Best of
Economics

1990

Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action


Elinor Ostrom - 1990
    Both state control and privatization of resources have been advocated, but neither the state nor the market have been uniformly successful in solving common pool resource problems. After critiquing the foundations of policy analysis as applied to natural resources, Elinor Ostrom here provides a unique body of empirical data to explore conditions under which common pool resource problems have been satisfactorily or unsatisfactorily solved. Dr. Ostrom first describes three models most frequently used as the foundation for recommending state or market solutions. She then outlines theoretical and empirical alternatives to these models in order to illustrate the diversity of possible solutions. In the following chapters she uses institutional analysis to examine different ways--both successful and unsuccessful--of governing the commons. In contrast to the proposition of the tragedy of the commons argument, common pool problems sometimes are solved by voluntary organizations rather than by a coercive state. Among the cases considered are communal tenure in meadows and forests, irrigation communities and other water rights, and fisheries.

The Anti-Politics Machine: "Development," Depoliticization, and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho


James Ferguson - 1990
    When these projects fail, as they do with astonishing regularity, they nonetheless produce a host of regular and unacknowledged effects, including the expansion of bureaucratic state power and the translation of the political realities of poverty and powerlessness into "technical" problems awaiting solution by "development" agencies and experts. It is the political intelligibility of these effects, along with the process that produces them, that this book seeks to illuminate through a detailed case study of the workings of the "development" industry in one country, Lesotho, and in one "development" project.Using an anthropological approach grounded in the work of Foucault, James Ferguson analyzes the institutional framework within which such projects are crafted and the nature of "development discourse," revealing how it is that, despite all the "expertise" that goes into formulating development projects, they nonetheless often demonstrate a startling ignorance of the historical and political realities of the locale they are intended to help. In a close examination of the attempted implementation of the Thaba-Tseka project in Lesotho, Ferguson shows how such a misguided approach plays out, how, in fact, the "development" apparatus in Lesotho acts as an "anti-politics machine," everywhere whisking political realities out of sight and all the while performing, almost unnoticed, its own pre-eminently political operation of strengthening the state presence in the local region.James Ferguson is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of California at Irvine.

A Short History of Financial Euphoria


John Kenneth Galbraith - 1990
    The world-renowned economist offers "dourly irreverent analyses of financial debacle from the tulip craze of the seventeenth century to the recent plague of junk bonds."—The Atlantic.

The Competitive Advantage of Nations


Michael E. Porter - 1990
    Porter’s groundbreaking study of international competitiveness has shaped national policy in countries around the world. It has also transformed thinking and action in states, cities, companies, and even entire regions such as Central America.Based on research in ten leading trading nations, The Competitive Advantage of Nations offers the first theory of competitiveness based on the causes of the productivity with which companies compete. Porter shows how traditional comparative advantages such as natural resources and pools of labor have been superseded as sources of prosperity, and how broad macroeconomic accounts of competitiveness are insufficient. The book introduces Porter’s “diamond,” a whole new way to understand the competitive position of a nation (or other locations) in global competition that is now an integral part of international business thinking. Porter's concept of “clusters,” or groups of interconnected firms, suppliers, related industries, and institutions that arise in particular locations, has become a new way for companies and governments to think about economies, assess the competitive advantage of locations, and set public policy. Even before publication of the book, Porter’s theory had guided national reassessments in New Zealand and elsewhere. His ideas and personal involvement have shaped strategy in countries as diverse as the Netherlands, Portugal, Taiwan, Costa Rica, and India, and regions such as Massachusetts, California, and the Basque country. Hundreds of cluster initiatives have flourished throughout the world. In an era of intensifying global competition, this pathbreaking book on the new wealth of nations has become the standard by which all future work must be measured.

Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance


Douglass C. North - 1990
    Institutions exist, he argues, due to the uncertainties involved in human interaction; they are the constraints devised to structure that interaction. Yet, institutions vary widely in their consequences for economic performance; some economies develop institutions that produce growth and development, while others develop institutions that produce stagnation. North first explores the nature of institutions and explains the role of transaction and production costs in their development. The second part of the book deals with institutional change. Institutions create the incentive structure in an economy, and organizations will be created to take advantage of the opportunities provided within a given institutional framework. North argues that the kinds of skills and knowledge fostered by the structure of an economy will shape the direction of change and gradually alter the institutional framework. He then explains how institutional development may lead to a path-dependent pattern of development. In the final part of the book, North explains the implications of this analysis for economic theory and economic history. He indicates how institutional analysis must be incorporated into neo-classical theory and explores the potential for the construction of a dynamic theory of long-term economic change. Douglass C. North is Director of the Center of Political Economy and Professor of Economics and History at Washington University in St. Louis. He is a past president of the Economic History Association and Western Economics Association and a Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has written over sixty articles for a variety of journals and is the author of The Rise of the Western World: A New Economic History (CUP, 1973, with R.P. Thomas) and Structure and Change in Economic History (Norton, 1981). Professor North is included in Great Economists Since Keynes edited by M. Blaug (CUP, 1988 paperback ed.)

