Book Description

India's success in reducing endemic deprivation since Independence has been quite limited. Recent diagnoses of this failure of policy have concentrated on the counterproductive role of government regulation, and on the need for economic incentives to accelerate the growth of the economy. This book argues that an assessment of India's failure to eliminate basic deprivations has to go beyond this limited focus, and to take note of the role played in that failure by inadequate public involvement in the provision of basic education, health care, social security, and related fields, Even the fostering of fast and participatory economic growth requires some basic social change, which is not addressed by liberalization and economic incentives. The authors also discuss the historical antecedents of these political and social neglects, including the distortion of policy priorities arising from inequalities of political power. Following on from this, the book considers the scope for public action to address these earlier biases and achieve a transformation of policy priorities.

Beginning with an introductory chapter presenting the motivation, focus, and approach of the book, it discusses the respective roles of the market mechanism and government action in economic development and discusses the particular role of public involvement in the fields of health and education. International comparisons of development experiences are brought to bear on the diagnosis of India's successes and failures, and the work discusses the lessons to be learnt from the contrasting development experiences of different states within India, with particular attention to Kerala's outstanding success in social fields. The authors consider the role of public action and political organization in promoting social opportunities. Attention is drawn, in particular, to the part played by widespread illiteracy in suppressing that process and perpetuating social inequalities. The work also looks at the issue of basic education, including a critical assessment of public policy in this field. The issue of gender inequality is discussed, and the role of women's agency in the expansion of social opportunities for both women and men is explored. The work concludes by consolidating the argument and discussing the policy implication of the analyses presented. A statistical appendix presents a comparative picture of India and other developing countries, and also the comparative performance of different states within India.

This new work by two internationally renowned economists is an important and relevant argument for promoting human welfare. ... Read more

Book Description

Comprehensive yet detailed discussion of tax increment financing. ... Read more

Book Description

The Transformation of Wall Street offers an in-depth look at the history of the SEC’s origins, accomplishments, and failings since its creation in 1934. Each chapter in the book takes historical look at the tenure of the various SEC chairmen.The first edition, published in 1977, covered the SEC through the Nixon-Ford presidential administration. A revised edition was published in 1995, updating the book through 1992. Now, the third edition continues the history until 2001, the end of Arthur Levitt’s Chairmanship, with a treatment of auditing issues through the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (July 2002).In this revised edition, author Joel Seligman draws on unpublished SEC files and extensive personal interviews to provide a comprehensive examination of the origins, accomplishments, and failings of the SEC and its leaders, from the creation of the SEC in 1934 to the presentThe new material, among other things, will address:• The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, which has had a significant impact on private securities litigation after its passage in 1995; • The structure of the securities markets (which are in an important transition because of Electronic Communications Networks; decimalization; international competition; and the continuing evolution to greater institutionalization of our markets as well as the growth of several new products, most recently security futures products);• Municipal securities markets (which were largely ignored before the recently resigned Arthur Levitt);• Several issues with respect to the accounting profession (most notably auditor independence and the independence of accounting standard-setting boards). In addition, the work will focus on Chairman Levitt, whom the author believes was one of the most accomplished of the post World War II chairs, and had the challenge of being a Chair appointed by a Democratic party president during a period when Republicans controlled both houses of Congress as well as a period of extraordinary ferment in the securities market.

This book offers a rare perspective into the work of corporate finance and capital markets through the eyes of one of the most respected and prominent members. His unique involvement with Louis Loss and the history, theories and legislation and regulations of this complex area offers the reader great insight. ... Read more

Book Description

Charles Lewis, Bill Allison, and a team of researchers from the Center for Public Integrity -- an organization that the National Journal called "a watchdog in the corridors of power" -- investigated how millions of high-income adults and some major corporations cheat the government of billions through tax avoidance (legal), tax evasion (illegal), or tax "avoision" (catch me if you can).

Now Lewis and his team provide explosive revelations about who cheats and how they do it, from offshore banks to foreign "tax havens." Case studies of the most brazen dodgers will have taxpayers seeing red in this eye-opening report that puts the IRS on notice. Sure to enlighten and outrage, The Cheating of America is a must -- read for every citizen.

Reviews (9)

Great Insight into wealthy thieves...the USA is at Risk
Thank you to the authors for their investigative approach to this book and highlighting the money trail. We have to stop the madness...Enron, Worldcom and Arther Anderson and even the execs that run these companies and the non-profits. Doesn't anyone think that "Character Counts" anymore. I like the fact that the book names the biggest offenders and how they do it.

Classic example of leftist propaganda
First, what is the purpose of the Tax Code and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)? Is the role of our tax system to maintain "equilibrium between the wealthiest and the poorest segments of society" as the authors imply, or to "lay and collect Taxes...to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States" as stated in the U.S. Constitution?[2]

Second, is the authors' assertion that "upper-income taxpayers do not pay their fair share" true? That depends on how one defines "fair share." In their book, Lewis and Allison cite several carefully selected examples of wealthy Americans and corporations finding ways to avoid paying their fair share in federal income taxes, some legally and some illegally. Clearly, these extreme cases do depict specific situations that should anger and frustrate most taxpayers.

