David Roodman
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195168006
- eISBN:
- 9780199783458
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195168003.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter presents an overview of the sovereign-debt initiatives from the last twenty-five years. It examines the programs devised by creditors, namely the World Bank and IMF, during the 1980s and ...
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This chapter presents an overview of the sovereign-debt initiatives from the last twenty-five years. It examines the programs devised by creditors, namely the World Bank and IMF, during the 1980s and 1990s, that aimed at addressing the mounting problem of developing-country debt. The “austerity” lending of the 1980s and the structural adjustment programs of the 1990s are discussed, and the inherent failings that characterized those efforts, including reduced public investment which has led to economic stagnation, are criticized.Less
This chapter presents an overview of the sovereign-debt initiatives from the last twenty-five years. It examines the programs devised by creditors, namely the World Bank and IMF, during the 1980s and 1990s, that aimed at addressing the mounting problem of developing-country debt. The “austerity” lending of the 1980s and the structural adjustment programs of the 1990s are discussed, and the inherent failings that characterized those efforts, including reduced public investment which has led to economic stagnation, are criticized.
Paul Pierson (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198297567
- eISBN:
- 9780191600104
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198297564.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The welfare states of the affluent democracies now stand at the centre of political discussion and social conflict. In this book, which grew out of two conferences held at the Center for European ...
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The welfare states of the affluent democracies now stand at the centre of political discussion and social conflict. In this book, which grew out of two conferences held at the Center for European Studies, Harvard University, in November 1997 and October 1998, an international team of leading analysts reject simplistic claims about the impact of economic ‘globalization’. Whilst accepting that economic, demographic, and social pressures on the welfare state are very real, they argue that many of the most fundamental challenges have little to do with globalization. In contrast to many popular accounts, the authors detect few signs of a convergence of national social policies towards an American‐style lowest common denominator. The contemporary politics of the welfare state takes shape against a backdrop of both intense pressures for austerity and enduring popularity. Thus, in most of the affluent democracies, the politics of social policy centre on the renegotiation, restructuring, and modernization of the post‐war social contract rather than its dismantling. The authors examine a wide range of countries and public policy arenas, including health care, pensions, and labour markets. They demonstrate how different national settings affect whether, and on what terms, centrist efforts to restructure the welfare state can succeed. The 13 chapters of the book are arranged in four main sections, each with three chapters, and a concluding section: I. Sources of Pressure on the Contemporary Welfare State; II. Adjustment Dynamics: Economic Actors and Systems of Interest Intermediation; III. Adjustment Dynamics: Parties, Elections, and Political Institutions; IV. Comparing Policy Domains; and V. Conclusions.Less
The welfare states of the affluent democracies now stand at the centre of political discussion and social conflict. In this book, which grew out of two conferences held at the Center for European Studies, Harvard University, in November 1997 and October 1998, an international team of leading analysts reject simplistic claims about the impact of economic ‘globalization’. Whilst accepting that economic, demographic, and social pressures on the welfare state are very real, they argue that many of the most fundamental challenges have little to do with globalization. In contrast to many popular accounts, the authors detect few signs of a convergence of national social policies towards an American‐style lowest common denominator. The contemporary politics of the welfare state takes shape against a backdrop of both intense pressures for austerity and enduring popularity. Thus, in most of the affluent democracies, the politics of social policy centre on the renegotiation, restructuring, and modernization of the post‐war social contract rather than its dismantling. The authors examine a wide range of countries and public policy arenas, including health care, pensions, and labour markets. They demonstrate how different national settings affect whether, and on what terms, centrist efforts to restructure the welfare state can succeed. The 13 chapters of the book are arranged in four main sections, each with three chapters, and a concluding section: I. Sources of Pressure on the Contemporary Welfare State; II. Adjustment Dynamics: Economic Actors and Systems of Interest Intermediation; III. Adjustment Dynamics: Parties, Elections, and Political Institutions; IV. Comparing Policy Domains; and V. Conclusions.
Paul Pierson
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198297567
- eISBN:
- 9780191600104
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198297564.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Starts by discussing the new era of austerity in the contemporary welfare state, the reasons for it, and the political problems that it creates. Describes the project that gave rise to the book as ...
