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The Israeli Economy
A Story of Success and Costs
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Joseph Zeira
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2021
About this book
An authoritative economic history of Israel from its founding to the present
In 1922, there were ninety thousand Jews in Palestine, a small country in a poor and volatile region. Today, Israel has a population of nine million and is one of the richest countries in the world. The Israeli Economy tells the story of this remarkable transformation, shedding critical new light on Israel's rapid economic growth.
Joseph Zeira takes readers from those early days to today, describing how Israel's economic development occurred amid intense fighting with the Palestinians and neighboring Arab countries. He reveals how the new state's astonishing growth continued into the early 1970s, and traces this growth to public investment in education and to large foreign transfers. Zeira analyzes the costs of the Arab-Israeli conflict, demonstrating how economic output could be vastly greater with a comprehensive peace. He discusses how Israel went through intensive neoliberal economic policies in recent decades, and shows how these policies not only failed to enhance economic performance, but led to significant social inequality.
Based on more than two decades of groundbreaking research, The Israeli Economy is an in-depth survey of a modern economy that has experienced rapid growth, wars, immigration waves, and other significant shocks. It thus offers important lessons for nations around the world.
Author / Editor information
Joseph Zeira is professor of economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He lives in Jerusalem. Website josephzeira.weebly.com
Reviews
“An excellent overview of the Israeli economy. Long before Israel became known as the Start-Up Nation, there were wars and massive immigration waves and hyperinflation. Zeira’s brilliant book analyzes the factors that led to Israel’s remarkable economic development, and also offers a sober assessment of some of the most pressing economic challenges the nation faces today.”—Effi Benmelech, Northwestern University
“A fascinating analysis of how, despite a tough geopolitical environment, a small and poor country became one of the richest countries in the world. Joseph Zeira does a masterful job of showing the role of human capital, fast technological adoption, and a good quality public sector in the Israeli economic success. These are important conclusions, and important lessons for other countries to learn from.”—Olivier J. Blanchard, Peterson Institute for International Economics
“Written by one of the finest macroeconomic theorists in the world, this book tells the fascinating story of Israel’s miracle growth, covering a range of topics from the phenomenal success of the high-tech sector to the nation’s unacceptable levels of inequality. The Israeli Economy will be of value not just to those interested in Israel but to students of development economics as well as policymakers in emerging economies trying to crack the secrets of growth.”—Kaushik Basu, former chief economist at the World Bank
“An insightful history. Zeira uses data, institutional facts, and economics to trace the development of the modern Israeli economy and provides an insightful analysis of the lessons to be learned from Israel’s experiences. The book should be of great interest to economists and noneconomists alike. Highly recommended.”—Martin S. Eichenbaum, Northwestern University
“A fascinating analysis of how, despite a tough geopolitical environment, a small and poor country became one of the richest countries in the world. Joseph Zeira does a masterful job of showing the role of human capital, fast technological adoption, and a good quality public sector in the Israeli economic success. These are important conclusions, and important lessons for other countries to learn from.”—Olivier J. Blanchard, Peterson Institute for International Economics
“Written by one of the finest macroeconomic theorists in the world, this book tells the fascinating story of Israel’s miracle growth, covering a range of topics from the phenomenal success of the high-tech sector to the nation’s unacceptable levels of inequality. The Israeli Economy will be of value not just to those interested in Israel but to students of development economics as well as policymakers in emerging economies trying to crack the secrets of growth.”—Kaushik Basu, former chief economist at the World Bank
“An insightful history. Zeira uses data, institutional facts, and economics to trace the development of the modern Israeli economy and provides an insightful analysis of the lessons to be learned from Israel’s experiences. The book should be of great interest to economists and noneconomists alike. Highly recommended.”—Martin S. Eichenbaum, Northwestern University
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Frontmatter
i -
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Contents
vii -
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Preface
xiii -
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Acknowledgments
xix -
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1. Historical Background
1 - Part I.The Israeli Growth Miracle
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Introduction
31 -
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2. Catching Up: The Rapid Growth of 1922–1972
33 -
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3. Explaining Israeli Economic Growth
53 -
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4. High-Tech, High Fertility, and Missing Capital
74 -
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Lessons from Part I
97 - Part II. The Israeli-Arab Conflict
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Introduction
101 -
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5. The Conflict and the Fiscal Roller Coaster
105 -
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6. Additional Costs of the Conflict
123 -
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Lessons from Part II
147 - Part III. Economic Lessons from a Turbulent History
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Introduction
149 -
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7. Business Cycles in Israel
153 -
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8. The Balance of Payments: From Deficit to Surplus
177 -
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9. High Inflation in Israel
199 -
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10. Monetary Policy and Its Costs
223 -
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Lessons from Part III
243 - Part IV. Neoliberalism and Its Impacts
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Introduction
245 -
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11. Between Intervention and Markets
247 -
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12. The Public Sector since 1985
271 -
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13. Inequality
297 -
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Lessons from Part IV
325 -
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Conclusion: Four Decisions, Two Dilemmas, and One Pandemic
327 -
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Appendixes
333 -
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References
353 -
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Index
365 -
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The Princeton Economic History of the Western World
379 -
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A Note on the Type
383
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
November 12, 2021
eBook ISBN:
9780691229706
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9780691229706
Keywords for this book
Zionism; Jews; Immigration; Labour movement; Palestinians; Arab–Israeli conflict; Aliyah; Histadrut; Economic growth; Recession; Institution; Israelis; Arabs; Yom Kippur War; Business cycle; Employment; Economy of Israel; First Intifada; Palestine Liberation Organization; Privatization; Economy; Fifth Aliyah; War of Attrition; Six-Day War; Trade union; Palestinian refugees; Mizrahi Jews; Yishuv; Israeli–Palestinian conflict; Second Aliyah; Jewish Agency for Israel; Immigration Act of 1924; Public Agenda; Lecture; Golan Heights; 1982 Lebanon War; David Ben-Gurion; Neoliberalism; Balance of trade; Illegal immigration; Unemployment; Israel; Fourth Aliyah; Refugee; Suez Crisis; Hebrew University of Jerusalem; First Aliyah; Demography; Opportunity cost; Social order; Statism; Great Famine (Ireland); Expense; Supranational union; White Paper of 1939; Rhetoric; Sephardi Jews; Gulf War; Balfour Declaration; Beirut; Arab citizens of Israel; Palestinian National Authority; Intifada; Israeli Declaration of Independence; Invasion of Kuwait; Jerusalem; Economic history; Economics; Safed; Palestinian territories
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
