Understanding the Market Economy
From the back cover
This book is primarily concerned with describing the economic institutions and functions of market-oriented economies and the theories to explain them. This explanation is directed in particular at readers in the former planned economies who are familiar wth neither the institutions nor the theories and so the principles of market economics are expounded especially in the context of the main problems facing economies in transition from a centrally planned to a market structure, namely privitization, the role of money, environmental policy, and international trade.
As well as providing an ideal introduction to the market economy for East and Central European students and businessmen, the book will also be of interest to Western students looking for a non-technical treatment of many current issues of economic organization. It sets out these fundamental issues clearly for those who have not previously studied them.
Arne Jon Isachsen is Professor of International Economics at the Norwegian School of Management, Oslo.
Carl B. Hamilton is a Member of the Swedish Parliament, Associate Professor of Economics at the Institute for International Economic Studies, University of Stockholm, and Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), London.
Thorvaldur Gylfason is Professor of Economics at the University of Iceland, and Research Fellow at the Institute for International Economic Studies, University of Stockholm, and the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), London.
Oxford University Press
1992
| 1 | Introduction | 1 |
| Part I | The Economic Problem | |
| 2 | Production and Distribution | 11 |
| 3 | Supply and Demand | 17 |
| 4 | Economic Adjustment | 27 |
| 5 | The Interplay of Aggregate Supply and Demand | 42 |
| 6 | The Workings of a Planned Economy | 61 |
| Part II | The Workings of a Market Economy | |
| 7 | Prerequisites for a Market Economy | 77 |
| 8 | Challenges Posed by the Market | 86 |
| 9 | Dilemmas and Problems in a Market Economy | 99 |
| 10 | Why the Market Nevertheless is Useful | 111 |
| Part III | Public Finance, Money, Capital, Labour, and International Trade | |
| 11 | The Political Economy of Public Finance | 128 |
| 12 | The Role of Money | 140 |
| 13 | A Closer Look at the Capital Market | 151 |
| 14 | The Labour Market in a Competitive Economy | 165 |
| 15 | International Trade | 175 |
| Part IV | Privatization, Accounting, and Challenges for the Future | |
| 16 | Privatization in Central and Eastern Europe | 190 |
| 17 | Elements of Accounting | 204 |
| 18 | From Plan to Market: The Challenges | 221 |
| References | 235 | |
| Index | 239 |
Reviews
A. Torvanger, Scandinavian Journal of Economics 96(11), 1994, pp. 133-135.
G. J. King and D. O. Porter, Journal of Baltic Studies 24(4), Winter 1993, pp. 395-402.
F. Brouwer, Journal of Common Market Studies 31(3), September 1993, pp. 411-415.
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The book has appeared in seventeen languages.