Book Description

Although some trillion dollars worth of restorative activity is going on in the world annually, it isn’t presently perceived as an industry, or as any kind of whole. Until that happens, it can’t develop and mature as an industry, nor can research be properly focused.

For instance, those who restore streams seldom perceive that they are part of an overall restoration of the watershed, and those who restore watersheds don’t see any connection between themselves and those who restore historic buildings. They don’t consider that they both share the title of "restorationist." On the other hand, those who clear-cut forests feel a connection with those who build new buildings: They both know they are "developers."

The Restoration Economy exposes the previously undocumented trillion dollar global industries that are revitalizing our natural and built environments. A deeply researched, entertaining blend of business, science, and economics, it documents the historic shift from new development to restorative development that defines 21st Century commerce and government. It is written for a broad rage of people, including strategists, community planners, architects, engineers, ecologists, and investors. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The Restoration Economy will help put a focus on your future
The Restoration Economy, the Greatest New Growth Frontier by Storm Cunningham is a book that bridges the gap between business/ development and conservation/landscape management. Those with a business bent will find that it brings into focus what most of us have seen over the last few decades, a shift is taking place from new development being primary to redevelopment and restoration being primary. It explains a lot about the trends in redevelopment and gives great insights into where business might concentrate as more and more oportunities present themselves to restore the built environment we all live in. Making brownfields and industrial sites more livable; rehabilitating highways and bridges; upgrading water and waste water facilities; rebuilding after wars and natural disasters; and recreating historic sites and structures are all actions of the restoration economy. Cunningham does a superb job of showing how these activities are all pointing us in one direction: making our built environment more livable. But the story does not end there. As a society we are now also heavily involved in the restoration of forests, prairies, farms, wetlands, fisheries, etc, etc, etc. This is because humans have now been everywhere on earth, and almost everywhere that humans have been, we have left a mess that needs to be cleaned up. This provides literally thousands of oportunities for businesses, large and small, to get involved in clean up and restoration. By reading this book, one not only gets a sense of where business will be going in the future, one also gets the sense that as a society it is time to intergrate the management of built and natural environments into one comprehensive whole. This book helps us all understand more completely that the disparate sectors of our economy that have been involved in various phases of restoration now are feeling the pressure of a coming together. The more there is a coming together, the more effective will be the process of making landscapes livable throughout the world.

The Restoration Economy is a Worthwhile Read
Storm Cunningham's The Restoration Economy: The Greatest New Growth Frontier: Immediate & Emerging Opportunities for Businesses, Communities & Investors is a worthwhile read for all. Businesses, unions, economic development leaders, and conservationists will truly find that this book is an exciting introduction to thinking outside the box when it comes to restoration. At last, a strong argument has been made that clearly articulates that restoration is not a "donation" to be given back to society. Indeed, restoration of both built and natural environments can be seen as fee for service and a strong source of economic vitality across the board. As the author points out, not only do communities and the natural environment benefit from restoration, but restoration can provide a strong platform for successful businesses and cutting edge economic development. In a style not unlike that of Paul Hawkin, Storm Cunningham has gifted us with a visionary yet pragmatic perspective of a bureoning Restoration Economy across multiple sectors of our current economy. It is likely that many currently unfamiliar to the promise of restoration such as bussiness, unions, and economic development leaders will find the book a useful tool in providing baseline arguements and understanding. For those already versed in the potential of restoration, this book will only strengthen and further legitimize your own efforts to advance restoration. ... Read more

Book Description

The Wealth and Poverty of Nations is David S. Landes's acclaimed, best-selling exploration of one of the most contentious and hotly debated questions of our time: Why do some nations achieve economic success while others remain mired in poverty? The answer, as Landes definitively illustrates, is a complex interplay of cultural mores and historical circumstance. Rich with anecdotal evidence, piercing analysis, and a truly astonishing range of erudition, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations is a "picture of enormous sweep and brilliant insight" (Kenneth Arrow) as well as one of the most audaciously ambitious works of history in decades. ... Read more

Reviews (127)

Diversity is a resource; cultural values matter
Professor Landes has executed a tour de force, a deep, penetrating work that should be required of all college students. He attends to the historic question: Why are some nations so rich and others so poor?

Geography matters, e.g., cold weather countries do economically better than tropical. Climate matters, e.g.,moderate climates are better for growth than are extreme climates. Technology matters e.g., eyeglasses added years to the productive work of skilled crafstment hundrds of years ago. Most of all, culture matters. Landes indirectly yet quite adroitly shows that diversity in all its forms is a resource and that nations benefit from diversity and their other resources in matters of economic and human development if -- perhaps only if -- that nation forges consensus around common values: political and economic freedom; private property and the rule of law; a system of progression and success through merit; and education, training and entrepreneurship.

The anecdotes are plentiful. The data are useful. The scope of the work is incredible. The message is clear and well made. Sure, the most politically correct skeptics will carp. But the world still has not yet witnessed a major economic power between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. A small portion of the world's population produces an abundance of the globe's wealth (and, yes, of course, consumes much of what it makes). And the link between political freedom (and its correlates) and economic growth is very clear. Tyranny eventually fails. Technology will eventually be adopted and exploited.

A nation's common, progressive, evolving, empowering culture provides the template for economic development and success. Full marks, professor.

