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This book examines why democracy has failed to deliver effective solutions to income inequality problems over the last four decades, and if democracy can offer solutions to various increases in inequality in the future. It also addresses what elements are necessary for democracy to serve as an effective alternative for addressing inequality issues.Historical experiences over the past 40 years, including the global financial crisis, not only underscore the need for fresh perspectives on income inequality in economics but also question the ability of democracy to continue providing alternatives for addressing the escalating forms of inequality. Seo and Kang's response to these inquiries diverge from conventional research in several significant ways. Primarily, what sets this research apart from existing studies is its intensified focus on income inequality as a product of the complex interplay between the political and economic domains, rather than a standalone examination of income inequality in isolation. Through a political economy perspective, this book argues that income inequality and income redistribution are shaped by the institutions, policies, and laws generated by the political system, with their formation and nature being determined by the power distribution among socio-political groups.A useful resource not only to researchers who study political phenomena in the field of economics, but also to scholars who study economic phenomena in the field of politics. Furthermore, it will be particularly intriguing for policy makers concerned with issues of inequality and income redistribution.

This book bridges the disciplines of micro-economics and social policy in general, and, in particular, behavioral/explanatory social policy and public choice theory, plus Leibenstein's X-efficiency theory. Being trained as an economist and social policy scientist, the author leaps out of the comfort zone of most social policy scientists and experts, right into the exciting world of micro-economic theory, and then extending and connecting those theories to explain major social, political and economic conundrums of our time. In doing so, the book offers a new set of theoretical—and practical—explanations derived from the general proposition of micro-economic theory, of how government officers, policymakers, administrators and the people themselves alike are, by and large, motivated in their daily as well as strategic (long-term) decision-making. Using a meta-analytical approach (based on a number of grand theories), this book also explains systemic factors behind human behavior and the thereof resulting shortcomings in lifetime outcomes (health, wealth and happiness of a person) and at the same time societal, policy-making, and economic outcomes on societal level, and in global comparison.The outcomes thereof can be measured exactly (and hence validated), especially through the method of empirical comparative social science/economic research. Here, the author also (but not only) introduces the new method of using Aspalter's Standardized Relative Performance (SRP) Index in measuring exactly complex, aggregate performances of multiple governments, and that at the same time also across the entire world.

Part of The Elgar Series on Central Banking and Monetary Policy, this book explores the relationship between central banking, monetary policy and income distribution. The usual central bank mandate – that of exclusively fighting inflation – is being increasingly questioned by policymakers and academics. Many countries are finding that there is a need for broader mandates that will have an impact on economic activity, unemployment and other economic issues.The chapters present a multitude of theoretical views on this topic, from classical and Marxist views to mainstream and post-Keynesian approaches. They consider the democratic aspects of central banking, critically assess the distributional outcomes of inflation targeting regimes and explore policymaking implications.Policy makers, academics and the financial press will appreciate the relevance of the material and state of the art discussions featured in Central Banking, Monetary Policy and Income Distribution.

Language: Hebrew; The kibbutz is a social experiment in collective living that challenges traditional economic theory. By sharing all income and resources equally among its members, the kibbutz system created strong incentives to free ride or—as in the case of the most educated and skilled—to depart for the city. Yet for much of the twentieth century kibbutzim thrived, and kibbutz life was perceived as idyllic both by members and the outside world. In The Mystery of the Kibbutz, Ran Abramitzky blends economic perspectives with personal insights to examine how kibbutzim successfully maintained equal sharing for so long despite their inherent incentive problems. Weaving the story of his own family's experiences as kibbutz members with extensive economic and historical data, Abramitzky sheds light on the idealism and historical circumstances that helped kibbutzim overcome their economic contradictions. He illuminates how the design of kibbutzim met the challenges of thriving as enclaves in a capitalist world and evaluates kibbutzim's success at sustaining economic equality. By drawing on the stories of his pioneering grandmother who founded a kibbutz, his uncle who remained in a kibbutz his entire adult life, and his mother who was raised in and left the kibbutz, Abramitzky brings to life the rise and fall of the kibbutz movement. The lessons that The Mystery of the Kibbutz draws from this unique social experiment extend far beyond the kibbutz gates, serving as a guide to societies that strive to foster economic and social equality.

The dominant neoliberal approach presents politics and political economy as nuisances which disturb the smooth operation of self-regulating markets. But political economy is not merely an academic issue – it is a class issue, and this book forcefully argues that political economy should return to a central position in the study of the social sciences.Offering nothing less than a reconciliation of Marxian, Keynesian and neoclassical economics, the work opens with a discussion of the key, interconnected economic concepts which help us to understand capitalism: price, income, profit, value, growth and crisis. Prices reflect income distribution and therefore class relations, and the chapters show that the very emergence of capitalism resulted from mass empowerment of the so-called'lower orders'. Profit is always available if entrepreneurs spend on net investment and create incomes for additional labour; this, in turn, requires expanding demand, and so therefore profit depends on rising mass incomes. Conversely, underdevelopment is the result of the destitution and disempowerment of the masses. In the Global South today, it is clear that enormous riches go hand in hand with widespread misery and poverty because the market does not transform wealth into the kind of investment that might benefit all. This book argues that the new wealth triggered by productivity increases has enabled the rich to liberate themselves from the capitalist constraints of competition and waste their new wealth in the form of rents. The main threat today is, in fact, the globalisation of rent. The text makes a point for a progressive counter strategy: capitalist structures that empower labour need to be transferred to the Global South. This requires political and economic efforts towards empowering labour in the Global South.This book demonstrates the analytical power of political economy for all social scientists and will be invaluable reading for economists, political scientists and sociologists in particular.

