If youre interested in the cutting-edge of the very best thinking on economics and the environment, its right here. Boyce has done a masterful job integrating issues of equity and ecological thinking into economics, and presenting deep and important ideas accessibly with the latest research to back them up. Not just recommended, but essential. Juliet Schor, Boston College, US and author of True Wealth: How and Why Millions of Americans are Creating a Time-rich, Ecologically-light, Small-scale, High-satisfaction Economy A colleague of mine puts it best: when thinking about the fundamentals of the economy and the environment, there is Pigou, Coase, and Boyce. Boyce adds to traditional economics the critical understanding that social power is a determinant of the extent and spatial scale of environmental degradation. In these essays, on subjects ranging from housing and credit markets to agriculture and globalization, Boyce mixes a data-driven picture of unequal environmental protection with a keen and useful discussion of the many forms of social power that can help right the scales. Eban Goodstein, Bard College, US This fascinating volume has at its heart a simple but powerful premise: that a clean and safe environment is not a commodity to be allocated on the basis of purchasing power, nor a privilege to be allocated through political power, but rather a basic human right. Building upon this premise, James K. Boyce explores the many ways in which economics can be refashioned into an instrument for advancing human well-being and environmental health. Comprising a decades worth of essays written since the publication of the authors pathbreaking book, The Political Economy of the Environment (2002), this volume discusses a number of diverse environmental issues through an economists lens. Topics covered include environmental justice, disaster response, globalization and the environment, industrial toxins and other pollutants, cap-and-dividend climate policies, and agricultural biodiversity. The first economics book to explore the idea that the environment belongs in equal measure to us all, this pioneering volume will hold great interest for students, professors and researchers of both economics and environmental studies.
This volume provides a very high quality set of papers on the relationship between globalization and human development. . . any one with interest in this wide ranging subject matter would find the volume an interesting and engaging read. Global Business Review Honoring Keith Griffin s more than 40 years of fundamental contributions to the discipline of economics, the papers in this volume reflect his deep commitment to advancing the well-being of the world s poor majority and his unflinching willingness to question conventional wisdom as to how this should be done. Four overarching themes recur in Keith Griffin s work and this book: the need to both eradicate poverty and redress inequalities in the distribution of wealth within and among nations; the impact of growth on inequality, and conversely inequality s impact on growth; the political economy of policy-making; and the need for openness to heterogeneity in both analytic tools and in policy recommendations. The volume begins with an introduction by the editors followed by a paper by Keith Griffin. In succeeding chapters the contributors explore strategies for reducing poverty and inequality, and provide perspectives on issues such as human development, the rural/urban divide in China, and biodiversity and sustainability. Students, researchers, policymakers and NGO analysts exploring issues in development economics, development studies, alternative economic systems, globalization, environmental sustainability, inequality and well-being will find this book of great interest.
In Africa's Odious Debts, Boyce and Ndikumana reveal the shocking fact that, contrary to the popular perception of Africa being a drain on the financial resources of the West, the continent is actually a net creditor to the rest of the world. The extent of capital flight from sub-Saharan Africa is remarkable: more than $700 billion in the past four decades. But Africa's foreign assets remain private and hidden, while its foreign debts are public, owed by the people of Africa through their governments. Léonce Ndikumana and James K. Boyce reveal the intimate links between foreign loans and capital flight. Of the money borrowed by African governments in recent decades, more than half departed in the same year, with a significant portion of it winding up in private accounts at the very banks that provided the loans in the first place. Meanwhile, debt-service payments continue to drain scarce resources from Africa, cutting into funds available for public health and other needs. Controversially, the authors argue that African governments should repudiate these 'odious debts' from which their people derived no benefit, and that the international community should assist in this effort. A vital book for anyone interested in Africa, its future and its relationship with the West.
