Economics is a very important subject but the main problem in teaching it in Africa is making it less esoteric and more relevant to the students. There are three reasons for this difficulty.

First, most of the economic textbooks are written by foreign authors, using foreign examples, which makes it difficult for African students to relate to. For example, it is hard to talk about the stock exchange as a means of raising capital when very few African countries have a stock market. Similarly, it is difficult to talk about oligopolistic firms when the main players in the economic field are state monopolies. It should be mentioned, however, that this trend is changing and more and more economic textbooks are being written by Africans for African students.

George B. N. Ayittey in Applied Economics for Africa explains economics in a way that African students of the subject or anyone interested in economics would understand using local examples. 

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More about this e-Book:

The value-free and relativistic human and scientific discourses have led to an era of ideology. From fascism at the dawn of the century, through liberalism and the associated phenomenon of unfettered statism, to the current disillusionment of postmodernism and relativism with endeavours towards new mercantilism. All have maintained poverty, inequality and created scepticism amongst both lay persons and academics. Above all else a renewed yearning for moral and ethical direction in political and economic conduct has been created. This book provides a Christian ethical reflection on political-economic conduct in South Africa as an alternative to current modernistic ideas.

This book aims to produce new Christian ethical insight into the value of new liberal perspectives on the enhancement of the South African political economy. New Christian ethical insight will be gained through new perspectives on the South African political economy. 

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Shaping markets through competition and economic regulation is at the heart of addressing the development challenges facing countries in southern Africa. The contributors to 'Competition Law And Economic Regulation: Addressing Market Power In Southern Africa' critically assess the efficacy of the competition and economic regulation frameworks, including the impact of a number of the regional competition authorities in a range of sectors throughout southern Africa. Featuring academics as well as practitioners in the field, the book addresses issues common to southern African countries, where markets are small and concentrated, with particularly high barriers to entry, and where the resources to enforce legislation against anti-competitive conduct are limited. What is needed, the contributors argue, is an understanding of competition and regional integration as part of an inclusive growth agenda for Africa. 

By examining competition and regulation in a single framework, and viewing this within the southern African experience, this volume adds new perspectives to the global competition literature. It is an essential reference tool and will be of great interest to policymakers and regulators, as well as the rapidly growing ecosystem of legal practitioners and economists engaged in the field. 

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Part memoir, part crash-course in economic theory, this deeply engaging book by one of the world's foremost economists looks at economic ideas through a personal lens. Together with an introduction to some of the central concepts in modern economic thought, Ariel Rubinstein offers some powerful and entertaining reflections on his childhood, family and career. In doing so, he challenges many of the central tenets of game theory, and sheds light on the role economics can play in society at large. The book is as thought-provoking for seasoned economists as it is enlightening for newcomers to the field.

Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind, describes Economics Fables as a "wonderfully inviting introduction to game theory, rich in personalities, history and sense of place. Ariel Rubinstein is not only a brilliant theorist with a knack for lucid exposition, but a gifted storyteller. Students will find the ideas surprisingly accessible. Aspiring scholars, wondering whether a life of the mind is worth pursuing, will find his personal journey of intellectual discovery thrilling."

REVIEWS:

"So, all in all, this is a great book for economics students, giving a clear introduction to some basic models and just as important to some important advice about how to use models, and how not to use them. The book has a terrific website where readers can try out some of the exercises. I would definitely use this if I were teaching. It is also a very enjoyable and thought-provoking read for practising economists, not to mention for all non-economists trying to pin down why they think economics has failed them during the crisis."

— Diane Coyle, Bennett Professor of Public Policy, The Enlightened Economist, University of Cambridge (2012)

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The Economy Studies project emerged from the worldwide movement to modernise economics education, spurred on by the global financial crisis of 2008, the climate crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic. It envisions a wide variety of economics graduates and specialists, equipped with a broad toolkit, enabling them to collectively understand and help tackle the issues the world faces today.

This is a practical guide for (re-)designing economics courses and programs. Based on a clear conceptual framework and ten flexible building blocks, this handbook offers refreshing ideas and practical suggestions to stimulate student engagement and critical thinking across a wide range of courses.

Key features are:

- Adapting Existing Courses: Plug-and-play suggestions to improve existing economics courses with attention to institutions, history, values and practical skills.

- Teaching materials: A guide through the rapidly growing range of innovative textbooks and other teaching materials.

- Example Courses and Curricula: How to design pluralist, real-world economics education within the practical limits of time and resources.

The companion website, www.economystudies.com , contains a wealth of additional resources, such as tailor-made booklets for more specific audiences, additional teaching materials and links to plug-and-play syllabi and courses, and opportunities for workshops and exchange with other economics educators.

