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Agriculture historically employed a large share of the overall population. For example, even in 1800, more than half the population in most European countries was working in agriculture. With the start of the industrial revolution and the accompanying mechanization, labor shifted out of agriculture. Still, throughout the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, increases in agricultural production were mainly driven by an increase in the growing area, whereas yields (output per area) were rather constant. This changed abruptly in the middle of the 20th century: yields have been increasing at a steady pace ever since. At the same time, inflation-adjusted agricultural commodity prices have been trending downward as increases in supply outpaced increases in demand. Food is an essential good, and while its price is currently low due to its abundance, it is responsible for a large consumer surplus given the highly inelastic demand. Understanding what factors contribute to the upward trend in yields is hence of first order importance for food security and human welfare. This book contains eight chapters that were presented at a NBER conference in May 2017. They examine in further detail what contributes to the remarkably steady increase in yields around the globe and assess whether this can continue into the future and whether it will impose significant environmental externalities. The book offers new innovative analyses using the methodological innovations as well as recently available micro-level data sets.

Countries that ignite a process of rapid economic growth almost always do so while lacking what experts say are the essential preconditions for development, such as good infrastructure and institutions. This book uses this paradox to explain what is wrong with mainstream development thinking—and to offer a practical blueprint for moving poor countries out of the low-income trap regardless of their circumstances. The book begins with an observation of the increasingly globalized world economy in which technological development allows the use of factors of production in locations that maximize returns and utility, and countries gain mutually by trading with each other if their strategies focus on comparative advantage. The prospects for sustained and inclusive growth are even greater for low-income economies that enjoy the benefits of backwardness. The book advocates implementing viable strategies to capture new opportunities for industrialization, which can enable low-income economies to set forth on a dynamic path of structural change and lead to poverty reduction and prosperity. It concludes with an evaluation of lessons from development thinking and experience and identifies the main reasons why past intellectual and policy frameworks failed to yield the expected results. It then offers a pragmatic blueprint for allowing low-income countries to ignite and sustain economic growth without preconditions.

This is a detailed analysis of the business of the scholarly publishing of books, journals, preprints, and various scholarly publications in institutional repositories in the United States. Drawing on an extensive review of the literature and statistical sources, the book examines the changing environment of scholarly publishing and the product, price, placement, promotion, and costs (including some profit and loss statements) of scholarly books and journals. Special attention is paid to the history and development of scholarly books and journals; intellectual property issues, including the development of the US copyright law and infringement issues of Sci-Hub; an author’s contract; and the impact of technology (including open access) on books and journals. The book also discusses how scholarly publishers are trying to manage in what are turbulent times. The book contains extensive notes, book and journal statistical tables, and figures.

During the 20th century, a view established itself, according to which (a) defining central banking would be difficult, (b) the Sveriges Riksbank (established in 1668) and the Bank of England (established in 1694) would have been the first central banks, (c) although at that time central banks did not have a policy mandate and no concept of central banking would have existed before the 19th century. This book challenges these views and rehabilitates pre-1800 central banking, including the role of numerous other institutions, mainly on the European continent. Central banking should be defined as being associated with the issuance of “central bank money”, i.e. financial money of the highest possible credit quality, that is accepted for settlement of any other financial claim in the same way as species money is accepted as it is considered credit, liquidity and market risk free, to use modern terminology. Issuing central bank money is a natural monopoly, and therefore central banks were always based on public charters regulating them and giving them a unique role in a sovereign territorial entity. Many early central banks were not only based on a public charter but were also publicly owned and managed, and had well defined policy objectives. The book reviews these policy objectives and the financial operations of 25 central banks established before 1800. The book shows that many of the central bank controversies debated today actually date back to the period 1400-1800.

In 1984, Pranab Bardhan published his classic work The Political Economy of Development in India. It went on to become one of the most influential references on the political economy of development in the pre-reform period of independent India. Class and Conflict reflects on the enduring influence of Bardhan’s original publication in the context of post-liberalization developments in India. Drawing on their own world-leading research, the contributors to this volume engage with a wide range of issues, such as whether big business dominates India today, how subsidies retard economic growth, and how the middle classes are transforming politics. Together they try to answer the big question: what has really changed in the political and economic climate of the country over the last 30 years? Exploring the continuities and changes that have characterized India’s political economy since 1984, this volume takes stock of the main challenges of India’s economic development today. It contributes to current debates on economic growth, crony capitalism, agrarian crisis, the politics of class and caste, and the role of the state in a liberalizing economy.