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Starts by discussing the new era of austerity in the contemporary welfare state, the reasons for it, and the political problems that it creates. Describes the project that gave rise to the book as bringing together leading researchers from Europe and North America, who seek to increase knowledge about the politics of the contemporary welfare state. The focus is on four overlapping themes, which are covered in the four main parts of the book: (1) the sources and scope of pressures on national welfare states; (2) the role of economic interests, and of systems for representing those interests, in the politics of reform; (3) the implications of electoral politics and the design of political institutions for welfare state adjustment; and (4) the distinctive policy dynamics of particular areas of social provision. These themes are intimately linked, and the linkages between them are made explicit both within and across the chapters of the book. This introduction outlines the four themes and introduces the contributions of the chapters to follow.Less
Starts by discussing the new era of austerity in the contemporary welfare state, the reasons for it, and the political problems that it creates. Describes the project that gave rise to the book as bringing together leading researchers from Europe and North America, who seek to increase knowledge about the politics of the contemporary welfare state. The focus is on four overlapping themes, which are covered in the four main parts of the book: (1) the sources and scope of pressures on national welfare states; (2) the role of economic interests, and of systems for representing those interests, in the politics of reform; (3) the implications of electoral politics and the design of political institutions for welfare state adjustment; and (4) the distinctive policy dynamics of particular areas of social provision. These themes are intimately linked, and the linkages between them are made explicit both within and across the chapters of the book. This introduction outlines the four themes and introduces the contributions of the chapters to follow.
Paul Pierson
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198297567
- eISBN:
- 9780191600104
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198297564.003.0014
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This concluding chapter argues that the contemporary politics of the welfare state takes shape against a backdrop of both intense pressures for austerity and enduring popularity. In this context, ...
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This concluding chapter argues that the contemporary politics of the welfare state takes shape against a backdrop of both intense pressures for austerity and enduring popularity. In this context, even strong supporters of the welfare state may come to acknowledge the need for adjustment, and even severe critics may need to accept the political realities of continuing popular enthusiasm for social provision. Thus, in most of the affluent democracies, the politics of social policy centre on the renegotiation, restructuring, and modernization of the terms of the post‐war social contract rather than on its dismantling. The crucial issue is whether particular national settings facilitate the emergence of such a centrist reform effort, and if so, on what terms. The argument proceeds in three stages: in the first, a basic framework is outlined for studying the politics of reform in a context of permanent austerity; in the second, two complications are discussed — the need to incorporate different dimensions of social policy reform and the need to recognize three quite distinct configurations of welfare state politics among the affluent democracies; in the third, these arguments are applied to analyse the politics of restructuring in the liberal, social democratic, and conservative ‘worlds’ (regimes) of welfare capitalism.Less
This concluding chapter argues that the contemporary politics of the welfare state takes shape against a backdrop of both intense pressures for austerity and enduring popularity. In this context, even strong supporters of the welfare state may come to acknowledge the need for adjustment, and even severe critics may need to accept the political realities of continuing popular enthusiasm for social provision. Thus, in most of the affluent democracies, the politics of social policy centre on the renegotiation, restructuring, and modernization of the terms of the post‐war social contract rather than on its dismantling. The crucial issue is whether particular national settings facilitate the emergence of such a centrist reform effort, and if so, on what terms. The argument proceeds in three stages: in the first, a basic framework is outlined for studying the politics of reform in a context of permanent austerity; in the second, two complications are discussed — the need to incorporate different dimensions of social policy reform and the need to recognize three quite distinct configurations of welfare state politics among the affluent democracies; in the third, these arguments are applied to analyse the politics of restructuring in the liberal, social democratic, and conservative ‘worlds’ (regimes) of welfare capitalism.
Coopey Richard, Sean O‘Connell, and Dilwyn Porter
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198296508
- eISBN:
- 9780191716638
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198296508.003.0003
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This chapter presents an account of the rapid expansion of mail order in the quarter of a century after 1950. With the outbreak of war in 1939, Britain's mail order retailers were faced with severe ...
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This chapter presents an account of the rapid expansion of mail order in the quarter of a century after 1950. With the outbreak of war in 1939, Britain's mail order retailers were faced with severe difficulties. Not only were goods in short supply but consumption was subject to rationing and other forms of restrictions. The continuing climate of economic austerity in the immediate post-war period ensured that it was not until 1950 that mail order retailing resumed an upward momentum. Thereafter, it took off, experiencing rapid growth in the 1950s and 1960s as consumer spending reached hitherto unprecedented levels and consumers took what has been called ‘the great leap forward’ into affluence.Less
This chapter presents an account of the rapid expansion of mail order in the quarter of a century after 1950. With the outbreak of war in 1939, Britain's mail order retailers were faced with severe difficulties. Not only were goods in short supply but consumption was subject to rationing and other forms of restrictions. The continuing climate of economic austerity in the immediate post-war period ensured that it was not until 1950 that mail order retailing resumed an upward momentum. Thereafter, it took off, experiencing rapid growth in the 1950s and 1960s as consumer spending reached hitherto unprecedented levels and consumers took what has been called ‘the great leap forward’ into affluence.
Mark Baldassare
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520214859
- eISBN:
- 9780520921368
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520214859.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Research and Statistics
When Orange County, California, filed for Chapter 9 protection on December 6, 1994, it became the largest municipality in United States history to declare bankruptcy. Providing a comprehensive ...
