New Directions in Modern Economics series – Serie

Economic governance institutions (rules, norms and enforcement practices) define the cost and incentive structures that influence the decisions of economic actors. They therefore have a significant impact on micro and macro economic performance across countries and time. This book contributes to the growing governance literature in three ways. First, it extends the analysis to new areas such as power asymmetry, regulation, transnational company strategies, and law enforcement. Secondly, it examines the role of formal institutions that shape and enforce the rules/norms codified in law; but also private-ordering institutions that function under the umbrella of the State; and private institutions (such as market rules/norms) that provide reputational and other information that foster compliance. Finally, the book extends and enriches the governance debate, addressing issues such as the determinants of institutional quality and efficiency, and the interaction between actor networks and institutional norms. Does Economic Governance Matter? brings together state-of-the-art research and analysis that will appeal to academics and undergraduate and postgraduate students of economics, public policy, network analysis, corporate governance and business law. The book will also appeal to a wide range of practitioners and policymakers in areas such as regulation, competition, international development, corporate law and macroeconomic policy design.

The 2008 financial crisis is arguably the most dramatic outcome of globalization. International economic integration, if unregulated, can bring about huge inequalities and the destruction of the environment. This thought-provoking book illustrates why the 'old' international order is unable to provide crucial global public goods such as monetary and financial stability in the fight against mass poverty and climate change. The expert authors provide an in-depth analysis of the causes of the financial crisis and the political economy measures required to build a safer and more stable international order. They show how the financial crisis is deeply rooted in the flaws of the dollar standard and explain why the dollar and globalization should be considered together to understand the present challenges. By way of conclusion, the authors propose the creation of a 'World Eco-Monetary Union' with the power to regulate the global economy and to promote sustainable development. The new macroeconomic approach presented contributes to the development of a more comprehensive supranational political economy. As such, this challenging book will prove a stimulating read for academics, researchers and students with an interest in economics, heterodox economics, and international economics.

The Great Recession has punctuated the long history of capitalism and is a necessary outcome of contemporary capitalism's great contradictions, both in its Anglo-Saxon configuration and European neo-mercantilism posture. To be properly understood it is vital to take into account the ongoing structural transformation of the crisis in its multiple dimensions.Through expert contributions, this book explores the integral role of finance, class and gender in analyzing the great recession, alongside offering plural theoretical interpretations of the crisis. The Great Recession and the Contradictions of Contemporary Capitalism presents a comprehensive insight into the global crisis, focusing on debt, asset inflation and financial fragility. Key areas such as global imbalances, monetary reform and the management of public finance are examined, and a unique investigation into the Italian experience of the crisis is offered. The book concludes with novel concepts on the gender dimension of the crisis and the analogies between a nuclear and financial chain reaction. Both the financial and real aspects of this modern phenomenon are addressed in this timely book.Academics and students of economics, international political economy, sociology and political science will benefit from the comprehensive and original perspective this book offers.Contributors: R. Bellofiore, F. Chesnais, M. Desai, G. Duménil, D. Levy, L. Marazzi, J. Michell, A. Parguez, S. Rossi, J. Toporowski, V. Valli, A. Vercelli, G. Vertova

This timely book provides 15 chapters of cutting-edge academic work related to Post-Keynesian economics for the future. This includes stock-flow consistent modelling and analyses of the key challenges associated with the economic policies of sustainability.The first part highlights the important challenges of understanding the increasingly disrupted macroeconomic system of global supply chains, fluctuating inflation and unsustainable development in an uncertain and unpredictable economic environment.These changes call for an updated analytical framework at the global and national levels. For this purpose, the expert contributors firstly present a stock-flow consistent model framework to analyse these new conditions in order to achieve sustainable development in the future. The next sections contain contributions offering a renewed understanding of key macroeconomic phenomena such as Keynes’s fundamental uncertainty and principle of effective demand in an increasingly unstable economic and political system. Following chapters discuss how to re-establish and coordinate a demand-led and sustainable growth path using unconventional fiscal and monetary policy in an unpredictable global environment. The book contains important updates of macroeconomic theory and method, and presents a number of empirical case-studies. It will be an indispensable read for scholars and students interested in the development within Post-Keynesian theory, policy and methodology. It will also be informative for civil servants working in the Treasury or banking sectors, and policymakers in public and private institutions making decisions for the future in an uncertain economic environment.