Everything you wanted to know about economic history, but...
I have only praise for this volume. Firstly narrative: It read like a thriller; hard to put down. Secondly content: the scope is vast with fine detail in addition to excellent references for further reading. Landes has combined real world knowledge with scholarly research to produce a tome that is immensely readable and rewarding. It is hard not to recommend his work to others. The book is written without regard for unnecessary political correctness; fearless. He clearly addresses aspects of recent history that is usually mired in vagueness and doublespeak. Wisdom and humour shine throughout. It reads like the author was able to magically place himself in various regions at different time periods, observing the proceedings and the back stabbing politics that normally accompany these historical events. And best of all, do look forward to the trivia candy strewn along in the book. For example, while making a point on the relevance of the State, he informs us that in Ottoman Turkey firefighting in the hands of private enterprise would respond efficiently when the alarm sounded. They competed with one another and negotiated with the house owner on the spot. As the negotiation proceeded, the fire burned higher and the stakes diminished. In light of the rewarding experience in reading this book, I am prepared to overlook his statement on the advantage Asians have in fine electronic assembly due to the inherent skill learnt by wielding a pair of chopsticks!

Excellent Book
Very good book. Logical, factual and thorough research. The conclusions are not tinted by political opinions. Gives an honest, even maybe harsh, reasoning behind the current state of economic developments throughout the world.

Great overview of world history from the Economic viewpoint
Whats not to like about this book? If you have any interest in history, sociology, or economics it will be right up your alley. As a Senior finishing up my Econ degree I found the background information in the book to be very illuminating. Despite high level of information contained inside it is written clearly and in a manner that the layperson may understand. This book will rest on my shelf amidst my favorites.

Simply Idiotic
Though I enjoyed Landes' humour sometimes, this book is by no means an honest endeavour to answer the question posed by the title. The work is mostly rhetoric. Though I agree with some of his conclusions but his arguments are almost always fellacious. This is my first history reading and I have almost no background on the subject. Still after few chapters it became clear that the book does not meet the criteria of an academic writing. It is a shame for Harvard that Landes carries its credentials! ... Read more

Book Description

There has been a radical series of transformations in the economic, political, social, and cultural life of Latin America. This text offers a holistic approach to understanding these changes, relating them to the wider processes of modernization and globalization. An international team of contributors from a range of disciplines contextualize their different fields within a broad political economy approach that provides a critical yet balanced analysis of the neoliberal policies provided by nearly every country in the region over the last two decades. They then argue that a new political economy is being constructed in Latin America; as national economies become radically restructured and transformed, democracy becomes the institutional norm and new social arrangements are being created within national societies. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent analysis of current issues in Latin America.
The is a most impressive analysis of economic, political, social and cultural life in Latin America. This excellent book offers an holistic approach to understanding these changes, relating them to the wider processes of modernization and globalization. An international group of scholars with impressive credentials and from a wide range of disciplines attempt to contextualize their different disciplinary foci within a broad political economic approach that provides a critical yet balanced view and detailed analysis of the neoliberal policies pursued by almost all countries in the region. They contend that a new political economy is being contructed in Latin America, as national economies become radically reconstructed and transformed, democracy becomes the instituional norm, and new social arrangements are being created. The constestation and alternatives to this new global modernity are also explored. In sum, this excellent book fulfills a much needed market niche for students, scholars, and the educated avid reader, who require an interdisciplinary and contemporary approach to Latin American development.

Roberto Cabello-Argandona

Complete, coherent political-economic analysis of Lat. Am.
Robert Gwynne and Cristobal Kay have put together an impressive and timely analysis of current trends in Latin American Development. The coverage of the countries of the region is excellent, as is that of their economic, political, and social trends...The range of issues raised and the quality of their documentation make this an excellent text for teaching and for research. Prof. Bryan Roberts, University of Texas at Austin ... Read more

Book Description

The authors of The Economic Effects of Constitutions use econometric tools to study what they call the "missing link" between constitutional systems and economic policy; the book is an uncompromisingly empirical sequel to their previous theoretical analysis of economic policy. Taking recent theoretical work as a point of departure, they ask which theoretical findings are supported and which are contradicted by the facts. The results are based on comparisons of political institutions across countries or time, in a large sample of contemporary democracies. They find that presidential/parliamentary and majoritarian/proportional dichotomies influence several economic variables: presidential regimes induce smaller public sectors, and proportional elections lead to greater and less targeted government spending and larger budget deficits. Moreover, the details of the electoral system (such as district magnitude and ballot structure) influence corruption and structural policies toward economic growth.

Persson and Tabellini's goal is to draw conclusions about the causal effects of constitutions on policy outcomes. But since constitutions are not randomly assigned to countries, how the constitutional system was selected in the first place must be taken into account. This raises challenging methodological problems, which are addressed in the book. The study is therefore important not only in its findings but also in establishing a methodology for empirical analysis in the field of comparative politics. ... Read more

Book Description

This new edition in the Sociology for a New Century Series is a wonderful supplement to any course in the undergraduate or beginning graduate curriculum that focuses on globalization. It is the first book published for undergraduates which presents a coherent explanation for how "globalization" took root in the public discourse and how "globalization" represents a shift away from "development" as a way to think about non-western societies. The book is full of case studies that help to make the intricacies of globalization concrete, meaningful, and clear to students.

Reviews (3)

Fabulous!
Usually professors who assign their own book for a class tend to be egotists.McMichael bucked that trend, however, by assigning his book which explained everything I ever needed or wanted to know about how the world works.The structure of the book makes it easy for anyone to understand and explains the state of the world today using historical context, which I found fascinating.However cheesy this may be, I honestly think the world would be a better place if more people read this book.

