Over the past few years, large-scale land acquisitions in Africa have stoked controversy, making headlines in media reports across the world. Land that only a short time ago seemed of little outside interest is now being sought by international investors to the tune of hundreds of thousands of hectares. Private-sector expectations of higher world food and commodity prices and government concerns about longer-term national food and energy security have both made land a more attractive asset...

In the world’s developing countries, foreign investment in natural resources brings into contact competing interests that are often characterised by unequal balances of negotiating power – from multinational corporations and host governments, through to the local people affected by the influx of foreign investment.The growing integration of the world economy has been accompanied by rapid and extensive developments in the national and international norms that regulate investment and...

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...

This book is the first comprehensive account of how Australia attained the world's highest living standards within a few decades of European settlement, and how the nation has sustained an enviable level of income to the present. Why Australia Prospered is a fascinating historical examination of how Australia cultivated and sustained economic growth and success. Beginning with the Aboriginal economy at the end of the eighteenth century, Ian McLean argues that Australia's remarkabl...

In this updated and expanded edition of his classic text, Arend Lijphart offers a broader and deeper analysis of worldwide democratic institutions than ever before. Examining thirty-six democracies during the period from 1945 to 2010, Lijphart arrives at important—and unexpected—conclusions about what type of democracy works best.Praise for the previous edition:"Magnificent. . . . The best-researched book on democracy in the world today."—Malcolm Mackerras, Ame...

"A damning denunciation of things as they are, and a platform for how we can do better."--Andrew Leonard, SalonFour years after he outlined the challenges our increasingly interdependent world was facing in Globalization and Its Discontents, Joseph E. Stiglitz offered his agenda for reform. Now in paperback, Making Globalization Work offers inventive solutions to a host of problems, including the indebtedness of developing countries, international fiscal ...

Imperial Canada Inc. sets out to ask a simple question: why is Canada home to more than 70% of the world’s mining companies?Created by the British North America Act of 1867, Canada, rather than turning away from its colonial past, actively embraced, appropriated, and perpetuated the imperial ambitions of its mother country. Two years later, it took possession of Rupert’s Land—all of the land draining into Hudson Bay—and the North West Territories from the Hudson’s Bay Comp...

Globalization has shrunk the world in the name of free trade and broken down many of the boundaries between peoples. But it has also been a powerful driver of inequality, over-consumption and corporate control. This fully updated edition unpacks the complexities of globalization, examines the forces in whose interests it works, and provides the critical analysis for re-appraising the system.Wayne Ellwood is former co-editor of New Internationalist magazine...

Picture South Africa ten years from now: Are the angry poor rising up and seizing land and businesses? Or has economic reform created jobs and growth? Is an increasingly desperate government clamping down on freedoms? Or do the middle classes still braai in suburban bliss? South Africa is at a tipping point, and small shifts in political and economic conditions can bring about dramatic changes. Unemployment, slow growth, threats to freedom of speech, and poor education can send the country...

A groundbreaking history of why governments do—and don't—tax the richIn today's social climate of acknowledged and growing inequality, why are there not greater efforts to tax the rich? In this wide-ranging and provocative book, Kenneth Scheve and David Stasavage ask when and why countries tax their wealthiest citizens—and their answers may surprise you.Taxing the Rich draws on unparalleled evidence from twenty countries over the last two centuries...

How can the poorer countries of the world be helped to help themselves through freer, fairer trade? In this challenging and controversial book Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and his co-author Andrew Charlton address one of the key issues facing world leaders today. They put forward a radical and realistic new model for managing trading relationships between the richest and the poorest countries. Their approach is designed to open up markets in the interests of all and not...

A concise introduction to the ways in which the world's federations manage their finances. Topics covered include the distribution of taxation powers among different levels of government; regional equalization schemes; authority over natural resource revenues; and the impact of federal systems of government on pension, welfare, and income assistance programs. The book targets second-, third-, and fourth-year courses in Federalism and Comparative Politics at the university level, and will also...