Bruno Jossa expertly illustrates that the creation of a system of cooperative firms is tantamount to a revolution giving rise to a new production mode capable of reversing the existing relationship between capital and labour. The book also demonstrates a revolution enacted by peaceful and democratic means in order for worker-managed organisations to outnumber capitalistic ones. Providing a comprehensive insight into these models, Jossa examines the relations between political power and economic democracy, ownership and bankruptcy risks within democratic organisations. Using the theories of Marx and Engels, the book offers a new model of socialism, allowing for a worker-led system and suppressing capitalism, whilst inviting a more theoretical approach without the suppression of markets. Thought-provoking in its approach, On Market Socialism will provide an excellent resource for policy makers in labour and political economics and also scholars of the history of economics and radical economics.

This perceptive book challenges orthodox and neoliberal approaches to economics, emphasizing the importance of institutions in shaping socio-economic outcomes. George Kararach underscores the need to rethink dominant paradigms in the field of economics and enhance its relevance to public policy.Exploring the societal impact of economics, Kararach sheds light on the limitations of neoliberalism and examines the effects of ethics on the evolution of alternative economic perspectives and policies. Chapters draw on detailed global case studies to present alternative proposals for a humane economy that promotes social inclusion, grounds economic theory in the social context, and integrates perspectives from the Global South. Considering how the economy can better serve society, Kararach applies heterodox methods to practical policy issues, highlighting the influence of institutional differences alongside powerful interest groups.Interdisciplinary in scope, this book is a valuable resource for students and academics in economics, development studies, public policy, governance, philosophy and political science. Its insights will also greatly benefit policymakers and practitioners working in multilateral institutions, NGOs, UN agencies, and regional economic organizations.

Fashioning Prosperous, Sustainable and Humane Societies examines key challenges confronting humanity in the age of financialization and global warming. A distinguished team of political economists analyzes the social conditions that promote human flourishing and how these can be achieved in the face of growing economic, ecological, and societal precarity.Employing critical perspectives to stress the vital role of governments and civil society, contributors survey past public policies across Asia, Europe, and North and South America. They advance existing literature on Post-Keynesian Institutional economics, exploring the new face of global money-manager capitalism and its consequences for emerging, transitioning, and advanced economies. Ultimately, this timely book outlines a social order free not only from exploitation and authoritarianism, but also from the supremacy of market values.Students and scholars of political economy, Institutional economics and public policy will find this book to be an essential resource. Policymakers will additionally find its insights both bold and practical.

This timely book addresses the critical issues of rising inequality and jobless economic growth. Presenting cutting edge research on income distribution, growth and labor markets in both developed and developing economies, it emphasizes the importance of considering these factors together rather than in isolation.Chapters are organized into three strongly thematic parts: revisiting theoretical innovations by the Cambridge School, offering new conceptual insights on growth, distribution and employment, and providing empirical analyses using advanced econometric methods. Leading experts discuss the relationship between distribution and growth, exploring key themes such as migration, the employment impact of Covid-19 and prestige clubs. The book further examines policy implications and outlines potential solutions to pressing economic challenges.Students and scholars of development economics, post-Keynesian economics and political economy will greatly benefit from this innovative book. It is also a crucial resource for practitioners and policymakers in the field of economic development.

This comprehensive book examines the concept of value as it applies to the ‘Ricardian machine’: the physical system in which commodities are produced by means of commodities. Clair Quentin answers the fundamental question: how can the growth of this system be objectively measured?Quentin deploys the notion of thermodynamic depth, exploring its relationship to labour and how it relates to commodities. They explore key concepts such as entropy, physical and social surplus, the idea of capital as a biophysical system and the function of things falling outside the system such as intangible assets and the state.Capital, Revenue and the Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics of Value is a crucial resource for scholars and students of economics, particularly those in the fields of political, legal, post-keynesian and biophysical economics, as well as economic methodology.