In the early 2000s, the US monetary policy committee, as well as other central banks around the world, began using “forward guidance,” or changes in their statement language, to signal policy changes. Underlying this shift toward clearer communication was the idea that more comprehensible monetary policy would lead to better economic performance and lower inflation. The first three chapters of this book argue that, rather than being a lofty goal set by altruistically motivated policy makers, transparency depends on the configuration of committee members’ preferences. Monetary policy committees that have central bankers with opposing preferences are argued to communicate more precisely compared to either a single decision maker or central bankers with more similar preferences. Precise communication is then shown to have positive effects by lowering inflation. Shifting focus and using data from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), chapter 4 presents evidence that committees with opposing preferences use a lower share of uncertainty words in policy statements and make more numerous changes to public announcements. Chapter 5 shows that households in Germany change their inflation expectations when given more precise central bank information. And chapter 6 shows that the level of precision in inflation-related news articles is negatively related to inflation in a sample of countries from Latin America. In conclusion, this book offers a new way of thinking about central bank committees and transparency. It finds that appointing a more policy-diverse central bank committee can encourage intercommittee governance and accountability as well as better economic performance.

This book provides an objective look into the dynamic world of debt markets, products, valuation, and analysis. It also provides an in-depth understanding about this subject from experts in the field, both practitioners and academics. The coverage extends from discussing basic concepts and their application to increasingly intricate and real-world situations. This volume spans the gamut from theoretical to practical, while attempting to offer a useful balance of detailed and user-friendly coverage. The book has several distinguishing features. It blends the contributions of a global array of scholars and practitioners into a single review of some of the most important topics in this area. The book follows an internally consistent approach in format and style. Hence, it is collectively much more than a compilation of chapters from an array of different authors. It presents theory without unnecessary abstraction, quantitative techniques using basic bond mathematics, and conventions at a useful level of detail. It also incorporates how investment professionals analyze and manage fixed income portfolios. The book emphasizes empirical evidence involving debt securities and markets so it is understandable to a wide array of readers. Each chapter contains discussion questions to help reinforce key concepts. The end of the book contains guideline answers to each question. Readers interested in a broad survey will benefit as will those looking for more in-depth presentations of specific areas within this field of study. In summary, the book provides a fresh look at this intriguing and dynamic but often complex subject.

When we talk about development, we are talking about capitalist development. Taking a historical-comparativ e approach, Harrison understands development as a transformation which involves a deep and integrated political economy of change: a shift from a state of ‘capital-ascendance’ to ‘capital-dominance’. It is only through a transformation towards capital dominance that mass poverty reduction and the construction of a commonwealth are possible. However, capitalist development is extremely difficult and requires a highly exacting political endeavour. The politics of development is conceptualized as developmentalism: a strategy and ideology in which governments exercise heavy directive power, endure instability and crisis, and secure a rudimentary legitimacy for their efforts. The political exertions required to generate and sustain a developmentalist strategy are too great to be met by the simple desire to develop. Harrison argues that developmentalism requires a conflation of successful capitalist transformation with some form of existential insecurity of the state itself. Developmentalism flourishes when capitalist transformation connects to profound questions of sovereignty, statehood, nation-building, and elite survival. Authoritarian state action is intrinsic to developmentalism, which the book addresses by adapting a realist approach to politics in which political norms and values are generated within the agonies of suffering and benefit generated by an ascending capital. Taking case studies from the last 250 years, Developmentalism shows the deep contextualization of capitalist transformation as well as the massive improvements in material life that it has generated.

