Tells the story of Australia's integration into the international economy. It traces the Australian economy from Federation to its downturn the 1970s and assesses the current state of play. Topics include the rise of economic rationalism, demographic and social repercussions of globalisation, and the emerging power of the Asia-Pacific region.
The book sets out to explore the economic motivations of imperial expansion under capitalism. This undoubtedly is related to two fundamental research questions in economic sciences. First, what factors explain the divergence in living standards across countries under the capitalist economic system? Second, what ensures internal and external stability of the capitalist economic system? The book adopts a unified approach to address these questions. Using the standard growth model it shows that improvements in living standards are dependent on access to raw materials, labour, capital, technology, and perhaps most importantly 'economies of scale'. Empires ensure scale economy through guaranteed access to markets and raw materials. The stability of the system depends on growth and distribution and it is not possible to have one without the other. However, the quest for growth and imperial expansion implies that one empire invariably comes into conflict with another. This is perhaps the most unstable and potentially dangerous characteristic of the capitalist system. Using extensive historical accounts the book shows that this inherent tension can be best managed by acknowledging mutual spheres of influence within the international system along the lines of the 1815 Vienna Congress. This timely publication addresses not only students and scholars of economics, geography, political science, and history, but also general readers interested in a better understanding of economic development, international relations, and the history of global capitalism.
The book provides a theoretically and historically informed analysis of the global economic crisis. It makes original contributions to theories of value, of crisis and of the state and uses these to develop a rich empirical study of the changing character of capitalism in the twentieth century and beyond. It defends, uses and develops Marxist theory while arguing particularly against jumping too quickly from abstract concepts to a concrete understanding of the crisis. Instead, it uses what Marx described in his notebooks as an ‘obvious’ analytical ordering to progress from a general analysis of economy and society to a discussion of recent economic transformations and the specifics of the crisis and its aftermath.Dunn argues that appropriately reconceived, a critical Marxism can incorporate and enrich rather than rejecting insights from other traditions. He disputes general characterisations of capitalism to the crisis and theories which see finance and the contemporary financial crises as largely detached from other aspects of the economy and society. Providing a thoroughly socialised and historically based account, this book will be vital reading for students and scholars of political economy, international political economy, Marxism, sociology, geography and development studies.
"What is to be done? That is the issue political movements, social thinkers, economists, and governments all over the world must now confront. Without trying to propose specific policies, the author puts forward a highly suggestive set of principles and ideas."--BOOK JACKET.
For the first time in history, the globe is dominated by one economic system. Capitalism prevails because it delivers prosperity and meets desires for autonomy. But it also is unstable and morally defective. Surveying the varieties and futures of capitalism, Branko Milanovic offers creative solutions to improve a system that isn’t going anywhere.
This remarkable, expansive text, explores the impact and ramifications this domineering economic phenomenon has had over our personal and social liberties. In this epoch of capitalist globalisation, Peter Nolan argues that capitalist freedom is a two-edged sword, and its contradictions have intensified, threatening the natural environment, and intensifying global inequality.
With the global economy in crisis, there is great need for a deeper understanding of Australia's economic place in the world – both today and throughout history. This new edition of Barrie Dyster and David Meredith's highly successful book is fully updated and includes three new chapters covering until the end of 2011. The book explores the evolution of Australia's position in the global economy from the start of the twentieth century through to the present day, examining the international and local economies of five key historical periods. With a focus on trade, foreign investment and immigration, the book considers periods both of growth and decline. By using historical perspectives to explain the present and give direction to the future, this unique book presents a rich account of Australia's position within a global economic context. It is an essential resource for students and lecturers of Australian economic history.
News headlines warn of rivalries and competing nations across Asia and the Pacific, even as powerful new cross-border relations form as never before. This book looks behind the Asia-Pacific curtain: at the new forms of social, economic, and political integration taking place through a global capitalism that is rife with contradictions, inequality, and crisis. We are moved beyond traditional conceptualizations of the inter-state system with its nation-state competition as the core organizing principle of world capitalism and the principal institutional framework that shapes the makeup of global social forces. These important studies examine and debate over how there is a growing transnationality of material (economic) relations in the global era, as well as an emerging transnationality of many social and class relations. How does transnational capitalist class fractions, new middle strata, and labor undergird globalization in Asia and Oceania? How have states and institutions become entwined with such processes? This book provides insight into a field of dynamic change.
Unusual coming from a leftist perspective, this book argues that those who care for social justice should seek more globalization and not try to prevent its development or roll it back.
