Debunking outdated and inaccurate beliefs about investment management and reveals the new realities of the post-modern financial markets There have been a lot of big changes in the investment world over the past decade, and many long-cherished beliefs about the structures and performance of various investments no longer apply. Unfortunately the news seems not to have reached many thought leaders and investment professionals who persist in trying, and failing, to apply 20th-century thinking to 21st-century portfolio management. Nowhere is this more true than when it comes to the subject of alternative investments. Written by an all-star team of investment management experts, this book debunks common myths and misconceptions about most classes of alternative investments and offers valuable advice on how to develop investment management and asset allocation strategies consistent with the new realities of the ever-changing world of alternative investments. Covers most alternative asset classes, including private equity, real estate, managed futures, hedge funds, commodity indices, and more Debunks long-held assumptions about the structure and performance of various investment classes that continue to dominate the industry Explores the implications for investment managers of the proliferation of international marketable securities and global financial markets Provides an overview of both the micro and the macro aspects of each alternative investment class

This book incorporates many of the exciting debates in the social sciences and philosophy of knowledge concerning the issues of modernity and post-modernism. It sets out a new project for criminology, a criminology of modernity, and offers a sustained critique of theorizing without a concern for social totalities. This book is designed to place criminological theory at the cutting edge of contemporary debates. Wayne Morrison reviews the history and present state of criminology and identifies a range of social problems and large scale social processes which must be addressed if the subject is to attain intellectual commitment. This book marks a new development in criminological texts and will serve a valuable function not only for students and academics but for all those interested in the project of understanding crime in contemporary conditions.

This survey of portfolio theory, from its modern origins through more sophisticated, “postmodern” incarnations, evaluates portfolio risk according to the first four moments of any statistical distribution: mean, variance, skewness, and excess kurtosis. In pursuit of financial models that more accurately describe abnormal markets and investor psychology, this book bifurcates beta on either side of mean returns. It then evaluates this traditional risk measure according to its relative volatility and correlation components. After specifying a four-moment capital asset pricing model, this book devotes special attention to measures of market risk in global banking regulation. Despite the deficiencies of modern portfolio theory, contemporary finance continues to rest on mean-variance optimization and the two-moment capital asset pricing model. The term postmodern portfolio theory captures many of the advances in financial learning since the original articulation of modern portfolio theory. A comprehensive approach to financial risk management must address all aspects of portfolio theory, from the beautiful symmetries of modern portfolio theory to the disturbing behavioral insights and the vastly expanded mathematical arsenal of the postmodern critique. Mastery of postmodern portfolio theory’s quantitative tools and behavioral insights holds the key to the efficient frontier of risk management.

Financial crises have become an all too common occurrence over the past twenty years, largely as a result of changes in finance brought about by increasing internationalization and integration. As domestic financial systems and economies have become more interlinked, weaknesses can significantly impact not only individual economies but also markets, financial intermediaries, and economies around the world. This volume addresses the twin objectives of financial development in the context of financial stability and the role of law in supporting both. Financial stability (frequently seen as the avoidance of financial crisis) has become an objective of both the international financial architecture and individual economies and central banks. At the same time, financial development is now seen to play an important role in economic growth. In both financial stability and financial development, law and related institutions have a central role.

‘An in-depth but accessible analysis of the complex factors that impact structural changes in financial markets and investor opportunities.’ In Any Happy Returns: Structural Changes and Super Cycles in Markets, celebrated author Peter C. Oppenheimer delivers his much-anticipated follow-up to The Long Good Buy. The book discusses how structural changes in macroeconomic drivers, geopolitics, government policy and social attitudes all combine to drive secular super cycles that help to explain investor returns. The author focuses on what he calls the Post-Modern Cycle, what it's likely to look like, how it will unfold and what investors should focus on. You'll also find: An introduction to the history of cycles and structural ‘Super Cycles’, and what has driven them. A detailed analysis of Super Cycles since 1945, including the Post-War Boom, the Great Moderation, the post Global Financial Crisis and Pandemic era. The specific drivers of the emerging Post-Modern Cycle amid a higher cost of capital, bigger governments, more proactive industrial policy, greater regulation, and less globalisation. Oppenheimer focuses on the developments in technology and AI, and on efforts to de-carbonise economies, and how these might impact financial market returns and opportunities. An invaluable resource for students of economic and financial history, and for investors, Any Happy Returns is essential reading for anyone seeking insights into upcoming market conditions and returns.

This volume is dedicated to the historical context forming the background of contemporary philosophical, social and economic issues. It summarises the origins of economic activity in Eurasia and Egypt with an interpretation of the development of economics, economic thought and social thinking that takes us up to the present day. It argues that globalisation is not really new. Transpacific communications began shortly after the first states appeared in the Near East and continued intermittently during the following millennia, leaving curious traces. The book’s fundamental claim is that lessons be learnt from deep history about wealth, the nature of money, and the understanding of justice, and interpreting their importance is essential. Some of the book’s points are relevant to archaeological theory, and some are central to understanding human social organisations. Debating the claims made, and their potential significance, will interest archaeologists, historians, social scientists, and policy makers.