In recent years, there have been a number of new developments in what came to be known as the'Capital Theory Debates'. The debates took place mainly during the 1960s as a result of Piero Sraffa's critique of the neoclassical theory according to which the prices of factors of production directly depend on their relative scarcities. Sraffa showed that when income distribution changes, there are many complexities developed within the economic system impacting on prices in ways which are not possible to predict. These debates were revisited in the 1980s and again more recently, along with a parallel literature that has developed among neoclassical economists and has also looked at the impact of shocks on an economy.This book summarizes the debates and issues around the theory of capital and brings to the fore the more recent developments. It also pinpoints the similarities and differences between the various approaches and critically evaluates them in light of available empirical evidence. The focus of the book is on the price trajectories induced by changes in income distribution and the resulting shape of the wage rates of profit curves and frontier. These issues are central to areas such as microeconomics, international trade, growth, technological change and macro stability analysis. Each chapter starts with the theoretical issues involved, followed by their formalization and subsequently with their operationalization. More specifically, the variables of the classical theory of value and distribution are rigorously defined and quantified using actual input–output data from a number of major economies, but mainly from the USA, over long stretches of time. The empirical results are not only consistent with the anticipations of the theory but also further inform and therefore strengthen its predictive content raising new significant questions.

Tom Palley has made a significant contribution to understanding the meaning and significance of neoliberalism. This chronicle collects some of his best work to explain how global adoption of neoliberal policies over the past thirty years has increased income inequality and created tendencies to stagnation.The book explores the impact of neoliberal policies on the US, Europe, and global economy. It shows how the 2008 financial crisis and Great Recession were predictable outcomes of the neoliberal policy experiment, as is the emergence of global'race to the bottom'competition. It also explains how Europe's economic fragility is connected to the neoliberal design of the euro. Neoliberalism creates a particular variety of capitalism. It is a political choice. That means society is tacitly engaged in a'war of ideas', the outcome of which will determine our future political economic trajectory.Students, scholars, and readers in economics and political science will find this rich collection illuminating in their efforts to better understand the policy matrix that currently dominates the political landscape.

Contrary to the claims made by neoliberal governments and mainstream academics, this book argues that the huge increase in trade in recent decades has not made the world a fairer place: instead, the age of globalization has become a time of mass migration caused by increasing global inequality.The theory of unequal exchange challenges the free trade doctrine, claiming that transfers of value from poorer to richer countries are hidden behind apparently equivalent market transactions. Following a critical review of the existing approaches, the book proposes a general theory of unequal exchange in the light of an innovative reconstruction of Marx's international law of value, in which money and exchange rates play a crucial role in decoupling value captured from value produced by different countries, even in perfectly competitive world markets. On this theoretical basis, the book provides an empirical analysis of the international transfers of value in both traditional trade and Global Value Chains. The resulting world mapping of unequal exchange shows the geographical hierarchy of capital global exploitation by revealing a world divided into two quite separate camps of donor and receiving countries, the former being the poorer countries and the latter the richer countries.This book is addressed to scholars and students of economics and social sciences, as well as activists of the North and the South, interested in a better understanding of the asymmetric power relations implied in global trade. It makes a significant contribution to the literature on political economy, trade, Marxism, international relations, and economic geography.

This book discusses the origins of wealth inequality and explains how societies can reform to avoid the catastrophe of inequality-induced social breakdown. It develops a theoretical and practical understanding of the principles behind the concept of ownership and property, complete with historical examples. It proposes a new research perspective focusing on how the problem of wealth concentration is ameliorated by cooperative and collaborative initiatives to enhance the public sphere, without derogating from the private. The book is based on research data compiled from taxation and household data to explore the theme that wealth inequality is made inevitable by possessive behaviour expressed in possessive language. It shows that while inequality is inescapable, we can adopt policies where resources are more efficiently and broadly distributed for public benefit. Such policies are directed towards encouraging voluntary, as opposed to compulsory, wealth transfer to achieve public good. The primary market for the book consists of academics and students from the fields of economics, including growth and developmental economics, law, sociology, history, business and international trade. It also provides a practical resource for government policy analysts wanting to develop a more detailed understanding of the role played by wealth inequality in a range of social problems.

This book explores the causes and consequences of market failure in bridging societal differences to create a shared economy. It questions the current world order and evaluates socio-economic gains in reference to the social origins of the economic agents.With a need to counterbalance economic growth with social equality and environmental sustainability, the book proposes innovative approaches to address key questions on the contemporary global economy such as,'Is the Global socio-economic order supportive of the pursuit of rational and enlightened self -interest?','Is it a unipolar power centre and neoliberal economic policy regime?','Can the system reinvent itself?', etc. One approach encourages going back to the golden past and making things'great again', insisting that history has ended and the failures of old global institutions be blamed on the'Clash of Civilizations'. Another approach advocates giving up the intellectual comfort zone of elegant but irrelevant neo-liberal explanations of global challenges and asking new questions that take academic debate to the public square. The book examines the internal challenges and contradictions that cause disintegration and proposes alternative ideas and practices in moving the global community beyond the free market regime.The book will appeal to students and academics of development studies, political economy, political science, sociology, as well as policymakers and public opinion makers interested in creating a new egalitarian global society.