Parts of the book:

• Part I: Foundations: outlines the basic principles underpinning a good economics education, such as pluralism and a real-world focus, and provides didactic suggestions to put these into practice.

• Part II: Building Blocks: provides ten concrete yet flexible bundles of skills and knowledge, suggesting what to teach, how to teach it and what teaching materials to use.

• Part III: Tools: offers seven practical tools for course and curriculum design and renewal.

Reviews:

• "This book fills an important gap, offering an exciting look into the heterogeneity required to understand real-world economics."

-- Arjen van Witteloostuijn, Dean of the School of Business and Economics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

• "To tackle the systemic challenges that the world faces today, we need economists with an open-mindset and a diverse toolkit to help guide us. This book provides the building blocks for educating these crucial experts."

-- Jan Peter Balkenende, former prime minister of the Netherlands

• “A tremendous resource for both teachers and students of economics.”

-- Prof. Wendy Carlin (UCL), director of the CORE Economics Education Project

• “Based on a thorough analysis, the authors argue for a radical rethink of how economics is taught. Whether you agree or disagree with some of the specific suggestions, this book is definitely worth reading.”

-- Claudio Borio, Head of Monetary and Economic Department at the BIS

• "This book is a tour de force. The mastery of the subject that the authors and their team display is astonishing. It was a source of inspiration for the development of the new program at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam."

-- Prof. Arjo Klamer (EUR & VU)

• “This book is the most thorough and fundamental guidance I have ever seen for making economics education more relevant, more realistic, and more rigorous. Rather than critiquing current curricula, it provides helpful suggestions for teachers on how to make their courses suitable for the 21st century”

-- Irene van Staveren, author of Economics after the crisis and professor of Pluralist Development Economics at the Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam

• “This book offers the next generation of economists an essential guide to new economic ideas, theories, models and narratives. This will be essential for navigating the policy challenges of an interconnected, complex but fragile world.”

-- William Hynes, Senior Advisor to the Secretary General and the Head of the New Approaches to Economic Challenges (NAEC) at the OECD

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This open access work has been funded by the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd in partnership with United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on SSE (UNTFSSE) The Encyclopedia of the Social and Solidarity Economy is a comprehensive reference text that explores how the social and solidarity economy (SSE) plays a significant role in creating and developing economic activities in alternative ways. 

In contrast to processes involving commodification, commercialisation, bureaucratisation and corporatisation, the SSE reasserts the place of ethics, social well-being and democratic decision-making in economic activities and governance. Identifying and analysing a myriad of issues and topics associated with the SSE, the Encyclopedia broadens the knowledge base of diverse actors of the SSE, including practitioners, activists and policymakers.

Contents page:

Foreword

Preface

The SSE Encyclopedia Editorial Committee

Abbreviations

Part I: HISTORIES, CONCEPTS AND THEORIES

• Ch. 1: Activism and social movements / Hamish Jenkins and Yvon Poirier

• Ch. 2: Community economies / 

Stephen Healy, Ana Inés Heras, and Peter North

• Ch. 3: Contemporary understandings / Peter Utting

• Ch. 4: Ecological economics / Dražen Šimleša

• Ch. 5: Feminist economics / Suzanne Bergeron

• Ch. 6: Globalization and alter-globalization / 

Carmen Marcuello, Anjel Errasti, and Ignacio Bretos

• Ch. 7: Heterodox economics / Jean-Louis Laville

• Ch. 8: Indigenous economies / Luciane Lucas dos Santos

• Ch. 9: Moral economy and human economy / Jean-Louis Laville

• Ch. 10: Origins and histories / Jean-Louis Laville

• Ch. 11: Postcolonial theories / Luciane Lucas dos Santos

• Ch. 12: The Black social economy / Sharon D. Wright Austin

• Ch. 13: The commons / Anabel Rieiro

Part II: ACTORS AND ORGANIZATIONS

• Ch. 14: African American solidarity economics and distributive justice / 

Jessica Gordon-Nembhard and Ajowa Nzinga Ifateyo

• Ch. 15: Associations and associationalism / 

Bruno Frère and Laurent Gardin

• Ch. 16: Community-based organizations / Kiran Kamal Prasad

• Ch. 17: Cooperatives and mutuals / 

Chiyoge B. Sifa and Caroline Shenaz Hossein

• Ch. 18: LGBT inclusion / Vincenza Priola and Saoirse C. O'Shea

• Ch. 19: Migrants and refugees / Giulia Galera and Leila Giannetto

• Ch. 20: Non-governmental organisations and foundations / 

Edith Archambault

• Ch. 21: Social enterprises / Jacques Defourny and Marthe Nyssens

• Ch. 22: Womens self-help groups / Christabell P.J.

