Book Description

Interest in power systems economics is gaining momentum with the recent power supply shortages in America and the rising cost of fossil fuels. The involvement of independent power generators, brokers and distributors has changed the way in which power systems operate. Kirschen and Strbac use a combination of traditional engineering techniques and fundamental economics to address the long-term problems of power system development in a competitive environment. Power system engineers, operators, planners and policy makers working in the deregulated environment will value this practical guide, also of great interest to postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students in electrical and power engineering.

• Outlines the principles of competitive electricity markets alongside the operation and development of the supporting transmission and distribution networks
• Applies basic economic principles to power system operating and planning
• Written by recognised experts in the field

Book Description

Kenichi Ohame looks ahead to the future of business in the age of the Internet and sees a rapidly changing landscape -- one to which we must adapt or face the consequences. Ohame unveils this new economy's four basic forces and shows how a dramatic and volatile battleground is forming between companies and the countries that try to regulate them.

Just as The Borderless World foresaw a globally interlinked economy, The Invisible Continent maps out the coming technological revolutions and the impact they will have on the businesses around the world. A must read for anyone seeking to attain and keep a competitive advantage in today's markets, The Invisible Continent is a "timely, well-written, and well-organized book" (Library Journal).

Reviews (15)

THIS IS A WORK OF AWE-INSPIRING BUSINESS GENIUS.
As the author of "Start & Run a Profitable Exporting Business," I had the great honor of receiving Dr. Ohmae's endorsement of my book. I have been an admirer of his since starting a global marketing, consulting and web content providing business in 1985. His first book, "The Borderless World," not only inspired me to focus my entire professional career on global trade, but also changed forever the way in which managers throughout the world viewed their business.

Now, looking forward with great anticipation to this new book, "The Invisible Continent: Four Strategic Imperatives of the New Economy," I wondered how Dr. Ohmae could live up to his pioneering work of the early 80's on "globalism" -- a word he coined that is now in everyday use -- and give us an equally ground-breaking text for the 21st century. I'm delighted to report that I read his book and it is Dr. Ohmae's best work ever. He remains a foremost architect of the future of business on (as he describes it) our cyber-enabled continent.

This is a work of awe-inspiring business genius, offering a boundless wealth of ideas about how to thrive in our new economy. The enormity of Dr. Ohmae's intellect and the clarity of focus with which he seamlessly assembles complex ideas about our "continent without land" make this a text that is at once profound, sophisticated and marvelously easy to understand. Here's a characteristic comment, at once colorful and thought-provoking: "The Internet has made it much easier to become simultaneously global and newly born." Dr. Ohmae compels us to think about the conditions of world business not as they are, but as they will be -- much faster than you think -- and what to do about it. I put down the book asking myself, "What just happened here?" -- it was that provocative.

If you want a forecast of the future of traditional and e-business NOW, then you should secure your copy of "The Invisible Continent: Four Strategic Imperatives of the New Economy" TODAY.

A must read to fully enter the "new economy" continent
Make sure to read this book to explore and better integrate this "invisible continent", which is wrapped around all of us.
Kenichi Ohmae is starting his book with following words: "... sudden changes can often be traced to the discovery of new lands-the opening up of contact with a new geographic region with a different way of life. As explorers and settlers have come to new continents, they have shifted their ways of life-not just for themselves, but also for the old worlds they left behind."
"During the past fifteen years... a kind of new continent, existing only in our collective minds, has been discovered-a continent without land" where "people with courage and curiosity have discovered new ways of life."
The author calls this continent " the invisible continent... as palpable and vital, as tangible and solid, as if you could find it on a map." But this metaphor of an "invisible continent" can also be used for the people who do not want to see the changes, even more nowadays after the recent explosion of the "new economy" bubble.
Looking through the glasses of the Kenichi Ohmae becomes surely useful to understand and act in the world we are living in.
Four dimensions are characterising this "invisible continent". They are the visible dimension, the inevitable physical part to deliver goods and services, the borderless dimension, global worldwide markets and operations, the cyber dimension-instant communication and exchanges, the dimension of high multiples allowing huge financial leverage.
The most successful companies in the "new economy" are playing on these four dimensions interactively to thrive at never seen before speed, when in conventional management schools these four dimensions are taught separately, when taught.
The appearance of this new continent, some 18 years ago, was linked to the setting up of platforms, open standards tacitly shared between "new economy" pioneers and consumers, and to the growing role of arbitrage in an increased information fluidity environment to maintain prices down and quality up. If Microsoft Windows is an important platform to communicate in the cyber dimension, English language and dollar currency are two other ones in the borderless dimension, explaining partly the predominance of USA on this new continent. When arbitrage is creating opportunities it creates also uncertainty for long-term commitment and a more unstable environment.
In the new continent the power is shifting from the producers to the consumers with important impact on economical and political decisions.
This is the point where the old and the new have to find answers to questions asked by the introduction in our lives of this new continent.
Kenichi Ohmae's book is becoming our lighthouse in this new territory by presenting the strategies followed by the "new economy" companies but also by exploring the role of politicians to facilitate integration in this "new economy" environment.
Many developed illustrated ideas are real value as: targeting markets with enough consumer power and discretionary income, deregulating crucial economical activities, developing regional entities, setting up the right "new economy" infrastructures etc.
Here are the basics on micro and macro economy to enter in the 21st century.
Reading this book changed my life in making clear the invisible of this new continent. I'm convinced that the Kenichi Ohmae's contribution will be better recognised in coming years and I keep his book at hand to make sure to extract all the richness it contains.