Between 1991 and 2010, Dhaka’s population more than doubled to 15 million. Simultaneously, the city’s contribution to the national economy almost trebled. Clearly, population growth was accompanied by an unmistakable trend of economic growth, and a significant decline in urban poverty and income inequality. On the other hand, Dhaka’s high population density exacerbated serious environmental challenges, and it was soon ranked as one of the world’s least livable cities. In the context of these contradictory signals of rapid urbanization, Dhaka’s Changing Landscape sets to answer three most intriguing questions: Are the poorer segments of urban population, which migrate with dreams for better lives, benefitting from positive economic trends? Are these benefits sustainable? Are these benefits creating scope for this group to have a stake in the city’s growing prosperity? By studying 600 households and applying comparative analysis over a span of 20 years, the authors examine demographic and economic trends to understand the patterns, scale, and complexity of urban poverty, income inequality, and rural–urban migration. Going beyond the space and poverty debate, they enlighten the readers about the quality of life questions, sustainability matters, and gender and generational roles and relations necessary to understand qualitative transformation and migrants’ prospects for a better future.

The book ranges over a vast canvas of experience, from the world of economics, covering glimpses of life and thought in academe and universities, to policymaking and politics. The author comments on contemporary debates in economics and politics and presents his own ideas and criticisms. The book is interspersed with commentaries on personalities, places, and theories of economics. The personalities we encounter here range from Nobel laureates, Kenneth Arrow, Paul Samuelson, and Amartya Sen, to the author’s mother at the age of 90. The places described in the book range from Jerusalem and Florence, to the foothills of Mount Fuji in Japan to Monte Alban in Mexico. In this book, the author talks about his encounters both philosophical and comical. This expanded edition of An Economist’s Miscellany also contains author’s literary forays with translations of two Bengali short stories and a four-act play about a professor of philosophy. This book brings together an eclectic collection of writings on the world of academe, politics, policy, travel, and more.

Ending poverty is a noble goal, relevant today as much as it was two decades ago when four women rose to prominent positions in their government and decided to make it their central objective. As the world strives to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we may find inspiration in the work of Eveline Herfkens from the Netherlands, Hilde F. Johnson from Norway, Clare Short from the United Kingdom, and Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul from Germany who became ministers in charge of their governments’ international development policies in 1997–8. They believed that the best way to end global poverty was to join forces in changing the policies of the international institutions where decisions affecting the poor all over the world are made and to reform donor countries development programmes. They came to be known as the Utstein Four, after the Norwegian Utstein Abbey where they formalized their collaboration in 1999. They called their collaboration ‘a conspiracy of implementation’ to contrast their action-oriented approach with the lofty pronouncements leaders agree to in big global conferences only to forget them when they return home. This volume discusses Utstein’s many contributions ranging from helping relieve the poorest countries of their debt, using debt relief to actually lift individuals out of poverty, achieving primary education for all, especially girls, and putting developing country partners in charge of setting priorities and implementing programmes of assistance. It is a story of women’s empowerment which lasted for only about half a dozen years as the original Utstein Four moved on to other positions. But their influence continues to be felt because their approach to improve aid effectiveness was codified in international agreements and practices of global institutions. The last part of the book discusses the legacy of the Utstein group and the lessons that their experience offers to the continuing challenges of eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development.

In mankind’s relentless quest for prosperity, Nature has suffered great damage. It has been treated as an inexhaustible reserve of resources. The indefinite scale of global expansion is still continuing and now the earth’s very survival is under threat. But against this exploitation of nature, there is the concept of entropy, which places a finite limit on the extent to which resources can be used in any closed system, such as our planet. Considering the impact of entropy, this book examines the key issues of sustainability—social, economic, and environmental. It discusses the social dimension of sustainability, showing how it is impacted by issues of economic inequality, poverty, and other socio-economic and infrastructural factors in the Indian context. It also highlights how Indian households suffer from clean energy poverty and points to the inequality in distribution of different fuels and of fuel cost among households. It assesses India’s power sector and its potential to be a significant player in bringing the Third Industrial Revolution to India by replacing fossil fuels with new renewables. It concludes by projecting power sector scenarios till 2041–42 achievable through alternative, realizable policy with respect to energy conservation and fuel substitution, and thus paves the way for the green power.

Between 1500 and 1800, the North Sea region overtook the Mediterranean as the most dynamic part of the world. At its core the Anglo-Dutch relationship intertwined close alliance and fierce antagonism to intense creative effect. But a precondition for the Industrial Revolution was also the establishment in British North America of a unique type of colony — for the settlement of people and culture, rather than the extraction of things. England's republican revolution of 1649–53 was a spectacular attempt to change social, political, and moral life in the direction pioneered by the Dutch. This book argues that it was also a turning point in world history. In the revolution's wake, competition with the Dutch transformed the military-fiscal and naval resources of the state. One result was a navally protected Anglo-American trading monopoly. Within this context, more than a century later, the Industrial Revolution would be triggered by the alchemical power of American shopping.

