Business & Economics

Over the last 20 years, the world has gone through economic crisis, geopolitical tensions, a looming climate emergency and most recently, Covid-19, with all that it brought with it. The years 2020 and 2021, in particular, have seen tremendous advances in digitalization while at the same time have seen millions of people leave their jobs for one reason or another.

In these turbulent times many people struggle to chart a career path which will provide for themselves and their families while at the same time give them a real sense of purpose.

Learning to Fly: How to Manage Your Career in a Turbulent and Changing World offers a practical and tested framework with which to chart one’s own path towards the future. The book will challenge assumptions as well as help in thinking about career options that are likely to be future proof. It will also help find balance between career aspirations and other aspects of one’s life that may be more important such as family, health and the purpose for which one is on the planet in the first place.

Other Canon Economics: Essays in the Theory and History of Uneven Economic Development brings together key essays on development economics from one of the most prolific and important development economists and historians of economic policy today. Erik S Reinert argues through essays ranging from 1994 to 2020 that neo-classical economics damages developing countries: the theory of comparative advantage leaves out a number of factors which make economic activities qualitatively different as carriers of economic growth. Based on a long intellectual tradition – started by the Italian economists Giovanni Botero (1589) and Antonio Serra (1613) and later used in virtually all presently industrialised countries – Reinert shows that the country which exports increasing returns goods – e.g. high-end manufacture – has advantages over the country which exports diminishing returns goods – e.g. commodities. This has important implications for today’s development strategies that, Reinert argues, should be seen as industrial strategies.

Have neoliberal policies truly yielded beneficial effects for India? ‘Two Decades of Market Reform in India’ presents a collection of essays that challenge the conventional wisdom of Indian market reforms, examining the effects of neoliberal policies enacted by the Indian government and exploding the myths that surround them.

The volume addresses three key areas. Firstly, it investigates how the high growth rate of the Indian economy has made it uneven, vulnerable and liable to poor employment generation and agrarian crises. The text refutes the hypothesis that growth in India has been driven by domestic factors, and argues against the notion that the Indian economy has remained unaffected by the global economic meltdown. The volume also investigates the reduced demand for food grain during the reform period, questioning whether it was indeed a result of increased income, as suggested by the government, or rather a consequence of increasing poverty and agrarian crisis. [NP]Secondly, the text counters the neoliberal myth that a fiscal deficit is essentially bad, and examines how the government’s focus on preventing a deficit caused a large-scale decline in development expenditures, which in turn had a negative impact on the well-being of the poor. Finally, the volume also argues that there is no evidence that supports denationalization as an effective way to reduce fiscal deficit, as the public sector, it argues, is not necessarily less efficient than the private sector.

Striving to hold India’s market reforms – and those responsible for their implementation – to account, ‘Two Decades of Market Reform in India’ bravely shines a light on the true implications of India’s neoliberal governmental policies. With its rich and insightful analysis, it provides a revealing indication of how policy reform since 1991 has, at times, detrimentally affected the Indian populace, and will serve as an invaluable resource for students, professionals, activists and policymakers interested in the socioeconomic future of the country. 

Doctors, engineers, lawyers, architects, designers, managers, artists, scientists, innovators, inventors, farmers and all other professions and walks of life have the immense possibilities of making it big. And such immense possibilities represent in terms of scale, value, excellence, and tremendous impact upon the larger society. However, quite often, it is observed that the efforts and impact of making it big fail to live up to the expectations of self and others and do not take off the way envisaged. 

Everyone has desires. Spiritual leaders too give up the mundane life. However, they carry the deeply rooted desire to attain insights and enlightenment, eventually. Irrespective of what life one leads, one core but common desire is to enjoy the autonomy to make decisions. However, life introduces one to several ups and downs resulting in both successes and failures. Nonetheless, one desires to be happy throughout and enjoy whatever is in possession. Also, one aspires to achieve all that one feels capable of achieving, thus driving oneself to take risks against the opportunities identified. 

In the backdrop, the present book is for every individual who is either an aspiring entrepreneur or serial entrepreneur, irrespective of the domain expertise or industry one represents. The book attempts to focus and address a pressing pain point of entrepreneurs: the pain point happens to be one of the major gaps towards successful and sustainable entrepreneurship in one’s life. 

A strong but subtle factor impacting in this context is the failure to achieve entrepreneurial success through great deals in all stages, at all levels of entrepreneurial journey. The present book attempts to bridge the gap through the power (soft) skill – ‘negotiation’ for entrepreneurs!

Have neoliberal policies truly yielded beneficial effects for India? ‘Two Decades of Market Reform in India’ presents a collection of essays that challenge the conventional wisdom of Indian market reforms, examining the effects of neoliberal policies enacted by the Indian government and exploding the myths that surround them.

The volume addresses three key areas. Firstly, it investigates how the high growth rate of the Indian economy has made it uneven, vulnerable and liable to poor employment generation and agrarian crises. The text refutes the hypothesis that growth in India has been driven by domestic factors, and argues against the notion that the Indian economy has remained unaffected by the global economic meltdown. The volume also investigates the reduced demand for food grain during the reform period, questioning whether it was indeed a result of increased income, as suggested by the government, or rather a consequence of increasing poverty and agrarian crisis. [NP]Secondly, the text counters the neoliberal myth that a fiscal deficit is essentially bad, and examines how the government’s focus on preventing a deficit caused a large-scale decline in development expenditures, which in turn had a negative impact on the well-being of the poor. Finally, the volume also argues that there is no evidence that supports denationalization as an effective way to reduce fiscal deficit, as the public sector, it argues, is not necessarily less efficient than the private sector.

Striving to hold India’s market reforms – and those responsible for their implementation – to account, ‘Two Decades of Market Reform in India’ bravely shines a light on the true implications of India’s neoliberal governmental policies. With its rich and insightful analysis, it provides a revealing indication of how policy reform since 1991 has, at times, detrimentally affected the Indian populace, and will serve as an invaluable resource for students, professionals, activists and policymakers interested in the socioeconomic future of the country. 

“An Outline of Financial Economics” presents a systematic treatment of theory and methodology of finance and economics. It begins by discussing financial instruments, which form the basis of the theory of finance and are defined as legal documents recording monetary transactions. The text then goes on to analyze bonds – which are regarded as fixed income securities – in a simple framework, and to discuss the valuation of stocks and cash flows in detail.

The text follows an analytical and geometric methodology, explaining technical terms and mathematical operations in nontechnical language. It also provides intuitive explanations of the mathematical results of questions concerning important issues such as risk aversion, uncertainty, prospect theory and the theory of stochastic dominance.

The text also covers two alternative approaches to portfolio analysis – namely the mean-variance and mean-Gini approaches – and features an analysis of the Modigliani–Miller theorem, which has played a major role in the development of business finance. It discusses the capital asset pricing model and the intricacies of the methods for determining prices of different types of options, which give the right to buy or sell an asset. Conditions for non-arbitrage that do not allow advantage of price discrimination between markets are also developed.

Because of its wide coverage and analytical, articulate and authoritative presentation, “An Outline of Financial Economics” will be an indispensable book for finance researchers and undergraduate and graduate students in fields such as economics, finance, econometrics, statistics and mathematics.

How did the rich countries really become rich? In this provocative study, Ha-Joon Chang examines the great pressure on developing countries from the developed world to adopt certain 'good policies' and 'good institutions', seen today as necessary for economic development. Adopting a historical approach, Dr Chang finds that the economic evolution of now-developed countries differed dramatically from the procedures that they now recommend to poorer nations. His conclusions are compelling and disturbing: that developed countries are attempting to 'kick away the ladder' with which they have climbed to the top, thereby preventing developing counties from adopting policies and institutions that they themselves have used. This book is the winner of the 2003 Myrdal Prize, European Association of Evolutionary Political Economy.

For more information please see the book website: http://kickingawaytheladder.anthempressblog.com

‘The WTO and its Development Obligation: Prospects for Global Trade’ presents a sound argument in favour of the WTO adhering to its long-standing development obligation. Ezeani goes further than merely highlighting the problems of developing country integration, and provides a comprehensive analysis of the underlying factors that are preventing developing countries from making meaningful gains through participation in global trade. She assesses the effectiveness of current 'development-based' programmes of the WTO as well as the DSB, and stresses the importance for developing countries of recognising the potential benefits of global trade.

Through an account of the beginnings of organised global trade, Ezeani strengthens the case against treating developing countries differently by examining the fundamental constraints of applying early economic principles to the modern environment.

“Classical Economics Today: Essays in Honor of Alessandro Roncaglia” is a collection of essays that investigates and applies the method and principles of Classical political economy to current issues of economic theory and policy.

The contributors to the volume, like all classical economists in general, regard history as a useful tool of analysis rather than a specialist object of investigation. By denying that a single, all-encompassing mathematical model can explain everything we are interested in, Classical political economy necessarily requires a comparison and integration of several pieces of theory as the only way to discuss economics and economic policy. Economists inspired by the Classical approach believe that economic theory is historically conditioned: as social systems evolve, the appropriate theory to represent a certain phenomenon must evolve too. Therefore, plurality in methods, including the history of economic thought, must be a deliberate choice, as evidenced by the essays in “Classical Economics Today: Essays in Honor of Alessandro Roncaglia.”

“Classical Economics Today” is a tribute to Alessandro Roncaglia, to his personality and his research interests. Roncaglia’s research is based on Schumpeter’s dictum that good economics must encompass history, economic theory and statistics, and therefore does not generally take the form of elegant formal models that are applicable to all and everything. In this direction, Roncaglia is inspired by the Classical economists of the past, and becomes a model for present-day Classical economists. A perceptible family air imbues the essays: all the contributors are friends of Roncaglia and see his personality and his interests as a common point of reference.

Doctors, engineers, lawyers, architects, designers, managers, artists, scientists, innovators, inventors, farmers and all other professions and walks of life have the immense possibilities of making it big. And such immense possibilities represent in terms of scale, value, excellence, and tremendous impact upon the larger society. However, quite often, it is observed that the efforts and impact of making it big fail to live up to the expectations of self and others and do not take off the way envisaged. 

Everyone has desires. Spiritual leaders too give up the mundane life. However, they carry the deeply rooted desire to attain insights and enlightenment, eventually. Irrespective of what life one leads, one core but common desire is to enjoy the autonomy to make decisions. However, life introduces one to several ups and downs resulting in both successes and failures. Nonetheless, one desires to be happy throughout and enjoy whatever is in possession. Also, one aspires to achieve all that one feels capable of achieving, thus driving oneself to take risks against the opportunities identified. 

In the backdrop, the present book is for every individual who is either an aspiring entrepreneur or serial entrepreneur, irrespective of the domain expertise or industry one represents. The book attempts to focus and address a pressing pain point of entrepreneurs: the pain point happens to be one of the major gaps towards successful and sustainable entrepreneurship in one’s life. 

A strong but subtle factor impacting in this context is the failure to achieve entrepreneurial success through great deals in all stages, at all levels of entrepreneurial journey. The present book attempts to bridge the gap through the power (soft) skill – ‘negotiation’ for entrepreneurs!

Ragnar Nurkse (1907-1959) was one of the most important pioneers of development economics, and although his writings have been neglected in recent decades, leading development economists and international organizations such as the United Nations are now turning to Nurkse in search for new inspiration, due to the failure of neoclassical economics to adequately explain the experience of poor and developing countries. Yet Nurkse’s contribution to the field has never before been analysed before at book length.

The present volume, ‘Ragnar Nurkse (1907-2007): Classical Development Economics and its Relevance for Today’, contains a selection of papers that cast new insight on Nurkse’s thought, and discuss his relevance for today. The volume also celebrates the 100th anniversary of this profoundly important thinker’s birth.

This compact volume is a practical guide for anyone interested in Trade Credit Insurance. The International Credit Insurance & Surety Association (ICISA) presents an approachable but detailed guide written collaboratively by carefully selected industry experts. The guide describes the ‘lifeline’ of the credit insurance product, from the initial application stage to the expiration phase of the policy, including practical use aspects for credit managers. The volume offers compact information on the history of trade, the need for protection against trade credit risks, and solutions offered by credit insurance providers. The focus is on short term credit, including whole turnover policies and single risk policies.