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When Orange County, California, filed for Chapter 9 protection on December 6, 1994, it became the largest municipality in United States history to declare bankruptcy. Providing a comprehensive analysis of this momentous fiscal crisis, the book uncovers the many twists and turns from the dark days in December 1994 to the financial recovery of June 1996. Utilizing a wealth of primary materials from the county government and Merrill Lynch, as well as interviews with key officials and players in this drama, it untangles the causes of this $1.64 billion fiasco. It identifies three factors critical to understanding the bankruptcy: one, the political fragmentation of the numerous local governments in the area; two, the fiscal conservatism underlying voters' feelings about their tax dollars; and three, the financial austerity in state government and in meeting rising state expenditures. The book finds that these forces help to explain how a county known for its affluence and conservative politics could have allowed its cities' school, water, transportation, and sanitation agencies to be held hostage to this failed investment pool. Meticulously examining the events that led up to the bankruptcy, the local officials' response to the fiscal emergency, and the road to fiscal recovery—as well as the local government reforms engendered by the crisis—this book is a dramatic and instructive economic morality tale. It underlines the dangers inherent in a freewheeling bull economy and the imperatives of local and state governments to protect fiscal assets. As this book shows, Orange County need not—and should not—happen again.Less
When Orange County, California, filed for Chapter 9 protection on December 6, 1994, it became the largest municipality in United States history to declare bankruptcy. Providing a comprehensive analysis of this momentous fiscal crisis, the book uncovers the many twists and turns from the dark days in December 1994 to the financial recovery of June 1996. Utilizing a wealth of primary materials from the county government and Merrill Lynch, as well as interviews with key officials and players in this drama, it untangles the causes of this $1.64 billion fiasco. It identifies three factors critical to understanding the bankruptcy: one, the political fragmentation of the numerous local governments in the area; two, the fiscal conservatism underlying voters' feelings about their tax dollars; and three, the financial austerity in state government and in meeting rising state expenditures. The book finds that these forces help to explain how a county known for its affluence and conservative politics could have allowed its cities' school, water, transportation, and sanitation agencies to be held hostage to this failed investment pool. Meticulously examining the events that led up to the bankruptcy, the local officials' response to the fiscal emergency, and the road to fiscal recovery—as well as the local government reforms engendered by the crisis—this book is a dramatic and instructive economic morality tale. It underlines the dangers inherent in a freewheeling bull economy and the imperatives of local and state governments to protect fiscal assets. As this book shows, Orange County need not—and should not—happen again.
Stephen Haliczer
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195148633
- eISBN:
- 9780199869923
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195148630.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Despite the restraints placed on women in the Counter‐Reformation era, many women mystics developed strategies to achieve recognition as leaders. These included exercising harsh moral authority, ...
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Despite the restraints placed on women in the Counter‐Reformation era, many women mystics developed strategies to achieve recognition as leaders. These included exercising harsh moral authority, using their visions to gain power and instill fear, and becoming adept at performing the sufferings of Christ and the perils of demonic possession. Once leadership was attained, the women sought to gain a positive reputation with the aristocracy through assuming a life of severe austerity and writing autobiographies and devotional works. Even with their success, however, many women suffered from intense self‐loathing, possibly associated with their repression of sexuality, and developed serious illnesses. The mystical life was understood to be one that detached itself from the world and helped ensure a good death.Less
Despite the restraints placed on women in the Counter‐Reformation era, many women mystics developed strategies to achieve recognition as leaders. These included exercising harsh moral authority, using their visions to gain power and instill fear, and becoming adept at performing the sufferings of Christ and the perils of demonic possession. Once leadership was attained, the women sought to gain a positive reputation with the aristocracy through assuming a life of severe austerity and writing autobiographies and devotional works. Even with their success, however, many women suffered from intense self‐loathing, possibly associated with their repression of sexuality, and developed serious illnesses. The mystical life was understood to be one that detached itself from the world and helped ensure a good death.
James Hinton
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199243297
- eISBN:
- 9780191714054
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199243297.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
In 1945 most WVS members expected the organization to close down, and when it did not do so, they left. At the same time the national leadership of the established women's organizations which had ...
