An ingeniously conceived tour of the global economy and all its key components, illuminated one by one in 99 large-scale, full-color infographics The economy is a complex, world-spanning, layer-upon-layer-upon-layer behemoth: One could argue that almost every aspect of our lives is connected to the realms of business and finance. And yet few of us truly understand it—even the world’s foremost economists can’t seem to agree on how it runs. The Global Economy as You’ve Never Seen It presents 99 brilliant infographics that everyone can understand. From start-ups to monopolies, from trade agreements to theory, author Thomas Ramge and infographic specialist Jan Schwochow bring every facet of the economic web to life. Economics connects us all, from what we buy, to how we buy it, who made it, and where. See the economy differently—and the world.
Discover the trends shaping our world, and explore the data underlying them, in this fascinating, visual journey. In Signals, Visual Capitalist founder and editor-in-chief Jeff Desjardins and his team explore the 27 most important trends shaping the future of our global economy. This striking book draws on the oceans of data we're all surrounded by to extract insights about where we are and where we are headed—from society and demographics to the environment, digital tech, the markets, and more. It also includes: Infographics, charts, and other data visualizations that identify signals hiding in the data Discussions about the impact trends are having on the world around us A full bibliography with references to the data sourced by the author Signals is a must-read for entrepreneurs, executives, policymakers, and regulators—or simply, anyone seeking to navigate a complex world.
Why are some countries rich and others poor? In 1500, the income differences were small, but they have grown dramatically since Columbus reached America. Since then, the interplay between geography, globalization, technological change, and economic policy has determined the wealth and poverty of nations. The industrial revolution was Britain's path breaking response to the challenge of globalization. Western Europe and North America joined Britain to form a club of rich nations by pursuing four polices-creating a national market by abolishing internal tariffs and investing in transportation, erecting an external tariff to protect their fledgling industries from British competition, banks to stabilize the currency and mobilize domestic savings for investment, and mass education to prepare people for industrial work. Together these countries pioneered new technologies that have made them ever richer. Before the Industrial Revolution, most of the world's manufacturing was done in Asia, but industries from Casablanca to Canton were destroyed by western competition in the nineteenth century, and Asia was transformed into 'underdeveloped countries' specializing in agriculture. The spread of economic development has been slow since modern technology was invented to fit the needs of rich countries and is ill adapted to the economic and geographical conditions of poor countries. A few countries - Japan, Soviet Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, and perhaps China - have, nonetheless, caught up with the West through creative responses to the technological challenge and with Big Push industrialization that has achieved rapid growth through investment coordination. Whether other countries can emulate the success of East Asia is a challenge for the future. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Praise for THE TRAVELS OF A T-SHIRT IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY "Engrossing . . . (Rivoli) goes wherever the T-shirt goes, and there are surprises around every corner . . . full of memorable characters and vivid scenes." —Time "An engaging and illuminating saga. . . . Rivoli follows her T-shirt along its route, but that is like saying that Melville follows his whale. . . . Her nuanced and fair-minded approach is all the more powerful for eschewing the pretense of ideological absolutism, and her telescopic look through a single industry has all the makings of an economics classic." —The New York Times "Rarely is a business book so well written that one would gladly stay up all night to finish it. Pietra Rivoli's The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy is just such a page-turner." —CIO magazine "Succeeds admirably . . . T-shirts may not have changed the world, but their story is a useful account of how free trade and protectionism certainly have." —Financial Times "[A] fascinating exploration of the history, economics, and politics of world trade . . . The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy is a thought-provoking yarn that exhibits the ugly, the bad, and the good of globalization, and points to the unintended positive consequences of the clash between proponents and opponents of free trade." —Star-Telegram (Fort Worth) "Part travelogue, part history, and part economics, The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy is ALL storytelling, and in the grand style. A must-read." —Peter J. Dougherty, Senior Economics Editor, Princeton University Press author of Who's Afraid of Adam Smith? "A readable and evenhanded treatment of the complexities of free trade . . . As Rivoli repeatedly makes clear, there is absolutely nothing free about free trade except the slogan." —San Francisco Chronicle
"Bill Orr has produced a handy compendium of statistics, with cogent explanations, on the world economy in the 1990s. National incomes, output, trade, asset markets, debt, foreign aid and population are presented by nation, region and level of development. As a tool, it belongs in the office, study, or newsroom next to the dictionary, and the atlas." —Charles P. Kindleberger, Professor of Economics, Emeritus Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Global Economy in the 90s provides a broad statistical guide for all of us in an era of increasing international interdependence: a much-needed contribution. —Alfred J. Malabre, Jr., author of Within Our Means "Talk about timely! Like a light in the dark swamp of geo- political-governmental charts, graphs, and tables. [Orr] is there standing over your shoulder, showing you how he interprets each and every graph, and before you know it, you've got your calculator out, and you start to see things that you never saw before. It's addictive. No boring textbook, this book is a masterfully navigated experience through a very confusing jungle. Orr has taken the statistics from dozens of sources and recast them into graphs that are so easy to read. Try it yourself, open the book anywhere. This is a real gem." &#Richard Barnaby, C.P.A., C.D.P.President, Business Support Services, Inc.Software for the Petroleum Trading Industry The Global Economy in the 1990s presents, in one comprehensive volume, essential facts and analyses of all aspects of an increasingly integrated global economy. Filled with hundreds of lively graphs that reveal trends and relationships, hundreds of tables that provide concrete numbers for individual research, and succinct short essays that put each facet of economic activity in its global context, this invaluable reference is derived and enhanced from over 20 official sources--including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, GATT, United Nations, the U.S. Federal Reserve System, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, and the European Community.
