Popular economics Books

Book SynopsisWhere does wealth come from? How is it different from money? Does government intervention prevent or create crises? What is the most effective way to protect the environment? In Economics Without the Boring Bits, Oxford-trained economist Tejvan Pettinger takes readers on an enlightening tour of the powerful, counter-intuitive and frequently startling insights of economic research, showing us that middlemen are good, recycling is bad (sometimes) and why some people get rich and others don't.This clear, compelling and engaging book breathes life into big concepts such as debt, finance, trade, money, taxation, supply, demand and all the other economic issues that worry us all yet relatively few truly understand.This is your guide to understanding economics – without the boring bits.Table of ContentsECONOMIC ERRORS: Lump of labour fallacy • Luddite Fallacy • Broken window fallacy • Sunk cost fallacy • Fallacy of composition • Zero-sum games • This time it's different (why bubbles reoccur) POLITICAL QUANDRIES: Tax cuts • Government debt • Immigration • Presidents responsibility • Trickle-down • Inflation • Exchange rates • Bail-outs • Recessions WHAT YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW ABOUT…: Division of labour • Raw materials • Economic forecasting • Farming and agriculture • Rational consumers • Deflation • Free riders • Monetary policy ECONOMISTS: Adam Smith • John Maynard Keynes • Milton Friedman • Gary Becker • Paul Krugman YOU'LL NEVER GET RICH BY INDULGING IN…: Fighting wars • Trade wars and trade retaliation • Propping up farming or heavy industry • Cutting inflation too much • Acquiring lots of money • Free trade • Eating too much chocolate cake ECO BOMBSHELLS: Nature • Shared resources • Air travel • Markets and global warming • Fat taxes are fair • Protecting the environment will create jobs, not destroy them • Recycling is good BUSINESS MYTHS: Ticket touts are bad • There is greater value on diamonds than fresh water • Workers are only motivated by money • It is unfair that airlines keep changing the price of tickets • The UK and US economies should be more balanced • Consumer boycotts of sweatshop factories • Are multinationals the great wealth creators?

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Book SynopsisThis topical and engaging Handbook brings together cutting edge research on the relationship between happiness and the natural environment. With interdisciplinary contributions from top scholars, it explores the role of happiness research as a new approach to environmental social science, illustrating the critical links between human wellbeing, happiness and the environment. Addressing key environmental issues that impact happiness, the book examines: climate change and extreme weather events, air pollution, noise, odour, access to green space, and the importance of green lifestyles. This wide range of environmental concerns is analysed through the lens of differing cultural backgrounds, exploring the importance of different forms of human interaction with the environment globally, as well as its effects. Environmental economics and sociology scholars will find the key case studies discussed particularly useful in assessing different cultural, political and regional approaches to the topic. It will also be an interesting read for policy-makers looking to better understand how the environment affects human happiness and wellbeing. Contributors include: M. Ahmadiani, M. Berlemann, F. Brereton, L. Bruni, X. Chen, C.A. Coral-Guerrero, S. Ferreira, H. Folmer, B.S. Frey, D. Fujiwara, F. García-Quero, I. Gramatki, J. Guardiola, P. Howley, B.A. Jones, K. Kagohashi, S. Kant, K. Keohane, C. Krekel, K. Laffan, R. Lawton, A. Levinson, G. MacKerron, D. Maddison, S. Managi, M. Moro, S. Mourato, A. Oswald, J. Regner, K. Rehdanz, H. Ren, T. Ruckelshauß, J. Tang, T. Tsurumi, J. Tutt, R. Veenhoven, I. Vertinsky, H. Welsch, X. Zhang, X. Zhang, B. ZhengTrade Review'This exciting Handbook brings together leading authors investigating the state-of-the-art in behaviour economics, when they are concerned with SWB, when SWB is modelled as an explicit function of environmental goods and services. This Handbook is one of the most efficient pathways towards the understanding of the underpinnings and contribution of ''Happiness Economics'' in understanding the ''socio-economic value'' of Environmental and Resources Economics, and identification of the challenges that lie ahead.' --Phoebe Koundouri, Athens University of Economics and Business, and President-Elect, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, Greece'A complete analysis of well-being has to address both its individual and contextual determinants. This volume brings together a much-needed collection of contributions addressing many aspects of climate and the environment. Together they will help researchers to move to a truly global measure of individual, societal and indeed global well-being.' --Andrew Clark, Paris School of Economics, France'The Handbook on Wellbeing, Happiness and the Environment is an intriguing collection of papers that discuss and utilize measurements of household happiness. Happiness is not closely correlated with income across countries, but happiness is associated with better environments that have more green space, less pollution, less noise, and Mediterranean climates.' --Robert Mendelsohn, Yale University, USTable of ContentsContents: Foreword by Andrew Oswald ix Introduction to the Handbook on Wellbeing, Happiness and the Environment 1 David Maddison, Katrin Rehdanz and Heinz Welsch PART I SOCIAL SCIENCES, HAPPINESS AND THE ENVIRONMENT 1 Economics, wellbeing and happiness: a historical perspective 13 Luigino Bruni 2 World Database of Happiness: a ‘findings archive’ 25 Ruut Veenhoven 3 Spatial variation in life satisfaction: a happiness puzzle 46 Mona Ahmadiani, Finbarr Brereton, Susana Ferreira and Mirko Moro 4 Happiness and environmental economics 71 Heinz Welsch 5 Subjective wellbeing as valuation system of environmental quality: an environmental social sciences approach 85 Jianjun Tang, Honghao Ren and Henk Folmer PART II CASE STUDIES ON HAPPINESS AND THE ENVIRONMENT 6 Cross-country variations in subjective wellbeing explained by the climate 105 David Maddison and Katrin Rehdanz 7 Natural disasters and self-reported wellbeing: empirical evidence for rainfall extremes in the United Kingdom 127 Michael Berlemann, Judith Regner and Jascha Tutt 8 Happiness and forest-attacking invasive alien species 144 Benjamin A. Jones 9 Happiness and air pollution 164 Arik Levinson 10 The effects of exposure to air pollution on subjective wellbeing in China 183 Xin Zhang, Xi Chen and Xiaobo Zhang 11 Noise and subjective wellbeing 201 Daniel Fujiwara and Ricky N. Lawton 12 Measuring the wellbeing and health impacts of sewage odour 225 Daniel Fujiwara, Iulian Gramatki and Kieran Keohane 13 The effect of green areas on life satisfaction: a comparison of subjective and objective measures 245 Teresa Ruckelshau. 14 Mappiness: natural environments and in-the-moment happiness 266 George MacKerron and Susana Mourato 15 Legacy effects and individual heterogeneity in the relationship between health and wellbeing 283 Peter Howley 16 Valuing energy infrastructure externalities using wellbeing and hedonic price data: the case of wind turbines 297 Christian Krekel 17 Happiness and energy supply 318 Heinz Welsch 18 Green with satisfaction: the relationship between pro-environmental behaviours and subjective wellbeing 329 Kate Laffan 19 Happiness and green lifestyle 349 Heinz Welsch 20 How environmental ethics affect the consumption–wellbeing relationship: evidence from Japan 367 Tetsuya Tsurumi, Kazuki Kagohashi and Shunsuke Managi 21 An empirical assessment of the indigenous Sumak Kawsay (living well): the importance of nature and relationships 385 Carmen Amelia Coral-Guerrero, Jorge Guardiola and Fernando Garc.a-Quero 22 Mother Earth and household welfare functions of First Nations peoples of Canada 399 Shashi Kant, Ilan Vertinsky and Bin Zheng PART III CONCLUSION 23 Happiness in retrospect and prospect 422 Bruno S. Frey Index 431