The Demise of Finance-Dominated Capitalism goes well beyond the dominant interpretation that the recent financial and economic crises are rooted in malfunctioning and poorly regulated financial markets. The book provides an overview of different theoretical, historical and empirical perspectives on the long-run transition towards finance-dominated capitalism, on the implications for macroeconomic and financial stability, and ultimately on the recent global financial and economic crises.In the first part of the book the macroeconomics of finance-dominated capitalism, the theories of financial crisis and important past crises are reviewed. The second part deals with the 2007-09 financial and economic crises in particular, and discusses five explanations of the crises in more detail. The special focus of the book is the long-run problems and inconsistencies of finance-dominated capitalism that played a key role in the crisis and its severity.The comprehensive literature reviews on the issues of financialization and economic crises will be a valuable aid to students. Policy makers will find the broader views on the causes of the recent financial and economic crises and the contradictions of finance-dominated capitalism of great interest. Alternative views on the long-run developments towards financialization, as well as on the relationships of these developments with the recent financial crises, will appeal to researchers in this field.Contributors: R. Barradas, N. Budyldina, C.A. Carrasco, D. Detzer, N. Dodig, T. Evans, G. Gabbi, E. Hein, H. Herr, A. Kalbaska, S. Lagoa, E. Leão, J. Michell, Ö. Orhangazi, F. Serrano, A. Vercelli

Financialisation and the Financial and Economic Crises provides comparative, empirical case studies of a diverse set of eleven countries. In particular, the book helps in understanding the current (mal)performance of Euro area economies by explaining the causes of the shifts in growth regimes during and after the crises. It goes well beyond the dominant interpretation of the recent financial and economic crises as being rooted in malfunctioning and poorly regulated financial markets.The contributions to this book provide detailed accounts of the long-term effects of financialisation and cover the main developments leading up to and during the crisis in eleven selected countries: the US, the UK, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Germany, Sweden, Italy, France, Estonia, and Turkey. The introductory chapter presents the theoretical framework and synthesizes the main findings of the country studies. Furthermore, the macroeconomic effects of financialisation on the EU as a whole are analyzed in the final chapter. Offering an illuminating overview and invaluable alternative perspective on the long-run developments leading to the recent crises, this book is essential reading for researchers, students and policymakers and an ideal starting point for further research.Contributors: S. Bahçe, R. Barradas, C.A. Carrasco, H. Cömert, G. Cornilleau, J. Creel, D. Detzer, N. Dodig, N. Erdem, T. Evans, J. Ferreiro, G. Gabbi, C. Gálvez, C. Gomez, A. González, E. Hein, E. Juuse, E. Karaçimen, A.H. Köse, S. Lagoa, E. Leão, J. Lepper, Ö. Orhangazi, G. Özgür, R. Paes Mamede, M. Shabani, A. Stenfors, E. Ticci, J. Toporowski, L. Tserkezis, J. Tyson, Y. Varoufakis, P. Vozzella, G.L. Yalman

By combining recent research (especially that of Piketty and his associates) with established ideas (particularly from Sir Arthur Lewis), Roger McCain proposes policies that, together, would aim to reverse the observed tendency towards the concentration of wealth in market economies, thus 'approach equality.' The shortcomings and dangers of rising wealth inequality are discussed, both from the point of view of increasing instability and of equalitarian values. Drawing on Marxist concepts of class, the book clarifies both the relation of wealth to income inequality and the causal link between wealth inequality and economic instability, exploring practical issues related to the proposed policies. The role of the 'middle class' and the causes of the failure of much of the population to save even for retirement are analyzed. The author goes on to examine the implications for programs of distribution according to need and the role of the corporation, and the possibility of a scheme of economic planning that would retain the known advantages of the market allocation of resources. With inequality still a rising issue for public policy, professionals and students studying policy economics will benefit from the analysis in this book and its tight focus on inequality of wealth, as will interested lay readers with a background in economics and an interest in inequality.

