Centuries of Economic Endeavor

Centuries of Economic Endeavor PDF Author: John P. Powelson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780472084265
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 500

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Book Description
Why did the modern economy arise first in Northwestern Europe and Japan? And what distinguishes those few economies that have achieved sustained economic growth? These are the important puzzles that John P. Powelson answers in this original and important work. Building from an intriguing and neglected parallel between the histories of Japan and Northwestern Europe, he explores the paths of social and political development in those two regions to isolate a significant linkage between economic development and the distribution of political power. He then turns to other regions of the world, explaining why they have not experienced similar levels of economic success. Powelson offers a powerful theory that aids our understanding of many current issues, including the problems of the Third World and the long-term health of our own economy. "Extremely exciting. . . . Leverage . . . is a very important concept which I have never really seen stated in this way before." --The late Kenneth Boulding "A valuable piece of work, one which shows an immense breadth of reading. Very impressive!" --Douglass North, Nobel Laureate, 1993, Washington University, St. Louis "A major contribution . . . a big work done by an acknowledgedly careful scholar." --Mark Perlman, University of Pittsburgh John P. Powelson is Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Colorado.

Centuries of Economic Endeavor

Centuries of Economic Endeavor PDF Author: John P. Powelson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780472084265
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 500

Get Book

Book Description
Why did the modern economy arise first in Northwestern Europe and Japan? And what distinguishes those few economies that have achieved sustained economic growth? These are the important puzzles that John P. Powelson answers in this original and important work. Building from an intriguing and neglected parallel between the histories of Japan and Northwestern Europe, he explores the paths of social and political development in those two regions to isolate a significant linkage between economic development and the distribution of political power. He then turns to other regions of the world, explaining why they have not experienced similar levels of economic success. Powelson offers a powerful theory that aids our understanding of many current issues, including the problems of the Third World and the long-term health of our own economy. "Extremely exciting. . . . Leverage . . . is a very important concept which I have never really seen stated in this way before." --The late Kenneth Boulding "A valuable piece of work, one which shows an immense breadth of reading. Very impressive!" --Douglass North, Nobel Laureate, 1993, Washington University, St. Louis "A major contribution . . . a big work done by an acknowledgedly careful scholar." --Mark Perlman, University of Pittsburgh John P. Powelson is Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Colorado.

A Culture of Growth

A Culture of Growth PDF Author: Joel Mokyr
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691180962
Category : BUSINESS and ECONOMICS
Languages : en
Pages : 424

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Book Description
Why Enlightenment culture sparked the Industrial Revolution During the late eighteenth century, innovations in Europe triggered the Industrial Revolution and the sustained economic progress that spread across the globe. While much has been made of the details of the Industrial Revolution, what remains a mystery is why it took place at all. Why did this revolution begin in the West and not elsewhere, and why did it continue, leading to today's unprecedented prosperity? In this groundbreaking book, celebrated economic historian Joel Mokyr argues that a culture of growth specific to early modern Europe and the European Enlightenment laid the foundations for the scientific advances and pioneering inventions that would instigate explosive technological and economic development. Bringing together economics, the history of science and technology, and models of cultural evolution, Mokyr demonstrates that culture--the beliefs, values, and preferences in society that are capable of changing behavior--was a deciding factor in societal transformations. Mokyr looks at the period 1500-1700 to show that a politically fragmented Europe fostered a competitive "market for ideas" and a willingness to investigate the secrets of nature. At the same time, a transnational community of brilliant thinkers known as the "Republic of Letters" freely circulated and distributed ideas and writings. This political fragmentation and the supportive intellectual environment explain how the Industrial Revolution happened in Europe but not China, despite similar levels of technology and intellectual activity. In Europe, heterodox and creative thinkers could find sanctuary in other countries and spread their thinking across borders. In contrast, China's version of the Enlightenment remained controlled by the ruling elite. Combining ideas from economics and cultural evolution, A Culture of Growth provides startling reasons for why the foundations of our modern economy were laid in the mere two centuries between Columbus and Newton.