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Book SynopsisPopulism and Economics, Charles Dumas' latest book, examines the reasons for the rise in populism - Brexit and the election of Trump among other events - and how this discontent with the status quo has affected economics, both perceptions and reality. The book argues that while globalization and the influence of new technology have pulled the world economy out of recession and while the benefits of world trade are now spread more widely, there is a perception of injustice because of inequality within individual nations. In a detailed region-by-region analysis of the current state of the world economy and using exclusive research carried out by TS Lombard, Dumas shows how the perception of inequality now threatens to destabilize not only politics but also the economic order itself.Trade ReviewPraise for Globalisation Fractures: To understand the cuases of the financial crisis, read this insightful analysis. -- Mervyn King, Bank of England GovernorBrilliant...asking all the right questions about our economic future - crises, migration, technology, inequality, globalisation, populism, monetary and fiscal policy. Can we survive it all? -- Peter JayPopulism and Economics ... is clear, well written and, most important of all, right! -- Lord Mervyn King

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Book SynopsisOvertime is about the politics of time, and specifically the amount of time that we spend labouring within capitalist society. It argues that reactivating the longstanding demand for shorter working hours should be central to any progressive trajectory in the years ahead.This book explains what a shorter working week means, as well as its history and its political implications. Will Stronge and Kyle Lewis examine the idea of reducing the time we all spend labouring for other on both a theoretical and political level, and offer an analysis rooted in the radical traditions from which the idea first emerged. Throughout, the reader is introduced to key theorists of work and working time alongside the relevant research regarding our contemporary 'crisis of work', to which the authors' proposal of a shorter working week responds.Trade ReviewThis is a vital contribution to the growing debate around free time and reducing the working week.With millions saying they would like to work shorter hours, and millions of others without a job or wanting more hours, it's essential that we consider how we address the problems in the labour market as well as preparing for the future challenges of automation. * John McDonnell, Labour Shadow Chancellor [praise for the authors' report on the shorter working week] *This is a path-breaking report on one of the most promising ideas of our time * Rutger Bregman, historian and author of Utopia for Realists [praise for the authors' report on the shorter working week] *In this terrific book, Will Stronge and Kyle Lewis present a remarkably clear and powerfully compelling case for shorter working hours as a path to greater sustainability, equality, and freedom. -- Kathi Weeks, author of The Problem With WorkOvertime is a stirring call to action in the fight for a shorter working week. Crucially, Lewis and Stronge remind us that no victories for workers have ever been won without struggle. Overtime is a critical text for socialists seeking to understand how the world of work has changed, and how to imagine a world in which our lives are no longer dominated by it. -- Grace Blakeley, author of The Corona CrashThe centuries old struggle by workers to free themselves from the dictatorship of work has emerged once more. Freedom from drudgery and the reduction in working hours have never been won without a fight. This book will prove invaluable in arming not only those who want to understand that struggle but also more importantly those who want to engage in it. -- John McDonnell, MPIt's no longer enough for the left to just shout jobs, jobs, jobs. Overtime not only shows why shorter working weeks need to be an integral part of a new deal for all workers, but also how it will be won. -- Ellie Mae O'Hagan, Director of CLASS think tankFocusing on a work-obsessed society, the failure of labor-saving technology to reduce work hours, the undervaluing of women's work, and the toll of work on the environment, Overtime brings both hope and despair. * Booklist *A compelling case for shortening the current work week, a policy that could see less overworking, more jobs, gender equality and a greener future. -- Ella Glover * Huck *Timely ... reveals the urgency of the conversion to a shorter working week. -- Adele Walton * gal-dem *

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Book SynopsisFrom the acclaimed author of How Will Capitalism End? comes an omnibus of long-form critical essays engaging with leading economists and thinkers. Critical Encounters draws on Wolfgang Streeck's inimitable writing for the London Review of Books and New Left Review, among other publications. It opens with treatments of two contrasting historical eras - factory capitalism and financialization - and three of the world's major economies: the United States, France and Germany. Delving into the world of ideas, Streeck discusses the work of Quinn Slobodian, Mark Blyth, Jürgen Habermas and Perry Anderson. Finally, he zooms out to compare his home discipline of sociology to natural history, giving a remarkable and non-deterministic reading of Charles Darwin. In the preface, Streeck reflects on the art (or craft) of book reviewing and the continuing merits of the book form. Critical Encounters also includes a series of 'Letters from Europe', penned as the coronavirus descended upon the Continent.Trade ReviewSynthesises the various strands of left crisis theory into a convincing proposal, as strong psychologically as it is on economics. -- Paul Mason * Guardian, Books of the Year 2016 [on How Will Capitalism End?] *A must-read. * Financial Times, Best Books of 2016 [on How Will Capitalism End?] *Streeck sees a destructive convergence of three fixed trends in late capitalism: a declining rate of economic growth, soaring overall indebtedness, and rising economic inequality in both income and wealth. His work interlocks with recent dark conclusions by Robert J. Gordon, Thomas Piketty, and Wendy Brown, among others. -- Norman Rush * New York Review of Books [on How Will Capitalism End?] *Streeck's sweeping and empirically founded inquiry reminds one of Karl Marx's Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. -- Jürgen Habermas [on Buying Time]A superbly provocative work of political economy. -- Aditya Chakrabortty * Guardian [on Buying Time] *A compelling and distinctive analysis of the current political moment. -- Hans Kundnani * The World Today *

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Book SynopsisGreat Economic Thinkers presents an accessible introduction to the lives and works of the most influential economists of modern times: Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Alfred Marshall, Joseph Schumpeter, John Maynard Keynes, and Nobel Prize winners Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, John Forbes Nash Jr, Daniel Kahneman, Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz. Free from jargon and equations, the book describes key economic concepts – from the role played by the division of labour to wages and rents, cognitive biases, game theory and liberalism – showing how they have come to shape our society today.Table of ContentsIntroduction - D'Maris Coffman 1 Adam Smith - Jonathan Conlin 2 David Ricardo - Helen Paul 3 John Stuart Mill - Joseph Persky 4 Karl Marx - Paul Prew 5 Alfred Marshall - Katia Caldari 6 Joseph Schumpeter - Mario Graca Moura 7 John Maynard Keynes - Victoria Bateman 8 Friedrich Hayek - Scott Scheall 9 Milton Friedman - Victoria Bateman 10 John Forbes Nash Jr - Karen Horn 11 Daniel Kahneman - Michelle Baddeley 12 Amartya Sen - Jonathan Conlin 13 Joseph Stiglitz - Emmanuelle Benicourt References Further reading List of contributors Acknowledgements

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Book SynopsisLearn everything you ever wanted to know about economics in this no-nonsense beginner's guideIn a world where everything seems to get more expensive by the day - but most of us don't seem to get any richer - it's easy to feel confused about the economy. If you think it's time you learnt how inflation works, what causes recessions and why the stock market is so unpredictable, then look no further. The Little Book of Economics will bring you up to speed on the basics of micro- and macroeconomics and demystify the world of taxes, trade, investments and finance, in simple English and with easy-to-follow examples. By the end of this crash course, you will have a grasp on all the essential terms, concepts and theories you need to know to understand modern-day capitalism and markets. And you'll also have the answers to questions like:- Can inflation be a good thing? - How does supply and demand work? - Is immigration good for the economy? - How do we prevent another global financial crisis? - What is GDP, and what are the alternatives? and - Why can't we just print more money?