• Ch. 23: Youth / Davorka Vidović

Part III: LINKAGES TO DEVELOPMENT

• Ch. 24: Care and home support services / 

Christian Jetté, Yves Vaillancourt, and Catherine Lenzi

• Ch. 25: Culture, sports and leisure sectors / 

Nadine Richez-Battesti and Francesca Petrella

• Ch. 26: Education sector / Christina A. Clamp and Colleen E. Tapley

• Ch. 27: Energy, water and waste management sectors / Waltteri Katajamäki

• Ch. 28: Finance sector / Riccardo Bodini and Gianluca Salvatori

• Ch. 29: Food and agriculture sector / Judith Hitchman

• Ch. 30: Gender equality and empowerment / Bipasha Baruah

• Ch. 31: Health and care sector / Jean-Pierre Girard

• Ch. 32: Housing sector / Alice Pittini

• Ch. 33: Information and communication technology (ICT) / 

Raymond Saner, Lichia Saner-Yiu, and Samuel Bruelisauer

• Ch. 34: Local community development / Luis Razeto Migliaro

• Ch. 35: Peace and non-violence / Smita Ramnarain

• Ch. 36: Reduction of hunger and poverty / Judith Hitchman

• Ch. 37: Reduction of multidimensional inequalities / Andrea Salustri

• Ch. 38: Social services / Susanne Elsen

• Ch. 39: Sustainable investment, production and consumption / 

Cynthia Giagnocavo

• Ch. 40: The Sustainable Development Goals / 

Denison Jayasooria and Ilcheong Yi

• Ch. 41: Tourism sector / Gilles Caire

• Ch. 42: Work integration / 

Kate Cooney, Marthe Nyssens, and Mary O'Shaughnessy

Part IV: ENABLING ENVIRONMENT AND GOVERNANCE

• Ch. 43: Access to markets / Darryl Reed

• Ch. 44: Co-optation, isomorphism and instrumentalisation / 

Nadine Richez-Battesti and Francesca Petrella

• Ch. 45: Financing / Gianluca Salvatori and Riccardo Bodini

• Ch. 46: Legal frameworks and laws / David Hiez

• Ch. 47: Local and territorial development plans / Hamish Jenkins

• Ch. 48: Management / Sang-Youn Lee

• Ch. 49: Participation, governance, collective action and democracy / 

Jeová Torres Silva Junior

• Ch. 50: Partnership and co-construction / Marguerite Mendell

• Ch. 51: Public policy / Peter Utting

• Ch. 52: Resilience in the context of multiple crises / 

Beverley Mullings and Tinyan Otuomagie

• Ch. 53: Social policy / Ilcheong Yi

• Ch. 54: Statistical measurement / Marie J. Bouchard

• Ch. 55: Supporting organizations and intermediaries / 

Hamish Jenkins

• Ch. 56: The institutional ecosystem / 

Jean-Marc Fontan and Benoît Lévesque

• Ch. 57: Working conditions and wages / 

Kunle Akingbola and Carol Brunt

Index

Reviews:

• "A comprehensive overview that clearly demonstrates the significant contribution of the Social and Solidarity Economy in addressing the leading issues of our time, including globalization, social justice and inequalities. This is an important resource for researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders which can be leveraged for promoting inclusive and sustainable development."

-- Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations

• "This magnificent work captures the rich diversity of experiences, backgrounds and visions of those of us who work in people-centered economics. It is, therefore, an essential tool for consolidating a paradigm of international cooperation that makes an effective impact in each territory."

-- Ariel E. Guarco, President of the International Cooperative Alliance, Belgium

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This fascinating book describes and analyses the development of competition law in South Africa, promoting a deeper understanding of the development of this foundational economic law within its specific national, social and economic context. 

Enforcing Competition Rules in South Africa draws strongly on case law and enforcement experiences, and it will appeal to academics, researchers, and practitioners of competition law and economics.

Contents page:

  Preface

1. Beginnings

2. The New Competition Regime

3. Mergers

4. Abuse of Dominance

5. Cartels

6. Competition Enforcement on the World Stage

7. Conclusion and a Postscript

   Index

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A structural growth slowdown is underway across the world: at current trends, the global potential growth rate is expected to fall to a three-decade low over the remainder of the 2020s. Nearly all the forces that have powered growth and prosperity since the early 1990s have weakened, not only because of a series of shocks to the global economy over the past three years. A persistent and broad-based decline in long-term growth prospects imperils the ability of emerging market and developing economies to combat poverty, tackle climate change, and meet other key development objectives. These challenges call for an ambitious policy response at the national and global levels. 