However, when one examines the bigger picture instead of looking at only an extremely small sampling of the very worst, the view is much different. For instance, while the authors tell the reader "The IRS recently reported that 2,680 filers with incomes of $200,000 or more claimed they owed no taxes, up from 612 in the mid-eighties, and 85 in 1977," they fail to mention that as our economy grows and incomes rise, there are many more people in these income brackets than in the past. As a result, despite the increase in the raw number of upper-income taxpayers reporting no taxable income, statistically the problem was less prevalent in 1998 than in 1985 or 1977.

In 1977 about 53,400 individuals claimed income of more than $200,000.[3] This compares to 296,500 in 1985[4] and nearly 2,074,000 in 1998.[5] This means that of individuals earning $200,000 or more per year, 0.16% claimed no taxable income in 1977, 0.21% in 1985, and 0.12% in 1998. While some people might feel it is unfair that someone with a high income can, in some circumstances, claim no taxable income, it is hardly an issue of epidemic proportions as the authors would lead us to believe, and is certainly less of an issue today than it was a few years ago.

Ironically, if the authors' implied definition of "tax cheating" was applied to the entire taxpaying population, the middle class would be "cheating" even more than the upper class.

Although our federal income tax system severely penalizes those who earn more money, even middle-class families can be hit with considerable tax bills. In the current tax year, for example, a family with two children under the age of 17 and an adjusted gross income of $40,000 could pay a federal income tax of roughly $2,200, even after taking the standard deduction, personal exemptions, and child tax credits. Yet the IRS reports that of filers earning between $40,000 and $75,000 per year, 0.26% (or 66,046 out of 25,860,161 filers) claimed no taxable income - on a percentage basis, more than twice as many as in the highest-income brackets.

The truth is, there are literally thousands of reasons individual taxpayers with income may pay little or no federal income tax. Certain investment income, such as that earned from municipal bonds, may not be taxable. Personal tragedies, such as disaster losses or high medical bills, can produce large offsetting deductions in any given year. And a dazzling array of tax credits, for everything from driving an electric car to adopting a child, can substantially reduce an initial liability.

Even more telling in the story about who is paying his or her "fair share" are the statistics of how much most wealthy Americans actually pay in tax. A rough comparison can be made with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax return data. Although individual situations vary widely, even within each income grouping, these statistics still provide a useful illustration of the inequities found in our Tax Code. According to the Spring 2000 Statistics of Income Bulletin, in 1998 tax filers reporting an adjusted gross income of under $200,000 (98.3% of all tax filers) paid an average federal income tax rate of 11.3%, or $3,852 each. In contrast, tax filers in the category earning more than $200,000 (about 1.7% of all tax filers) paid an average federal income tax of 26.8%, or $155,949 each. It should be noted that this figure averages in the wealthy individuals who found legal ways to report little or no income, as discussed in Lewis and Allison's book.

To look at it another way, the bottom 98.3% of tax filers pay a combined total of 60% of all income tax dollars, while the top 1.7% of tax filers carry the burden of paying 40% of all federal income tax dollars.[6] Obviously, someone earning more than $200,000 per year can afford to pay more than someone earning much less, but is the extreme discrepancy in the current Tax Code fair? With such a huge inequity, it is not surprising that wealthier Americans spend huge amounts of time and money seeking ways to lower their tax burden.

A day in the life of the fat cats. . . .
The Cheating of America is another superb peice of work by Chuck Lewis and his folks at the Center for Public Integrity. The CPIers reveal (once again) the exploits of the wealthy by constantly asking the question is it tax avoidance, tax evasion or somthing hazy in the middle which is refered to as avoision. The book highlights cases of people who simply aren't paying tax. The Center for Public Integrity doing what it does best . . . .taking every day public documents and going through them with a fine tooth comb - the forgotten art of investigative journalism. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

My opinion of The Cheating of America
It's obvious from reading this book that the Center for Public integrity is a left wing organization. This book has long winded opinions and a few facts. Tax avoidance it reffered to as "naked greed".

The Authors devote a whole chapter whinning about the fact that money used to pay interest on a loan used for investment is not taxed.

The Authors devote a chapter complaning that one can carry a loss into the next year.

There are some interesting stories in this book about people who pushed the evelope of the law.

I was looking for more factual data and less class envy.

Great premise, decent effort
Unlike the other reviewers, I liked this book. My biggest problem with it is its length. After hearing a few of the stories, it started to get a bit dull.

In a nutshell, this book is about people who have the money, power and lack of ethics to avoid paying their taxes. The result, of course, is that the rest of us have to make up the hundreds of billions of dollars lost.

This is muckraking in the best sense of the word. This book follows a middle class self-employed taxpayer through the bureaucratic hell caused by bad IRS advice, and her resulting tax bill and then contrasts it with the treatment big-time tax evaders get. If you are an ordinary person, the IRS will go after you. If you can afford fancy lawyers, the IRS is willing to compromise on pennies for the dollar.

This book is a better skim than a read, but it's an important message and the authors have clearly put a lot of work into it. ... Read more

Book Description

Since the appearance of the first edition in 1990, Planning Local Economic Development has become the foundation for an entire generation of planners and academics teaching planning. Building on the success of its predecessors, the Third Edition continues to explore the theories of local economic development and address the dilemmas communities face. Blakely and Bradshaw investigate planning processes, analytical techniques, business and human resource development, as well as high-technology economic development strategies. Written by academics with many years of regional and city planning experience, this book will prove invaluable to professors of economic development, urban studies, and public administration. Economic development specialists in local and municipal government, as well as nonprofit organizations, will also find this an essential reference.

