Most students of contemporary China are familiar with the Joint Economic Committee studies on China, which have appeared periodically since 1967. This is the most recent study in the series (released in April, 1991). This volume follows the format of the previous studies, offering a broad sweep of its subject matter. The 50 chapters - contributed by Chinese scholars in government, universities and private research centres - are divided into five major parts. Each section begins with an overview which summarises and comments on the main points in each of the chapters. The volume offers a detailed examination of China's economy, and the political and social factors currently facing the leadership in Beijing.

'One of the most relentlessly brilliant studies of twentieth-century Britain ... these young historians have found a marvellous theme and stuck to it. Theirs is the glory!' Professor Arthur Marwick, History The 1930s - remembered as the decade of dole queues and hunger marches, mass unemployment, the means test, and the rise of fascism - also saw the development of new industries, the growth of comfortable suburbia, and rising standards of living for many. In Britain in the Depression, the authors look behind the legends for an objective - and timely - reassessment, as Britain again struggles with the economic and spiritual ills of recession and unemployment.

Global Slump analyzes the global financial meltdown as the first systemic crisis of the neoliberal stage of capitalism. It argues that—far from having ended—the crisis has ushered in a whole period of worldwide economic and political turbulence. In developing an account of the crisis as rooted in fundamental features of capitalism, Global Slump challenges the view that its source lies in financial deregulation. The book locates the recent meltdown in the intense economic restructuring that marked the recessions of the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Through this lens, it highlights the emergence of new patterns of world inequality and new centers of accumulation, particularly in East Asia, and the profound economic instabilities these produced. Global Slump offers an original account of the “financialization” of the world economy during this period, and explores the intricate connections between international financial markets and new forms of debt and dispossession, particularly in the Global South. Analyzing the massive intervention of the world’s central banks to stave off another Great Depression, Global Slump shows that, while averting a complete meltdown, this intervention also laid the basis for recurring crises for poor and working class people: job loss, increased poverty and inequality, and deep cuts to social programs. The book takes a global view of these processes, exposing the damage inflicted on countries in the Global South, as well as the intensification of racism and attacks on migrant workers. At the same time, Global Slump also traces new patterns of social and political resistance—from housing activism and education struggles, to mass strikes and protests in Martinique, Guadeloupe, France and Puerto Rico—as indicators of the potential for building anti-capitalist opposition to the damage that neoliberal capitalism is inflicting on the lives of millions.

What caused Asia's largest economy, once the envy of the world, to lag behind many of the other industrial countries? And why did it take so long for Japan to recover from the bursting of its asset price bubble of the late 1980s? In this volume, a team from the International Monetary Fund examines the causes of the lingering economic problems of Japan, the crisis in its banking system, the reasons for weak business investment, and the government's efforts to kick-start the economy through a series of stimulus packages. This book presents a compelling story about Japan's economy. Its message - that banking reform and corporate restructuring are central to any sustained revival of the economy- is backed up through detailed background research. This research provided the analytical framework for the IMF's policy advice during a period of rapid change--a period during which macroeconomic policymaking moved into uncharted territory. The research papers were prepared by members of the Japan team in the IMF during 1998 and the first half of 1999.

Annotation In the next few decades copper will help to consolidate advances in telecommunications and Internet technology. The outlook for copper is bright, and despite the onset of recession in 2000, demand should pick up from 2002-2003 and return to reasonable industrial growth rates in the developed world. World copper prices are predicted to rise due to the dearth of new mining projects in the economic climate of 2001 and steadily rising metal demand led by China. In order to meet increased demand over the next 10 years there will have to be new mining capacity, including recycling of scrap copper and restarting idled capacity. China showed 13.6% growth in demand up to June 2001 and could overtake the US as the world's number one copper consumer in the next 20 years. Up-to-date, in-depth research and analysis to make you an authority on the world's major copper markets this report gives a clear, objective analysis of the world copper industry as it prepares to take advantage of soaring demand in the electronic, electrical and telecommunications industries. Some key findings of this report: How the output of the world's leading copper mines, Escondida, Chuquicamata and el Teniente is set to change over the next few years and what this means for Chilean and world copper production. Beyond 2003 copper demand will flatten in the mature, developed Western countries: this will leave the market delicately poised, and producers will largely be determining their own destinies when deciding when to commit to new projects. In the second half of this decade copper demand should pick up strongly, feeding fears of a shortfall in supply. Peru's copper output is set to be boosted by 50% through the Antamina mining project, owned by the Canadian consortium of Rio Algom, Noranda, Teck Corp and Mitsui. Telecommunications is a large and growing market for copper: the sector has seen factory sales growing at 8.3% compound rate over the past 8 years, led by strong growth in construction along with the increasing popularity of the Internet. Demand from the automotive sector will also boost consumption of copper in electrical and electronic applications. In 2001 the average copper content of a passenger car was 60lb, compared with under 55lb in 1995.

2008 was a watershed year for global finance. The banking system was eventually pulled back from the brink, but the world was saddled with the worst slump since the 1930s Depression, and millions were left unemployed. While numerous books have addressed the financial crisis, very little has been written about its social consequences. Journalist Tom Clark draws on the research of a transatlantic team led by Professors Anthony Heath and Robert D. Putnam to determine the great recession’s toll on individuals, families, and community bonds in the United States and the United Kingdom. The ubiquitous metaphor of the crisis has been an all-encompassing “financial storm,” but Clark argues that the data tracks the narrow path of a tornado—destroying some neighborhoods while leaving others largely untouched. In our vastly unequal societies, disproportionate suffering is being meted out to the poor—and the book’s new analysis suggests that the scars left by unemployment and poverty will linger long after the economy recovers. Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic have shown more interest in exploiting the divisions of opinion ushered in by the slump than in grappling with these problems. But this hard-hitting analysis provides a wake-up call that all should heed.