This book presents the first detailed analysis of the growth slowdown and a rich menu of policy options to deliver better growth outcomes.

Contents Page:

• Report Overview  

• Ch. 1: Potential Not Realized: An International Database of Potential Growth 

• Ch. 2: Regional Dimensions of Potential Growth: Hopes and Realities 

• Ch. 3: The Global Investment Slowdown: Challenges and Policies 

• Ch. 4 : Regional Dimensions of Investment: Moving in the Right Direction 

• Ch. 5 : Potential Growth Prospects: Risks, Rewards and Policies 

• Ch. 6: Trade as Engine for Growth: Sputtering but Fixable 

• Ch. 7: Services-Led Growth: Better Prospects after the Pandemic? 

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Rising inequality and widespread poverty, social unrest and polarization, gender and ethnic disparities, declining social mobility, economic fragility, unbalanced growth due to technology and globalization, and existential danger from climate change are urgent global concerns of our day. These issues are intertwined. They therefore require a holistic framework to examine their interplay and bring the various strands together. This book brings together leading academic economists and experts from several international institutions to explain the sources and scale of these challenges. The book summarizes a wide array of empirical evidence and country experiences, lays out practical policy solutions, and devises a comprehensive and unified plan of action for combatting these economic and social disparities. 

This authoritative book is accessible to policy makers, students, and the general public interested in how to craft a brighter future by building a sustainable, green, and inclusive society in the years ahead.

Contents page:

1   An Inclusive Growth Framework 

2   Links Between Growth, Inequality, and Poverty 

3   Labor Markets 

4   Financial Inclusion 

5   Technological Progress and Artificial Intelligence 

6   Competition and Innovation 

7   Trade 

8   Financial Globalization 

9   Migration 

10   Governance 

11   Macroeconomic Stability, Adjustment, and Debt 

12   Tax Policy 

13   Public Expenditure 

14   Education and Health 

15   The Political Economy of Inclusive Growth 

16   Gender Equality 

17   Regional Disparities 

18   Generational Aspects of Inclusive Growth 

19   Sharing Resource Wealth and Addressing Fragility 

20   Climate Change 

21   Country Case Studies 

22   Conclusions and Resources for Next Steps 

Index

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Before the First Opium War, from 1839–1842, China had long had substantial commercial activity. After Europeans forced the country to open up to the West, one of the Western ideas to which China was exposed was economic liberalism. This way of thinking had never cohered as a doctrine in China, even though aspects of it can be found in older Chinese thought.

After 1842, many influential people in China came to see economic liberalism as the key to saving China. Similar claims would be made at various times for social Darwinism, women’s rights, Christianity, and ultimately Marxism, under which economic liberalism was tarred as nothing more than a façade for colonial exploitation. After 1949, under Marxism, China was driven to extreme. Then, in desperation, its leaders awkwardly harnessed economic liberalism in practice to Marxism in theory. This harnessing of liberalization unleashed prosperity and substantial social changes, beginning in the late 1970s. But today the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) want, above all, to maintain power, and they fear that China now has too much economic liberalism.

About the author:

Evan Osborne is professor of economics, Wright State University. He reads and writes Chinese, and has published on Chinese history from the late Qing to the present. He has also done work on ethnic conflict and more general social conflict, and on the economics of art, empirical analysis of litigation, development economics, and sports economics. 

Reviews:

"...an appreciation of economic liberalism’s place in modern Chinese thought before 1978 ... illustrates the insufficiencies of claims that present China’s limited moves toward markets between 1978 and 2012 as an anomaly. 

An effort to correct this picture is central to a new book by Evan W. Osborne, professor of economics at Wright State University. This book studies economic liberalism’s role in China, particularly following the Sino-British 1843 Treaty of the Bogue.   ...   

Among other things, Osborne’s highly readable text fills many gaps in the history of economic liberalism in China. That involves drawing upon original sources, some of which have been translated by Osborne himself. The end result is what Osborne aptly calls a “complex and volatile history” of market liberalism in China—one that is far from over."     

 -- Samuel Gregg in Law & Liberty, April 23, 2024

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This book from the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy explains how money creation and banking works, describes the main problems of the current monetary and financial system and discusses several reform options. This book systematically evaluates proposals for fundamental monetary reform, including ideas to separate money and credit by breaking up banks, introducing a central bank digital currency, and introducing public payment banks. By drawing on these plans, the authors suggest several concrete reforms to the current banking system with the aim to ensure that the monetary system remains stable, contributes to the Dutch economy, fairly distributes benefits, costs and risks, and enjoys public legitimacy. This systematic approach, and the accessible way in which the book is written, allows specialized and non-specialised readers to understand the intricacies of money, banking, monetary reform and financial innovation, far beyond the Dutch context.