New to this Edition:

• Case studies, illustrations, and exercises demonstrate how each theory can be employed in a real-world setting
• Sample resource materials facilitate the development and design of program plans
• New arguments for implementing local economic development initiatives
• Thoroughly updated to reflect the financial boom of the 1990s and subsequent collapse, the policies of the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, and the aftermath of September 11

Book Description

Since 1965 an increasing preoccupation with money has resulted in the inversion of its role in higher education, from a practical means to an end that crowds out all others. No longer do students and parents choose the best education that "money can buy." Instead, they are faced with choosing which college or university will "buy them more money." This comes as no real surprise, as the cost of attending a four-year college has doubled since 1985. Yet the question persists: at what real cost are we sending our students to college?

Renowned educator James Engell and coauthor Anthony Dangerfield explore the answer to this question in Saving Higher Education in the Age of Money. They argue that the counterbalancing attitudes that used to temper a focus on money with other equally legitimate and more fundamental goals have steadily weakened, resulting in a new consensus that elevates money and the marketing of oneself and one's institution to the foremost ambitions of the intellectual world. This new minimization of higher education to the category of an investment to be repaid has damaged all disciplines not directly associated with money, particularly the humanities. Students often now are told they face a choice: between the practical sciences, business, and economic success, or the traditional liberal arts and sciences and expected poverty.

In their comprehensive analysis of admission practices, institutional rankings, salaries, hiring practices, scholarships, student attitudes, tuition costs, research programs, library budgets, and class barriers, Engell and Dangerfield expose the major changes that the Age of Money has wrought in higher education while also offering a practical method of understanding and prioritizing the various elements involved in choosing the right school. Focusing on liberal arts and sciences colleges, private research universities, and flagship public institutions, the authors provide an explicit and coherent model of what an academic institution should offer, while encouraging individual institutions to retain their unique identities.

Written for a general audience as well as for professionals, Saving Higher Education in the Age of Money will appeal to teachers and administrators, parents of students and prospective students, students and faculty in schools of higher education, and anyone interested in intellectual life. ... Read more

Book Description

The creation of the European Community ranks among the most extraordinary achievements in modern world politics. Observers disagree, however, about the reasons why European governments have chosen to coordinate core economic policies and surrender sovereign prerogatives. In this eagerly awaited book, Andrew Moravcsik analyzes the history of the region's movement toward economic and political union.

Do these unifying steps demonstrate the preeminence of national security concerns, the power of federalist ideals, the skill of political entrepreneurs like Jean Monnet and Jacques Delors, or the triumph of technocratic planning? Moravcsik rejects such views. Economic interdependence has been, he maintains in his provocative argument, the primary force compelling these democracies to move in this surprising direction. Politicians rationally pursued national economic advantage through the exploitation of asymmetrical interdependence and the manipulation of institutional commitments.

Focusing on Germany, France, and Britain, Moravcsik examines the five decisive agreements that propelled integration forward. He seeks to reintegrate the historical study of European unity with theoretical inquiry into the sources of international cooperation. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Absorbing study of the EU's development
In this deeply researched book, Andrew Moravcsik studies five key moves toward wider and deeper European integration: the Treaties of Rome, consolidating the Common Market, monetary integration, the Single European Act and the Maastricht Treaty. He argues that the member governments chose ever closer union in order to promote their countries' economic interests. He aims to prove that economic interests, not political ideas, drive EU integration. He focuses on how the governments of Germany, France and Britain made their decisions.

Moravcsik argues that the British government's policy in the 1950s of opposition to joining the Common Market "was the rational one for a government that traded little with the Continent, had high tariffs in place, and feared competition with German producers." So there was economic logic to staying out. It is less clear that there was good reason for the subsequent reversal of policy: trading with a bloc does not oblige us to join it!

He shows that De Gaulle vetoed Britain's application not out of chauvinism, but because we opposed generous financing for French farmers through the Common Agricultural Policy. In 1969, Pompidou lifted the veto, but only in exchange for the British government's huge concession of agreeing to a permanent financing arrangement for the CAP. This made it CAP reform impossible.

Similarly, member governments have pursued integration through creating the Single Market and EMU. Moravcsik shows how Europe's multinational companies and the national employers' organisations backed integration. The European Commission admitted, "The single market programme has done more for business than it has for workers", a judgment true also of Economic and Monetary Union. Economic interests may well have determined the drive to a single state, but paradoxically the closer the cooperation between EU members has become, the worse their economies have performed.

Capitalist states and multinational companies have taken the EU road to lost sovereignty and economic integration, but the peoples of Europe are increasingly choosing otherwise, as the Irish people showed in the 7 June referendum on the Nice Treaty. In particular, here in Britain the option of leaving the EU looks more and more inviting.

Renewing the Debate about the Causes of European Integration
Andrew Moravcsik boldly makes the case for the centrality of the three largest member states in the construction of Europe. In this volume, Moravcsik articulates his "liberal intergovernmentalist" (LI) framework of analysis and utilizes primary sources to strengthen his response to Paul Pierson's "historical institutionalist" (HI) account of European integration. As Moravcsik explains, in making the choice for Europe

"...it was the deliberate triumphs of European integration, not its unintended side-effects, that appear to have increased support for further integration. This is the key point of divergence between HI theory and the tri-partite "liberal intergovernmentalist" interpretation advanced here. For most governments, inducing economic modernization-even with unpleasant side-effects-was the major purpose of European integration." (p. 491)

One of the strongest contributions of Moravcsik's volume is to revisit the classic neo-functionalist-intergovernmentalist debate and to place it in a new theoretical context. To Moravcsik's credit, this tome offers a detailed, thorough and remarkably organized assessment of competing explanations in the European integration literature. Students and scholars of integration will grapple with the issues raised as a result of this work for years to come.

