Analyzing countries from an economic perspective is the logical, and fascinating, next step for those who have studied macro- and international economics. As we approach country data, we often can observe the normal relationships studied in macroeconomics. When we do not observe them, departures from "normality" may give us important messages about a country´s growth model, its priorities and its future. This helps the careful observer to form a structural world view that is a surprisingly accurate guide to that country´s economic future, and can provide a framework to understand and interpret new economic events as they occur.
This book leads students through the economic features of four leading economies --the United States, Japan, India and China-- as well as the process of integration and disintegration in the world´s largest trading bloc, the European Union. As the countries are analyzed, current issues arise such as growing inequality, ageing and shrinking populations, job security, technological change and immigration flows, which form part of some of the most important challenges of our time. In the China and India cases, the process of economic development is defined and the typical strategies that countries have followed to achieve it are laid out and evaluated. Since this is an ebook, these chapters are continually updated as the countries and their problems evolve, which gives the book an edge over traditional business school country cases.
Understanding countries and trends gives students an array of tools and concepts that can configure their world view, and help them to correctly interpret and even forecast events and challenges in not only these countries, but the global economy as a whole.