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Post-Growth Geographies examines spatial relations of diverse and alternative economies between growth-oriented institutions and multiple socio-ecological crises. The book brings together conceptual and empirical contributions from geography and its neighboring disciplines and offers different perspectives on the possibilities, demands, and critiques of post-growth transformation. Through case studies and interviews, the contributions combine voices from activism, civil society, planning, and politics with current theoretical debates on socio-ecological transformation.

Contents page:

About this book

Illustrations

• Post-growth geographies: Conceptual and thematic cornerstones of this book

I. SPACES OF PERSPECTIVE

• Using socio-spatial concepts of situatedness to explain work processes in the context of post-growth economies

• Spatial strategies for a post-growth transformation

• Reducing working hours in small enterprises as a post-growth practice?

LESSONS FROM PRACTICE

• The emancipatory project of degrowth

• Degrowth: A kind of pragmatic utopian thinking, re-politicising humanistic debates

II. SPACES OF POSSIBILITY

• Growth independence through social innovations? An analysis of potential growth effects of social innovations in a Swiss mountain region

• Criteria for post-growth residential development: The example of the city of Zurich

• Makerspaces: Third places for a sustainable (post-growth) society?

• Performing gaps: The relationship between alternative economies and urban planning in Dortmund

• Town and countryside in flux: The significance of urban functions for the vitality of rural areas and the importance of individual and systemic solutions for the realisation of a growth-critical way of life

LESSONS FROM PRACTICE

• The role of interstitial spaces in the growing urban region of Hamburg

•  ‘Hobbyhimmel’ – an open workshop in the context of post-growth

• Neighbourhood farms as new places for participation and grow-your-own

III. SPACES OF CONFLICT

• Provincialising degrowth: Alternatives to development and the Global South

• Financing post-growth? Green financial products for changed logics of production

•  ‘Status quo avant-gardists’ and ‘prevention innovators’: Food for thought for the geographical post-growth debate

• The growth fixation of the European Union: A commentary on the draft Green Deal

LESSONS FROM PRACTICE

• We have a responsibility to be a bit more pragmatic

• We should continue this dialogue with the EU institutions

IV. SPACES OF DESIGN

• Spatial transformations: Process, goal, guideline?

• Cornerstones and positions of a precautionary post-growth economy: The end of the growth-based model of prosperity

• New roles in collective, growth-independent spatial organisation

• The Bauhaus as a designer of transition: Post-growth approaches in East Germany after reunification – between false growth and unwanted non-growth

LESSONS FROM PRACTICE

• Post-growth perspectives for the Lausitz lignite mining region? – Opportunities and challenges

• Hacking Ulm: Open data, digital literacy and coding as practices creating space in the city

• Designing living spaces together in open-ended approaches: Participation in spatial development for a good life

• Opening up spaces of possibility with artistic experiments

Authors

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Principles of Economics: Scarcity and Social Provisioning takes a pluralistic approach to the standard topics of introductory economics courses.  The text builds on the chiefly neoclassical (or orthodox economics) material of the OpenStax Principles of Economics text, adding extensive content from heterodox economic thought.  Emphasizing the importance of pluralism and critical thinking, the text presents the method and theory of neoclassical economics alongside critiques thereof and heterodox alternatives in both method and theory.  This approach is taken from the outset of the text, where contrasting definitions of economics are discussed in the context of the various ways in which orthodox and heterodox economists study the subject.  The same approach – of theory and method, critique, and alternative theory theory and method – is taken in the study of consumption, production, market exchange, macroeconomic equilibrium, fiscal and monetary policy, as well as in the applied theory chapters.  Historical and contemporary examples are given throughout, and both theory and application are presented with a balanced approach.

This textbook will be of interest especially to instructors and students who wish to go beyond the traditional approach to the fundamentals of microeconomic theory, and explore the wider spectrum of economic thought. 

