The 2008 collapse of the US financial system plunged the economy into the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, raising deep moral and institutional questions about the problems of econo
The American economy faces two deep problems: expanding innovation and raising the rate of quality job creation. Both have roots in a neglected problem: the resistance of Legacy economic sectors to in
Public Universities and Regional Growth examines evolutions in research and innovation at six University of California campuses. Each chapter presents a deep, historical analysis that traces the dynam
Public Universities and Regional Growth examines evolutions in research and innovation at six University of California campuses. Each chapter presents a deep, historical analysis that traces the dynam
"The Doi Moi reforms initiated in Vietnam in 1986 to lead the transition from a centrally-planned to a market-oriented economy have entailed deep institutional transformations. At the national level,
To argue against the widely proclaimed idea of American decline might seem a lonely task. After all, the problems are real and serious. Yet if we take a longer view, much of the discourse about decline appears exaggerated, hyperbolic and ahistorical. Why? First, because of the deep underlying strengths of the United States. These include not only size, population, demography and resources, but also the scale and importance of its economy and financial markets, its scientific research and technology, its competitiveness, its military power and its attractiveness to talented immigrants. Second, there is the weight of history and of American exceptionalism. Throughout its history, the United States has repeatedly faced and eventually overcome daunting challenges and crises. Contrary to a prevailing pessimism, there is nothing inevitable about American decline. Ultimately, the ability to avoid serious decline is less a question of material factors than of policy, leadership and political w
The miracle growth of the Chinese economy has decreased from a compound annual growth rate of 10% to less than 7% in 2015. The two engines of growth - export on a scale never before witnessed and massive infrastructure investments - are reaching the point of diminishing returns. This poses the central question which is explored in this book - can China escape the middle-income trap? Assuming current political arrangements remain unchanged and that it does not or cannot adopt Western sociopolitical economic regimes, can China develop an indigenous growth model centered on innovation? This compilation gathers leading Chinese and other international scholars to consider the daunting challenges and complexities of building an innovation-driven Chinese growth model. Providing several comprehensive perspectives, it examines key areas such as the institutional system, technology, sociocultural forces and national policy. The analyses and their conclusions range from strong optimism to deep pe
Freedmen occupied a complex and often problematic place in Roman society between slaves on the one hand and freeborn citizens on the other. Playing an extremely important role in the economic life of the Roman world, they were also a key instrument for replenishing and even increasing the size of the citizen body. This book presents an original synthesis, for the first time covering both Republic and Empire in a single volume. While providing up-to-date discussions of most significant aspects of the phenomenon, the book also offers a new understanding of the practice of manumission, its role in the organisation of slave labour and the Roman economy, as well as the deep-seated ideological concerns to which it gave rise. It locates the freedman in a broader social and economic context, explaining the remarkable popularity of manumission in the Roman world.
In his bestselling 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism, Cambridge economist Ha-Joon Chang brilliantly debunked many of the predominant myths of neoclassical economics. Now, in an entertaining and accessible primer, he explains how the global economy actually works--in real-world terms. Writing with irreverent wit, a deep knowledge of history, and a disregard for conventional economic pieties, Chang offers insights that will never be found in the textbooks.Unlike many economists, who present only one view of their discipline, Chang introduces a wide range of economic theories, from classical to Keynesian, revealing how each has its strengths and weaknesses, and why there is no one way to explain economic behavior. Instead, by ignoring the received wisdom and exposing the myriad forces that shape our financial world, Chang gives us the tools we need to understand our increasingly global and interconnected world often driven by economics. From the future of the Euro, inequality
A House Dividing compares Virginia and Pennsylvania to answer a crucial question of American history: how did slavery undermine the development of the southern economy? Extensive archival research reveals that in the first decades of the nineteenth century, local residents in each state financed transportation improvements to raise land values and spur commercial growth. In the 1830s, however, Philadelphia capitalists began financing Pennsylvania's railroad network, eventually building integrated systems that reached deep within the Midwest. Virginia's railroads, still dependent upon local investment and funds from the state government, remained a collection of local lines without western connections. The lack of a great city that could provide capital and traffic for large-scale railroads was the Achilles' heel of Virginia's slave economy. The chains of slavery, Virginians learned to their dismay, also shackled the invisible hand of the market.
In this fresh study Brian Schoen views the Deep South and its cotton industry from a global perspective, revisiting old assumptions and providing new insights into the region, the political history o
The Maya built one of the great ancient civilizations in the New World, between AD 250 and 900. Famed for over 150 years for its cities buried deep in the Central American jungle, the origins of Maya culture have, nevertheless, remained obscure until quite recently. Over the past two decades, the Preclassic origins of complex society in the Maya area have been established by a series of innovative research projects. Among the best known of these is the study of Cuello, the earliest-known ancient Maya settlement. Excavations at Cuello over several seasons from 1975 to 1987 have yielded an unmatched picture of a pioneer tropical forest community. In this volume the origins of Maya civilization 1500 years ago are documented with detailed evidence on the environment, economy, buildings, crafts, ritual practices, burials and artistic imagery.