This book analyzes how financial liberalization affected the development of the financial crisis in Europe, with particular attention given to the ways in which power asymmetries within Western Europe facilitated financial liberalization and distributed the costs and gains from it. The author combines institutional narrative analysis with empirical surveys and econometrics, as well as country-level studies of financial liberalization and its consequences before and after the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.Author Nina Eichacker charts institutional liberalization and privatization of European finance from the 1960s onward and presents a survey of descriptive statistics that show how different financial stability, financial flow and macroeconomic variables have changed in Western Europe since the early 1980s, generally increasing financial and economic instability. It also demonstrates the change in securitization, and European banks' tendencies to hold securitized assets on their balance sheets. It creates a framework for understanding the power dynamics between national, industrial, and class interests in Western Europe that promoted secular financial liberalization as well as the institutional design of the EMU that mandated financial liberalization. Finally, it examines the process of financial liberalization in detail in three states, Iceland, Ireland, and Germany. Students and researchers interested in financial liberalization and financial crises as well as policymakers will find the analyses in this book invaluable.

This book studies the relationships between aggregate demand, inequality and instability. It extends the traditional approach by introducing wealth and inequality into a dynamic macroeconomic model. Furthermore, it examines the role that debt and financial instability can play in turbulent times such as the Great Recession and its aftermath.Unlike Piketty, the author analyzes the relationships between instability and inequality, and the feedbacks from the latter to the former, in a system approach where real and monetary factors interact to generate complex patterns. The book does not discover 'iron laws' because the results depend on the nature of the model, the values of the parameters and the policy pursued. However, the role of inequality is proven to play a decisive role in shaping dynamics. Finally, the author discusses the link between medium and long- run problems, and the challenges that remain to be faced.Piero Ferri's original application of economic principles to the topic of inequality will make this book essential reading for all economists, particularly those of a macro orientation.

The Post-Keynesian methodology emphasising uncertainty is indispensable to analysing and understanding the major challenges of the 21st Century. On that basis, this book focuses on the failures of the market economic system to secure stability and sustainability, and demonstrates why this is not recognised by conventional economic theory. The Post-Keynesian economics set out here aims for an understanding of the economy as a whole and as an integral part of society. Chapters analysing money, banks and finance as dynamic phenomena open the book. They are followed by chapters focusing on methodological issues such as uncertainty, longer-term aspects, sustainability and other non-monetary economic activities.This important book is a useful tool for students and researchers who wish to gain a better understanding of real world economics. In these areas where conventional macroeconomic theory may not be sufficient, this book offers viable post-Keynesian alternatives.Contributors include: A. Asensio, V. Chick, S. Dow, A. Freeman, J. Ghosh, C. Goodhart, P. Hawkins, J. Jespersen, M.O. Madsen, R. McMaster, C.J. Rodríguez-Fuentes, R. Rotheim, S. Sen, R. Studart, B. Tieben, G. Tily

This book is devoted to examining the lasting impact of The General Theory and Keynes’'s thought on macroeconomic theory, methodology and its relevance for understanding the financial and economic challenges of the 21st Century. A number of contributions take their departure from Keynes’'s presentation during the 1930s of his new macroeconomic understanding and its policy implications. The book also discusses pluralistic views of Keynes’'s ideas and their importance for contemporary debates. The General Theory and Keynes for the 21st Century develops the analysis of money and banking, and the intertwined relationship between financial and real-world activities throughout. It demonstrates how vital Keynes’s work is to understanding the failure of the globalised financial system as well as pointing to an alternative way forward. The broad scope and richness of the contributions are reminders of how most books severely misrepresent The General Theory and therefore fail to act as a guide to 21st Century policy. As such, this book is a necessary tool for scholars, researchers and advanced students of economics, as well as policy makers who wish to create a more just society in the face of the current deregulated global market economy.Contributors include: G.M. Ambrosi, A.M. Carabelli, M.A. Cedrini, V. Chick, T. Congdon, A. Denis, R. Desai, S. Dow, G.C. Harcourt, M.G. Hayes, J. Jespersen, P. Kriesler, H.D. Kurz, M.C. Marcuzzo, J.W. Nevile, R. Skidelsky, T.D. Togati, A. Vercelli