Summary of Contents Page:

Chapter 1. Welcome to Economics

Chapter 2. Choice in a World of Scarcity

Chapter 3: Defining Economics: A Pluralistic Approach

Chapter 4. The Macroeconomic Perspective

Chapter 5. Economic Growth

Chapter 6. Unemployment

Chapter 7. Inflation

Chapter 8. International Trade and Capital Flows

Chapter 9. The Aggregate Demand-Aggregate Supply Model

Chapter 10. The Keynesian Perspective

Chapter 11. Government Budgets and Fiscal Policy

Chapter 12. Financial Markets

Chapter 13. Money and Banking

Chapter 14. Monetary Policy and Bank Regulation

Chapter 15. The Metallist Approach to Government Finances

Chapter 17. Demand and Supply

Chapter 18. Labor and Financial Markets

Chapter 19. Elasticity

Chapter 20. Consumer Choices

Chapter 21. Challenging the Role of Utilitarianism

Chapter 22. An Institutional Analysis of Modern Consumption

Chapter 23. Cost and Industry Structure

Chapter 24. Perfect Competition

Chapter 25. Monopoly

Chapter 26. Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly

Chapter 27. The Rise of Big Business

Chapter 28. Costs and Prices: The Evidence

Chapter 29. The Megacorp

Chapter 30. Monopoly and Antitrust Policy

Chapter 31. Environmental Protection and Negative Externalities

Chapter 32. Positive Externalities and Public Goods

Chapter 33. Money and the Theory of the Firm

Chapter 34. Poverty and Economic Inequality

Chapter 35. Issues in Labor Markets: Unions, Discrimination, Immigration

Chapter 36. Information, Risk, and Insurance

Chapter 38. Macroeconomic Policy Around the World

Chapter 39. International Trade

Chapter 41. Globalization and Protectionism

Chapter 42. The Economics of Globalization and Trade: A Pluralistic Approach

Appendix A: The Use of Mathematics in Principles of Economics

Appendix B: Present Discounted Value

Appendix C: Indifference Curves

Glossary

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Principles of Macroeconomics is an adaptation of the textbook, Macroeconomics: Theory, Markets, and Policy by D. Curtis and I. Irvine, and presents a complete and concise examination of introductory macroeconomics theory and policy suitable for a first introductory course.

Examples are domestic and international in their subject matter and are of the modern era — financial markets, monetary and fiscal policies aimed at inflation and debt control, globalization and the importance of trade flows in economic structure, and concerns about slow growth and the risk of deflation, are included.

This textbook is intended for a one-semester course, and can be used in a two-semester sequence with the companion textbook, Principles of Microeconomics. The three introductory chapters are common to both textbooks.

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One standard definition for economics is the study of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. A second definition is the study of choice related to the allocation of scarce resources. The first definition indicates that economics includes any business, nonprofit organization, or administrative unit. The second definition establishes that economics is at the core of what managers of these organizations do.

This book presents economic concepts and principles from the perspective of “managerial economics,” which is a subfield of economics that places special emphasis on the choice aspect in the second definition. The purpose of managerial economics is to provide economic terminology and reasoning for the improvement of managerial decisions.

Most readers will be familiar with two different conceptual approaches to the study of economics: microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics studies phenomena related to goods and services from the perspective of individual decision-making entities—that is, households and businesses. Macroeconomics approaches the same phenomena at an aggregate level, for example, the total consumption and production of a region. Microeconomics and macroeconomics each have their merits. The microeconomic approach is essential for understanding the behavior of atomic entities in an economy. However, understanding the systematic interaction of the many households and businesses would be too complex to derive from descriptions of the individual units. The macroeconomic approach provides measures and theories to understand the overall systematic behavior of an economy. Since the purpose of managerial economics is to apply economics for the improvement of managerial decisions in an organization, most of the subject material in managerial economics has a microeconomic focus. However, since managers must consider the state of their environment in making decisions and the environment includes the overall economy, an understanding of how to interpret and forecast macroeconomic measures is useful in making managerial decisions. 

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Principles of Microeconomics is an adaptation of the textbook, Microeconomics: Markets, Methods, and Models by D. Curtis and I. Irvine, which provides concise yet complete coverage of introductory microeconomic theory, application and policy in a Canadian and global environment.

This adaptation employs methods that use equations sparingly and do not utilize calculus. The key issues in most chapters are analyzed by introducing a numerical example or case study at the outset. Students are introduced immediately to the practice of taking a data set, examining it numerically, plotting it, and again analyzing the material in that form.

The end-of-chapter problems involve numerical and graphical analysis, and a small number of problems in each chapter involve solving simple linear equations (intersecting straight lines). However, a sufficient number of questions is provided for the student to test understanding of the material without working through that subset of questions.

This textbook is intended for a one-semester course, and can be used in a two-semester sequence with the companion textbook, Principles of Macroeconomics. The three introductory chapters are common to both textbooks. 