Moravcsik's volume challenges the "myths" of European integration and calls into question the relevance of actions taken by supranational entrepreneurs. National versus supranational debates notwithstanding, Monnet's (and later Delor's) talent was to seize a moment in history when Europe was at the brink of continuity or change. Monnet's use of crisis as opportunity sought to alter fundamentally the way in which France and Germany interacted within the European system. Is this not the essence of the Schuman Plan in 1950, namely, to use the opportunity to modernize France economically as part of an equation to make future wars with its neighbor across the Rhine impossible?

Although convergence was already apparent among European economies, did the initial political decision to pool the critical resources in the making of war, to integrate in the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), require individuals like Schuman, Monnet, Adenauer and Hallstein to work against the fact that European states mistrusted each other and were therefore disinclined to integrate? It is most unfortunate that volume length does not permit Moravcsik to cover this initial case. In the light of the ECSC experience, was the agreement to create the Common Market in 1958 intrinsically about making European countries richer? The archival research of Raymond Poidevin and Andreas Wilkens sheds light on the experience of the ECSC. Their writings may help us evaluate the extent to which the initial experiments in integration, including the aborted European Political Community (EPC) and European Defense Community (EDC), influenced the interests of the Six during the Treaty of Rome negotiations. References to Poidevin's work are scarce among the 1116 footnotes in The Choice for Europe. There are some citations of Wilken's writings, but not those that critically evaluate the impact of Monnet's role during the period 1950-57.

In Moravcsik's analysis, economic interests, asymmetrical interdependence and more credible commitments, respectively, drive states to negotiate, cooperate and integrate in Europe. Moravcsik candidly (and correctly) acknowledges that his primacy of economics explanation is less helpful to our understanding of German motivations to cooperate in Europe. In the French case, does Moravcsik's revisionist account successfully convince us that de Gaulle emphasized national economic interests over geopolitical priorities or an ideology of grandeur? By asserting that ideas motivate only when no strong interest is involved, does Moravcsik's account draw an unnecessary dividing line between the General's socio-economic and geo-political goals? It may be argued that the General's priorities were inextricably intertwined as President to assure the country's place as the first among states in Europe. My own volume on the Maastricht process demonstrates the relevance of two-level analysis. Other writings about Britain's role in the Maastricht negotiations likewise stress the importance of simultaneous domestic-international interactions in intergovernmental conference diplomacy. Given that Moravcsik's own prior writings strikingly illustrate the contributions of Putnam's model, it is puzzling why he does not emphasize two-level games in The Choice for Europe. Moreover, the potential for interactions among the three analytical stages Moravcsik defines in his book, namely, preference formation, interstate bargaining and implementation, also warrants more attention in future editions.

The phenomenal number of sources cited in Moravcsik's tome is a compelling reason to include a bibliography, including the names, places and dates of all interviews conducted. This would help the reader locate cited materials more efficiently. Moreover, it would underline Moravcsik's attention to primary sources which brings us to a methodological point. Moravcsik does not cite magazine or newspaper articles and relies a good deal on confidential interviews. It may be argued that journalistic writings are helpful when "hard" primary sources, namely, internal government documents, are systematically cross checked with these accounts. Accurate journalistic reporting, when referenced consistently, can also confirm or deny explanations given in confidential interviews. These techniques allow for a greater degree of transparency in source materials.

The preceding points are evidence that, given the numerous questions this volume raises, Moravcsik has admirably achieved his most important objective: to renew the intellectual-practitioners' debate about the fundamental causes of European integration. The Choice for Europe is recommended to a wide audience as an unprecedented work that incorporates elements of comparative politics, international relations and political economy in a historical narrative that challenges us to think critically about the reasons why states choose to cooperate.

excellent revisionist overview of European integration
I found this book one of the best I have read on European integration history. It is a good example of revisionist history at its best. Compared to other books i have studied on the same subject this one makes a number of novel points and gives a completely different emphasis on driving factors & driving actors of the process of EU integration, putting the role of the Member States at centre stage all the way, and their economic interests as primary driving elements. To me, as an economist, this sounded convincing and certainly puts a novel slant on the traditional 'high politics' integration story. At the same time, I also found it a somewhat depressing account of the ineffectiveness of the Commission at crucial times of decision making. The book certainly puts into question some cherished notions about the role and functioning of the Commission, and since I am proud to work there it was not easy to take this in.

I found the first chapter hard going and somewhat obtruse, although i can appreciate the methodological points he makes, which are all to often ingnored. Once one is through that, though, the real story begins and a fascinating account it is, especially since it certainly does not follow the analysis i have read previously on this subject.

An excellent reference work, and certain to stimulate many a (heated) debate.

Political science for European integration historians
For once, here is a general text purporting to analyse the history of European integration that actually lives up to its billing. It is quite rightly considered a tour de force. Indeed, Andrew Moravcsik's "The choice for Europe" has already established itself as one of the most important publications to date on this subject. While it is obvious that the continued evolution of the European Union has been one of the most 'extraordinary political achievements' to have taken place during the 20th century, the reasons why this community of states was created in the first place and the ways in which it has since developed have not always been so convincingly explained or succinctly outlined, that is until now. What Robert Keohane describes on the fly-cover as the 'most compelling and significant analysis yet of the European Community' is just that.

