The second edition of an innovative undergraduate textbook in Comparative Economic Systems that goes beyond the traditional dichotomies.

An approach to comparative economic systems that avoids simple dichotomies to examine a wide variety of institutional and systemic arrangements, with updated country case studies. Comparative economics, with its traditional dichotomies of socialism versus capitalism, private versus state, and planning versus market, is changing. This innovative textbook offers a new approach to understanding different economic systems that reflects both recent transformations in the world economy and recent changes in the field.This new edition examines a wide variety of institutional and systemic arrangements, many of which reflect deep roots in countries' cultures and histories. The book has been updated and revised throughout, with new material in both the historical overview and the country case studies. It offers a broad survey of economic systems, then looks separately at market capitalism, Marxism and socialism, and “new traditional economies” (with an emphasis on the role of religions, Islam in particular, in economic systems). It presents case studies of advanced capitalist nations, including the United States, Japan, Sweden, and Germany; alternative paths in the transition from socialist to market economies taken by such countries as Russia, the former Soviet republics, Poland, China, and the two Koreas; and developing countries, including India, Iran, South Africa, Mexico, and Brazil. The new chapters on Brazil and South Africa complete the book's coverage of all five BRICS nations; the chapter on South Africa extends the book's comparative treatment to another continent. The chapter on Brazil with its account of the role of the Amazon rain forest as a great carbon sink expands the coverage of global environmental and sustainability issues. Each chapter ends with discussion questions.

An approach to comparative economic systems that avoids simple dichotomies to examine a wide variety of institutional and systemic arrangements, with updated country case studies. Comparative economics, with its traditional dichotomies of socialism versus capitalism, private versus state, and planning versus market, is changing. This innovative textbook offers a new approach to understanding different economic systems that reflects both recent transformations in the world economy and recent changes in the field.This new edition examines a wide variety of institutional and systemic arrangements, many of which reflect deep roots in countries' cultures and histories. The book has been updated and revised throughout, with new material in both the historical overview and the country case studies. It offers a broad survey of economic systems, then looks separately at market capitalism, Marxism and socialism, and “new traditional economies” (with an emphasis on the role of religions, Islam in particular, in economic systems). It presents case studies of advanced capitalist nations, including the United States, Japan, Sweden, and Germany; alternative paths in the transition from socialist to market economies taken by such countries as Russia, the former Soviet republics, Poland, China, and the two Koreas; and developing countries, including India, Iran, South Africa, Mexico, and Brazil. The new chapters on Brazil and South Africa complete the book's coverage of all five BRICS nations; the chapter on South Africa extends the book's comparative treatment to another continent. The chapter on Brazil with its account of the role of the Amazon rain forest as a great carbon sink expands the coverage of global environmental and sustainability issues. Each chapter ends with discussion questions.

In a time of rapid change in the world economy, this fascinating, concise, and user-friendly primer is the most reliable tool for keeping track of what's happening. What is the new economy? What is globalization? Is the euro the final seal on European Union? How is e-commerce transforming our world beyond economics? What is virtual money, and does it have real value? How do social concerns and societal ills (drugs, poverty, AIDS, endangered natural resources) play a part in the rapidly changing world economy? What are multinationals, and do they signal the end of nationalism? These and many other pertinent issues are addressed in an enlightening and entertaining handbook for those who want to be economically literate (and who doesn't?).

Explores major issues and topics of comparative economics, using an approach based on property rights and the role of the state in both market and nonmarket economies. Traces the evolution of economic systems and analyzes the relationship between growth and inequality, including the recent increases in inequality in Western countries. Includes chapter review and discussion questions. This second edition provides updated treatment of transitional economies, drops chapters on the former Yugoslavia and the former West Germany, and adds chapters on German reunification and Taiwan. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Since the first edition of this book in 1975 (previously titled Comparing Economic Systems in the Twenty-First Century), this market-leading title has examined different economies in theory and practice.This edition represents a complete revision and a significant expansion of the previous (2004) edition. The authors have completely rewritten and reorganized the 21 chapters of the previous edition and included a new chapter (Chapter 12, The Europen Model).