Based on an investigation of economic and resource allocation factors and their close relation to economic power, this book puts forward the power paradigm, a new economic research paradigm revealing the relationship among power, institutions, and resource allocation mechanisms, helping to establish a valid connection between macroeconomics and microeconomics and shedding light on real-world economic issues. Drawing on classical, neoclassical, and institutional economics and how these schools of thought have impacted on economic development in China over the past century, the book sheds light on distribution processes and argues that enterprise contracts, market pricing, policies, laws and regulations can all be classified as interest distribution mechanisms informed by a variety of power games. The power paradigm suggests that to achieve full utility and an optimal allocation of resources to foster social welfare, power reciprocity needs to be shared among different economic agents at the same hierarchy level while making sure that power and responsibility are equivalent for each economic agent. The book will appeal to research students and academics interested in heterodox economics, pluralist approaches, institutional economics, and game theory.

Die fortwährende gesellschaftliche Debatte über die angeblich wachsende »Kluft zwischen Arm und Reich« ist höchst aktuell und durch das Buch Pikettys »Das Kapital im 21. Jahrhundert« befeuert worden. Verteilungsfragen – wer bekommt wovon und wieviel und warum – wurden in der Volkswirtschaftslehre immer wieder diskutiert. Im vorliegenden Band wird in vier Aufsätzen auf die verteilungstheoretischen und -politischen Perspektiven verschiedener Autoren eingegangen. Schon bei Adam Smith, dem »Adam der politischen Ökonomie«, spielte das Postulat der natürlichen oder moralischen Gleichheit eine bedeutende Rolle, vor allem, wenn man sein moralphilosophisches Hauptwerk, die »Theory of Moral Sentiments«, seinem ökonomischen Hauptwerk, dem »Wealth of Nations«, zur Seite stellt. Dabei blickte er vor allem auf den Effekt, den materielle Ungleichheit auf die Schaffung von Wohlstand, auf die Stabilität der öffentlichen Ordnung und auf die Pflege der allgemeinen Moralität ausübt. Spätere Generationen von Ökonomen haben sich dann vor allem mit der Frage beschäftigt, aus welchen Quellen Profite und Zinsen entspringen und ob diese dauerhaft sind. Neben funktionellen und der personellen Verteilungsfragen stellen sich solche auf der regionalen Ebene. Das wurde in den regionalökonomischen Arbeiten von August von Lösch behandelt. Ganz aktuell ist die Frage, wie sich die Digitalisierung und Verbreitung von KI auf die Verteilung auswirken wird.

Thomas Piketty, Autor des Weltbestsellers'Das Kapital im 21. Jahrhundert'gibt hier eine Einführung in die wirtschaftlichen Zusammenhänge hinter dem Phänomen der ungleichen Einkommensverteilung. Kurz und prägnant erklärt er, wie Ungleichheit entsteht, wie Ökonomen sie messen, in welchem Missverhältnis Arbeitseinkommen und Kapitalerträge zueinander stehen und welche Möglichkeiten die Politik hat, diese Lücke zu schließen.

Capitalism and Inequality rejects the popular view that attributes the recent surge in inequality to a failure of market institutions. Bringing together new and original research from established scholars, it analyzes the inequality inherent in a free market from an economic and historical perspective. In the process, the question of whether the recent increase in inequality is the result of crony capitalism and government intervention is explored in depth.The book features sections on theoretical perspectives on inequality, the political economy of inequality, and the measurement of inequality. Chapters explore several key questions such as the difference between the effects of market-driven inequality and the inequality caused by government intervention; how the inequality created by regulation affects those who are less well-off; and whether the economic growth that accompanies market-driven inequality always benefits an elite minority while leaving the vast majority behind. The main policy conclusions that emerge from this analysis depart from those that are currently popular. The authors in this book argue that increasing the role of markets and reducing the extent of regulation is the best way to lower inequality while ensuring greater material well-being for all sections of society.This key text makes an invaluable contribution to the literature on inequality and markets and is essential reading for students, scholars, and policymakers.

Over the last 25 years, nearly two billion people across the globe have risen out of poverty and income levels have risen worldwide. Yet in the US, the top 1% earn twice the amount of income as the poorest 50% of the population. In the midst of rising prosperity, economic dissatisfaction--driven by the persistent fear felt by many that they are''falling behind''--is higher than at any point since the 1930s. In Understanding Economic Inequality, the author brings an economist's perspective informed by new, groundbreaking research on inequality from philosophy, sociology, psychology, and political science and presents it in a form that it is accessible to those who want to understand our world, our society, our politics, our paychecks, and our neighbors'paychecks better. As any history of the 21st century would be incomplete without understanding''the 99% versus the 1%'', the insights provided by the author will prove valuable to any reader. This book also provides the foundation for undergraduate courses on wealth and income inequality, and an essential reading for introductory economics, labor economics, public policy, law, or sociology courses.