This book analyzes the Philippine economy from the 1960s to the 1980s. During this period, the benefits of economic growth conspicuously failed to "trickle down". Despite rising per capita income, broad sectors of the Filipino population experienced deepening poverty. Professor Boyce traces this outcome to the country's economic and political structure and focuses on three elements of the government's development strategy: the "green revolution" in rice agriculture, the primacy accorded to export agriculture and forestry, and massive external borrowing. James Boyce is the author of "Agrarian Impasse in Bengal" and co-author of "A Quiet Violence: View from a Bangladesh Village".
This book analyzes the provision of aid to countries that have undergone negotiated settlements to civil wars, drawing on recent experiences in Bosnia, Cambodia, El Salvador, and Guatemala. It focuses on the potential for peace conditionality, linking aid to steps to implement accords and consolidate the peace. The book explores how aid can encourage domestic investment in peace-related needs; the reconciliation of long-run peacebuilding objectives with short-run humanitarian imperatives; and the obstacles that donors' priorities and procedures pose to effective aid for peace. It concludes that investing in peace requires not only the reconstruction of war-torn societies but also the reconstruction of aid itself.
Why is a country with some of the world's most fertile land also the home of so many hungry people? Betsy Hartmann and James Boyce, both Bengali-speaking anthropologists, spent two years in Bangladesh investigating the paradox of hunger in a "basketcase" country that actually produces enough grain for its people. Needless Hunger follows the history and structure of Bangladesh society, and also draws us into the daily lives of the people of Katni, the village where the authors lived. "There is no natural barrier to filling the basic human needs of Bangladesh's people," they conclude. "But there is the man-made barrier of a social order benefiting the few at the expense of the many." They found that the foreign aid pouring into the country actually entrenches the very elite, who keep the majority powerless and hungry. Needless Hunger is also a book of hope, describing the strength and potential of the Bangladesh people, and their desire for a society where food-producing resources are controlled by the majority. Book jacket.
Economics for People and the Planet, a collection of essays by James K. Boyce on the environment, inequality and the economy, argues that there is not an inexorable trade-off between advancing human well-being and having a clean and safe environment. The goal of economic policy should be to grow the good things that improve our well-being and environmental quality and reduce the bad things that harm humans and nature. To reorient the economy for these ends, we will need to achieve a more egalitarian distribution of wealth and power. Global climate change – the most pressing environmental challenge of our time – adds urgency to this task and creates historic opportunities for moving towards a greener future. The audiobook version of Economics for People and the Planet features new chapters on the Green New Deal and the environmental costs of inequality. Foreword by Manuel Pastor.
Field study of living conditions in a village of Bangladesh - describes historical background to poverty, the agrarian structure and agricultural production; mentions landowner attitudes, rural youth, rural women and children; examines the role of Islamic religion, marriage, the rural area social classes (particularly peasant farmers and landless agricultural workers); covers land and production relations, agricultural marketing, violence, corruption, development aid, etc. Photographs and references.
The supreme challenge of our time is tackling climate change. We urgently need to curtail our use of fossil fuels – but how can we do so in a just and feasible way? In this compelling book, leading economist James Boyce shows that the key to solving this conundrum is to put a limit on carbon emissions, thereby raising the price of fossil fuels and generating strong incentives for clean energy. But there is a formidable hurdle: how do we secure broad public support for a policy that increases fuel costs for consumers? Boyce powerfully argues that carbon pricing can be made just and politically durable only if linked to returning the revenue to the public as carbon dividends. Founded on the principle that the gifts of nature belong to us all, not to corporations or governments, this bold reform could spark a twenty-first-century clean energy revolution. Essential reading for all concerned citizens, policy-makers, and students of public policy and environmental economics, this book will be a transformative contribution to one of the most important policy debates of our era.