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Book SynopsisVolume 39B of Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology, includes a symposium marking the centenary of Carl Menger’s death in 1921. The symposium, edited by Reinhard Schumacher and Scott Scheall, features contributions from Sandra J. Peart, Günther Chaloupek, Erwin Dekker, and Sandye Gloria. The Volume also features general-research essays from Marina Uzunova and Alexander Linsbichler.Table of ContentsPart I. A Symposium on Carl Menger at The Centenary of his Death; Introduction; Reinhard Schumacher and Scott Scheall; Chapter 1. The "Improvement Of Mankind": William Stanley Jevons and Carl Menger On Decision Making and Learning; Sandra J. Peart; Chapter 2. Carl Menger's Different Concepts of the value of money - The Enigma of The "Inner Value Of Money"; Günther Chaloupek; Chapter 3. The New Theory of Individual and Collective needs in the Second Edition of Carl Menger's Principles of Economics; Erwin Dekker; Chapter 4. The Modernity of Carl Menger: Austrian Economics and Complexity Economics; Sandye Gloria; Part II. Essays Chapter 5. Penrose and the Indifferent Crowd; Marina Uzunova; Chapter 6. Rationalities and their Limits: Reconstructing Neurath's and Mises's Prerequisites in the Early Socialist Calculation Debates; Alexander Linsbichler

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Book SynopsisGlobal Tariff War: Economic, Political and Social Implications traces the range of impacts that global tariff wars in international trade can have on the growth and expansion of national economies. The Global economic and political status quo has faced turmoil after the US President's 2018 announcement on the imposition of import tariff steel and aluminium products. Taking as its core focus the trade war between the USA and China, this book focuses impact on the rest of the world's economies, and explores key areas including neo-protectionism, globalization and restricted trade, inflation volatility, FDI and tariff rates, and the environmental footprint of global trade tariffs. Having previously played the role of campaigner in favour of free trade since the World War II, today's United States has projected itself towards greater protectionism and patriotism. Conclusions arise that tariff wars, as well as trade wars, are damaging for national and transnational economies, as well as other sectors, such as society and environment. Evidence presented in the work illustrates that developed countries are impacted more adversely in comparison to developing zones due to this type of tariff war. Offering a range of illuminating perspectives from under explored developing economies being directly affected by these policies, this collection presents a unique critical insight into this complex and evolving area of geo-political and economic practice.Table of ContentsSECTION I. ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF TRADE WAR Chapter 1. Trade War in the Twenty-First Century: A Historical Perspective; Asim K. Karmakar, and Sebak K. Jana Chapter 2. Tariff War, Unemployment Rate, and Welfare; Nilendu Chatterjee, and Tonmoy Chatterjee Chapter 3. Trade War and its Welfare Consequences: A micro-theoretic introspection; Mainak Bhattacharjee, and Debashis Mazumder Chapter 4. Tradeoff between Globalization and Restricted Trade: Some International Evidence; Richardson Kojo Edeme, Ebikabowei Biedomo Aduku, Nwokoye Stella Ebele and Nkalu Nelson Chapter 5. Tariff War and its Spillover Consequence: A macro-theoretic evaluation; Dipti Ghosh, and Mainak Bhattacharjee Chapter 6. Impact of Tariff War on World Economy especially after WTO - A Time Series Econometric enquiry; Kanchan Datta Chapter 7. Tariff Imposition and Manufacturing Trade: A Comparative Study on the economies of North and South; Madhabendra Sinha, Manohar Kumar Rai, Manish Kumar Rai, and Abhijit Dutta Chapter 8. The Return of Borders to a Borderless World: The China-USA Trade War Saga; Asim K. Karmakar, and Sovik Mukherjee Chapter 9. China and US Economic Policy Uncertainity and its Impact on major International Markets: A Vector Auto Regressive Analysis; Ujjal Protim Dutta, Lipika Kankaria, and Partha Pratim Sengupta Chapter 10. Analysis of the Causes of Trade War between US and China and its Impact on Selected Asian Countries; Rajib Bhattacharyya Chapter 11. Economic Growth and Trade Related Variables: An Empirical Study using Indian data; Chandrima Chakraborty, and Anindita Jana Chapter 12. Changing Export Share of Developing Economies: A Post WTO Scenario; Debabrata Mukhopadhyay, and Dipankar Das Chapter 13. Understanding the Impact of Trade War between US and China on Oil Price Volatility; Hasan Dinçer, Serhat Yüksel, and Gülsüm Sena Uluer Chapter 14. Stochastic Frontier Approach to the Estimation of Total Factor Productivity Growth of Manufacturing Sector: A Pre and Post WTO Regime study of West Bengal and all India; Md Rakibul Hasan, Pinki Bera, and Mihir Kumar Pal Chapter 15. India’s Export under Neo-Protectionism with special emphasis upon EU and Japan; Sudipta Jha, and Ataur Rahman Chapter 16. India’s tea export in the scenario of trade openness: an analysis of trend and structural break; Shrabanti Maity, and Anup Sinha Chapter 17. Impact of Trade War on Developing Countries: A Case Study of India; Faize Ali Shah, Shubhendra Singh Yadav, and Akshay Kumar Satsangi SECTION II. POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF TRADE WAR Chapter 18. Political Economy of Trade and Trade Tariffs: The United States and China Trade Policies; Egemen Sertyesilisik Chapter 19. The impact of the trade war on the Military Industrial Complex of United States of America and China; Napoleon Kurantin, and Bertha Z. Osei-Hwedie Chapter 20. The US-China Trading Relations: Dilemmas and Potentialities; Debasish Nandy Chapter 21. Economic Integration or Trumponomics: The Choice is a Big Question for Developing Economies; Abhijit Bhattacharya Chapter 22. Impacts of trade war upon social indicators; Hakan Kalkavan, Hasan Dinçer, and Serhat Yüksel Chapter 23. Revisiting Economic Globalization in the Sustainable Open Exchange System; Megha Jain, and Vani Kanojia Chapter 24. Impacts of the trade policies and trade tariffs on the environmental footprint of the global trade; Begum Sertyesilisik, and Egemen Sertyesilisik Chapter 25. Income and Gender Inequality in India in the Post WTO Period; Tarun Sengupta, and Somnath Mukherjee

