Search results for ""agenda publishing""

The question of free will has preoccupied philosophers for millennia. In recent years the debate has been reinvigorated by the findings of neuroscience and, for some, the notion that we have free will has finally been laid to rest. Not so, says Raymond Tallis. In his quest to reconcile our practical belief in our own agency with our theoretical doubts, Tallis advances powerful arguments for the reality of freedom. Tallis challenges the idea that we are imprisoned by laws of nature that wire us into a causally closed world. He shows that our capacity to discover and exploit these laws is central to understanding the nature of voluntary action and to reconciling free will with our status as material beings. Bringing his familiar verve and insight to this deep and most intriguing philosophical question, one that impacts most directly on our lives and touches on nearly every other philosophical problem – of consciousness, of time, of the nature of the natural world, and of our unique place in the cosmos – Tallis takes us to the heart of what we are. By understanding our freedom he reveals our extraordinary nature more clearly.

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Syed Mansoob Murshed has been at the forefront of research in the rational choice approach to conflict. His pioneering work over many years has demonstrated that armed conflict is inseparable from inequality and economic development. This book brings together Murshed’s key economic writings on conflict and includes work on conflict causation, sustaining peace agreements, the relationship of conflict and economic progress, the trade–conflict nexus, the effects of conflict on financial deepening and fiscal capacity, as well as case studies of everyday violence and transnational terrorism. The essays cover both theoretical ideas, critical literature reviews, mathematical modelling, and crossnational and subnational econometric empirical analysis. The enduring nature of war and conflict and uneven economic outcomes make Murshed’s work of lasting significance.

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The airline industry is fundamental to the workings of the global economy. Yet, ironically for an industry of such sheer scale and economic muscle, profit margins are razor thin and many airlines struggle to break even. The precarious economics of the sector were fully revealed when Covid-19 grounded flights across the world prompting many national carriers to seek government bailouts, while smaller airlines collapsed. In this updated and expanded new edition Volodymyr Bilotkach explains the economic realities of the airline industry and the challenges that the sector now faces after the seismic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The impact of such a large-scale external shock on the industry is considered across each of its sectors and for each of its primary economic determinants. The book also includes new material on changes to cost structures, the pricing of add-on services, cargo, airport slot allocation and the impact of climate change. The book remains a comprehensive introduction to the economics of airlines, how carriers compete, how they develop their business, and how demand and cost structure, coupled with the complex regulatory regime, produces the industry we see today.

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Seven decades after the liberation of Europe, the strongmen of global politics are back. With a style and strategy of leadership that is anathema to liberal democratic norms and practices, the strongman challenges the principles of consensus and collaboration, willingly tears up trade agreements, invades territory and seeks to provoke and disrupt the status quo in order to achieve advantage. In this fascinating study of strongman power, Hans Kribbe draws on a range of political ideas to provide insight into the strongman’s seemingly irrational and idiosyncratic behaviour to better understand how he (it is always “he”) wields power and to what end. Although the strongman’s behaviour confounds and frustrates his counterparts abroad, Kribbe’s analysis offers hope that it can be understood, anticipated and even neutralized. The implication of Kribbe’s study is unequivocal: with the world’s largest economies, as well as strategic neighbouring states controlled by strongmen, Europe must learn to speak their language if it is to beat them at their own game.

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Mexico is the sixteenth largest economy in the world and Latin America’s biggest exporter and importer. Despite the country’s relative macroeconomic stability, there are two Mexicos: one more prosperous, advanced and modern, the other poor, isolated and disadvantaged, and this polarization characterizes much of the country’s recent economic development. Enrique Cárdenas provides a concise survey of Mexico’s recent economic history and examines its attempts to address the economic challenges thrown up by regional disparities, low productivity and an export-fuelled economy overwhelmingly dependent on demand from its largest neighbour. The book investigates the relative robustness of the macroeconomic fundamentals alongside specific industry-level economic trends, especially those sectors dependent on free trade agreements. Demographic trends, in particular migration to the north, urbanization, poor labour relations, organized crime and entrenched corruption are all shown to have impacted the economic path Mexico has taken. The book offers an up-to-date analysis of Mexico’s economic development, social reform programmes and political economy suitable for a range of courses in Latin American studies and development studies.