An excellent place to start
I completely agree with Mr. Jones' review.I can name countless books that offer strong arguments and good research.I can also recommend many books that are written with such clear and graceful style that they are a pleasure to read.McMichael is one of the few authors who can manage to combine these two aspects.I thank him for making it both easy and interesting for me to learn about this field of study.

Beyond modernization and underdevelopment
McMichael avoids the classic pitfall of falsely dichotomizing his development themes into modernization and/or underdevelopment theory.Nor does he leave us in the postmodern paralysis of absolute relativity.His straightforward and readable style reveals the entire postwar development project and its consequences, as well as the rise of the globalization project now under way.McMichael underscores his points with case studies and acutely observes the cultural phenomena and localized resistance of our times.Development and Social Change brings the sociology of development to the edge of modernity and the end of our century, in a vocabulary and style open to laypersons and sociologists alike. ... Read more

Book Description

"This book represents the culmination of a decade's work and succeeds. Forester, perhaps the finest planning theorist in the U.S., uses a variety of case studies to show how his ideas about deliberation shape planning practice. He speaks to the problems and worries of practitioners and students of planning in all types of public settings. This book will likely prove popular as a text in planning schools and appeal to professionals in a variety of allied disciplines." -- Charles J. Hoch, Professor, Urban Planning and Policy Program, University of Illinois at Chicago

Citizen participation in such complex issues as the quality of the environment, neighborhood housing, urban design, and economic development often brings with it suspicion of government, anger between stakeholders, and power plays by many--as well as appeals to rational argument. Deliberative planning practice in these contexts takes political vision and pragmatic skill. Working from the accounts of practitioners in urban and rural settings, North and South, John Forester shows how skillful deliberative practices can facilitate practical and timely participatory planning processes. In so doing, he provides a window onto the wider world of democratic governance, participation, and practical decisionmaking. Integrating interpretation and theoretical insight with diverse accounts of practice, Forester draws on political science, law, philosophy, literature, and planning to explore the challenges and possibilities of deliberative practice. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Searching for theory behind praxis
Once I started reading this book I could not put it aside for long. Perhaps this is because so many of the insights that the author offers on what practioners of deliberative planning and rural development actually do resonates so much with the work I am involved with in Indonesia and the Philippines.

Unlike many other books I have read on planning and development, this book relates stories of planners' real world experiences. It appears that most of the skills practitioners use to deal with the diversity of interests in the face of conflict are rarely taught in universities or textbooks. One wonders where practitioners learn what they do best.

While a solid professional background is necessary, planners must also use improvisation to deal with deliberative processes which involve many stakeholders. What I enjoyed most about this book, unlike many others, is that it contrasts rationality with emotional sensitivity, calculation with improvisation, all of which are necessary for good practice.

The author aslo addresses an often overlooked aspect of deliberative processes in the design professions, that is, how to balance pragmatism in contexts where there has been a history of injustice towards particular groups.

The book makes use of extensive practical experiences of real-life planners and attempts to draw theory from that praxis. These experiences are just as fascinating to read as the authors' insights into theory. It's like being immersed into a deliberative dialogue.

Planning in a Pluralist World
As Forester explains in his Introduction makes, the title of his book is an intentional reference to Don Schön's path breaking The Reflective Practitioner. To use a trite cliché, that his book begins where Schön's book left off. There is, on the one hand, a remarkable similarity between the way Schön frames the situation the planner faces on the one hand, and Forester's description of the planner's world and his concept of deliberation on the other. The difference is in Forester's upfront, no-illusion understanding of the conflict-ridden nature of the world of planners and policy makers. Where Schön's reflection-in-action can, perhaps somewhat unfairly, be read as an improvement of the received view of professional knowledge as the sage expert who solves complex problems for clients in need, Forester has no illusions anymore about the moral and instrumental bankruptcy of the expert model. This becomes nowhere as clear as when we look at the examples each author uses. Where Schön uses one-on-one encounters between a psychotherapist and his supervisee, or an architect and his student, Forester examples include a bitter, entrenched fight over urban development in the Oslo harbour, a black home buyer counsellor in the overtly racist environment of a low income white settlement house, or housing improvement among poor campesinos in rural Venezuela.

Between Schön's and Forester's book lie almost twenty years of massive social, economic and political change, and, in its wake, almost twenty years of disenchantment, if not disillusion, with the role of politicians, administrators, and experts in the public domain. The world that Forester's planners or today's administrators inhabit is the fragmented, pluralistic, adversarial world that has eroded the steering capacity of central governments and that transferred policymaking power to a fragmented field of social and political actors. It is a world that has become so complex and tightly coupled, that the only thing that seems certain to policy makers is that their actions will generate massive unforeseen effects. A world in which the "privileged" knowledge of experts time and again dramatically fails to foresee or solve social and technical problems, and in which, consequently, citizens no longer take the authority of experts for granted. A world, moreover, in which debates about policy solutions are often less about the effectiveness of solutions as about the nature of the problem or the identity of the parties involved. As Forester makes clear, any theory of planning or policymaking or public administration that aspires to even a modicum of social or political relevance, has somehow to come to terms with this world. Listen to the way Forester, subtly commenting upon Schön, sets the stage for his book: "As planners work in between interdependent and conflicting parties in the face of inequalities of power and political voice, they have to be not only personally reflective but politically deliberative too."(1999: 2) Planners, in order to be effective in this pluralist and conflicted world, have no choice but to work with others in an open, transparent and mutually respecting way.

