Search results for ""Author Ha-Joon Chang""

It's rare that a book appears with a fresh perspective on world affairs, but renowned economist Ha-Joon Chang has some startlingly original things to say about the future of globalization. In theory, he argues, the world's wealthiest countries and supra-national institutions like the IMF, World Bank and WTO want to see all nations developing into modern industrial societies. In practice, though, those at the top are 'kicking away the ladder' to wealth that they themselves climbed. Why? Self-interest certainly plays a part. But, more often, rich and powerful governments and institutions are actually being 'Bad Samaritans': their intentions are worthy but their simplistic free-market ideology and poor understanding of history leads them to inflict policy errors on others. Chang demonstrates this by contrasting the route to success of economically vibrant countries with the very different route now being dictated to the world's poorer nations. In the course of this, he shows just how muddled the thinking is in such key areas as trade and foreign investment. He shows that the case for privatisation and against state involvement is far from proven. And he explores the ways in which attitudes to national cultures and political ideologies are obscuring clear thinking and creating bad policy. Finally, he argues the case for new strategies for a more prosperous world that may appall the 'Bad Samaritans'.

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RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK Economic thinking - about globalisation, climate change, immigration, austerity, automation and much more - in its most digestible formFor decades, a single free market philosophy has dominated global economics. But this is bland and unhealthy - like British food in the 1980s, when bestselling author and economist Ha-Joon Chang first arrived in the UK from South Korea. Just as eating a wide range of cuisines contributes to a more interesting and balanced diet, so too is it essential we listen to a variety of economic perspectives.In Edible Economics, Chang makes challenging economic ideas more palatable by plating them alongside stories about food from around the world. He uses histories behind familiar food items - where they come from, how they are cooked and consumed, what they mean to different cultures - to explore economic theory. For Chang, chocolate is a life-long addiction, but more exciting are the insights it offers into post-industrial knowledge economies; and while okra makes Southern gumbo heart-meltingly smooth, it also speaks of capitalism's entangled relationship with freedom and unfreedom. Explaining everything from the hidden cost of care work to the misleading language of the free market as he cooks dishes like anchovy and egg toast, Gambas al Ajillo and Korean dotori mook, Ha-Joon Chang serves up an easy-to-digest feast of bold ideas.Myth-busting, witty and thought-provoking, Edible Economics shows that getting to grips with the economy is like learning a recipe: if we understand it, we can change it - and, with it, the world.

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Ha-Joon Chang's 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism turns received economic wisdom on its head to show you how the world really works. In this revelatory book, Ha-Joon Chang destroys the biggest myths of our times and shows us an alternative view of the world, including: There's no such thing as a 'free' marketGlobalization isn't making the world richerWe don't live in a digital world - the washing machine has changed lives more than the internetPoor countries are more entrepreneurial than rich onesHigher paid managers don't produce better results We don't have to accept things as they are any longer. Ha-Joon Chang is here to show us there's a better way. 'Lively, accessible and provocative ... read this book' - Sunday Times 'A witty and timely debunking of some of the biggest myths surrounding the global economy' - Observer 'The new kid on the economics block ... Chang's iconoclastic attitude has won him fans' - Independent on Sunday 'Lucid ... audacious ... increasingly influential ... will provoke physical symptoms of revulsion if you are in any way involved in high finance' - Guardian 'Important ... persuasive ... an engaging case for a more caring era of globalization' - Financial Times 'A must-read ... incisive and entertaining' - New Statesman Books of the YearHa-Joon Chang is a Reader in the Political Economy of Development at the University of Cambridge. He is author of Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective, which won the 2003 Gunnar Myrdal Prize, and Bad Samaritans: Rich Nations, Poor Policies and the Threat to the Developing World. Since the beginning of the 2008 economic crisis, he has been a regular contributor to the Guardian, and a vocal critic of the failures of our economic system.

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What is economics?What can - and can't - it explain about the world? Why does it matter?Ha-Joon Chang teaches economics at Cambridge University, and writes a column for the Guardian. The Observer called his book 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism, which was a no.1 bestseller, 'a witty and timely debunking of some of the biggest myths surrounding the global economy.' He won the Wassily Leontief Prize for advancing the frontiers of economic thought, and is a vocal critic of the failures of our current economic system.

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The rise of the institutionalist and evolutionary approaches in economics has posed a serious intellectual challenge to the dominant neo-classical paradigm. This book draws together leading scholars in the fields of institutional and evolutionary economics who apply cutting-edge research to one of the most controversial issues of our day, namely, the role of the state.The authors offer a sound methodological guide to the research in this fast-evolving area of economics. They provide a firm theoretical foundation for the role of the state and review the history of policy making. They also use country studies to reinforce their approach, including the role of the state in the Asian Crisis, the current debate on state reform in Japan, public administration in Central and Eastern Europe and the practice of state reform in Brazil. This book will inspire readers to reassess their views on the role of the state and state reform.

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This title begins from the standpoint that new thinking is needed if South Africa is to generate sustainable economic growth, provide employment and decent work and promote rural development. As comparisons with other developing economies, particularly South Korea and Brazil, show, it is possible for the so-called developmental state to direct and plan economic activity and achieve developmental objectives. At the same time the title warns about the perverse impacts of black economic empowerment, particularly the growth of a rentier class of well-connected entrepreneurs.

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