Envy of the World

Envy of the World PDF Author: Timothy J. Botti
Publisher: Algora Publishing
ISBN: 0875864317
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 736

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Book Description
Envy of the World is a history of the rise and development of the American economy and Big Business over four centuries and how the individual and collective actions of Americans, native born and foreign, came to create the $12.6 trillion economy of today. Although the building American juggernaut was blessed above other nations with all manner of natural resources, the inventiveness and drive of the American people made the most of what Providence had bestowed. Steadily, then more swiftly, the foundation was laid for success. More intimate knowledge of economic reality and theory in the 20th century led ultimately to the world's greatest economy of today. At time of this writing in 2006, following a presidential election campaign characterized by harsh criticism of special moneyed interests and foreign outsourcing of labor, many Americans have taken a dim view of Big Business and the federal government's management of the economy. This book does not shrink from pointing out episodes of corporate greed and malfeasance as well as mistakes by Washington both in the recent and distant past. However, the impression is epidemic among the populace that the advances and conveniences of a modern society are the God-given right of Americans. In point of fact, the cornucopia of excellence that exists in food and household products, clothing and consumer durables, housing and motor vehicle transportation, health care and high tech industry, and other goods and services, would not be available to the majority of citizens but for the ambition, effort, and, yes, self-interest of entrepreneurs who founded, grew, and consolidated private enterprise companies. Further, the sometimes contradictoryefforts by government officials to balance the interests of corporations, societal groups, and individuals have created by-and-large a most beneficial atmosphere for economic endeavor. The book provides periodic quantitative summation of gross domestic product, population, employment, company results, and other statistics, particularly in later chapters. Because the author's philosophy is that a picture and a thousand words are better than either one alone, he has made extensive use of original charts and graphs, illustrations, industry genealogies, and maps. *** Timothy J. Botti holds a PhD in the history of American Foreign Policy and is a former Lecturer/Teaching Assistant at Ohio State University. Botti's expertise is in the history of world empires, American military and strategic studies, ancient Roman history, and the subject of his current work, the U.S. economy and Big Business. He takes the approach of applying broad knowledge to broad subjects, synthesizing information from across many areas. In 2005, Dr. Botti created a firm called CLP Research to provide value-added research products, ranging from reports on businesses and industries to political genealogies, over the Internet. His previous books include Ace in the Hole: Why the United States Did Not Use Nuclear Weapons in the Cold War (Greenwood Press 1996), and The Long Wait: The Forging of the Anglo-American Nuclear Alliance, 1945-1958 (Greenwood 1987).

Power and Plenty

Power and Plenty PDF Author: Ronald Findlay
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400831881
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 648

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Book Description
International trade has shaped the modern world, yet until now no single book has been available for both economists and general readers that traces the history of the international economy from its earliest beginnings to the present day. Power and Plenty fills this gap, providing the first full account of world trade and development over the course of the last millennium. Ronald Findlay and Kevin O'Rourke examine the successive waves of globalization and "deglobalization" that have occurred during the past thousand years, looking closely at the technological and political causes behind these long-term trends. They show how the expansion and contraction of the world economy has been directly tied to the two-way interplay of trade and geopolitics, and how war and peace have been critical determinants of international trade over the very long run. The story they tell is sweeping in scope, one that links the emergence of the Western economies with economic and political developments throughout Eurasia centuries ago. Drawing extensively upon empirical evidence and informing their systematic analysis with insights from contemporary economic theory, Findlay and O'Rourke demonstrate the close interrelationships of trade and warfare, the mutual interdependence of the world's different regions, and the crucial role these factors have played in explaining modern economic growth. Power and Plenty is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the origins of today's international economy, the forces that continue to shape it, and the economic and political challenges confronting policymakers in the twenty-first century.