So what does democratic deliberation in the real world of politics and administration entail? Without being exhaustive, let me just touch upon some of the more startling insights of this rich and rewarding book. First, deliberation is more than debate and dialogue; more than the opportunity of being heard. (1999: 115) It is above all active participation in joint problem solving situations. Despite the practical stance of the book, it's key argument is epistemic and circles around the twin notions of unpredictability and complexity. Actors have no choice but to immerse themselves in the messiness, ambiguity, and open-endedness of practical situations. Not only are they literally captives of the everyday world, but the social-technical complexity of most public problems is such that it discounts any general problem solving strategy, and demands from the actors' immersion in the rich, diffuse detail of concrete situations. Knowledge, thus, is essentially local and relational.

In line with the book's epistemic theme, Forester argues that an important part of participatory inquiry consists of telling stories as a special, pragmatic kind of knowing. Much has been written in the last two decades about the role of stories in providing meaning to unstructured, conflictual situations. Forester is particularly insightful about the central role of storytelling in working through everyday political situations. Stories, he tells us, are not mere representations of meetings or encounters between planners and their clientele. Instead, stories are generative; they open up possibilities and close off unwanted or unfeasible lines of action by helping the actors narratively explore the complexities and contradictions of the situation at hand as it is situated in its proximal and distal environment. As Forester puts it, with a particularly happy phrase, stories do all sorts of moral and practical "work": "descriptive work of reportage, moral work of constructing character and reputation (of oneself and others), political work of identifying friends and foes, interests and needs, and the play of power in support and opposition, and, most important. ...deliberative work of considering means and ends, values and options, what is relevant and significant, what is possible and what matters, all together." (1999: 29) Stories are, thus, the prime means for practical judgement. They retain the rich detail that we need for a valid assessment of the situation at hand, yet, by situating the concrete event in a wider moral and causal landscape, stories allow us to connect the particular with the general, the concrete situation with the more general standard. In addition stories allow the actor to explore the emotional dimensions of his actions, both for himself and for others.

"Listen to Stories, Learn in Practice"
John Forester's latest book entitled "The Deliberative Practitioner encouraging Participatory Planning Process", (MIT press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, England, 1999) develops the key ideas of his earlier writings on participatory planning processes by examining the challenges and difficulties of planning in the midst of contested power relationships.

Forester perceives planning as the effort to build consensus towards commonly perceived goals. Since the context of the planning is always fraught with differences, conflicts and inequalities, a planning process necessarily shapes opinion, creates value, transforms not just material conditions but human relationships.

The emphasis on democracy and participation is central to Foresters search for effective planning practices. Keenly sensitive to a world 'riddled with racial violence and discrimination with vast differences in levels of political organization and mobilization', Forester highlights the significance of public deliberations that give space to plural voices and strengthen democratic practices. Adversarial situations are not predetermining. They can be negotiated towards collaborative action. Deliberative planning is seen as a process of learning together to craft strategies towards greater community good. Forester's concern with planning focuses on the issues of rationality, emotional sensitivity and moral vision. Forester defines rationality as an interactive and argumentative process of marshalling evidence and giving reasons. By ethics, Forester understands not a system of fixed codes and predetermined standards, but the continuous allocation and recognition of value inherent in every pragmatic choice assessable by its quality of action and consequences. Emotional sensitivity is seen as a source of knowledge and recognition. "Deliberative practitioner" highlights these issues in a 'live' way by using 'stories' as a narrative method because stories deepen our understanding of planning as a human interaction. Stories bring into play our dual roles of actor and critic, crucial to planning. By capturing situations in their complexity, Forester sensitizes our perceptions to the significance of many non-formal processes and the elements of unpredictability and surprise in planning cautioning against a 'rush to interpretation' and simplistic cure-alls.

Forester's book makes significant contributions to the discussion on participatory planning. The stories he selects indicate how planners can through their technical inquiry, explicit value inquiry, and learning about social identities succeed in a pragmatic synthesis of rationality, ethical judgements and emotional sensitivities. Forester's book has special relevance to developing contexts, fraught with unevenness, caught between their indigenous cultures and the new cultures that the culture of external development aid brings with it. Development projects in such contexts, under the pressure of measurable, time-bound performance indicators, tend to abandon the process of deliberative planning. Forester's book reminds the planners in contexts of developing economies, of the need for culturally-sensitive planning process if sustainable development has to happen. It underscores the possibility and need of cross-context learning. It also reminds that in a situation of unequal relationship, participatory planning can be said to be successful only if existing relationship have been transformed through greater transfer of power to those who are the subjects of planning. Forester's book creates an effective, innovative way of educating planner, using theory and practice, the general and the particular, to mutually illuminate each other. Finally, and most importantly, it bridges the gap between theory and practice in a way that makes practice insightful and theory relevant, each enriching the other. It restores the practitioner to the centrality of planning discourse, and in doing so, the importance of people in planning. ... Read more

Book Description

A large measure of consensus exists about the substantive content of successful economic policy reform—macroeconomic discipline, microeconomic liberalization, and participation in the global economy—that is needed for an economy to enter the modern world. There is much less consensus on the political conditions necessary to sustain meaningful economic reform. Editor John Williamson commissioned 13 case studies for countries as diverse as Australia, Chile, and Poland from "technopols" who played leading roles in implementing the policy reforms. Each author focuses on the political and institutional factors that shaped policy choices and outcomes. This volume contains the case studies and a synthesis of findings and other policy implications by Williamson and University of California at San Diego political scientist Stephan Haggard. Other distinguished experts, including Inter-American Development Bank President Enrique Iglesias and Harvard economist Jeffrey Sachs, contribute independent appraisals of the political economy of reform in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Doing Business in China is essential reading for the manager or firm setting up a business for the first time in a complex market. The book provides vital knowledge about business practices, market conditions, negotiations, business organization and more. It emphasizes the importance of guanxi (relationships) as the underpinning of virtually all businesses in China. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

How to do the business in China ?
Doing business in China!
Relation, Relation And Relation....