The geography of contemporary U.S. political economy has roots that run deep into our past. Earle traces their growth to the seventeenth-century origins of liberalism, republicanism, and financial cri
Fifty years ago, enactment of the Wagner National Labor Relations Act gave American organized labour what it has regarded ever since as one of its greatest assets: a legislative guarantee of the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively. Yet although the Wagner Act's guarantees remain substantially unaltered, organized labour in America today is in deep decline. Addressing this apparent paradox, Christopher Tomlins offers here a critical examination of the impact of the National Labor Relations Act on American unions. By studying the intentions and goals of policy makers in the context of the development of labour law from the late nineteenth century, and by looking carefully at the course of labour history since the act's passage, Dr Tomlins shows how public policy has been shaped to confine labour's role in the American economy, and that many of the unions' problems stem from the laws which purport to protect them.
This was the first comprehensive analysis of slavery in early colonial South Africa under the Dutch East India Company (1652–1795) when it was published in 1985. Based on archival research in Britain, the Netherlands and South Africa, it examines the nature of Cape slavery with reference to the literature on other slave societies. Dr Worden shows how the slave economy developed in town and countryside, and discusses the dynamics of the slave market, the growth of land concentration, the harsh life on the farm, and the developing polarisation of rural race relations. He analyses the relation of fear and brutality in small farming communities and demonstrates that, contrary to previous assumptions, small-scale slavery produced conditions as severe as those experienced in the large-scale slave-holding systems of the Deep South. This important study contributes to an understanding of the development of South African colonial society and to comparative slave studies.
Before the Luddites is a study of the early Industrial Revolution in the English woollen cloth-making industry in the West of England and Yorkshire which concentrates upon the social background of and response to change. It is particularly concerned to explain the reasons for and the effect of Luddism. This book argues that resistance to machinery had a long history before the Luddite disturbances of 1811–12 and that this response to change sprang from a community culture which was deep-rooted and hostile to the values of economic individualism embodied by the new economy and to laissez-faire.
During the post-World War II period, a pattern emerged in several European countries: the concentrated and centralized political regulation of the economy, based on the adoption of Keynesian policies, the development of the welfare state and moderately successful attempts at tripartite integration. This pattern entered a deep crisis in the 1980s however, and in the view of many observers, was replaced by a far-reaching deregulation of the economy. The author argues that social and political institutions have by no means lost their ability to structure economic activities. They have, in fact, shaped the different ways in which the European economies have adjusted to market conditions. A pattern of 'micro-social' regulation of European economies emerged as a potential candidate to take the place of the 'macropolitical' one. This volume discusses the conditions under which a change from a macro to a micro form takes place, as well as the features of the emerging pattern.
Before the Luddites is a study of the early Industrial Revolution in the English woollen cloth-making industry in the West of England and Yorkshire which concentrates upon the social background of and response to change. It is particularly concerned to explain the reasons for and the effect of Luddism. This book argues that resistance to machinery had a long history before the Luddite disturbances of 1811–12 and that this response to change sprang from a community culture which was deep-rooted and hostile to the values of economic individualism embodied by the new economy and to laissez-faire.
During the post-World War II period, a pattern emerged in several European countries: the concentrated and centralized political regulation of the economy, based on the adoption of Keynesian policies, the development of the welfare state and moderately successful attempts at tripartite integration. This pattern entered a deep crisis in the 1980s however, and in the view of many observers, was replaced by a far-reaching deregulation of the economy. The author argues that social and political institutions have by no means lost their ability to structure economic activities. They have, in fact, shaped the different ways in which the European economies have adjusted to market conditions. A pattern of 'micro-social' regulation of European economies emerged as a potential candidate to take the place of the 'macropolitical' one. This volume discusses the conditions under which a change from a macro to a micro form takes place, as well as the features of the emerging pattern.
To argue against the widely proclaimed idea of American decline might seem a lonely task. After all, the problems are real and serious. Yet if we take a longer view, much of the discourse about decline appears exaggerated, hyperbolic and ahistorical. Why? First, because of the deep underlying strengths of the United States. These include not only size, population, demography and resources, but also the scale and importance of its economy and financial markets, its scientific research and technology, its competitiveness, its military power and its attractiveness to talented immigrants. Second, there is the weight of history and of American exceptionalism. Throughout its history, the United States has repeatedly faced and eventually overcome daunting challenges and crises. Contrary to a prevailing pessimism, there is nothing inevitable about American decline. Ultimately, the ability to avoid serious decline is less a question of material factors than of policy, leadership and political w