Financialisation and the Financial and Economic Crises provides comparative, empirical case studies of a diverse set of eleven countries. In particular, the book helps in understanding the current (mal)performance of Euro area economies by explaining the causes of the shifts in growth regimes during and after the crises. It goes well beyond the dominant interpretation of the recent financial and economic crises as being rooted in malfunctioning and poorly regulated financial markets.The contributions to this book provide detailed accounts of the long-term effects of financialisation and cover the main developments leading up to and during the crisis in eleven selected countries: the US, the UK, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Germany, Sweden, Italy, France, Estonia, and Turkey. The introductory chapter presents the theoretical framework and synthesizes the main findings of the country studies. Furthermore, the macroeconomic effects of financialisation on the EU as a whole are analyzed in the final chapter. Offering an illuminating overview and invaluable alternative perspective on the long-run developments leading to the recent crises, this book is essential reading for researchers, students and policymakers and an ideal starting point for further research.Contributors: S. Bahçe, R. Barradas, C.A. Carrasco, H. Cömert, G. Cornilleau, J. Creel, D. Detzer, N. Dodig, N. Erdem, T. Evans, J. Ferreiro, G. Gabbi, C. Gálvez, C. Gomez, A. González, E. Hein, E. Juuse, E. Karaçimen, A.H. Köse, S. Lagoa, E. Leão, J. Lepper, Ö. Orhangazi, G. Özgür, R. Paes Mamede, M. Shabani, A. Stenfors, E. Ticci, J. Toporowski, L. Tserkezis, J. Tyson, Y. Varoufakis, P. Vozzella, G.L. Yalman

This timely book is devoted to the advance of post-Keynesian economics, covering the last ten years of persistent and nuanced disparities in many dimensions of macroeconomic 'reality'. Taking a pluralistic approach to modern Keynesian economics, the book presents innovative contributions to methodology, analyses of financialization and macroeconomic modeling. It explores how to model a complex macro-system at a time when economic uncertainty is dominant. Rich case studies examine increasing macroeconomic imbalances, paving the way for a better understanding of the political challenges of the future. With chapters dedicated to teaching macroeconomics, the book adopts a practical stance, exploring the notion of moving away from mathematical modeling towards problem-based learning.Provocative and comprehensive, this book is crucial reading for all macroeconomists, from academic researchers to ministerial officials, seeking guidance on dealing with macroeconomic 'reality'. Postgraduate students of heterodox economics and political economy will also benefit from the innovative contributions of top post-Keynesian scholars, offering an alternative understanding of contemporary macroeconomic theory.

Based upon his life-long collaboration with Hyman Minsky, Piero Ferri explores and reconsiders Minsky's moments in the aftermath of the 'Great Recession' of 2008. He sets out the analytical and methodological foundations of Minsky's financial instability hypothesis, offering insightful comments from a unique insider s perspective.This book stresses the necessity of including what has been recently discovered about Minsky's financial instability hypothesis into his lifelong research program, in order to obtain a more complete picture of both his vision and his analytical apparatus. It seeks to move beyond a discussion of Minsky's original ideas, to verify how they are capable of meeting the challenges derived from the modern evolution of the economy. Developing a meta-model based on regime switching, Piero Ferri examines how the different financial instability hypotheses can be accounted for.Researchers and advanced students in macroeconomics and finance will greatly benefit from the exploration of how Minsky predicted the 'Great Recession', and why his work is of fundamental relevance today. Economic policy makers will also find this book to be a useful tool in discovering methodological innovations to aid further financial recovery from the 2008 economic crisis.

This scholarly book conducts an extensive exploration into the central ideas of Karl Marx, focussing on the key concepts that have defined his thought and legacy. Bringing together a wealth of internationally renowned contributors, across different generations, Marx: Key Concepts analyses in depth Marx’s theories of (surplus) value, money, and capital, and their reception in classical and contemporary economic, sociological and philosophical debates. Chapters cover Marx’s core writings on the meaning of critique of political economy, materialism, dialectical method, real abstraction, absolute value, money, automatic Subject, reproduction, original accumulation, material interchange, domination, social reproduction, and pre-capitalist modes of production.Rediscovering the theoretical stratified density of the basic notions in Capital, the book provides crucial insight into the complexity and global significance of Marx’s ideas and their relevance for the understanding of contemporary society, politics and economy. This book will be essential reading for academics, scholars and researchers interested in the history and the methodology of economic thought, social science, political economy, sociology, and political theory.