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Book SynopsisThe more we ponder, the odder the world can seem. How do footballers get their shirt numbers? Why does having daughters make couples more likely to divorce? How do you move a horse from one country to another? What counts as a journey into space? The keen minds at The Economist contemplate all these questions and more in their quest for the globe's most extraordinary quandaries and conundrums, with bizarre facts and headscratchers that show the world is even stranger than we might have thought. From plant-based milk and supermoons to the next Dalai Lama and what really happened at the storming of the Bastille, this collection of the oddest and most mindboggling explanations will amaze and delight in equal measure.Trade ReviewPraise for Tom Standage: 'Uncommonly brilliant * Daily Mail *The Father Christmas of knowledge -- Giles CorenBooks like this make you wary of ever guessing the answer to anything * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisEconomic theory reached its highest level of analytical power and depth in the middle of the nineteenth century among John Stuart Mill and his contemporaries. This book explains classical economics when it was at its height, followed by an analysis of what took place as a result of the ensuing Marginal and Keynesian Revolutions that have left economists less able to understand how economies operate. Chapters explore the false mythology that has obscured the arguments of classical economists, clouding to the point of near invisibility the theories they had developed. Steven Kates offers a thorough understanding of the operation of an economy within a classical framework, providing a new perspective for viewing modern economic theory from the outside. This provocative book not only explains the meaning of Say's Law in an accessible way, but also the origins of the Keynesian revolution and Keynes's pathway in writing The General Theory. It provides a new look at the classical theory of value at its height that was not based, as so many now wrongly believe, on the labour theory of value. A crucial read for economic policy-makers seeking to understand the operation of a market economy, this book should also be of keen interest to economists generally as well as scholars in the history of economic thought.Trade Review‘Classical Economic Theory and the Modern Economy should be a welcome addition to the reading lists of both amateurs and professional economists, whether one’s interest is in macroeconomics or the history of economic thought. Although the book is a worthwhile read on its own without familiarity with Kates’s work, this reviewer believes it really shines when read as a sequel and conclusion to the author’s previous contributions.’ -- Per L Bylund, The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics'In Classical Economic Theory and the Modern Economy, Kates seeks to correct this dangerous intellectual detour economists took due to Keynes and finally get modern economists to practice economics beyond the shadow of Keynes. It is a Herculean task, but armed with J.B. Say and especially J.S. Mill, Steven Kates makes as strong an effort for resurrection of classical economy theory as can be marshaled. This will be a must read for all students of economics, and a compelling contribution to the history of economic doctrine.' --Peter Boettke, George Mason University, US'This book delivers hard blows to the tenets of modern economics, retells its history and evolution, and pokes holes at our misperceptions of classical economic theory. The result is as much a burial of the macroeconomics of Keynes as it is a resuscitation of the classical economics of J.S. Mill.' --Per Bylund, Oklahoma State University, USTable of ContentsContents: Introduction 1. The Purpose of this Book and Why Only I could Write It 2. The Background 3. The Keynesian Revolution and Classical Theory 4. Understanding Classical Presuppositions, Terminology and Concepts 5. The Classical Theory of Value and the Marginal Revolution 6. Keynesian Theory Overruns the Classics 7. The Basis for Keynes’s Success: Why Keynes was Able to Succeed 8. Classical Theory and the Role of Government 9. Austrian Economics and Classical 10. An Overview of Classical Economic Theory Afterword Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisWe are living through a cost of living crisis, with interest rate hikes and the prices of everyday consumables and energy bills sky-rocketing. Why is this happening? Sometimes we are told that wages are too high, or that the government has "printed" too much money or that events far away, such as the war in Ukraine, are solely to blame. The plain argument that high prices go together with high profits, falling wages, and weak production is often distorted and hidden by mainstream commentary in the media and elsewhere. This plain-speaking pamphlet tells it straight: the big businesses dominating production and distribution make huge profits out of high inflation, while working people lose out. It sets out factual evidence to illustrate that the source of record profits is the fall in real wages as inflation rises. A large part of the income of working people is being transferred directly into the profits of big business. The pamphlet shows that the deeper roots of the "cost of living crisis" lie in the very low investment and poor productivity growth for many years. The basic steps to resolving the crisis are simple: prices, especially of essentials, must be brought down, and wages, salaries, benefits, and pensions must be increased.Trade Review[An] excellent little book -- Will Podmore * The Morning Star *A small book with a mighty big punch ... Closely argued in clear, accessible language, [The Cost of Living Crisis] demolishes the decades-old lie that wage rises are the source of inflation, and backs that case with hard facts. * Scottish Socialist Voice *

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Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times Bestseller'Excellent . . . Filled with knowledge that will help you make better money decisions.' Laura Whateley, author of Money: A User's GuideWe all depend on money every day. But almost none of us understand it.Have you ever wondered why your shopping bill keeps getting more expensive? Or how the government can produce billions out of thin air while your savings are shrinking? Or where you should put your money in an age of economic turmoil? Here, a leading investor offers a crash-course in how money works, and how to make yours go further. You will never look at your bank balance the same way again.'How the global monetary system shapes our everyday personal finances . . . Really, really interesting.' Claer Barrett, author of What They Don't Teach You About Money'Fascinating . . . A bracing ride through the unexpectedly wild world of money.' Ed Conway, author of Material WorldTrade ReviewThis brilliant book offers a singularly clear, accessible and funny introduction to where our economic malaise has come from - and how understanding it can help any of us make better financial decisions. I cannot recommend it highly enough. -- IAIN DALEA pithy and punchy guide that explains in a very engaging and readable manner the essentials of modern finance and economics. It is profoundly useful for anyone wanting to understand why the current global economy is in such a mess, and what that might mean for your own finances. -- GILLIAN TETT, Editor-at-Large of the Financial TimesDix has produced as lucid and comprehensive account of money and its pitfalls as you are likely to find. In an age of elevated prices it is highly relevant to all our lives. -- ALEX BRUMMER, City Editor of the Daily MailA tour of the nuts and bolts that hold the economy together is not supposed to be interesting, but Rob Dix makes it fascinating. This is a bracing ride through the unexpectedly wild world of money. -- ED CONWAY, Economics Editor, Sky NewsVery little affects your quality of life more than money - and it's hard to get and to keep if you don't really understand how it works. After you've read Rob Dix's short, sharp introduction, you will know more than most ordinary people about how money works - and also (I'm sorry to say) rather more than most Cabinet ministers too. -- MERRYN SOMERSET WEBB, Bloomberg Columnist and host of Merryn Talks MoneyAn excellent primer for anyone who ever wondered how the financial system and economy really works - filled with knowledge that will help you make better money decisions in your own life, too. -- LAURA WHATELEY, author of Money: A User’s GuideJohn Maynard Keynes once said that "not one man in a million" truly understands inflation: a state of affairs that is extremely problematic for millions of people and, by extension, for society as a whole. Rob Dix's book The Price of Money is an important contribution to redressing that problem. -- ANDREW CRAIG, Author of How to Own the WorldNot a moment too soon, Rob Dix has laid out in the most refreshing, entertaining, approachable and informative way the historical intricacies, intentional complexity, purposeful ambiguity and frustrating inconsistencies of the global markets, economic policy - and money. The Price of Money should be required reading for anyone who transacts (gets paid, pays for anything or tries to invest) at any point in their journey. As an investor I enjoyed and learned from every page and know other readers will too. -- EILEEN BURBRIDGE, Partner at Passion CapitalA fascinating and surprising tour through how the global monetary system shapes our everyday finances – really, really interesting. -- CLAER BARRETT, Author of What They Don’t Teach You About Money

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Book SynopsisYour expert guide to understanding the models, morals, minefields and mechanisms of the modern global marketplace.What with trickle down and level up, boom and bust, stimulus and stagflation, green investment and Black Monday, the modern landscape of economics is an intriguing place to explore. But how are you expected to navigate the means and ends of this turbulent world?Short Cuts: Economics provides the map you need to start exploring seriously big ideas. A wealth of provocative questions prompt 'short cut' answers written by experts in their field, with each one the setting-off point for instructions to help you plot your path through the economic maze.