A major revision of an established textbook on the theory, measurement, and history of economic growth, with new material on climate change, corporate capitalism, and innovation.Authors Duncan Foley, Thomas Michl, and Daniele Tavani present Classical and Keynesian approaches to growth theory, in parallel with Neoclassical ones, and introduce students to advanced tools of intertemporal economic analysis through carefully developed treatments of land- and resource-limited growth. They cover corporate finance, the impact of government debt and social security systems, theories of endogenous technical change, and the implications of climate change. Without excessive formal complication, the models emphasize rigorous reasoning from basic economic principles and insights, and respond to students'interest in the history and policy dilemmas of real-world economies.In addition to carefully worked out examples showing how to use the analytical techniques presented, Growth and Distribution presents many problems suitable for inclusion in problem sets and examinations. Detailed answers to these problems are available. This second edition includes fresh data throughout and new chapters on climate change, corporate capitalism, models of wealth inequality, and technical change.

The 21st century marks a watershed in the history of the human economic condition. Income and wealth inequalities are now greater than ever before – and their role in the global financial crisis is one of the burning issues of today.Commodity looks at the great financial crisis from an entirely original perspective – that of the global commodity system as a newly operational totality. In the 19th century, the commodity system as defined by Karl Marx was limited to a few regions and embraced only the labour and capital capacities and their outputs. By the end of the 20th century, it encompassed the entire planet and embraced government capacity as well as private capacities, financial securities and material goods and services. This book shows how the financial crisis and its causes can only properly be understood as a result of this vast, unprecedented extension of the commodity system – a system which benefits the rich. The author makes the watertight case that it is only through the creation of a global tax authority – to coordinate national tax regimes and to implement a tax on global wealth – that we can avoid another crisis and create a fairer and more equitable world.Addressing a broad range of themes, Commodity offers a new perspective which will be of interest to political economists as well as researchers specialising in other related fields of social enquiry. Written in a clear and engaging way, the book's concise nature also makes it accessible for the non-specialist reader, and it will especially appeal to all those who want a more just society.

This book provides an entry into the subjects of disparity and deprivation, by attending to issues that have a bearing on certain salient philosophical and conceptual aspects of these subjects. The student doing a graduate course in the measurement of inequality and poverty is all too often plunged directly into the complexities of Schur-convex functions, dominance conditions, partial orders and the axiomatics of characterization theorems. Inequality and poverty as phenomena with profound social and moral implications for the world we live in tend to get submerged in a treatment of the subject that is more suggestive of applied mathematics than of the material conditions of life. This is in no way to deny that measurement must deal uncompromisingly with measurement, and therefore with the protocols of formal logic and technical rigour. Having said this, it seems fair to suggest that one's appreciation of the formalities – as well as of the limitations and ambiguities -of measurement is only aided by a relatively gentle introduction to the subject. This would call for a prior, or accompanying, engagement with the underlying concepts, the philosophical bases, the political salience, the normative values, and the critical facts of the subjects under investigation. It is this necessary background that is emphasized in this book, which is a collection of articles published earlier in the popular press, and intended for consumption by any curious general reader or student with a taste for critical enquiry. The contents of the book will be useful as much for the aspiring scholar as for the interested lay reader looking for a gateway into the subject.

How the kibbutz movement thrived despite its inherent economic contradictions and why it eventually declinedThe kibbutz is a social experiment in collective living that challenges traditional economic theory. By sharing all income and resources equally among its members, the kibbutz system created strong incentives to free ride or—as in the case of the most educated and skilled—to depart for the city. Yet for much of the twentieth century kibbutzim thrived, and kibbutz life was perceived as idyllic both by members and the outside world. In The Mystery of the Kibbutz, Ran Abramitzky blends economic perspectives with personal insights to examine how kibbutzim successfully maintained equal sharing for so long despite their inherent incentive problems.Weaving the story of his own family's experiences as kibbutz members with extensive economic and historical data, Abramitzky sheds light on the idealism and historic circumstances that helped kibbutzim overcome their economic contradictions. He illuminates how the design of kibbutzim met the challenges of thriving as enclaves in a capitalist world and evaluates kibbutzim's success at sustaining economic equality. By drawing on extensive historical data and the stories of his pioneering grandmother who founded a kibbutz, his uncle who remained in a kibbutz his entire adult life, and his mother who was raised in and left the kibbutz, Abramitzky brings to life the rise and fall of the kibbutz movement.The lessons that The Mystery of the Kibbutz draws from this unique social experiment extend far beyond the kibbutz gates, serving as a guide to societies that strive to foster economic and social equality.

Inequality is widening. In the twenty-first century, the gap between those who have more and those who have less is growing: 1 per cent of the world owns as much as the other 99 per cent. Should we be worried? Christopher Steed, author of the acclaimed A Question of Worth, argues that inequality does indeed matter: that economic fairness is one of the defining issues of our time. In a world conditioned by social media, enabling intensified social comparison, the anxieties and effects of contemporary inequality are a cause for huge concern.Despite a wealth of research around inequality most studies have concentrated on its quantitative aspects. In A Question of Inequality, Christopher Steed is concerned with exploring why inequality matters, what it means for those who find themselves victims of it, and what can be done about it. He probes what it means to experience inequality, drawing out case studies on the effects of poverty. In proposing a theory of social relativity the author provides new insights into the effects and meaning of inequality and makes an original and important contribution to a key issue facing the world today.