The Enterprise of Law: Justice Without the State


Bruce L. Benson - 1990
    Includes details on how private sector institutions can support social order, foster cooperation and reduce violent confrontations.

Econometric Analysis


William H. Greene - 1990
    This title is aimed at courses in applied econometrics, political methodology, and sociological methods or a one-year graduate course in econometrics for social scientists.

Preferential Policies: An International Perspective


Thomas Sowell - 1990
    Governments as diverse as those of India, South Africa, Israel, and the United States are examined for their mandated unequal treatment of individuals from the same criteria.

Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth, and Power at the Edge of the 21st Century


Alvin Toffler - 1990
    The very nature of power is changing under your eyes.

Economic Freedom and Interventionism: An Anthology of Articles and Essays


Ludwig von Mises - 1990
    This volume contains forty-seven articles edited by Mises scholar Bettina Bien Greaves. Among them are Mises’s expositions of the role of government, his discussion of inequality of wealth, inflation, socialism, welfare, and economic education, as well as his exploration of the “deeper” significance of economics as it affects seemingly noneconomic relations between human beings. These papers are essential reading for students of economic freedom and the science of human action.Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973) was the leading spokesman of the Austrian School of Economics throughout most of the twentieth century. He earned his doctorate in law and economics from the University of Vienna in 1906. In 1926, Mises founded the Austrian Institute for Business Cycle Research. From 1909 to 1934, he was an economist for the Vienna Chamber of Commerce. Before the Anschluss, in 1934 Mises left for Geneva, where he was a professor at the Graduate Institute of International Studies until 1940, when he emigrated to New York City. From 1948 to 1969, he was a visiting professor at New York University.Bettina Bien Greaves is a former resident scholar, trustee, and longtime staff member of the Foundation for Economic Education. She has written and lectured extensively on topics of free market economics. Her articles have appeared in such journals as Human Events, Reason, and The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty. A student of Mises, Greaves has become an expert on his work in particular and that of the Austrian School of economics in general. She has translated several Mises monographs, compiled an annotated bibliography of his work, and edited collections of papers by Mises and other members of the Austrian School.

The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic Progress


Joel Mokyr - 1990
    But why are some nations more creative than others, and why do some highly innovative societies--such as ancient China, or Britain in the industrial revolution--pass into stagnation? Beginning with a fascinating, concise history of technological progress, Mokyr sets the background for his analysis by tracing the major inventions and innovations that have transformed society since ancient Greece and Rome. What emerges from this survey is often surprising: the classical world, for instance, was largely barren of new technology, the relatively backward society of medieval Europe bristled with inventions, and the period between the Reformation and the Industrial Revolution was one of slow and unspectacular progress in technology, despite the tumultuous developments associated with the Voyages of Discovery and the Scientific Revolution.What were the causes of technological creativity? Mokyr distinguishes between the relationship of inventors and their physical environment--which determined their willingness to challenge nature--and the social environment, which determined the openness to new ideas. He discusses a long list of such factors, showing how they interact to help or hinder a nation's creativity, and then illustrates them by a number of detailed comparative studies, examining the differences between Europe and China, between classical antiquity and medieval Europe, and between Britain and the rest of Europe during the industrial revolution. He examines such aspects as the role of the state (the Chinese gave up a millennium-wide lead in shipping to the Europeans, for example, when an Emperor banned large ocean-going vessels), the impact of science, as well as religion, politics, and even nutrition. He questions the importance of such commonly-cited factors as the spill-over benefits of war, the abundance of natural resources, life expectancy, and labor costs. Today, an ever greater number of industrial economies are competing in the global market, locked in a struggle that revolves around technological ingenuity. The Lever of Riches, with its keen analysis derived from a sweeping survey of creativity throughout history, offers telling insights into the question of how Western economies can maintain, and developing nations can unlock, their creative potential.

