Political Routes to Starvation

Why Does Famine Kill?

Bas Dianda

This book seeks to reclassify famine by offering an in-depth look at the phenomenon that continues to affect millions of people across the world every year. Defined as a widespread scarcity of food, Dr. Basilio Dianda argues that the causes of famine cannot be reduced exclusively to a shortfall in agricultural output or to economic dynamics. Instead, an analysis of famine must take into account political and economic factors as well as agricultural, climatologic and demographic data. ‘Political Routes to Starvation’ is the result of an all-encompassing analysis of eighty famines from across the globe. This extensive piece of research demonstrates that there are not only multiple factors at play in the genesis of a food crisis, but also in its evolution to starvation. Dianda contends that in order to fully understand the causes of famine it is necessary to reinstate a hierarchy between foundation and concomitant causes, especially when cross-comparing cases. Importantly, Dianda maintains that only a comprehensive approach to famine can appropriately answer the questions: What is famine? How does famine occur? Why does famine kill?

Market Abuse Regulation in South Africa, the United States of America and the United Kingdom

Howard Chitimira, North West University, South Africa

This book provides a concise comparison of the regulation and enforcement of the anti-market abuse laws (insider trading and market manipulation) in South Africa, the United States of America (USA) and United Kingdom (UK). Bringing together a number of previously published articles, the book provides a novel discussion of the challenges associated with the enforcement of market abuse laws in both developing countries such as South Africa and developed ones such as the USA and the UK. This is primarily done to examine and expose the current strengths and weaknesses of market abuse laws in relation to certain aspects of the corporate, securities and financial markets environments in South Africa, the USA and the UK. Accordingly, chapters two to five of the book unpack the regulation and enforcement of market abuse laws in South Africa and the USA in a comparative perspective. Thereafter, chapters six to eight of the book discuss the regulation and enforcement of market abuse laws (Financial Markets Act 19 of 2012) and other related statutes in South Africa and the UK. The book proposes some measures that could be utilised to enhance the enforcement of anti-market laws in South Africa, USA and the UK. New market abuse-related challenges that occurred during the global financial crisis are also briefly discussed. The book further provides a relatively adequate overview of the comparative analysis of the regulation of market abuse in South Africa versus two key developed and respected jurisdictions, namely, the USA and the UK. Accordingly, it is hoped that the book can aid regulatory authorities, financial market participants, academics, students and other interested readers to understand market abuse offences and possible measures that could be employed to combat such offences.

Networks of International Trade and Investment

Understanding globalisation through the lens of network analysis

Edited by Sara Gorgoni, University of Greenwich et al.

In recent decades, the international economy has witnessed fundamental changes in the way manufacturing is organised: products are no longer manufactured in their entirety in a single location. Instead, the production process is often split across a number of stages located in countries that are frequently far apart from each other. By spreading out their manufacturing and supply chain activities globally through international investment and intra-firm trade, Multinational enterprises (MNEs) play a focal role in this reorganisation of production. Our ability to understand the global economy, therefore, requires an understanding of the interdependencies between the entities involved in such fragmented production. Traditional methods and statistical approaches are insufficient to address this challenge. Instead, an approach is required that allows us to account for these interdependencies. The most promising approach so far is network analysis. ‘Networks of International Trade and Investment’ makes a case for the use of network analysis alongside existing techniques in order to investigate pressing issues in international business and economics. The authors put forward a range of well-informed studies that examine compelling topics such as the role of emerging economies in global trade and the evolution of world trade patterns. They look at how network analysis, as both an approach and a methodology, can explain international business and economics phenomena, in particular, in relation to international trade and investment. Providing a comprehensive but accessible explanation of the applications of network analysis and some of the most recent methodological advances in its field, this edited volume is an important contribution to research in international trade and investment.

Fixed or Flexible Exchange Rates? History and Perspectives

Marin Muzhani, CDI College, Canada

The economy of the industrialized countries in the 21st century has already moved to a new level of mass production and technology never seen before, thanks in part to globalization, advanced technologies, new organization management methods, and innovative supply chain. A relatively large number of mass-produced commodities (characterized as non-premium) and services in Western economies are somehow sold at discounts rather than regular prices at a much higher frequency that was never seen before. This phenomenon has completely changed how we look at the theory of the firm in microeconomics. This book is indented to introduce new ideas and theories by challenging the current modern micro-and-macro economic theories. In a globalized world, the economies of advanced countries have entered a new phase called “economy pricing,” where most of the mass commodities are sold at a low price during certain periods of the year, called ‘sales events’. In addition to low prices, most industrialized countries have had record low inflation, low-interest rates, low growth, and low unemployment rates. This book will contend how the “Economy Pricing System” is about to revolutionize how people look at a real economy’s micro and macro effects.

The Political Economy of the Space Age

How Science and Technology Shape the Evolution of Human Society

Andrea Sommariva, SDA Bocconi, Milan, Italy

This book provides answers to the questions of why human-kind should go into space, and on the relative roles of governments and markets in the evolution of the space economy. It adopts an interdisciplinary approach to answer those questions. Science and technology define the boundaries of what is possible. The realization of the possible depends on economic, institutional, and political factors. The book thus draws from many different academic areas such as physical science, astronomy, astronautics, political science, economics, sociology, cultural studies, and history. In the literature, the space economy has been analyzed using different approaches from science and technology to the effects of public expenditures on economic growth and to medium term effects on productivity and growth. This book brings all these aspects together following the evolutionary theory of economic change. It studies processes that transform the economy through the interactions among diverse economic agents, governments, and the extra-systemic environment in which governments operate. Its historical part helps to better understand motivations and constraints - technical, political, and economical - that shaped the growth of the space economy. In the medium term, global issues - such as population changes, critical or limited natural resources, and environmental damages – and technological innovations are the main drivers for the evolution of the space economy beyond Earth orbit. In universities, this book can be used: as a reference by historians of astronautics; for researchers in the field of astronautics, international political economy, and legal issues related to the space economy. In think tanks and public institutions, both national and international, this book provides an input to the ongoing debate on the collaboration among space agencies and the role of private companies in the development of the space economy. Finally, this book will help the educated general public to orient himself in the forest of stimuli, news, and solicitations to which he is daily subjected by the media, television and radio, and to react in less passive ways to those stimuli.