A fine interpretation of recent economic history
One of what I consider the enlightening books that allow you to gain a new perspective on a seemingly complex subject. In one go the author attempts to explain how recent economic, technological, commercial and societal developments have conspired to create a new world order. Decision-makers would do well to use the lessons of this book to analyze their decisions. I sometimes feel that the people making the decisions, universally, are under-educated and naive and would not even consider the wider ramifications of their decisions.

My only complaint is that Mr. Ohmae tends to ramble on topics that may well be more concise. He also pauses every once in a while to complain against the egregious faults of the Japanese government. I don't blame him but it would be better if he treated it in a seperate book on the subject.

A book providing wider horizon and longer vision
It talks about how 3 new forces - cyber, economic multiples, globalisation - are reshaping the world's future. Not only in business or economic, bu also in political and social spheres.

These 3 forces are not really new and there shall be lot of literature talking about them. Strength of this book is to look at them from a macro perspective; and they interact (together with "real" economy) and affect well-being of mankind. It is not a descriptive book. In fact, the author shares his vision of how we shall deal with these changes - as an individual, a company, a country, a government, and everyone of us as an international citizen.

Author exercises powerful imagination of what will happen in future, e.g. a new cold war using the 3 forces. This may seem wild but certainly not empty talking. You may not take this seriously but it can enhance your feel about many future possibilities.

Unlike most Japanese, author has his independent opinions and express them critically. It is always sensitive for a foreigner to talk about other countries - e.g. Americans blocking Japan's recovery, Koreans maintaining developing countries mindset, China and Russia disintegration - let us be open minded and respect free speech.

A work by one of the strategists shaping our future
We need to pay heed to Dr. Ohmae ideas is this work, because his track record is pretty sound. His four strategic imperatives will drive the economy of the future and make this world a better place for everyone to live. ... Read more

Book Description

Public Finance--while continuing to follow an innovative approach that is both theoretical and empirical--is now completely updated to reflect major changes in its key topics. New or revised information includes explanations of the Social Security trust fund, a new section on the alternative minimum tax (AMT), possible links between the corporation tax and high-profile scandals such as Enron, and more.

Book Description

A compelling account of the rebirth of China's greatest city. Earmarked by China's leaders to again become an international business hub, Shanghai, in less than a decade, has blossomed from a depressed industrial town, forgotten by the outside world, into a shimmering metropolis filled with glass skyscrapers, modern factories, and thumping discotheques. Foreign investors are once again flocking to Shanghai, which is commonly seen as an up-and-coming rival to New York, Tokyo, and Hong Kong as the world's most important financial centers. But is it?

Is Shanghai, the capitalist Mecca of the Far East in the 1920s, re-emerging as the New York of Asia? The Whore of the Orient? The stomping ground of China's artistic elite? China's version of Silicon Valley? A tinderbox of social unrest as state-owned companies lay off workers by the hundreds of thousands?

Weaving insightful anecdotes with astute analysis, respected journalist Pamela Yatsko addresses these questions and many others to provide a vivid portr ait of Shanghai, past and present. New Shanghai's lively narrative, culled from interviews with Shanghainese at all levels of society, explores key aspects of contemporary Shanghai – from finance, foreign business and state enterprise reform, to vice, culture and social change. New Shanghai takes us into the world of shady Chinese stock speculators, prosperous yuppies, distraught laid-off workers, determined foreign executives and alluring bar girls, giving texture to the tumult that has rocked urban China. By painting pictures of Shanghai today, New Shanghai offers readers a better understanding of Shanghai and China tomorrow. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Excellent read!
Pam Yatsko's book is a terrific contribution to the understanding of modern Shanghai - and China by extension. The reader is treated to a wealth of personal stories that Ms. Yatsko collected over her several years of living in Shanghai. While many writers tend to focus on the sensational, Ms. Yatsko examines what is really happening in people's lives and why. She has taken the Chinese economic policies that appear to most people as nothing more than news blips in the Wall Street Journal or New York Times, and shown how they have dramatically changed lives in modern China - bringing enormous rewards for some, significant hardship for others.

I have been visiting Shanghai since 1982 and have had an office in the city since 1995, so it is a particular pleasure for me to find an author who not only obviously shares my great love for the city, but who also chronicles the remarkable changes and array of paradoxes that define the city in such a compelling and engaging manner. So whether you are a business person looking to understand the business environment in Shanghai or an armchair traveler looking for insights into the rapidly changing culture of one of the world's largest cities, New Shanghai is a wonderful passport to the real world of Shanghai today.

Bryan Batson, President, The China Business Group, Inc., Boston, MA

The Best Book on China's Urban Revolution
I view "New Shanghai" through the prism of someone who worked in business in Shanghai during 1995-97 and has travelled there frequently from a base in Hong Kong during the last few years. Simply put, I can think of no more useful and interesting book for anyone who does any kind of business in Shanghai or just wants to understand the recent historic transformation of the city. Frankly, I can think of no more interesting or useful book about the metamorphosis of urban China. Among the things that makes this book great is the way Yatsko lets the city speak through the voice if its own people -- some chapters read like a more analytical version of one of Studds Terkel's great oral histories.

As a businessman, I found especially interesting the chapters on the quirks of the local economy, on the experience of foreign investors, and on the city's sputtering efforts to build its financial markets. In each case, her analysis is right on as she makes clear what is going both right and wrong. She observes, for example, that while the local economy has grown respectably in recent years, overly interventionist bureacrats have trampled Shanghai's efforts to build its own brands and to nurture technical innovation. On foreign investment, she offers us the condensed wisdom of most of the smartest people operating in Shanghai today. And on the capital markets, she recounts great tales of scandal and unfulfilled dreams.