‘The WTO and its Development Obligation: Prospects for Global Trade’ presents a sound argument in favour of the WTO adhering to its long-standing development obligation. Ezeani goes further than merely highlighting the problems of developing country integration, and provides a comprehensive analysis of the underlying factors that are preventing developing countries from making meaningful gains through participation in global trade. She assesses the effectiveness of current 'development-based' programmes of the WTO as well as the DSB, and stresses the importance for developing countries of recognising the potential benefits of global trade.

Through an account of the beginnings of organised global trade, Ezeani strengthens the case against treating developing countries differently by examining the fundamental constraints of applying early economic principles to the modern environment.

“An Outline of Financial Economics” presents a systematic treatment of theory and methodology of finance and economics. It begins by discussing financial instruments, which form the basis of the theory of finance and are defined as legal documents recording monetary transactions. The text then goes on to analyze bonds – which are regarded as fixed income securities – in a simple framework, and to discuss the valuation of stocks and cash flows in detail.

The text follows an analytical and geometric methodology, explaining technical terms and mathematical operations in nontechnical language. It also provides intuitive explanations of the mathematical results of questions concerning important issues such as risk aversion, uncertainty, prospect theory and the theory of stochastic dominance.

The text also covers two alternative approaches to portfolio analysis – namely the mean-variance and mean-Gini approaches – and features an analysis of the Modigliani–Miller theorem, which has played a major role in the development of business finance. It discusses the capital asset pricing model and the intricacies of the methods for determining prices of different types of options, which give the right to buy or sell an asset. Conditions for non-arbitrage that do not allow advantage of price discrimination between markets are also developed.

Because of its wide coverage and analytical, articulate and authoritative presentation, “An Outline of Financial Economics” will be an indispensable book for finance researchers and undergraduate and graduate students in fields such as economics, finance, econometrics, statistics and mathematics.

For more information please visit the book website:

http://greecesodiousdebt.anthempressblog.com/

Jason Manolopoulos combines his experience of the global financial system, European politics and Greek society to demonstrate how one of the EU’s smaller countries played a catalytic role in a crisis that threatens the future of the euro, and possibly even of the European Union itself.

He explores the historical legacy and psychological biases that have shaped an ongoing drama. While leaders of the European Union criticise ‘the markets’ for destabilizing the single currency, Manolopoulos interrogates the shared beliefs of the EU and the investment banking community – and how they colluded for a decade in the illusion that lending huge sums to peripheral eurozone countries was safe.

Policy and investment errors bear marked similarities with earlier financial crises – in particular the Exchange Rate Mechanism system and the Argentine debt crisis. This inability to learn history’s recent lessons begs fundamental questions of policy making, which this book discusses.

Greek society also comes under scrutiny, as shocking details of a kleptocratic political class and a wasteful public sector are revealed. Manolopoulos traces these developments back to dictatorship and civil war, but argues that there is no excuse for their continuation in a modern democracy.

This book is an authoritative and radical manifesto for changes that are urgently required in development cooperation. The book predicts that, unless radical steps are taken by the World Bank, the first decade of the century will witness a ever-widening gulf between poor and rich countries.

Jo Ritzen presents a picture of a world at a crossroads. One road leads to substantial ('radical') reform in the rich countries, in combination with a substantial push towards better governance in developing countries. The other leads to further increases in inequality between rich and poor countries. 'Millennium development goals' – such as achieving universal primary education by 2015 or reducing child mortality by two-thirds in 2015 – have had widespread support. They will not be reached if the world follows this road; unfortunately, the signs suggest that it has already started to do so.

'A Chance for the World Bank' provides an overview of the challenges faced by the World Bank, and explores how it has organized itself to accomplish its mission. This book proposes that the World Bank still has a chance to achieve its stated goals; in order to do so, it needs to take a number of radical steps: to create a level playing field in trade for the developing countries; to harmonize aid and save developing countries from the gigantic transaction costs of aid; and to promote governance in developing countries and to reduce rigorously induced corruption by multinationals.

While Asia's growth record in recent decades is remarkable, it has been marred by rising inequality. Recognizing the potential negative economic, social and political consequences of rising inequality, more and more Asian countries are paying attention to the issue of equity and taking actions to make growth more inclusive. This book puts together papers arising from various studies on inclusive growth and its policy implications, as carried out at the Asian Development Bank. 'Poverty, Inequality, and Inclusive Growth in Asia' looks at recent trends of income and non-income inequalities in developing Asian countries; discusses their underlying driving forces; examines the concept of inclusive growth and its policy ingredients; proposes how inclusive growth can be measured and monitored; and provides in-depth analyses of the key policies of an inclusive growth strategy, including employment, public service delivery, social protection, gender equality, and governance and institutions. The book also presents a set of country studies with rich information on growth, poverty and inequality dynamics and the policy challenges that arise in marching toward inclusive growth in the People's Republic of China, Philippines, and Nepal.

This book is an authoritative and radical manifesto for changes that are urgently required in development cooperation. The book predicts that, unless radical steps are taken by the World Bank, the first decade of the century will witness a ever-widening gulf between poor and rich countries.

Jo Ritzen presents a picture of a world at a crossroads. One road leads to substantial ('radical') reform in the rich countries, in combination with a substantial push towards better governance in developing countries. The other leads to further increases in inequality between rich and poor countries. 'Millennium development goals' – such as achieving universal primary education by 2015 or reducing child mortality by two-thirds in 2015 – have had widespread support. They will not be reached if the world follows this road; unfortunately, the signs suggest that it has already started to do so.

'A Chance for the World Bank' provides an overview of the challenges faced by the World Bank, and explores how it has organized itself to accomplish its mission. This book proposes that the World Bank still has a chance to achieve its stated goals; in order to do so, it needs to take a number of radical steps: to create a level playing field in trade for the developing countries; to harmonize aid and save developing countries from the gigantic transaction costs of aid; and to promote governance in developing countries and to reduce rigorously induced corruption by multinationals.

In recent years growing numbers of investors have been joining the community interested in not only generating financial returns but also creating positive social and environmental value in the world. “The ImpactAssets Handbook for Investors” offers an introductory overview for those interested in investing their capital in a sustainable, responsible and impactful manner.

The handbook offers insights and approaches to developing strategy as well as an understanding of the issues and considerations of impact investors in practice. In addition to discussions of portfolio structure and strategy, the handbook offers an overview of due diligence necessary to assess potential investments, a discussion of communications and performance measurement issues and other factors key to managing capital for multiple returns.

With contributions from some of the field’s leading experts in impact investing, “The ImpactAssets Handbook for Investors” will provide the reader with both broad advice and specific guidance on how to become best positioned to engage in impact investing as an asset owner, both large and small. While not an “answer book,” the handbook offers practical insights and presents critical questions every investor should consider in creating an investment strategy and executing the deployment of investment capital.

Ragnar Nurkse (1907-1959) was one of the most important pioneers of development economics, and although his writings have been neglected in recent decades, leading development economists and international organizations such as the United Nations are now turning to Nurkse in search for new inspiration, due to the failure of neoclassical economics to adequately explain the experience of poor and developing countries. Yet Nurkse’s contribution to the field has never before been analysed before at book length.

The present volume, ‘Ragnar Nurkse (1907-2007): Classical Development Economics and its Relevance for Today’, contains a selection of papers that cast new insight on Nurkse’s thought, and discuss his relevance for today. The volume also celebrates the 100th anniversary of this profoundly important thinker’s birth.

Mathew Carey’s long-neglected “The New Olive Branch” offers new insight into political economy as it really happened. This is the first-ever scholarly edition of Carey’s most important economic work. Like other volumes in Anthem’s “Economic Ideas that Built America” series, it gives the reader easy access to historical works that have been dropped from the modern economic canon because of their uncomfortable fit with contemporary conceptions of classical economics rooted in the work of Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Thomas Malthus.

In “The New Olive Branch,” Carey derided those so-called classical economists as visionary theorists with little grasp of real-world problems. Rejecting grand theories, Carey instead looked to historical examples and statistics to argue that government policy, and particularly the protection of manufacturers, was crucial to the development of a strong, independent American economy. In this volume, “The New Olive Branch” is accompanied by portions of Carey’s “Addresses of the Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of National Industry” (1822), which offer further insight into his rejection of classical economics.

While such views have long been out of fashion, overtaken by the popularity of classical economics, they were extremely influential in early America. Carey’s arguments illuminate how a large proportion of Americans thought about their economy while providing a corrective to the anachronistic overemphasis of the role of laissez-faire economics in early America.

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is a technological breakthrough that will revolutionize human life. Advancements in the area of AI are happening all across the globe and this technology is not only reshaping business and government and also being applied in the daily lives of individuals. 

AI has been integrated in many industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, retail and consumer, technology, communication and entertainment, energy, transportation and logistics. The application of AI in these industries has helped in not only making processes more efficient but also reducing cost. There are many applications of Ai which are yet to be researched and put into practice. A lot needs to be done to capitalize the full potential of this technology. Companies are, therefore, investing a plenty of funds in R&D activities to harness its maximum benefit.

International Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence is an effort to engage the practitioners, researchers and users in a discussion on AI and also to provide snapshots of the status of AI in different parts of the world. 

CSR and Sustainability promotes the need for social responsibility and sustainability and highlights their link with the big issues of society. It shows how science and positive thinking by humankind can prevent oft-vouched disasters due to human rights violation, global warming, growing income inequality (relative poverty), racism, gender discrimination and continuing absolute poverty. It looks at CSR in the US context and compares it with what has been going on in Europe, as well as elsewhere.

‘National Systems of Innovation’ presents a new perspective on the dynamics of the national and the global economy. Its starting point is that the international competitiveness of nations is founded on innovation. Which role do different parts of the national system play in determining the long-term dynamics of the economy? What is happening to the coherence of national systems of innovation in an era characterised by far-reaching internationalisation and globalisation?

These and other issues are addressed in this volume. Available for the first time in paperback, the book is an invaluable resource for scholars and policy-makers.

‘National Systems of Innovation’ presents a new perspective on the dynamics of the national and the global economy. Its starting point is that the international competitiveness of nations is founded on innovation. Which role do different parts of the national system play in determining the long-term dynamics of the economy? What is happening to the coherence of national systems of innovation in an era characterised by far-reaching internationalisation and globalisation?

These and other issues are addressed in this volume. Available for the first time in paperback, the book is an invaluable resource for scholars and policy-makers.

While Asia's growth record in recent decades is remarkable, it has been marred by rising inequality. Recognizing the potential negative economic, social and political consequences of rising inequality, more and more Asian countries are paying attention to the issue of equity and taking actions to make growth more inclusive. This book puts together papers arising from various studies on inclusive growth and its policy implications, as carried out at the Asian Development Bank. 'Poverty, Inequality, and Inclusive Growth in Asia' looks at recent trends of income and non-income inequalities in developing Asian countries; discusses their underlying driving forces; examines the concept of inclusive growth and its policy ingredients; proposes how inclusive growth can be measured and monitored; and provides in-depth analyses of the key policies of an inclusive growth strategy, including employment, public service delivery, social protection, gender equality, and governance and institutions. The book also presents a set of country studies with rich information on growth, poverty and inequality dynamics and the policy challenges that arise in marching toward inclusive growth in the People's Republic of China, Philippines, and Nepal.

The historical schools of economics have been neglected within the arena of economic theory since the Second World War in favour of the now-dominant classical and neoclassical schools of economic thought. ‘Torkel Aschehoug and Norwegian Economic Thought’ offers a revaluation of the historical-empirical approach to economics that the Norwegian legal theorist and politician Aschehoug became renowned for during the last decades of the nineteenth century up to his death in 1909.

Fasting approaches Aschehoug’s economic thought in relation to his Norwegian colleagues, as well as the dominant international economists of the time. This comparison shows a theoretical affiliation with Gustav von Schmoller, in particular, through Aschehoug’s major work ‘Socialøkonomik’, as well as British economist Alfred Marshall’s marginal theory.

Fasting blends a historical account of the dominant economic models of the late 1800s with a review of contemporary theory through recent economic crises. This work argues that Aschehoug’s ‘Socialøkonomik’ is strikingly relevant to a present-day readership, revealing itself as a work which offers real insight into the reasons for economic collapse.  

In recent years growing numbers of investors have been joining the community interested in not only generating financial returns but also creating positive social and environmental value in the world. “The ImpactAssets Handbook for Investors” offers an introductory overview for those interested in investing their capital in a sustainable, responsible and impactful manner.

The handbook offers insights and approaches to developing strategy as well as an understanding of the issues and considerations of impact investors in practice. In addition to discussions of portfolio structure and strategy, the handbook offers an overview of due diligence necessary to assess potential investments, a discussion of communications and performance measurement issues and other factors key to managing capital for multiple returns.

