Building States And Markets

This book examines how democracy influences state-building and market-building in 25 post-communist countries from 1990 to 2004.

A unique study of how the American Dream came to be—and came to be constantly updated and renovated: ”A pleasure to read.”—American Historical Review Each year, North Americans spend as much money fixing up their homes as they do buying new ones. This obsession with improving our dwellings has given rise to a multibillion-dollar industry that includes countless books, magazines, cable shows, and home improvement stores. Building a Market charts the rise of the home improvement industry in the United States and Canada from the end of World War I into the late 1950s. Drawing on the insights of business, social, and urban historians, and making use of a wide range of documentary sources, Richard Harris shows how the middle-class preference for home ownership first emerged in the 1920s—and how manufacturers, retailers, and the federal government combined to establish the massive home improvement market and a pervasive culture of Do-It-Yourself. Deeply insightful, Building a Market is the carefully crafted history of the emergence and evolution of a home improvement revolution that changed not just American culture but the American landscape as well. “An important topic that deserves to be widely read by scholars of business history, urban history, and social history.”—Journal of American History

The transition economies of Central Asia are faced with the most daunting challenge of modern capitalism: the move from vassal pseudo-states of the former Soviet Union to competitive nations. This book is the first to explore the first 15 years of economic emergence, and assess the capabilities of these countries to transform their economies.

The transition economies of Central Asia are faced with the most daunting challenge of modern capitalism: the move from vassal pseudo-states of the former Soviet Union to competitive nations. This book is the first to explore the first 15 years of economic emergence, and assess the capabilities of these countries to transform their economies.

Law has become a buyer's market, and it's never going back. Re-envisioning the purpose of law firms and the role of lawyers, Jordan Furlong has designed a transformative client-first law firm that rethinks the business model, culture, service, competitiveness, growth strategies, diversity, and leadership of modern legal enterprises.

This work seeks to make sense of modern capitalism by developing a sociological theory of market institutions. Addressing the dynamism that capitalism brings with it, the author argues that the basic drift of any one market and it's actors, even allowing for competition, is toward stabilization.

Analyzes how emerging market firms upgrade their capabilities to compete globally despite operating in challenging home country environments.

Weak or failed states - where no government is in control - are the source of many of the world's most serious problems, from poverty, AIDS and drugs to terrorism. What can be done to help? The problem of weak states and the need for state-building has existed for many years, but it has been urgent since September 11 and Afghanistan and Iraq. The formation of proper public institutions, such as an honest police force, uncorrupted courts, functioning schools and medical services and a strong civil service, is fraught with difficulties. We know how to help with resources, people and technology across borders, but state building requires methods that are not easily transported. The ability to create healthy states from nothing has suddenly risen to the top of the world agenda. State building has become a crucial matter of global security. In this hugely important book, Francis Fukuyama explains the concept of state-building and discusses the problems and causes of state weakness and its national and international effects.