*** ANTOIN E. MURPHY: John Law. Economiste et homme d'Etat. Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes - Peter Lang (1 av. Maurice, B-1050 Brussels. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "Economie et Histoire" series, No. 2. 2007, 447 pp, €52-90. ISBN 978-90-5201-366-4.
This is an unusual book, both in terms of the life and personality of the man it describes and in terms of the exceptionally talented research of the author, Antoin E. Murphy. It is also surprisingly relevant today, resonating perfectly with the stormy global financial landscape and inflationary pressure observed in the European Union.
Only economists, and not even all economists, will have heard of John Law, who was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1671. But was he really born then? At the start of the introduction, the author puts forward the theory that 'spiritually', he was born three hundred years later, in 1971, the year when the Western monetary system left the gold standard as the United States abandoned the remnants of the system whereby dollars were convertible into gold. As an irony of fate, writes the author, it was only at the dawn of the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Scottish economist John Law that the world adopted the system Law had imagined being introduced at the start of the eighteenth century and which he managed to fleetingly introduce in France from 1719 to 1720. Antoin Murphy is a professor and fellow of Trinity College Dublin. He has written an intellectual biography of a fascinating character by whom he is clearly charmed. Rightly convinced that the banking system could survive without the straitjacket of gold and silver, Law was above all a man of the twentieth century, writes the author. He is like a character from a Gothic novel - living a life of debauchery in London where he killed a rival in a duel, being well known in gambling circles across Europe and, above all, a financial genius. Putting the spotlight on several episodes in Law's career that one could imagine coming from a swash-buckling novel, the author focusses on two essential aspects of his work. Firstly, the nature of his economic theory. Murphy gets to the heart of the matter here, being the first researcher to go back to Law's original writings. Secondly, the way Law tried to turn his theory into economic policy when, at the helm in Paris, he developed the Mississippi System, a revolutionary act that ended in fiasco. Murphy writes, however, that just as Napoleon cannot be judged simply on the basis of his defeat at Waterloo, likewise John Law, who was the first economist to discern the causes of inflation, cannot simply be judged on what happened in Paris.
Pierre Bouvier
*** DIRK VAN GERVEN, PAUL STORM (Ed.): The European Company. Volume II. Cambridge University Press (The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK. Tel: (44-1223) 326050 - Fax: 326111 - email: directcustserve@cambridge.org - Internet: http://www.cambridge.org ). "Law Practitioner Series". 2008, 513 pp, £80. ISBN 978-0-521-86000-0.
Aimed at readers with experience in such matters, this book gives heads of companies the legal tools they need to crate a European company, including a number of reports on the adaptation of existing national legislation to meet the EU Council directive on the status of European companies. Two years after the publication of the first volume, this second volume fills the legal gaps for the countries under study, focussing on the states that passed legislation to transpose the directive in 2005 and 2006. Together, the two volumes have reports on each of the EU's 27 Member States and the three countries of the European Economic Area. This painstaking work ahs been carried out in conjunction with law practices from all four corners of Europe and will help heads of European companies and lawyers to gain better understanding of the rules applying to European companies throughout the EU and European Economic Area in order to facilitate comparison and help them decide which country best suits their needs in terms of registering a European company.
(TBa)
*** DEBORAH BRÄUTIGAM, ODD-HELGE FJELDSTAD, MICK MOORE (Eds.): Taxation and State-Building in Developing Countries. Cambridge University Press (see above). 2008, 294 pp, £17-99. ISBN 978-0-521-71619-2.
In an attempt to explain why some governments are unable to exercise effective authority over their subjects, the authors of this book examine the idea that this is due to how they are financed, government being considered here as the 'central pillar' of state power. Using practical case studies (China, East Africa, Mauritius, Chile and a comparison of the tax regimes of Poland and post-Communist Russia, the authors adapt EU historic theories to current day conditions in the least developed countries, going on to formulate conclusions for political decision-makers. The connections between taxation, the well-being of the population and state power are dissected, and the authors attempt to explain the failure of solutions considered in the past to help these countries. They look, for example, at the success of global tax reform incarnated in the setting up of the International Monetary Fund, highlighting its weak point - an agenda focussing on rich countries' priorities, only interested in the economic dimensions of taxation rather than how it impacts on state-building and in which the poorest countries, which are more diversified than the richest nations, have been marginalised. A passionately written book which will help readers gain broader understanding of taxation and its impact on state-building and society.
(TBa)
*** JUHA M. ALHO, SVEND E. HOUGAARD JENSEN, JUKKA LASSILA (Eds.): Uncertain Demographics and Fiscal Sustainability. Cambridge University Press (see above). 2008, 282 pp, £55. ISBN 978-0-521-87740-4.
Developped countries seem to be convinced of the threat of the general ageing of their populations, and this collection of essays attempts to determine how uncertain demographics is impacting on the economy and public finance. The authors argue that the change scenarios and other demographic indicators put forward by most countries are simply an illusion because 'population forecasts are, in fact, highly uncertain'. Based on five years of research at EU level, the authors express concern about the viability of pension systems, healthcare and care for the elderly. They look at 'how policy strategies and specific policies may be designed in order to reduce the threats caused by such uncertainties'. The book is divided into four sections - demographic questions (the shortcomings of forecasting tools), measurement questions (given the uncertain demographics, to what extent are cost forecasts unreliable?), political issues (the impact of measures taken by the state) and mythological questions (directions to take in combining economic and demographic tools). Each section comprises several pieces of original research and ends with a discussion essay. Detailed work that unpicks received ideas and comes up with interesting food for thought.
(TBa)
*** FRANCESCO GAROBALDO, VOLKER TELLJOHANN (Eds.): New Forms of Organisation and Industrial Relations in Southern Europe. Peter Lang (1 Moostrasse, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel.: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.de - Internet: http://www.peterlang.de ). "Labour, Education & Society" series, No. 8. 2008, 350 pp, €55-80. ISBN 978-3-631-53605-6.
This book is a series of papers by academics from France, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy, looking at the 'lack of dissemination of new forms of work organisation in Southern Europe'. This lack, noted in the European Commission's 1997 Green Paper on partnership for a new organisation of work and industrial relations, seems aberrant at first sight because the organisation of work in question improves competitiveness, increases employment rates and helps improve the quality of life at work. So why has it not spread? This is the question addressed by the authors in several stages. They start by making a critical analysis of the Commission's Green Paper, assessing public policies encouraging the spread of new forms of organisation, the reasons why the Green Paper has not influenced Southern Europe, problems with the public policies set in place, industrial relations and managing the restructuring process. They then take up a raft of suggestions 'to redesign the general framework, the methodology and the tools of the programmes of organisational innovation' and achieve a process of change. The book is highly successful in meeting its objectives, leaving nothing to chance.
(TBa)