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Understanding the complex interplay between economic ideologies, political systems, and international relations is more critical than ever. The legacy of the Cold War still lingers, shaping the global stage in myriad ways. The ideological divide between capitalism and communism, democracy and authoritarianism, has left a lasting mark on our political and economic landscapes. However, as the world continues to evolve, traditional definitions and assumptions about these ideologies have begun to blur, creating a pressing need for fresh perspectives.
After the Great Financial Crisis economic theory was fiercely criticized from both outside and inside the discipline for being incapable of explaining a crisis of such magnitude. Slowly but persistently, new strands of economic thought are developing, to replace the old-fashioned neoclassical economic theory, which have a common characteristic: they are better suited to help understand the real-world economy. This book explores the key tenets and applications of these. The book opens with an explanation of the 'real world' approach to economics in which theoretical models resemble real world situations, realistic assumptions are made, and factors such as uncertainty, coordination problems and bounded rationality are incorporated.
The purpose of this book is three-fold. The first purpose is to posit that the fundamental substance of the universe is energy, and that energy is required (consumed) for any material transformation, or information transmission. The labor theory of value, articulated by the physiocrats and elaborated by Adam Smith, David Ricardo, J.B. Say and Karl Marx was a rough first approximation of the value creation process, in the 17th and 18th centuries, but is now obsolete. The second aim of the book is to argue that the economy is a living (open) system -- an "island of order" -that exists far from both thermodynamic and economic equilibrium. The third aim of the book is to re-emphasize, that - being open - the economic system cannot be regarded as a collection of individual competitive utility-maximizing transactions.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly referred to as ObamaCare or PPACA), which was signed into US law in 2010, generated a lot of noise from both supporters and detractors. This book argues that the changes introduced by ObamaCare were, in the long history of government intervention in the US health system, generally not as new or novel as claimed. The scope of the changes introduced by ObamaCare is very wide and covers, among others: the health insurance industry, pharmaceuticals, employers, employees, or the uninsured. The structure of the book shows the individual causes, key assumptions, and impacts of the reform on individual elements or areas of the US health system.
This book discusses key issues in economic policy in the context of the history of economic thought. Most of the current and past academic controversies in economics are, explicitly or implicitly, centered around the application and form of economic policy. This is particularly evident in the post-WWII period, with the appearance of economic policy as a distinguishable subfield, but important elements of various economic policy issues can be found throughout the history of economic thought.
This book focuses on the new concept of bioeconomy which collects the wisdom from life science, medicine and economics. lt finds the origins from ten existing theories, and also regards as "Pan's bioeconomy". It has provided new methods for economic science research, opened up new fields for life science research, provided the right answer for China's economic miracle, filled the gap between materialism and idealism, and removed the fence between natural science and social science
Drawing on more modern expressions of economic analysis, this book explores the interplay between wellbeing, nature and moral values in economics. In standard accounts of economics, these three themes are typically treated in isolation from each other, or else overlooked entirely. This book argues that due to this blinkered approach, standard economic analysis is poorly equipped to deal with global contemporary challenges including climate change, biodiversity loss, sustainability, and the risk of pandemic diseases.
In an era of increasing inequalities, and also of deep anxieties about the consequences of two major economic crises, economists are faced with a major question: can economic growth be achieved without inequalities? Economic Growth and Inequality critically evaluates the economic literature on this question from a pragmatic perspective, seeking to reconcile those who regard economic liberties as a paramount value, and critics who object that prioritizing these liberties leads to inequitable outcomes.
Chartered in 1921, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a worldwide organization that represents more than two million workers in occupations from healthcare and government service to custodians and taxi drivers. Women form more than half the membership while people in minority groups make up approximately forty percent. Luís LM Aguiar and Joseph A. McCartin edit essays on one of contemporary labor's bedrock organizations. The contributors explore key episodes, themes, and features in the union's recent history and evaluate SEIU as a union with global aspirations and impact.
This book presents research on energy poverty alleviation, approaching the complex phenomenon topic holistically and with heterogeneity. It includes contributions from research teams studying the topic at a national, regional and local levels worldwide. The book is divided in two main blocks. The first part, New Approaches, involves novel assessments and concepts from a global and multidisciplinary point of view. The second part, Contexts, offers new theoretical diagnoses focused on case studies of different scales from around the world, and concepts for future trends.