Faith and Wealth: A History of Early Christian Ideas on the Origin, Significance, and Use of Money


Justo L. González - 1990
    This brilliant and thorough study is a history of the views that Christians held of the origin, significance and use of wealth. Justo Gonzalez examines early Christian ideas, beliefs and teachings about the use of money, property, communal sharing and the rights and obligations of rich and poor. Setting the Christian community in the political, social and economic contexts of the times, Gonzalez highlights the ideas of such prominent writers as Cyprian, Ambrose, Augustine, John Chrysostom, and the Desert Fathers concerning wealth -- noting what traditional scholarship has overlooked. As the author points out, this book is not a social or economic history of Christianity during the first four centuries; it is a history of the views that Christians held on economic matters. This profound, enlightening and highly readable work of excellent scholarship is a major contribution to the study of the history of Christian thought. It clearly demonstrates that the issues of economics and social justice are central theological concerns, deeply rooted in Christian doctrine and Christian tradition.

Hunger and Public Action


Jean Drèze - 1990
    They explore famine prevention through a series of case studies in Africa and elsewhere, and discuss the problem of chronic undernourishment. Sen was awarded the second Agnelli Prize for the Ethical Dimension in Advanced Societies in March 1990 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the understanding of the ethical dimension in modern society.

Assets and the Poor: New American Welfare Policy


Michael Sherraden - 1990
    It argues for an asset-based policy that would create a system of saving incentives through individual development accounts (IDAs) for specific purposes, such as college education, homeownership, self-employment and retirement security. In this way, low-income Americans could gain the same opportunities that middle- and upper-income citizens have to plan ahead, set aside savings and invest in a more secure future.

The Downfall of Capitalism and Communism: Can Capitalism Be Saved?


Ravi Batra - 1990
    

Equilibrium Unemployment Theory


Christopher A. Pissarides - 1990
    This book focuses on the modeling of the transitions in and out of unemployment, given the stochastic processes that break up jobs and lead to the formation of new jobs, and on the implications of this approach for macroeconomic equilibrium and for the efficiency of the labor market.--mitpress.mit.edu

A Death Feast in Dimlahamid


Terry Glavin - 1990
    The decision vindicated the fifty-two Gitkan and We'suwe'en chiefs named as the plaintiffs in the court case, and completely rewrites the rules for resolving Native title in Canada.Epic battles with bear spirits in the streets of an ancient mythical city, logging-road showdowns deep in the Skeena Mountains, and forays into courtrooms and boardrooms in Vancouver punctuate Glavin's eminently readable account of this land claims case.This new edition reprints the complete text of the original 1990 edition, and adds a new chapter that takes up the narrative from the point when the case was still before the BC Supreme Court, follows the tumultuous events from Oka to the establishment of the BC Treaty Commission, examines the landscape that lies behind the incoherence and hysteria surrounding aboriginal rights in British Columbia, and looks ahead to a post-Delgamuukw Canada.

Marketing Your Services: A Step-By-Step Guide for Small Businesses and Professionals


Anthony O. Putnam - 1990
    Now, here's a book that shows you, step by step, how to market your services--painlessly, confidently, profitably. Marketing Your Services shows you: * How to define and promote your services to the right market * How to differentiate your business from other similar businesses * How to price and package your services * How to turn qualified prospects into customers and build long-term relationships with clients This is the best book I have seen about Marketing--making your mark in a way that hits the mark. You will be provoked, persuaded, and pleased by this guidebook for painless marketing mastery. --Chip R. Bell Author, Service Wisdom Simply put, this is the most useful book on marketing for service firms I know of. It is also the best written. Read it. --Clay Carr Author, Front-Line Customer Service An excellent guide to the marketing maze for any small business that wants to get a firm handle on just what service they provide, and learn how to enjoy making money doing it. --Martin T. Cannon Director, Paper Product Development The Procter & Gamble Company

The Economics and Sociology of Capitalism


Joseph A. Schumpeter - 1990
    Schumpeter (1883-1950) made seminal contributions not only to economic theory but also to sociology and economic history. His work is now attracting wide attention among sociologists, as well as experiencing a remarkable revival among economists. This anthology, which serves as an excellent introduction to Schumpeter, emphasizes his broad socio-economic vision and his attempt to analyze economic reality from several different perspectives. An ambitious introductory essay by Richard Swedberg uses many new sources to enhance our understanding of Schumpeter's life and work and to help analyze his fascinating character. This essay stresses Schumpeter's ability to draw on several social sciences in his study of capitalism.Some of the articles in the anthology are published for the first time. The most important of these are Schumpeter's Lowell Lectures from 1941, "An Economic Interpretation of Our Time." Also included is the transcript of his lecture "Can Capitalism Survive?" (1936) and the high-spirited debate that followed. The anthology contains many of Schumpeter's classical sociological articles, such as his essays on the tax state, imperialism, and social classes. And, finally, there are lesser known articles on the future of private enterprise, on the concept of rationality in the social sciences, and on the work of Max Weber, with whom Schumpeter collaborated on several occasions.

