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UK companies have to pay the same real interest rates as European and North American companies, but they are in general less profitable so there is less breathing space between profits and interest. Consequences include short‐termism by both the City which is reluctant to lend and companies which are reluctant to borrow when investment is so risky. Another consequence is that UK Boards of Directors are dominated by accountants rather than those who lead production, research and marketing. The real rate of return is best raised by increasing productivity more than wages and by moving up‐market where higher margins can be earned. Industry′s difficulty is that moving up‐market involves R&D which cannot easily be financed when profit rates are only slightly above interest rates. Emphasizes the advantages to industry of low inflation, low government borrowing and a tight control over public expenditure leading to internationally low tax rates.

1975 WILL go down as the year when Britain finally acknowledged the real causes of the degenerative illness that has given the Sick Man of Europe cliche a brutal new aptness.

This chapter examines James Steuart’s explanation of the relationship between banking system and economic development. Unlike other Scottish thinkers of the time, Steuart argues that the origin of commercial nations was not, in his view, a consequence of human nature and a long period of historical evolution. The establishment of the system of trade and commerce that gives rise to a “commercial nation” is conditioned by a series of elements that can render its appearance impossible. This chapter examines how the establishment of the system of trade and commerce that gives rise to a commercial nation is conditioned, according to Steuart, by the development of the banking system. It also broaches Steuart’s explanation of how the banking system functions within a non-commercial nation, which the Scottish author called “the infancy of banking.”

Adam Smith’s theory of economic growth, as presented in the Wealth of Nations, is based upon the potential for increasing returns in manufacturing generated by increased specialization and division of labour and upon the accumulation of real capital, which is necessary to support the greater division of labour. The increasing returns part of Smith’s theory leaves open the possibility that bank credit, issued judiciously, might be used to extend the market and so increase an economy’s growth rate. However, Smith’s theory of bank credit and note extension is quite conservative. Henry Dunning Macleod, a century after Smith, made much of the potential of credit to extend the market. Notes Smith’s apparent inconsistency and considers reasons why he might have chosen not to promote the use of credit to enhance economic growth.

The theory of macroeconomic policy that has dominated thought and policy‐making since the later 1930s is essentially one‐dimensional in the closed economy (and two dimensional in the open economy). That is to say, in a closed economy we have been taught to operate on the level of demand ‐ with any or every macroeconomic instrument. When inflation is too rapid the aim has been to use (some or all of) our policy instruments to reduce demand; and when unemployment is too high we have learned to raise it.

The Abdoun Circle which is located in the prestigious part of Amman, changes its relationship with its users from that of an ordinary business district during the day to a very popular city night-life spot offering a variety of leisure services, mainly in the form of cafes and restaurants. This study focuses on that phenomenon of dual usage as it mirrors the major social and psychological implications of late modernity in Jordan, and adopts a transactional approach (Altman and Rogoff 1987) to explore and explain its complexity. Information for the study was obtained by observing, interviewing, and listening to a variety of opinions and voices. This process supported the development of the mutual definitions between the behavioural elements and the environmental feature elements of the studied phenomenon. The identified definitions to describe the district at night, which include pleasantness, crowdedness, complexity, variety, novelty, and dominance, in turn supported the development of a range of psychological and social benefits important to the users of the circle (i.e. new aesthetics, modernity, freedom, and opportunities to meet and socialize).

The analysis of additional data about the setting's formal and perceptual properties added the benefits of sociability and democracy, which combined with the previous benefits described, meant that the setting is seen and experienced by people from most age and social ranges, except for those from the upper class, as an outlet for pleasure in these modern times. This clearly indicates that Jordan has yet to experience a transition toward democracy and that these new public spaces, as the Abdoun Circle should be developed throughout the city in order to support the progression towards a socially balanced society.