With contributions from some of the field’s leading experts in impact investing, “The ImpactAssets Handbook for Investors” will provide the reader with both broad advice and specific guidance on how to become best positioned to engage in impact investing as an asset owner, both large and small. While not an “answer book,” the handbook offers practical insights and presents critical questions every investor should consider in creating an investment strategy and executing the deployment of investment capital.

The historical schools of economics have been neglected within the arena of economic theory since the Second World War in favour of the now-dominant classical and neoclassical schools of economic thought. ‘Torkel Aschehoug and Norwegian Economic Thought’ offers a revaluation of the historical-empirical approach to economics that the Norwegian legal theorist and politician Aschehoug became renowned for during the last decades of the nineteenth century up to his death in 1909.

Fasting approaches Aschehoug’s economic thought in relation to his Norwegian colleagues, as well as the dominant international economists of the time. This comparison shows a theoretical affiliation with Gustav von Schmoller, in particular, through Aschehoug’s major work ‘Socialøkonomik’, as well as British economist Alfred Marshall’s marginal theory.

Fasting blends a historical account of the dominant economic models of the late 1800s with a review of contemporary theory through recent economic crises. This work argues that Aschehoug’s ‘Socialøkonomik’ is strikingly relevant to a present-day readership, revealing itself as a work which offers real insight into the reasons for economic collapse.  

“Economists and the Powerful: Convenient Theories, Distorted Facts, Ample Rewards” explores the workings of the modern global economy – an economy in which competition has been corrupted and power has a ubiquitous influence upon economic behavior. Based on an array of empirical and theoretical studies by a series of distinguished economists, this book reveals a stark and unpleasant truth: that the true workings of capitalism are very different from the popular myths that mainstream economics would have us believe.

By connecting the dots and coloring the resulting picture with real life examples, this work provides a groundbreaking account of the mechanics of capitalism, and demonstrates how different groups and elites consistently further their own economic interests at the expense of others. Journeys into economic history allow the reader to travel to the source of the political power enjoyed by our current-day financiers, and unveil a whole host of systematic problems – such as that our banks are the main beneficiaries of today’s unstable, debt-oriented monetary system, or that leading economists often play a role in helping CEOs massively inflate their salaries without improving their performance – that are today more pertinent, and prevalent, than ever.

To investigate these issues, “Economists and the Powerful” looks closely at the incentives pursued by economists, and explores the history of the economic doctrines supported in our current financial climate. Via this scrutinizing approach, the text approaches the most overlooked issue of all: the matter of how, when and why the questioning of power was erased from the radar screen of mainstream economics – and the influence this subversive removal has had upon the modern financial world.

For more information please see the book website: http://economistsandthepowerful.anthempressblog.com/

This book provides the reader with tips and insights on how they can become better leaders themselves. These insights and tips will be explained by utilizing the context of dogs, with examples featuring various dog breeds used throughout the book. This will emphasize what we can learn from these various dogs’ traits and characteristics. Some of the topics that the book will cover include concepts like ‘resilience’, ‘courage’, ‘patience’, ‘(in)dependence’, ‘respect’, ‘kindness’, ‘authenticity’ and ‘trust’. The various chapters in this book will provide the reader with insight on why it is important for human leaders to embody these various concepts and qualities.

For instance, a concept like ‘resilience’ is of paramount importance for leaders, because not every single plan or decision will be successful, but it is important to stay the course, as a Bloodhound would on the trail of an escaped convict. The book adroitly mixes findings and insights from numerous scholarly sources on leadership and juxtaposes them with examples featuring various dog breed traits and characteristics. The book will be useful for improving one’s knowledge on how to be a better leader, and will also improve one’s knowledge about the numerous varieties and kinds of dog breeds. The book is easy to comprehend and the scholarly concepts in it are explained without any complicated jargon.

CSR and Sustainability promotes the need for social responsibility and sustainability and highlights their link with the big issues of society. It shows how science and positive thinking by humankind can prevent oft-vouched disasters due to human rights violation, global warming, growing income inequality (relative poverty), racism, gender discrimination and continuing absolute poverty. It looks at CSR in the US context and compares it with what has been going on in Europe, as well as elsewhere.

Stalking. Sexual harassment. Mass shootings. Employers are increasingly expected to have a plan to identify and manage threats posed by employees in the workplace. But what questions and issues should you contemplate? Does involving police early make the situation better or potentially worse? What specific words and issues should be addressed and avoided as a case unfolds?

In this authoritative new guide, Dr Laurence Barton draws on over thirty years’ experience as the world’s leading threat assessor to outline how to prevent, manage, and mitigate threats made by employees, contractors, customers, former employees and others. He unlocks key issues to help the reader navigate new privacy laws, psychological evaluation, and employee communications when a potentially dangerous person is angry with your most vital resource: your people.

This is an invaluable new handbook for businesses and HR, legal, and security professionals worldwide.

This book provides the reader with tips and insights on how they can become better leaders themselves. These insights and tips will be explained by utilizing the context of dogs, with examples featuring various dog breeds used throughout the book. This will emphasize what we can learn from these various dogs’ traits and characteristics. Some of the topics that the book will cover include concepts like ‘resilience’, ‘courage’, ‘patience’, ‘(in)dependence’, ‘respect’, ‘kindness’, ‘authenticity’ and ‘trust’. The various chapters in this book will provide the reader with insight on why it is important for human leaders to embody these various concepts and qualities.

For instance, a concept like ‘resilience’ is of paramount importance for leaders, because not every single plan or decision will be successful, but it is important to stay the course, as a Bloodhound would on the trail of an escaped convict. The book adroitly mixes findings and insights from numerous scholarly sources on leadership and juxtaposes them with examples featuring various dog breed traits and characteristics. The book will be useful for improving one’s knowledge on how to be a better leader, and will also improve one’s knowledge about the numerous varieties and kinds of dog breeds. The book is easy to comprehend and the scholarly concepts in it are explained without any complicated jargon.

“Economists and the Powerful: Convenient Theories, Distorted Facts, Ample Rewards” explores the workings of the modern global economy – an economy in which competition has been corrupted and power has a ubiquitous influence upon economic behavior. Based on an array of empirical and theoretical studies by a series of distinguished economists, this book reveals a stark and unpleasant truth: that the true workings of capitalism are very different from the popular myths that mainstream economics would have us believe.

By connecting the dots and coloring the resulting picture with real life examples, this work provides a groundbreaking account of the mechanics of capitalism, and demonstrates how different groups and elites consistently further their own economic interests at the expense of others. Journeys into economic history allow the reader to travel to the source of the political power enjoyed by our current-day financiers, and unveil a whole host of systematic problems – such as that our banks are the main beneficiaries of today’s unstable, debt-oriented monetary system, or that leading economists often play a role in helping CEOs massively inflate their salaries without improving their performance – that are today more pertinent, and prevalent, than ever.

To investigate these issues, “Economists and the Powerful” looks closely at the incentives pursued by economists, and explores the history of the economic doctrines supported in our current financial climate. Via this scrutinizing approach, the text approaches the most overlooked issue of all: the matter of how, when and why the questioning of power was erased from the radar screen of mainstream economics – and the influence this subversive removal has had upon the modern financial world.

For more information please see the book website: http://economistsandthepowerful.anthempressblog.com/

In 'Depoliticizing Development', John Harriss explores the origins of the idea of social capital and its diverse meanings in the work of James Coleman, Pierre Bourdieu and, more specifically, Robert Putnam, who is most responsible for the extraordinary rise of the idea of social capital through his work on Italy and the United States. Harriss asks why this notion should have taken off in the dramatic way that it has done and finds in its uses by the World Bank the attempt, systematically, to obscure class relations and power. Social capital has thus come to play a significant part in the discourses of international development, which go toward comprising 'the anti-politics machine'. This powerful and lucid critique will be of immense value to all those interested in development studies, including sociologists, economists, planners, NGOs and other activists.

During a time of accelerating momentum for radical change in the study of economics, 'A Guide to What's Wrong with Economics' comprehensively re-examines the shortcomings of neoclassical economics and considers a number of alternative formulations. In it, a distinguished list of non-neoclassical economists provide a study of some of the many worldly and logical gaps in neoclassical economics, its hidden ideological agendas, disregard for the environment, habitual misuse of mathematics and statistics, inability to address the major issues of economic globalization, its ethical cynicism concerning poverty, racism and sexism and its misrepresentation of economic history. In clear and engaging prose, 'A Guide to What's Wrong with Economics' shows how interesting, relevant and exciting economics can be when it is pursued not as a defence of an antiquated and close-minded system of belief, but as a no-holds-barred inquiry looking for real-world truths.

‘The Visionary Realism of German Economics’ forms a collection of Erik S. Reinert’s essays bringing the more realistic German economic tradition into focus as an alternative to Anglo-Saxon neoclassical mainstream economics. Together the essays form a holistic theory explaining why economic development––by its very nature––is a very uneven process. Herein lie the important policy implications of the volume.

‘Globalization, the Human Condition and Sustainable Development in the Twenty-first Century: Cross-national Perspectives and European Implications’ is a cross-national, 175 nation based exploration of the deep crisis in which Europe currently finds itself. Investigating the effects of dependency theory and world systems theory upon the global success of eight dimensions of development – including democracy, environmental sustainability, employment, social cohesion, high quality tertiary education and gender justice – this study argues that the current European crisis has been precipitated by the pro-globalist policies of the European Commission.

The comprehensive analysis of this study reveals the magnitude of Europe’s errors. Lowering comparative price levels and increasing dependency on large, transnational corporations, as correctly predicted by Latin American social science of the 1960s and 1970s, emerges as one of the most serious developmental blockades confronting Europe in global society, whilst increases in military expenditure, as proposed by Article 42.3 of the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty, are another large stumbling block against development. The harmful potential of these blockades is severe.

The book’s 175-nation investigation shows that Europe’s failure to develop its own MNC headquarter status in the global economy is a key factor that has hindered its developmental performance. This examination, which duly takes into account the control variables proposed by neoclassical economics and contemporary sociology/political science, also demonstrates the potential outcomes of several alternative scenarios, mainly those proposed by the political Left in Europe, and summarizes the effects of globalization on the environment and ecological vulnerability. What this analysis makes most clear is Europe’s need for change: without amending its pro-globalist policies, the continent will learn nothing from its current crisis – and is destined to compete in a destructive “race to the bottom”.

‘Globalization, the Human Condition and Sustainable Development in the Twenty-first Century: Cross-national Perspectives and European Implications’ is a cross-national, 175 nation based exploration of the deep crisis in which Europe currently finds itself. Investigating the effects of dependency theory and world systems theory upon the global success of eight dimensions of development – including democracy, environmental sustainability, employment, social cohesion, high quality tertiary education and gender justice – this study argues that the current European crisis has been precipitated by the pro-globalist policies of the European Commission.

The comprehensive analysis of this study reveals the magnitude of Europe’s errors. Lowering comparative price levels and increasing dependency on large, transnational corporations, as correctly predicted by Latin American social science of the 1960s and 1970s, emerges as one of the most serious developmental blockades confronting Europe in global society, whilst increases in military expenditure, as proposed by Article 42.3 of the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty, are another large stumbling block against development. The harmful potential of these blockades is severe.

The book’s 175-nation investigation shows that Europe’s failure to develop its own MNC headquarter status in the global economy is a key factor that has hindered its developmental performance. This examination, which duly takes into account the control variables proposed by neoclassical economics and contemporary sociology/political science, also demonstrates the potential outcomes of several alternative scenarios, mainly those proposed by the political Left in Europe, and summarizes the effects of globalization on the environment and ecological vulnerability. What this analysis makes most clear is Europe’s need for change: without amending its pro-globalist policies, the continent will learn nothing from its current crisis – and is destined to compete in a destructive “race to the bottom”.

In recent years, the fast growing economies of the Asia-Pacific region have attracted the attention of economists, politicians, researchers and business communities. The economic dynamics of the ever-growing Asia-Pacific region made the United States to adopt a "rebalancing strategy" toward Asia and to propose the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Free Trade Area of Asian-Pacific (FTAA). With uncertainty about Brexit and the current Trump Administration, TPP and FTAA appear to be "dead." Nevertheless, the outlook for the Asia-Pacific region is still favorable with the expectation of continuous growth (IMF, 2014). The long run data from IMF (2016) also indicate the possibility of an Asia-centered world economy.