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Book SynopsisWe are told that the future of work will be increasingly automated. Algorithms, processing massive amounts of information at startling speed, will lead us to a new world of effortless labour and a post-work utopia of ever expanding leisure. But behind the gleaming surface stands millions of workers, often in the Global South, manually processing data for a pittance.Recent years have seen a boom in online crowdworking platforms like Amazon's Mechanical Turk and Clickworker, and these have become an increasingly important source of work for millions of people. And it is these badly paid tasks, not algorithms, that make our digital lives possible. Used to process data for everything from the mechanics of self-driving cars to Google image search, this is an increasingly powerful part of the new digital economy, although one hidden and rarely spoken of. But what happens to work when it makes itself obsolete. In this stimulating work that blends political economy, studies of contemporary work, and speculations on the future of capitalism, Phil Jones looks at what this often murky and hidden form of labour looks like, and what it says about the state of global capitalism.Trade ReviewBeneath the noisy sphere of autonomous robots and smart assistants, Jones clearly and patiently reveals the hidden abode of underpaid, overworked, and insecure labourers that underpin our digital society. This is an essential guide to an often invisible world. -- Nick Snricek, author of Platform CapitalismLet Phil Jones be your guide to the darkest underbelly of work under digitized capitalism, where tech barons surveil workers' every move and sell their clicks for profit, and the 'job' falls apart but we work more all the time. A beautifully written call to arms to stop this miserable future before it comes for all of us -- Sarah Jaffe, author of Work Won't Love You BackIn this fast-paced and exciting read, Phil Jones explores the hidden abodes of the digital economy, where the world's surplus workers label images, moderate content, and teach algorithms how to identify common house pets, all for a few cents an hour. /Work without the worker/ explores how dispossessed microworkers might band together to spearhead a global movement for free-time and material security. -- Aaron Benanev, author of Automation and the Future of WorkTakes readers to the hidden abode of production of artificial intelligence: a world of precarious, highly exploited, and onerous microwork increasingly performed in the slums, prisons, and refugee camps of sclerotic post-crisis capitalism. With an incandescent urgency, Jones argues that such digitally fragmented piecework threatens livelihoods of all sorts, but also that it offers a tantalizing potential for a world beyond wage labor -- if we can fight for it. -- Gavin Mueller, author of Breaking Things at Work[Phil Jones] establishes himself as a leading figure in what might be called post-accelerationism. -- John Foster * The Battleground *Striking ... After reading Jones' book, it is difficult to look at computers, or those who promote them as our collective salvation, the same way as before. -- Katjo Buissink * Marx & Philosophy *Microwork is the latest proof that technological development doesn't end work, but only produces new forms of labour - and new ways of concealing it. -- Katrina Forrester * London Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisEconomics and the Left presents interviews with 24 leading progressive economists, whose life work has been dedicated to both interpreting the world and changing it for the better. They all deploy the technical tools of their trade-the "dismal science"-in various ways. Much more importantly, they are all people dedicated to the principles of egalitarianism, democracy and ecological sanity. The result is a combustible brew of ideas, commitments and reflections on major historical events, including the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting global economic recession.Interviewed are: Michael Ash, Nelson Henrique Barbosa Filho, James K. Boyce, Ha-Joon Chang, Jane D'Arista, Diane Elson, Gerald Epstein, Nancy Folbre, James K. Galbraith, Teresa Ghilarducci, Jayati Ghosh, Ilene Grabel, Costas Lapavitsas, Zhongjin Li, William Milberg, Léonce Ndikumana, Ozlem Onaran, Robert Pollin, Malcolm Sawyer, Juliet Schor, Anwar Shaikh, William Spriggs, Fiona Tregenna, Thomas WeisskopfTrade ReviewPraise for Chomsky and Pollin: Climate Crisis and the Green New Deal, Verso, 2020:This book is a survival manual for civilization. I want everyone-yes, every person on the planet-to learn its message and to face the challenge it poses: 'What am I doing to help bring about a global Green New Deal in the early years of this decade?' For Americans, the first steps are clear: consign all climate deniers to permanent political oblivion and force all other policymakers to match fine words with deeds-i.e. commit to the Pollin-Chomsky global program for climate stabilization, a massive expansion of good jobs, and just transition. -- Daniel Ellsberg, author of The Doomsday MachinePraise for Chomsky and Pollin: Climate Crisis and the Green New Deal, Verso, 2020:The project that is the Green New Deal is enriched by the insights of two great minds: those of Noam Chomsky and Robert Pollin. Both understand that the GND will fail if it does not protect the jobs and livelihoods of the working class. They explain how a transformation needed to restore the ecosystem can, and will transform the organizations and lives of working people worldwide-for the better. -- Ann Pettifor, author of The Case for The Green New DealPraise for Chomsky and Pollin: Climate Crisis and the Green New Deal, Verso, 2020:Chomsky and Pollin argue it is possible to tackle climate collapse over the next 30 years. A capitalist system that fails to respond does not deserve to survive. * Irish Times *Praise for Chomsky and Pollin: Climate Crisis and the Green New Deal, Verso, 2020:Emphasizes the crisis our planet faces but also says 'there is a solution at hand.' * Irish Examiner *This fascinating collection of interviews with 24 leading progressive economists is profoundly entertaining, revealing, more directly than in their published work, how they came to believe what they believe. The lively interviews convey the infectious excitement of doing research on substantive questions of great social importance and a deep commitment to bringing about equitable and sustainable progress in a mixed economy. Each interviewee offers rare insights into their intellectual biographies and motivations that readers will find nowhere else. Each interview has important intellectual lessons to teach to anyone wishing to understand the world and to improve it. Unendingly gripping. -- Servaas Storm, Professor of Economics, Delft University of TechnologyAs James Galbraith argues in this book, 'economics needs two things: glasnost and perestroika.' This book offers 'glasnost' to anyone interested in the work of some of the most remarkable economists working today, economists whose work is effectively censored by the orthodoxy of the profession. The women economists interviewed- including the remarkable Jane D'Arista - are testament to the need to restructure economics so that women's genius can finally be recognised and celebrated. -- Ann Pettifor, author of The Case for the Green New DealProgressive economists, long voices in the wilderness, have had new influence lately, because the reality they have long described has become demonstrably evident, even to the orthodox. For an introduction to these prophetic voices, you can do no better than to read Economics and the Left: Interviews with Progressive Economics. -- Robert Kuttner, co-editor, The American ProspectThis is a wonderful collection of interviews with a wide variety of inspiring progressive economists who do not only try to understand the world, but also to change it. I learned a lot from it, even about the economists I thought I knew quite well. Reading this book is an enriching and uplifting adventure! -- Irene van Staveren, Professor of Pluralist Development Economics, Erasmus UniversityThis collection of engaging, spirited interviews with economists who have put rigorous economic analysis to work for the common good belongs in the hands of every aspiring economics student. Their accounts of the winding paths that led them to economics are unsparingly honest and contain little-known details that illuminate how their early years influenced their later interests. These economists reject the mainstream, neoclassical framework but embrace economic modes of thinking inspired by a large number of writers- Marx among them - and the tools of rigorous economic analysis including statistics and econometrics. These are used to analyze how class and power, and for some the legacies of slavery and patriarchy, structure labor, commodity and financial markets and market outcomes - persistent wage disparities, unequal burdens of care, food and housing insecurity, environmental degradation, financial instability, and wealth inequality. Intellectually rigorous and morally passionate, their analyses lead to solutions that reside in collective action that respects individual rights, in regulation of markets, and - as the Covid-19 pandemic made clear - in the role of the state in the planning, administration, and allocation of key resources. -- Eileen Appelbaum, Co-director, Center for Economic and Policy AnalysisEconomics and the Left opens a unique window to the hearts and minds of 24 progressive economists -men and women- marked by an extraordinary combination of, on the one hand, brilliance in their academic contributions and of, on the other hand, a passionate commitment to apply their talents -through policy making and advising- to make a better, more equal and sustainable world. This work will be highly enjoyable reading by any economic practitioner, academic or student undergrad and graduate interested in what is -and what is not- the Left in Economics and also by anyone with avid curiosity on how the world economy works and how we can overcome its problems and challenges. -- Juan Carlos Moreno-Brid, Professor of Economics, National Autonomous University of Mexico

