Too Much Stuff Capitalism in Crisis / Kozo Yamamura.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Yamamura, Kōzō, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Income distribution.

Capitalism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (224 pages)

Place of Publication:

Bristol : Policy Press, 2017.

Summary:

Where has capitalism gone wrong? Why are advanced capitalist economies so sick, and why do conventional policy solutions such as reduced taxes and increased money supply produce only wider income disparity and inequality? We are now living in a new world in which a majority of people enjoys the highest living standard in history, acquiring more and more goods and services as necessary luxuries. But as Kozo Yamamura shows, despite our apparent lust for gourmet food and designer clothes, for larger homes, the latest gadgets, and exotic vacations, demand for these goods actually grows slowly, so relying on them to reinvigorate our economies will not succeed. With Too Much Stuff, Yamamura upends conventional capitalist wisdom to provide a new approach. He calls for increased tax-funded demand to address a range of societal needs such as environmental concerns, social safety nets, infrastructure, and better education and housing for all. By addressing these needs, argues Yamamura, we can also take huge steps toward reducing the growing wealth gap that threatens global democracy. Both solutions-oriented and accessibly written, this book draws on fascinating case studies from the United States, Japan, and Germany, as well as convincing evidence from across the Western world, to suggest practical steps forward that we can all understand and support. Too Much Stuff boldly challenges the economic orthodoxy and, in so doing, challenges us to think outside the box for the betterment of all. -- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Political change

Can "big government" and democracy coexist?

Quality and quantity in GDP growth

13. Conclusion

Postscript

In the new world of too much stuff, you will be poorer than your parents

Income and wealth distributions are still unequal and becoming more so.

The real unemployment rate is not falling and wages are not rising

The undesirable effects of printing money are proliferating

Germany cannot continue fiscal austerity and its huge trade surplus

The more things change, the more they remain the same

Projected growth rates of the developed economies remain dismal

Notes

Index.

Intro

TOO MUCH STUFF

Contents

Preface and acknowledgements

1. A new perspective on capitalism's "sickness"

Introduction

Capitalist economies: the realities

We need a systemic change

About this book

2. Inspiration in the Kaufhaus des Westens

The Kaufhaus des Westens

"Necessary luxuries"

Persistent lack of demand

Conclusion

3. Unreal tax rates

The US

Japan

Germany

The downward trend in interest rates

Liberal politicians and conservative fiscal policy

4. Printing money

Ultra-easy monetary policy

The lack of a common macroeconomic theory

Neoclassical economic theory

The ineffectiveness of ultra-easy monetary theory

5. Inequality and discontent

The Occupy Movement

Thomas Piketty and Capital in the 21st Century

Disparity in income and wealth distribution

6. Buckling bridges and crumbling mountains

Social safety nets and infrastructural investment

The crumbling Eiger

7. The United States: stagnation and gridlock

From Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush, 1981-2009

The Obama years, 2009-16

8. Japan: bubbles, "lost years" and Abenomics

The bubble and the "lost" years, 1980-2008

Government since 2009: from incompetent to delusional

9. Unified Germany: a divided nation

1980-2008: German politics move to the Right

From 2009 to the present: the high cost of Merkel's policies

10. Four European economies

From the 1980s to 2008

From 2009 to the present

11. Reform to the rescue

Great Britain1

The United States2

12. Adapting capitalism and changing politics

Increasing tax revenues.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781447335672

1447335678

9781447335696

1447335694

OCLC:

975032144