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Taking South Africa as an important case study of the challenges of structural transformation, the book offers a new micro-meso level framework and evidence linking country-specific and global dynamics of change, with a focus on the current challenges and opportunities faced by middle-income countries. Detailed analyses of industry groupings and interests in South Africa reveal the complex set of interlocking country-specific factors which have hampered structural transformation over several decades, but also the emerging productive areas and opportunities for structural change. 

The structural transformation trajectory of South Africa presents a unique country case, given its industrial structure, concentration, and highly internationalized economy, as well as the objective of black economic empowerment. The book links these micro-meso dynamics to the global forces driving economic, institutional, and social change. These include digital industrialization, global value-chain consolidation, financialization, and environmental and other sustainability challenges which are reshaping structural transformation dynamics across middle-income countries like South Africa. 

While these new drivers of change are disrupting existing industries and interests in some areas, in others they are reinforcing existing trends and configurations of power. The book analyses the ways in which both the domestic and global drivers of structural transformation shape—and, in some cases, are shaped by—a country’s political settlement and its evolution. By focusing on the political economy of structural transformation, the book disentangles the specific dynamics underlying the South African experience of the middle-income country conundrum. In so doing, it brings to light the broader challenges faced by similar countries in achieving structural transformation via industrial policies.

Contents page:

1 Framing Structural Transformation in South Africa and Beyond. 

2 Structural Change in South Africa: A Historical Sectoral Perspective. 

3 Metals, Machinery, and Mining Equipment Industries in South Africa: The Relationship between Power, Governance, and Technological Capabilities. 

4 Leveraging Plastics Linkages for Diversification: An Assessment of Backward Linkages from Polymers and Forward Linkages to the Automotive Industry. 

5 Government Policy in Multinational-Dominated Global Value Chains: Structural Transformation within the South African Automotive Industry. 

6 The Industrialization of Freshness and Structural Transformation in South African Fruit Exports. 

7 Sustainability and Green Capital Accumulation: Lessons from the South African Wine Value Chain. 

8 Structural Transformation, Economic Power, and Inequality in South Africa. 

9 Black Economic Empowerment, Barriers to Entry, and Economic Transformation in South Africa. 

10 Profitability without Investment: How Financialization Undermines Structural Transformation in South Africa. 

11 The Middle-Income Trap and Premature Deindustrialization in South Africa. 

12 Digitalization, Industrialization, and Skills Development: Opportunities and Challenges for Middle-Income Countries. 

13 Global Value Chains, ‘In-Out-In’ Industrialization, and the Global Patterns of Sectoral Value Addition. 

14 The Political Economy of Structural Transformation: Political Settlements and Industrial Policy in South Africa. 

15 Towards a New Industrial Policy for Structural Transformation. 

Index

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This well-researched, important text argues a case for the use of Environmental Resource Economics (ERE) as an analytic framework for the conceptualisation and design of sustainable policy options. Sustainable options integrates economic theories and concepts on the one hand with social and environmental challenges on the other.

Applying ERE in a developing context, like that of South Africa, is critical given the country’s dependence on natural and environmental assets. The sustainability of the economy and the welfare of the country’s people are at stake.

Environmental management is, therefore, an economic concern. This is illustrated clearly in the first section of the book, which examines a broad range of welfare indicators, thus providing an overview of the macroeconomic performance of the South African economy.

Sustainable Options is not only for academics and students from the economic, political and biophysical sciences. The book’s hands-on approach and explicit linkages to the real world of economic development makes it invaluable for policy-makers and environmental practitioners faced with the dauting task of making trade-offs between developmental and environmental concerns.

Table of contents:

Part A: 

• Prelude

• Ch.1: A perspective on the South African economy; 

• Ch.2: Reflecting on economic growth; 

• Ch.3: The economics of the environment; 

• Ch.4: Economic valuation. 

Part B: 

• Interlude 

• Ch.5: Capturing the value of environmental services; 

• Ch.6: Economic impacts of climate change of South Africa - a preliminary assessment of unmitigated damage costs; 

• Ch.7: The cost of climate change - the case of malaria in South Africa; 

• Ch.8: Economic guidance on prioritising alien invasive clearing to achieve the preferred public land use in South Africa; 

• Ch.9: The economic value of water in South Africa; 

• Ch.10: A small-sample approach to hedonic valuation of the environment - a case study at Zandvlei, Cape Town; 

• Ch.11: Towards internalising the cost of water pollution; 

• Ch.12: The cost of a decline in air quality; 

• Ch.13: Integrating waste disposal management into energy policy: The case of landfill gas; 

• Ch.14: The cost of noise pollution; 

• Ch.15: Natural resource accounts and their application in South Africa; 

• Ch.16: Economics in impact assessment - the role of environmental and resource economics.