This book is a collection of the papers published during the two decades at the turn of the century, the period economists generally consider the emergence of the Asia-Pacific century. The major players have been the Newly Industrializing Economies (NIEs): Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong. However, Singapore and Hong Kong are regarded as city states, thus, development economists usually see Taiwan and South Korea as the countries that truly achieved a "miracle growth." Using historical, quantitative and econometric analyses, this book studies the present and past economies of emerging East Asia, providing future policy implications for economic development.

Chapter topics include development indicators, effects of 1997 Asian financial crisis, productivity growth, catching up and convergence of long-run real GDP per capita growth, the time required for a country to catch up, and a special chapter on colonialism and economic development (in Taiwan and India). A timely collection, the various topics in this book provide a comprehensive understanding of emerging East Asian economies, in addition to economic analyses explaining, among other subjects, the basic concept of total factor productivity and purchasing power parity (international dollars).

For most of its history Europe was a thoroughly average part of the world: poor, uncouth, technologically and culturally backward. By contrast, China was always far richer, more sophisticated and advanced. Yet it was Europe that first became modern, and by the nineteenth century China was struggling to catch up. This book explains why. Why did Europe succeed and why was China left behind? The answer, as we will see, does not only solve a long-standing historical puzzle, it also provides an explanation of the contemporary success of East Asia, and it shows what is wrong with current theories of development and modernization.

Every day we hear and read about the greatest entrepreneurs of our generation but learn little about what it takes to become an entrepreneur. “Entrepreneurial Living” is intended for anyone who is interested in entrepreneurship but has not dared to venture into this world, yet.

“Entrepreneurial Living” takes the most relevant proven insights from research and practice and communicates them in an accessible and concise way with beautifully illustrated hands-on tools. Using the analogy of a board game and illustrative examples, the book teaches you the fundamentals of entrepreneurial life. Some exemplary lessons are as follows:

• Knowing your identity, network and competencies helps you identify interesting entrepreneurial problems that you are equipped to solve.

• Focusing on your means instead of a distant vision enables you to create goal portfolios and deal with uncertainty.

• Understanding your own strengths and those of your potential partners lets you evaluate the option of cofounding a business.

• Developing a business model in collaboration with your customers can be more useful than writing a business plan. Listening to customers early in the ideation process helps you develop the business systematically.

• If you are observant and reflective, your insights will combine and turn you into your personal version of a successful entrepreneur.

“Entrepreneurial Living” teaches that it is never too late to become an entrepreneur; any prior life experience will help you visualize what you can do. Do not be afraid of the uncertainty and dare to take the first step to start the adventure. The best day to begin was yesterday. Today is the next-best day.

Growing levels of education, increasing availability of capital, diversification and specialization of economic activities, and the numerous support options available to start a business has led to the creation of more and more micro and small businesses across Europe. But while the process of setting up a business is increasingly straightforward, keeping it going is much tougher. In normal times, business entry and business exit are natural processes, inherent to economic life. Yet, the number of bankruptcies peaked during the recent financial crisis. The Lisbon Partnership had identified the key role of overcoming the stigma of business failure as a strategy for growth and jobs.

There is a clear economic and social rationale in providing a second chance to failed entrepreneurs and helping them derive positive experiences from negative situations. First, businesses set up by restarters grow faster than those of first timers in terms of turnover and jobs created. The case studies of Ford, Hershey and Disney are instructive for young entrepreneurs in this matter.

Second, most of the time, the cause of a business failure is not the incompetence but external circumstances such as a slump in demand, financial crisis or rise of a new competitor. However, this professional failure is often confused with personal failure, and low self-esteem causes individuals to withdraw and retreat to safer employment options.

Third, it is accepted that a society does not generate innovation and productivity by steadfastly avoiding mistakes but rather by learning from them. Yet the culture of and incentive system in Europe does not reflect this.

Value of Failure is a comprehensive attempt to understand the various aspects of the phenomenon of business failure. It enables readers to understand business failure from the perspective of institutional theory; economic failure in the process of small business growth in the context of the shadow economy; Schumpeter’s theory of ‘creative destruction’ and the fear of failure; sustainable economic growth and development and system approach to failures and their impact on the enterprise operation.

In 'Depoliticizing Development', John Harriss explores the origins of the idea of social capital and its diverse meanings in the work of James Coleman, Pierre Bourdieu and, more specifically, Robert Putnam, who is most responsible for the extraordinary rise of the idea of social capital through his work on Italy and the United States. Harriss asks why this notion should have taken off in the dramatic way that it has done and finds in its uses by the World Bank the attempt, systematically, to obscure class relations and power. Social capital has thus come to play a significant part in the discourses of international development, which go toward comprising 'the anti-politics machine'. This powerful and lucid critique will be of immense value to all those interested in development studies, including sociologists, economists, planners, NGOs and other activists.

The world has gone through a major transformation in the last two decades. The end of the Cold War in Europe has led to a massive increase in private capital flow and has also brought an information and telecommunication revolution. In this new interdependent and interconnected world, international trade and investment has overtaken the importance of national economies. Globalization has created new opportunities as well as many risks and challenges. While globalization creates new wealth and encourages technological innovations, it has also failed to support and promote sustainable human development and thus can be accused of generating anguish and deprivation. This has already resulted in growing civil unrest and, in some cases, contributed to armed conflicts in the developing world. However, peace and conflict research has hitherto somehow overlooked the influence of increasing globalization on the formation and management of such emerging conflicts. The study of globalization also tends to overlook a proven fact that the management of conflicts in the South has been invariably influenced by the global powers and their strategic politics. This impressive edited volume makes an attempt to assess the concrete that measures exist which can be effective in addressing the causes of conflict and building peace in an increasingly interdependent world.

Growing levels of education, increasing availability of capital, diversification and specialization of economic activities, and the numerous support options available to start a business has led to the creation of more and more micro and small businesses across Europe. But while the process of setting up a business is increasingly straightforward, keeping it going is much tougher. In normal times, business entry and business exit are natural processes, inherent to economic life. Yet, the number of bankruptcies peaked during the recent financial crisis. The Lisbon Partnership had identified the key role of overcoming the stigma of business failure as a strategy for growth and jobs.

There is a clear economic and social rationale in providing a second chance to failed entrepreneurs and helping them derive positive experiences from negative situations. First, businesses set up by restarters grow faster than those of first timers in terms of turnover and jobs created. The case studies of Ford, Hershey and Disney are instructive for young entrepreneurs in this matter.

Second, most of the time, the cause of a business failure is not the incompetence but external circumstances such as a slump in demand, financial crisis or rise of a new competitor. However, this professional failure is often confused with personal failure, and low self-esteem causes individuals to withdraw and retreat to safer employment options.

Third, it is accepted that a society does not generate innovation and productivity by steadfastly avoiding mistakes but rather by learning from them. Yet the culture of and incentive system in Europe does not reflect this.

Value of Failure is a comprehensive attempt to understand the various aspects of the phenomenon of business failure. It enables readers to understand business failure from the perspective of institutional theory; economic failure in the process of small business growth in the context of the shadow economy; Schumpeter’s theory of ‘creative destruction’ and the fear of failure; sustainable economic growth and development and system approach to failures and their impact on the enterprise operation.

The book provides an assessment of the first 12 years of BRICS cooperation, from 2008 to 2020, focusing on international financial governance issues and especially on the new financing mechanisms created by the BRICS, the BRICS monetary fund and the development bank. It is shown that Brazil, Russia, India and China, joined later by South Africa, share common traits that led them to cooperate in the reform of the existing international financial architecture, especially the G20 and the IMF. After 2012, in light of the difficulty of having the USA, the European and other advanced countries agreed to move from “tinkering at the margins” to fundamental reform of the Bretton Woods institutions. The BRICS took the momentous decision to establish their own monetary fund, named the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), and their own development bank, named the New Development Bank (NDB). The book goes on to describe the difficult negotiations among the BRICS between 2012 and 2014. Some of these difficulties revealed the weaknesses that would lead the CRA and the NDB to make slow progress in the first five years of their existence, from 2015 to 2010. The book provides an overview of the strong points and weaknesses of the initial phase of these financing mechanisms. While they still hold promise, much remains to be done to make the BRICS financing mechanisms fulfill their founders’ plans and intentions. The book ends with a brief discussion of the future of the BRICS as a cooperation mechanism, highlighting that, despite inevitable and foreseeable obstacles, joint action by the five countries is likely to remain an important feature of the international landscape in the decades to come.

The book may be of interest to multiple audiences as it lies at the intersection of economics, international relations and geopolitics. Written in accessible language, avoiding jargon, the book is targeted not only at specialists but also at non-specialists interested in these areas of knowledge and changes in the international economic and financial landscape at the outset of the twenty-first century. 

Why do climate and financial crises pose such extreme risks? And what does it take to respond effectively to those risks? Extreme weather events – storms and sea-level rise, heat waves, droughts and floods – seem ever more common and extreme, while scientists warn of even greater climate risks ahead. Financial failures on the scale of 2008 make a mockery of the supposed efficiency of the market economy. None of this would be possible in the world as imagined by conventional economics – an imaginary land of gradualism, equilibrium, well-informed rationality and the win-win solutions dealt by the invisible hand.

The erratic rhythm of boom and bust in financial markets could be explained either by the patterns of crowd-following behaviour among investors, or by the unequal distribution of wealth (and the impact of the largest investors on the markets). Climate crises reflect the fact that natural systems can reach tipping points or critical transitions, where gradual change gives way to large-scale discontinuous changes. The economics of climate change has lagged behind the science, understating the severity of the problem and the likelihood of a crash.

While the causes of climate and financial extremes are distinct, the implications for public policy have much in common. The frequency of extreme events, of varying sizes, means that there is no way to predict the likely size of future crises. The traditional approach to risk aversion cannot account for longstanding patterns in financial markets. Better theories of risk call for more precautionary approaches to both financial and climate policy. In the frequent cases in which potential outcomes have unknown probabilities, the best policy is based on the worst-case credible scenario. When a single catastrophic risk commands everyone’s attention, a World War II-style, costs-be-damned mobilization is the right response. There is no formula for perfect responses to extreme risks, but there are important guideposts that point toward better answers.

Almost all industrial countries have undergone strategies to maintain, or improve, competitiveness in order to improve the standard of living of their population, particularly during the last quarter-century or so. But how have they treated developing countries? ‘Competitiveness and Development’ explains how developing countries can attain competitiveness at a high level of development, examines the possibilities and constraints in achieving it, and proposes remedial measures at the national and international levels.

The author Mehdi Shafaeddin illustrates how developed countries impose restrictive policies on developing countries through international financial institutions and the WTO, as well as regional and bilateral agreements, thereby limiting their policy space for promoting dynamic comparative advantage in order to achieve competitiveness at a high level of development. Such policies, the author argues, lock developing countries that are at the early stages of development in specialization in primary commodities, or at best simple processing and assembly operations in accordance with their static comparative advantage.

To support this argument, the author critically examines the neoclassical theory of economics, which is the philosophy behind the principle of static comparative advantage as well as the policy stances of international financial institutions and the WTO. The author also reviews the historical experience of developed countries through industrialization, development and achieving competitiveness based on the principle of dynamic comparative advantage. In this context, he explains the importance of trade and industrial policies and the role of government in human resource development, innovation and technological development. To illustrate his case, the author compares the contrasting experiences of China and Mexico since the 1980s, during which time globalization has been intensified.

Why do climate and financial crises pose such extreme risks? And what does it take to respond effectively to those risks? Extreme weather events – storms and sea-level rise, heat waves, droughts and floods – seem ever more common and extreme, while scientists warn of even greater climate risks ahead. Financial failures on the scale of 2008 make a mockery of the supposed efficiency of the market economy. None of this would be possible in the world as imagined by conventional economics – an imaginary land of gradualism, equilibrium, well-informed rationality and the win-win solutions dealt by the invisible hand.

The erratic rhythm of boom and bust in financial markets could be explained either by the patterns of crowd-following behaviour among investors, or by the unequal distribution of wealth (and the impact of the largest investors on the markets). Climate crises reflect the fact that natural systems can reach tipping points or critical transitions, where gradual change gives way to large-scale discontinuous changes. The economics of climate change has lagged behind the science, understating the severity of the problem and the likelihood of a crash.