If you are using your American or European style to work and even partner with China's firms, you must be failure in the end.

Relationship with the Government and officials are the major concerns when you stepping into the door of China.

Think Global and hire Local Chinese people is the only way to have the final success with your partner in China.

China means: " Always in the historical culture "
So don't think about China with your American Standard !

Try to learn with your local Chinese people (doer)

Anyway, China is opened now and also needed to face the ways for WTO ! Reckon, China can learn from their European and American business partners from today.

This book is essential to appreciating the Chinese psyche...
Particularly impressive is the author's approach at presenting the Chinese thought process in such a manner that Westerners can not only understand the Chinese psyche, but respect and learn from it as well. This book was perhaps one of the most enlightening books I have read in a while. There is a a concerted effort to show business protocol and potential avenues of entry, but more importantly this book addresses the fundamental social concepts that need to be FULLY understood before attempting to grow in China.

authorative and insightful
Of the vast number of books about China, this one is a very useful account of how successfully doing business in China. Western Managers at the forefront in China should read this book which brings together a lifetime of research and practice on China. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Diverse, multi-faceted
Like its subject, this book is incredibly diverse and many-sided. With so many illustrious contributors, it's hard not to be enlightened.

Mandatory Reading
As an "international development studies" major, I have leared a lot about the issue at my university but have consistently felt that something was missing or maybe wrong. After field experience in rural Bolivia and increasing doubts about the development paradigm, my advisor pointed me to this book (along with Wolfgang Sachs's "Development Dictionary"). At that moment reading these two books, which share much in common, felt like an intellectual revelation. The insights of great authors such as Escobar, Rahnema, Illich, and Shiva felt like a fresh breeze compared to my past studies. The deep insights of the writers have spurred only more questions which have occupied my time and imagination since. Given the stale manner in which development is taught and discussed in the academia and the media, I feel that this book is mandatory for any development student or practitioner regarless of experience or age. It is bound to make you think.

Must have
This book is a must have for anyone critical of the development discourse. Heavy texts from around forty different progressive scholars are accompanied by boxes with excerpts from even more, such radical thinkers and activists. Refreshing and almost invaluable! ... Read more

Book Description

How did the rich countries really become rich? In this provocative new 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 an historical approach, 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" by which they have climbed to the top, thereby preventing developing counties from adopting policies and institutions that they themselves used. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An iconoclastic and sophiscated work
According to Michael Lind's book review in Prospect (Jan 2002), this book is "the most important book about the world economy to be published in years." And the author received the 2003 Myrdal Award for this book, which is awarded annually to a great academic achievement in the field of development/institutional economics following the late Swedish economist's name Gunar Myrdal who was a Nobel Prize laureate.

Prof. Ha-Joon Chang of Cambridge argues in this book that developed countries used some measures for promoting their economy in their earlier days of development, which they are now blaming for making the economies of developing country worse and the world economic order unfree.

The author reverses this logic. According to his arguments, policy-suggestions from such arguments of developed countries are in fact making the economy in developing countries lag behind and its development impossible, and such a rule of game in the world economy now can be rather unfair to them because developing countries even are often punished due to their using of the very same methods which developed ones used in the past.

As a critique of neo-liberal market fundamentalism, this book is very iconoclastic because it gives readers a sophisticated understanding of the real history of industrial development as well as pleasure of reading an academically original and creative work. This book is above all analytical in terms of using the method of historical comparisons. Some comparisons may be too bold. But its creativity and integrity in organizing the research overcome the limits of bold comparison. ... Read more

Book Description

Hardbound. The last two decades have seen exceptionally fast rates of change in every aspect of the telecommunications industry. These include major technology changes and the convergence of the broadcasting, information technology and telecommunications industries. The earlier view of telecommunications as a natural monopoly has now given way to one in which almost all parts are susceptible to some form of competition. Simultaneously, market structure has changed through the replacement of the former monopolistic, vertically integrated telephone companies by a variety of competing firms. These developments have been accompanied by major legislative and regulatory developments, including the passing in the United States of the 1996 Telecommunications Act and the introduction of a large number of new laws and regulations in Europe and elsewhere. The same changes have seen a massive expansion of independent regulatory agencies. This volume provides det ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Good useful volume
As a user of this handbook for my research I have found it to be an extremely useful tool to learn about the various aspects of this field which has more or less been defined by this volume.

A real handbook
This is a real handbook. It covers the complete field of telecommunications: theories, technologies and pratice.

A MUST for everyone interested in telecommunications. ... Read more

Book Description

Peter Lindert inquires as to whether social policies that redistribute income impose constraints on economic growth. Although taxes and transfers have been debated for centuries, only recently have we been able to obtain a clear view of the evolution of social spending. Lindert argues that, contrary to the intuition of many economists and the ideology of many politicians, social spending has contributed to, rather than inhibited, economic growth. Peter Lindert is a prize-winning researcher and teacher at the University of California-Davis where he serves as President of the Economic History Association and as Co-Editor of its journal. His textbooks in international economics have been translated into at least eight other languages, and he has previously taught at the University of Essex, Harvard University, Moscow State University, and University of Wisconsin. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Clear headed and practical
This is a very informative book that clears up lots of misconceptions. It explains why the "wellfare state" is still around, even after so many death notices. The analysis shows that there is no net negative cost for comprehensive and universal social programs, and that there are often significant benefits. For those who can read this book without ideological and political blinders, there is much to learn from Peter Lindert's book. ... Read more

Book Description

Two renowned investment advisors and authors of the bestseller The Great Reckoning bring to light both currents of disaster and the potential for prosperity and renewal in the face of radical changes in human history as we move into the next century. The Sovereign Individual details strategies necessary for adapting financially to the next phase of Western civilization.