Going Green: A Kid's Handbook to Saving the Planet


John Elkington - 1990
    This comprehensive guide introduces young readers to the major concepts of ecology and provides them with ways in which they can make a contribution to saving the planet. Full color throughout.

Prospects for Growth: A Biblical View of Population, Resources, and the Future


E. Calvin Beisner - 1990
    

Governing the Market: Economic Theory and the Role of Government in East Asian Industrialization


Robert Wade - 1990
    In it, Wade challenged claims both of those who saw the East Asian story as a vindication of free market principles and of those who attributed the success of Taiwan and other countries to government intervention. Instead, Wade turned attention to the way allocation decisions were divided between markets and public administration and the synergy between them. Now, in a new introduction to this paperback edition, Wade reviews the debate about industrial policy in East and Southeast Asia and chronicles the changing fortunes of these economies over the 1990s. He extends the original argument to explain the boom of the first half of the decade and the crash of the second, stressing the links between corporations, banks, governments, international capital markets, and the International Monetary Fund. From this, Wade goes on to outline a new agenda for national and international development policy.

Money, Method, and the Market Process: Essays by Ludwig von Mises


Ludwig von Mises - 1990
    EbelingThis volume might be called the Mises Reader, for it contains a wide sampling of his academic essays on money, trade, and economic systems. Some of them, like "Observations on the Cooperative Movement," have not been published previously. Others, like "The Idea of Liberty Is Western," have already made their mark on intellectual history.Brought together by Mrs. Mises after her husband's death, and edited with an introduction by Richard Ebeling, this volume fills an important gap in providing an overview of Ludwig von Mises's best academic work. For that reason, this book is already widely used in graduate courses and seminars on the resurgence of the Austrian School.

Economic Laws And Economic History


Charles P. Kindleberger - 1990
    Too many economists discover a relationship or a uniformity in economic behavior, develop a model, and use it to explain more than it is capable of, including on occasion all economic behavior. In Economic Laws and Economic History Charles Kindleberger makes a powerful case against the idea that any one model or law could be used to unlock the basic secrets of economic history.

The Political Theory Of Swedish Social Democracy: Through The Welfare State To Socialism


Timothy Alan Tilton - 1990
    Its success is often attributed to its pragmatism rather than its consistent ideological commitment. This book argues that, on the contrary, Sweden's distinctive economic and social policiescannot be understood apart from the ideological convictions of several generations of political leaders and thinkers. Examining the thinking of major figures in Swedish Social Democracy (including Hjalmar Branting, Gunnar Myrdal, and Olof Palme), this book provides the first up-to-date survey ofthe party's ideological development from its origins in the 1880s until the present.

Bargaining and Markets


Martin J. Osborne - 1990
    This book discusses two recent developments in this theory. The first uses the tool of extensive games to construct theories of bargaining in which time is modeled explicitly. The second applies the theory of bargaining to the study of decentralized markets. Rather than surveying the field, the authors present a select number of models, each of which illustrates a key point. In addition, they give detailed proofs throughout the book. It uses a small number of models, rather than a survey of the field, to illustrate key points, and includes detailed proofs given as explanations for the models. The text has been class-tested in a semester-long graduate course.

The Unbroken Chain: Biographical Sketches and Genealogy of Illustrious Jewish Families from the 15th-20th Century, Volume 1 & 2


Neil Rosenstein - 1990
    Updated information This is a TWO VOLUME SET.

Two-Sided Matching: A Study in Game-Theoretic Modeling and Analysis


Alvin E. Roth - 1990
    The book begins with a discussion of empirical results concerning behavior in such markets, and then proceeds to analyze a variety of related models. Among the discrete and continuous models considered are those with complete or incomplete information, money or barter, single or multiple workers, and simple or complex preferences. The book examines the stability of outcomes, the modification of incentives to agents under different organizational rules, and the constraints imposed on market organization by the incentives. Using this wide range of related models and matching situations helps clarify which conclusions are robust and which depend on particular modeling assumptions.--back cover

Working Class Without Work: High School Students in A De-Industrializing Economy


Lois Weis - 1990
    Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The Transformation of Corporate Control


Neil Fligstein - 1990
    Fligstein traces the evolution, over the past century, of corporate strategy from an initial emphasis on direct control to one of manufacturing, then sales and marketing, and finally today's focus on finance.