Piero Ferri expertly broadens the analysis of the canonical growth cycle approach by presenting a Minsky–Harrod model, examining how the relationship between income distribution, growth and unemployment becomes increasingly complex. Exploring this new technique to generate a process of growth, based not only on history but disequilibrium, he investigates the current income distribution debate further and the challenges it faces. Written in a succinct yet comprehensive style, Piero Ferri begins by addressing the basic principles, followed by an in-depth look at growth cycle models and how the Minsky–Harrod integrated model would help to unravel the current complexities. The empirical analysis reaches insightful conclusions by justifying the existence of a variety of results and by studying the distributive loop in a dynamic context which is prone to instability. Teachers of macroeconomics and scholars will find this an invaluable read and will benefit from the practical study and results.  Researchers interested in labour economics and political economy will also find this a thought-provoking book.

This ground-breaking book addresses the problem of price disparities across countries and, for the first time, uses market structures as the central focus. The author also addresses the effects of trade barriers, input-output relations and economies of scale, factors often ignored by other studies, to determine what causes prices to vary across countries.A post-Keynesian markup pricing model incorporating market power, intermediate inputs and productivity differences is developed and tested using regression analysis. New data on sectoral price levels in Japan and the Republic of Korea and data on GDP and investment price levels for a large number of countries are used. The empirical evidence shows that wages, labor productivity, market power and economies of scale are the most important variables for the explanation of differing price levels across countries. The author finds little evidence for the importance of policy-induced trade barriers and competition policy in explaining this.This book will be useful for scholars of post-Keynesian economics and international economics.

This important and timely book examines the impact of different financial systems on investment. It considers the increasing effects of globalization on the relationship between national financial systems and investment, which is especially relevant in light of the recent Asian crisis. Marc Schaberg explores the way in which countries finance investment and the institutional arrangements which are in place for channelling finance to investment projects. He specifically examines the patterns of sources and uses of funds in non-financial enterprise sectors in the US, UK, France, Japan and Germany. Using time series data and econometric tests, he measures and categorises the financial systems of these countries. He also assesses the empirical evidence to question the commonly held assumption that financial systems are converging.Globalization and the Erosion of National Financial Systems will be welcomed by students and scholars working in the areas of money and banking as well as by financial economists.

This book seeks to provide a coherent explanation as to why the policies of financial liberalization and financial intervention have been unable to achieve the goal of improving the access of borrowers to the loan market, irrespective of size. This is one of the prime criteria for achieving efficiency in the operation of the loan market and its failure has resulted in increased uncertainty and financial fragility.Santonu Basu develops an original theory of credit rationing which provides a theoretical explanation as to why neither policy has worked. He introduces two new concepts, namely credit standard and credit risk, in order to explain why bankers ration credit to some, while quite willingly offer loans to others. He then uses these two concepts to show why the implementation of either policy involves forcing or inducing the banking sector to relax its credit standard requirements. This in turn increases credit risk to an unprecedented level, thereby engendering either financial crisis or financial fragility. The author employs empirical evidence from both India and South Korea to demonstrate how these scenarios can unfold.Financial Liberalization and Intervention provides a comprehensive analysis of the uncertainty that prevails in the operation of the loan market. It will be welcomed by scholars and students of economics, policymakers, banking regulators and the financial sector as a whole.

