The Political Economy of Collective Action, Inequality, and Development
By: William D. Ferguson – Grinnell College
This book examines how a society that is trapped in stagnation might initiate and sustain economic and political development. In this context, progress requires the reform of existing arrangements, along with the complementary evolution of informal institutions. It involves enhancing state capacity, balancing broad avenues for political input, and limiting concentrated private and public power. This juggling act can only be accomplished by resolving collective-action problems (CAPs), which arise when individuals pursue interests that generate undesirable outcomes for society at large. Merging and extending key perspectives on CAPs, inequality, and development, this book constructs a flexible framework to investigate these complex issues.
Development failure is, at its root, a failure of collective action. This excellent book applies the tools of game theory to shed systematic light on circumstances that promote or hinder social coordination. One of its great strengths is the development of a broad typology of institutional settlements, permitting contextual analysis.
Dani Rodrik, Harvard University
Handbook on the Economics of Climate Change
By: Graciela Chichilnisky, Armon Rezai – Columbia University, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business
This timely Handbook recognizes the emergence of climate change as the defining topic of our time. With public climate discourse growing more urgent every year, this Handbook brings together international experts from different economic disciplines to answer critical climate policy questions. Chapters present key ideas and policies to support and accelerate advances in three key areas: the political economy of climate change and climate policy, integrated assessment modelling, and economic and resource sustainability. Contributors discuss the distributional implications of climate change and how policy makers may respond in order to contribute to economic transformation in the midst of a global crisis. With reference to both theoretical and applied economics, this Handbook is critical reading for economists working in the field of climate policy and climate change. It will also appeal to a broader group of environmental scientists and scholars.
China The Bubble that Never Pops
By: Thomas Orlik – Bloomberg
Tom Orlik, a veteran of more than a decade on the ground in Beijing and Shanghai, turns the spotlight on China’s fragile fundamentals, and resources for resilience. Drawing on discussions with the Communist cadres planning China’s rise, the bankers providing the financing, and the laborers sweating the construction sites, Orlik pieces together a unique perspective on China’s past, present, and possible futures. From Deng Xiaoping’s reform and opening to Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption crackdown, Orlik traces the policy steps and missteps that have taken China to the brink of a “Lehman moment” credit crisis. From corporate balance sheets to the stories of shadow bankers, he plumbs the depths of financial risks. From Japan in 1989, to Korea in 1997, the U.S. in 2007, and Greece in 2010, he positions China in the context of a rolling series of global crisis.
This excellent book unpacks the many mysteries of the Chinese economy in a compelling and cogent manner. Orlik has brought together his journalistic and analytical skills to produce a lively and informative account of how China has sustained its phenomenal growth performance while apparently flouting conventional economic precepts. A must-read for anyone who wonders if China’s economy is doomed to collapse, why it hasn’t already, and why it might never do so.
Eswar Prasad, Cornell University
Currency Unions
By: Patrick Honohan, Fadi Hassan, Davide Romelli – Trinity College Dublin, Bank of Italy
The past twenty years have seen two waves of research on currency unions, prompted by the early experience of the European Economic and Monetary Union and by the existential crisis experienced by the euro area as a part of the global financial crisis. Alongside an original introduction, this important collection assembles key papers exploring a range of themes in these two waves of research, including subtopics such as reassessment of optimal currency area theory, new views on the policy choices, and the past and present experience of various currency unions. With a concluding section that addresses the question of complementary institutions going beyond an inflation-focused central bank, this two-volume collection provides an ample and comprehensive overview of currency unions.