Communities in Economic Crisis: Appalachia and the South


John Gaventa - 1990
    Earlier books have documented the low wages of the textile industry, boom-and-bust cycles of coal mining, and debt peonage of Southern agriculture that have established a heritage of poverty that endures. This book is a unique collection of essays by people who are actively involved in the efforts to challenge economic injustice in these regions and to empower the residents to build democratic alternatives. In the series Labor and Social Change, edited by Paula Rayman and Carmen Sirianni.

The Cultural Logic of the Late Capitalist Museum


Rosalind Krauss - 1990
    Points to the Guggenheim and its developing satellites under the directorship of Thomas Krens as the model for this new industrialized museum.

Small Property versus Big Government: Social Origins of the Property Tax Revolt, Expanded and Updated edition


Y.H. Lo Clarence - 1990
    Clarence Lo's investigation of California's Proposition 13 and other tax reduction bills is both a tribute and a warning to people who get "mad as hell" and try to do something about being pushed around by government. Homeowners in California, faced with impossible property tax bills in the 1970s, got mad and pushed back, starting an avalanche that swept tax limitation measures into state after state. What we learn is that, although the property tax was slashed, two-thirds of the benefits went to business owners rather than homeowners.How did a crusade launched by homeowning consumers seeking tax relief end up as a pro-business, supply-side political program? To trace the transformation, Lo uses the firsthand recollections of 120 activists in the movement, going back to the 1950s. He shows how their protests were ignored, until a suburban alliance of upper-middle-class property owners and business owners took charge. It was the program of that latter group, not the plight of the moderate-income homeowner, which inspired tax revolts across the nation and shaped the economic policies of the Reagan administration.

Understanding Unemployment


Lawrence H. Summers - 1990
    In Understanding Unemployment, Lawrence Summers and colleagues Kim Clark, James Poterba, Gregory Mankiw, Julio Rotemberg, and Olivier Blanchard explore new theories of joblessness that could eventually explain why unemployment remains high despite relatively healthy economic growth.

The Invisible Hand: Economic Equilibrium In The History Of Science


Bruna Ingrao - 1990
    It suggests that modeling a social science such as economics on the physical/mathematical sciences has created intractable problems, and that the basic structure of the theory needs rethinking. A meticulously researched work in the field of mathematical economics and pure theory, The Invisible Hand traces the evolution of general economic equilibrium theory in its rich interaction with the physical sciences over a period of more than 150 years. The authors discuss how the invisible hand that balances physical processes was inspiration and model for the creation of general economic equilibrium theory. Ingrao and Israel review fundamental concepts of the theory, showing how its early forms, strictly analogous to mechanical equilibrium, arose from the cultural atmosphere generated by Newtonianism and the French Enlightenment. They describe developments and changes in the theory from the work of Leon Walras and Vilfredo Pareto through restructuring by the Vienna group and John Von Neumann and the contributions of the Robbins group at the London School of Economics, to its current formulations in the work of Irving Fisher, Paul Samuelson, Kenneth Arrow, and Gerard Debreu. Concluding chapters survey the results obtained in attempts to deal with questions of the existence of equilibrium, its uniqueness, and the problem of global stability. Ingrao and Israel find that the theory has arrived at a dead end, which raises serious doubts about the internal consistency of the basic model.

Technical Change And Economic Theory


Giovanni Dosi - 1990
    

Economics On Trial: Lies, Myths, And Realities


Mark Skousen - 1990
    An economist and financial analyst, Mark Skousen puts today's economics on trial and finds it guilty! Based on 20 years of experience in the business and financial worlds, Skousen shows readers what economics is really all about.

The road to a free economy: shifting from a socialist system


János Kornai - 1990
    One of the central questions of this transition is how economic mechanisms may be used to help effect the change.

Negotiation Games


Steven J. Brams - 1990
    Game theory illustrates this to the full and shows how these problems can be solved.This is a revised edition of a classic book and uses some wonderfully adroit case studies that remain relevant today. Negotiation Games covers such themes as:- trade offs and the game of chicken- the effects of power in the cease-fire game- the use of threat power in sequential games - fallback bargaining and rational negotiation.Written by one of the leading game theorists of the generation, this book will be greatly appreciated not only by academics and students involved in game theory, economics, business and international relations, but also by those involved in diplomacy and international business.

Economics and the Philosophy of Science


Deborah A. Redman - 1990
    This important new book looks at the reliability of this practice and--in the process--provides economists, social scientists, and historians with the necessary background to discuss methodological matters with authority. Redman presents an accurate, critical, yet neutral survey of the modern philosophy of science from the Vienna Circle to the present, focusing particularly on logical positivism, sociological explanations of science (Polanyi, Fleck, Kuhn), the Popper family, and the history of science. She then deals with economic methodology in the twentieth century, looking at a wide range of methodological positions, especially those supported by positions from the philosophy of science.

