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Book reviews

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The National Debt

A short history

Reviewer: William Allen

While it is central to today's politics, few people fully understand the National Debt and its role in shaping the course of British history. Without it, Britain would not have gained–and lost–two empires, nor won its wars against France and Germany.

From medieval times to the 2008 financial crash and beyond, The National Debt explores the changing fortunes of the Debt, and so of Great Britain.

Edge of Chaos

Why Democracy Is Failing to Deliver Economic Growth‑and How to Fix It

Reviewer: Rosemary Connell

In Edge of Chaos, Dambisa Moyo sets out the new political and economic challenges facing the world, and the specific, radical solutions needed to resolve these issues and reignite global growth. Dambisa enumerates the four headwinds of demographics, inequality, commodity scarcity and technological innovation that are driving social and economic unrest, and argues for a fundamental retooling of democratic capitalism to address current problems and deliver better outcomes in the future.

The Political Power of Global Corporations

Reviewer: Christine Shields

In this book, John Mikler re–casts global corporations as political actors with complex identities and strategies. Debunking the idea of global corporations as exclusively profit–driven entities, he shows how they seek not only to drive or modify the agendas of states but to govern in their own right. He also explains why we need to re–territorialize global corporations as political actors that reflect and project the political power of the states and regions from which they hail.

How Global Currencies Work - Past, Present and Future

Reviewer: William A Allen, National Institute of Economic & Social Research

Offering a new history of global finance over the past two centuries, and marshalling extensive new data to test established theories of how global currencies work, Barry Eichengreen, Arnaud Mehl, and Livia Chitu argue for a new view, in which several national monies can share international currency status, and their importance can change rapidly.

Capitalism without Capital

The rise of the intangible economy

Reviewer: Matthew Whittaker

The first comprehensive account of the growing dominance of the intangible economy 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, R&D, or software, than in tangible assets, like machinery, buildings, and computers.

After the Flood

How the Great Recession changed Economic Thought

Reviewer: Bridget Rosewell, Volterra Partners & Atom Bank

The past three decades have been characterized by vast change and crises in global financial markets and not in politically unstable countries but in the heart of the developed world, from the Great Recession in the United States to the banking crises in Japan and the Eurozone. A momentous collection of the best recent scholarship, After the Flood illustrates both the scope of the crises' impact on our understanding of global financial markets and the innovative processes whereby scholars have adapted their research to gain a greater understanding of them.

Big Mind

How collective intelligence can change our world

Reviewer: Catherine Connolly

A new field of collective intelligence has emerged in the last few years, prompted by a wave of digital technologies that make it possible for organizations and societies to think at large scale. This "bigger mind"–human and machine capabilities working together–has the potential to solve the great challenges of our time. So why do smart technologies not automatically lead to smart results? Gathering insights from diverse fields, including philosophy, computer science, and biology, Big Mind reveals how collective intelligence can guide corporations, governments, universities, and societies to make the most of human brains and digital technologies.

The Myth of Independence

How Congress Governs the Federal Reserve

Reviewer: William Allen

Born out of crisis a century ago, the Federal Reserve has become the most powerful macroeconomic policymaker and financial regulator in the world. The Myth of Independence traces the Fed's transformation from a weak, secretive, and decentralized institution in 1913 to a remarkably transparent central bank a century later.

The Weaponization of Trade

The Great Unbalancing of Politics and Economics

Reviewer: Ian Bright

Trade is being weaponized – and this is not good. As politicians on both sides of the Atlantic raise the stakes, trade is increasingly a tool of coercion to achieve strategic influence. This book looks at the risks for us all as trade becomes an instrument of foreign policy, and it shows how politicians could turn things around.

Till Time’s Last Sand

A History of the Bank of England

Reviewer: Kevin Gardner, Economics & Intl Divisions, Bank of England (1982-86)

David Kynaston was born in Aldershot in 1951. He has been a professional historian since 1973 and has written eighteen books, including The City of London (1994-2001), a widely acclaimed four-volume history, and W.G.'s Birthday Party, an account of the Gentleman vs. the Players at Lord's in July 1898. He is the author of Austerity Britain, 1945-51, the first title in a series of books covering the history of post-war Britain (1945-1979) under the collective title 'Tales of a New Jerusalem'. He is currently a visiting professor at Kingston University.

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Articles reflect the authors’ views which are not necessarily shared by the Society or the Editors. The Editors welcome comments, ideas and articles on a wide range of applied economics topics and related issues of more general interest.

For Books and Reviews contact:
Ian Harwood
Book Reviews Editor, The Society of Professional Economists
harwoodfive@btinternet.com

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