Economics And The Future

Economics and the Future tackles the discounting issue from a number of angles, ranging from relatively short-term private financial decisions, to very long-term public issues spanning generations. The authors present differing perspectives and original ideas in a style that remains accessible while addressing some of the more difficult questions about discounting in theory and practice. It reveals that the economic issues regarding time are embedded in a broader social, ethical and philosophical context.

This book addresses the rising productivity gap between the global frontier and other firms, and identifies a number of structural impediments constraining business start-ups, knowledge diffusion and resource allocation (such as barriers to up-scaling and relatively high rates of skill mismatch).

Reclaiming economics for future generations argues that to build economies which serve people and the planet we need a diverse and decolonised curriculum. How does the global economy currently fail people and the planet, and why has mainstream economics knowledge inadequately addressed the pressing issues of today?

First published in 1976. Economics has always been in a crisis since it broke away from social philosophy in the late eighteenth century. But from time to time this crisis has been particularly acute. Such was the case at the turn of the last century when the classical predictions proved less and less true and, in response, the marginalist schools emerged. Such also was the case at the beginning of the 1930s when the proof of the established harmony propounded in that theory was contradicted by the Great Depression, giving rise to the new macroeconomics pioneered by Keynes. doubt that contemporary economics is in a crisis, at least if crisis is defined as the inability to meet the challenge of the times. Problems like mass poverty, unbalanced affluence, increasing regional economic disparities, imbalances in population development, irrational disposition of non-renewable resources, and production and consumption processes ill-adjusted to the limited carrying capacity of the environment are among many pressing problems awaiting solution by economists. The purpose of this book is to bring together responses from leading economists to these problems. Given the vast subject matter, it is only to be expected that the specific emphasis given to various approaches differs among the authors.

Today, the judge, the citizen, the politician, and the entrepreneur are concerned with the sustainability of our development.

According to many scientists, climate change is a growing threat to life as we know it, requiring a large-scale, immediate response. According to many economists, climate change is a moderately important problem; the best policy is a slow, gradual start, to avoid spending too much. They can't both be right. In this book, Frank Ackerman offers a refreshing look at the economics of climate change, explaining how the arbitrary assumptions of conventional theories get in the way of understanding this urgent problem. The benefits of climate protection are vital but priceless, and hence often devalued in cost-benefit calculations. Preparation for the most predictable outcomes of global warming is less important than protection against the growing risk of catastrophic change; massive investment in new, low carbon technologies and industries should be thought of as life insurance for the planet. Ackerman makes an impassioned plea to construct a better economics, arguing that the solutions are affordable and the alternative is unthinkable. If we can't afford the future, what are we saving our money for? Can we Afford the Future? is part of The New Economics series, which uses the ideas behind a new, more human economics to provide a fresh way of looking at major contemporary issues.

With contributions from 35 leading economists, this forward-looking book explores the future of development economics against the background of the past half-century of development thought and practice. Outstanding representatives of the past two generations of development economists assess development thinking at the turn of the century and look to the unsettled questions confronting the next generation.The volume offers a thorough analysis of the broad range of issues involved in development economics, and it is especially timely in its critique of what is needed in development theory and policy to reduce poverty. An overriding issue is whether in the future 'development economics' is to be regarded simply as applied economics or whether the nature and scope of development economics will constitute a need for a special development theory to supplement general economic theory.'Frontiers of Development Economics' is an ideal reference for all those working in the international development community.