Книги

Книга известных французских ученых посвящена одному из самых загадочных и в то же время самых обыденных экономических феноменов — деньгам. Деньги известны каждому. Но не так легко ответить даже на очень, казалось бы, простой вопрос: что такое деньги. Авторы пытаются это сделать, основываясь на понятиях миметического поведения, доверия и суверенитета. Они показывают ограниченность традиционных представлений о деньгах и теорий, связанных с подобными представлениями, обосновывают необходимость совершенно нового подхода, далеко выходящего за рамки собственно экономической науки. Обращаясь истокам денег, авторы переосмысливают их эволюцию. Они также предлагают оригинальный взгляд на современную денежную систему, денежную политику, нетрадиционное понимание сути финансовых и банковских кризисов. Книга завершается рассмотрением самых современных платежных систем, особенностей ситуации, связанной с введением евро и оценкой перспектив международной валютно-финансовой системы. Для экономистов, социологов, философов, студентов, аспирантов и преподавателей вузов, а также для всех интересующихся темой денег.

East Asia's dynamic entrance into the global economy has provided a fruitful avenue for research in economic sociology. In this perceptive and timely volume, the authors theorize Asian capitalism and analyze the economic organization of East Asia. Presenting differing dimensions of a Weberian perspective, the authors first provide a theoretical grounding, then consider capitalism in East Asia comparatively, and finally contrast the economies of East Asia and Europe. The book shows how radically different social and cultural institutions can lead to economies that are organized in remarkably similar ways.

International trade has shaped the modern world, yet until now no single book has been available for both economists and general readers that traces the history of the international economy from its earliest beginnings to the present day. Power and Plenty fills this gap, providing the first full account of world trade and development over the course of the last millennium. Ronald Findlay and Kevin O'Rourke examine the successive waves of globalization and "deglobalization" that have occurred during the past thousand years, looking closely at the technological and political causes behind these long-term trends. They show how the expansion and contraction of the world economy has been directly tied to the two-way interplay of trade and geopolitics, and how war and peace have been critical determinants of international trade over the very long run. The story they tell is sweeping in scope, one that links the emergence of the Western economies with economic and political developments throughout Eurasia centuries ago. Drawing extensively upon empirical evidence and informing their systematic analysis with insights from contemporary economic theory, Findlay and O'Rourke demonstrate the close interrelationships of trade and warfare, the mutual interdependence of the world's different regions, and the crucial role these factors have played in explaining modern economic growth. Power and Plenty is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the origins of today's international economy, the forces that continue to shape it, and the economic and political challenges confronting policymakers in the twenty-first century. Ronald Findlay is the Ragnar Nurkse Professor of Economics at Columbia University. He is the author of Factor Proportions, Trade, and Growthand Trade, Development, and Political Economy. Kevin H. O'Rourke is professor of economics at Trinity College, Dublin. He is the coauthor of Globalization and History.

In characterising the Japanese way of business, Professor Okumura has made one of the most significant contributions to the study of economics. Following his study of the conversion of prewar zaibatsu to postwar groups of enterprises, he worked on the roll of comprehensive trading companies in these groups, the main banking system and the permanent employment system. However, he is very critical of this way of business, whereas those influenced by him are enthusiastic in its appreciation. This is the first English translation of his work.

During the 1990s, corporate governance became a hot issue in all of the advanced economies. For decades, major business corporations had reinvested earnings and developed long-term relations with their labour forces as they expanded the scale and scope of their operations. As a result, these corporations had made themselves central to resource allocation and economic performance in the national economies in which they had evolved. Then, beginning in the 1980s and picking up momentum in the 1990s, came the contests for corporate control. Previously silent stockholders, now empowered by institutional investors, demanded that corporations be run to 'maximize shareholder value'. In the United States many, if not most, top corporate executives have now embraced this ideology. In this highly original book, Mary O'Sullivan provides a critical analysis of the theoretical foundations for the shareholder value principle of corporate governance and for the alternative perspective that corporations should be run in the interests of 'stakeholders'. She embeds her arguments on the relation between corporate governance and economic performance in historical accounts of the dynamics of corporate growth in the United States and Germany over the course of the twentieth century. O'Sullivan explains the emergence and consequences of 'maximizing shareholder value' as a principle of corporate governance in the United States over the past two decades, and provides unique insights into the contests for corporate control that have unfolded in Germany over the past few years.