Here and elsewhere this is a book filled with fun and revealing stories that show the real fabric of a city in the midst of revolutionary change. Some of my favorite tales come in the chapter on the return of the vices, where Yatsko tells all about her nocturnal explorations. We learn, for example, how kept women in China, known as "caged golden birds", keep themselves amused while the master is away by renting "little wolf dogs", or younger pretty boys with slick hair and cute suits.

Shanghai's re-emergence is a great tale, rich in heroes and villains and a bizarre mix of the city's spectacular visible, physical progress and its profound failures. I so wish this book would be read by all overeager urban and national leaders so that they could realize both what they should do to build their cities as well as the tragic consequences of trying to do too much.

Not the obvious
Yatko's book far exceeded my expectations. Well argued, carefully thought out and with an excellent thesis. It is easy for old Shanghai residents (such as myself) to revel in an Old Shanghai nostalgia that has long ceased to exist. Yatsko highlights and illustrates many points that we overlooked, ignored or never knew in the first place. Valuable reading for anyone planning to do business in China or simply interested in this great city.

New Shanghai
I found "New Shanghai" not long ago as I was preparing to visit Shanghai after six years in the states, and was attracted to it immediately. Having lived in Shanghai most of my life, I have to say that the author knows about Shanghai better than I do. I'm only familiar with the life of my like, but the book has a broad coverage, from the upper class to the cultural underdogs. In particular, I liked to read Yatsko's interviews with various people, which added a sense of reality.

Yatsko has captured Shanghai's fastest socio-economic changes since it lost the luster as the most prosperous city in the Far East early last century. With her solid knowledge of economics and first-hand experience, the stories are credible and the analysis is insightful. Whereas "old Shanghai" has aroused most scholarly interest due to its relation to modernity, Yatsko's depiction of Shanghai's rebirth in the 1990s also offers a unique hindsight on its past.

Although I wish I could have read this wonderful book earlier, it's not so late in the sense that I now know more interesting places

A must read if you are thiniking of China
I had noticed the name of Pamela Yatsko long before she published this book, since the Chinese authorities had translated and published her China-related reviews on the Reference News-a local media circulated among China's officials-from time to time. (I wish the writer had been paid for those translated reviews.)
Reading this book is a really enjoyable experience.Actually I was very surprised of her deep understanding of the city and China's culture. For example, the story of two old gentlemen and the Shanghai Museum: they took the blame first, then, the city take the pride of their success. It's just a typical way of making things happen!-under this government. And, frankly speaking, she just know much more of the night life here than I, a local Shanghaiese.
If you are thinking of China, whatever which aspect you are thinking of, I would recommend this book to you. You will know the place, know what's happening here, know how it has happen.

Shanghai Reader Zhonghua Yu ... Read more

Book Description

In this provocative, important study, Dali Yang examines a wide range of governance reforms in the People's Republic of China, including administrative rationalization, divestiture of businesses operated by the military, and the building of anticorruption mechanisms, to analyze how China's leaders have reformed existing institutions and constructed new ones to cope with unruly markets, curb corrupt practices, and bring about a regulated economic order.

Though still a work in progress, taken together these reforms, Yang argues, have improved the institutional environment for economic development and altered the landscape for China’s ongoing struggle against rampant corruption.These measures are also likely to have important implications for the exercise of governmental authority and for China’s future political development.As China’s role on the world stage expands, the way the Chinese state conducts itself assumes increasing importance not just for those concerned about the welfare of the Chinese people but also for those interested in China’s role in regional and world affairs.For readers interested in either China’s domestic development or in the country’s foreign relations, this timely volume offers much food for thought. ... Read more

Book Description

An A-to-Z guide to economic indicators - what they are and what they really mean

Covering all major economic indicators, from GDP and personal income to government spending and employment cost index, this revised and expanded edition of Using Economic Indicators to Improve Investment Analysis explains what key economic measurements are, how to read and interpret them, and, most importantly, how to use them to make better, more informed financial, trading, and investing decisions.

"Evelina Tainer has created the ultimate guidebook for market watchers and investors. I never keep it more than an arm's-length away. I also encourage my students to read the book, as it provides an invaluable link between economic theory and its application to the real world." -Maureen J. Maguire Senior Economist and Principal, NationsBanc Montgomery Securities LLC Lecturer, University of California Extension Program, University of California at Berkeley

"Using Economic Indicators to Improve Investment Analysis is a must for any journalist, investor, or student seeking to interpret macroeconomic data. Tainer anticipates basic questions and provides clear, thorough answers while explaining industry-specific jargon. The well-organized format makes her guide an easy-to-use reference tool." -Kristi Bahrenburg Reporter, Dow Jones Newswires

"Evelina Tainer has produced the definitive user-friendly guide to understanding and using what is arguably the most important body of information for investors in the United States. It is required reading for everyone at Market News Service. For those looking to make intelligent investment decisions, the information in this book is essential." -Michael J. Conner CEO, Market News Service, Inc.

Economic indicators are anything but "just numbers"- they are the keys to unlocking invaluable information about market behavior. Read and interpreted accurately, they can lead to successful trading, prudent policymaking, smart consumership, and profitable investing. Getting the most out of these important signs, however, requires a firm grasp of what they signify and what they really mean. Using Economic Indicators to Improve Investment Analysis -now revised and expanded -gives you the handle necessary to understand and effectively use a wide range of essential economic measurements.