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Book SynopsisThe health emergency that broke out in 2020 is a landmark event in the development of capitalism, confirming the underlying change signalled by the Great Crisis of 2007-9. The Pandemic Crisis has catapulted the state to the centre of economic activity. However, a historic impasse is steadily becoming apparent at the core of the world economy Productive accumulation is flaccid, as both profitability and labour productivity are weak. Financialisation has entered a new phase, as "shadow banking" grew relative to other banks but is entirely dependent on the state. The power of the state derives from command over fiat money and can certainly deliver enormous boosts to aggregate demand, but that is not enough to tackle the weakness of the productive sector. The rise in inflation for the first time in forty years indicates the impasse. There is a transparent need for intervention on the supply side, directly challenging capitalist property rights. There is no evidence, however, that the ruling blocs in core countries would engage in such policies.The Pandemic Crisis also brought to the fore fresh divisions of core and periphery across the world economy. Imperialism has assumed new forms, spurred by globally active financial capital and internationalised productive capital. A renewed contest for hegemony has emerged as US power declined. The economic challenge of China will unfold steadily in the years ahead, intensifying political tensions and military rivalries. This book is the work of a research collective comprising authors from several parts of the world. It analyses these vital issues from the perspective of Marxist political economy and puts forth alternative anticapitalist proposals.Trade ReviewA meticulous analysis of what happened when the greatest health crisis since 2018 crashed into the greatest capitalist crisis since 1929. A must read. -- Yanis VaroufakisCapitalism, in its current neoliberal variant, is a perfectly designed system for producing ruinous financial bubbles, massive increases in inequality, and the destruction of the planet. In The State of Capitalism, Costas Lapavitsas and the EReNSEP Writing Collective explain with great scope and force how this has been happening before our eyes for the past 40 years, in all regions of the globe. Critically, they also advance a clear-eyed political program for transcending neoliberalism and building viable democratic socialist alternatives. -- Robert Pollin, Distinguished University Professor of Economics and Co-Director, Political Economy Research InstituteThe State of Capitalism provides an elegant and exhaustive analysis of the changing faces of financialization, neoliberalism, state power and US empire - and how the left must adapt and respond. Lapavitsas develops a typically brilliant and incisive narrative on the transformation of global capitalism since the turn of the century, and shows how these changes formed the foundations of the era of perennial crisis in which we now live. -- Grace BlakeleyIf you wish to conclude your year consolidating your understanding of the world economy and its geopolitical elements, this book certainly offers the opportunity to do so. It is well written and easily accessible to the non-economist. -- Mathew D. Rose * Brave New Europe *

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Book SynopsisLonglisted for the FT Schroders Business Book of the Year Award 2023 - A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: GQ, Los Angeles Times, WiredWherever you look, money is being re- placed by tokens. Digital platforms are issuing new kinds of money-like things: phone credit, shares, gift vouchers, game tokens, customer data-the list goes on. But what does it mean when online platforms become the new banks? What new types of control and discrimination emerge when money is tied to specific apps or actions, politics or identities?Tokens opens up this new and expanding world. Exploring the history of extra- monetary economies, Rachel O'Dwyer shows that private and grassroots tokens have always haunted the real economy. But as the large tech platforms issue new money-like instruments, tokens are suddenly everywhere. Amazon's Turk workers are getting paid in gift cards. Online streamers trade in wishlists. Foreign remittances are sent via phone credit. Bitcoin, gift cards, NFTs, customer data, and game tokens are the new money in an evolving economy. It is a development challenging the balance of power between online empires and the state. Tokens may offer a flexible even subversive route to compensation. But for the platforms them- selves they can be a means of amassing frightening new powers.An essential read for anyone concerned with digital money, inequality, and the future of the economy.Trade ReviewAn important addition to the growing blockchain canon, written with wit and generosity. -- Kate Knibbs, Best Books of 2023 * WIRED *Tokens deftly gives the basic concept that animates cryptocurrency - the titular token - the critical and historical treatment. -- Brian Merchant, Best Tech Books of 2023 * LA Times *Rachel O'Dwyer offers an introduction to the politics of modern tech darlings: from cryptocurrency to Web3. [Tokens] explores the future of money, which O'Dwyer points out is increasingly "being replaced by tokens", and questions what it means when digital platforms become the new banks. While these tokens offer new types of relationships, ownership, and governance, O'Dwyer warns that they also usher in novel forms of surveillance and discipline. -- Brit Dawson, All the best books to look forward to in 2023 * GQ *Rachel O'Dywer takes us on a fascinating and important journey into the vast realm of hidden currencies that operate in the shadows of mainstream money systems. She shows how unorthodox tokens have been enlisted by those seeking emancipation, but rather than uncritically praising them as breakthrough innovations, she also skillfully draws out the deep ambiguities inherent within them: powerful corporate players are quick to take advantage of the grey area on the edge of standard monetary systems to accumulate more profit and data. A must read for anyone exploring the politics of Big Tech and Big Finance. -- Brett Scott, author of Cloud MoneyNo one has done more thoughtful research or has more nuanced takes than Rachel O'Dwyer. She mercilessly cuts through the hype and yet leaves room for hope. -- Lana Swartz, author of New MoneyIn this endlessly fascinating book, Rachel O'Dwyer illuminates the deep strangeness and complexity of money. Written with engaging style and deep intellectual rigour, Tokens is a bracing and enriching exploration of the future of techno-capitalism. -- Mark O'Connell, author of A Thread of ViolenceToken economies are not your typical markets. Enabling a recent explosion of digital grey economies, tokens are used to represent belonging, appreciation, fandom and exclusivity mediating identities, access and incomes across the vast peripheries of the formal economy. Read O'Dwyers book immediately for a full spectrum overview of how tokens have facilitated fields of social potential and experimentation that have nevertheless been locked down and exploited by the tech companies who own the underlying rails. -- Jaya Klara BrekkeThere's much food for thought in there, often of the kinds that impact our daily lives...O'Dwyer is an engaging, amusing writer. -- Megan Volpert * Popmatters *A cautionary, comprehensive look at money and its virtual discontents * Kirkus Reviews *A groundbreaking exploration of the evolving landscape of tokens beyond the usual critique of financialisation. Through a captivating exploration of history, O'Dwyer reveals the deeply political nature of tokens, shedding light on their enduring presence and demonstrating how today's digital tokens are simply a continuation of humanity's longstanding use of tokens to facilitate a wide range of social processes. * Blockchain Socialist *A must-read for anyone seeking to navigate this new world and shape a fairer future. * Denizen *A sharp, accessible deep-dive on just what is going on with crypto * The Handbook *[Tokens] raises fascinating questions about the future of money -- Régine Debatty * We Make Money Not Art *Shot through with references to philosophy, credit scores and sociological treatises on the nature of money ... [O'Dwyer] leavens the theory with interviews and stories of people who have been sucked into the digital token economy in different ways -- Brooke Masters * Financial Times *[A] timely panorama. -- Chris Horn * Irish Times *This book offers a deep dive - a very deep dive - into how contemporary tokens work, and the consequences of their use, both for the good and for the bad ... A must-read for anyone who cares about the future of money and what the consequences will be for all of us. * The Arts Fuse *Riveting -- Stuart Jeffries * Prospect *Table of Contents1. A Bit of Cheer2. Money Talks, Tokens Track3. Programmable Butter4. Money, but Let's Make It Social5. Eat the Rich6. Trust in the Code7. Outside of Borders8. A Celestial Cyberdimension9. 'When You Live in a Shithole, There's Always the Metaverse'

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Book SynopsisTHIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE.The current financial crisis has only one parallel: the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and subsequent Great Depression of the 1930s, which crippled the future of an entire generation and set the stage for the horrors of the Second World War. Yet the economic meltdown could have been avoided, had it not been for the decisions taken by a small number of central bankers.In Lords of Finance, we meet these men, the four bankers who truly broke the world: the enigmatic Norman Montaguof the bank of England, Benjamin Strong of the NY Federal Reserve, the arrogant yet brilliant Hjalmar Schacht of the Reichsbanlk and the xenophobic Emile Moreau of the Banque de France. Their names were lost to history, their lives and actions forgotten, until now. Liaquat Ahamed tells their story in vivid and gripping detail, in a timely and arresting reminder that individuals - their ambitions, limitations and human nature - lie at the very heart of global catastrophe.Trade Review'Highly readable... [Ahamed] cannot have foreseen how timely his book would be. -- Niall Ferguson * FT *'Fascinating... a brisk, original, incisive and entertaining account of a crucial time in the world's economic history that continues to affect us all today. Anyone who wants to understand the origins of the economic world we live in would do well to read this book' * Michael Beschloss *One of those rare books - authoritative, readable and relevant - that puts the "story" back into history... a spellbinding, richly human [and] cinematic narrative. * Strobe Talbott *A great read. * George Soros *Absorbing [and] provocative, not least because it is still relevant. * The Economist *