Professor Boyce s work is an excellent example of how ecological economics can be done in an objective, evidence-based approach that can put issues on the agenda in a manner where they will be taken seriously by other scholars. . . This is a well-written and provocative book that should encourage further research on all these important issues. David I. Stern, International Journal of Social Economics This succinct and sometimes provocative book sets out to document, quantify and explain the ways in which inequalities of wealth and power create an uneven apportionment of environmental costs across the world. It offers a combination of theoretical analysis and empirical evidence to support the author s central contention that greater democratisation and changes in society s relationship with nature are paramount for achieving the dual goals of environmental protection and sustainable development. . . This book is immensely well written. . . makes for a fascinating read. Ian Bailey, European Spatial Research and Policy Economic activities that degrade the environment do not simply pit humans against nature. They also pit some humans against others. Some benefit from these activities; others bear net costs from pollution and resource depletion. In a provocative and original analysis, James K. Boyce examines the dynamics of environmental degradation in terms of the balances of power between the winners and the losers. He provides evidence that inequalities of power and wealth affect not only the distribution of environmental costs, but also their overall magnitude: greater inequalities result in more environmental degradation. Democratization movement toward a more equitable distribution of power therefore is not only a worthwhile objective in its own right, but also an important means toward the social goals of environmental protection and sustainable development. Combining theoretical analysis with empirical evidence from around the world, James K. Boyce demonstrates that changes in our relationship with nature ultimately require changes in our relationships with each other. He maintains that a more democratic and environmentally sustainable future is possible, but warns that it is not inevitable. This book will appeal to students, scholars, policymakers and other readers interested in the environment, economics and public policy.
Consistent with the literature on state building, failed states, peacekeeping and foreign assistance, this book argues that budgeting is a core state activity necessary for the operation of a functional government. Employing a historical institutionalist approach, this book first explores the Ottoman, British and Ba'athist origins of Iraq's budgetary institutions. The book next examines American pre-war planning, the Coalition Provisional Authority's rule-making and budgeting following the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the mixed success of the Coalition's capacity-building programs initiated throughout the occupation. This book sheds light on the problem of 'outsiders' building states, contributes to a more comprehensive evaluation of the Coalition in Iraq, addresses the question of why Iraqis took ownership of some Coalition-generated institutions, and helps explain the nature of institutional change.
If youre interested in the cutting-edge of the very best thinking on economics and the environment, its right here. Boyce has done a masterful job integrating issues of equity and ecological thinking into economics, and presenting deep and important ideas accessibly with the latest research to back them up. Not just recommended, but essential. Juliet Schor, Boston College, US and author of True Wealth: How and Why Millions of Americans are Creating a Time-rich, Ecologically-light, Small-scale, High-satisfaction Economy A colleague of mine puts it best: when thinking about the fundamentals of the economy and the environment, there is Pigou, Coase, and Boyce. Boyce adds to traditional economics the critical understanding that social power is a determinant of the extent and spatial scale of environmental degradation. In these essays, on subjects ranging from housing and credit markets to agriculture and globalization, Boyce mixes a data-driven picture of unequal environmental protection with a keen and useful discussion of the many forms of social power that can help right the scales. Eban Goodstein, Bard College, US This fascinating volume has at its heart a simple but powerful premise: that a clean and safe environment is not a commodity to be allocated on the basis of purchasing power, nor a privilege to be allocated through political power, but rather a basic human right. Building upon this premise, James K. Boyce explores the many ways in which economics can be refashioned into an instrument for advancing human well-being and environmental health. Comprising a decades worth of essays written since the publication of the authors pathbreaking book, The Political Economy of the Environment (2002), this volume discusses a number of diverse environmental issues through an economists lens. Topics covered include environmental justice, disaster response, globalization and the environment, industrial toxins and other pollutants, cap-and-dividend climate policies, and agricultural biodiversity. The first economics book to explore the idea that the environment belongs in equal measure to us all, this pioneering volume will hold great interest for students, professors and researchers of both economics and environmental studies.
