Why is it that government debt in the developed world has risen to world war proportions in a time of peace? This can largely be attributed to governments maintaining welfare expenditures beyond what tax revenues allow. But will these governments refrain from doing what is necessary for economic growth for fear of losing their electorate?

Everyone has heard of environmentalism, but what is it? Is it ideology or religion? Like socialism, environmentalism is a political program, but even more diffuse. Environmentalists hold diverse opinions, from wanting to take care of nature in human interest to putting nature above man. The latter is religious environmentalism, with nature taking the place of the supernatural. This book is a critique of this type of environmentalism, appropriately named ecofundamentalism. This may be a min...

Mineral deposits are non-renewable; they do not grow in the ground. Sustainable use of finite mineral wealth requires that revenues from mineral extraction be invested in renewable wealth, education and infrastructure, machines and other production equipment, or in financial assets. Different countries, states and provinces have done so with a varying degree of success. Investing for Sustainability: The Management of Mineral Wealth highlights mineral rents investment fund...

In the past fifty years, more than $1 trillion in development-related aid has been transferred from rich countries to Africa. Has this assistance improved the lives of Africans? No. In fact, across the continent, the recipients of this aid are not better off as a result of it, but worse—much worse.In Dead Aid, Dambisa Moyo describes the state of postwar development policy in Africa today and unflinchingly confronts one of the greatest myths of our time: that billions of do...

Conservatives today in both Europe and the United States have succeeded in casting government spending as reckless wastefulness that has made the economy worse. In contrast, they have advanced a policy of draconian budget cuts--austerity--to solve the financial crisis. We are told that we have all lived beyond our means and now need to tighten our belts. This view conveniently forgets where all that debt came from. Not from an orgy of government spending, but as the direct result of bailin...

An eminent economist warns that Western nations’ economic expectations for the future are way out of sync with the realities of economic stagnation and stringent steps will be required to avoid massive political and economic upheaval. “It is alarmingly difficult to disagree with Stephen King. All one can say, perhaps, is that one of the great errors of human nature—strongly displayed before the credit crunch—is the belief that a prevailing trend will continue indefinitely. Th...

The cult of the free market has dominated economic policy-talk since the Reagan revolution of nearly thirty years ago. Tax cuts and small government, monetarism, balanced budgets, deregulation, and free trade are the core elements of this dogma, a dogma so successful that even many liberals accept it. But a funny thing happened on the bridge to the twenty-first century. While liberals continue to bow before the free-market altar, conservatives in the style of George W. Bus...

In this controversial book, Anatole Kaletsky puts the upheavals of 2007-2009 in historical and ideological perspective. He shows how the forces that precipitated the financial meltdown are now creating a new and stronger version of the global capitalist system-- one that will continue to be led and shaped by the U.S. if its businesses and politicians play their cards well. This is Capitalism 4.0, and it will change politics, finance, international relations, and economic thinking ...

Climate chaos and pollution, deforestation and consumerism: the crisis facing human civilization is clear enough. But the response of politicians has been cowardly and inadequate, while environmental activists have tended to favour single-issue campaigns rather than electoral politics. The No-Nonsense Guide to Green Politics measures the rising tide of eco-activism and awareness and explains why this event heralds a new political era worldwide: in the near futurethere will be no o...

From one of the most respected economic thinkers and writers of our time, a brilliant argument about the history and future of economic growth.The years since the Great Crisis of 2008 have seen slow growth, high unemployment, falling home values, chronic deficits, a deepening disaster in Europe—and a stale argument between two false solutions, “austerity” on one side and “stimulus” on the other. Both sides and practically all analyses of the crisis so far take for ...

What is money, where does it come from, and who controls it?In this accessible, brilliantly argued book, leading political economist Ann Pettifor explains in straightforward terms history’s most misunderstood invention: the money system. Pettifor argues that democracies can, and indeed must, reclaim control over money production and restrain the out-of-control finance sector so that it serves the interests of society, as well as the needs of the ecosystem.

The eurozone is in crisis. Spiralling debts, defaulting banks, high unemployment - the European dream of a united union appears to be over. All fingers point to the corrupt and greedy PIIGs: Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain. Profligate governments have exploited the system, squandered the benefits and now beg for bail-outs from those that prosper. But is it really that simple? Economist Vicky Pryce argues that, given the flaws at its conception, the eurozone has been doomed from ...