Covering all the major indicators reported by private and government statistical agencies -including the consumer price index, the employment situation, retail sales, and housing starts -this comprehensive resource provides full descriptions of indicators and what they represent, their impact on the direction of interest rates, exchange rates, and the stock market, and the hows and whys of market reaction. Most importantly, the Second Edition offers practical guidelines for gearing your investment strategies to these ever-changing economic statistics.

Written in clear, nontechnical terms and clearly organized by sectors of the economy, this accessible guide:
* Takes a close look at GDP, with an overview of the macroeconomic framework using the standard national income accounting methodology
* Compares and contrasts consumer sector indicators to distinguish which series are more reliable and consistent
* Differentiates between all measures of inflation, and makes the key distinction between inflation in the goods market and inflation in the services market
* Explores foreign market indicators, including the monthly and quarterly indicators for the foreign exchange, domestic bond, and equity markets
* Features revealing "Did You Know?" tidbits, and cautionary "Watch Out" sections that highlight common and uncommon quirks, as well as special factors unique to specific indicators
* Contains new material on the Federal Reserve-how it works and its policymaking system

Cutting through the ambiguity that often surrounds coverage of economic indicators in the business sections and the financial press, this is essential reading for anyone looking to make sense of vital economic figures. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A dictionary of economic indicators
This book might be a good compliment to an existing library, but I didn't find it very useful myself.I thought the comment of an earlier review's title, 'A Perfect Complement to an academic finance text!' fairly accurate.If you want to know what the talking heads on the financial news are touting, this is an excellent guide.

In other words, if you have bought into the conventional econometrics of the day, whatever that is, this is your guidebook. It ought to help get through a class, but outside the ivory tower, I'm not sure it will be much help.

Personally, the author didn't help me connect the dots.What do these indicators imply for the GNP 2, 3 or 4 years down the road?What connections do foreign indicators have with domestic ones?

These questions are not answered.It's just a dictionary.You get the nominal description, the publishing authority, a bit about why the authority thinks their indicator useful and maybe a few sample numbers.That is it.If you like academic economics or ever have to make a presentation to some government officials, this is probably an exceptional service, though.

Bringing theory to life - an easy read
This is not only an excellent reference source, but also a very interesting book.People who are not experts in the fields of economics or finance will have no problem grasping the concepts.I keep it in the office for reference and from time to time pick it up to read up on different topics.I've been impressed with Tainer's ability to make these concepts so easy to understand.Her "Did you know? and Market Reaction" sections are also very interesting and provide an inside view as to how government policymakers and financial marketmakers shape the economy in ways that are very relevant to the average consumer.I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a good reference book or wants to complement his studies in this field.I think that college students can benefit a great deal from it.For those of you who watch CNBC or CNNfn constantly, you stand to benefit the most from a book like this as it will not only teach you the cause and effect of important economic indicators that are put on the screen on a daily basis, but what's more important, the reasons why they impact the economy and the markets the way they do.

A Perfect Complement to an academic finance text!
Anticipating a number of delays while traveling over the holidays recently, I picked up a few books from Amazon.com; one I never put down.

Dr. Evelina Tainer has managed, in a succinct manner, to offeracademicians (particularly those without practical experience in the worldof finance)a way to communicate ideas to students that is compelling andinteresting.

I more carefully read about her background only afterfinishing her book. It make perfect sense that this book was written by anauthor who has worked in both academic and professional circles. Dr. Tainerintegrates material from both perspectives in a meaningful way.

I wasparticularly fond of the "Did you know" sections where Dr. Tainerfine-tunes a specific notion or concept.

Her discussion of "SeasonalAdjustment" helped to clarify a nubmer of questions that once cloudedmy understanding.

Academic texts rarely allocate space (for obviousreasons) to details regarding economic indicators. This is where Dr.Tainer's book picks up to bring to light the relevance of the indicators toinvestment analysis.

I can readily see how Dr. Tainer's, "UsingEconomic Indicators to Improve Investment Analysis," would be awelcome text in the classroom -- as a stand alone text for an electivecourse or as supplement to other required texts. I think that students willtake to its lucid approach. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (5)

The Christian community should read this book
"Most people think that Americans are generous because we are rich.The truth is that we are rich...because we are generous..." So writes Claire Gaudiani.Why should Christians read this book?We don't want to save "Capitalism," do we?Perhaps not, but we know we'd miss it, if it was destroyed.Yes, the Christian community ought to find time to read this wonderful book on the history of American Philanthropy and how it has, in the past, played a vital role in helping to maintain the uniqueness of the American experiment.More importantly, Gaudiani explains the perils of our current "giving habits," the cultural reasons for the trend, and solutions to restore the spirit of philanthropy.She writes, "As more of us are better able every year to satisfy our wants and needs, we are not sharing a larger percentage of our income and wealth.We are retaining it in savings or spending it on ourselves and our families.Yet some segments of the population...are experiencing reductions in their well-being, notably children."Christians for the most part should appreciate America's history of philanthropy, for much of it stems from either the Judeo-Christian worldview or simply from a genuine Christian faith that seeks to "give away what God has given to make other people's lives better."The Christian community should also find a welcome friend in her words: "Philanthropy has, in the past, been quicker than government to imagine, test, and implement innovative methods for solving social problems."Of all people and social groups, the Christian community should read this book, if for anything to learn to appreciate the history of Philanthropy.Giving and developing strategies for philanthropic adventures are more than mere altruism.After reading Gaudiani's book, I find that philanthropy of any kind (American or Christian charity) is the human experience where self-interest and compassion are not in conflict.It is in the best interest of Americans (dare I say Christians) to ensure that everyone has access to the American Dream--the dream of upward mobility.In the humble opinion of this reviewer, more Christian communities and churches should design their own philanthropic adventures and meet the social needs that are knocking on their church doors.