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Feminist political economy is essential to understanding the power relations and hierarchies that shape and sustain contemporary capitalism. Motivated by the rejection of gender-blind approaches in economics feminist political economy provides compelling insights into the relations between the economic, the social and the political in the reproduction of inequality. Sara Cantillon, Odile Mackett and Sara Stevano have written a much-needed introduction to key topics in feminist political economy, including the global division of labour, social reproduction, child and elder care, the household and intra-household inequalities, labour market inequalities, welfare regimes, the feminization of poverty and economic indicators. The authors take a global perspective throughout and engage in debates that are relevant for the Global North and/or the Global South. The book offers readers a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the role of power relations and inequality in the economy and is suitable for a variety of courses in political economy, feminism, gender studies, economics, social policy and development studies.

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Before the Great Financial Crisis of 2008–09, significant reductions in official interest rates typically proved sufficient to generate sustainable economic recoveries from downturns. However, with economies and financial markets in freefall during the crisis despite a cut in interest rates to effectively zero, policymakers in some advanced economies launched a major new tool called quantitative easing (QE). This involved central banks purchasing huge amounts of financial assets. This book offers a thorough and perspicacious analysis of QE, which has become a recovery method of last resort. Whilst it was successful in averting another Great Depression and stimulating growth, it remains controversial and continues to promote widespread debate in economics, financial, and political-economy circles. This book is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand central banking in the national economy.

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South Korea has the tenth largest economy in the world and is one of only two Asian members of the OECD. It has achieved this remarkable level of economic development since its independence from Japan in 1945. Indeed, it has achieved this transformation, exceptional for any postcolonial state, despite one of the most brutal fratricidal conflicts fought since the Second World War. Sunil Kim and Jonson Porteux chart this astonishing economic and political development and explain the puzzle that is the South Korean economy. The authors examine how South Korea has developed a highly innovative economy based on advanced technologies and infrastructure – counter-intuitively, given its postcolonial legacy of military leaders and lack of fully developed free markets. The longstanding family-owned and run industrial conglomerates – the chaebol – characteristic of the Korean economy are shown to have been behind the shift to high-tech industrialization, albeit under the strict influence of the state. The challenges of increased global interconnectedness, the precarious and fragile relationship with North Korea, the slowdown of domestic demand, recent assaults on the chaebol and their families, together with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, are furthermore addressed. The book offers new insights and frameworks for understanding the fascinating history and future trajectory of South Korea’s political economy as well as the causes and consequences of industrialization and democratization more generally.

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Health economics has become an established field of enquiry over recent years and is now an important contributor to normative health policy, and decisions concerning the allocation of resources and the quality of healthcare provision across the world. Medical Economics, written by two physicians who are also qualified economists, introduces readers to the core economic considerations in healthcare provision and management. Addressing concerns that are relevant to both the individual and to public health, the authors draw on a wider range of economic tools and analytical frameworks than typically offered by standard textbooks. Combining thought experiments with real-world examples they illustrate the healthcare challenges facing today’s policy-makers. The book is aimed specifically at courses in medicine, public health, and healthcare management and administration, but also at economists looking for a broader perspective on healthcare systems, including healthcare financing, markets, the role of the state and other macroeconomic considerations, evaluation methods, healthcare technology, paying for medical care, health insurance and ethical issues.

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Elinor Ostrom was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in economics and her achievement has generated renewed interest in the Bloomington School research program in institutional economics and political economy. These new essays showcase Ostrom’s extensive and lasting influence throughout economics and the wider social sciences. They contextualize the Bloomington School within schools of economic thought and show how Ostrom’s distinct methodology is used in policy-making and governance. Case studies are used to illustrate the value of civic involvement within public policy, a method pioneered by Ostrom and the Bloomington School. The book provides a valuable resource for those keen to understand Ostrom’s approach, especially when applied to policy-making and wider application in the social sciences. Readers new to the Bloomington School will be introduced to its central areas of research while those already familiar will appreciate its subtle connections to other disciplines and research agendas.