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Book SynopsisThis is the best-selling book written by the co-founder of the Fairtrade movement, Francisco Van der Hoff Boersma. It tells the fascinating story of how Fairtrade began and how it has evolved as a potent solution to rural poverty. It offers practical and tested solutions to alleviate global poverty and a vision of world-dignity and self-reliance. This 'little yellow book' is a charter for everyone who is looking to create an alternative, more equitable and harmonious world. Written by the co-founder of Fairtrade movement, Francisco Van der Hoff Boersma, it uses models of Fairtrade and small-scale organic farming to explain why Fairtrade farmers don't need all the money and luxury that is deemed so important in the West to thrive. By earning a fair wage for their produce and through hard work, they can create inclusive, vibrant communities of people who are interconnected, valued and celebrated. The author also tells the fascinating story of how Fairtrade began and how it has evolved as a potent solution to rural poverty.This best-selling book is an inspiring account of the campesino movement that offers practical and tested solutions to alleviate global poverty and a vision of world-dignity and self- reliance.Trade ReviewVan der Hoff brings to life the story of Fairtrade, a story for the new world. He has demonstrated through word and action that by taking a vision and making it a reality, that a better world is indeed possible. His experience proves this: by plotting the route and leading by example, many more can follow - where people and planet are put first. Polly Higgins, Award-winning author of 'Eradicating Ecocide' and advocate for Ecocide law and Earth law

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Book SynopsisThis book argues that identity is changing profoundly and that money is changing equally profoundly. Because of technological change the two trends are converging so that all that we need for transacting will be our identities captured in the unique record of our online social contacts. Social networks and mobile phones are the key technologies. They will enable the building of an identity infrastructure that can enhance both privacy and security - there is no trade-off. The long-term consequences of these changes are impossible to predict, partly because how they take shape will depend on how companies (probably not banks) take advantage of business opportunities to deliver transaction services. But one prediction made here is that cash will soon be redundant - and a good thing too. In its place we will see a proliferation of new digital currencies.Trade Review"Dave Birch gives one of the best accounts available today on how we'll navigate the challenges of the emerging payments landscape, and how traditional data points on identity don't really make sense in a digital world. An outstanding piece of work which may well define our journey moving forward." Brett King, Founder and CEO of Moven.com. "Dave Birch's thoughts on digital identity were seminal to the UK's Identity Assurance Scheme. Anyone entering the field of digital identity should take this book with them." David Rennie, Identity Assurance Programme, Government Digital Service, Cabinet Office.

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Book SynopsisAn eloquent and devastating analysis in comic-book form of our economic world - and what makes us tick.

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Book SynopsisOur current neoliberal capitalist economic system is based on unethical values. The twentieth century economist John Maynard Keynes recognized this and wrote of a time in the future when we could transcend those values. Unfortunately Keynes believed that this would somehow happen automatically, and did not grasp the necessity of the need now to directly challenge the values on which our society is based, instead of simply waiting for them to fade away. The Buddha identified the vital importance of working to uproot the poisons of greed and hatred in the human psyche and in human society, and to replace them with their counterparts of generosity and loving kindness, in order to allow a different society to come into being.

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Book SynopsisAn acerbic graphic takedown of capitalism. In Hyper-Capitalism, cartoonist Larry Gonick and psychologist Tim Kasser offer a vivid and an accessible new way to understand how global, privatising, market-worshipping hyper-capitalism is threatening human wellbeing, social justice, and the planet. Drawing from contemporary research, they describe and illustrate concepts (such as corporate power, free trade, privatisation, and deregulation) that are critical for understanding the world we live in, and movements (such as voluntary simplicity, sharing, alternatives to GDP, and protests) that have developed in response to the system. Gonick and Kasser’s pointed and profound cartoon narratives provide a deep exploration of the global economy and the movements seeking to change it, all rendered in clear, graphic — and sometimes hilarious — terms. In the process, they point the way to a healthier future for all of us.Trade Review‘A truly unique, page-turning graphical account … Gonick and Kasser pull off the monumental feat of rendering an otherwise dry and complex social-economic topic as clear, entertaining, informative, and even hilarious in spots. Hyper-Capitalism is a remarkable, essential and hopeful book for our times. To embrace and act upon its message is to live better.’ -- Nomi Prins, author of All the Presidents’ Bankers and It Takes a Pillage‘Like fish who don’t know they live in polluted water (because it’s everywhere), many people don’t know they live in economically, socially, and politically polluted societies. Hyper-Capitalism, in lucid prose and delightful graphics, pulls back the curtain with crystal clarity. I can’t think of a better book for young people to read as they chart their futures.’ -- Barry Schwartz, author of The Costs of Living, The Paradox of Choice, and Why We Work‘This book explains much about how the world works, and why it increasingly doesn’t. Read it soon, before we lose any more ice caps.’ -- Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Deep Economy‘A clear and concise description of how the market economy functions, why it encourages the worst aspects of human nature, and how we can cope in an age of excess.’ -- John Gowdy, Professor of Economics and Professor of Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute‘A great introduction to the current state of the economy and what can be done about it, and a solid addition for Gonick’s many fans.’ * Library Journal *‘A timely counter to those who celebrate predatory economics as the best of all possible financial worlds.’ * Kirkus Reviews *Praise for Larry Gonick ‘Larry Gonick should get an Oscar for humour and a Pulitzer for history.’ -- Richard Saul Wurman, author and creator of the TED conference‘Hyper-Capitalism is very funny.’ -- Erin Britton * Nudge Books *

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Book SynopsisThis innovative book provides a new perspective on Basic Income - a regular, unconditional payment to every citizen resident in the country. This comprehensive book has been rigoursly researched and thus will appeal to academics and policy-makers, as well, as to the general reader who is concerned about the current state of social security in the UK. Basic Income in practive, A Basic Income Pocketbook includes details of real Basic Income Schemes.

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Book SynopsisWe are constantly being told that globalisation is good for the economy and good for us, but it’s actually the opposite, argues bestselling author Jeff Rubin in this provocative, timely book. In the pre-coronavirus world, governments and economists bragged that GDP was growing and unemployment was down. But even then, real wages had been stagnant for decades, union membership had collapsed, and full-time employment no longer guaranteed you could pay the bills. When we emerge from the virus, it would be nice to think that living in a country that’s getting richer means that you’re getting richer too, but that’s not the way it works anymore. Falling tariffs, low interest rates, global deregulation, and tax policies that benefit only the rich have all had the same effect: the erosion of the ‘expendable’ middle class. The result, growing global inequality, is a problem of our own making. And solving it won’t be easy if we draw on the same ideas about capital and labour, right and left, that led us to this cliff. Articulating a vision that, remarkably, dovetails with the ideas of both Naomi Klein and Donald Trump, The Expendables is an exhilaratingly fresh perspective that is at once humane and irascible, fearless and rigorous. Trade Review‘A forensic study of globalisation … rigorous.’ -- David Kernek * Irish Examiner *‘[A] snappily written work.’ -- Fiona Capp * The Age *‘Rubin … leverages his firm grasp of geopolitics and economics to offer not only a primer on macroeconomics, but also on how globalisation — that is, the process of opening up international markets — has routed the middle class and propped up the elite.’ * Winnipeg Free Press *‘The latest from the author of Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller continues his disruptive ways in this analysis of how the collapse of union membership and the near obsolescence of full-time employment is squeezing out the middle class … [Rubin] is a fiercely independent thinker.’ * NOW *Praise for Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: ‘Rubin’s argument is powerful.’ —Newsweek ‘One of the year’s best.’—Financial TimesPraise for The Big Flatline: ‘[Rubin] states unequivocally that the reason economists and politicians have failed to reverse the current recession is that they are relying on outmoded world views … Clearly written and smartly argued.’ * Kirkus Reviews *Praise for The Carbon Bubble: ‘Jeff Rubin at his finest. Thought-provoking. Meticulously researched. Intelligent without pretension. I highly, highly recommend it!’ -- Michael Hlinka * CBC Radio *