Moravcsik is not a historian, but in this text he tries to integrate political science theory into a historical study of European unity; this is in order to discover why there has been such a high-level of cooperation between Western European states during the last half-century. His book fills an important gap in our knowledge by tracing the somewhat erratic developments that have led to a greater degree of economic and political union gradually being instituted throughout this region and by placing these in a theoretical perspective.

In this most accessible work, he persuasively argues that economic interdependence has been the prime motivator in successive governments making these rational choices. One of the weak (and strong) points however regarding Moravcsik's investigation is that it only focuses on the big European powers - Germany, Great Britain and France, as well as the European Commission - and does not really delve into small-power politics. Questions such as how these smaller nations tried to operate within, or negotiate entry into, the EEC as they became more aware and realistic about their world positions, how they operated in relation to the big powers, et cetera, must wait until their specific histories have been chronicled before they can be answered. At least historians now have a tool to do so.

In taking the case studies that he does, Moravcsik examines them in the context of what he sees as the five decisive agreements that have driven European integration all the way from Messina to Maastricht: via the Treaties of Rome in 1957, the EC Merger Treaty and other consolidatory and expansionary agreements enacted during the 1960s, the various examples of European monetary integration during the 1970s and early 1980s, and the Single European Act of 1986, all the way to Economic and Monetary Union in 1991. In so doing, he develops his thesis on integration history to fit the facts rather than the other way round, while providing a critique of existing theories and presenting us with one of the best existing analyses on this topic. This volume by Moravcsik is clearly a strong basis for future historiographical debate. ... Read more

Book Description

As the world is drawn together with increasing force, our long-standing isolation from--and baffling ignorance of--China is ever more perilous. This book offers a powerful analysis of China and the transformations it has undertaken since 1989.

Wang Hui is unique in China's intellectual world for his ability to synthesize an insider's knowledge of economics, politics, civilization, and Western critical theory. A participant in the Tiananmen Square movement, he is also the editor of the most important intellectual journal in contemporary China. He has a grasp and vision that go beyond contemporary debates to allow him to connect the events of 1989 with a long view of Chinese history. Wang Hui argues that the features of contemporary China are elements of the new global order as a whole in which considerations of economic growth and development have trumped every other concern, particularly those of democracy and social justice. At its heart this book represents an impassioned plea for economic and social justice and an indictment of the corruption caused by the explosion of "market extremism."

As Wang Hui observes, terms like "free" and "unregulated" are largely ideological constructs masking the intervention of highly manipulative, coercive governmental actions on behalf of economic policies that favor a particular scheme of capitalist acquisition--something that must be distinguished from truly free markets. He sees new openings toward social, political, and economic democracy in China as the only agencies by which the unstable conditions thus engendered can be remedied.

Reviews (1)

A unique perspective on China, from China
Most Western perspectives on China fall into two (equally wrong)camps: the celebrations of the emergence of a new economic superpower reminiscent of William Gibson on 1980s Japan or the typical right-wing paranoia of China as the new enemy. Western discourse on China's politicshas been narrowly defined by ingrained images of 1989, some dissident bloggers, and Falun Gong. Discourse on economy has equally been restricted, becoming mostly a numbers game for the foreign investor, with Chicken Littles such as Gordon Chang warning of collapse. Rarely do we consider the real interests of regular Chinese. It's anyone's guess as to what the aspirations were of the man standing in front of the tank in Tiananmen, but most assume he was fighting for "reform" against the monolithic power of the party-state. To Americans, that reform can only mean one thing. But rather than assume this man risked his life for the freedom to eat Big Macs, why not hear from one of the actual participants and find out what "reform" means in China?

Wang Hui teaches at Tsinghua Univ. and is editor of the monthly journal "Dushu". He has become the unofficial leader of an intellectual circle his critics labeled the "New Left" (perjorative in associating Wang with Maoism). In this collection of his landmark essays on contemporary China, Wang exposes the domination of neoliberal and Fukuyama end of history ideologies and assumptions upon China's internal discourse. According to Wang, post-Mao China has seen many problems, but these aren't exclusively the problems of a state hindering the forward march of market reforms. Rather, they are the product of these so-called reforms. The neoliberals in China are not working against, but working within the party structure, becoming a new exploitative class and capitalizing on privatization through avenues legal and illegal. Human rights abuses in China are not only the oppression of dissidents, but the regular people just trying to survive in the jungle of market fundamentalism. While some have taken notice to labor issues, few have done it justice. Social discontent seems unlikely to spark revolution anytime soon, but the plight of workers and peasants deserves more attention. Wang looks at these problems emerging as a result of Dengism. Wang Hui is one of those few who have examined this story forgotten in the new economic superpower-new enemy debates in America. Wang argues that this discontent is struggling to articulate some sort of agenda and it made such an attempt in 1989, with the results of the crackdown being a renewed determination by the Dengists not simply to permit, but force capitalism on China with the use of state violence. On this, China's neoliberals are silent.