Maldevelopment: Anatomy of a Global Failure


Samir Amin - 1990
    Written by a well-known political economist, this analysis addresses problems specific to the third world, with particular emphasis on the crisis of the African continent. As it examines the failure of development from a political standpoint, this account argues that the world needs to be remade on the basis of an alternative social system that is national, popular, and based on cooperation between the countries of the southern hemisphere.

turning point: revitalizing the Soviet economy


Nikolai Shmelev - 1990
    

Managerial Economics


Edwin Mansfield - 1990
    A major revision of a classic text is now under the stewardship of the team of instructors who teach the course to first-year students at the Wharton School of Business; includes over 100 real-world and current cases/examples, using actual companies, as well as six new or thoroughly revised chapters, focused on the cutting-edge topics in Economics and Business today.

Economics


Joseph E. Stiglitz - 1990
    This revised edition places an emphasis on the internet economy and information technology.

Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism


Alfred D. Chandler Jr. - 1990
    Representing ten years of research into the history of the managerial business system, this book concentrates on patterns of growth and competitiveness in the United States, Germany, and Great Britain, tracing the evolution of large firms into multinational giants and orienting the late twentieth century's most important developments.This edition includes the entire hardcover edition with the exception of the Appendix Tables.

Quantitative Marxism


Paul Dunne - 1990
    It shows that it is possible to operationalise Marxist concepts either by using orthodox data and reinterpreting it, or by constructing data which are more congruent with Marxist notions. The contributions deal with a wide range of theoretical, methodological and policy-related issues. Among the substantive issues discussed are unemployment and structural change, uneven development and industrial restructuring, and the financial sector. Quantitative Marxism will be of interest to students and academics in economics and political economy, as well as to a broader audience interested in contemporary social and economic policy.

From Rags To Riches: People Who Started Business From Scratch (Inside Business Series)


Nathan Aaseng - 1990
    Penney, Hershey's chocolate, Ebony magazine, and Kinney shoes.

Perspectives on Positive Political Economy


James E. Alt - 1990
    Grounded in the rational-actor methodology of microeconomics, positive political economy is devoted to the dual analysis of the role of economic behavior in political processes and of political behavior and constraints in economic exchange. The field has focused on three main subjects of study: models of collective action in industrialized democracies; the organization of markets and alternative mechanisms of exchange in the Third World; and the analysis of the role of transaction costs in the development and functioning of political and economic institutions. Developments in all of these areas are covered in the book. In the first part of the book, two chapters are devoted to explaining the evolution of the positive political economy approach; the first chapter focusing on microfoundations and the second on macrophenomena. In the second part of the book, three chapters demonstrate applications of the approach to the analysis of various forms of economic and political organizations. In the concluding section, four chapters discuss the research programs that have developed out of four different focuses of analysis: individual decision, exchange transactions, rent-seeking and indivisibilities.

Introductory Economics


Arleen J. Hoag - 1990
    There are 31 “one-concept” chapters. Each short chapter highlights one economic principle. The student can study one concept and be reinforced by the learning process before proceeding to another. The writing is lucid and at the student's level. Self-review exercises conclude each chapter. The text is well integrated to show the relationship among the basic concepts and to offer a comprehensive overview of economics. The one-concept chapters provide organizational flexibility for the instructor. There are eight modules: The Economic Problem; Price Determination; Behind the Supply Curve; Measuring the Economy, The Level of Income; Money; Trade; Conclusion.A study guide is available on line without charge. Each chapter in the text has a corresponding chapter in the study guide as well as an introduction to graphing.

When the World Was New


George Blondin - 1990
    Here are the medecine heroes, hunters and healers who have forged Dene history-- from the time of Raven, trickster and shapechanger, and the great lawgiverYamoria, down through the ages to today. And here are five generations of the Blondin family-- first living independently on the land , then successfully adapting to the new realities of the North.

In The Shadows Of The Sun: Caribbean Development Alternatives And U.s. Policy


Carmen Diana Deere - 1990
    Caribbean nations that have tried to follow a more autonomous course have found themselves at odds with the United States, which sees the region as part of its own sphere of influence. Washington has tried to bind the region more closely to the US economy as a source of cheap labor and as a market for US goods, while pushing Caribbean governments to repay onerous foreign debts at the expense of the living standards of their people.In the shadows of the Sun examines the region's disastrous experience in the 1980s, when sharp economic declines resulted from the debt crisis and the poor performance of regional exports. It focuses on alternative development strategies that have emerged in recent years, based on the goals of meeting basic needs and ending poverty; of eliminating discrimination based on gender, race, and ethnicity; and of promoting democratic participation. Proposing a US policy toward the region that might provide conditions more favorable to alternative development strategies and mutual cooperation, the authors place special emphasis on alleviating the burdens that the economic crisis places on women in their roles as both bread winners and caregivers.The product of a collaborative research effort among Caribbean scholars and US experts on the region, this book is the most recent in a distinguished series of books from Policy Alternatives for the Caribbean and Central America (PACCA).