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Productivity looms large in public policy discussions yet many find themselves hard-pressed to explain exactly what the term means. Even within economics, its nature and significance is contested and the focus of complex debate. Michael Haynes cuts through the jargon and political sloganeering to provide a detailed examination of the concept, how it is used and why it is held by economists to be so important in evaluating the health of economies. The book explores why productivity grows or fails to grow in certain contexts, in particular how real world variables can interact with measurements of efficiency and output. The difficulties of measuring its scope are examined alongside the larger question of whether growth in productivity is sustainable, both at the level of national economies and globally. Whether productivity remains the motor of economic growth that it once was and continues to be the most appropriate economic indicator for modern economies is shown to be a key consideration. For anyone searching for a clear, engaging and level-headed guide to one of the most important metrics for understanding economic growth, this book will be warmly welcomed.

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Drawing on comparative detail from Europe, North America, and the rest of the world, Driving Change provides a nuanced overview of the UK’s modern transport system and the role of business models and policy choices in its evolution. The common features of mobility and travel in developed economies are highlighted in order to provide a balanced appraisal of possible future developments. The book offers a detailed consideration of the potential of new technologies – electric propulsion, digital platforms and autonomous vehicles – to offer solutions to the intractable challenges that accompany high levels of car ownership, as well as their likely impact on business and transport policy. Driving Change is a rich analysis of the modern state of transportation and will be welcomed by students of transport studies and policy professionals tasked with developing infrastructure and the growth of the transportation industry.

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Since the late-1990s Turkey has emerged as a significant economic power. Never colonized and straddling the continents of Europe and Asia, it plays a strategically important role in a region of increasing instability. Bülent Gökay examines Turkey’s remarkable domestic political and economic transformation over the past two decades within the context of broader regional and global changes. By situating the story of Turkey’s economic growth within an analysis of the structural changes and shifts in the world economy, the book provides new insights into the functioning of Turkey’s political economy and the successes and failures of its ruling party’s economic management.

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The “gig economy” is a relatively recent term coined to describe a range of working arrangements that have previously been denoted as precarious, flexible and contingent. These may include casual workers, temporary agency workers, those on zero-hours contracts and dependent contractors. This books seeks to get behind the contemporary buzz surrounding the term and provide some theoretical and empirical analysis of the gig work phenomenon. The book seeks to assess more critically some of the rhetorical claims made about gig work and to provide a balanced appraisal of the ramifications for individuals, employers and the economy and society in general of an increasingly insecure workforce. The regulatory framework, in particular, is examined and is shown to have lagged behind crucial developments in the gig economy, with many labour laws still historically rooted to the notion that a worker has to be an employee to be covered by employment rights. The authors show that in many respects there is nothing new about the gig economy and that its growth in recent years was in some sense predictable. Perhaps its real significance, they argue, is its potential as a business model to “gig-ize” other business operations far beyond relatively low-skilled work. When combined with automation and digitalization, the gig economy presents us with an opportunity to re-evalute our understanding of the nature of work.

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Football has an integrity problem. Whether it is the reckless behaviour of players on or off the pitch, television commentators bad-mouthing decisions during the game, or the corrupt governance of the sport, football has a tarnished reputation. Dan Hough analyses why this is and how to tackle it.

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The world's eighth largest economy has a unique shape and structure. Characterized by strong social networks and a niche capitalism built on successful small and medium-sized enterprises, the Italian economy has a nature distinct from its European neighbours. Vera Zamagni charts Italy's recent economic history from the postwar years of reconstruction through to the present day and the legacy of the financial crisis. Combining illustrative data with qualitative analysis, she provides a clear and rigorous presentation of the main features of the country's economy. The country's regional imbalances, political instability and corruption are situated alongside its strengths in social capital, its flourishing industrial districts and its high ranking in well-being indicators. Throughout, the contours of a much longer history are shown to have shaped the contemporary economy as much as recent trends, such as migration. The book provides a concise survey suitable for a range of introductory readerships seeking to understand the nature of recent Italian economic performance.

