New Releases by Richard Freeman

The U.S. labor market is the most laissez faire of any developed nation, with a weak social safety net and little government regulation compared to Europe or Japan. Some economists point to this hands-off approach as the source of America''s low unemployment and high per-capita income. But the stagnant living standards and rising economic insecurity many Americans now face take some of the luster off the U.S. model. In America Works, noted economist Richard Freeman reveals how U.S. policies have created a labor market remarkable both for its dynamism and its disparities. America Works takes readers on a grand tour of America''s exceptional labor market, comparing the economic institutions and performance of the United States to the economies of Europe and other wealthy countries. The U.S. economy has an impressive track record when it comes to job creation and productivity growth, but it isn''t so good at reducing poverty or raising the wages of the average worker. Despite huge gains in productivity, most Americans are hardly better off than they were a generation ago. The median wage is actually lower now than in the early 1970s, and the poverty rate in 2005 was higher than in 1969. So why have the benefits of productivity growth been distributed so unevenly? One reason is that unions have been steadily declining in membership. In Europe, labor laws extend collective bargaining settlements to non-unionized firms. Because wage agreements in America only apply to firms where workers are unionized, American managers have discouraged unionization drives more aggressively. In addition, globalization and immigration have placed growing competitive pressure on American workers. And boards of directors appointed by CEOs have raised executive pay to astronomical levels. Freeman addresses these problems with a variety of proposals designed to maintain the vigor of the U.S. economy while spreading more of its benefits to working Americans. To maintain America''s global competitive edge, Freeman calls for increased R&D spending and financial incentives for students pursuing graduate studies in science and engineering. To improve corporate governance, he advocates licensing individuals who serve on corporate boards. Freeman also makes the case for fostering worker associations outside of the confines of traditional unions and for establishing a federal agency to promote profit-sharing and employee ownership. Assessing the performance of the U.S. job market in light of other developed countries'' recent history highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the free market model. Written with authoritative knowledge and incisive wit, America Works provides a compelling plan for how we can make markets work better for all Americans. A Volume in the Russell Sage Foundation''s Centennial Series

John Rawls was the most influential political philosopher of the twentieth century. In his introduction to this monumental theorist, Samuel Freeman introduces and assesses the main topics of Rawl''s philosophy and his legacy, and charts the influences on his early thinking.

′For anyone starting a degree this is a useful concise guide to what′s in store throughout the first year and beyond′ - The Psychologist Study Skills for Psychology has been shaped around a typical Psychology student′s journey. Beginning with an overview of the nature of the degree and advice about what needs to be sorted out in the first few weeks of the course, this book tackles how to get the most from your lectures, exam preparation and project development, right through to contemplating and investigating future career options. This highly accessible guide is designed to help you meet the challenges and reap the rewards of your degree by introducing a range of study skills and providing you with ways to practice those skills. This book should accompany you throughout your degree course as a resource that you can use whenever you need help. Key features of Study Skills for Psychology include: Learning outcomes at the beginning of each chapter to highlight key areas Text boxes throughout to reaffirm understanding Numerous examples and illustrations Exercises and learning aids to enable practice of important skills A structure based around the PDP (Personal Development Planning) model, providing a framework through which you can understand what and how you learn, enabling you to plan, review and take responsibility for your own learning, performance and achievements. An essential companion for any student, Study Skills for Psychology will give you the skills to enjoy your time studying for and succeeding in your Psychology degree. SAGE Study Skills are essential study guides for students of all levels. From how to write great essays and succeeding at university, to writing your undergraduate dissertation and doing postgraduate research, SAGE Study Skills help you get the best from your time at university. Visit the SAGE Study Skills hub for tips, resources and videos on study success!

Based on data from the Worker Representation and Participation Survey (WRPS) conducted in 1994, provides an account of employee''s attitudes about participation, representation, and regulation on the job.

The cult and legends of St Michael the archangel were widespread in medieval England, and this book - the first full-length study of the subject - offers a comprehensive examination of their genesis and diffusion. Part I identifies and analyses the concerns, conflicts, and roles with which St Michael is associated, from scriptural and apocryphal literature through to the homiletic literature of the medieval period. Part II begins with a discussion of the vernacular recensions of the popular account of the archangel''s earthly interventions, and goes on to survey the legendary accounts in Old English, Anglo-Norman, and Middle English of the archangel and his roles as guardian, intercessor, psychopomp, and warrior-angel follows. The Appendices contain the first English translation of the archangel''s hagiographic foundation-myth; an annotated bibliographical list and motif index of textual materials relating to the archangel; and an essay on the iconographic representations of the archangel in medieval England. RICHARD F. JOHNSON is Assistant Professor of English at William Rainey Harper College.

This book is explicitly comparative, and comparison is essential to the analyses it develops. The book is explicitly concerned with the liberal democracies of western Europe. The countries covered in detail here - Italy, Sweden and the UK, and France and Germany - constitute a purposive sample. The distinction between national health services and social insurance systems is not real, but an abstract formulation which makes a wealth of information more manageable. Choosing these countries makes sense not because they are somehow representative of general types but because, between them, they are indicative of particular sets of problems in the politics of health and health care. The working assumption here is that the public provision of health care is embedded in a distinctively European politics.

A wake-up call on the new American inequality and what to do about it. Harvard economist Richard B. Freeman launches this provocative book with the idea that in equality is the one problem from which all crises in America flow. He contends that inequality-both economic and social-has become more brutal and pervasive in the last twenty years, and that it is now time to stop analyzing its causes and consequences and concentrate on doing something about it. Freeman offers real solutions: raising the income of the working class, reinvesting in cities, and reenergizing democratic institutions through the encouragement of local citizen organizations. His argument is answered by distinguished activists, social scientists, and activists-James Tobin, Heidi Hartmann, Michael Piore, Frances Fox Piven, James Heckman, Ernesto Cortes, Jr., and Paul R. Krugman-in essays that heed and add depth to Freeman''s call. As they debate the limits of traditional solutions for inequality, all agree on one key prerequisite: A democracy can solve inequality only by living up to its name. Spirited and engaging, this unique dialogue will serve as a guidebook for activists, students, and all interested in achieving a just society. NEW DEMOCRACY FORUM: A series of short paperback originals exploring creative solutions to our most urgent national concerns. The series editors (for Boston Review), Joshua Cohen and Joel Rogers, aim to foster politically engaged, intellectually honest, and morally serious debate about fundamental issues-both on and off the agenda of conventional politics.

This comprehensive economic assessment of unions by two Harvard economists challenges the prevailing view of trade unions as monopolies whose main function is to raise their members'' wages at the expense of the general public. Using data from individuals and business establishments, they demonstrate that in addition to raising wages, unions have significant non-wage effects on industrial life. Unionization, they argue, often leads to higher productivity, more stable work force and provides protection for vulnerable employees. They describe the role of unions as the collective voice of workers, which creates a vehicle of direct communication between workers and management.

A discussion of the differences among societies with respect to their religion, culture, political institutions, social structures and foreign imperialistic policies that takes into account geographic and economic circumstances, but stresses the psychological background. Freeman points out that fear, apprehension, obsession with status, aggression, guilt feelings and the need for a sense of belonging have all entered into the great drama of history.