations and economics-related studies.Contents: Introduction 1. The Idealist View of Neoliberalism 2. Actually Existing Neoliberalism 3. Did Neoliberal Ideas Create the Neoliberal State and Economy? 4. Always Embedded Neoliberalism 5. The Class Embedded Nature of Neoliberalism 6. Institutionally Embedded Neoliberalism 7. Ideologically Embedded Neoliberalism 8. The Global Financial Crisis and the Future of Embedded Neoliberalism Bibliography IndexTrade Review‘A book should be celebrated for its achievement if it advances knowledge, debate, and makes an indelible contribution to its field. Damien Cahill has achieved all of these merits and more in delivering the most compelling analysis of neoliberalism in The End of Laissez-Faire?. Of course, questions can always be raised about this or that aspect of any scholarly accomplishment. But the fact remains that the arguments delivered by Damien Cahill in The End of Laissez-Faire? will shape the terrain of neoliberalism studies for the coming future across the frontiers of political economy, sociology, and international studies.’ -- Adam David Morton (2015): The Who of Power?, Globalizations‘The End of Laissez-Faire? On The Durability of Embedded Neoliberalism is outstanding, a thoroughly researched and most cogently argued piece of scholarship. It is highly readable and enjoyable – even as one’s unquestioned beliefs are logically destroyed. Scholars who care about social justice, about societies of citizens rather than consumers, about decent standards of living – and about thorough scholarship – should read this book and ponder what is to be done.’ -- Di Kelly, Journal of Industrial Relations‘Despite the global financial crisis in 2007–2008, neoliberalism has remained dominant and even informs the responses to the crisis. In his masterful analysis, Damien Cahill demonstrates that this resilience is due to neoliberalism being firmly embedded within wider class relations, institutions and ideological norms. And yet, as Cahill also argues, progressive change is possible provided it is based on large-scale political mobilisation. I most strongly recommend this book for reading.’ -- Andreas Bieler, Nottingham University, UK‘In a sobering account, Damien Cahill illuminates the true nature of neoliberalism and explains why and how it has been able to survive what some of us hoped would be its terminal crisis. His concept of “embedded neoliberalism” is indispensable for understanding the connection between ideas and class power.’ -- Fred Block, University of California at Davis, US‘For those who expected neoliberalism to disappear, discredited by the global financial crisis, Cahill’s penetrating analysis explains its resilience and offers a first-class account of its three decades as a socially embedded policy regime. Offering a materialist rather than idealist interpretation of neoliberalism, Cahill is able to explain why governments’ apparently Keynesian responses to the crisis do not flag its demise. This is a must-read book for those who study or care about the direction of the world economy.’ -- Professor Verity Burgmann, Monash University, Australia‘Damien Cahill has emerged as one of the most penetrating social scientists on the politics of neoliberalism in the advanced capitalist societies. In his new book, he brings his many years of pouring over policy documents to examine neoliberalism in the new 'age of austerity'. The result is an impressive survey of the history and debates about neoliberal policies. But more powerful is Cahill's hard-headed analysis of why neoliberalism may not simply be in decline, despite the great social disasters it has produced: the 'Great Recession' of 2008 only being the most spectacular. Cahill insists on what many are only beginning to realize: that a new progressive political economy will not emerge as a result of the 'failure of neoliberal ideas', but only when an alternative vision of society fuses with new organized forms of social resistance.’ -- Greg Albo, York University, Toronto, Canada‘Neoliberalism, we have learned, lives in crisis. Today, the most important questions about neoliberalism, for all its well-known flaws and limits, concern its institutional entrenchment and dogged reproduction. These are the driving questions in Damien Cahill’s theoretically astute and politically savvy book. This bold and original analysis, drawing on Marx and Polanyi in equal measure, is heterodox political economy at its very best.’ -- Jamie Peck, University of British Columbia, CanadaThis book offers the clearest, most comprehensive, detailed, readable, insightful, sensible, balanced and systematic analysis of neoliberalism available today. This is an indispensable read for anyone interested in the most important topic on contemporary capitalism. Cahill offers the most convincing analysis of the origins, key features and limitations of neoliberalism, and the most promising examination of how it can be overcome. This book debunks myths, pierces illusions and suggests the most promising avenue for resistance against the current phase of global capitalism.’ -- Professor Alfredo Saad Filho, SOAS, University of London, UKTable of ContentsContents: Introduction 1. The Idealist View of Neoliberalism 2. Actually Existing Neoliberalism 3. Did Neoliberal Ideas Create the Neoliberal State and Economy? 4. Always Embedded Neoliberalism 5. The Class Embedded Nature of Neoliberalism 6. Institutionally Embedded Neoliberalism 7. Ideologically Embedded Neoliberalism 8. The Global Financial Crisis and the Future of Embedded Neoliberalism Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe Research Handbook of Comparative Employment Relations is an essential resource for those seeking to understand contemporary developments in the world of work, and the way in which employment relations systems are evolving around the world. Special consideration is given to the impact of globalization and the role of multinational corporations, including their consequences for the fate of workers' rights under existing national systems of employment relations (ER) regulation. This Handbook is unique in taking an explicitly comparative approach by discussing ER developments through a series of paired country comparisons. These chapters include a wide selection of countries from all regions, looking beyond those that are frequently discussed. The expert contributors also examine comparative issues from a range of perspectives, including industrial and employment relations, political economy, comparative politics, and cross-cultural studies. These impressive features make this important reference tool the most comprehensive of its kind. Academics and students in final-year undergraduate and postgraduate courses interested in employment relations will find this compendium enriching and insightful.Contributors include: M. Atzeni, L. Baccarro, M. Barry, D. Collings, F.L. Cooke, S. Cooney, T. Dundon, F. Duran, I. Forstenlechner, P. Gahan, P. Gunnigle, T. Jackson, E.H. Jung, B. Kaufman, J. Kelly, J. Lavelle, K. Mellahi, R. Mitchell, P. Pochet, T. Royle, A. Verma, N. Wailes, A. Wilkinson, G. Wood, S. ZalgermeyerTrade Review’This Research Handbook is a highly readable and thought-provoking account of comparative employment relations in current published texts. The breadth and depth of this book are remarkable and it will serve as a very valuable introductory text to students and researchers interested in comparative employment relations and global governance of employment relations.’ -- Wei Huang, Work, Employment and Society‘Besides a well-written introduction by the two editors, the book presents seventeen other chapters, some by well-known writers on the subject or related social sciences. . . This is a substantial resource book for scholars and students of comparative ER, especially for those who look towards the evolution of ER in the new economic world that is in formation, and in a comparative perspective. . . the book contains intellectually stimulating analyses of employee relations realities across the globe. . . Scholars belonging to different disciplinary perspectives, from which ER has been studied in the past, will also find in it a good reference material of comparative analyses. . . The publishers too deserve accolades for their professionalism and first rate copy-editing and production.’ -- Debi S. Saini, Vision - the Journal of Business Perspectives‘The book is a comprehensive volume of studies on employment relations in a wide variety of settings. . .an enriching compendium.’ -- Silvia Florea, Management of Sustainable DevelopmentTable of ContentsContents: PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Re-examining Comparative Employment Relations Michael Barry and Adrian Wilkinson PART II: PERSPECTIVES 2. Comparative Employment Relations: Institutional and Neo-institutional Theories Bruce E. Kaufman 3. The Political Economy of Comparative Employment Relations John Kelly 4. Legal Origins, Labour Law and the Regulation of Employment Relations Sean Cooney, Peter Gahan and Richard Mitchell 5. Cross-cultural Studies Terence Jackson PART III: PAIRED COUNTRY COMPARISONS 6. Employment Relations in Chile and Argentina Maurizio Atzeni, Fernando Durán-Palma and Pablo Ghigliani 7. Employment Relations in Canada and the US Sara Slinn and Richard W. Hurd 8. Employment Relations in China and India Fang Lee Cooke 9. Employment Relations in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland Tony Dundon and David G. Collings 10. Employment Relations in Japan and Korea EeHwan Jung 11. Employment Relations in Belgium and the Netherlands Hester Houwing, Maarten Keune, Philippe Pochet and Kurt Vandaele 12. Employment Relations in Australia and New Zealand Nick Wailes 13. Employment Relations in South Africa and Mozambique Geoffrey Wood 14. Employment Relations in France and Germany Stefan Zagelmeyer 15. Employment Relations in Oil-rich Gulf Countries Kamel Mellahi and Ingo Forstenlechner PART IV: BROADER COMPARATIVE INFLUENCES 16. Corporatism Meets Neoliberalism: The Irish and Italian Cases in Comparative Perspective Lucio Baccaro 17. The Role of MNEs David G. Collings, Jonathan Lavelle and Patrick Gunnigle 18. Regulating Global Capital through Public and Private Codes: An Analysis of International Labour Standards and Corporate Voluntary Initiatives Tony Royle Index

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Book SynopsisThis is a very timely book which provides an unprecedented analysis of the factors which have shaped the competition law systems of ten Asian countries and Australia. The comprehensive discussion from varying viewpoints against the backdrop of the significantly different environments within which the respective regimes have developed creates a framework for the comparative assessment of competition law systems elsewhere in the world.'- Lutz-Christian Wolff, The Chinese University of Hong KongThis detailed book describes and analyses the essential political economy features that provide the backdrop to the competition policies and competition law regimes of several of the most important Asian economies.The book also discusses the impact of these political economy influences in determining whether the adopted competition policy is effective. Each of the authors - experts in their respective countries - offer specific insights into the nature and structure of their competition regimes and discuss to what extent the varied political economy factors unique to that country help to determine whether and to what extent the established system promotes or hinders economic competition in that jurisdiction.Comprising wide coverage of Asian jurisdictions, including Australia, this book will strongly appeal to students and academics of law, politics, economics and economic development, policy makers in national governments, international agencies and competition authorities, as well as practicing competition lawyers and in-house counsel.Contributors: M.F. Cheong, A. Fels, D. Fruitman, D. Healey, R.A.S. Jalit, J. Lee, Y.H. Lee, R.I. McEwin, P.S. Mehta, N.N. Sirait, T. Takigawa, S. Thanitcul, M. WilliamsTrade ReviewNew competition laws have been adopted throughout Asia in recent years, and some of the older laws have been significantly strengthened. This makes Asia a fascinating region in which to look at the political and economic circumstances of the countries in which such laws are to be found, and to consider the very different conditions that exist within them. This book will be an invaluable guide to anyone with an interest in the developing competition law regimes of this immensely important part of the world. --Richard Whish, King's College London, UKAs with every good academic book, this one will serve as the starting point of many more research projects to come. --Rupprecht Podszun, International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition LawTable of ContentsContents: 1. Introduction Mark Williams 2. Japan Toshiaki Takigawa 3. Korea Jaemin Lee 4. China Mark Williams 5. Vietnam David Fruitman 6. The Philippines Mark Williams and Ruby Ann S. Jalit 7. Malaysia and Singapore May Fong Cheong and Yin Harn Lee 8. Thailand R. Ian McEwin and Sakda Thanitcul 9. Indonesia Ningrum Natasya Sirait 10. India Pradeep S. Mehta 11. Australia Deborah Healey 12. Australia – A Regulator’s Perspective Allan Fels 13. Conclusion Mark Williams Index

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