Given today's heightened competition between national economies in the global marketplace, many have come to believe that government intervention is needed in order for a country to maximize its economic well-being. But to what extent can even the most capable government act to attract investment and enhance economic growth without creating or exacerbating conflicts in societyespecially when unpopular measures, such as those aimed at controlling inflation and population growth, must be implemented?This timely book by an international team of economists and political scientists tackles that...

As a growing number of nations usher in market economies, policymakers must grapple with key decisions regarding capital controls and capital account liberalization. In this ambitious volume, distinguished economists evaluate these choices within the context of economic efficiency, economic structure, and political consequences in an increasingly global and competitive market environment. Critically assessing traditional positions on the timing and degree of liberalization of trade and capital flows, they also consider newer arguments from the fields of public choice, financial economics, and...

As we enter a new century, world affairs have been transformed. The leading countries confront no compelling or immediate major threats of a military sort; they all see the world in essentially the same way; there has been an enormous expansion of international trade and economic interconnections; and rapid technological expansion has facilitated international interconnections that substantially skirt standard political arrangements. This makes possible a reallocation of national effort from security to material concerns and a reasonable prospect for an unparalleled era of prosperity and...

The past several decades have seen profound changes in the political landscapes of advanced industrial societies. This volume assesses key political developments and links them to underlying socioeconomic and cultural forces. These forces include the growth of a well-educated middle class, the moderating of bipolar class divisions between wealthy capitalists and struggling workers, and the accelerated rise of new media technologies (especially television) as potent tools shaping the terms of public discussion. Related political transformations include the spread of new social movements on...

In States, Banks, and Markets Nancy Neiman Auerbach approaches financial policymaking as a strategic interaction between two sets of domestic actors: private financiers and state officials. Through a comparative lens, Auerbach explains why the transition to financial liberalization was accompanied by economic crisis and declining growth rates in countries such as Mexico, while the same policy was associated with higher growth rates and a relatively more equitable distribution of income in other countries such as South Korea and Hong Kong.Auerbach first sets up a theoretical foundation...

The Politics of Oil-Producer Cooperation is a comprehensive study of the behavior of political actors in the international oil market since 1971. In this study, Dag Harald Claes seeks to answer the question of what determines the cooperative behavior among oil-producing countries, and he also shows the benefits of approaching an empirical topic from several levels of analysis. Claes provides a case study demonstrating the problems of collective action in international politics, and he discusses multi-level approaches in studies of international relations, and international...

The first edition of this book was published in 1994, as the future of monetary unification in Europe was very much in doubt. With Economic and Monetary Union now in place, it is appropriate to bring the scholarship on the topic up to date for the students of international political economics. To this effect, essayists Jeffry Frieden, Geoffrey Garrett, Lisa L. Martin, Benjamin J. Cohen revised four of the original chapters to reflect new conditions. Editors, Barry Eichengreen and Frieden completely rewrote the introductory essay. Three new chapters by Matthew Gabel, Charles Engel, and Paul De...