In his illuminating new book, Douglas McWilliams argues that inequality is largely driven not by a conspiracy of the rich, as Thomas Piketty suggests, but by technology and globalization tat have led to the paradox of rising inequality even as worldwide poverty drops. But what are the implications of this seeming contradiction, and what ultimately drives the global distribution of wealth? What can societies do to reshape capitalism for the 21st century? Drawing on the latest research, McWilliams investigates how wealth is concentrated and why it persistently remains in the hands of very few. In accessible and thought-provoking prose, McWilliams poses a comprehensive theory on why capitalism has not met its match in the form of increasingly disparate income distribution, but warns of the coming wave of technological development—the fourth industrial revolution—that threatens to create a scarcity of unskilled jobs that will lead to even greater inequality and explains what governments can do to prepare for this.From the inquisitive layperson to the professional economist or policymaker, The Inequality Paradox is essential reading for understanding the global economy in its present state. McWilliams is a fresh, authoritative voice entering the global discussion, making this book indispensable in preparing for the imminent economic challenges of our changing world.

Recently, the issue of inequality has regained attention in the economic and political debate. This is due to both an increase in income inequality, in particular among rich countries, and an increasing interest in this issue by researchers and politicians. In the last three decades, income inequality among rich countries increased. This period also witnessed the growth of'financial capitalism', characterised by the strong dependency of economies on the financial sector, by the globalisation and intensification of international trade and capital mobility, and by the'flexibilisation'of labour markets and the reduction of wage shares.From the 1980s to the present day, this book considers the theoretical aspects of inequality (its foundations, definitions, approaches and origins) and examines empirical evidence of income inequality in a wide range of advanced economies. The key arguments in this volume are that income inequality increased during this period because labour and welfare became seen as costs to be compressed in'financial capitalism'rather than as a fundamental part of aggregate demand to be expanded. However, the welfare state is not a drain on economic performance and competitiveness, nor is it a barrier to economic efficiency. Instead, it is demonstrated that in countries that adopt'welfare capitalism', welfare state expenditure not only contributes to a reduction in inequality but also fosters economic growth.Inequality in Financial Capitalism is of great importance to those who study economics, political economy, labour economics and globalisation.

These lectures aim to help readers understand the logics and nature of the main indicators of inequality and poverty, with special attention to their social welfare underpinnings. The key approach consists in linking inequality and poverty measurement with welfare evaluation. As concern for inequality and poverty stems from ethical considerations, the measurement of those aspects necessarily involves some value judgments. Those value judgments can be linked, directly or indirectly, to welfare assessments on the distribution of personal and social opportunities. Inequality and poverty are thus considered to be partial aspects of the welfare evaluation of the opportunities in a given society. The volume includes two applications that illustrate how the models can be implemented. They refer to inequality of opportunity and poverty in education, using PISA data.

It can be hard for busy professionals to find the time to read the latest books. Stay up to date in a fraction of the time with this concise guide.Thomas Piketty's 2013 book Capital in the Twenty-First Century was an immediately bestseller in the UK and US, and has been widely praised by both economists and the general public. Piketty provides a richly detailed account of the development of inequality in the Western world, and argues that economic inequality is an inherent feature of capitalism and can only be resolved by decisive action from governments. His powerful historical insights are backed by extensive data and analysis, thus offering a thorough critique of the modern capitalist system. Whatever your political and economic leanings, Piketty's ideas are sure to provide plenty of food for thought.This book review and analysis is perfect for: •Anyone interested in the causes of wealth inequality in Europe and the USA•Anyone who wants to understand how this inequality can be overcome•Students of, or anyone interested in, modern politics and economicsAbout 50MINUTES.COM | BOOK REVIEWThe Book Review series from the 50Minutes collection is aimed at anyone who is looking to learn from experts in their field without spending hours reading endless pages of information. Our reviews present a concise summary of the main points of each book, as well as providing context, different perspectives and concrete examples to illustrate the key concepts.

Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century has been hailed as a masterpiece, making a powerful case that wealth inequality is not an accident, but rather an inherent feature of capitalism. But how many of us who bought or borrowed the book have read more than a fraction of its 700+ pages? And how many of Piketty's groundbreaking ideas have gone unappreciated, all for want of intellectual stamina?In this handy volume, Jesper Roine – whose own work was relied upon by Piketty – explains in clear and accessible prose the key concepts behind, and controversies surrounding, Piketty's landmark work.

Marx claims that unselfishness is a child of (workplace) culture, whereas the gene is selfish. If Marx is right then the prerequisite for overthrowing capitalism is a system which both leverages selfishness and creates solidarity between workers. This book illustrates and discusses the major points of the economic theory of producer cooperatives, its evolution since the 1950s, and links with Marxian theory.Labour Managed Firms and Post-Capitalism, most importantly, demonstrates that a system of producer cooperatives offers a wealth of advantages compared to capitalism. There is general agreement that the main benefit of this form of economic democracy is that people who are allowed to freely pursue their interests are happier than those acting on somebody else's instruction. The author argues that a system of democratic firms would eradicate classical (high-wage) unemployment and scale down both Keynesian and structural unemployment levels. He also shows that a system of producer cooperatives literally reverses the capital-labour relationship typical of capitalism and that its establishment can consequently be looked upon as a revolution.This volume is of great interest to academics, lecturers and researchers with an interest in Marxism, political economy and industrial economics, as well as economic theory and philosophy.