Wang Hui offers a radical third view on China from the perspective of an insider. In writing, he indicts both a party that has failed to live up to its own ideals of social justice and equality and the so-called critics of the party who benefit from its domestic gunboat capitalism. Wang reminds us that the students, as well as other less visible social groups, didn't just sing the Beatles in '89 (with some in the world hoping they'd take the lyrics of "Revolution" to heart and embrace the post-revolution McWorld), they also sang the Internationale. Those interested in such interpretations of contemporary China may also enjoy Streetlife China by Michael Dutton. ... Read more

Book Description

This book introduces students to new ways of thinking about culture and development. The book integrates the recent scholarship in the area of cultural studies within the existing frameworks of development studies, which have primarily focused on issues of political economy and structural transformation. Rather than viewing culture as simply an attribute of the societies undergoing development, this text critically examines how "development" itself operates as a cultural process. The authors draw on theories of modernity, poststructuralism and post-colonial studies to show how development institutions, processes and practices are inevitably caught up in a web of cultural presuppositions, values and meanings.

The authors use the themes of gender, tradition and identity, human rights and new communication technologies to explore the challenges that processes of cultural change pose to conventional understandings of development. The book concludes by considering the move beyond "development" to a "post-development" paradigm.

The book is made up of thematic chapters which include outlines and overviews of the specific topics, as well as case studies to illustrate the issues. The authors have designed the book specifically for students and teachers and the material included has been class-tested during their own teaching. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

Good for "Beginners"
This book was chosen as a required reading for a course I took about Globalization and Development. Having no prior knowledge about this topic, I felt that the Rist book provided a good introduction to the topic for "beginners". However, the tone tends to offer a pessimistic view of the situations presented. ... Read more

Book Description

What did the Latin American economies achieve in the course of a hundred years? Per capita income increased fivefold, yet today it is lower in proportion to the industrial countries than it was a century ago. Modern infrastructure was built and industry grew to 20 percent of GDP, but the region's share of world trade was halved. Social indicators such as life expectancy and literacy improved dramatically, but inequity and poverty worsened.

This comprehensive economic history examines the political, institutional and economic forces that shaped Latin America's complex and often paradoxical development process over the twentieth century. By examining quantitative data alongside the region's political economies, the book provides historical context for the development strategies, choices, successes, and failures of the Latin American countries.

Commissioned by IDB President Enrique V. Iglesias, the book draws on studies and consultancies prepared by a number of specialists on Latin America. A comprehensive Statistical Appendix provides regionwide and country-by-country data in such areas as GDP, manufacturing, sector productivity, prices, trade, income distribution, and living standards.

Moving chronologically through the century, the book focuses on two dramatic waves of expansion that shaped regional growth: first, an export boom as the century began, and second, import-substitution industrialization corresponding to renewed expansion of the international economy following the Depression and the two World Wars. Following the debt crisis of the 1980s, Latin America at century's end has returned to where it began, with reliance on the free market and export-led growth. However, the book outlines the changes in economic structures and approaches that make today's economic scenario radically different from the old.

Reviews (1)

A Fascinating Way to Study History!!!
"Progress, Poverty and Exclusion. An Economic History of Latin America in the 20th Century" is a fascinating book from the cover to the annexes.The contrast between a XX th century modern city and a shanty town showed in the cover gives the reader an initial idea of the position of the writer regarding Latin American economic development.Poverty, exclusion and income concentration are problems that are inherent to the vast majority of Latin American economies and Rosemary Thorp makes sure that the reader remembers that throughout the book. Her social focus is perfectly compatible with a serious economic analysis based on well-documented facts and statistical data.Every student of Latin American history, politics and economics should have this book in his or her shelves.Furthermore, any scholar dealing with Latin American issues should not forget to read Thorp's work "every morning" to remember what is that the Latin American economies achieved in the course of a hundred years. Finally, I highly recommend accompanying the reading of this book with another masterpiece, "The Economic History of Latin America" by Victor Bulmer-Thomas ... Read more

Book Description

Is local economic development a "zero-sum game"? How do we know that "but for the incentives" the development would not have occurred? How important is "quality of life" in location decisions and local economic development? Is industry targeting a viable economic development strategy? This book tackles these and many other significant questionsùfrom more than one perspective. Dilemmas of Urban Economic Development assesses the "state of the art" of the field of urban economic development. Each chapter addresses a particularly pertinent issue in economic development. Following each chapter are commentariesùone written by an academic addressing research methodology and the other by a practitioner addressing both the question and the evidence. The chapters are concluded with the author of each chapter responding directly to the issues raised by the commentators. The result is a productive dialogue between academics, practitioners, and citizens concerned with economic development. ... Read more

Book Description

Rothbard's most famous monetary essay has appeared in multiple editions and influenced two generations of economists, investors, and businessmen. After presenting the basics of money and banking theory, he traces the decline of the dollar from the 18th century to the present, and provides lucid critiques of central banking, New Deal monetary policy, Nixonian fiat money, and fixed exchange rates. He also provides a blueprint for a return to a 100 percent reserve gold standard. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

You have to read it to believe it
This book is simply a classic, and I think that there is little in it that will be overturned by further discoveries about the nature of money. Of course, even if this was to happen, the book will remain one of the best and clearest introductions to the topic of money. The book is also a great example of expository and didactic prose, so it can also be read in that context.

In this book, Rothbard discusses the history and nature of money, and by doing both, explains to the reader what is wrong with the monetary system that the world operates on today. Parts of his writing will be familiar to anyone who has taken a course in economics where money was discussed. However, the more subtle facts about money (the money regression theorem, Gresham's Law, government intereference, the reasons he gives for the government's renunciation of the gold standard etc.) will be new and interesting territory for many readers. Of course, if the ideas of this book are read and combined with the other ideas espoused by Austrian Economics, of which the author was a great proponent, then the truth and coherence of his arguments are very strong.

