The Overspent American explores why so many of us feel materially dissatisfied, why we work staggeringly long hours and yet walk around with ever-present mental "wish lists" of things to buy or get, and why Americans save less than virtually anyone in the world. Unlike many experts, Harvard economist Juliet B. Schor does not blame consumers' lack of self-discipline. Nor does she blame advertisers. Instead she analyzes the crisis of the American consumer in a culture where spending has become the ultimate social art.

The previous decade ushered in a globalization of finance and governments abandoned their "Keynesian" responsibility to engage in international financial management. A new doctrine of global neoclassicism arose, based on the premise that regulation of financial markets was futile. This volume rejects that approach, and asks whether national policy autonomy is still possible. The authors address financial openness from a "political economy" perspective, including both general historical and theoretical approaches, as well as case studies of countries such as Australia, Mexico, and...

The period after World War Two, with its sustained growth and high employment rate, has been referred to as the "golden age" of capitalism. Blending historical analysis with economic theory, this work presents essays that scrutinize the institutions that fostered this growth and high employment as well as the forces which later undermined the effectiveness of these institutions in the 1960s and 70s. The authors discuss the evolution of the historical background, the macroeconomic structure, the international order, the systems of production, as well as the "rules of coordination." They use...

This pathbreaking book explains why, contrary to all expectations, Americans are working harder than ever. Juliet Schor presents the astonishing news that over the past twenty years our working hours have increased by the equivalent of one month per year--a dramatic spurt that has hit everybody: men and women, professionals as well as low-paid workers. Why are we--unlike every other industrialized Western nation--repeatedly "choosing" money over time? And what can we do to get off the treadmill?

Marketing targeted at kids is virtually everywhere -- in classrooms and textbooks, on the Internet, even at Girl Scout meetings, slumber parties, and the playground. Product placement and other innovations have introduced more subtle advertising to movies and television. Drawing on her own survey research and unprecedented access to the advertising industry, Juliet B. Schor, New York Times bestselling author of The Overworked American, examines how marketing efforts of vast size, scope, and effectiveness have created "commercialized children." Ads and their messages about sex,...

Juliet Schor breaks a taboo by exposing Americans' shopping habits to moral society. Schor disapproves of unfettered private consumption, not only because we already use up so much, but also because overspending to bolster a sense of self does not lead to happiness. Along with her critique, Schor suggests intriguing ideas for making 'status' goods accessible for all--for example, imposing high taxes on expensive items to subsidize lines of affordable 'luxury' goods. A firestorm of responses follow from economist Robert Frank and others.
The New Democracy Forum is a series of short...

Economics is the nexus and engine that runs society, affecting societal well-being, raising standards of living when economies prosper or lowering citizens through class structures when economies perform poorly. Our society only has to witness the booms and busts of the past decade to see how economics profoundly affects the cores of societies around the world. From a household budget to international trade, economics ranges from the micro- to the macro-level. It relates to a breadth of social science disciplines that help describe the content of the proposed encyclopedia, which will...