While the causes of climate and financial extremes are distinct, the implications for public policy have much in common. The frequency of extreme events, of varying sizes, means that there is no way to predict the likely size of future crises. The traditional approach to risk aversion cannot account for longstanding patterns in financial markets. Better theories of risk call for more precautionary approaches to both financial and climate policy. In the frequent cases in which potential outcomes have unknown probabilities, the best policy is based on the worst-case credible scenario. When a single catastrophic risk commands everyone’s attention, a World War II-style, costs-be-damned mobilization is the right response. There is no formula for perfect responses to extreme risks, but there are important guideposts that point toward better answers.

Almost all industrial countries have undergone strategies to maintain, or improve, competitiveness in order to improve the standard of living of their population, particularly during the last quarter-century or so. But how have they treated developing countries? ‘Competitiveness and Development’ explains how developing countries can attain competitiveness at a high level of development, examines the possibilities and constraints in achieving it, and proposes remedial measures at the national and international levels.

The author Mehdi Shafaeddin illustrates how developed countries impose restrictive policies on developing countries through international financial institutions and the WTO, as well as regional and bilateral agreements, thereby limiting their policy space for promoting dynamic comparative advantage in order to achieve competitiveness at a high level of development. Such policies, the author argues, lock developing countries that are at the early stages of development in specialization in primary commodities, or at best simple processing and assembly operations in accordance with their static comparative advantage.

To support this argument, the author critically examines the neoclassical theory of economics, which is the philosophy behind the principle of static comparative advantage as well as the policy stances of international financial institutions and the WTO. The author also reviews the historical experience of developed countries through industrialization, development and achieving competitiveness based on the principle of dynamic comparative advantage. In this context, he explains the importance of trade and industrial policies and the role of government in human resource development, innovation and technological development. To illustrate his case, the author compares the contrasting experiences of China and Mexico since the 1980s, during which time globalization has been intensified.

The aim of this book is to broaden our understanding of technological change by adopting the concept of technological retrogression. With reference to concrete cases of technological retrogression a new conceptual framework is developed. Extensive fieldwork in Sri Lanka and Malaysia forms the empirical fundament. A new method of reconstructing technological change is furthermore developed. The book contains a detailed account of the work history method, which is designed to capture changes over time where there are no statistical data available. The book contains a thorough examination of central theories of socio-economic transitions in developing countries, searching for an explanation of instances where modernization reverses. 

The exposition aims at contrasting retrogressive economic dynamics of technological change to progressive dynamics as developed by Schumpeter. At one extreme in the dimension of technological change, capital-strong production units innovate their way out of the recession through technological progress, adopting more advanced production equipment that improves productivity. Following Schumpeterian progressive dynamics, virtuous spirals of growth result. At the other end we find the producers that resort to technological retrogression, which secures survival, but which result in low labour productivity, diminishing the possibility of capital accumulation and thus modernization that could form an escape from poverty. Vicious spirals of decline result, which is the book’s main object of analysis. The theory is, thus, a contribution to understanding the anatomy of recessions.

The contention is, thus, that a choice of technology of production may lead to reduced productivity and economic decline. The concept of technological change should, therefore, not be equated solely with productivity improvements and economic development. Producers who experience technological retrogression may find themselves in the paradoxical situation of earning more by producing less, a paradox which is addressed in this book. Furthermore, where technological retrogression involves a return to organization of production of the past, this may affect the political leverage of labour, curbing social progress. Reversal of modernization, technological and organizational, is linked closely to marginalization of producers and increased social inequality. Lock-in of producers, both technologically and geographically, into activities characterised by diminishing returns, is considered a major precondition of technological retrogression. Therefore, the phenomenon is thought most likely to occur during periods of economic decline, recessions or during prolonged crises.

The pace of growth in the Philippines is slower than that of many neighbouring countries, and despite increasing growth in the period before the current global financial crisis, domestic investment remained weak, and had a declining share in gross domestic product. Understanding limits to growth in the Philippines’ economy and how they may be counteracted is crucial for policy makers seeking to encourage economic development.

‘Diagnosing the Philippine Economy’ investigates the binding constraints on economic development, by following a growth diagnostics approach. Articles within this collection cover the areas of macroeconomic management; trade, investments, and production; infrastructure, human capital; equity and the social sector; poverty reduction efforts; and governance and political institutions. The studies’ findings provide insight for politicians, academicians, and economists into the issues and their potential solutions.

'Rural India Facing the 21st Century' is a unique study of rural development in South India, concluded over a twenty-year period. Set against the context of international, national and state policies, the book focuses on a wide number of themes, including the stagnation of the ‘green revolution’, growing differentiation and inequality, the ecological crisis, resistance to reform, corruption and the enduring need for state intervention in rural development. Written by an international team of young scholars under the direction of Dr Harris-White, 'Rural India Facing the 21st Century' draws together a profound analysis of a broad range of issues to provide a masterly overview of overall rural development. Its highly original methodology and findings will be of considerable interest for development policy.

The pace of growth in the Philippines is slower than that of many neighbouring countries, and despite increasing growth in the period before the current global financial crisis, domestic investment remained weak, and had a declining share in gross domestic product. Understanding limits to growth in the Philippines’ economy and how they may be counteracted is crucial for policy makers seeking to encourage economic development.

‘Diagnosing the Philippine Economy’ investigates the binding constraints on economic development, by following a growth diagnostics approach. Articles within this collection cover the areas of macroeconomic management; trade, investments, and production; infrastructure, human capital; equity and the social sector; poverty reduction efforts; and governance and political institutions. The studies’ findings provide insight for politicians, academicians, and economists into the issues and their potential solutions.

Artificial intelligence and robotics have defined and redefined work environments worldwide. Utilizing stories, news events, and academic research, the book highlights the new realities of business and leadership in the world of AI and provides meaningful insights to help executives and corporations manage and succeed.

The business and academic communities would find the book insights useful in understanding the basic notion of artificial intelligence and its impact on an organization’s success. The book discusses strategies that executives can use to best manage business in an AI environment. Written with an equally educational and fun approach, the book covers practical business strategies that will help managers succeed in an AI world.

The bulk of the world’s tobacco is produced in low- and middle-income countries. In order to dissuade these countries from implementing policies aimed at curbing tobacco consumption (such as increased taxes, health warnings, advertising bans and smoke-free environments), the tobacco industry claims that tobacco farmers will be negatively affected and that no viable, sustainable alternatives exist. This book, based on original research from three continents, exposes the myths behind these claims.

Since there will be no major reduction in global demand for tobacco leaf in the short to medium term, manipulations of the tobacco industry are what really effect demand for tobacco leaf at the national level. Moreover, tobacco is not the most lucrative crop for small-scale farmers and it imposes serious negative socioeconomic, health and environmental impacts, and economically sustainable alternatives to tobacco exist.

This book counters the myths perpetuated by the industry by identifying the true drivers of demand for tobacco leaf, the sources of farmer vulnerability and dependency on tobacco production and the conditions needed for an economically sustainable transition.

Companies that do not contribute to a better world do not have the right to exist. They need to focus on becoming a force for good. If focussed on making the world a better place profitability will follow. In February 2017, Kraft Heinz’s tried to buy Unilever for 135 billion euros. Unilever CEO Paul Polman frustrates the bid, he refuses to work for the benefit of a few billionaires. Companies must be a force for good and work for the billions of people who have nothing.

Polman is popular with governments and charitable organizations, but confidence among financial analysts and investors is thin. They are more interested in short-term sales projections; there is no place in their calculations for good deeds. But how sustainable is that in the long run?

His attempt to steer Unilever into a safe Dutch haven in order to escape Brexit and seek refuge from shareholders focused on short-term profits ultimately hits the rocks. Walking the line between making money and doing the right thing, Polman, more ‘priest’ than CEO, is too far ahead of his time.

The world is crying out for big businesses to address the major issues of our time, such as climate change. The Great Battle The Lonely Quest of Unilever's CEO Paul Polman is a compelling call to action for us all to rethink our behavior. This is the only way to save capitalism’s soul.

‘The Meetings Handbook: Formal Rules and Informal Processes’ is a comprehensive manual to the rules and issues of meetings, as well as a useful guide to understanding the informal processes that underlie the successful conduct of the business of meetings. The handbook gives the formal issues of meeting processes, including setting agendas and putting forward formal motions. It also canvasses informal aspects of meetings work, such as preparation, reading the non-verbal messages of participants, and insights into how to chair meetings and deal with those who seek to subvert the formal rules.

This handbook is a unique accompaniment to the more conventional legal books that are good formal guides. ‘The Meetings Handbook’ also includes examples of an ethical code, constitutions, agendas, and minutes. It features a reference list as well as the usual scholarly references. In order to make the work readily useable by the busy professional, the book is divided into sections that may act as ‘stand-alone’ guides to specific meetings issues and strategies.

'Rural India Facing the 21st Century' is a unique study of rural development in South India, concluded over a twenty-year period. Set against the context of international, national and state policies, the book focuses on a wide number of themes, including the stagnation of the ‘green revolution’, growing differentiation and inequality, the ecological crisis, resistance to reform, corruption and the enduring need for state intervention in rural development. Written by an international team of young scholars under the direction of Dr Harris-White, 'Rural India Facing the 21st Century' draws together a profound analysis of a broad range of issues to provide a masterly overview of overall rural development. Its highly original methodology and findings will be of considerable interest for development policy.

'Why the Economists Got It Wrong' illustrates the origins and development of the financial crisis, tracing  its cultural origins in mainstream views which favoured financial liberalization policies. These views are contrasted with those of Keynes and Keynesian economists such as Minsky. Thus, among other things, Keynes’s ideas on uncertainty and Minsky’s ideas on financial fragility are taken up. The book points to an interpretation of economic events where uncertainty plays a central role, the dichotomy between real and monetary variables is rejected, and elements from the Classical approach are revived. This implies drastic changes in economic policy recipes, and particularly at economic policies aimed at building institutional and regulatory structures in order to counter financial fragility.

'Income Poverty and Beyond' emphasizes the need to go beyond the conventional definition of poverty and look at the various human aspects of the problem. Eminent social scientists such as Suresh Tendulkar, Abusaleh Shariff, R. Radhakrishna, M. S. S. Meenakshisundaram, Seeta K. Prabhu, Ravi Srivastava and the editors, Raja J. Chelliah and R. Sudarshan, take a comprehensive view of poverty to include the concept of human poverty, seen as the 'the denial of opportunities and choices most basic to human development'. Special care has been taken to make the information and analysis accessible to the general reader.

Using the latest available data for India as well as edited versions of papers commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for a South-Asia poverty monitor, the broad conclusion that has emerged is that more public action is needed to counter the high prevalence of human poverty. Therefore, current measures to reduce income-poverty, including high rates of economic growth, are not sufficient.

The first two chapters dwell on the concept of income-poverty, interstate and intergroup disparities and poverty trends in India over the decade 1983–94. This is followed by an examination of human development in rural India, availability of food to the poor, various programmes aimed at removing poverty, the indices of human poverty and public financing of social services, human priority expenditures, and human expenditure ratios for the Indian states. The perceptions of the poor in assessing their own poverty and in developing policies to improve their status are discussed, and an epilogue appeals to the national and international community to take serious note of human poverty in the midst of which we all live.

When experienced people who have been in a steady job for years are made redundant, coming to terms with today’s workplace is a major challenge. This challenge is even greater for those fresh out of college or university and who are looking to get their foot in the door. After all, the workplace is going through one of its most significant transitions in the past 100 years.

“How to Find Work in the 21st Century” explores this new world of work and suggests where the workplace is headed while providing successful and effective ways to sell and market yourself so you can find your place in today’s job market.

Learn to: –capitalize on what YOU have to offer.

–define your personal and career profile

–market yourself

–network

–navigate digital platforms

–master the art of the CV

–create your own job

–manage your own career

This book is about changing social relationships. The authors focus on the question of what social relations make for successful science and technology policies. In particular, the various chapters illustrate what happens at different social interfaces, such as between policy makers and researchers, and between the users and producers of knowledge. In other words, they are interested in the knowledge networks that are emerging between the many different actors involved in the development of science and technology.' Science and Technology Policy for Development' is the outcome of a workshop that brought together scholars and policy makers from the global South and the North, from private and public organizations, to review their experiences. What unites the authors is a common concern for research–policy linkages. In this context, research was taken to mean any systematic effort to increase the stock of knowledge, and 'policy' as any purposive course of action followed by an actor or set of actors. Linkages are seen as the communication and patterns of interaction among the actors involved. Such patterns may consolidate into knowledge networks in which information is evaluated or prioritized. A number of authors stress the communication aspect of such patterns, especially in the form of dialogue between actors or, through them, between institutions like ministries, universities or companies. The subtitle of this book reflects this orientation: 'Dialogues at the Interface' refers to communication between these different institutions. A must read for students of development economics, professionals in the sector and policy-makers alike.