I strongly recommend this book. Even those (like me) who do not agree with Rothbard's anarchism will find a lot in it that is good.

Must Read!
I teach a one-quarter course in economic principles, and I always use this wonderful little book for a portion of it. Although the book is not very long, and Rothbard's style is extremely readable, he packs a lot of information and perspective into it. My students have an overall high opinion of this book (and the predictable low opinion of the main text book). No previous background or knowledge of money, monetary history, or economics is required to read and understand this great work. Rothbard starts in a "Robinson Crusoe" world, that is, a world in which Crusoe is the only person. He then adds more people, and shows how money arises, and exactly what money is (and what it is NOT!). I not only highly recommend it, I REQUIRE it for my students.

A concise wake-up call for fiscal responsibility
I know what you're thinking: "Wow, a book on the finer points of monetary policy and its geopolitical legacies throughout history....my eyelids are getting heavy already..." You may not, however, get to sleep too quickly afterward as a result of this book-it's too short and well-written for that. Plus, the implications of a collapse in the value of the dollar and having all of your life savings being worth a medium-sized Pepsi at Burger King is not all that comforting, either. While the furor over money and its value has died down considerably since the 1970s, Inflation, unfathomable amounts of government debt, and ever increasing amounts of spending on all fronts means that asking "where did the money go?" will not soon go out of style.
Murray Rothbard, one of the most influential economists of the late 20th century, wrote this book-essentially a glorified policy memo (read: Math-free reading)-at the end of the 1970s, when America was in the final stages of the most devastating period of inflation in its history. His book, "What Has Government Done to Our Money?", talks about what money is and can be, the ways in which currency REALLY works, why more "money" in everybody's pocket really isn't "more money", and how almost all of any government intervention into the realm of the worth of money makes things worse instead of better. And just when you wonder about how any of this applies to the real world, it charts a course from the Worldwide Gold Standard years of end of the 19th century up through the late 1970s. He looks at how great coutries like America, Great Britain, and others almost bakrupted themselves and their citizens through ignorant and irresponsible policies regarding their respective currencies. Through it all, he makes continuous and well-thought-out arguments for a standard of exchange based on an outside measure of value-gold-and pleas for governments of all kinds to exercise financial restraint.
If you ever wondered about why prices keep going up, if you ever wondered why cars don't cost $2,000 anymore, if you asked questions like this and never thought you were getting a full answer, this is the book you need to read. You may never look at money the same way again, and you'll probably be richer for it, too.

Liberty Classic
In the course of five decades the world has gone through many disasters and catastrophes. The policies that brought about these unfortunate events have also affected the nation's currency systems. Sound money gave way to progressive depreciating fiat money. All countries in the world vexed by inflation and treatened by the gloomy prospects of a complete breakdown of their currencies. The great inflations of our age are not act of God. They are man-made or government-made; ascribed to governments the magic of power creating wealth out of nothing and of making people happy by raising the "national income".Sound economics had been prognosticated by inflationist and expansionist who refused to take correct daignosis of the monetary reconstruction...

Best presentation on the gold standard money can buy
This is book is beautiful in its simplicity. Rothbard first presents accurately what has historically happened when money is left up to the government. The important thing to remember is that Rothbard just doesn't make stuff up, he uses history to portray why the gold standard (and really, a privatized system of currency) is necessary for maximum freedom.

Even if you're not a Libertarian or an economist, you will appreciate Rothbard's perspective on the money you use everyday. Agree or disagree, this book is great. ... Read more

Book Description

How do the public policies of the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom stack up against one another? Comparing Public Policies combines a conceptual discussion of policy-making with an examination of seven specific policy areas using a cross-national perspective. Adolino and Blake strike a balance between policy analysis and description as they provide students with a helpful mix of analytical tools and background information.

The book begins with a concise overview of the policy process and then considers the role of cultural, economic, political, and institutional influences on policy-making. A brief chapter describes the political system of the six countries and provides necessary context. The core of the book is devoted to seven policy areas: immigration, fiscal policy, taxation, health care, social policy, education, and the environment. Each chapter shares a common framework that begins with an introduction to a policy topic, follows with its examination in each country, and concludes with an analysis of cross-national trends-past and present-in policy choices, outcomes, and dynamics. A final chapter re-examines the internationalization of public policy in industrialized countries. Adolino and Blake also consider how policymakers use this comparative perspective to guide them in their policy choices and help them pursue those choices within the political process.

Useful pedagogical features have been incorporated throughout the text. "In Depth" boxes offer students a more detailed discussion of a policy issue, political process, or analytical technique while "Country At-a-Glance" boxes provide quick reference to the political institutions of each country. A wealth of recent data is displayed in numerous tables and a glossary gives students a practical guide to terminology. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (6)

The Politics of Writing
The Writers of books like Unholy Trnity make very little money for their hard work (usually a few hundred dollars a year for 3-4 years). They write books like this out of political commitment. And then people like "Not Right" (though he or she probably is, Right Wing) criticize the author for responding to an obviously political critique! This book, as the Publishers Weekly review says, provides a scholarly grounding for the anti-WTO, IMF and World Bank protests. The group of students and faculty who worked on it did a splendid job. Read it and you will see.

