Bøger i Anthem Other Canon Economics serien

"Classical Economics Today: Essays in Honor of Alessandro Roncaglia" is a collection of essays that investigates and applies the method and principles of Classical political economy to current issues of economic theory and policy.The contributors to the volume, like all classical economists in general, regard history as a useful tool of analysis rather than a specialist object of investigation. By denying that a single, all-encompassing mathematical model can explain everything we are interested in, Classical political economy necessarily requires a comparison and integration of several pieces of theory as the only way to discuss economics and economic policy. Economists inspired by the Classical approach believe that economic theory is historically conditioned: as social systems evolve, the appropriate theory to represent a certain phenomenon must evolve too. Therefore, plurality in methods, including the history of economic thought, must be a deliberate choice, as evidenced by the essays in "Classical Economics Today: Essays in Honor of Alessandro Roncaglia.""Classical Economics Today" is a tribute to Alessandro Roncaglia, to his personality and his research interests. Roncaglia's research is based on Schumpeter's dictum that good economics must encompass history, economic theory and statistics, and therefore does not generally take the form of elegant formal models that are applicable to all and everything. In this direction, Roncaglia is inspired by the Classical economists of the past, and becomes a model for present-day Classical economists. A perceptible family air imbues the essays: all the contributors are friends of Roncaglia and see his personality and his interests as a common point of reference.

This book argues that the current international intellectual property rights regime, led by the World Trade Organization (WTO), has evolved over the past three decades toward overemphasizing private interests and seriously hampering public interests in access to knowledge and innovation diffusion. This approach concentrates on tangible and codified knowledge creation and diffusion in research and development (R&D) that can be protected via patents and other intellectual property rules and regulations. In terms of global policy initiatives, however, it is becoming increasingly clear that the WTO in particular is mostly a conflict-resolution facility rather than a global governance body able to generate cooperation and steer international coordinated policy action. At the same time, rent extraction and profits streaming from legal hyperprotection have become pervasively important for firm strategies to compete in a globalized marketplace. "Knowledge Governance: Reasserting the Public Interest" offers a novel approach - knowledge governance - in order to move beyond the current regime.

In order to move beyond the international intellectual property rights regime in both theory and practice, this volume offers the novel approach of ?knowledge governance? as a way to understand the role of knowledge in growth and development.

Today's 'doctrine of choice' assures adults that they are competent to make serious personal decisions about healthcare, education and retirement plans. At the same time, most people are convinced that they are so ignorant of economics that they are not capable of holding an informed opinion, and that economic issues must be left to experts. The so-called experts of the mainstream economics profession claim to have profound, inaccessible knowledge; in fact they understand little and obscure almost everything.Understanding the economy is not simple, but it is no more complicated than understanding the political system sufficiently to cast a vote. In straightforward language, John F. Weeks exposes the myths of mainstream economics and explains why current economic policies fail to serve the vast majority of people in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. He demonstrates that austerity policies have little theoretical basis and achieve nothing but inequality and misery. He goes on to explain how the current deficit and debt 'crises' in the United States and Europe are ideologically manufactured, unnecessary and simple to overcome. Drawing on examples from around the world, this book provides a bold alternative to the economics of the 1%. Their failure to serve the interests of the many results from their devoted service to the few.

Written by one of Italys leading historians, this book analyses the context and legacy of Gaetano Filangieris seven-volume Science of Legislation. The study engages with the unique history of Enlightenment Naples, the intellectual traditions upon which Filangieri drew, and the powerful repercussions of the American Revolution in eighteenth-century Italy to re-draw the map of Enlightenment republicanism and the early history of human rights and their political economy.Particularly, the book elucidates Montesquieus polyvalent influence on the development of Enlightenment political philosophy, the intricate relationship between natural law and natural rights (later human rights), the emergence of an idiom and a theory of constitutionalism as the only safeguard against absolutist abuses and democratic excesses (whether due to communitarian zeal or the influence of charismatic leaders), and the importance of Freemasonry as a school of political theory and a locus of political action and re-action at the time. This brings the book to a lengthy discussion of the tensions between liberalism and poverty as well as patriotism and cosmopolitanism in the Italian republican tradition themes all too relevant in todays historiographical landscape and Filangieris eventual contribution to these debates and to the institutionalization of the rights of man as a political category and an influence on political economy in Enlightenment Europe.The second part of the book deals with Filangieris legacy, engaging both with his immediate acolytes, such as Francesco Mario Pagano, drafter of the Neapolitan constitution of 1799, and his detractors, such as the conservative Vincenzo Cuoco. The book ends with groundbreaking chapters on Filangieris reception in France and in Europe at large, focusing on Benjamin Constants little-understood critique of Filangieri and the tensions between the constitutional republicanism of the late Italian Enlightenment on the one hand and the nascent tradition of liberalism on the other. In doing so, this book not only explains the common roots of these two traditions, but also why they diverged and what consequences this had for Italian and European history.

'Techno-Economic Paradigms' presents a series of essays discussing one of the most interesting and talked-about socio-economic theories of our times: techno-economic paradigm shifts.

'Feeding The World in the 21st Century: A Historical Analysis of Agriculture and Society' provides a historical understanding of agricultural development over the last two centuries. Characteristics of the period have included the opening of the prairies in the late 18th century, the invention of industrial fertilizer and the tractor's displacement of the horse. Such profound developments have led to an abundance of food and peace and prosperity within the world market. This situation began at the end of the American Civil War and continued until 2005, when prices rose in spite of increased production. Smedshaug gives a historical background of the current situation, while discussing the ultimate challenge of how to feed a world of 10 billion people. This challenge has to be met in the light of climate change, water shortage, and not least the declining availability of fossil fuel. Smedshaug's analysis and recommendations underline the need for every country to have the freedom to establish an agricultural policy adapted to the given national natural conditions, as well as the need to put the producer at the heart of the policy in such a way that all countries can utilize their potential to produce food, and hence to feed the world.

'Why the Economists Got It Wrong' illustrates the origins and development of the financial crisis, tracing its cultural origins in mainstream views which favoured financial liberalization policies. These views are contrasted with those of Keynes and Keynesian economists such as Minsky. Thus, among other things, Keyness ideas on uncertainty and Minskys ideas on financial fragility are taken up. The book points to an interpretation of economic events where uncertainty plays a central role, the dichotomy between real and monetary variables is rejected, and elements from the Classical approach are revived. This implies drastic changes in economic policy recipes, and particularly at economic policies aimed at building institutional and regulatory structures in order to counter financial fragility.