Saving And Investment In The Twenty First Century

The economy of the 21st century in the OECD countries and in China, is characterized by a new phenomenon: the structural surplus of private savings in relation to private investment. This is true even in a situation of prosperity and very low interest rates. On the one hand, this excess saving is due to people's increasing inclination to save in light of rising life expectancy, driven by the desire to have sufficient assets in old age. On the other hand, the demand for capital is not increasing to the same extent, so that investment is not keeping pace with the rising desire to save. The resulting gap between the private desire for wealth and private investment can only be closed by increasing public debt. This open access book offers a new, capital-theoretical perspective on the macroeconomic relationship between desired wealth and investment, and it presents new empirical data on private wealth and its composition in the OECD plus China area. The authors argue that a free economic and social order can only be stabilized if the wealth aspirations of individuals are met under conditions of price stability. This is not possible without substantial net public debt. A new way of thinking about the economy as a whole is required. By way of an in-depth theoretical and empirical analysis, the book demonstrates this new way of thinking and describes the current challenges facing economic policy. It will appeal to economists and students of economics who are interested in macroeconomic theory and its economic policy implications. An impressive, and convincing theoretical dive into the fundamentals behind secular stagnation, with very strong implications for actual debt policy. Public debt may be needed to improve welfare. - Olivier Blanchard, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Professor of Economics Emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund from 2008 to 2015. Saving and Investment in the Twenty-First Century gives a wholly new perspective on macroeconomics. (...) Weizsäcker and Krämer describe a simple, practical solution to the underemployment that has plagued Southern Europe for more than a decade. - George Akerlof, Nobel Laureate in Economics, 2001. Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University and Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. This is a profound and original contribution that can help us to understand and act on the great issues of our times. - Nicholas Stern, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics. Author of the Stern Review Report on the Economics of Climate Change. Chief Economist at the World Bank from 2000 to 2003.

The main driver of inequality—returns on capital that exceed the rate of economic growth—is again threatening to generate extreme discontent and undermine democratic values. Thomas Piketty’s findings in this ambitious, original, rigorous work will transform debate and set the agenda for the next generation of thought about wealth and inequality.

Two experienced and visionary authors show how institutions and individuals can go beyond conventional and sustainable investing to address complex problems such as income inequality and climate change on a deep, systemic level. It's time for a new way to think about investing, one that can contend with the complex challenges we face in the 21st century. Investment today has evolved from the basic, conventional approach of the 1950s. Investors have since recognized the importance of sustainable investment and have begun considering environmental and social factors. Yet the complexity of the times forces us to recognize and transition to a third stage of investment practice: system-level investing. In this paradigm-shifting book, William Burckart and Steve Lydenberg show how system-level investors support and enhance the health and stability of the social, financial, and environmental systems on which they depend for long-term returns. They preserve and strengthen these fundamental systems while still generating competitive or otherwise acceptable performance. This book is for those investors who believe in that transition. They may be institutions, large or small, concerned about the long-term stability of the environment and society. They may be individual investors who want their children and grandchildren to inherit a just and sustainable world. Whoever they may be, Burckart and Lydenberg show them the what, why, and how of system-level investment in this book: what it means to manage system-level risks and rewards, why it is imperative to do so now, and how to integrate this new way of thinking into their current practice.

Understanding the "big picture" is the key to success in long-term investment. Here Diego Veitia draws that picture, identifying 10 "megatrends" transforming the global economy. As he gives readers a fascinating, thought-provoking understanding of the future, Veitia pinpoints five specific investments for each of the trends he describes, including a host of international opportunities.

The book focuses on three main themes:*overpopulation associated with low productivity, unemployment, persistent poverty and weak savings and investment capacity*the post-1950 development strategies and their outcomes*the institutional structures that are constraining economic and political progress. Egypt in the Twenty First Century is a much need

US Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman described Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century as "perhaps the most important book of the last decade". It has sparked major international debates, dominated bestseller lists and generated a level of enthusiasm-as well as intense criticism-in a way no other recent economic or sociological work has. Piketty has been described as a new Karl Marx and placed in the same league as the economist John Maynard Keynes. The 'rock star economist's' (Financial Times) underlying thesis: inequality under capitalism has reached dramatic proportions in the last few decades and continues to grow-and not by coincidence. Thus, a small elite becomes simultaneously richer and richer and more and more powerful. Given the sensational reception of the not-so-easily digested 800-page study that spans back to the eighteenth century, the question as to where the hype around Piketty's book comes from deserves to be asked. What is correct in it? What are the criticisms of it? And what should we make of it-both of the book itself and of the criticism it has received? This book lays out the argument of Piketty's monumental work in a compact and understandable format, while also investigating the controversies that this book has caused. In addition, the two authors demonstrate the limits, contradictions and errors of the so-called 'Piketty revolution'.

The Pensions Commission is an independent body established by the Government to review the adequacy of current arrangements for private pensions and retirement savings in the UK and to make recommendations on appropriate policy changes, including the option of moving to a compulsory system. The Commission's second report sets out its conclusions on the likely evolution of the UK pension system if policy is unchanged, and makes recommendations for a new policy direction. This publication contains the appendices to the second report, including an update on data developments related to pensions policy, as well as information on analysis, research and consultation responses.