Not so Ancient Wisdom
The Philanthropic Revolution started thousands of years ago in the fields of Eygpt when people then new that we need to "care" for each other. Give water to the thirsty passer by.

Claire, with a lot of compassion and breadth, reminds us the the "greater good" needs to be reenvigorated, as did Jane Addams' project to care for the larger community.

Chapter 6 go directly to the undrlyting feeling of the American Spirit.

The past 100 years shows us how to really appreciate and gain from that original intent. This book put's it into perspective and rekindles the spirit of giving.

Happy New Year.

What have you done for mankind lately?
I felt compelled to write this review because of the poor content by some of the other contributors -- one who didnt event read the book and the other ranting a personal attack with no focus on the book itself.
As a teacher, Colleen Kyle should know better than anyone else to actually read books before judging them. She might find herself actually learning something from the research of others. This is not a history book, and it doesnt claim to be one. Its encouraging people to re-think philanthropy and the long term impact generosity can have by showing how we have all benefitted from private giving already.
Mr. Chuck Jones needs to spend more time actually giving something back to society and little less time complaining about those who choose to take the personal and professional risks required to be a leader.
I would encourage people to read Gaudiani's book, to learn about how generosity affects society, and then think about what they can do in their local community to improve the lives of the less fortunate.

Bravo to an exceptional leader, scholar, and human being!
Any leader, executive, or member of our world society can learn and immediately benefit from this book. Dr. Gaudiani is one of the most exceptional and worthy leaders of our time. Her words of wisdom in this book exemplify the essence of her daily leadership practices. Just as the best leaders of our time have displayed, she is optimistic about human behavior and motivation. Critics' opinions expressed only underscore her importance and our need for her as a leader. Ironically, these opinions bring to light the necessity for a civil society and the "Greater Good." Where there is resistance, there is dissatisfaction with the current state in a social system, and Gaudiani is the ideal leader to provide the vision and first steps to bring us to a more democratic, unified, and satisfied state. Read this book with an understanding that you are learning from an exceptional, understanding, compassionate, highly emotionally intelligent, extremely knowledgable, cultured, worldly leader.

Initial reviews do not bode well
While I have not yet read this book and am opposed to purchasing it, as a history teacher I must object to at least one egregious error in the Booklist review: the GI bill as an example of American philanthropy?Excuse me?It was a federal law using federal monies for the greater good of the nation. Everyone paid for it.

As a former fundraiser, I know (as does Ms. Gaudiani) that motivations for philanthropy are rarely entirely altruistic: ego and self interest are huge motivators, as is the current tax system which provokes wealthy individuals to make donations to institutions of their choosing.Politicians going back to Alexander Hamilton have understood this.I applaud the largesse of the American people, but an argument that, among other flaws, compares our rate of giving with Breat Britain's, a country whose inhabitants pay higher taxes for the greater good of all citizens, seems specious.

I advise those considering purchasing this book to get their American history from more reliable sources. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

In Market Institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa, Marcel Fafchamps synthesizes the results of recent surveys of indigenous market institutions in twelve countries, including Benin, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, and Zimbabwe, and presents findings about economics exchange in Africa that have implications both for future research and current policy. Employing empirical data as well as theoretical models that clarify the data, Fafchamps takes as his unifying principle the difficulties of contract enforcement. Arguing that in an unpredictable world contracts are not always likely to be respected, he shows that contract agreements in sub-Saharan Africa are affected by the absence of large hierarchies (both corporate and governmental) and as a result must depend to a greater degree than in more developed economies on social networks and personal trust. Fafchamps considers policy recommendations as they apply to countries in three different stages of development: countries with undeveloped market institutions, like Ghana; countries at an intermediate stage, like Kenya; and countries with developed market institutions, like Zimbabwe.

Market Institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa caps ten years of personal research by the author. Fafchamps, in collaboration with such institutions as the Africa Division of the World Bank and the International Food Policy Research Institute, participated in the surveys of manufacturing firms and agricultural traders that provide the empirical basis for the book. The result is a work that makes a significant contribution to research on the continuing economic stagnation of many countries in sub-Saharan Africa and is also largely accessible to researchers in other fields and policy professionals. ... Read more

Book Description

The Asian crisis has sparked a thoroughgoing reappraisal of current international financial norms, the policy prescriptions of the International Monetary Fund, and the adequacy of the existing financial architecture.To draw proper policy conclusions from the crisis, however, it is necessary to understand its domestic politics.In this study, political scientist Stephan Haggard focuses on the most seriously affected countries-Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand-while also drawing lessons from those economies, such as Taiwan, that escaped the most severe distress.

Haggard focuses on the political economy of the crisis, emphasizing the longer-run problems of moral hazard and corruption, the politics of crisis management and the political consequences of severe economic downturn.Looking forward, he focuses on two critical policy issues:changes in social safety nets in the crisis countries and efforts at corporate and financial restructuring. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Journalistic title from famous scholar
Haggard has a good name in East Asia field. but this title disappointed me. it's not that scholarstic but journalistic. what are enumerated on his book is not new or insightful at all to asian specialist. if you have read articles on Asia from FT or Wall Street Journal, The Economist, You should know what I mean. at best this book is no more than enlarged The Economist.

