Joined-Up Government
Joined-Up Government

Author: Vernon Bogdanor

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2005-07-21

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 9780197263334

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'Joined- up government' is a key theme of modern government. The Labour government, first elected in 1997, decided that intractable problems such as social exclusion, drug addiction and crime could not be resolved by any single department of government. Instead, such problems had to be made the object of a concerted attack using all the arms of government - central and local government and public agencies, as well as the private and voluntary sectors. This book seeks to analyse 'joined-up government', to consider its history, and to evaluate its consequences for British institutions such as the Cabinet, the civil service and local authorities. Is joined-up government a new idea, or merely a new label for a very old idea? What lessons can be learnt from previous attempts at joined-up government? How does it affect our traditional constitutional conceptions relating to Cabinet government, a politically neutral and non-partisan civil service, and an independent system of local government? Will it lead to the concentration of power in 10 Downing Street or is it compatible with a political system based on checks and balances? Drawing together papers given at a conference held at the British Academy, Joined-Up Government provides a broad overview of one of the most significant aspects in modern government. Its contributors include not only distinguished academics, but also those who have themselves been engaged as practitioners in developing joined-up programmes. This book will be indispensable to all those who seek to understand how new developments in government are affecting our lives.

The Voltage Effect
The Voltage Effect

Author: John A List

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2022-02-03

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0241556856

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'By far the best book I've ever read on the how and why of scaling. If you care about changing the world, or just want to make better decisions in your own life, The Voltage Effect is for you.' Angela Duckworth, CEO of Character Lab and New York Times bestselling author of Grit ________________ Why do some ideas make it big while others fail to take off? According to award-winning behavioural economist John List, the answer comes down to a single question: Can the idea scale? Countless enterprises fall apart the moment they scale; their positive results fizzle, they lose valuable time and money, and the great electric charge of potential that drove them early on disappears. In short, they suffer a voltage drop. Yet success and failure are not about luck - in fact, there is a rhyme and reason as to why some ideas fail and why some make it big. Certain ideas are predictably scalable, while others are predictably destined for disaster. In The Voltage Effect, University of Chicago economist John A. List explains how to identify the ideas that will be successful when scaled, and how to avoid those that won't. Drawing on his own original research, as well as fascinating examples from the realms of business, government, education, and public health, he details the five signature elements that cause voltage drops, and unpacks the four proven techniques for increasing positive results - or voltage gains - and scaling great ideas to their fullest potential. By understanding the science of scaling, we can drive change in our schools, workplaces, communities, and society at large. Because a better world can only be built at scale. ________________ 'One of the best economics books I have ever read - and an instant classic in behavioral economics.' Cass R. Sunstein, Robert Walmsley University Professor, Harvard University, and New York Times bestselling co-author of Nudge 'Thought-provoking and engaging. A must-read.' Daron Acemoglu, Institute Professor at MIT and co-author of Why Nations Fail and The Narrow Corridor.

Doughnut Economics
Doughnut Economics

Author: Kate Raworth

Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing

Published: 2018-03-08

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 1603587969

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Economics is the mother tongue of public policy. It dominates our decision-making for the future, guides multi-billion-dollar investments, and shapes our responses to climate change, inequality, and other environmental and social challenges that define our times. Pity then, or more like disaster, that its fundamental ideas are centuries out of date yet are still taught in college courses worldwide and still used to address critical issues in government and business alike. That’s why it is time, says renegade economist Kate Raworth, to revise our economic thinking for the 21st century. In Doughnut Economics, she sets out seven key ways to fundamentally reframe our understanding of what economics is and does. Along the way, she points out how we can break our addiction to growth; redesign money, finance, and business to be in service to people; and create economies that are regenerative and distributive by design. Named after the now-iconic “doughnut” image that Raworth first drew to depict a sweet spot of human prosperity (an image that appealed to the Occupy Movement, the United Nations, eco-activists, and business leaders alike), Doughnut Economics offers a radically new compass for guiding global development, government policy, and corporate strategy, and sets new standards for what economic success looks like. Raworth handpicks the best emergent ideas—from ecological, behavioral, feminist, and institutional economics to complexity thinking and Earth-systems science—to address this question: How can we turn economies that need to grow, whether or not they make us thrive, into economies that make us thrive, whether or not they grow? Simple, playful, and eloquent, Doughnut Economics offers game-changing analysis and inspiration for a new generation of economic thinkers.