The principles of global economics in easy-to-understand terms! The news is full of accounts of the rise and fall of economies around the world, but you may not know how these changes can affect your life. 101 Things Everyone Needs to Know about the Global Economy takes the basics of global economics and breaks them into ten straightforward chapters. From the organizations involved and trade imbalances to global risk and foreign investment, Dr. Michael Taillard describes the world markets in terms that you can recognize. You'll also learn how these matters affect the United States and your own financial future. With 101 Things Everyone Needs to Know about the Global Economy, you get the information you need to not only protect your finances, but also reap the benefits of other nations' wealth and resources.
Governments and central banks across the developed world have tried every policy tool imaginable, yet our economies remain sluggish or worse. How did we get here, and how can we compete and prosper once more? Daniel Alpert argues that a global labor glut, excess productive capacity, and a rising ocean of cheap capital have kept the Western economies mired in underemployment and anemic growth. We failed to anticipate the impact of the torrent of labor and capital unleashed by formerly socialist economies. Many policymakers miss the connection between global oversupply and the lack of domestic investment and growth. But Alpert shows how they are intertwined and offers a bold, fresh approach to fixing our economic woes. Twitter: @DanielAlpert
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “One of the most important books I’ve ever read—an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world.” – Bill Gates “Hans Rosling tells the story of ‘the secret silent miracle of human progress’ as only he can. But Factfulness does much more than that. It also explains why progress is so often secret and silent and teaches readers how to see it clearly.” —Melinda Gates "Factfulness by Hans Rosling, an outstanding international public health expert, is a hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases." - Former U.S. President Barack Obama Factfulness: The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts. When asked simple questions about global trends—what percentage of the world’s population live in poverty; why the world’s population is increasing; how many girls finish school—we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess teachers, journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers. In Factfulness, Professor of International Health and global TED phenomenon Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators, Anna and Ola, offers a radical new explanation of why this happens. They reveal the ten instincts that distort our perspective—from our tendency to divide the world into two camps (usually some version of us and them) to the way we consume media (where fear rules) to how we perceive progress (believing that most things are getting worse). Our problem is that we don’t know what we don’t know, and even our guesses are informed by unconscious and predictable biases. It turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think. That doesn’t mean there aren’t real concerns. But when we worry about everything all the time instead of embracing a worldview based on facts, we can lose our ability to focus on the things that threaten us most. Inspiring and revelatory, filled with lively anecdotes and moving stories, Factfulness is an urgent and essential book that will change the way you see the world and empower you to respond to the crises and opportunities of the future. --- “This book is my last battle in my life-long mission to fight devastating ignorance...Previously I armed myself with huge data sets, eye-opening software, an energetic learning style and a Swedish bayonet for sword-swallowing. It wasn’t enough. But I hope this book will be.” Hans Rosling, February 2017.
Failed argues that some of the most important economic developments of recent years, including prolonged economic failures and alternatives, are widely misunderstood. Topics include the Eurozone, growth in the developing world, Latin America's "second independence" in the 21st century, and the International Monetary Fund's policies and loss of influence.
Early in the twenty-first century, a quiet revolution occurred. For the first time, the major developed economies began to invest more in intangible assets, like design, branding, and software, than in tangible assets, like machinery, buildings, and computers. For all sorts of businesses, the ability to deploy assets that one can neither see nor touch is increasingly the main source of long-term success. But this is not just a familiar story of the so-called new economy. Capitalism without Capital shows that the growing importance of intangible assets has also played a role in some of the larger economic changes of the past decade, including the growth in economic inequality and the stagnation of productivity. Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake explore the unusual economic characteristics of intangible investment and discuss how an economy rich in intangibles is fundamentally different from one based on tangibles. Capitalism without Capital concludes by outlining how managers, investors, and policymakers can exploit the characteristics of an intangible age to grow their businesses, portfolios, and economies.
