An authoritative economic history of Israel from its founding to the present In 1922, there were ninety thousand Jews in Palestine, a small country in a poor and volatile region. Today, Israel has a population of nine million and is one of the richest countries in the world. The Israeli Economy tells the story of this remarkable transformation, shedding critical new light on Israel's rapid economic growth. Joseph Zeira takes readers from those early days to today, describing how Israel's economic development occurred amid intense fighting with the Palestinians and neighboring Arab countries. He reveals how the new state's astonishing growth continued into the early 1970s, and traces this growth to public investment in education and to large foreign transfers. Zeira analyzes the costs of the Arab-Israeli conflict, demonstrating how economic output could be vastly greater with a comprehensive peace. He discusses how Israel went through intensive neoliberal economic policies in recent decades, and shows how these policies not only failed to enhance economic performance, but led to significant social inequality. Based on more than two decades of groundbreaking research, The Israeli Economy is an in-depth survey of a modern economy that has experienced rapid growth, wars, immigration waves, and other significant shocks. It thus offers important lessons for nations around the world.

This book constitutes the first attempt at a comprehensive description, history, and analysis of Israel's economy. Plessner examines events of the past two decades and advances the hypothesis that problems within the Israeli economy can be explained by the extent of its departure from the institutions and rules that govern predominantly market economies. He argues that Israel is unusual in that it affords an opportunity to analyze a socialized economy embedded in a democratic society. Individual chapters describe Israel's economic growth and stagnation, the government's domination of capital and credit markets, and the absence of a truly independent private sector. The concluding chapter evaluates the stabilization program of the 1980s and its aftermath and provides a prognosis for the future. Told within the framework of the story of Zionism and the creation of the Jewish state, this book answers the question of why the Israeli economy finds itself today in the same state in which it has languished since 1973.

What the world can learn from Israel's meteoric economic success. Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion dollar question: How is it that Israel -- a country of 7.1 million, only 60 years old, surrounded by enemies, in a constant state of war since its founding, with no natural resources-- produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada and the UK? With the savvy of foreign policy insiders, Senor and Singer examine the lessons of the country's adversity-driven culture, which flattens hierarchy and elevates informality-- all backed up by government policies focused on innovation. In a world where economies as diverse as Ireland, Singapore and Dubai have tried to re-create the "Israel effect", there are entrepreneurial lessons well worth noting. As America reboots its own economy and can-do spirit, there's never been a better time to look at this remarkable and resilient nation for some impressive, surprising clues.

A rigorous analysis of the role played by globalization in key episodes in the development of the Israeli economy, from hyperinflation crisis to high-tech surge. Anti-globalization sentiments are rising, especially in Europe and the United States, with the increasingly integrated global economy blamed for domestic economic distress. In this book, Assaf Razin argues that Israel offers a counterexample to this view, showing decisively positive economic effects of globalized finance, trade, and immigration. He offers a rigorous analysis of the role played by globalization in key episodes in the remarkable development of the Israeli economy. His findings may hold lessons for productivity-challenged advanced economies as well as for other countries such as China currently making the transition to fully developed economies. Razin examines the wave of immigration after the collapse of the Soviet Union, as highly skilled Soviet Jews migrated to Israel and the effect on income inequality; the Great Moderation of inflation and employment in advanced economies, as Israel's inflation converged in parallel with low world inflation rates; Israel's robustness in the face of the deflation shocks of the 2008 financial crisis; and technology transmission through foreign direct investment, reinforcing Israel's high-tech sector surge. He also considers such ongoing challenges as high fertility and low labor market participation and the economic costs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The debate about globalisation and its discontents

The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories since 1967 has many important economic aspects that are often overlooked. In this highly original book, Shir Hever shows that both sides need to address the economic dimension if progress is to be made. Hever rejects the premise that Israel keeps control over Palestinian territories for material gain, and also the premise that Israel is merely defending itself from Palestinian aggression. Instead, he argues that the occupation has reached an impasse, with the Palestinian resistance making exploitation of the Palestinians by Israeli business interests difficult, and the Israeli authorities reluctant to give up control. With traditional economic analysis failing to explain this turn of events, this book will be invaluable for students, activists and journalists struggling to make sense of the complex issues surrounding Israel's occupation.

This book documents how Israel emerged as one of the world's leading centers of high technology over the last three decades and the impact that it has had, or failed to have, on the wider economy and politics. Based on the study of start-up companies, the project attributes the rise of Israel's tech economy to its unique history, political system, and culture, and shows how those same factors have failed it in the quest to diversify its economy to make it more inclusive and equitable. This work will interest economists, political scientists, Israeli studies academics, investors, policy makers, journalists, and business readers.