Abstract: How do knowledge and ideas influence the competitiveness of firms and nations? Current debates about grand innovation prizes, patent trolls, technological disruption, human capital, and the role of an entrepreneurial state reflect and replicate earlier controversies that took place on both sides of the Atlantic. This book shows how and why the ideas of creative individuals promote progress. The insights are based on original archival research regarding over 100,000 inventors, patented inventions, and innovation prizes in Europe and the United States during industrialization. This systematic empirical analysis across time and place and institutions provides a comprehensive microfoundation for understanding technological change and long-run macroeconomic growth. British and French policies favored “administered innovation systems,” in which elites, administrators, or panels made key economic decisions about inducement prizes, rewards, and the allocation of resources. European institutions generated returns that were misaligned with economic value and productivity and perpetuated socioeconomic inequality. Europe fell behind when the negative consequences of such top-down administered systems accumulated and reduced comparative advantage. The modern knowledge economy emerged when, for the first time in world history, an intellectual property clause was included in a national Constitution, in the United States. This strong endorsement for open-access property rights and unfettered markets in ideas reflected a revolution in thinking about the sources of creativity and technical progress. U.S. global industrial ascendancy was a direct outcome of its decentralized market-oriented institutions, which fostered diversity in ideas and innovations, the diffusion of information and disruptive technologies, and sustained endogenous growth.

The book focuses on the short- and long-term macroeconomic challenges faced by developing countries characterized by missing, incomplete, and dualistic markets and weak institutions. Such problems affect long-term growth, short-term macroeconomic equilibrium, employment, and inequality far more than in the advanced economies. A central message of the book is that ignoring these features and applying to developing countries models inspired by the reality of advanced economies may lead to wrong conclusions and policies. These challenges are discussed for a number of archetypes of developing economies dependent on land and natural resources, affected by supply rigidities in agriculture, and featuring dualistic markets, a dominant informal sector, fast population growth, and chronic dependence on the export of commodities and a volatile external finance. Finally, the book discusses the impact on growth, inequality, and poverty of the stabilization and structural adjustment reforms that were increasingly implemented during the last thirty years. These issues have taken centre stage since the launch of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiatives that have not spelled out a clear macroeconomic approach. There is a risk, therefore, that the wrong policies and sudden shocks may derail progress towards the SDGs which might be achieved by means of social policies.

This text is designed to bridge the gap between Ph.D. and undergraduate textbooks in Macroeconomics. The text develops a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model of money using a cash-in-advance constraint and endogenous production as in the real business cycle literature. The costs of inflation and optimal monetary policy, the impact of labor and capital taxes and as well as optimal fiscal policy are covered. Many extensions, including new Keynesian liquidity shock models are developed. Both standard analytic methods, such as Lagrangian methods, and computational methods using Matlab and Python, are developed as we construct quantitative models.

Our confidence in markets comes from economics, and our confidence in economics is underpinned by the Nobel Prize in Economics, which was first awarded in 1969. Was it a coincidence that the prize and the rise of free-market liberalism began at the same time? This is the first book to describe the origins and power of the most important prize in economics. It tells how the prize, created by the Swedish central bank, emerged from a conflict between central bank orthodoxy and Sweden's social democracy. The aim was to use the halo of the Nobel brand to influence the future of Sweden and the rest of the developed world by enhancing the bank's authority and the prestige of market-friendly economics. And the strategy has worked spectacularly — with sometimes disastrous results for societies striving to cope with the requirements of economic theory and deregulated markets. Drawing on previously untapped archives and providing a unique analysis of the sway of prizewinners, the book offers an unprecedented account of the real-world consequences of economics and its greatest prize.

What makes people happy? This book seeks to revolutionize how we think about human priorities and to promote public policy changes that are based on what really matters to people. Drawing on a range of evidence using large-scale data from various countries, the authors consider the key factors that affect human well-being, including income, education, employment, family conflict, health, childcare, and crime. The book offers a new perspective on life satisfaction and well-being over the life course and a new vision for how we might become more healthy, happy, and whole.