Few observers of the late twentieth century have their fingers so presciently on the pulse of the global political and economic realignment ushering in the new millennium as do James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg. Their bold prediction of disaster on Wall Street in Blood in the Streets was borne out by Black Tuesday. In their ensuing bestsellar, The Great Reckoning, published just weeks before the coup attempt against Gorbachev, they analyzed the pending collapse of the Soviet Union and foretold the civil war in Yugoslavia and other events that have proved to be among the most searing developments of the past few years.

In The Sovereign Individual, Davidson and Rees-Mogg explore the greatest economic and political transition in centuries -- the shift from an industrial to an information-based society. This transition, which they have termed "the fourth stage of human society," will liberate individuals as never before, irrevocably altering the power of government. This outstanding book will replace false hopes and fictions with new understanding and clarified values. ... Read more

Reviews (46)

A bold, unemotional thesis - ignore at your peril!
Davidson and Rees-Mogg put forward a dispassionate and compelling argument on the ramifications and logical outworkings of the information age. What sets the book apart from its peers' is the unemotional and, some would say, cold logic the authors use in developing their hypothesis, argument and conclusions. By comparison, most authors attempting to 'predict' the future tend to use an emotional, idealistic approach to the argument proposed - little, or dubious emperical evidence is put forth. As a result the reader will either agree,or disagree, on the basis of their personal belief system. We can assume, in the marjority of cases, that neither party will change his views.

This book is therefore fundamentally different, the case provides a wealth of evidence, facts and historical precedent to support the hypothesis. The reader is challenged to seek out for himself the signs that these 'megapolitical' changes are, in fact, occuring. Recent examples include, the 'asian financial meltdown', the 'revenue problems' that taxation departments are experiencing world wide, the rise of xenophobic 'nationalist' parties reacting to globalisation and technology (Australias "One Nation Party"), the 'luddite' irrational argument of the evironmental movement, the list goes one - however, as Davidson and Rees-Mogg clearly state, you must find out for yourself.

Even within this review section, several reviewers have argued, bitterly, against this book using emotional and idealistic arguments. I am afraid that 'wishful' thinking will matter not in the least as these megapolitical events unfold.

However, this reaction is entirely expected.

PS: The "offshore" services and facilities proposed by the authors to protect your assets and avoid predatory taxation are now readily available - use your 'browser'! Sorry 'state worshippers' the 'cats already out of the bag', so to speak.

Interpretive history by authors who know some economics
This book makes many forecasts about what the 21st century will be like; many, perhaps most, will prove wrong. This is not intended as a criticism of the authors, but as a reminder of the perils of the crystal ball business! In any event, Davidson and Rees-Mogg can be quite guilty of wishful libertarian daydreaming.

Nevertheless, I value The Sovereign Individual for its interpretation of our past. Reading this book, any intelligent lay person will understand that the technologies of taxation and violence are deep factors underlying the rise and evolution of the nation-state. Now information technology is increasing the possibilities for untaxable income. This will erode the power of nation-states, which is no more than the power to use the threat of violence to compel payment of taxes. Granted, many of us pay taxes voluntarily. But if nations had to rely solely on voluntary taxation, they would be a lot weaker than they are at present. Information technology has implications for the future payoff to private violence (crime, terrorism) and national violence (war), but these are less evident.

For those of you out there who are academic economists, Davidson and Rees-Mogg interpret history and politics in terms strongly derived from Coase and Oliver Williamson (transaction costs, property rights, asset specificity, opportunism, and so on). And it is definitely true that if a firm owns a lot of physical assets that can be rendered worthless during a strike, its workers can easily hold those assets hostage in exchange for higher wages.

Impressive but needs balance
This is probably a work of most impressive historical analysis as I have read ever. It had a great impact on my way of thinking but I have some reservations that might be of interest to new readers.

Authors prove that logic of violence explains most of human progress in western history but they end up skewing it towards the narrow realm of simplistic political structure of the west, conservatives VS librels. To be a work of real depth the authors should have given more attention to the other 'neccessary evil ;)' side of the capitalistic equation, i-e the economic impact and future of labor capital, and the underpreviledged in a society.

The capitalists can't logicaly sustain limitless greed in the name of output and efficiency, and be happy go lucky customers who control the government. All this efficiency through technology is truely great, but people operate techology and there are ones who don't, aren't capitalists, but still manage to do beautiful things, unseen or unsung. will you say they are not smart as capitalists?

Also, I think in essence so-called 'Muslim Fundamentalists' want the same thing captalists want, 'a better life' through logic of violence. So what is the difference?

brilliant
Whether it be Genesis as a parable for the agricultural revolution, or our mistrust of politicians and bureaucrats as a sign of impending change, this book provides insights into both where humanity has been and where it is going.

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it!
So said a wise philospher!

This book could have easily had this maxim as its subtitle. The authors cogently, and compellingly use historical trends to show that democracy as we know it is at an end.

Many will decry this book's "apocalyptic tone" but the fact remains that statistics don't lie: the majority of people do not vote in any election, which is one of the leading indicators of a democracy's demise. The authors use the example of the Roman church's hold on power during the Dark ages as a prime example of a system that lost its hold due to decadence from within. Because the leader's lived large at the expense of the common man, people no longer felt that religion had a relevence to their lives.

