Utopian socialists believed that socialism is inevitable because it is a more rational system to organize production and life, a system more in line with the “good” nature of human beings. Marxism rejected this reasoning replacing it with what is known as historical materialism: social...

Neither economics nor political science can explain the process of modern social development. The fact that developed societies always have developed economies and developed polities suggests that the connection between economics and politics must be a fundamental part of the development...

This article reviews an English translation of "First Principles of Islamic Economics" (Leicester: Islamic Foundation, 2011) by Maulana Sayyid Abu'l A‘la Maududi (1903-1979), a foundational document of the field, that was published in Urdu in 1969. After a brief Introduction the selections in...

The 21-century world has come up with new face that calls for innovative ways to gain power. Soft power is second face of power that allows obtaining desired result by attracting and co-opting others rather than coercing them. Islamic Economy deals with billions of dollars in several sectors...

This article analyses rural depopulation in Japan and its implications by means of a case study of Niigata Prefecture and Sado Island. In the first part of the article, we present population maps to show that rural demographic shrinkage is both deepening as well as broadening to include urban...

This article aims to contribute to the ongoing discussions on the nature of money by introducing systematic analysis to relate power to money. It proposes an Ideal Type to explain the critical role of power relations for the genesis and operation of money and monetary order. It is based on the...

We explore the pace of increase in returns to schooling during the transition from planning to market over time across a number of Central and Eastern European countries, Russia, and China. We use metadata from 33 studies of 10 transition economies covering a period from 1975 through 2002. Our...

Russia has seen even higher oil windfall in the past few months, which translates into likely fiscal surpluses 2011 and 2012. The government should not miss the opportunity provided by a large oil windfall to substantially improve its long-term fiscal position, further reduce inflation, and,...

After the peaceful passing of a referendum that dissolved the Union of Serbia and Montenegro in May 2006, people flocked to the streets to celebrate the establishment of Montenegro as a newly independent republic of about 630,000 people. While still part of the union with Serbia, Montenegro had...

This paper is dedicated to the relation between market development and democracy. We distinguish contexts and preferences and ask whether it is true that the demand for democracy only emerges after a certain degree of market development is reached, and whether, conversely, democratization is...