Poor Atlanta looks at the poor people's campaigns in Atlanta in the 1960s and 1970s, which operated in relationship to Sunbelt city- building efforts. With these efforts, city leaders aimed to prevent urban violence, staunch disinvestment, check white flight, and amplify Atlanta's importance as a business and transportation hub. As urban leaders promoted Forward Atlanta, a program to, in Mayor Ivan Allen Jr.'s words, "sell the city like a product," poor families insisted that their lives and living conditions, too, should improve.
In the ongoing effort to combat global climate catastrophe, animal agriculture has long been a subject of contention. On the one hand, most agree that across the world increasing meat and dairy consumption are accelerating anthropogenic climate change. On the other hand, proponents of the livestock industry argue that modern advancements reduce greenhouse gas emissions from efficient livestock production to negligible quantities. Some even maintain that grass-based livestock production has a net positive impact on the environment, due to the carbon sequestration caused by grazing.
Energy costs in the economy amount to only a few percent of gross domestic product, but their importance to economic growth is much greater than their apparent number. Energy is used in almost all production and consumption activities, and energy price changes induce significant spillover effects throughout the economic system. More importantly, stable and affordable access to energy is a critical factor in determining the rate of capital accumulation in a domestic economy and, hence, labor productivity growth.
This book is a broad collection of short and concise chapters addressing important issues relating to population levels, trends, and differentials. In addition to traditional population concerns, such as growth, composition, fertility, mortality, and migration, the articles address a broad range of related issues, including climate change, environmental degradation, socio-economic development, and policy development. The articles are concise, focused on specific issues, and presented in a style that avoids technical jargon and is easily understood by a broad range of readers.
Notwithstanding the improved growth performance of India, development disparity across its states has widened in the first two decades of the 21st century. This book examines development drivers of Indian states and what the necessary course corrections could be to achieve balanced regional growth. The book begins with a discussion on the evolution of growth and inequality across the states and delves into decomposing growth. It looks at three broad themes which are decomposition of growth and determinants of TFP, impact of Infrastructure on growth and inequality, and the institutional dimension of growth and explains why they are pivotal for sustainable growth in Indian states.
This book presents state-of-the-art perspectives on the Blue Economy. It applies important geographical and sustainability transitions perspectives and underscores how Blue Economy dynamics are situated in regional contexts and shaped by the people who live there. The book highlights the Blue Economy concept as a potential driver of regionally sensitive, ecologically embedded, and community-focused sustainability. The scope for Blue Economy to form a core "cog" in our low-carbon future is obvious, from the potential for renewable energy production and coastal resilience building to possibilities for sustainable food production and the delivery of economic opportunities for peripheral communities.
This book provides a concise and accessible history of the relationship between the individual and capitalism in the United States. The text is devoted to tracking the historical development of important themes, whilst addressing key episodes in the progress of American capitalism within these, such as the Great Depression and New Deal. The book will introduce students to the key philosophical principles that have been the most influential in the history of free enterprise in the United States as well as exploring the ways in which these ideas have been popularly understood by Americans from the late eighteenth century to the present.
When designing a world trading system for the twenty-first century, "Keep calm and carry on" beats "Move fast and break things." Global trade is in trouble. Climate change, digital trade, offshoring, the rise of emerging markets led by China- Can the World Trade Organization (WTO), built for trade in the twentieth century, meet the challenges of the twenty-first? The answer is yes, Robert Staiger tells us, arguing that adapting the WTO to the changed economic environment would serve the world better than a radical reset. Governed by the WTO, on the principles of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), global trade rules traditionally focus on "shallow integration"-with an emphasis on reducing tariffs and trade impediments at the border-rather than "deep integration," or direct negotiations over behind-the-border measures.
This book explores Austrian capital theory and Austrian business theory from the perspective of modern economics. Sustainable change within the production structure is examined in relation to time preference, the Böhm-Bawerkian theory of capital and interest, and the Hayek Triangle. In turn, the impact of monetary shocks and boom-bust cycles is detailed, with a particular focus on the Ricardo Effect, dynamics of money supply, and the natural rate of interest.
Green Energy Systems: Design, Modelling, Synthesis and Applications provides a comprehensive introduction to the design, modeling, optimization and application of predictable and alternative energy systems. With a strong focus on the fundamentals, the book provides an overview of the energy potential and conversion topology of green energy sources, the design and analysis of off grid solar and wind energy sources, and their application in effective energy management in rural communities.