The same is true with politics today. We all know that the ruling class in this country lives large with perquisities and privaleges befitting royalty, all at taxpayer expense. Washington, or "inside the Beltway," is perceived as being so far removed from our daily lives that most politicians are looked upon with derision. Just watch how mercilessly they are pillioried in the popular culture, and in the media. This contempt for the nobles is but one of many signs that the nation-state is at an end.

It is very hard to get the average person to understand that times have changed, and the changes will dramatically effect our lives in every way. It is natural to want to hold onto what is familiar and safe. But the things that will be, will be regardless of protest or mawkish sentimentality, and these two authors have their fingers on the pulse of the future. ... Read more

Book Description

Development Macroeconomics was hailed on its publication in 1996 for providing a clear, rigorous, and long-needed synthesis of recent work in the field. This revised edition brings that achievement up to date. Addressing an audience of policy-oriented economists and theorists, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates, Pierre-Richard Agénor and Peter Montiel review and assess the burgeoning research done in the past two decades, paying special attention in this new edition to issues that have recently gained in importance among developing countries, such as the interaction between macroeconomic policies and long-term growth, the political economy of macroeconomic reform, the management of capital inflows, and currency crises.

As Agénor and Montiel show, development macroeconomics has become a vital subdiscipline of macroeconomics. In the past, general macroeconomic perspectives on developing countries were divided into the ideologically charged categories of "monetarist" or "structuralist," but a vast literature has since developed that treats the problems of developing countries with the analytical tools of modern macroeconomics. The authors' coherent and rigorous treatment presents this new analysis and empirical work in an unusually lucid and unified way. It includes extensive empirical material describing the characteristics of the developing-country macroeconomic context. It explores how the analytical tools of modern macroeconomics can be adapted to accommodate such characteristics, and it uses the resulting models to analyze a diverse set of macroeconomic issues that developing countries have confronted in recent years. This is a crucial book for anyone wishing to understand this rapidly changing field. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An illuminating offer for macroeconomics scholars
This book by Agenor and Montiel has succeeded to a large extent in their objective of integrating macroeconomic theory with the issues of the less developed countries. Proves to be an useful book which could be a decent alternative to the various textbooks in macroeconomics which are divorced of the diverse features of the less developed countries. Indeed an asset for the subject and the researchers. Worth possessing. But the cost is a little bit unaffordable for those in the developing world ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A parsimonious argument.
When I picked up this book to begin reading it, I was quite frankly nervous. I'd heard it recommended in so many places that I wanted to read it, but I am not an economist by training and so was not sure that I was going to be able to follow the arguments that it laid out.

While I'm certainly not going to claim that I understood everything, I think that I did manage to follow the majority of Olson's points. Furthermore, I believe that this owes more to the lucid and well-structured nature of the book than it does to me being blessed with any unusual intelligence.

_The Rise and Decline of Nations_ begins with an explanation of the questions that the book will explore and sets the standards for the consideration of a satisfactory answer. It then works out the logic of the offered argument and breaks that argument down into 9 well-described implications. It then goes on to test and explain that logic and those implications. Olson does a wonderful job of providing adequate support the concepts that he introduces, even to the point of pointing out areas where non-economists might have special trouble or require further information. As a result of all his hard work, the book has the feeling of being exactly as long as it needs to be, and no longer.

I was certainly convinced by his arguments about how special interest groups affect economic growth. I understood why he was unwilling to take it farther into the area of policy, but couldn't help but wonder what the eventual policy implications would be, assuming that his theory is further tested and developed. I also found myself wondering if this argument would work in the same way *within* a corporation and whether it might say something about reorganisation and restructuring exercises.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and recommend it wholeheartedly.

Power groups disected
In this extremely well written book Mancur Olson applies his Noble Price winning 'Logic of Collective Action' to the real world. It tries to give a partial answer to the question: why do some countries get rich and others do not? Well: power groups emerge and make a society rigid. The society cannot properly respond to changes anymore. The theory is applied to a very large number of nations throughout recorded histrory: from ancient China and caste India to apartheid South Africa and post-industrial-revolution England. The only country/nation throughout the entire human histry he admids he has trouble understanding with this great theory is France. Read it!

Elegant Theory Elegantly Presented
Professor Olson describes a wide range of social/economic structures and processes (unions, big government, high and rising taxes, regulation, monopolies, etc.) that characterize most economies but more so the aging economies of Western Europe (This book was written before the unification of eastern and western Europe). He then proceeds to show us what these all have in common: They each, together and with time, contribute in increasingly slowing down and stifling a nation's economy. Reading this book leads one to see that the USA is also involved in a similar progression, albeit at an earlier stage. I first read this book as an Economics student about 15 years ago. I enjoyed it tremendously. I also learned from it. His clear and powerful conveyance of concepts have kept the ideas with me. He explains the economics simply yet completely. One need not have studied Economics to follow him. I highly recommend this book. Even though the author's forescast is gloomy, his book is brilliant. Sherry S.

A classic in the world of political economy.....
It surprises me that I haven't reviewed this book..... Anyway, this is one of the classic works on political economy: it builds on the Olson's earlier (and perhaps even better work) 'The Logic of Collective Action' using the logic contained therein to explain why and how different societies have prospered (and declined....) at certain stages in the world's or there own development.

Without writing a short book report for the undergraduate readers of this book, countries he examines are spread across the world; much of his thesis hinges on post-WWII comparisons of the US against Japan and Germany....