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The automotive sector represents more than a simple industry. It embodies the economic and technological power of nations, the lifestyle and consumption patterns of societies, the dynamics of urban and territorial development, and acts as a national barometer of economic success and failure. This book explains how the car industry works and analyses the challenges both for the sector and for the economies that rely on the industry for jobs, growth and innovation. It explores an industry that has been under severe pressure in industrialized countries for many years – factories have closed, jobs have gone and brands and manufacturers have disappeared – yet world production has never been higher, reaching new peaks annually. The authors investigate how western and Japanese manufacturers still dominate the market, despite the challenge posed by Korean, Chinese and Indian competitors. They examine how changing environmental policies and consumer preferences are moving the industry towards electric vehicles; how usage patterns are evolving, favouring car-sharing; and how advances in electronics and digitalization are set to further reshape the sector with autonomous and self-driving vehicles. The book offers readers a short, non-technical guide to the workings of a fast-moving industry that remains of huge importance to both national and global economies.

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Repeated corruption scandals and the efforts of the international political community to find ways to counteract them have compelled economists, anthropologists and political scientists to confront corruption as a subject for serious academic research. This textbook introduces students to the field of corruption analysis and the challenges facing its researchers. The book explores the definitional challenges, the problems of measurement and the methodologies that underpin the standard corruption indices. The key drivers of corrupt practice are identified and the arguments used to understand the causes of corruption are outlined. The book looks at what works in the fight against corruption, including international conventions and organizations, and policy initiatives at the national level. The role of third sector organizations, the so-called “anti-corruption industry” and the work of citizen activists and “armchair auditors” are also explored. Analysing Corruption provides an authoritative and engaging introduction to a subject that is the largest public policy challenge that the state faces in many parts of the world. It is suitable for courses in politics, public policy, public administration, development studies and anthropology. It will also be of value to those working in NGOs and charities helping to shape anti-corruption thinking.

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We have become accustomed to economists and politicians talking about “market forces” as if they are immutable laws of the universe. But what exactly is “the market”? Originally an abstract idea from economic theory – the locus of supply and demand – it has come to inform the way we speak about our relationship to the economic system as a whole. Matthew Watson unpacks the concept to ask what does it really mean to allow ourselves to submit to market forces. And does economic theory really provide insights into the market institutions that shape our everyday life? In tackling these questions, the book provides a major contribution to a deeper appreciation of the dominant economic language of our time, challenging the idea that we can simply defer to the “logic of the market”.

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The resource curse, or paradox of plenty, refers to the long-established notion central in development economics that countries rich in natural resources, particularly minerals and fuels, perform less well economically than countries with fewer natural resources. In other words, resources are an economic curse rather than a blessing. This short primer explores the complexities of this idea and the debates that surround it, in particular under what conditions the resource curse might operate, if not universal. Discussion ranges over the nature of resource booms, the benefits and costs of export-led growth, the problems of deindustrialization and manufacturing base erosion, rent-seeking behaviour and corruption and the empirical evidence of the effects of natural resource dependence on growth. The book also considers the links between resource rents and the risk of conflict and civil war. The treatment draws throughout on a range of illustrative examples from across the developed and developing world and offers an authoritative introduction to one of the most perplexing issues for economic growth.

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The rise of behavioural approaches in economics has been one of most significant developments in the study of economic decision-making in recent years. The increasingly acknowledged failings of standard models of choice to explain economic decisions has prompted economists to incorporate into their analysis psychological insights into individual behaviour, such as social cognitive and emotional biases. This book introduces the topic of behavioural economics to a beginning readership, explaining its approach and methodology and assessing its successes and weaknesses. The book begins by tracing the evolution of the field from its origins in Adam Smith’s moral sentiments through the work of Herbert Simon to Daniel Kahneman and Richard Thaler today. The book explores how behavioural economics has advanced our understanding of human preferences including notions of fairness, reciprocity and inequality aversion, and the mental processes involved in decision making, which vary with the complexity of the decision and the ability of the decision-maker to process the information. The decision-making of individuals within social and economic groups is explored, including financial practitioners and what this can mean for financial markets. Finally the book looks at the ways in which findings from behavioural economics have been used to alter the decisions people make, such as the nudge approach, and the ethics of such persuasion.