Money and Credit in Capitalist Economies: The Endogenous Money Approach


L. Randall Wray - 1990
    The impressive analysis includes discussions of the origins and nature of money and of the evolution of monetary institutions and theory. Unlike other recent works on 'endogenous money', this book incorporates liquidity preference theory within the analysis by carefully distinguishing money from liquidity and by showing how money, but not liquidity, is created on demand. This naturally leads to a role for liquidity preference in the determination of interest rates. Extensions then link money to financial instability, the expenditure multiplier, credit, saving, investment, development, deficits and growth.This controversial and provocative book will be essential reading for all economists and researchers concerned with monetary and macroeconomics. It will have particular appeal to post Keynesian economists.

Anti Social Contract


Yussuf Naim Kly - 1990
    It is also a powerful indictment of the American system... and a challenge to the Anglo-Saxon establishment to recognize and end the anti-social contract". -- Crescent InternationalThis book addresses the hidden dialectic of white nationalism that has influenced America's political, legal and social policy since its birth. It views American history as fundamentally shaped by the struggle of the Anglo-American elite to bring into being a new unified white nationality through the assimilation of European immigrants, for the purpose of maintaining systemic dominance over non-European populations.The U.S. Constitution has not provided U.S. national minorities with a social contract, widely understood as the basis for the legitimacy of governments, but rather with an unwritten, unspoken anti-social contract. The U.S. assimilationist process promoted as a "melting pot" has served to disguise the non-recognition of American national minorities through the denial of systemic pluralism which even to this day submerges American national minorities' tight to cultural identity and equal status as founding peoples of the United States.

Capitalism And Individualism: Reframing The Argument For The Free Society


Tibor R. Machan - 1990
    Machan mounts a robust argument for a conception of the individual that recognizes the values of the free market and civil liberties but avoids licensing the unbridled pursuit of self-interest.

Review of Austrian Economics, Volume 4


Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr. - 1990
    In 1986, his dream came true. The Mises Institute published it, and it changed everything. The Austrians could focus on internal development, highlight the contrast with the mainstream, and show their wares to the profession and the world at large.Rothbard was an exacting editor, and results are spectacular and historic.The individual issues have been nearly impossible to find, until now. Today you can own the entire set, learn from the pioneering articles that Murray and his co-editors saw as crucial, and see what gave the modern Austrian movement its scholarly momentum.The Review of Austrian EconomicsVolume 4I. Articles1.Eugen Richter and Late German Manchester Liberalism: A ReevaluationRalph Raico2.Ludwig von Mises as Social RationalistJoseph T. Salerno3.Banking, Nation States and International Politics:A Sociological Reconstruction of the Present Economic OrderHans-Hermann Hoppe4.National Goods versus Public Goods: Defense, Disarmament, and Free RidersJeffrey Rogers Hummel5.Karl Marx: Communist as Religious EschatologistMurray N. Rothbard6.The Subjectivist Roots of James Buchanan’s EconomicsThomas J. DiLorenzoII.Notes and Comments7.The DMVP-MVP Controversy: A NoteWalter Block8.Misconceptions about Austrian Business Cycle Theory: A CommentJames Clark and James KeelerIII.Book Reviews9.Gary B. Madison. Understanding: A Phenomenological-Pragmatic AnalysisReviewed by David Gordon10.Thomas Sowell. A Conflict of VisionsReviewed by David Gordon11.David Conway. A Farewell to MarxReviewed by David Gordon12.Richard L. Lucier. The International Political Economy of CoffeeReviewed by E. C. Pasour, Jr.13.Walter Block and Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., eds. Man, Economy, and LibertyReviewed by Hans-Hermann Hoppe

