Cuba's second economy

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Vijay Joshi

" India's economic resurgence has been the subject of many extravagant predictions and hopes. In this powerful and wide-ranging book, distinguished economist Vijay Joshi lays out a penetrating analysis of the shaky foundations of the country's performance, and charts the course that it should follow to achieve widely-shared prosperity. Joshi argues that for India to realize its huge potential, the relation between the state, the market, and the private sector must be comprehensively realigned. Deeper liberalization and more extensive privatisation will be necessary. But they will not suffice to achieve India's economic objectives. The state needs to perform much more effectively many core tasks that belong squarely in its domain. India needs more of the market as well as more of the state. The road India takes will matter not only for the lives of its billion-plus people but also for the course of global economics and politics. In the course of his enquiry, Joshi examines in depth all the critical areas of Indian development policy, including employment and the 'demographic bulge'; investment and productivity; the markets for goods, resources, and finance; macroeconomic stability; public sector banks and enterprises; the infrastructure deficit; social protection and safety nets; education and health care; environmental sustainability; international economic relations; state capacity and accountability; and corruption and crony capitalism. His design for radical reform incorporates a fiscally affordable scheme to provide a regular 'basic income' for all citizens that would speedily abolish extreme poverty. An authoritative work of tremendous scope and depth, India's Long Road will be an essential resource for anyone who wants to know where India is today, where it is headed, and what it should do to attain its ambitions. "-- "India's surge in high, well-sustained economic growth captured the world's attention for much of the period from the 1990s to the early 2010s. Often paired with China as being at the leading edge of emerging economies, the last few years have witnessed shortfalls in India's performance, which have also occurred in the cases of other "BRICS," namely, Brazil, Russia, and South Africa. India is now facing a possible fiscal crisis, higher inflation, greater concentration of economic wealth, and a slowdown in productivity. While its business sector remains vigorous, the Indian state has not yet found a viable way to fund food subsidies or come to grips with the costs of its employment guarantee program. Corruption also hinders growth at many turns. All these factors bring into question how feasible or wise it is for India to pursue a path toward global political power rather than concentrate on improved economic engagement worldwide. Dr. Joshi believes India's economic problems are serious and systemic, not a temporary blip. His analysis sets forth that the only way the country can truly prosper is to find the means to return to the earlier levels of growth through massive economic reform. This policy reorientation calls for eliminating price controls as well as both explicit and hidden subsidies to industries, introduction of direct cash transfers to the poor in place of the state's own costly production of goods and services, and an aggressive move toward privatization rather than over-reliance on family firms and widely-held corporations. Without these, the requisites of economic stability cannot be fully established, let alone propel significant growth"--

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Thomas F. Cargill, Reno Takayuki Sakamoto

An analysis of the performance of Japan's economic and political institutions from late 1970s to 2007. The authors explain how Japan's flawed response to new economic, political, and technological forces ushered in a lost decade and a half of economic development from 1990. Impressive economic performance in the 1980s masked an "accident waiting to happen" - the collapse in equity and real estate prices in 1990-91. Japan's iron triangle of politicians, bureaucrats, and client industries, combined with a flawed financial liberalization process and policy errors by the Bank of Japan and the Ministry of Finance, brought Japan to an abyss of deflation, recession, and insolvency by the late 1990s. The turning point was the election of Koizumi as prime minister in 2001. The book explores Koizumi's economic reform, new developments in socioeconomic conditions, the politics and economy after Koizumi, and the economic and political challenges facing Japan in the new century.

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Xiaohui Liu and Wei Zhang

"In the thirty years since China initiated economic reforms and its open-door policy, China has been transformed from a poor nation almost completely isolated from the global economy to an engine of growth of the world economy. China's dynamic transition has been among the most dramatic developments of recent history; and its economy continues to grow rapidly, with important consequences for China's own society and environment, as well as for the wider world. This book provides a fascinating insight into a wide range of issues on Chinese economy and its three decades of economic reforms. With well-researched, in-depth and comprehensive coverage of key topics, using the latest research findings, this book covers Chinese monetary policy and financial sector reforms; China's income disparities; the emergence of China's business groups; the implications of foreign direct investment and innovation and technological developments. The book will be an indispensable guide to scholars, entrepreneurs, policy-makers and all who are interested in China's economic affairs."--Publisher's website.

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Kamal Nath

"In a short time, India has proven itself a major economic power, generating billions for its citizens and for the international community. How did India become a global market mover? And just as important, how can the Western world tap into the vast resources of commerce that India has, mine its phenomenal growth potential in a wide array of industries, and create a profitable relationship with the world's largest democracy?" "Few authors are as qualified to answer those questions as Kamal Nath. Known at home and throughout the world as the face of twenty-first century India, as well as a major architect of India's reform, Mr. Nath has spent his entire professional life within the corridors of power, helping to shape the policies that have catapulted his nation to world prominence." "In India's Century, Mr. Nath goes beyond the "flat-world" view to reveal the roots of the Indian economic miracle. With a compelling blend of economic analysis, political insight, and cultural observation, he traces his nation's emergence from colonial rule in 1947 through four decades of planned economies, the gradual liberalization of India's economy in the 1990s, and finally, the rise of the Indian global giant." "India's Century is must reading for business strategists, public policy makers, and every thoughtful reader who wishes to understand more about the world's largest, most vibrant democracy and the role it is likely to play on the global stage in the years ahead."--Jacket.