Great Resource
This is an excellent resource for both political economics and Asian studies students. Following currency devaluation through the creation of the crisis and its development across the intertwined economies of Southeast Asia. Making rational decisions about Asian markets requires in-depth knowledge of the first fall to avoid the repercussive aftershocks which will continue to follow. ... Read more

Book Description

Offering a rare pan-Caribbean perspective on a region that has moved from the very center of the western world to its periphery, The Caribbean journeys through five centuries of economic and social development, emphasizing such topics as the slave-run plantation economy, the changes in political control over the centuries, the impact of the United States, and the effects of Castro's Cuban revolution on the area.The newly revised Second Edition clarifies the notions of "settler" and "exploitation" societies, makes more explicit the characteristics of state formation and the concept of fragmented nationalism, incorporates the results of recent scholarship, expands treatment of the modern period, updates the chronology of events, and adds a number of new tables.Integrating social analysis with political narrative, The Caribbean provides a unique perspective on the problems of nation-building in an area of dense populations, scarce resources, and an explosive political climate. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (6)

Great passion and conviction -- terribly written
I completely agree with the political agenda of this book. I am glad it was written. Kovel is RIGHT ON TARGET.
But the book was dreadful to plow/bore through. Talk about OBTUSE VERBIAGE. There is still this awful tradition out there that if you wor dsomething so that it "sounds" brilliant -- it must be. I hate that tradition. We need plain language and simple articulation. This book is just the opposite. Here are but a couple of random examples to give you some idea: "Capital's invasion takes place across an ecosystemic manifold encompassing both culture and nature, with points of commodity formation arising everywhere" (p.55) -- got that? or "If 'entropy' is a logarithmic measure of the probabilistic disorder of a given physical system, the Second Law states that for such a system, whether it be the air in a room, a living body, or the earth as a whole, so long as neither energy nor matter is added to said system -- that is, so long as the system is 'closed' -- then its entropy will rise with time" (p.93) -- got that?
Look, there were many times in this book where I wrote "right on!" in the margins. There were also many times whene I wrote "blah blah blah"...I was going to assign this to my students of social theory -- I teach at a small liberal arts college. No way. Very few people can plow through this dense stuff.

Makes a powerful case
Anyone who considers themselves an environmentalist should read this book. Kovel makes the case the environmental destruction is inherent to the capitalist system and for the most part, reforms are little more than band-aids for a system that is, by its very nature, out of control.

Kovel focuses less on the environmental problems we face today (which you can find in any other book); and focuses more of the book lies in describing how the nuts and bolts of the capitalist economy works (which is what sets this book apart from all others).

He makes the case that actions like voluntarism, isolated cooperatives, bioregionalism, and so forth will eventually get rolled over by the immense power that capital has and are not long-term solutions.

My only problem with the book is that, while Kovel accurately describes the underlying environmental problem as having its root in capitalism itself, he doesn't present a coherent solution except an extremely vague "eco-socialism" (that's why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5). You can tell by this last chapter that he is groping for some sort of answer - going off in many directions.

If you want a cutting analysis of the problem human beings face today, get this book! If you want a revolutionary solution, this book is only a start.

Some background to a flawed but brilliant book
For Joel Kovel the revolution is only a matter of time. Marx was right: Capitalism cannot help but prepare the stew in which it will roast. But Old Whiskers got one thing wrong. The crucial antagonist of capital is not labor but nature. If Marx made a fetish of capital's propensity to generate too much wealth to be profitably re-invested, Kovel does the same in regard to planetary ecosystem crackup. Instead of periodic economic downturn catapulting the proletariat into History, it's the shattering of life-essential natural processes that's destined to set off socialist (make that ecosocialist) revolution.

Professor Kovel, who ran to the left of Ralph Nader for the Green Party nod in 2000, wastes no time making the case that capitalism, by its very nature, cannot help but destroy the integrity and well-being of what we call "nature." No need for yet another inventory of disturbances in the environment, our bodies, and our psychic balance (though Kovel does provide a lot of data in this regard). The enemy of nature is not oil or pesticides or factories or bulldozers but capital, "that ubiquitous, all-powerful and greatly misunderstood dynamo that drives our society."

While traditionally the marketplace is a means of exchanging goods for money so as to purchase other goods, under capitalism it becomes a way for those who already have money to accumulate more. Reversing the natural order, the merchant starts off with money and buys the product of someone else's labor, then turns around and sells it at a markup. As long as the laborer is poor and the buyer rich, the trader makes a profit.

What gives a commodity its value is not what we do with it, like using bricks to build houses or shoes to walk home in, but the price it commands in trade. In contrast to "use value"-- a quality that belongs to any given item intrinsically-- "exchange value" is an abstraction that must be expressed quantitatively. When you buy a pair of shoes (or better yet a thousand pairs) only to sell them for profit, their entire value is a number.

As the basis of economics becomes the trade itself and not the tangible thing exchanged, money is transformed into an all-consuming monster. No longer bound up with the limitations of actual land, people, and resources, it springs to life, an abstraction with a will of its own. "Pure quantity," says Kovel, "can swell infinitely without reference to the external world."

There lies the source of our ecological crisis.