All schools of thought in economics, explicitly or otherwise, have referred to economic disorder as a self-evident fact. They have also unanimously considered it to be a temporary state. By contrast, this book contends that economic disorder is an interminable condition of human existence. From this perspective, the present study brings to light the misunderstanding of successive generations of economists on economic disorders. This book provides an alternative exposition of economic disorder and correctional measures that can be taken in order to correct these misconceptions.
Many nations that are rich in oil and natural resources are plagued by undemocratic politics, war and civil conflict, corrupt governments, and volatile economies. Scholars have pointed to a "resource curse" as a root of the problem: the notion that valuable natural resources are connected toserious social, political, and economic problems. Entirely missing from the story, however, is an understanding about the role of the public in oil nations--specifically, the attitudes, values, and ideals they hold about important social, political, and economic issues.
This book examines how increasing Africa-China relations in the fields of trade, development finance and investment have impacted productive capacities and structural economic transformation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The book argues that statistical and empirical evidence shows that China's influence has not substantially altered the fundamentals in Africa, and instead outlines a framework of policy conclusions and recommendations to help achieve transformational growth and development.
The book provides an integrated energy/exergy analysis method to identify the energy utilization issues and systematically propose the cost-effective energy-saving and CO2 mitigation/capture solution. There is a strong market needs on energy-saving and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction. CO2 mitigation/capture will achieve economic benefit of fuel, power, and carbon tax saving as well as environmental GHG reduction. The book is a professional book for energy-saving and GHG gas mitigation technology in oil & gas, oil refining, and chemical industry.
Consumer Society and Ecological Crisis advances a critique of consumer capitalism and its role in driving environmental degradation and climate crisis, placing a spotlight on how marketing and distribution activities help maintain unsustainable levels of consumption. Rather than focusing on the most visible sites of promotional communication, Meier examines less conspicuous facets of marketing and logistics in distinct chapters on plastic packaging, e-commerce, and sustainability pledges in the fossil fuel sector. These three main chapters each explore links between ecological crisis and consumer capitalism, drawing on critical theory and Marxist thought.
This book explores the causes and instruments of 500 years of armed and non-armed international trade conflicts. Nils Ole Oermann and Hans-Jurgen Wolff draw on decades of experience to examine trade wars, economic sanctions, and different types of economic warfare, investigating their history,ethics, economic driving forces, and legality under current rules. They provide a clear and accessible account of the economics of trade, of trade and financial policy since the nineteenth century, and of the effectiveness of sanctions and the 'winnability' of trade wars.
New Drugs, Fair Prices addresses the important question of how we might get the innovative new medicines we need at prices we can afford. Today, this debate is impassioned but sterile. One side calls for price controls, discounting their impact on investment in innovation. The other points to miraculous new therapies, disregarding their affordability and social inequity. This polarized argument creates more heat than light, threatening the social contract between the industry and society on which pharmaceutical innovation depends. This ground-breaking book takes a wholly new perspective on the issue and raises the debate to a more informed and productive level.
When it comes to making this complex topic easy to grasp, "Economics DeMYSTiFieD" corners the market. This fast and easy guide features: Expert overviews of key topics, including supply and demand, macro- and microeconomics, consumer price index, and monetary policy; Chapter-ending quizzes and a final exam for charting your progress; Math equations you can work out to bolster your comprehension; Special-focus chapters on the environment, healthcare, and insurance.
Introductory Economics: A Textbook for Class XII deals with fundamentals of Micro and Macroeconomics for the beginners as per the new syllabus issued by NBSE and CBSE. Part-A of the book deals with Microeconomics containing five units and Part-B contains another six units explaining the basics of Macroeconomics. A total of eleven units have been suitably divided into twenty seven chapters
Highlighting the complex and changing nature of economic activity, this wide-ranging text employs a pragmatic mix of old and new methods to examine the role of values and theoretical beliefs in economic life and in economists' understanding of it.It attends to the problems which have come with high productivity, rapidly changing technology and skills, changing proportions of earning and non-earning years in most people's lives, and a faltering revolution in childhood and parenting which has brought stress and over-work for many women.It addresses such issues as rising poverty, inequality, insecurity and the slow progress of environmental reform. In focusing on such abuses of affluence the text draws on institutional, Keynesian, green and feminist theories, while emphasising all approaches to understanding economic life.