Managing the Global Economy

The demise of the post-war era of full employment has been followed by more than 20 years of global instability. the world economy enters the 21st century with the industrial world divided between the European Union, the North American Free Trade Area and the Pacific Rim countries. This tripolar division could either form the basis for negotiation and co-operation, or else the sort of instability witnessed in thwe prelude to the two World Wars.;This study describes the key trends in the world economy, and indicates what new institutional arrangements might be appropriate, but stresses that action will not be taken until the prevailing fatalistic economic ideology is discarded.;The book demonstrates that the global financial markets were created by financial institutions as governments freed financial markets from their control. It documents how far international co-operation has freed the markets and limited the power of governments, and indicates how these priorities could be reversed. The 18 contributors include economists, economic commentators, practitioners and policy-makers.

Significant contributions ... Jonathan Michie and John Grieve Smith have brought together a collection of authors - mainly Cambridge dons and Geneva bureaucrats - who have thought hard about making the new global economy socially accountable., Managing The Global Economy is an important tool for all who recognise the centrality of economics to our future ... Its contributors lead us clearly from the Bretton Woods foundations of the post-war boom to today's "restrained anarchy" of deregulated, internationally integrated markets. s, This is an indispensable guide for trade unionists who want to understand the scope which still exists for nation states to adopt progressive policies., Nothing can detract from a sober analysis, and ... there is plenty of that in this book ... a nice spread of styles and approaches. None of the chapters are beyond the comprehension of an intellectually curious reader of the serious press ... What is distinctive about this book is it deals with its particular characterisation of the contemporary international economy ... is that the emphasis remains upon the management of that economy ... a major contribution., Although this is a volume written and edited by economists, it is more than sufficiently policy- and indeed political economy-oriented to attract a far wider audience ... One of the considerable list of volumes marking the thirty years since Bretton Woods, this must surely be among the best ... commendably sensitive to the need for a clear vision of just what economic policy and institutions are supposed to accomplish ... The contributions are well linked and cross-referenced, which adds to the obvious coherence of the volume.