Not Right
I think that it is pathetic for one of the authors to actually review and rate his own book. It seems as if this person is obsessed with selling as many copies of his book as possible. This type of greed is exactly what he pretends to be writing against. It is also wrong for someone (perhaps also one of the authors), to attack another reviewer, just because he/she did not like the book. These things say a lot about the author/s of this volume.

Florida again
The Florida reviewer criticizes the book's discussion of Foucault, but doesnt know how to spell his (Foucault's) name! Specify the criticisms so they can be replied to. Dont leave them as empty words. So the concept of hegemony used in the book, or which data are not backed up with sources? I dont find any. What we have here is a political attack disguised as a factual review.

Horrible
Please do not buy this book; the author (...) lacks any knowledge of the topic he discusses. The whole discussion about Focault and the so-called "hegemony" is irrational and wrong. The authour is (...) prone to endorsing irrational ideas. The whole discussion of certain countries' roles (Argentina-Brazil) is simply wrong; the account given of those countries' recent history is false. The economic figures provided in the book are also false; no source of them is provided. Please do not buy this book(...).

Posing new questions, not answering ready-made ones
I am a contributing author to this book. This book was written over a period of two years, during which the authors carried an extensive and detailed research on how the global institutions came to be central actors in the contemporary global political economy, and why do they operate the way they do. We looked into the internal structure of these institutions, the broad political and economic context in which they emerged, and their historical transformations in the face of a changing world, in order to deconstruct their seeming inevitability and neutrality, and to situate them in real historical-geographical circumstances. We sought to explain and criticize the instrumental role these institutions play in producing economic and geographical inequality, and massive human misery all over the world in the name of development. The authors were not "obliged to give a negative view" because of the title of the book, as our 'critic' suggests, rather, because of what we found in researching the history and geography of these institutions. (And, for the authors, an unholy trinity sounds as "negative" as a holy one!)

We do not pretend to approach the subject with a neutral, apolitical attitude-our ultimate aim in writing this book is to explore different possibilities, and different worlds. Like our critic, we wonder what kind of world it would be without the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO; but we wonder for the future, not to justify and apologize for the past and present (mis)deeds of these institutions. We deliberately did not present "the other side"-by which is meant the global institutions' view of themselves; the reader can find such views in the many publications of the institutions and their apologists. They're literally all over the place, and this is one reason that motivated us to work on an alternative view, a different history. For not presenting arguments in favor of these institutions (although we always present them at length where we criticize them!), and although he finds the text "sometimes hard to understand" (quoting sentences out of context to demonstrate), our critic describes our analyses as superficial, and the discussion shallow. Maybe our critic was expecting to read another kind of book; better, maybe our critic would like to read the book again, and give another thought to what is truly "the other side". ... Read more

Book Description

This book looks beyond politics to show how the ability of the U.S. government to implement policies is strongly affected by various economic constraints. These include the credibility of the policies, the ability of government to commit to them, the extent to which firms and consumers rationally anticipate their effects, whether the success of a policy further encourages firms and individuals to behave in intended ways, and whether the behavior of such actors can be sustained without continued government intervention. The authors apply these concepts to four areas of policy: macroeconomic policies to promote employment and economic growth, redistributive policies to benefit the poor and the elderly, production policies to provide goods and services, and regulatory policies to guide the behavior of firms and individuals. In doing so they provide plausible explanations of many puzzling phenomena�for example, why government has been successful in reducing cigarette smoking, but has failed to get people to install and maintain emission-control devices in their cars.This book recasts debates about public policy, avoiding conventional �pro-government� or �anti-government� positions; rather, it helps to predict when public policy will succeed. ... Read more

Book Description

Providing the first theoretical analysis of regulation of public services for less developed countries (LDCs), Jean-Jacques Laffont demonstrates how the debate between price-cap regulation and cost of service regulation is affected by the characteristics of LDCs. Laffont develops a new theory of regulation with limited enforcement capabilities, and discusses the delicate issue of access pricing in view of LDCs' specificities. His evaluation of the different ways to organize the regulatory institutions makes a significant contribution to the field. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Wait until the dust settles
Of course neo-conservatives and the pro-war left will chant at me that the world has changed since the US/UK entente acted bilaterally and did not approach the UN for a second resolution on Iraq. Save your breath! I've heard it all before...

When the dust settles and there is a world realignment, the realist tendencies of states will again rise to dominate IR. You can even quote me on it.

I'm sure the framers of NAFTA and the FTAA had just these ideas in mind. Students of IPE: take notes!

Thorough scholarship and somewhat prescient
This is an extremely pertinent book for the next millenium. It is also quite popular in policy circles inside the Beltway. It is an indeispensible text for all Americans concerned with the future of international trade and the ongoing pathologies of our current trade regimes and the power relations they sustain to the detriment of the vast majority of human beings and the planet. It is thorough and scholarly throughout. While it is best read with a cup of Joe on a rainy day, it is worth the time and pays rereading many times over in light of current events. It's only shortcoming is it's neglect of the ecological dimensions of international trade and politics, nevertheless, it is a book for all who care about the human future.

A multi-course meal to political economy
Robert Gilpin's in-depth coverage of the multi-faceted world of political economy comes to fruition in tedium in the pages of this book. There is not a single author who puts together a traditional or classical view of the enviornment, international relations, economic policy, and strategy in such a comprehensive manner. Gilpin shows his true scholarly intellect of those before him and provides encouragement for those to follow. ... Read more