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It is estimated that today some 2.7% of world GDP ($1.5 trillion) is spent on arms. In 2014 Lockheed Martin, the US defence contractor, had revenues of $45 billion – the equivalent of the GDP of Tunisia. This book explores the business behind these breathtaking figures and explains how the arms industry makes its money. The book begins by defining the industry, explaining why the sector is important, outlining its prime contractors and key supply chains. Its cost categories (from R&D to maintenance), the role of technical innovation, and the sector’s dependence on the monopsony buying power of Government, are all examined. The structure-conduct and performance model is used to show the workings of the arms market and its various entry and exit conditions, and the sector’s performance is analysed through various indicators including exports, development time scales, cost overruns and profitability. The complex choice problems of domestic procurement are considered alongside sales to foreign governments and the opportunities that may present for bribery and corruption. The Military-Industrial-Political-Complex (MIPC) is unpacked and the behaviour of its major agents – national defence agencies, the armed forces, producer groups, political agents (voters, political parties and budget-maximising bureaucracies) – is scrutinised, both in times of conflict (expansion) and peace (contraction). The book concludes by considering future trends, such as whether arms industries are better under state or private ownership, and how they can meet the challenge of new threats in different forms. The discussion throughout is anchored to case studies from all parts of the world, including Brazil, Korea, Japan, Russia as well as UK, US and Europe. As an authoritative non-technical introduction to the economics of arms industries, it is suitable for students of business studies, politics, international relations, political economy, strategic and defence studies as well as for courses on microeconomics and industrial economics. As a masterly summation from one of the world’s leading defence economists, it will also be required reading for staff in defence ministries, procurement agencies, the armed forces and strategic studies think-tanks throughout the world.

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To understand the Labour Party today one needs to appreciate how people in the party have reacted to the New Labour legacy. Karl Pike examines the efforts each of the three leaders have made in reforming the party's ideology, its democracy and organization and their political style and approach to the leadership.

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How has demography shaped the Arab Spring, migrant flights from Africa to Europe, budget negotiations in the USA, immigration debates in Japan and economic growth in India and Brazil, among others? John Rennie Short explores the wide-ranging economic, social and public policy implications of population changes using contemporary case studies.

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Stephen Sterling is a pioneer in sustainability education. This collection of his essential writings is freshly curated by the author and offers a new overview and chapter by chapter introductions that link together his thinking to inform the growing and urgent debate on the role and nature of education.

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Human rights and economics are not often spoken about in the same breath. Yet increasingly, human rights actors are calling for a shift towards a rights-based or human-rights economy. One that puts the economy truly at the service of communities contending with extreme social and economic inequality, climate catastrophe and corporate abuses. The economies we live in structure our daily experiences and represent systems which can profoundly affect our ability to enjoy our rights to decent work, adequate healthcare, political participation, freedom from violence and more. This book systematizes academic and practitioners’ analyses and experiences, drawing from different epistemologies, literatures and case studies, to flesh out what a rights-based economy would look like, and the tools and actions – economic, legal, environmental and social – needed to get there.

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This collection of essays from both civil society professionals and academics advocates for a new economy, one built on the foundation of human rights.

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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was a war long in the making and is the latest in a series of military interventions that have showcased Vladimir Putin’s deadly imperial ambitions and the ruthless and bloody strategies that serve his vision of a greater Russia. Putin’s Russia wants its empire back and it has taken the events in Ukraine for the West to finally realize it. Alex Bellamy examines the road to Ukraine 2022 and charts the path from Chechnya, Putin’s first war which helped propel him to the presidency, through to conflict in Georgia, Crimea, the South Caucasus and Syria. He shows the central role war has played in Putin’s rule and how it has helped craft a new social contract between president and people grounded in a shared vision of Russian national identity. For anyone wanting to understand the hows and whys of the war in Ukraine, Alex Bellamy’s clear and insightful analysis is a must-read.

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A corrective to the view that cities are only ever good, arguing that the same urban properties which make cities so extraordinarily proficient at producing the good innovations also provides fertile ground for the development of the bad ones, on which urban elites have syphoned off wealth from other localities and regions.