Defining Hybrid Heroes: The Leadership Spectrum from Scoundrel to Saint defines the hero (and his or her journey) from a hybrid perspective, exploring the spectrum from scoundrel to saint. It utilizes a more dynamic and situational outlook, regarding heroism not only as a personal characteristic, but also as a series of heroic acts within a given situation.

The book examines the hybrid hero from several distinctive points of view, e.g. through lenses dominated by fiction, business, politics and psychology, and paints a new, more complex portrait that takes full advantage of the authors’ varied backgrounds. Inge Brokerhof has an academic background in psychology and has studied the impact of narrative fiction on workplace variables, such as career identity, employability and moral leadership. Stephan Sonnenburg has studied Joseph Campbell and the impact of the hero’s journey on creativity and innovation management. Greg Stone is a communications consultant who teaches executives and professors how to explain their work in clear and compelling language.

‘The Meetings Handbook: Formal Rules and Informal Processes’ is a comprehensive manual to the rules and issues of meetings, as well as a useful guide to understanding the informal processes that underlie the successful conduct of the business of meetings. The handbook gives the formal issues of meeting processes, including setting agendas and putting forward formal motions. It also canvasses informal aspects of meetings work, such as preparation, reading the non-verbal messages of participants, and insights into how to chair meetings and deal with those who seek to subvert the formal rules.

This handbook is a unique accompaniment to the more conventional legal books that are good formal guides. ‘The Meetings Handbook’ also includes examples of an ethical code, constitutions, agendas, and minutes. It features a reference list as well as the usual scholarly references. In order to make the work readily useable by the busy professional, the book is divided into sections that may act as ‘stand-alone’ guides to specific meetings issues and strategies.

After almost twenty-five years of experimenting with the neo-liberal economic reforms collectively known as ‘Washington Consensus’ policies, Latin Americans are starting to re-assess the merits of these policies – at the voting booth. Many newly elected governments are beginning to scrutinize the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) in particular, and some nations have gone so far as to nationalize foreign firms. Without endorsing or condoning the actions taken by these governments, this volume demonstrates that it is quite rational for governments in the region to re-evaluate the role of FDI for their development paths.

The great promise of FDI by multinational corporations is that capital will flow into your country and be a source of dynamic growth. Beyond boosting income and employment, the hope was that manufacturing FDI would bring knowledge spillovers that would build the skill and technological capacities of local firms, catalyzing broad-based economic growth; and environmental spillovers that would mitigate the domestic ecological impacts of industrial transformation.

Consisting of country case studies and comparative analyses from Latin American and U.S.-based political economists, this volume finds that when FDI did materialize if often fell far short of generating the necessary linkages required to make FDI work for sustainable economic development.

This book addresses an old and basic question: what is the moral order of the market? ‘Corporate Wrongdoing and the Art of the Accusation’ is an exploration of accusations of wrongdoing, and the revelations these accusations expose about the dark side of capitalism and modern corporations, and their relationships with suppliers, buyers, peers, investment banks and state regulators. The study explores data gathered from the past twenty years, including over a thousand accusations of economic wrongdoing in corporate America. The research traces exchange paths or structural routes; cultural recipes or ideas about wrongdoing; and interactions between the culture and structure of transgression in economic in markets.

Repertoires of accusation, and the three-way associations between accused, accuser and accusation, reveal the moral order of the market. The tools provided in this data collection and analysis provide a template for the study of the three-way relationship between the following: cultural items or types (i.e., accusation types), structural locations or paths (i.e., market interfaces) and time (i.e., temporal locations of types and paths, or recipes and routes). Repertoires unlock the moral order of the modern market and other institutions (family, politics, education, religion, science) as revealed in accusations of transgression.

'Income Poverty and Beyond' emphasizes the need to go beyond the conventional definition of poverty and look at the various human aspects of the problem. Eminent social scientists such as Suresh Tendulkar, Abusaleh Shariff, R. Radhakrishna, M. S. S. Meenakshisundaram, Seeta K. Prabhu, Ravi Srivastava and the editors, Raja J. Chelliah and R. Sudarshan, take a comprehensive view of poverty to include the concept of human poverty, seen as the 'the denial of opportunities and choices most basic to human development'. Special care has been taken to make the information and analysis accessible to the general reader.

Using the latest available data for India as well as edited versions of papers commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for a South-Asia poverty monitor, the broad conclusion that has emerged is that more public action is needed to counter the high prevalence of human poverty. Therefore, current measures to reduce income-poverty, including high rates of economic growth, are not sufficient.

The first two chapters dwell on the concept of income-poverty, interstate and intergroup disparities and poverty trends in India over the decade 1983–94. This is followed by an examination of human development in rural India, availability of food to the poor, various programmes aimed at removing poverty, the indices of human poverty and public financing of social services, human priority expenditures, and human expenditure ratios for the Indian states. The perceptions of the poor in assessing their own poverty and in developing policies to improve their status are discussed, and an epilogue appeals to the national and international community to take serious note of human poverty in the midst of which we all live.

'ICTs and Development in India' provides a critical account of the impact of the use of Information Technology in development projects in India, focusing particularly on E-governance and Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) development programs initiated by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). Sreekumar challenges the conventional wisdom concerning the potential of ICT to provide unprecedented social and economic opportunities for vulnerable groups such as women and marginalized communities by highlighting its failure to bridge social divides. He argues that in addition to reinforcing existing social divides, the patterns of ICT deployment and control have in certain cases created new divides. Given such tensions and contradictions, this book questions whether it is appropriate to consider civil society as an independent realm of social action separated from State and Market.

Sreekumar offers a fresh perspective and added depth to the discussions on the social impacts of new technologies in rural areas, especially in terms of methods, analytics and approach. The recognition of the shortcomings of CSO initiatives plays an important part in redefining the role of civil society and understanding its fractured relations with the State and Market. Sreekumar therefore creates a powerful critique on the interpretation of agency and the structure of rural transformation as mediated by new technologies in the particular context of India's social and economic transition.

‘Re-balancing China’ addresses three key sets of issues in China’s political economy. Part One of the text provides an analysis of the profound impact of the global financial crisis on China’s economy – an economy deeply integrated in the global economic system through trade and foreign investment. It also examines the positive outcomes of the massive rescue package that constituted China’s policy response to the crisis. The rescue package stimulated Chinese growth and helped to stabilize the global economy as a whole.

Part Two focuses on the challenge of globalization for China’s industrial policy. Since the 1980s, China has pursued an industrial policy aimed at nurturing a substantial group of globally competitive firms, most of which have become superficially successful. However, China still has a negligible number of large firms that are competitive in global markets. China’s experience presents a fundamental challenge to traditional concepts of industrial policy and development.

Finally, Part Three examines China’s international relations, the focal point of which is its relationship with the United States. The US has made it clear that its principal challenge in international relations is the ‘rise of China’ and has announced a ‘tilt towards the Pacific’ in its military strategy. As a result, the core of this interaction spans the East and South China Seas and the countries that surround this area.

‘India and the Global Financial Crisis’ offers a collection of essays based on the speeches delivered by Reddy during his tenure as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India between September 2003 and September 2008, a period of rapid growth for the Indian economy as well as extraordinary challenges for the conduct of monetary policy. He has earned universal acclaim for his gubernatorial management of India’s calibrated financial integration with the global economy.

These essays provide informed critical insights into the making of public policies across a spectrum of areas during those years, while presenting an inside view of the dynamics that are played out behind the scenes. They respond to the interest in India's management of a financial sector that has facilitated growth while maintaining stability, markedly contrasting to the fragile financial climate of the USA. The volume describes India's financial situation, the Reserve Bank of India's perspective, and its policies. ‘India and the Global Financial Crisis’ was selected as Financial Book of the Year 2010 by ‘China Business News’.

After almost twenty-five years of experimenting with the neo-liberal economic reforms collectively known as ‘Washington Consensus’ policies, Latin Americans are starting to re-assess the merits of these policies – at the voting booth. Many newly elected governments are beginning to scrutinize the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) in particular, and some nations have gone so far as to nationalize foreign firms. Without endorsing or condoning the actions taken by these governments, this volume demonstrates that it is quite rational for governments in the region to re-evaluate the role of FDI for their development paths.

The great promise of FDI by multinational corporations is that capital will flow into your country and be a source of dynamic growth. Beyond boosting income and employment, the hope was that manufacturing FDI would bring knowledge spillovers that would build the skill and technological capacities of local firms, catalyzing broad-based economic growth; and environmental spillovers that would mitigate the domestic ecological impacts of industrial transformation.

Consisting of country case studies and comparative analyses from Latin American and U.S.-based political economists, this volume finds that when FDI did materialize if often fell far short of generating the necessary linkages required to make FDI work for sustainable economic development.

This book addresses an old and basic question: what is the moral order of the market? ‘Corporate Wrongdoing and the Art of the Accusation’ is an exploration of accusations of wrongdoing, and the revelations these accusations expose about the dark side of capitalism and modern corporations, and their relationships with suppliers, buyers, peers, investment banks and state regulators. The study explores data gathered from the past twenty years, including over a thousand accusations of economic wrongdoing in corporate America. The research traces exchange paths or structural routes; cultural recipes or ideas about wrongdoing; and interactions between the culture and structure of transgression in economic in markets.

Repertoires of accusation, and the three-way associations between accused, accuser and accusation, reveal the moral order of the market. The tools provided in this data collection and analysis provide a template for the study of the three-way relationship between the following: cultural items or types (i.e., accusation types), structural locations or paths (i.e., market interfaces) and time (i.e., temporal locations of types and paths, or recipes and routes). Repertoires unlock the moral order of the modern market and other institutions (family, politics, education, religion, science) as revealed in accusations of transgression.

'Feeding The World in the 21st Century: A Historical Analysis of Agriculture and Society' provides a historical understanding of agricultural development over the last two centuries. Characteristics of the period have included the opening of the prairies in the late 18th century, the invention of industrial fertilizer and the tractor's displacement of the horse. Such profound developments have led to an abundance of food and peace and prosperity within the world market. This situation began at the end of the American Civil War and continued until 2005, when prices rose in spite of increased production. Smedshaug gives a historical background of the current situation, while discussing the ultimate challenge of how to feed a world of 10 billion people. This challenge has to be met in the light of climate change, water shortage, and not least the declining availability of fossil fuel.

Smedshaug's analysis and recommendations underline the need for every country to have the freedom to establish an agricultural policy adapted to the given national natural conditions, as well as the need to put the producer at the heart of the policy in such a way that all countries can utilize their potential to produce food, and hence to feed the world.

‘Re-balancing China’ addresses three key sets of issues in China’s political economy. Part One of the text provides an analysis of the profound impact of the global financial crisis on China’s economy – an economy deeply integrated in the global economic system through trade and foreign investment. It also examines the positive outcomes of the massive rescue package that constituted China’s policy response to the crisis. The rescue package stimulated Chinese growth and helped to stabilize the global economy as a whole.

Part Two focuses on the challenge of globalization for China’s industrial policy. Since the 1980s, China has pursued an industrial policy aimed at nurturing a substantial group of globally competitive firms, most of which have become superficially successful. However, China still has a negligible number of large firms that are competitive in global markets. China’s experience presents a fundamental challenge to traditional concepts of industrial policy and development.

Finally, Part Three examines China’s international relations, the focal point of which is its relationship with the United States. The US has made it clear that its principal challenge in international relations is the ‘rise of China’ and has announced a ‘tilt towards the Pacific’ in its military strategy. As a result, the core of this interaction spans the East and South China Seas and the countries that surround this area.

This book contains selected papers from the Annual Conference on Development and Change (ACDC) held at Sao Paulo in November 2006. Second in a series of three conferences, the 2006 ACDC showcased research by relatively younger scholars. While precise and rigorous alternatives to the neoliberal agenda are often overlooked in the huge volume of literature that addresses the larger issues, both aspects - the larger picture and the smaller nuts-and-bolts details - are very important, and this volume fills the gaps in the latter category. These papers were written before the global recession, and events subsequent to the conference and the writing of these papers have validated several of the concerns raised by their authors.

