Improving Economic and Social Cohesion in the European Community


Book Description

This book gives a clear insight into the EC's efforts to reduce regional inequalities in Europe, assessing the effectiveness of key EC policies such as the structural funds. It also analyses regional income disparities within the EC, the effects of economic integration on Europe's poorer areas and the strategic options of the less-developed regions and countries in Europe. The effects of the Single Market, the Common Agricultural Policy and Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) on poorer EC areas are also evaluated.




Concerted Development of Social Cohesion Indicators


Book Description

This publication contains guidance on developing a methodological framework for social cohesion indicators which can be applied at local, regional, national and European levels, covering the conceptual approach used and its practical application. It sets out the results of the main applications and trials carried out in 2003 and 2004 and how they tie in with devising a framework of action.




The Politics of Inflation and Economic Stagnation


Book Description

The inflation of the 1970s represented the greatest peacetime disruption of the Western economies since the Depression. Even as inflation receded, the recession in its wake brought more joblessness than at any time since the 1930s. The governments of industrialized nations found that the economic policies they had developed since World War II no longer assured price stability or high employment. What are the lessons of over a decade of economic difficulty? In this conference volume, which focuses on aspects of the crisis that economists often presuppose to be beyond control, the authors analyze the political and social underpinning of inflation and recession. Part 1 places the economic problems of the 1970s in the historical context of postwar development and then compares economic and political science analyses of inflation. Part 2 examines how rivalries between social groups affect inflationary processes. One chapter draws on the history of Latin American inflation to suggest the conflicts in play. Two others weigh the role of labor and industry in the formation of economic policy. And another shows how rivalry between countries, like rivalry between classes at home, permitted inflation to rise. The chapters in part 3 contest the claim that big government or big labor causes inflation. Two studies emphasize that a high degree of public expenditure does not itself lead to inflation. Further contributions explore the role of central banks and subject such concepts as the political business cycle to critical analysis. Part 4 comprises case studies about macroeconomic policymaking in four nations: Italy, Germany, Japan, and Sweden. The studies reveal what institutional attributes rendered those countries resistant to inflation or vulnerable to economic setback. In the last part, the editors pull together the findings and lay out the contemporary political feasibility of alternative approaches to macroeconomic management.




Reducing Inflation


Book Description

While there is ample evidence that high inflation is harmful, little is known about how best to reduce inflation or how far it should be reduced. In this volume, sixteen distinguished economists analyze the appropriateness of low inflation as a goal for monetary policy and discuss possible strategies for reducing inflation. Section I discusses the consequences of inflation. These papers analyze inflation's impact on the tax system, labor market flexibility, equilibrium unemployment, and the public's sense of well-being. Section II considers the obstacles facing central bankers in achieving low inflation. These papers study the precision of estimates of equilibrium unemployment, the sources of the high inflation of the 1970s, and the use of non-traditional indicators in policy formation. The papers in section III consider how institutions can be designed to promote successful monetary policy, and the importance of institutions to the performance of policy in the United States, Germany, and other countries. This timely volume should be read by anyone who studies or conducts monetary policy.