SINGAPORE AND EAST ASIA----CELEBRATING GLOBALIZATION AND EMERGENCE OF A POST-MODERN ASIAN CIVILIZATION The economic achievements of peoples bear a close relationship with their cultures and level of development of their civilization. Until the 16th century, the major world civilizations were similar in stage of development in being feudalistic, authoritarian and religious. Since then with the Enlightenment, the age of Reason and the control of nature through mastery of science, Western civilization has taken a quantum leap in creating the modern industrial world and achieved wealth through colonization and globalization. In stagnating for centuries, Asians paid dearly at the feet of Western hegemony. Nevertheless, through the embrace of techno-science whilst retaining traditional values, Asians are now catching up fast. East Asians have happily discovered that practicing their cultural heritage of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism has been to their advantage. This thesis has been reinforced by Communist China s phenomenal success in the global economy. At the same time East Asia has found cultural consonance with the philosophy of Constructive post-modernism. This has been a movement in the West which questions the precepts of modernism, its materialism and lack of spirituality, its failure to achieve harmony in society and amongst nations, and its excessive exploitation of Mother Nature. Constructive post-modernism movement has placed its biggest hope in the harmonious rise of Marxist China. An East Asian champion of globalization has been Singapore. Initially thought too small to exist as a country, Singapore has surprised in reaching the ranks of a global city well within a life span. SINGAPORE----Celebrating globalization and fusion of civilizations Singapore is currently ranked 7th in position as a global city, joining in wealth and influence New York, London and Tokyo. Caux Round Table, a global index of social capital in 2009 ranked Singapore 14th among 200 countries. Singapore was top in Asia and ahead of the United States and Britain. Singapore s exciting fusion of Western and Asian civilizations started in 1819 when the British East India Company set up a trading post at the sparsely populated island off the Southern tip of Malaya at the strategic Straits of Malacca. When colonial initiatives made Malaya into the world s biggest producer of rubber and tin, the port city grew into the New York of Malaya . Following the usual rhetoric of newly independent countries against colonial exploitation, the Republic of Singapore was pragmatic in remaining closely aligned to the Western world. The elevation of English to be the first language of instruction in all schools not only helped unify multi-lingual Singapore, but also facilitated linkage with the global economy and progress in techno-science. English speaking workers together with other positive factors such as hard work ethics, freedom from labor strikes and corruption attracted MNC investment. Since the 1960s Singapore has become the biggest MNC hub in the world. In 2007, over 7000 foreign companies account for $15 billion or 85% of fixed asset investment and 44.5% of the GDP. Besides MNCs, Western talents in top level management, finance, academia and research have all been recruited. International Advisory Panels (IAP) continue to assist Government and statutory bodies. Unlike much of Asia, a key element in Singapore s success has been winning the war against corruption through political will, tough anti-corruption laws and paying ministers and civil servants well. Transparency International has consistently ranked island-State as one of the least corrupt countries in the world. The livability of Singapore has for past decades been significantly improved by clearance of slumps, clean tree-lined and crime-free streets, decent housing, and access to high quality education and healthcare. Architectural legacy of East and West has been conserved. As the

This wide-ranging analysis both explores current approaches to organization studies and relates the concepts of modernity and postmodernity to the realities of organizational structure and context. In surveying alternative perspectives on organizations in terms of ideal types, systems, contingencies, ecologies, cultures, markets and efficiency, Clegg demonstrates that no single approach is adequate to deal with the real-world variety of organizations that exist. Drawing upon unusual and revealing examples - the production of French bread, Italian fashion and `post-Confucian' Asian enterprises - he argues that their success cannot be reduced to `culture' but must incorporate a fuller understanding of the ways in which organi

This book analyzes the main post-war features of consumption. It traces the historical development of consumption and discusses the major contributions made by sociologists in discussing the subject. Robert Bocock is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the Open University.

Once again, unfettered capitalism has failed. Promises for global prosperity and peace have given way to a world of deep recession, social upheaval and political instability. Once again, mainstream economics has proved its inadequacy. Despite its technical rigour and mathematical virtuosity, it failed dramatically to respond to the current crisis. Why is this so? Mainstream economics turns a blind eye to society. By assumption, it maims its analyses by wiping away what makes us what we are. There is pressing need for a critical discussion and new ideas. We therefore turn to the insightful and stimulating work of Pierre Bourdieu. Arguably one of the major sociologists ever, he was also a major ‘economist’. Yet his works on the economy have received only scant attention, especially from economists, be they ‘mainstream’ or ‘heterodox’. Bourdieu helps to take a broader view and enrich our scientific imagination. By including dimensions of power, intuitive behaviour and social structures within the scope of his analysis, he provides for an alternative foundation of economics, based on an integrated, interdisciplinary theory. For the first time, this volume fills this gap in economics by featuring state-of-the-art research and experts from different social science disciplines. This book constitutes a first step, and hopes to become a milestone. The book offers an innovative outlook and a unique source for social scientists of all fields, particularly economists and sociologists, who wish to engage in the study of Bourdieu and his economics with a view to developing a more pertinent theory. It will also constitute a useful reference for university students and administrators who would like to explore the economy from a Bourdieusian perspective.