Economics and Society - All titles

This book tackles crucial and timely questions regarding the impact of international trade and investment law on state regulatory autonomy in crafting and executing measures to prevent non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

This book takes a critical political economy approach to understanding food insecurity in Canada and the UK. It provides a vision of a future whereby public control over the distribution of resources –including food – will eliminate food insecurity and other conditions that threaten health.

This book charts the rise and fall of the ‘sharing economy’, the controversial lobbying tactics used by the central companies and the backlash seen so far. It offers key policy recommendations and presents state-of-the-art knowledge around the past, present and future of the platform economy.

Given the destructive consequences of capitalism, it has never been more urgent to reconsider democratic planning. But how can we construct this in realistic terms? This accessible work bridges current movements with academic and public discourse to offer an innovative and interdisciplinary approach to planning in the 21st century.

Impact investment is the latest trend in ethical finance, but what does it really mean and how is it practiced across different regions and organizations? This book explores the malleability of impact investing, and how it overlaps with the development sphere to give finance a new role.

Ricardo’s Dream tells the fascinating story of David Ricardo, Adam Smith’s only real rival as the ‘founder of economics’: who introduced the study of abstract models to economics. He also developed the theory of trade that underpinned globalization and hides a history of power, empire and slavery.

The help we give to others can be more effective and more just if we cultivate greater levels of compassion. Jason Wood reviews the research and talks to experts from across the world to make the moving case for greater compassion in public life.

UK and US pension policy expects consistently informed decision-making in finance. Deviating from this is often deemed “irrational”, ignoring uncontrollable factors in individuals’ lives.

Challenging existing policy approaches, this book proposes a fresh perspective on rationality when it comes to financial policy and practices.

Combining robust evidence with real-life stories, this book reveals the shocking impact of austerity policies on life expectancy and offers an optimistic vision of what can be done to restore life expectancy and reduce health inequality.

Drawing on the perspectives of women and children displaced from Ukraine, as well as local authority policy makers and service providers, this book provides a unique view of the direct and indirect consequences of war in Europe and identifies the best responses to these ‘wicked issues’.

This book reflects on the spatially and socially uneven impacts of austerity and considers its future impacts on individuals, families and areas. In doing so, it offers a new critical analysis of the uneven geographies created by austerity in the post-welfare age.

The past two decades have seen a global financial crisis, increasing levels of inequality, a pandemic and the intensification of the climate emergency. As debate rages about how to ensure a fairer society, this book asks where we want to be in 20 years’ time and how we might get there.