Monthly Bibliography

Monthly Bibliography PDF Author: United Nations Library (Geneva, Switzerland)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : International relations
Languages : en
Pages : 788

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Book Description


The Battle for Asia

The Battle for Asia PDF Author: Mark T. Berger
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134343108
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
Asia has long been an ideological battleground between capitalism and communism, between nationalism and Westernisation and between the nation-state and globalization. This book is a history of the Asian region from 1945 to the present day which delineates the various ideological battles over Asia's development. Subjects covered include: * theories of development * decolonization * US political and economic intervention * the effects of communism * the end of the Cold War * the rise of neo-liberalism * Asia after the crisis * Asia in the era of globalisation Broad in sweep and rich in theory and empirical detail, this is an essential account of the growth of 'Asian miracle' and its turbulent position in the global economy of the twenty-first century.

Century of Endeavour

Century of Endeavour PDF Author: Roy H. W. Johnston
Publisher: Academica Press,LLC
ISBN: 1930901763
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 584

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Book Description
This work is the study of a family's century long involvement with Irish self rule and political freedom. Joe Johnston (1890-1972), from a Tyrone Presbyterian small-farm background, had 3 elder brothers who made their careers in the Indian Civil Service. The family were 'Home Rule within the Empire' supporters in the Ulster liberal tradition. After studying classics and ancient history in Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and then in Oxford, JJ became a Fellow of Trinity in 1913. He then published his anti-Carson book Civil War in Ulster, attacking the process which culminated in the 1914 Larne gun-running. He contributed significantly to the emergent national movement. He wrote critically about 1930s economic policies, and went on the serve in the Irish Senate/Sennad from 1939 to 1954. His son RJ (b.1929) was a pioneer of the student left in TCD in the 1940s, and was associated with the post-war attempt to bring European Marxist thinking into the Irish labour movement, with the foundation of the Irish Workers League in 1948. After a period in London in the early 1960s, he returned to Dublin, this time as a research scientist, and helped Cathal Goulding in his attempt to get the 1960s generation of republicans to go political, in a democratic left-wing mode, decoupling from the Stalinist incubus. He helped set the stage for the emergence of the Civil Rights approach to reform in Northern politics, as a means of opening up an all-Ireland perspective. His opponents in the Republican movement, the Provisionals, opted for violence . In the ensuing decades he participated in various politicising processes which may, in the end, show the counter-productive nature of the role of the gun in politics, in Ireland and elsewhere. Roy Johnston lives in Dublin and continues to be politically active. "An important addition to any library of 20th century Irish Studies" Professor J.Skelly

PEACE STUDIES, PUBLIC POLICY AND GLOBAL SECURITY – Volume VII

PEACE STUDIES, PUBLIC POLICY AND GLOBAL SECURITY – Volume VII PDF Author: Ursula Oswald Spring, Ada Aharoni, Ralph V. Summy, Robert Charles Elliot
Publisher: EOLSS Publications
ISBN: 1848263503
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 496

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Book Description
Peace Studies, Public Policy and Global Security is a component of Encyclopedia of Social Sciences and Humanities in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. The Theme on Peace Studies, Public Policy and Global Security provides the essential aspects and a myriad of issues of great relevance to our world such as: Processes of Peace and Security; International Security, Peace, Development, and Environment; Security Threats, Challenges, Vulnerability and Risks; Sustainable Food and Water Security; World Economic Order. This 11-volume set contains several chapters, each of size 5000-30000 words, with perspectives, issues on Peace studies, Public Policy and Global security. These volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College students Educators, Professional practitioners, Research personnel and Policy analysts, managers, and decision makers and NGOs.

The End of the 'Asian Model'?

The End of the 'Asian Model'? PDF Author: Holger Henke
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027232997
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
With the economic crisis in Asia, the development "model" on which the phenomenal earlier success of several countries in the region was built requires increasing scrutiny. This work questions the validity of the notion that there is a universally applicable model of industrialization common to Asian countries. A number of senior and highly regarded Asia specialists take a look at the various development experiences of several Asian countries and evaluate their experiences in a comparative perspective.

Social Theory and Japanese Experience

Social Theory and Japanese Experience PDF Author: Johann P. Arnason
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317793129
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 462

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Book Description
First published in 1997. This book is addressed to two kinds of readers: to social theorists, on the grounds that the Japanese experience is or should be of particular relevance to their problems, and to scholars working on Japanese history, culture and society, in the hope that the theoretical interpretations outlined below may be of some interest to them.