Professor Boyce s work is an excellent example of how ecological economics can be done in an objective, evidence-based approach that can put issues on the agenda in a manner where they will be taken seriously by other scholars. . . This is a well-written and provocative book that should encourage further research on all these important issues. David I. Stern, International Journal of Social Economics This succinct and sometimes provocative book sets out to document, quantify and explain the ways in which inequalities of wealth and power create an uneven apportionment of environmental costs across the world. It offers a combination of theoretical analysis and empirical evidence to support the author s central contention that greater democratisation and changes in society s relationship with nature are paramount for achieving the dual goals of environmental protection and sustainable development. . . This book is immensely well written. . . makes for a fascinating read. Ian Bailey, European Spatial Research and Policy Economic activities that degrade the environment do not simply pit humans against nature. They also pit some humans against others. Some benefit from these activities; others bear net costs from pollution and resource depletion. In a provocative and original analysis, James K. Boyce examines the dynamics of environmental degradation in terms of the balances of power between the winners and the losers. He provides evidence that inequalities of power and wealth affect not only the distribution of environmental costs, but also their overall magnitude: greater inequalities result in more environmental degradation. Democratization movement toward a more equitable distribution of power therefore is not only a worthwhile objective in its own right, but also an important means toward the social goals of environmental protection and sustainable development. Combining theoretical analysis with empirical evidence from around the world, James K. Boyce demonstrates that changes in our relationship with nature ultimately require changes in our relationships with each other. He maintains that a more democratic and environmentally sustainable future is possible, but warns that it is not inevitable. This book will appeal to students, scholars, policymakers and other readers interested in the environment, economics and public policy.
Economics for People and the Planet, a collection of essays by James K. Boyce on the environment, inequality and the economy, argues that there is not an inexorable trade-off between advancing human well-being and having a clean and safe environment. The goal of economic policy should be to grow the good things that improve our well-being and environmental quality and reduce the bad things that harm humans and nature. To reorient the economy for these ends, we will need to achieve a more egalitarian distribution of wealth and power. Global climate change – the most pressing environmental challenge of our time – adds urgency to this task and creates historic opportunities for moving towards a greener future. The audiobook version of Economics for People and the Planet features new chapters on the Green New Deal and the environmental costs of inequality. Foreword by Manuel Pastor.
The supreme challenge of our time is tackling climate change. We urgently need to curtail our use of fossil fuels – but how can we do so in a just and feasible way? In this compelling book, leading economist James Boyce shows that the key to solving this conundrum is to put a limit on carbon emissions, thereby raising the price of fossil fuels and generating strong incentives for clean energy. But there is a formidable hurdle: how do we secure broad public support for a policy that increases fuel costs for consumers? Boyce powerfully argues that carbon pricing can be made just and politically durable only if linked to returning the revenue to the public as carbon dividends. Founded on the principle that the gifts of nature belong to us all, not to corporations or governments, this bold reform could spark a twenty-first-century clean energy revolution. Essential reading for all concerned citizens, policy-makers, and students of public policy and environmental economics, this book will be a transformative contribution to one of the most important policy debates of our era.
Introduction -- Aid for peace? -- The internal politics of external assistance -- Peace dividends: aid and fiscal policy -- The humanitarian dilemma -- Obstacles to peace conditionality -- Conclusion.
In Africa's Odious Debts, Boyce and Ndikumana reveal the shocking fact that, contrary to the popular perception of Africa being a drain on the financial resources of the West, the continent is actually a net creditor to the rest of the world. The extent of capital flight from sub-Saharan Africa is remarkable: more than $700 billion in the past four decades. But Africa's foreign assets remain private and hidden, while its foreign debts are public, owed by the people of Africa through their governments. Léonce Ndikumana and James K. Boyce reveal the intimate links between foreign loans and capital flight. Of the money borrowed by African governments in recent decades, more than half departed in the same year, with a significant portion of it winding up in private accounts at the very banks that provided the loans in the first place. Meanwhile, debt-service payments continue to drain scarce resources from Africa, cutting into funds available for public health and other needs. Controversially, the authors argue that African governments should repudiate these 'odious debts' from which their people derived no benefit, and that the international community should assist in this effort. A vital book for anyone interested in Africa, its future and its relationship with the West.
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