Despite its reputation as the very acme of rational economic exchange, capitalism follows its own imperatives, quite apart from the needs of humans and ecosystems. In its compulsion to grow and multiply, capital "constantly tries to violate" whatever limit is set before it. Success means only one thing: surpassing yesterday's mark. No matter how big the beast gets, to cease growing further is to die. Yet the one thing we know for sure is that it can't grow forever. Sooner or later abstraction runs up against reality.

Does that mean capitalism is setting the stage for ecosocialist uprising? "If the argument that capital is incorrigibly ecodestructive and expansive proves to be true, then it is only a question of time before the issues raised here achieve explosive urgency." True enough, but that doesn't mean the Revolution is just over the horizon. What Kovel overlooks is the likelihood that worsening environmental conditions will exacerbate the scarcity that already pits us against each other. While the rich compete to survive as rich people, the poor compete to survive, period. If it's the money-driven struggle of all-against-all that's pushing us, inexorably, to the edge of the cliff, shouldn't we expect rising insecurity and the resulting intensification of this struggle to push us right over the edge? Precisely when, between now and doomsday, do the masses finally revolt?

As Kovel himself points out, capitalists are perfectly willing to perpetuate eco-destabilization as long as they can insulate themselves and perhaps even profit from the meltdown all around them. He cites an article in London's Guardian Weekly purporting to show a shift in elite opinion since the early 70s, when the Club of Rome called for "limits to growth." These days, digging our own grave is simply the ultimate business opportunity.

Taking Kovel to task in the September, 2002 issue of Monthly Review, John Bellamy Foster noted, "We should not underestimate capitalism's capacity to accumulate in the midst of the most blatant ecological destruction, to profit from environmental degradation... and to continue to destroy the earth to the point of no return-- both for human society and for most of the world's living species."

Times are tough? How about a liquidation sale? Like Marx before him, Kovel finds a silver lining where none exists. There's just no pulling the socialist rabbit out of the capitalist hat.

An Ecosocialist Manifesto
Joel Kovel's "The Enemy of Nature" offers a powerful and unflinching eco-Marxist critique of the capitalist system. Concluding that the path of accumulation must inevitably lead to a world wide ecological crisis, the author theorizes about the type of "ecosocialist" system that must supplant capitalism in order to ensure humanity's survival.

Kovel is part of a growing "Red/Green" movement that also includes the outstanding Marxist scholar James O'Connor. Kovel's arguments seem to build upon and indeed are closely aligned with many of the ideas in O'Connor's excellent book "Natural Causes," but I personally find Kovel's writing to be a bit more accessible than O'Connor's. Perhaps this pragmatism can be attributed to Kovel's political sensibilities, as he was a candidate for the Green Party Presidential nomination in 2000.

Kovel believes that various forms of so-called "Green economics" are doomed to failure because they do not address what he sees as the root problem driving the ecological crisis: namely, capital's need to continuously expand. He points out that whatever gains might be realized from the introduction of environmentally-friendly technology will be quickly outweighed by the expansion of the economy. For example, fuel cells might be less harmful than internal combustion engines, but if the technology merely enables the manufacture of hundreds of millions of new automobiles, the planet will ultimately be much worse off.

But Kovel acknowledges that the current Green movement is in fact helping to lay the groundwork for what is yet to come. The Green's emphasis on local democratic control of the means of production will help free labor from its bondage with capital, which is essential for socialism to succeed.

Of course, Kovel devotes a section to readers who may need to be reminded that really existing socialism as practiced in the Soviet Union and elsewhere was NOT what Marx intended. Kovel shows that these countries actually substituted the state for the market, in the end merely proving that markets were superior to centralized planning. The ruined environments left behind by the Communist states were testaments to a failed attempt at accumulation, in much the same way that the West is currently degrading the air, land and sea in its ongoing frenzy of accumulation.

Kovel speculates on how collapse might occur in the capitalist nations. He understands that a breakdown of the financial system could easily lead to fascism, or possibly "ecofascism", as capital seeks to hold on to power. But Kovel thinks it may be plausible that the pockets of production growing outside the bounds of capital may be strong enough to resist the counter-revolution. Indeed, Kovel points out that up to 20 percent of the world economy already exists in the "informal" sector, although most of this is comprised of criminal activity and much less of the positive kind (such as the Bruderhof communities of the U.S.).

This latter part of Kovel's analysis bears similarity to Nick Dyer-Witheford's "Cyber-Marx", although Kovel does not appear to be aware of this book nor is it referenced in his bibliography. In short, Dyer-Witheford theorizes that technophiles will appropriate the means of production in order to empower a society that eventually achieves autonomy by existing outside the bounds of capitalist control. Like Kovel, Dyer-Witheford envisions that the post-capitalist society will choose to apply its surplus value to the cause of freeing labor and restoring its ravaged social, physical and natural environments. In my view, the convergence of these two authors' thoughts -- albeit arrived at from different angles, but perhaps more compelling because of this -- bolsters both of their arguments and suggests that the possibility of radical change may not be as elusive as one might suppose.

I strongly recommend Kovel's book for anyone who may be concerned about the future of our society or for those who may be contemplating how a more humane world might come about.