Un guide pratique et accessible pour comprendre le livre Le capital au XXIe siècle de Thomas PikettyLe capital au XXIe siècle, paru en 2013, a connu un succès considérable tant auprès des spécialistes en économie que des personnes désireuses d'approfondir leurs connaissances en la matière. Thomas Piketty y fait une analyse de la situation économique en ce début de siècle, au regard de l'évolution et des modifications de la dynamique des revenus et du patrimoine depuis la révolution industrielle jusqu'à aujourd'hui, mettant en avant ses idées pour réduire les inégalités. Retrouvez tout ce que vous devez savoir sur le best-seller de Thomas Piketty dans une analyse complète et détaillée.Vous trouverez notamment dans ce livret :• Une mise en contexte de la situation économique et financière actuelle• Une synthèse mettant l'accent sur les principaux concepts économiques développés par Piketty• Les répercussions de l'ouvrage• Et bien plus encore!Le mot de l'éditeur :« Avec l'auteur, Steven Delaval, nous avons cherché à présenter aux lecteurs une analyse synthétique et accessible de l'ouvrage à succès Le capital au XXIe siècle de l'économiste Thomas Piketty, un livre qui se veut une réflexion sur les inégalités de revenus. La fiche s'attache en outre à présenter les polémiques survenues autour de ce best-seller mondial, ainsi que ses répercussions. » Laure DelacroixÀ PROPOS DE LA SÉRIE 50MINUTES | Book ReviewLa série « Book Review » de la collection 50MINUTES propose des documents qui invitent tous les curieux à réfléchir sur les grands textes fondateurs de l'économie ainsi que sur les sommes récemment parues qui participent à la réflexion globale des réalités économiques actuelles. Nous avons conçu la collection Business & Economics en pensant aux nombreux professionnels obligés de se former en permanence en économie, en management, en stratégie ou en marketing. Nos auteurs combinent des éléments de théorie, des pistes de réflexion, et, pour certains sujets, des études de cas et de nombreux exemples pratiques pour permettre aux lecteurs de développer leurs compétences et leur expertise.

It was a part of the wisdom of mainstream economics that in the early stages of development inequality would rise but as growth persisted, it would, eventually, decline. Early evidence seemed to suggest that this pattern would be borne out. But, as time passed and growth persisted, inequality continued to grow, casting doubt on the received wisdom. The aim of this two-volume book is to analyze the current state of global and regional inequality, dissect the phenomenal increase in inequality that we have seen occur in recent times, and better understand the complex relationship between inequality and development. The political instability and conflict that we see around the world, arguably, has connection to economic deprivation of large segments of society and the perception of marginalization. This two-volume work acquires a special significance in the light of these developments.

Dank Thomas Piketty und seinem Weltbestseller'Das Kapital im 21. Jahrhundert'ist das Thema Ungleichheit aus der aktuellen Diskussion nicht mehr wegzudenken. Seine in Frankreich in vielen Auflagen erschienene'Ökonomie der Ungleichheit'führt in die wirtschaftlichen Zusammenhänge hinter dem Phänomen der ungleichen Einkommensverteilung ein. Kurz und prägnant erklärt er, wie Ungleichheit entsteht, wie Ökonomen sie messen, in welchem Missverhältnis Arbeitseinkommen und Kapitalerträge zueinander stehen und was zu der ungleichen Verteilung der Arbeitseinkommen führt. Dabei geht es ihm insbesondere um die Frage, welche Möglichkeiten die Politik hat, der Ungleichheit durch Umverteilung zu begegnen, ohne die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung zu behindern und Arbeitsplätze zu gefährden.

Winner of the Bruno Kreisky Prize, Karl Renner InstitutA Financial Times Best Economics Book of the YearAn Economist Best Book of the YearA Livemint Best Book of the YearOne of the world's leading economists of inequality, Branko Milanovic presents a bold new account of the dynamics that drive inequality on a global scale. Drawing on vast data sets and cutting-edge research, he explains the benign and malign forces that make inequality rise and fall within and among nations. He also reveals who has been helped the most by globalization, who has been held back, and what policies might tilt the balance toward economic justice.“The data [Milanovic] provides offer a clearer picture of great economic puzzles, and his bold theorizing chips away at tired economic orthodoxies.”—The Economist“Milanovic has written an outstanding book…Informative, wide-ranging, scholarly, imaginative and commendably brief. As you would expect from one of the world's leading experts on this topic, Milanovic has added significantly to important recent works by Thomas Piketty, Anthony Atkinson and François Bourguignon…Ever-rising inequality looks a highly unlikely combination with any genuine democracy. It is to the credit of Milanovic's book that it brings out these dangers so clearly, along with the important global successes of the past few decades.—Martin Wolf, Financial Times

Thomas Piketty—whose Capital in the Twenty-First Century pushed inequality to the forefront of public debate—wrote The Economics of Inequality as an introduction to the conceptual and factual background necessary for interpreting changes in economic inequality over time. This concise text has established itself as an indispensable guide for students and general readers in France, where it has been regularly updated and revised. Translated by Arthur Goldhammer, The Economics of Inequality now appears in English for the first time.Piketty begins by explaining how inequality evolves and how economists measure it. In subsequent chapters, he explores variances in income and ownership of capital and the variety of policies used to reduce these gaps. Along the way, with characteristic clarity and precision, he introduces key ideas about the relationship between labor and capital, the effects of different systems of taxation, the distinction between “historical” and “political” time, the impact of education and technological change, the nature of capital markets, the role of unions, and apparent tensions between the pursuit of efficiency and the pursuit of fairness.Succinct, accessible, and authoritative, this is the ideal place to start for those who want to understand the fundamental issues at the heart of one of the most pressing concerns in contemporary economics and politics.

