Prices permeate contemporary life. From the cost of basic foodstuffs in developing countries to the pay of CEOs in rich ones, the question of the politics and ethics of pricing everything through the market dominates public life. At the same time, we know that dilemmas about how to value fairly, but also efficiently, goods and services have been with us for more than two thousand years, since the times of Aristotle in Ancient Greece. Through the course of the centuries, important thinkers like Thomas Aquinas, Adam Smith and Karl Marx all devoted considerable effort to try to understand how...

Volume 40 of Research in Economic Anthropology explores current issues in national and international policy, cost and debt, business and capitalism, and economic theory and behavior specifically pertaining to Brazil. The underlying theme running through the collection is the steady encroachment of neoliberalism into economic policy and practice, and the impact this has had on everyday ways of life.   In Part I, Raja Swamy explores post-disaster relocation and livelihood issues in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, India, Anthony Rausch and Junichiro Koji investigate Japan’s Hometown Tax Donation...

Volume 42 of Research in Economic Anthropology focuses on systemic coverage, critical rethinking, and scientific analysis of the current problems facing the world economy and international trade aiming to provide a scientific basis for learning from the COVID-19 pandemic for the global economy and international trade. Current Problems of the World Economy and International Trade begins by reflecting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing crisis for the global economy and international trade. The volume then reveals the prospects for the post-pandemic recovery of the world...