It's Money


Book Description

Because most people and their countries seek wealth and power, and because money and credit are the biggest single influence on how wealth and power rise and decline, if one does not seek knowledge of how money works, one cannot understand the biggest driver of politics within and between countries; hence one cannot understand how the world order works. If one doesn’t understand how the world order works, one can’t understand the post-pandemic debt tsunami that’s coming. I believe that the times ahead will be radically different from the times we have experienced so far in our lifetimes. It is indeed quite astonishing that money, ever-present in our lives, is so poorly understood; even by many economic experts themselves. This incomprehension stems from the deliberate efforts of the financial sector to “obscure its activities” in order to maintain its omnipotence. This book seeks to address this “crisis of ignorance” by providing an easily understood and comprehensive understanding of money in the hope of empowering people against finance’s grip over their lives and those of their society. The digital revolution post-pandemic, will lead to a radical departure from the traditional model of monetary exchange. The creation of a Digital Financial Market Infrastructure will underpin the unbundling and re-bundling of the functions of money within society. Although digital money itself is not new to modern economies, digital legal tender (DLT), which exists without any Ledger or Central Bank, will facilitate instantaneous peer-to-peer transfers of value in a way that today is impossible. The importance of digital connectedness, will often supersede the importance of macroeconomic links, and lead to the establishment of “Digital Financial Markets” linking the currency to membership of a particular financial market rather than to a specific country. Capitalism underpins wealth generation and hence the existence of a free digital financial market. This book seeks to transform Money into a digital currency, which supports a more equitable access to capital, and ensure its convertibility into a universal World Currency Unit as digital legal tender. Digital currencies without borders may also cause an upheaval of the international monetary system: countries that are socially or digitally integrated with their neighbours may face digital dollarization, and the prevalence of systemically important platforms could lead to the emergence of digital currency areas that transcend national borders. Digital legal tender, within a multiplicity of currencies, ensures that money as a public good, remains a relevant medium of exchange which achieves payment finality to all transactions. Additionally, the universal supranational-currency, the World Currency Unit is defined to support the global transfer of value between any two people on the planet today, without the need for any treaties, or financial service intermediaries. Universal access to capital which is readily convertible to globally trusted units of account combined with a censorship-resistant means of payment underpins global trade, will improve market access for holders of low per-unit value, producers, and consumers in developing and developed countries. The Vision is a Borderless Global Market, underpinning universal wealth creation, which never closes… This book defines the Universe of Discourse(domain) and hence creates a shared conceptual schema (or language) within which to communicate and deploy a Digital Currency, to achieve universal legal finality to all financial transactions.




The Debate on Money in Europe


Book Description

Written from 1985 to 1992, the author's essays address such topics as the transition to a European monetary system, the design and functioning of a European Central Bank, curency reform, capital inflow, and exchange rates.




The Federal Budget and Inflation


Book Description




A Social and Economic Theory of Consumption


Book Description

Kaj Ilmonen was a pioneer in the third wave of the sociology of consumption. This book provides a balanced overview of the sociology of consumption, arguing that the enthusiasm of 'the third wave' exaggerated the role of the symbolic and imaginary at the expense of the materiality of human societies.




Money, Morality and Law


Book Description

Standing apart from the swollen stream of writing dealing with financial crises, this much-needed book makes a legal case for enforcement of legal accountability for financial crises and for providing justice for the inestimable and untold human suffering caused by Washington and Wall Street. The extraordinarily detailed analysis comes with the authority of a widely experienced and internationally respected banking and finance lawyer. The book’s driving forces may be summarized as follows: it establishes that persistent and progressive money debasement is at the heart of all serious systemic financial crises; it establishes that the crisis in 2008 was not only simply immoral or wrong but also illegal, the result of intentional violation of the foundational legal requirements of honest, safe, and sound money and banking; it establishes that Washington and Wall Street have intentionally manipulated asset values and liquidity characteristics through proliferation of ineffective banking law and regulation magnified by the rise of structured finance and shadow banking. Basing its analysis on numerous case studies and illustrations, this book enables readers to untangle the web of false narratives wrought by Washington and Wall Street to obscure and misdirect any clear understanding of how fundamental civil, legal and constitutional rights are undermined. Designed to empower readers to effect meaningful legal action against money manipulation and debasement for the benefit of financial elites, this book is essential reading for banking lawyers, bankers, securities firms, lobbyists, government regulators and supervisory institutions. It is also sure to be welcomed by academics in finance and securities law.




Monetary Policy and Financial Stability


Book Description

This book explores how monetary policy contributes to the efficient allocation of resources, with special reference made to the contribution of the effective workings of the financial system. It argues that the stability of the financial system promotes the smooth functioning of the payment systems and the effective transmission of monetary policy, thus promoting the achievement of monetary policy objectives. The interrelated issues addressed here include the ways various monetary policy objectives are achieved, their effective presentation to the public, and the strategic role of money growth in the conduct of monetary policy. The analysis underlines the context of financial-market performance in recent decades and the varied central bank responses to the emergence of the global financial crisis. This book constitutes a useful companion to graduate students in economics, researchers and business and central banking practitioners in understanding the unending quest of the shifting roles of money and financial practices to reconcile growth and stability.