Money, Banking, and Financial Markets


Meir Kohn - 1990
    

Roman Corinth: An Alternative Model for the Classical City


Donald W. Engels - 1990
    A center of learning, culture, and commerce, it served as the capital of the senatorial province of Achaea and was the focus of apostle Paul's missionary activity. Donald Engels's important revisionist study of this ancient urban area is at once a detailed history of the Roman colony and a provocative socioeconomic analysis. With Corinth as an exemplar, Engels challenges the widely held view that large classical cities were consumer cities, innocent of the market forces that shape modern economies. Instead, he presents an alternative model—the "service city."Examining a wealth of archaelogical and literary evidence in light of central place theory, and using sound statistical techniques, Engels reconstructs the human geography of the Corinthia, including an estimate of the population. He shows that—given the amount of cultivatable land—rents and taxes levied onthe countryside could not have supported a highly populated city like Corinth. Neither could its inhabitants have supported themselves directly by farming.Rather, the city constituted a thriving market for domestic, regional, and overseas raw materials, agricultural products, and manufactured goods, at the same time satisfying the needs of those who plied the various land and sea routes that converged there. Corinth provided key governmental and judicial services to the province of Achaea, and its religious festivals, temples, and monuments attracted numerous visitors from all corners of the Roman world. In accounting for the large portion of residents who participated in these various areas outside of the traditional consumer model, Engels reveals the depth and sophistication of the economics of ancient cities.Roman Corinth is a much-needed critique of the currently dominant approach of ancient urbanism. It will be of crucial interest to scholars and students in classics, ancient history, and urban studies.

Structures of Capital: The Social Organization of the Economy


Sharon Zukin - 1990
    Although market importance is acknowledged, this work's emerging theme is the need to account for the ways in which multiple forms of social organization--elite groups, communities and government structures--influence economic processes.

International Banking, 1870-1914


Rondo Cameron - 1990
    In that period international investment reached dimensions previously unknown, and the banking systems of the world achieved a degree of internationalization without precedent. The book's authors, twenty-five scholars from fifteen countries, are the acknowledged experts in their fields. They detail the origin and development of internationally oriented banks in each major country, and explain their role in foreign investment and industrial finance. They look at all areas of the world that were involved in international investment, either as investors, recipients of investment, or both. The definitive work on international banking from 1870 to 1914, this book will interest scholars and students in financial and banking history, bankers and economists in the finanical industry, and general historians.

The Food Question: Profits Versus People?


Henry Bernstein - 1990
    Anger is not enough and this book, which comes from the research group on Development Policy and Practice in the Open University (DPP), aims to provide some of the analytical tools needed for serious action. Case studies to show ways in which food aid has been used by donor countries for political ends; descriptions of the relationships between markets and human needs; articles on the problems associated with the feminization of poverty; pieces on patterns and trends of food production; analysis of land reform; an evaluation of the effects of biotechnology are all part of this rich and lively collection of articles written specially for this book.

Class and Consciousness: The Black Petty Bourgeoisie in South Africa, 1924 to 1950


Alan Gregor Cobley - 1990
    It reveals how, by the 1920s, the black petty bourgeoisie was emerging in South Africa through the process of capitalist development, out of pre-existing elites and out of new elites based mainly in the new industrial centers. The book then discusses how the black petty bourgeoise deployed, in the 1930s, a wide range of class-specific social and cultural networks (using forms borrowed from the dominant classes) as a means of entrenching and reproducing its class position.The book details the significant differentiation within the black petty bourgeoisie--revealing it to be divided into a more economically secure upper stratum and a much larger lower stratum which was always vulnerable to proletarianisation. The book also shows that members of the petty black bourgeoisie virtually monopolized political leadership in black communities up to 1950 and beyond. This had very important consequences for the formulation and articulation of black political objectives at both the local and national levels and especially for the developing African nationalist movement.

Yugoslavia: Socialism, Development and Debt


David A. Dyker - 1990
    The book concludes by considering the contemporary prospects for a more integrated policy approach in the midst of the country's political crisis.

Economists and the Public: A Study of Competition and Opinion


W.H. Hutt - 1990
    

Growth, Distribution and Uneven Development


Amitava Krishna Dutt - 1990
    The text discusses the topic from a purely theoretical perspective, comparing the relations between economies by using formal mathematical models. Four well-known approaches are discussed: neoclassical, neo-Marxian, neo-Keynesian and Kalecki-Steindl. Models are developed to highlight and contrast the basic features of these approaches. Subsequent chapters systematically introduce inflation, technological change, sectoral issues, and international trade, building upon these simple one-sector models. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in areas such as developmental economics, growth, trade and political economy.

Public Sector Economics


Charles V. Brown - 1990
    Major revisions have been made to this fourth edition while preserving the central objective of the book, which is to explain the relevant principles and the relationships between public expenditure, taxation and the behaviour of economic agents such as individuals, households and firms. A thoroughly revised edition of the standard UK text in the area All statistics bought up to date A wealth of new material, particularly on taxation