This volume focuses on a plethora of issues from the point of view of the South. It demonstrates, for example, that if capital inflows exceed a certain volume - no matter how they are absorbed - such openness will inevitably result in a crisis in the receiving country. The popular understanding of foreign portfolio investment as more benign than foreign direct investment (FDI) is also challenged. By contrasting contemporary capital flows as well as the international capital flows of the nineteenth century, this collection highlights the role of regulation and the role of the state, and ultimately emphasizes the need for recipient country governments to exercise policy options to control the volume of foreign capital inflows.

Sixty years after their creation, the Bretton Woods institutions face a crisis of legitimacy that impairs their credibility and effectiveness. At the roots of this crisis lies the unrepresentative nature of their structure of governance, which places control of the institutions in the hands of a small group of industrial countries that do not use its resources. Developing countries and economies in transition are considered to be minor partners, despite accounting for half of the world’s output in real terms, most of the world’s population and encompassing the most dynamic economies and the largest holders of international reserves. The quota formulas should reflect the size of the economies of members, i.e. their GDP, their exposure to trade and capital movements as well as their ability to contribute to the Fund. If IMF quotas were based on objective measures, i.e. size of GDP, the volatility of receipts, the adjustment of European quotas for intra-trade and trade in a single currency in the euro area, the quota share of developing countries and economies in transition as a group should be no less than that of industrial countries. Reality has outpaced the evolution of thinking on the subject of governance. The growing breach between world economic and financial realities and the governance structure of the Bretton Woods institutions argues for reforms to increase the effectiveness and restore the legitimacy of these institutions. As debtors, the European countries had resisted conditionality during the first decades of the IMF and favoured increasing Fund resources, but as their situation changed, they no longer resorted to IMF support and they changed their position. Similar problems appear in the World Bank, giving rise to large negative flows of resources from the developing countries. The papers included in this book cover different aspects of the governance of the Bretton Woods institutions. They explore different options for reform and show that enhancing the participation of developing and emerging market countries in resolving the major monetary and financial problems confronting the world economy, would improve global economic performance and contribute to the elimination of world poverty.

‘India and the Global Financial Crisis’ offers a collection of essays based on the speeches delivered by Reddy during his tenure as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India between September 2003 and September 2008, a period of rapid growth for the Indian economy as well as extraordinary challenges for the conduct of monetary policy. He has earned universal acclaim for his gubernatorial management of India’s calibrated financial integration with the global economy.

These essays provide informed critical insights into the making of public policies across a spectrum of areas during those years, while presenting an inside view of the dynamics that are played out behind the scenes. They respond to the interest in India's management of a financial sector that has facilitated growth while maintaining stability, markedly contrasting to the fragile financial climate of the USA. The volume describes India's financial situation, the Reserve Bank of India's perspective, and its policies. ‘India and the Global Financial Crisis’ was selected as Financial Book of the Year 2010 by ‘China Business News’.

The first thesis of ‘How Transformative Innovations Shaped the Rise of Nations’ is that economic growth, national dominance and global leadership are fueled primarily by embracing innovations, in particular transformative innovations.

A transformative innovation is one that changes the lives of people, reshapes the structure of society, disrupts the balance of power within and among nations, and creates enormous wealth for its sponsors. The adoption of a transformative innovation spawns numerous other related or consequent innovations. It provides a competitive advantage to a nation and may propel a small, backward region to world leadership in as short a time as a century. Further, the transformative innovation can sometimes itself promote the positive environment that leads to further innovations. Thus, embracing innovation can start a positive cycle of wealth creation, economic dominance and a positive environment for further innovation. This positive cycle continues as long as the environment that spawned the innovation remains supportive or until another transformative innovation arises elsewhere.

The second thesis of ‘How Transformative Innovations Shaped the Rise of Nations’ is that innovation is not adopted randomly across time and nations. Rather, it is sustained by an environment characterized by key institutional drivers within a country or region, three of the most important of which are openness to new ideas, technologies and people, especially immigrants; empowerment of individuals to innovate, start businesses, trade and keep rewards for these activities; and competition among nations, patrons, entrepreneurs or firms. Geography, resources, climate, religion and colonization probably played a role as well. However, past treatments of the rise of nations have overemphasized the role of these other factors; they have downplayed or ignored the role of innovations and the institutional drivers that led to their development and adoption.

How did the US financial crisis snowball into USD 15 trillion global losses? This book offers a clear synthesis and original analysis of the various factors that led to the financial crisis of 2007-2010 - namely, an asset price bubble and excessive leverage. The focus is on the ingredients of and dynamics within the international financial system, and as such is the most comprehensive publication in scope to date in terms of market, country and instrument coverage. In addition to its thorough dissection of the causes and consequences of the most calamitous financial crisis in the past seventy years, the author also debates 'the way forward', including regulatory challenges, proposed changes and critique, and early warning systems.

The objective of this reader is to provide a holistic summary of the financial crisis, and bring to light a new perspective on each of the issues, while simultaneously providing a thorough platform for those wishing to research any of the sub-topics independently. It ultimately discusses the lessons to be learned from the recent crisis, and questions whether the global financial system is capable of learning them. Written in a clear explanatory prose and featuring a wealth of quantitative data and qualitative analysis, this reader is accessible to the beginner, intermediate and advanced student.

This book contains selected papers from the Annual Conference on Development and Change (ACDC) held at Sao Paulo in November 2006. Second in a series of three conferences, the 2006 ACDC showcased research by relatively younger scholars. While precise and rigorous alternatives to the neoliberal agenda are often overlooked in the huge volume of literature that addresses the larger issues, both aspects - the larger picture and the smaller nuts-and-bolts details - are very important, and this volume fills the gaps in the latter category. These papers were written before the global recession, and events subsequent to the conference and the writing of these papers have validated several of the concerns raised by their authors.

This volume focuses on a plethora of issues from the point of view of the South. It demonstrates, for example, that if capital inflows exceed a certain volume - no matter how they are absorbed - such openness will inevitably result in a crisis in the receiving country. The popular understanding of foreign portfolio investment as more benign than foreign direct investment (FDI) is also challenged. By contrasting contemporary capital flows as well as the international capital flows of the nineteenth century, this collection highlights the role of regulation and the role of the state, and ultimately emphasizes the need for recipient country governments to exercise policy options to control the volume of foreign capital inflows.

This challenging and unique new volume examines some of the most burning issues on the economic agenda in the world today. Bringing together some of the foremost authorities in their fields, this book is the result of work carried out on behalf of the G24, the world's only research effort devoting to furthering the interests of developing countries and bringing their needs to global attention. The book gives a voice to the developing nations of the world through its powerful essays and its fresh perspective. Challenging the existing mechanisms for the governance of the world economy, the chapters in this book consider the current approaches of the World Bank and IMF, and the operations of financial markets, and offer alternative proposals for the effective participation of developing countries. In doing so, the volume ranges from discussions on reforming the IMF and its conditionality, debt workouts and restructuring, through management of capital flows, debt sustainability and insurance against crisis, to Millennium Development Goals and the 'global partnership development'.

“Development Without Aid” opens up perspectives and analyzes facts about foreign aid to the poorest developing countries. The discussion is advocacy as much as analysis, and makes extensive reference to recent research, including the author’s previous work on the World Bank.

Starting from a perception about development formed during the author’s formative years in what is now Malawi, the book develops a critique of foreign aid as an alien resource inherently unable to provide the necessary dynamism to propel the poorest countries out of poverty, and compromised by profound anomalies which subvert its own effectiveness. The book aims to help move the perception of development in poor countries squarely beyond foreign aid and beyond the discussion of its role, architecture and design, and to re-assert an indigenous development path out of poverty.

To move beyond foreign aid, the book examines a new international dynamic, i.e., the rapid growth of the world’s diasporas as a quasi-indigenous resource of increasing strength in terms of both financial and human capital. It considers the extent to which such resources might be able to replace the apparatus of foreign aid and help move towards a reassertion of sovereignty by poor states, especially in Africa, over their own development process. 

“Development Without Aid” opens up perspectives and analyzes facts about foreign aid to the poorest developing countries. The discussion is advocacy as much as analysis, and makes extensive reference to recent research, including the author’s previous work on the World Bank.

Starting from a perception about development formed during the author’s formative years in what is now Malawi, the book develops a critique of foreign aid as an alien resource inherently unable to provide the necessary dynamism to propel the poorest countries out of poverty, and compromised by profound anomalies which subvert its own effectiveness. The book aims to help move the perception of development in poor countries squarely beyond foreign aid and beyond the discussion of its role, architecture and design, and to re-assert an indigenous development path out of poverty.

To move beyond foreign aid, the book examines a new international dynamic, i.e., the rapid growth of the world’s diasporas as a quasi-indigenous resource of increasing strength in terms of both financial and human capital. It considers the extent to which such resources might be able to replace the apparatus of foreign aid and help move towards a reassertion of sovereignty by poor states, especially in Africa, over their own development process. 

Since the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers, central banking has changed dramatically. Over the past five years central banks have intervened in both public and private debt markets, taking on functions of dealers of last resort, while simultaneously designing regulatory and resolution frameworks with the explicit aim of changing bank business models, all in order to contain and better address systemic risk. This book explores these developments through collected essays from authors from both academia and policy circles, and sets them in the context of the European crisis.

‘Central Banking at a Crossroads’ reflects on the innovations central banks have made to improve their modes of intervention, regulation and resolution of financial markets and financial institutions in four related sections: ‘Bank Capital Regulation’ examines the Basel III agreement, identifying its key novelties and shortcomings vis-à-vis its predecessor, Basel II; ‘Bank Resolution’ focuses on effective regimes for regulating and resolving ailing banks; ‘Central Banking with Collateral-Based Finance’ develops thought on the challenges that market-based finance pose for the conduct of central banking in periods of economic stability and, through a critical theoretical angle, the important role that governments play for financial markets as manufacturers of high-quality collateral or safe assets; and, finally, ‘Where Next for Central Banking’ examines the trajectory of central banking, its issues, and its new, central role in sustaining capitalism.

For every Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google, there are literally thousands of small start-ups trying to ‘scale up’ to become the next Slack, Zoom or Uber. Less than 1% of these start-ups will be able to scale up. For the would-be entrepreneurial leader, for employees working in a start-up, for a potential investor, how to tell if the business-in-the-back-bedroom will ever see its name in lights? Does the entrepreneurial team in question have the muscle-power to succeed? Of the huge array of start-ups founded each year, how do investors increase their chances of backing the one in a thousand that will become a scaled-up company? How can an investor talent-spot entrepreneurial muscle-power? How does the typical entrepreneurial leader, the employee joining the start-up and the investor in the start-up increase the chances of their start-up making it to the 1% club? And there is considerable interest in contemporary entrepreneurial leadership practice. Many would-be founders have a view to setting-up new business ventures, spurred on by opportunities presented by the changing world (and often with your newly minted MBA degree). How can new entrepreneurial leaders convince others (and maybe starting with themselves and their family members) that they can survive and thrive in a competitive world? With the muscle to make it happen?

It all depends on whether or not they have this very specific Entrepreneurial Leadership Muscle – or if they can see it in others. As entrepreneurs, how can they identify, develop, build and use this necessary muscle to make things happen in a sustainable way? As investors, what are the readable signs of muscle-power and the willingness to develop that muscle power amongst the entrepreneurial leaders passing the radar screens? How can they screen-in and screen-out?

In the high-technology sector alone, recently established high-growth organizations are bringing new and innovative products to market at an extremely rapid pace. A commonality among these companies is, firstly, their relatively short organizational life span to-date (they are often only now about 10-15 years old) and secondly, the speed in which they have grown into multi-billion-dollar organizations. Here we are talking about the few that have made it – and how, and why. What do they have that the others don’t? How can entrepreneurs looking to stand out in this crowded and fast-paced field work to ensure survival and sustainability and growth? And attract investors with many options but funds only for a few? Again, it all depends on whether that Entrepreneurial Leadership Muscle is there and the leaders and teams can show it.

This book provides a historical background to the formation of the Indian capitalist class from before British colonial rule in India. It analyses the nature of that class, the ways in which it changed under colonial rule, and the state of independent India; it also sets some of the peculiarities of capitalist organization in India and the ideology of big capital in their historical context.