Prevailing economic theory attributes the 2008 crash and the Great Recession that followed to low interest rates, relaxed borrowing standards, and the housing price bubble. After careful analyses of statistical evidence, however, Matthew Drennan discovered that income inequality was the decisive factor behind the crisis. Pressured to keep up consumption in the face of flat or declining incomes, Americans leveraged their home equity to take on excessive debt. The collapse of the housing market left this debt unsupported, causing a domino effect throughout the economy. Drennan also found startling similarities in consumer behavior in the years leading to both the Great Depression and the Great Recession. Offering an economic explanation of a phenomenon described by prominent observers including Thomas Piketty, Jacob Hacker, Robert Kuttner, Paul Krugman, and Joseph Stiglitz, Drennan's evenhanded analysis disproves dominant theories of consumption and draws much-needed attention to the persisting problem of income inequality.

This volume deals with a range of contemporary issues in Indian and other world economies, with a focus on economic theory and policy and their longstanding implications. It analyses and predicts the mechanisms that can come into play to determine the function of institutions and the impact of public policy.

Winner of the Richard A. Lester Award for the Outstanding Book in Industrial Relations and Labor Economics, Princeton UniversityAn Economist Best Economics and Business Book of the YearA Financial Times Best Economics Book of the YearInequality is one of our most urgent social problems. Curbed in the decades after World War II, it has recently returned with a vengeance. We all know the scale of the problem—talk about the 99% and the 1% is entrenched in public debate—but there has been little discussion of what we can do but despair. According to the distinguished economist Anthony Atkinson, however, we can do much more than skeptics imagine.“[Atkinson] sets forth a list of concrete, innovative, and persuasive proposals meant to show that alternatives still exist, that the battle for social progress and equality must reclaim its legitimacy, here and now… Witty, elegant, profound, this book should be read.”—Thomas Piketty, New York Review of Books“An uncomfortable affront to our reigning triumphalists. [Atkinson's] premise is straightforward: inequality is not unavoidable, a fact of life like the weather, but the product of conscious human behavior.—Owen Jones, The Guardian

In Formal and Informal Social Safety Nets, Ashraf analyses the role of social safety nets in a time when our global economy threatens our way of life, as entire cities such as Detroit are declared bankrupt.

A New York Times #1 BestsellerAn Amazon #1 BestsellerA Wall Street Journal #1 BestsellerA USA Today BestsellerA Sunday Times BestsellerA Guardian Best Book of the 21st CenturyWinner of the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year AwardWinner of the British Academy MedalFinalist, National Book Critics Circle Award“It seems safe to say that Capital in the Twenty-First Century, the magnum opus of the French economist Thomas Piketty, will be the most important economics book of the year—and maybe of the decade.”—Paul Krugman, New York Times“The book aims to revolutionize the way people think about the economic history of the past two centuries. It may well manage the feat.”—The Economist“Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century is an intellectual tour de force, a triumph of economic history over the theoretical, mathematical modeling that has come to dominate the economics profession in recent years.”—Steven Pearlstein, Washington Post“Piketty has written an extraordinarily important book…In its scale and sweep it brings us back to the founders of political economy.”—Martin Wolf, Financial Times“A sweeping account of rising inequality…Piketty has written a book that nobody interested in a defining issue of our era can afford to ignore.”—John Cassidy, New Yorker“Stands a fair chance of becoming the most influential work of economics yet published in our young century. It is the most important study of inequality in over fifty years.”—Timothy Shenk, The Nation

This book brings together the work of scholars who have written for it independent essays in their areas of particular expertise in the general field of income distribution. The first eight chapters provide a review of the major theories of income distribution, while the final two are con­ cerned with problems of empirical estimates and inferences. One of these chapters presents estimates of factor shares in national income in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, while the other ex­ amines how relationships between the size distribution of income and economic development are being investigated. A convenient way of conveying an understanding of how economic theorists have dealt with the distribution of income is to examine separ­ ately each major approach to this subject. Each contributor was thus assigned a particular approach, or a major theorist. No attempt was made to avoid the apparent duplication that occurs when the same references are examined by different contributors. The reader gains by seeing how the same material can be treated by those looking at it from different perspectives. A chapter each has been devoted to Marx and Marshall.

This volume contains both theoretical and applied on the concept of equality of opportunity which says that a society should guarantee its members equal access to advantage regardless of their circumstances, while holding them responsible for turning that access into actual advantage by the application of effort. Theoretical papers discuss to what extent some of the measures of inequality of opportunity meet the reward and the compensation principles, a new methodology for evaluating long-term income distributions, the implications of partial observability of individuals'circumstances on the measurement of inequality of opportunity and the advantages of applying segregation indices to study inequality in life chances. The applied work investigates how governments affect inequality of opportunity through the design of their tax and transfer schemes in 15 European countries, the changing role of circumstances for measuring inequality of opportunity in Chile, the existence of a poverty trap in Haiti and its consequences for equality of opportunity, and the correlation between circumstances and effort in the measurement of inequality of opportunity in U.S. during the period 1969-2007.

