People-First Economics: Making a Clean Start for Jobs, Justice and Climate - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1906523231 ISBN 13: 9781906523237

Publisher: World Changing, 2009

Synopsis

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Toxic debt, rising job losses, collapsing commodity prices and expanding poverty. How can we rein in these beasts unleashed by the free market economy?

People First Economics takes a long, hard look at the mess globalized capitalism is in, and shifts the focus back to where it belongs – putting the needs of people and the environment first.

People-First Economics looks at what recent events mean and could mean for us all. It's about economics—and about a lot more. It's about radical changes that are social, moral, ecological, and philosophical, too—changes that are already beginning to happen.

In a series of plain-speaking contributions, David Ransom brings together exciting and radical activists and thinkers, such as Naomi Klein, Walden Bello, and Susan George, to set the agenda for "economic democratization." Launching New Internationalist's World Changing imprint, People-First Economics covers everything from the green revolution and feminist economics to what we can learn from history and a ten-step economic detox. In doing so, it provides the opportunity to rethink what really matters in life.

David Ransom has been a co-editor of the New Internationalist since 1989. He is the author of the No-Nonsense Guide to Fair Trade.

Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, columnist, and author. Her latest book is the international bestseller The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.

Walden Bello is a campaigner, academic, environmentalist, and journalist. He is senior analyst of Focus on the Global South and professor of sociology at the University of the Philippines.

Susan George is a political scientist and fellow of the Transnational Institute. She has written many books, including Another World is Possible If...

About this title

About the Author

David Ransom has been a co-editor of New Internationalist magazine since 1989. He has edited a wide range of magazines, including several on fair trade. Prior to that he was a teacher and community worker in the East End of London. He spent several years at the London School of Economics working on the economic history of Latin America.

Reviews

The rising tide of populist outrage over the recent economic crisis fuels a series of essays, diatribes and manifestos in this compendium of left-wing economic alternatives. Editors Ransom and Baird have brought together journalists, economists, politicians and intellectuals to take the global capitalist market to task for everything from foreclosures and national economic collapse to global warming. Naomi Klein replays scenes of popular unrest in Iceland and Argentina; master financier Tarek El Diwany explains the history of interest and argues against usury; and, in case the stakes were unclear, Bolivia's President Evo Morales offers a 10-point plan for saving the markets and humanity. Ann Pettifor, a fellow at the New Economics Foundation, best sums up the ideological thread that unites the book when she quotes a 1944 British Labour Party tract saying that finance must be returned to its role as the intelligent servant of the community, not its stupid master. If ever these criticisms were to be taken seriously, now would be the time, and voices such as Noam Chomsky's and journalist Barbara Ehrenreich's lend the volume plenty of heft. (Jan.)
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Edition details

• Publisher: World Changing
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1906523231
• ISBN 13: 9781906523237
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208
• Editor: Ransom David