The evolution of the working class in India is analysed in its dialectical interaction with global capital and Indian capitalism. The author challenges the view that the tensions within working class movements caused by caste, communal divisions or gender discrimination are to be attributed to primordial loyalties, emphasizing instead the influence of the deliberate strategies adopted by capitalists and of changes in the structure of global and Indian capitalism. Finally, the book investigates the impact of capital-friendly liberalization on the fortunes of the working class in the Third World.

The book is a collection of nine quantitative studies – each probing one aspect of Renaissance Florentine economy and society. These are organized into three parts by topic, source material and analysis methods. Part one, on risk and return, contains two chapters. Chapter 1 studies Florentine plague outbreaks. Recent work has highlighted the incompatibility of evidence from written records with medical evidence. The chapter reconciles these approaches by using financial market evidence to interpret the written records. The next chapter examines a commonly used interest rate time series for Renaissance Florence. Significant literature has evolved during the past quarter century that measures interest rates to assess state formation trends in late medieval and early modern Europe. This chapter links financial theory and medieval law to better measure the Florentine interest rate, showing that the interest rate evidence used to date must be reconsidered.

The second part examines Florentine society. This part shows how Florentine occupations can be separated into two categories by comparing wealth levels and distributions; demonstrates that the architectural and artistic explosion during the mid-fifteenth century was the result of a subsidy – a tax loophole that exempted the home and its furnishings from an significant new tax, leading to a transfer of assets into art and architecture; finds that Florentine neighbourhoods remained integrated between the mid-fourteenth and late fifteenth centuries; and provides evidence that the modern life-cycle curve of wealth accumulation might not have held true in Renaissance Florence.

The final part looks at work – focusing specifically on the wool industry. It examines the historical structure of Florentine firms and offers a wide range of evidence to demonstrate that the industry’s firms were small and perfectly competitive with little monopoly power. It also demonstrates the value of dynamic data in understanding women’s work during the late medieval and early modern periods. Finally, it shows that the foundation of the Florentine cloth industry reduced the risk facing the individual company by relying on a combination of a guild organization and the putting-out production system – both systems that are rejected by economic theory as hopelessly inefficient.

Startups are increasingly becoming the engine of innovation across all industries. We are living in an age where an entire generation of young entrepreneurs with different backgrounds and skill sets are coming together and collaborating with a desire to disrupt existing markets, challenge the status quo, replace the old with the new and, above all else, make the world a better place.

Startups, however, are constantly facing the challenge of how to make an impact given their initial small size and limited resources. Nine out of ten startups fail, and more than fifty percent do not reach past the five-year mark. The few that do manage to survive can quickly find themselves swamped in the oversaturated market, unable to make any decent progress. So how can they establish themselves among their immediate competitors, let alone defeat larger, more established companies? Is the story of David and Goliath still relevant in the modern business world? Hence the need to write an engaging book that offers unique, viable solutions to all the problems small startups face especially in their early stages.

This book provide practical teachings on how startups can strengthen their foundations, reach the pinnacle of the business world and, ultimately, become a virtuous leader of startups in the model of Machiavelli’s “The Prince.”

What does a 500-year-old figure from history have to do with the world of startups? I first encountered Machiavelli in high school in Italy. At the time, he did not represent much more to me than just another part of my studies, but he came rushing back when I moved to the US to finish high school in a small town of Ohio. I used to talk to people who knew little about Italy, but who could still quote Machiavelli’s most famous lines: “The end justifies the means” and “It is better to be feared than loved.”

Machiavelli seemed to be even more popular in America than in Italy. This triggered my curiosity and pushed me to do more research on him. I realized that throughout history, politicians, generals, philosophers and other leaders have all harnessed his philosophies in their own fields. He has also been criticized as being overly cynical, cruel or cutthroat. However, I think this is too dismissive and partial. Machiavelli was, more than anything, a pragmatic realist. He devoted himself to finding patterns in human nature and history, and was perfectly aware of what was ethical and unethical, encouraging aspiring leaders to reach their goals through “virtue”; to rely on hard work rather than luck; and to try to be loved rather than feared (while noting it is easier to be feared). He also understood that necessity and emergency compels leaders to make tough decisions.

During my studies at Harvard Business School, I began to apply Machiavelli’s principles to the business world, finding his teachings tremendously modern and useful for my own startup. I realized that as, a serial entrepreneur, I was already applying many of his tactics without even being aware of it. So I started decoding and adapting his writings to the world of startups, testing his teachings in the field.

From this experience, and from Machiavelli’s two most influential books “The Art of War” and “The Prince,” came the idea for “The Art of Startups.”

‘Schumpeter’s Evolutionary Economics’ fills the void of analysis and serves as a standard reference work on this pioneering thinker by introducing novel interpretations of his five major books and tracing the development of his intellectual framework. Schumpeter’s first German book on the nature of theoretical economics (1908) is still untranslated, but it demonstrates how he developed his evolutionary research programme by studying the inherent limitations of equilibrium economics. He presented core results on economic evolution and extended evolutionary analysis to all social sciences in the first German edition of ‘The Theory of Economic Development’ (1912). He made a partial reworking of the theory of economic evolution in later editions, and this reworking was continued in ‘Business Cycles’ (1939). Here Schumpeter also tried to handle the statistical and historical evidence on the waveform evolution of the capitalist economy. ‘Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy’ (1942) modified the model of economic evolution and added evolutionary contributions to other social sciences. Finally, ‘History of Economic Analysis’, published posthumously, was based on his evolutionary theory of the history of economics. Andersen's analysis of Schumpeter's five books expounds the progress he made within his research programme, and examines his lack of satisfactory tools for evolutionary analysis. In so doing it places our understanding of Schumpeter on a new and firmer footing; it also suggests how modern evolutionary economics can relate to his work.

Esben Sloth Andersen was awarded the Gunnar Myrdal Prize for 2010 for ‘Schumpeter’s Evolutionary Economics’. The Myrdal Prize is awarded annually for the best monograph on a theme broadly in accord with the research perspectives of the European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy.

The book is a collection of nine quantitative studies – each probing one aspect of Renaissance Florentine economy and society. These are organized into three parts by topic, source material and analysis methods. Part one, on risk and return, contains two chapters. Chapter 1 studies Florentine plague outbreaks. Recent work has highlighted the incompatibility of evidence from written records with medical evidence. The chapter reconciles these approaches by using financial market evidence to interpret the written records. The next chapter examines a commonly used interest rate time series for Renaissance Florence. Significant literature has evolved during the past quarter century that measures interest rates to assess state formation trends in late medieval and early modern Europe. This chapter links financial theory and medieval law to better measure the Florentine interest rate, showing that the interest rate evidence used to date must be reconsidered.

The second part examines Florentine society. This part shows how Florentine occupations can be separated into two categories by comparing wealth levels and distributions; demonstrates that the architectural and artistic explosion during the mid-fifteenth century was the result of a subsidy – a tax loophole that exempted the home and its furnishings from an significant new tax, leading to a transfer of assets into art and architecture; finds that Florentine neighbourhoods remained integrated between the mid-fourteenth and late fifteenth centuries; and provides evidence that the modern life-cycle curve of wealth accumulation might not have held true in Renaissance Florence.

The final part looks at work – focusing specifically on the wool industry. It examines the historical structure of Florentine firms and offers a wide range of evidence to demonstrate that the industry’s firms were small and perfectly competitive with little monopoly power. It also demonstrates the value of dynamic data in understanding women’s work during the late medieval and early modern periods. Finally, it shows that the foundation of the Florentine cloth industry reduced the risk facing the individual company by relying on a combination of a guild organization and the putting-out production system – both systems that are rejected by economic theory as hopelessly inefficient.

Have you ever wondered why many of the over 28 million small businesses in operation in the United States do not survive past the first five years? As a fellow small business owner (and professor of business administration) trying to compete in the global economy, I became interested in understanding the actual reasons that cause many small businesses to fail. This question consumed me to the point that I decided to go back to school and earn a doctorate degree in business to hopefully understand the answer.

Through my studies, I began to suspect that the main cause of failure for small businesses was the lack of understanding between the roles of management and leadership. I soon became very frustrated when I could not find research studies that showed the direct link between the necessary skills needed for small business survival.

With little information or resources to rely on, I knew that if I wanted the answers I would have to conduct my own research study to gain the necessary insight into this ongoing problem that has plagued over 50% of today’s workforce.

For two years, I studied small businesses in the global economy. After completing a comprehensive study, I was able to finally document actual information that proved the management and leadership skills that affect small business survival. Once I understood the effects of management and leadership skills had on small businesses, I wanted to apply my research to helping small business owners improve their business.

I thought about the struggles and how I could not find any books or resources that provided a ‘one stop shop’ with detailed information on how to succeed in small business management and leadership. All I had available was a lot of business books and models that were created for large corporations and had to modify bits and pieces from several resources to hopefully fit my needs. This process was very time consuming and did not give me a good sense of a how everything fit together to help me succeed.

In fact, everything I found I went through starting my own small business and wanted to create a resource guide that provided a quick resource for all small businesses.

Since there are many different types of small businesses in many different markets, it is easy to understand why there were no specific resources. A resource that looked at the primary basic functions and demonstrated the causal links between management and leadership skills had to be created that could apply to small businesses in the trade sector of the market needed to be created. ‘Management and Leadership Skills That Affect Small Business Survival’ was the outcome.

Although no less an authority than Joseph A. Schumpeter proclaimed that Antonio Serra was the world’s first economist, he remains something of a dark horse of economic historiography. Nearly nothing is known about Serra except that he wrote and died in jail, and his ‘Short Treatise’ is so rare that only nine original copies are known to have survived the ravages of time. What, then, can a book written nearly four centuries ago tell us about the problems we now face? Serra’s key insight, studying the economies of Venice and Naples, was that wealth was not the result of climate or providence but of policies to develop economic activities subject to increasing returns to scale and a large division of labour. Through a very systematic taxonomy of economic life, Serra then went on from this insight to theorize the causes of the wealth of nations and the measures through which a weak, dependent economy could achieve worldly melioration.

At a time when leading economists return to biological explanations for the failure of their theories, the ‘Short Treatise’ can remind us that there are elements of history which numbers and graphs cannot convey or encompass, and that there are less despondent lessons to be learned from our past. Serra’s remarkable tract is introduced by a lengthy and illuminating study of his historical context and legacy for the theoretical and cultural history of economics.

This book is a collection of articles focusing on comparative analysis of the development trajectories in the semi-periphery countries of South America and Central and Eastern Europe. The book tries to approach the dilemmas of development in the semi-periphery as diversely as possible, always emphasising the variety of trajectories as a crucial factor. Therefore there are evaluations of the role of cognitive regimes produced by professional fields as elements of collective action coordination and as beacons that fix State-society relations. As opposed to the transitology studies that were prevalent in the 1990s, and that treated the neoliberal context in these two regions separately, the articles in this volume instead offer a new comparative analysis about the consequences of the neoliberal reforms and the new actors that deal with these results.

The book is concentrated on the experiences with market reforms and institutional legacies during the last twenty years. Central and Eastern Europe and South American countries have gone through a rapid restructuring of productive regimes in the process of integration with the global capitalist system. This volume discusses the variety of forms of state that have unfolded in different peripheral countries and their role in the social engineering of economic models and social policies, as well as to the impact of state capacities and ideas on the institutional innovations. These essays also compare the transformations in political culture, collective identities and contentious politics in both areas. The growing distance between the state and society, social disintegration and the concrete effects of market reforms (unemployment, informality, loss of rights) were closely related to a growing social mobilization as well as to a politicization of social and ethnic identities in South America. In Eastern Europe the institutional model of liberal democracy has been challenged on the one hand by the claims of social equality that derives from the communist legacy, and on the other hand by the question of political rights that has emerged within the context of the new wave of nationalisms and politicisation of ethnic identities.  

This book provides a historical background to the formation of the Indian capitalist class from before British colonial rule in India. It analyses the nature of that class, the ways in which it changed under colonial rule, and the state of independent India; it also sets some of the peculiarities of capitalist organization in India and the ideology of big capital in their historical context.

The evolution of the working class in India is analysed in its dialectical interaction with global capital and Indian capitalism. The author challenges the view that the tensions within working class movements caused by caste, communal divisions or gender discrimination are to be attributed to primordial loyalties, emphasizing instead the influence of the deliberate strategies adopted by capitalists and of changes in the structure of global and Indian capitalism. Finally, the book investigates the impact of capital-friendly liberalization on the fortunes of the working class in the Third World.