“Vivid case studies... Adler's frustration with wrongheaded economic thinking is as entertaining as it is thought provoking.” —Publishers Weekly Why do so many contemporary economists consider food subsidies in starving countries, rent control in rich cities, and health insurance everywhere “inefficient”? Why do they feel that corporate executives deserve no less than their multimillion-dollar “compensation” packages and workers no more than their meager wages? Here is a lively and accessible debunking of the two elements that make economics the “science” of the rich: the definition of what is efficient and the theory of how wages are determined. The first is used to justify the cruelest policies, the second grand larceny. Filled with lively examples—from food riots in Indonesia to eminent domain in Connecticut and everyone from Adam Smith to Jeremy Bentham to Larry Summers—Economics for the Rest of Us shows how today's dominant economic theories evolved, how they explicitly favor the rich over the poor, and why they're not the only or best options. Written for anyone with an interest in understanding contemporary economic thinking—and why it is dead wrong—Economics for the Rest of Us offers a foundation for a fundamentally more just economic system. “Brilliant.” —David Cay Johnston, Pulitzer Prize–winning and New York Times–bestselling author of It's Even Worse Than You Think

Drawing on the work of the classical-Marxian economists and their modern successors, Capitalists, Workers, and Fiscal Policy sets forth a new model of economic growth and distribution, and applies it to two major policy issues: public debt and social security.The book homes in specifically on the problem of fiscal policy, examining the ways that taxation and government spending affect the distribution of wealth and income as well as the rate of economic growth. Thomas Michl's model shows that public debt has a regressive effect on wealth distribution. It also demonstrates that the accumulation of wealth by public authorities, for example, in the form of a pension reserve such as the U.S. social security trust fund, can have a progressive effect on wealth distribution, both directly (since it represents ownership by the citizenry) and indirectly through its general equilibrium effects on the structure of accumulation. The book's findings provide an analytical foundation for a macroeconomic policy of using fiscal surpluses to accumulate a public pension reserve fund that serves to effect a progressive redistribution of wealth.

Basic Income is a policy idea that could help us revolutionise the way we organise society. This book is the first proper guide to basic income -- what it is, how we can organise it, and how it can benefit the majority in different spheres of their lives. Basic Income is simply the idea that everyone in a given society has a right to a minimal income. This is paid by the state out of taxation. Set at a subsistence level, it would take the place of unemployment and other benefits. This would bring profound social changes. Anyone could opt out of employment at any time. Those with few skills would no longer be forced to take up jobs with poor prospects, and employers offering McJobs would be forced to offer better terms. And money wasted by the state in means testing and tracing benefit fraud is saved The campaign in favour of basic income is growing and governments are beginning to take notice. This is a clear, concise guide to the principles and practicalities of this revolutionary idea.

The book deals with economic issues related to income and wealth among individuals, regions and countries. It presents a general theory with endogenous capital, knowledge and preference changes for an economic system with heterogeneous households, multiple sectors, multiple regions and multiple countries.

This book, first published in 2005, builds on institutionalist theory in both economics and political science to offer a general political economy framework for the study of welfare capitalism. Based on the key idea that social protection in a modern economy, both inside and outside the state, can be understood as protection of specific investments in human capital, the book offers a systematic explanation of popular preferences for redistributive spending, the economic role of political parties and electoral systems, and labor market stratification (including gender inequality). Contrary to the popular idea that competition in the global economy undermines international differences in the level of social protection, the book argues that these differences are made possible by a high international division of labor. Such a division is what allows firms to specialize in production that requires an abundant supply of workers with specific skills, and hence high demand for protection.

By exploring the integral relationship between democracy and economic justice, Democratic Distributive Justice seeks to explain how democratic countries with market systems should deal with the problem of high levels of income-inequality. The book acts as a guide for dealing with this issue by providing an interdisciplinary approach that combines political, economic, and legal theory. It also analyzes the nature of economic society and puts forth a new understanding of the agents and considerations bearing upon the ethics of relative pay, such as the nature of individual contributions and the extent of community in capital based market systems. Economic justice is then integrated with democratic theory, yielding what Ross Zucker calls'democratic distributive justice'. While prevailing theory defines democracy in terms of the electoral mechanism, the author holds that the principles of distribution form part of the very definition of democracy, which makes just distribution a requirement of democratic government.

In this tightly argued and eloquent book, the preeminent economist John Kenneth Galbraith presents the blueprint for a society that is compassionate to the less fortunate and economically feasible for all. He points the way toward the achievable goals for a'good society': personal liberty, basic well-being, racial and ethnic equality, and the opportunity for a rewarding life. However, this is no utopian approach to the economic challenges facing America; Galbraith recognizes human weakness, differences in ability and motivation, and the formidable obstacles facing those who challenge the status quo. Still, Galbraith's optimism shines through as he explains how we could establish a more humane world by shedding today's conventional wisdom about inflation, the deficit, taxes, and immigration, and by recognizing the immense value of education and environmental responsibility and the political action that the good society demands