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Drawing on the latest research in health geography and a wide range of case studies from across the world, this comprehensive and authoritative study offers students an unrivalled analysis of the geographical connections of global health and the challenges they present for governance and treatment. Topics considered include health inequalities across countries, the governance of health by nation-states and international organizations, the incidence and spread of infectious disease, the links between air and water quality and health outcomes, and the health impacts of climate change. The book considers how these different issues play out in a range of geographical settings across the world, with a particular focus on low- and middle-income countries, which are disproportionally affected. The book demonstrates the indispensable role of geographical processes operating across borders in understanding health worldwide and is an excellent resource for courses on health geography, global health, public health and development studies.

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The UN's urban sustainability goal (#11) is fundamental to the global sustainable development agenda. David Simon explains the anatomy and dynamics of SDG 11, and critically assess how it is being used and understood in different local, regional and national contexts. Supported by case studies throughout, Simon considers how SDG 11 interacts with other Sustainability Development Goals and how competing indicators, other external constraints, as well as lack of political will can present tough challenges to implementation. He provides a balanced and dispassionate analysis, highlighting problems and limitations alongside positive applications. A key aspect of the unfolding story of the SDGs is how they play out in practice. Although some of the connections and complementarities were designed, others are shown to have emerged by default. Drawing on lessons learnt so far, Simon considers how realistic sustainability goals are for cities and human settlements worldwide, and asks how different will cities be by the end of the SDG's 15-year lifespan in 2030? Written for students, policy-makers and practitioners, the book provides an authoritative assessment of one of the most important and integrative SDGs.

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The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal #4 focuses on inclusive, quality education, galvanizing efforts for substantial educational reform around the globe. Progress is being made but are the initiatives being upscaled and mainstreamed rapidly enough? Has caring become an essential aspect of learning? Have cooperative learning and creativity been given enough attention? Are teachers receiving sufficient support? These are some of the questions raised by Victoria Thoresen as she considers the goals and challenges iterated in the SDG. Thoresen argues that unless implementation of the new definitions of inclusive, quality education are prioritized everywhere, sustainable development will be severely hampered and, conceivably, misdirected. She examines the recent evolution of education in light of political and commercial ambitions, technological advancements, and knowledge creation and sharing. Key concerns relating to education for and learning about sustainable development are identified and major obstacles to achieving inclusive, quality education for all are discussed.

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Forced to embrace a post-carbon future, or risk serious damage to the planet, we have begun a race for alternatives to the scarce resources that previous generations relied on. In this book, Jonathan Moses and Anne Brigham consider how best we might negotiate the world’s scarce pool of natural resources, and avoid the pitfalls of the past. In order to shift the world’s consumption from one set of scarce natural resources to another, they show the need for management regimes that are both politically, as well as environmentally, sustainable. They propose an alternative way to think about resource management for the future, one based on the collective ownership of (stewardship over) nature, and one where the rents resulting from this ownership, like the resources that produce them, belong to the people. Using case studies from particular markets, they demonstrate how such a management model might work to protect our common heritage and allow communities to secure the benefits we can and should expect from scarce resources – our natural dividend.

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Although there is no overt ideological battle in the twenty-first century, citizens in every latitude register growing dissatisfaction with the results delivered by their governments. In the West they increasingly turn to populist forces to seek an easy respite to the frustration caused by the failures of democracy. Other models of governance, such as China’s "autocratic capitalism", rest on technocratic command and control methods that are disdained in the West but whose global appeal is growing mostly due to their perceived ability to deliver. No matter how and where they are practised, these alternatives seem to offer only partial and unsatisfactory answers to increasingly complex questions of governance. In a world ravaged by pandemics and climate crises, migration flows and cyberwars, rigid rule-making imparted from above or populist over-simplifications brewing from below can only represent the extremes of a more sophisticated picture of governing processes. In this book, Fabrizio Tassinari seeks to rediscover the methods, practices and limits of good governance. By taking inspiration from the Nordic region, where democratic governance has delivered some of its most impressive feats, he shows that populism and technocracy are not the causes of our political malaise; they represent skewed by-products of the most basic instincts in our body politic. They need not be suppressed but channelled and reconciled in our practices of governing.