A penetrating indictment of capitalism
After having read and greatly appreciated Professor Kovel's previous book, "Red Hunting in the Promised Land", I was somewhat surprised to see his entry into the ecological debate with "Enemy of Nature." But scepticism soon gave way to great insight about the fundamentals of our current ecological situation, an impending catastrophe threatening survival itself as Kovel makes clear.
Whereas other writers have examined ecological crises and misdeeds as isolated and independent manifestations of similarly discrete abuses by global and regional players, Kovel shows that the root cause of ecological ills is the capitalistic system itself, in effect the very nature of capital or "money-in-motion." What follows from this accusation is the even more unsettling demonstration that no amount of "corrections" of given abuses nor mere simple changes and "controls" applied to the basic rules of the game will suffice to reverse the dangerous nature- and life-threatening trends now evident world-wide. The Enemy of Nature is the capitalistic system itself, and if readers of such a statement should be tempted to dismiss the claim as mere Marxian doomsday-saying and thus forego a reading of it on the basis of our current celebrations that capitalism is the sole surviving economic system and therefore MUST be the best, such potential readers will be ignoring not only essential information, but be contributing to the continuation of processes which must surely end in chaos and anarchy.
For anyone who even pretends to have a passing interest in the future of Western civilisation and the questions concerning its health and survival now discussed with every passing ecological abuse and catastrophe, this book is a must. Ignoring it may well constitute a breach of morality. However, there is a great probability that the book may well be ignored because its arguments and conclusions are fairly well unanswerable and would require outright revolution in all spheres of human activity were it to be taken seriously. As such, it is hard to conclude anything else but that we are indeed approaching global meltdown and the end of history, not for the reasons that Francis Fukuyama laid out in his famous tome, but because the Panglossian continuation of our current ecological mania must soon end not only history but the means even to write it, and possibly even the species which writes. ... Read more

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Eye opening information on the happenings of 1930's Appalach
Eller opens the eyes of the reader as he talks about the events that formed Appalachia as we know it today. He tends to romantacize somewhat but gives the reader the hard facts that have affected the Appalachian regionand its people. ... Read more

Book Description

The proliferation of regional trade agreements is fundamentally altering the world trade landscape. The number of agreements in force surpasses 200 and has risen eight-fold in two decades. Today as much as 40 percent of global trade takes place among countries that have some form of reciprocal regional trade agreement.

Global Economic Prospects 2005: Trade, Regionalism, and Development addresses two questions:

** What are the characteristics of agreements that most promote—or hinder—development for member countries?
** Does the proliferation of agreements pose risks to the multilateral trading system, and if so, how can these risks be managed?

The report argues that agreements leading to open regionalism—that is, deeper integration of trade as a result of low external tariffs, increased services competition, and efforts to reduce cross-border and customs delays costs—are effective as part of a larger trade strategy to promote growth. Such regional agreements can complement a strategy that, on the one hand, includes autonomous liberalization to promote productivity gains and, on the other hand, leverages domestic reforms to enhance market access.

Although regional agreements can prove beneficial to member countries, they can have adverse effects on excluded countries. Lowering of border barriers around the world is crucial to minimizing these effects. The completion of the Doha Development Agenda by all countries in the World Trade Organization will reduce the risk of trade diversion associated with regional agreements and will decrease trade losses of countries excluded from agreements. ... Read more

Book Description

Ruling America offers a panoramic history of our country's ruling elites from the time of the American Revolution to the present. At its heart is the greatest of American paradoxes: How have tiny minorities of the rich and privileged consistently exercised so much power in a nation built on the notion of rule by the people?

In a series of thought-provoking essays, leading scholars of American history examine every epoch in which ruling economic elites have shaped our national experience. They explore how elites came into existence, how they established their dominance over public affairs, and how their rule came to an end. The contributors analyze the elite coalition that led the Revolution and then examine the antebellum planters of the South and the merchant patricians of the North. Later chapters vividly portray the Gilded Age "robber barons," the great finance capitalists in the age of J. P. Morgan, and the foreign-policy "Establishment" of the post-World War II years. The book concludes with a dissection of the corporate-led counter-revolution against the New Deal characteristic of the Reagan and Bush era.

Rarely in the last half-century has one book afforded such a comprehensive look at the ways elite wealth and power have influenced the American experiment with democracy. At a time when the distribution of wealth and power has never been more unequal, Ruling America is of urgent contemporary relevance.

Book Description

After decades of seemingly unsurpassable growth and prosperity, Japan's economy declined in the 1990s.The reversal stunned observers: How could the economy have reversed itself so abruptly? Bai Gao's illuminating analysis of Japan's economic story demonstrates how the same economic institutions could produce both remarkable successes and a prolonged slump. In Japan's Economic Dilemma, Gao describes tensions within the Japanese economic system that created a bubble in the 1980s, yet became unsustainable and led to a stagnant domestic economy in the 1990s. Those who have been following the lively debate over "What became of the Japanese Miracle?" will appreciate Gao's historical perspective and multilayered analysis.Bai Gao is an associate professor in the department of sociology at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He was a visiting scholar at Tokyo University and taught at Hitotsubashi University and Yokohama National University. He is the author of Economic Ideology and Japanese Industrial Policy (Cambridge, 1997), which received the 1998 Hiromi Arisawa Memorial Award in Best Books in Japanese Studies from the Association of American University Presses. ... Read more

Book Description

Markets in Motion is a graphical overview of the economic conditions and events that have influenced the U.S. stock market since 1900. Decade by decade, you'll examine how different economic and policitcal environments can be directly correlated to stock market movements. Each decade features graphs displaying the performance of the Dow Jones Average, the Dow Jones price to dividend ratio, industrial production, money supply, consumer price index, T bill rate, and the Discount rate. Embedded on the graphs are short descriptions of important political, economic, and historical events. Use this information to reference similar environments today and gain an edge in determining the future direction of the market. ... Read more