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Book SynopsisWhat is one of the best ways to successfully predict the future? Winston Churchill believed that the further back you look, the further forward you are likely to be able to see. This intriguing book is testimony to this idea. It looks back two thousand years to the Roman Empire to help us to see into our own future. Pugnare tells the story of a people like us in their capacity for creativity and self-destruction, and in the wisdom and foolishness of those whom they chose to govern them. It tells the story of their success, a prosperity that the world had never seen before. And it tells the story of their failure, the one thousand five hundred year long Great Stagnation that followed the self-induced collapse of their world.Trade ReviewFinancial Times - "Fabulous ... one to give to anyone you would like to be less blase about the resilience of our institutions." The Week -"Top ten business book of 2021." Also featured in The Sunday Telegraph, City A.M., The Express, The Actuary, Moneyweek, America Magazine and Cointelegraph.Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction 1 Chapter 2 Expansion 8 Chapter 3 Peace 29 Chapter 4 Money 57 Chapter 5 Cities 85 Chapter 6 Prosperity 113 Chapter 7 Life 141 Chapter 8 Chaos 165 Chapter 9 Survival 199 Appendix 217 Additional Reading 219 Acknowledgements 227 List of Illustrations 229 Bibliography 233 Index 251

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Book SynopsisAs investment in new ventures across the African continent grows, and enterprises multiply in a wide variety of sectors, the next wave of challenges and opportunities has become apparent to those with the experience and vision to understand them. In this book for investors, institutions, entrepreneurs, and everyone interested in the economic future of Africa, noted Kenyan executive Edward Mungai will analyze recent successes and failures in business ventures across the African continent and identify the most important opportunities for impact investment impacting the future of Africa available today and in the near future.Table of Contents1. Introduction2. Doing business in Africa: what to consider3. How does impact investing scale down to ordinary people?4. Landscape of impacting investing in Africa5. Emerging trends in impact investing in Africa6. Structuring a fund7. Measuring impact for continued growth8. De-risking the investment9. Challenges for impact businesses in Africa

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Book SynopsisWhen crises occur, citizens, media and policymakers alike expect government to respond and to take a leading role in recovery. Given the scale and scope of crises, whether natural (such as hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes), manmade (such as conflict and economic downturns), or often a combination of the two, governments are often seen as being in the best position to identify the problems, understand the circumstances, and direct action. They are also likely to be the entities that have adequate resources to devote to such large-scale efforts. Yet, governments are not spared from the effects of crises. They are composed of individuals who are impacted by disasters and face many of the same challenges in identifying needs, prioritizing action, and adjusting to changing circumstances. It is by no surprise that governments are also often scrutinized during and after crises. How, then, do we understand the capability of and proper role for governments to respond to crisis and to drive recovery? This edited volume—comprised of chapters by accomplished scholars and seasoned practitioners in disaster and crises studies and management, spanning multiple disciplines including sociology, economics, and public administration—examines the roles, expectations, and capabilities of government responses to crises. It gives an overview of the literature, provides lessons learned from both research and experience on the ground during crises, and puts forth a framework for understanding crisis management and subsequent policy implications. It will be of use to any scholars, students, practitioners or policymakers interested in learning from and better preparing for crises and responding when they do occur. Table of Contents Introduction The Rules of the Game and Post-disaster Rebuilding and Recovery Government as Gardener: Cultivating the Environment for Private Sector Natural Disaster Response The Role of the Local Emergency Manager in a Centralized System of Disaster Management Recognizing Vulnerability and Capacity: Federal Initiatives Focused on Children and Youth across the Disaster Lifecycle The Political Economy of Foreign Intervention When is Top-down State-building Appropriate? The European Migrant Crisis: A Case Study in Failure of Government and Supra-governmental Responses

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Book SynopsisCrises occur in all societies across world, and can be natural (such as hurricanes, flooding, and earthquakes), man-made (such as wars and economic downturns), or, often, a combination of both (such as famines, the flooding of New Orleans in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina and subsequent levy failures, and the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011). Crises cause fatalities, injuries, and property damages as well as introduce uncertainty and challenges for individuals, societies, and polities. Yet, we see individuals and communities rebounding effectively from crises all the time. How do communities go about returning to normalcy and beginning again the mundane life of every day affairs? This edited volume looks at bottom-up responses to crises. The chapters in this volume will highlight the ingenuity and persistence of individuals and private organizations as well as discuss the possibilities, limitations, and adaptability of bottom-up responses. It argues that there are many ways that local leaders, entrepreneurs, and community members can play a role in their own recovery by examining the capabilities, feedback mechanisms, and network effects of decentralized crisis response and recovery efforts. Chapters will focus on the role of local emergency managers in the disaster management process and offer suggestions for reform and the role of businesses, citizens, and children in providing crisis response and recovery. This book will also consider theories of self-governance and nonviolent action in encouraging and sustaining bottom-up recovery.Table of Contents Introduction The What, How, and Why of Bottom-up Rebuilding and Recovery after Natural Disasters Nonviolent Action The Private Sector's Contribution to Natural Disaster Response Formation of Public-Private Partnerships by Local Emergency Managers Children Take Charge: Helping Behaviors and Organized Action among Young People after Hurricane Katrina Bottom-up State-building Government Intervention Induced Structural Crises: Exploratory Notes on the Patterns of Evolution and Response

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Book SynopsisBad news about climate change, shrinking resources, global health crises, species extinction and growing inequalities cause consternation and insecurity for many people, especially since the Covid pandemic. The ambition of this book is to explain in simple but precise terms and by means of Ruedi Baur’s concise illustrations what “finance” is, and how its most innovative form, sustainable finance, can reconcile the well-being of mankind with the capacities of our planet. Is there a way to convince society that a fundamental transition is necessary, even more: that it is possible? Can sustainable finance help? Financing Our Common Future offers encouraging perspectives by showing how little-known groups of financial stakeholders, such as development banks, are actively working to make sustainable finance happen. The book invites you to enjoy a journey through multitude situations, to question our preconceptions and to open our mindset to a deeper thought, so we can envision ways of moving forward.

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Book SynopsisAt a time when Congressional investigations have taken on added importance and urgency in American politics, this book offers readers a rare, insider’s portrait of the world of US Congressional oversight. It examines specific oversight investigations into multiple financial and offshore tax scandals over fifteen years, from 1999 to 2014, when Senator Levin served in a leadership role on the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), the Senate’s premier investigative body. Despite mounting levels of partisanship, dysfunction, and cynicism swirling through Congress during those years, this book describes how Congressional oversight investigations can be a powerful tool for uncovering facts, building bipartisan consensus, and fostering change, offering detailed case histories as proof. Grounded in fact, and written as only an insider could tell it, this book will be of interest to financial and tax practitioners, policymakers, academics, students, and the general public.Table of Contents1. Entering the Oversight World2. Landing at PSI3. Combatting Money Laundering: Round One4. Taking on Enron and its Bankers5. Stopping Abusive Tax Shelters6. Battling Tax Haven Banks7. Crossing Party Lines8. Halting Unfair Credit Card Practices9. Deconstructing the Financial Crisis10. Combatting Money Laundering: Round Two11. Exposing Corporate Tax Dodgers12. Beaching the London Whale13. Targeting Commodity Speculation14. Pursuing Oversight

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Book SynopsisFrom the author of the New York Times bestseller, Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives, comes the new title on dealing with the complexity of change. It is one thing to spot the real trends from the fads, but it is another whole new ball game to deal with the incoming trend. This is the centrepiece of Mastering Megatrends.

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