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The airline industry is fundamental to the workings of the global economy. Yet, ironically for an industry of such sheer scale and economic muscle, profit margins are razor thin and many airlines struggle to break even. The precarious economics of the sector were fully revealed when Covid-19 grounded flights across the world prompting many national carriers to seek government bailouts, while smaller airlines collapsed. In this updated and expanded new edition Volodymyr Bilotkach explains the economic realities of the airline industry and the challenges that the sector now faces after the seismic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The impact of such a large-scale external shock on the industry is considered across each of its sectors and for each of its primary economic determinants. The book also includes new material on changes to cost structures, the pricing of add-on services, cargo, airport slot allocation and the impact of climate change. The book remains a comprehensive introduction to the economics of airlines, how carriers compete, how they develop their business, and how demand and cost structure, coupled with the complex regulatory regime, produces the industry we see today.

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Does the UK still have an industrial strategy? How should we understand the renewed interest within government in industrial policy – and now its apparent reversal – in recent years? This collection of essay by leading academics and practitioners including Victoria Chick, Kate Bell, Simon Lee, Karel Williams, Susan Himmelweit, Laurie Macfarlane and Ron Martin – among many others– considers the effectiveness of recent industrial policies in addressing the UK’s economic malaise. In offering a broad political economy perspective on economic statecraft and development in the UK, the book focuses on the political and institutional foundations of industrial policy, the value of "foundational" economic practices, the challenge of greening capitalism and addressing regional inequalities, and the new financial and corporate governance structures required to radicalize industrial strategy.

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Before the Great Financial Crisis of 2008–09, significant reductions in official interest rates typically proved sufficient to generate sustainable economic recoveries from downturns. However, with economies and financial markets in freefall during the crisis despite a cut in interest rates to effectively zero, policymakers in some advanced economies launched a major new tool called quantitative easing (QE). This involved central banks purchasing huge amounts of financial assets. This book offers a thorough and perspicacious analysis of QE, which has become a recovery method of last resort. Whilst it was successful in averting another Great Depression and stimulating growth, it remains controversial and continues to promote widespread debate in economics, financial, and political-economy circles. This book is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand central banking in the national economy.

Read more less

South Korea has the tenth largest economy in the world and is one of only two Asian members of the OECD. It has achieved this remarkable level of economic development since its independence from Japan in 1945. Indeed, it has achieved this transformation, exceptional for any postcolonial state, despite one of the most brutal fratricidal conflicts fought since the Second World War. Sunil Kim and Jonson Porteux chart this astonishing economic and political development and explain the puzzle that is the South Korean economy. The authors examine how South Korea has developed a highly innovative economy based on advanced technologies and infrastructure – counter-intuitively, given its postcolonial legacy of military leaders and lack of fully developed free markets. The longstanding family-owned and run industrial conglomerates – the chaebol – characteristic of the Korean economy are shown to have been behind the shift to high-tech industrialization, albeit under the strict influence of the state. The challenges of increased global interconnectedness, the precarious and fragile relationship with North Korea, the slowdown of domestic demand, recent assaults on the chaebol and their families, together with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, are furthermore addressed. The book offers new insights and frameworks for understanding the fascinating history and future trajectory of South Korea’s political economy as well as the causes and consequences of industrialization and democratization more generally.

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Over the past decade central banks have taken on new and expanded roles in an attempt to manage the global financial crisis. The European Central Bank (ECB) has been no exception. If anything, because of the incomplete architecture of the euro, the ECB has faced more serious challenges than either the Bank of England or the Federal Reserve. With the onset of the euro crisis, the ECB was forced to take on powers that went well beyond the conventions of standard monetary policy to prevent European Monetary Union from unravelling. Panicos Demetriades, former Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus during the country's bailout in 2013, examines the role of the ECB and its adoption of these new powers, which have led to legal and political challenges, high level resignations and the controversial removal of central bankers from their posts without due process. Demetriades argues that at a time when stability and action are needed to secure the future of the euro, the very foundations of the Euro-system are being eroded, namely its ability to act independently. The book provides a lively and insightful account of the processes that can make or break the euro.