Facing Up to Low Productivity Growth
Facing Up to Low Productivity Growth

Author: Adam S. Posen

Publisher: Peterson Institute for International Economics

Published: 2019-02-01

Total Pages: 499

ISBN-13: 0881327328

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Labor productivity growth in the United States and other advanced countries has slowed dramatically since the mid-2000s, a major factor in their economic stagnation and political turmoil. Economists have been debating the causes of the slowdown and possible remedies for some years. Unaddressed in this discussion is what happens if the slowdown is not reversed. In this volume, a dozen renowned scholars analyze the impact of sustained lower productivity growth on public finances, social protection, trade, capital flows, wages, inequality, and, ultimately, politics in the advanced industrial world. They conclude that slow productivity growth could lead to unpredictable and possibly dangerous new problems, aggravating inequality and increasing concentration of market power. Facing Up to Low Productivity Growth also proposes ways that countries can cope with these consequences.

Omniconomics
Omniconomics

Author: Niko Roorda

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-09-23

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 1000623505

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Omniconomics shows how we can make human society intrinsically sustainable, harmonically embedded in nature, with the help of a completely new approach in which traditional economics is transformed. Citing the fallacies of existing economic approaches as directly responsible for many of the environmental and social threats faced by society today, Niko Roorda presents a new, interdisciplinary science: omniconomics. This framework has its foundations in an innovative, joined-up approach, in which all aspects of the natural and social sciences are inextricably linked. It will better allow for new solutions to tackling urgent issues, including climate change, deforestation, environmental and economic inequality, dehumanization, and crumbling social cohesion. Inspiring new thinking, this book aims to: Inspire a public, scientific and political debate about the role of present-day economics, its status as no more than a protoscience, and the consequences for (inter)national policies and developments Stimulate independent, out-of-the-box thinking of students, graduates, politicians, leaders of society, and any member of the public who worries about the major present-day problems and the future Stimulate interdisciplinary research within universities towards the creation of an omniconomic science that will replace the discipline of economics and will become a genuine, mature science Challenge the readers to go beyond short- or middle-to-long term solutions such as the Sustainable Development Goals and circular economy: Omniconomics starts where Doughnut economics ends Encouraging the reader to rethink accepted economic approaches to deal with the present-day threats of global catastrophes, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of sustainable development, sustainability economics and policies, as well as any practitioners working in related fields.

Consciousness and the Brain
Consciousness and the Brain

Author: Stanislas Dehaene

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2014-01-30

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 0698151402

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WINNER OF THE 2014 BRAIN PRIZE From the acclaimed author of Reading in the Brain and How We Learn, a breathtaking look at the new science that can track consciousness deep in the brain How does our brain generate a conscious thought? And why does so much of our knowledge remain unconscious? Thanks to clever psychological and brain-imaging experiments, scientists are closer to cracking this mystery than ever before. In this lively book, Stanislas Dehaene describes the pioneering work his lab and the labs of other cognitive neuroscientists worldwide have accomplished in defining, testing, and explaining the brain events behind a conscious state. We can now pin down the neurons that fire when a person reports becoming aware of a piece of information and understand the crucial role unconscious computations play in how we make decisions. The emerging theory enables a test of consciousness in animals, babies, and those with severe brain injuries. A joyous exploration of the mind and its thrilling complexities, Consciousness and the Brain will excite anyone interested in cutting-edge science and technology and the vast philosophical, personal, and ethical implications of finally quantifying consciousness.

What is the Economy?
What is the Economy?

Author: Joe Richards

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2021-11-18

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 178699562X

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Why are houses so expensive? Is our banking system going to collapse again? Should we be worried that robots are going to take all our jobs? And just what exactly is the economy anyway? Economists and politicians would have you believe it is a rarified topic best left to 'the experts'. The experts are wrong. This book uncovers what people really mean when they talk about 'the economy', taking the word off its pedestal and showing that it's just a lens for seeing the world around us. That, at its heart, economics is about you, and the society you're a part of. Explaining key concepts in economics in relation to how they directly affect your life – from your money to your home, your workplace to your future – What is the Economy? drags the obscure world of economics kicking and screaming towards the everyday and equips you with clarity and understanding.

Toward a Just Society
Toward a Just Society

Author: Martin Guzman

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2018-08-28

Total Pages: 548

ISBN-13: 0231546807

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Joseph Stiglitz is one of the world’s greatest economists. He has made fundamental contributions to economic theory in areas such as inequality, the implications of imperfect and asymmetric information, and competition, and he has been a major figure in policy making, a leading public intellectual, and a remarkably influential teacher and mentor. This collection of essays influenced by Stiglitz’s work celebrates his career as a scholar and teacher and his aspiration to put economic knowledge in the service of creating a fairer world. Toward a Just Society brings together a range of essays whose breadth reflects how Stiglitz has shaped modern economics. The contributions to this volume, all penned by high-profile authors who have been guided by or collaborated with Stiglitz over the last five decades, span microeconomics, macroeconomics, inequality, development, law and economics, and public policy. Touching on many of the central debates and discoveries of the field and providing insights on the directions that academic economics could take in the future, Toward a Just Society is an extraordinary celebration of the many paths Stiglitz has opened for economics, politics, and public life.