Why the Bubble Burst provides a comprehensive look at the most dramatic run-up in equity values in US history. Lawrance Evans takes the reader from theory to empirics, illustrating why we need to go beyond the efficient markets hypothesis and the theory of domestic irrational exuberance to fully unpack the unprecedented phenomenon, why the market was destined for a major decline and why the fallout will be severe and protracted. Quantitative evidence suggests that mutual funds, international portfolio flows, and the decline in the amount of corporate equity outstanding all played an integral role in the stock market boom. These ingredients in the context of a supply and demand based theory of equity price determination indicate that supply and demand forces unrelated to corporate profitability elevated US equity valuations to unsustainable levels. The author's conclusions carry implications for economic theory and policy, retirement security and stock market investments in general. Economists, finance professionals and policymakers will find this volume a unique investigation into the stock market boom and bust.

Keynesian economists have continually highlighted the crucial role of effective demand and capital investment in determining the level of unemployment. However, this vital insight has been conspicuous by its absence in recent mainstream debates on the causes of the rise of unemployment in Europe. The dominant explanation of unemployment - the NAIRU theory - implies that wages are 'too high' and holds changes in labor market institutions responsible for the rise in unemployment. Given that wage shares have been falling for more than two decades and unemployment rates have remained high, it is surprising that this explanation has yet to be properly challenged. This book offers a long overdue and refreshing Keynesian approach to the rise of European unemployment. It critically discusses the NAIRU theory and presents econometric evidence to assess the relative importance of capital investment and labor market institutions. The author also explores the reasons for the slowdown in capital accumulation, and is able to establish a clear link between changes in the financial sector, changes in corporate governance and investment expenditures.This insightful theoretical and empirical analysis of mainstream and heterodox approaches to unemployment deserves a wide readership amongst academics, economists, graduate students and policymakers in the fields of labour market theory and policy, post Keynesian economics and macroeconomics. It will also make a substantial contribution to the on-going and highly pertinent debate on the economic, political and social problem of unemployment.

This book addresses the challenge posed by J.K. Galbraith over 50 years ago to make a constructive contribution to a different style of economic analysis - the economics of abundance. It identifies a system of abundance inhabited by the 'people of plenty' and illustrates that the driver of growth in this system is spending by affluent consumers. This timely book provides essential heterodox economic theory to explain this spending and explore its key drivers and constraints.

Post-Keynesian economics is moving beyond criticism of mainstream economics and is focusing on providing a positive alternative to orthodoxy. This book gathers carefully selected and original papers by a number of distinguished post-Keynesian writers from Europe and the Americas and converges on the principles that should guide post-Keynesian economic policy in the 21st century.The policy prescriptions examined and discussed in this book include the New Consensus, inflation targeting, fiscal and monetary policies to name but a few. It puts forth a coherent approach to policy and is divided into three components: monetary policy, fiscal policy and effective demand, and international issues, including discussion of currency boards, dollarization and the EMU. The contributors aim to emphasize the post-Keynesian ability to provide renewed principles of economic policy in contrast with the failures of the mainstream approach.Scholars and researchers of economics and political economy at all levels will find much to engage them within this book.

This book argues that the shift in general equilibrium theory, from its early long-period to the modern very-short-period versions, has had very important consequences which are insufficiently appreciated by large parts of the economics profession. This shift has produced new difficulties, and has undermined central tenets of neoclassical macroeconomic theory (such as the negative dependence of aggregate investment on the interest rate, or the existence of a downward-sloping demand curve for labour) which had their basis in the long-period versions where capital was treated as a single factor.According to the author, what makes it difficult to appreciate these consequences is the current imperfect grasp of the long-period method (an approach common to classical and to the first generations of neoclassical economists, but nowadays often confused with steady-growth analysis). The origins of this problem date back to the 1930s, and to this day still obscure the history and the logic of the neoclassical approach. The book explains the analytical differences between long-period, steady-growth, and short-period general equilibrium analyses, and proves that on this basis considerable clarification can be achieved, not only in many aspects of the history of economic theory, but also in fundamental issues in the theories of value, distribution, capital, investment, employment and money. For example, the reasons for the disagreements in the 'Cambridge controversies' over capital theory become very apparent.This stimulating critique on the present state of economic theory will appeal to academics and researchers with an interest in macroeconomics, the history of economic thought, and the theory of value and distribution. It will also enlighten and inform anyone wanting to understand the reasons behind the current dissatisfaction with neoclassical economics.