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Far from witnessing the beginning of the end of organized labour as a major political force, Rethinking Global Labour argues that, post-financial crisis, we are entering a new era for workers and their organizations in which they will begin to impact decisively on the new global order. In exploring the potential futures for the world’s workers, the book provides an insightful account of how globalization has created a new global working class while increasing the insecurity and precarious nature of most employment. Moving beyond categories of North and South, Munck argues that the new global class of workers will be central both to the future of globalization and to its possible alternatives. In some ways the book poses a “return to the future” drawing parallels with the birth of the labour and democratic movements before the consolidation of nation states. At a time of growing unease with the negative effects of economic globalization, Rethinking Global Labour offers an important assessment of global labour and its potential for organization.

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The US subprime mortgage crisis, by nearly causing the collapse of the global financial system during the 2007–08 financial crisis, clearly revealed that household debt management is critical to the stability of the international economy. The configuration of mortgage finance systems of European economies, from the UK to Sweden to Spain, have profound effects on national macroeconomic and political outcomes. In this book, Gregory Fuller reveals how national housing systems diverge in terms of their commodification and financialization: mortgages are far more common in some systems than others; some encourage families to treat housing as a tradeable asset while others do not; and certain states provide extensive social housing programmes while others offer virtually none. These differences are shown to have an impact on households’ economic precarity, macroeconomic volatility, and ultimately on their political preferences. Drawing on these comparisons, Fuller offers a number of policy suggestions intended to weaken the links between housing, economic instability, and inequality.

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The US subprime mortgage crisis, by nearly causing the collapse of the global financial system during the 2007–08 financial crisis, clearly revealed that household debt management is critical to the stability of the international economy. The configuration of mortgage finance systems of European economies, from the UK to Sweden to Spain, have profound effects on national macroeconomic and political outcomes. In this book, Gregory Fuller reveals how national housing systems diverge in terms of their commodification and financialization: mortgages are far more common in some systems than others; some encourage families to treat housing as a tradeable asset while others do not; and certain states provide extensive social housing programmes while others offer virtually none. These differences are shown to have an impact on households’ economic precarity, macroeconomic volatility, and ultimately on their political preferences. Drawing on these comparisons, Fuller offers a number of policy suggestions intended to weaken the links between housing, economic instability, and inequality.

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The work of Karl Polanyi has become a central reference point for scholars in a variety of traditions and disciplines within the social sciences, including international relations, international political economy, economic sociology and economic anthropology. This book offers a comprehensive introduction to Polanyi’s political and economic thought by examining the key themes that run throughout it: economic ideas, commodification, money, the gold standard, geopolitical economy, the state, class, fascism, democracy and knowledge. Each chapter introduces the relevant aspects of Polanyi’s writings, covering important terminology and the position of the theme in relation to his work more broadly. The contributions seek to engage critically with Polanyi’s ideas, analysing both the strengths and weaknesses, as well as highlighting continuing points of relevance to contemporary issues and debates. The book celebrates the diversity of Polanyi’s political and economic thought whilst encouraging the reader to see it as a whole and not as a set of fragmented concepts. It is an ideal introduction for students engaging with Polanyi’s work for the first time.

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To fully understand the Federal Reserve and its role today we need to examine its origins and the men who founded it. Using extensive archival sources, Richard Naclerio investigates the highly secretive events that surrounded the Fed’s creation and the bankers, financiers and tycoons that shaped both its organization and the role it was to play over the next century. The motivations of this handful of men who created the first draft of the Federal Reserve Act are explored, and the business ties and shared ideologies that bound them together revealed. A story of vested interest and the pursuit of power, the book sheds new light on the creation of one of the world’s most important financial institutions.

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Tariffs and trade barriers are rising and major diplomatic institutions that have promoted liberal trade for decades have come under attack as impending trade wars threaten global trade and global value chains for manufacturing weaken. And at the root of this crisis, argues Geoff Pigman, is accelerating technological change. This book traces the impact of today’s major technological transformations on global trade and the diplomacy that makes trade possible. Not only is global trade changing, in terms of what is traded and how, but diplomacy in the digital age is changing as well. Arguing that we must think differently about trade and diplomacy, this book proposes pragmatic policy approaches for the diplomatic management of a challenging and potentially dangerous future.

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