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In 1945 most WVS members expected the organization to close down, and when it did not do so, they left. At the same time the national leadership of the established women's organizations which had provided much of the local leadership for the WVS since 1938 pressed the Attlee government to put an end to Lady Reading's fiefdom which they regarded as an alien, state-subsidised wartime growth, offensive to principles both of democracy and of voluntarism. How did the WVS survive? This chapter examines attitudes among the WVS membership at the end of the war, and the strategy of ‘mission creep’ employed by Lady Reading to make WVS indispensable to Whitehall by finding new work for tired hands. Her success in persuading the surviving members, many of them Tories, to collaborate with the Labour Government's management of austerity — notably in food education and fuel economy — testifies to the continuing appeal of non-partisanship among middle-class social leaders.Less
In 1945 most WVS members expected the organization to close down, and when it did not do so, they left. At the same time the national leadership of the established women's organizations which had provided much of the local leadership for the WVS since 1938 pressed the Attlee government to put an end to Lady Reading's fiefdom which they regarded as an alien, state-subsidised wartime growth, offensive to principles both of democracy and of voluntarism. How did the WVS survive? This chapter examines attitudes among the WVS membership at the end of the war, and the strategy of ‘mission creep’ employed by Lady Reading to make WVS indispensable to Whitehall by finding new work for tired hands. Her success in persuading the surviving members, many of them Tories, to collaborate with the Labour Government's management of austerity — notably in food education and fuel economy — testifies to the continuing appeal of non-partisanship among middle-class social leaders.
B. R. Nanda
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195672039
- eISBN:
- 9780199081417
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195672039.003.0025
- Subject:
- Political Science, Indian Politics
This chapter presents an essay on the lifestyle of Mahatma Gandhi. It explains that during his 20s and 30s, Gandhi was torn between the desire to live up to the standard of an English-trained ...
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This chapter presents an essay on the lifestyle of Mahatma Gandhi. It explains that during his 20s and 30s, Gandhi was torn between the desire to live up to the standard of an English-trained barrister, and the inner surge towards the reduction of wants that had been inspired by the ideal of aparigraha in the Bhagavad Gita. It suggests that the changes that Gandhi periodically introduced in his lifestyle were partly a response to his inner urge for austerity and that they also satisfied another urge in him, that is, to identify himself with ‘the least, lowliest and the lost’.Less
This chapter presents an essay on the lifestyle of Mahatma Gandhi. It explains that during his 20s and 30s, Gandhi was torn between the desire to live up to the standard of an English-trained barrister, and the inner surge towards the reduction of wants that had been inspired by the ideal of aparigraha in the Bhagavad Gita. It suggests that the changes that Gandhi periodically introduced in his lifestyle were partly a response to his inner urge for austerity and that they also satisfied another urge in him, that is, to identify himself with ‘the least, lowliest and the lost’.
Mark Roodhouse
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199588459
- eISBN:
- 9780191747564
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199588459.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Cultural History
Due to rationing and price control, Britain’s underground economy experienced a mid-century boom during the 1940s and early 1950s as producers, traders, and professional criminals helped consumers to ...
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Due to rationing and price control, Britain’s underground economy experienced a mid-century boom during the 1940s and early 1950s as producers, traders, and professional criminals helped consumers to get ‘a little bit extra’ ‘on the side’, ‘from under the counter’, or ‘off the back of a lorry’. And yet widespread evasion of regulations designed to ensure ‘fair shares for all’ did not undermine the austerity policies that characterized those years. This book draws upon a wide range of source material, including recently declassified documents, to argue that all these little bits did not amount to a lot because Britons showed self-restraint in their illegal dealings. The means, motives, and opportunities for evasion were not lacking. The shortages were real and felt, regulations were not watertight, and enforcement was haphazard. Fairness, not patriotism and respect for the law, is the key to understanding this self-restraint. By invoking popular notions of a fair price, a fair profit, and a fair share, government rhetoric stymied black marketeering as would-be evaders had to justify their offences to themselves and others in terms of getting their fair share at no one else’s expense. The book emphasizes the importance of fairness to those seeking a richer understanding of economic life in modern Britain, and reminds us that all trade is fair trade and all consumers are ethical consumers, at least according to their own lights. We just need to discover what those lights are.Less
Due to rationing and price control, Britain’s underground economy experienced a mid-century boom during the 1940s and early 1950s as producers, traders, and professional criminals helped consumers to get ‘a little bit extra’ ‘on the side’, ‘from under the counter’, or ‘off the back of a lorry’. And yet widespread evasion of regulations designed to ensure ‘fair shares for all’ did not undermine the austerity policies that characterized those years. This book draws upon a wide range of source material, including recently declassified documents, to argue that all these little bits did not amount to a lot because Britons showed self-restraint in their illegal dealings. The means, motives, and opportunities for evasion were not lacking. The shortages were real and felt, regulations were not watertight, and enforcement was haphazard. Fairness, not patriotism and respect for the law, is the key to understanding this self-restraint. By invoking popular notions of a fair price, a fair profit, and a fair share, government rhetoric stymied black marketeering as would-be evaders had to justify their offences to themselves and others in terms of getting their fair share at no one else’s expense. The book emphasizes the importance of fairness to those seeking a richer understanding of economic life in modern Britain, and reminds us that all trade is fair trade and all consumers are ethical consumers, at least according to their own lights. We just need to discover what those lights are.