For prospective readers of Olson's work: first, I would start with 'The Logic...' BEFORE you read this, though a reading of this book would not be compromised by not having done so. His newer book 'Power and prosperity...' can be safely avoided (it's kinda expensive as it is still only out in hardcover...) having read both of these; you could then waste your political economy-budgeted money on either the works of Douglass North ('Structure and Change in Economic History';'The Rise of the West), Karl Polyani ('The Great Transformation'), or, well, Hemingway or Fitzgerald or something fun to read.....

I do highly recommend this book. Any student of foreign affarirs, politics at any level (though people who don't do IR or comparative stuff might benefit more from 'The Logic...'), economists, or students of history. Perhaps even to more general readers.....

An excellent study with plenty of applications.
Olson does a stellar job "proving" his theory using accepted scientific standards. His main thesis is that stable societies, over time, will be stifled by a steady growth of groups each committed to obtaining a disproportionate amount of society's goods. This theory, composed of only nine implications, is parsimonious with wide explanatory power. It helps to explain the post-war growth of coutries such as Japan and Germany, while providing a reason why the growth rates of the United States, and especially Great Britain, have been stagnated. Perhaps the most interesting chapter of the book is the last, in which Olson merges both Keynesianism and monetarism to form a new theory of macroeconomics. By using his theory, he is able to better explain involuntary unemployment than either of the more popular schools of macroeconomic theory. I was amazed at how many phenomena, such as slavery and the Indian caste system, can be at least partially explained by Olson's theory. Anyone seriously interested in knowing the way the world works will want to give this theory substantial consideration. ... Read more

Book Description

The growth of technological and scientific knowledge in the past two centuries has been the overriding dynamic element in the economic and social history of the world. Its result is now often called the knowledge economy. But what are the historical origins of this revolution and what have been its mechanisms? In The Gifts of Athena, Joel Mokyr constructs an original framework to analyze the concept of "useful" knowledge. He argues that the growth explosion in the modern West in the past two centuries was driven not just by the appearance of new technological ideas but also by the improved access to these ideas in society at large--as made possible by social networks comprising universities, publishers, professional sciences, and kindred institutions. Through a wealth of historical evidence set in clear and lively prose, he shows that changes in the intellectual and social environment and the institutional background in which knowledge was generated and disseminated brought about the Industrial Revolution, followed by sustained economic growth and continuing technological change.

Mokyr draws a link between intellectual forces such as the European enlightenment and subsequent economic changes of the nineteenth century, and follows their development into the twentieth century. He further explores some of the key implications of the knowledge revolution. Among these is the rise and fall of the "factory system" as an organizing principle of modern economic organization. He analyzes the impact of this revolution on information technology and communications as well as on the public's state of health and the structure of households. By examining the social and political roots of resistance to new knowledge, Mokyr also links growth in knowledge to political economy and connects the economic history of technology to the New Institutional Economics. The Gifts of Athena provides crucial insights into a matter of fundamental concern to a range of disciplines including economics, economic history, political economy, the history of technology, and the history of science.

... Read more

Reviews (2)

Toward an economics of knowledge
Partly because it is too wide-ranging to settle on any sound-bite answer, this is one of the better books around to examine the question of the sources of the West's technological and economic supremacy.

In "The Gifts of Athena", Joel Mokyr sets his sights on three objectives: First, to establish that expanding knowledge has been the engine driving the world's expanding economy over the last few centuries, rather than the other way around. Second, to explore the factors that control the discovery and application of new knowledge, so as to get a better grasp on why the Industrial Revolution took place in Europe, and why England might have led the way. Finally, to speculate on what I found to be a startling question: what's to prevent the explosive expansion of technology to which we have become accustomed from falling into stagnation, as lesser periods of innovation have done throughout history?

He accomplishes the first objective handily. Apparently some economists believe that the Industrial Revolution must have been driven primarily by economic forces (new means of capitalization and rising demand) rather than by the availability of science, because of the multi-century lag from Kepler and Newton to the economic blastoff. But Mokyr argues that there was a necessary intermediate stage, the "Industrial Enlightenment", which structurally altered the relationship between "what-is" and "how-to" forms of knowledge, as well as making both forms radically more accessible to artisans, entrepeneurs, and the general public.

His explorations of the other two questions are fresh and illuminating, but a bit picaresque. There's no overarching theory here and, except for parts of the chapter on adoption of new technology by households, little quantitative rigor. Where the discussion excels is in its opening pages, which lay out a useful systematic language for talking about kinds and qualities of knowledge; in its readiness to think outside the market-explains-all box; and in its unflagging supply of vivid historical examples.

Among many piquant ideas, the central insight I brought away from this work was the extent to which the phenomenon of "science" is a collection of socially enabling institutions, rather than just a Baconian method. Not that Mokyr holds much brief for the notion that the conclusions of science are socially constructed. Rather, its conclusions become accepted and transmitted, and therefore available for economic use, only by the grace of a set of social relationships and conventions that Bacon's scheme did not mandate, and which might just as easily not have taken place.

I should note that where economics are concerned, I'm very much a layman, and not really even a particularly informed one. ("Oh, Schumpeter, yeah, I heard of him somewhere.") I found Mokyr's text challenging but frequently engaging, and comprehensible throughout.

Peerless scholarship
"Gifts of Athena" is an outstanding piece of work with profound consequences for research and policy. Its intellectual radiance will finally make the remaining shadows of conventional economic history fade into oblivion. It guides the perplexed, reassures the convinced and guides the uninitiated. ... Read more

Book Description