Part C: 

• Interlude.

• Ch.17: Economics, the natural environment and public policy-making;

• Ch.18: Towards an economic development ethic;

• Ch.19: Reflecting on: Sustainable options.

Glossary

Index

Reviews:

"I have a feeling that this book ... will act as a forerunner for adopting better measures of environmental and social risk in business and government." - Clem Sunter.

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Since the great triumph of South Africa’s democratic transition, there have been many achievements; but there have also been many disappointments. Without doubt, the greatest failing has been the lack of progress in addressing poverty and inequality. The main culprit has, in turn, been massive and growing unemployment. With an official unemployment rate of 25%, South Africa is a complete outlier among developed and developing countries. High unemployment underpins extreme poverty and inequality and is a major contributor to social dislocation. Unemployed human resources on this scale also constitute a major drag on growth.

In a country with substantial resources and a government which claims to be serious about addressing the issue, this lack of progress is not only troubling but puzzling. Much more rapid growth is clearly essential, but is it enough? This book argues that growth has to be more employment intensive. If we optimistically assume an annual growth rate of, say, 4%, it will make a big difference whether employment grows at 1%, 2% or 3%. A key message of the book is that specific attention must be paid to raising the employment density of growth.

The volume brings together 25 leading economists and other social scientists from South Africa and abroad. They present a penetrating analysis of the unemployment problem, as well as proposals to deal with it. Their contributions provide an overview of employment issues, internationally and domestically, and address the impact of the structure of the economy on unemployment. Particular attention is paid to rural communities and the manufacturing sector, as well as to specific policies such as wage subsidies and public-employment programmes.

Contents:

Foreword; 

Preface; 

Acknowledgements; 

Part I: Overview

Chapter 1: Introduction: Employment-intensive growth; 

• Why is unemployment so high?; 

• Employment-intensive growth; 

• An overview; 

• References; 

Chapter 2: Employment-centred policies in an international context; 

• Introduction; 

• Employment trends; 

• Policies for employment creation; 

• Shorter-term policies for employment creation: some illustrations examples; 

• Longer-term policies for employment creation; 

• Conclusion; 

• References. 

Chapter 3: The South African unemployment debate: A basis for consistent policy on employment?

• Introduction; 

• The unemployment discourse landscape; 

• The existence of three discourses: What does this mean?; 

• Conclusion and interpretation: Policy-related implications; 

• References

Part II: Employment and the structure of the economy

Chapter 4: Employment outcomes and earnings in post-apartheid South Africa; 

• Introduction; 

• Understanding a high unemployment labour market: an overview of labour market trends and challenges in South Africa since 1995. 

• The institutional and regulatory environment remains critical

• Conclusion; 

• References

Chapter 5: Sectoral dimensions of employment intensity

• Introduction; 

• Sectoral patterns of employment; 

• Employment multipliers; 

• Conclusion; 

• References; 

Chapter 6: Inequality traps and human-capital accumulation in South Africa; 

• Introduction; 

• Inequality and investment; 

• Empirical evidence on the relationship between inequality and higher education; 

• Policy discussion; 

• References

Part III: The rural sector. 

Chapter 7: Contemporary agrarian transformation and rural development: large-scale land investments and the question of labour 

• Introduction; 

• Contemporary land grabs: patterns, actors and processes ; 

• Large-scale land investments and job opportunities: how unlikely it is ; 

• Water grabbing, green grabbing and impacts on rural livelihoods; 

• Conclusion; 

• References; 

Chapter 8: The penumbra of employment 

• Introduction; 

• Rural livelihoods in South Africa; 

• Case studies; 

• Rural livelihoods in the context of chronic unemployment; 

• Rural vulnerability, social differentiation and the labour market; 

• Conclusion

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This guide has been co-created by the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) to support visionary policy makers, to build more just and sustainable economies for people and planet.

The guide has resources, tools, case studies, and suggestions that can help you to:

• Develop a wellbeing vision, framework and measurements.

• Design a strategy to foster the areas of economic life most important for our wellbeing

• Assess and co-create Wellbeing Economy policies to build a coherent and innovative policy mix.

• Successfully implement Wellbeing Economy policies by empowering local stakeholders and communities.

• Evaluate policy impacts on wellbeing for learning, adaptation and success.

This is just the first iteration of this guide and it is our hope that in the months and years to come we can continue to build this guide together. Through your experimentation, innovations and learnings we can show the world that a Wellbeing Economy is not only possible but already underway. 

If you have any ideas of how the guide could be useful in your line of work, do get in touch and let’s discuss how we can collaborate!

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