Jude Hays
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195369335
- eISBN:
- 9780199871056
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369335.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
On one level, the book is about how national institutions, such as electoral and labor market institutions, shape the political and policy responses of government to economic globalization: it is ...
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On one level, the book is about how national institutions, such as electoral and labor market institutions, shape the political and policy responses of government to economic globalization: it is about how domestic politics reacts to and interacts with the global economy and how institutions structure these relationships. However, on a deeper level, the book is about the political backlash against globalization in the Anglo-American democracies. The book's analysis is based on the fact that the future of the global economy is at stake, and possibly so is international peace and stability. The book analyzes the risks to the state of the international economy from economic nationalism, the current global economic crisis, and recent concerns over national security.Less
On one level, the book is about how national institutions, such as electoral and labor market institutions, shape the political and policy responses of government to economic globalization: it is about how domestic politics reacts to and interacts with the global economy and how institutions structure these relationships. However, on a deeper level, the book is about the political backlash against globalization in the Anglo-American democracies. The book's analysis is based on the fact that the future of the global economy is at stake, and possibly so is international peace and stability. The book analyzes the risks to the state of the international economy from economic nationalism, the current global economic crisis, and recent concerns over national security.
Milada Anna Vachudova
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199241194
- eISBN:
- 9780191602382
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199241198.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
The empirical variation between the political trajectories of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, on the one hand, and Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovakia, on the other, is striking in the early ...
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The empirical variation between the political trajectories of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, on the one hand, and Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovakia, on the other, is striking in the early 1990s. The presence or absence of an opposition to communism strong enough to take and hold power in 1989 put the first group of states on the road to liberal democracy, and the second group on the road to illiberal democracy. This chapter compares the two groups of states in three areas: the nature of the opposition to communism and of the regime change in 1989; the political, economic, and national policies of the first post-communist governments; and the quality of the left alternative available to voters after1989.Less
The empirical variation between the political trajectories of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, on the one hand, and Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovakia, on the other, is striking in the early 1990s. The presence or absence of an opposition to communism strong enough to take and hold power in 1989 put the first group of states on the road to liberal democracy, and the second group on the road to illiberal democracy. This chapter compares the two groups of states in three areas: the nature of the opposition to communism and of the regime change in 1989; the political, economic, and national policies of the first post-communist governments; and the quality of the left alternative available to voters after1989.
Latha Varadarajan
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199733910
- eISBN:
- 9780199866205
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199733910.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter examines the economic liberalization initiated in 1991 as a moment constituting a significant crisis for the postcolonial Indian nation-state. To explain the eventual adoption of the ...
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This chapter examines the economic liberalization initiated in 1991 as a moment constituting a significant crisis for the postcolonial Indian nation-state. To explain the eventual adoption of the reforms, the chapter highlights the internecine struggles among the ranks of the Indian bourgeoisie and the eventual victory of a faction represented by the Confederation of Indian Industries. However, to ensure that economic liberalization was viewed as a calculated attempt by fractions of the bourgeoisie to maintain and perpetuate their privileged status, what was needed was a subject who could supposedly embody “national” aspirations, the potential for India to succeed in the global economy. In the context of the neoliberal restructuring of the state, thus, the rearticulation of bourgeois hegemony made essential a diasporic reimagining of the nation. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how these two ongoing, simultaneous processes have resulted in the production of the Indian domestic abroad, centered around the new subject, the “global Indian.”Less
This chapter examines the economic liberalization initiated in 1991 as a moment constituting a significant crisis for the postcolonial Indian nation-state. To explain the eventual adoption of the reforms, the chapter highlights the internecine struggles among the ranks of the Indian bourgeoisie and the eventual victory of a faction represented by the Confederation of Indian Industries. However, to ensure that economic liberalization was viewed as a calculated attempt by fractions of the bourgeoisie to maintain and perpetuate their privileged status, what was needed was a subject who could supposedly embody “national” aspirations, the potential for India to succeed in the global economy. In the context of the neoliberal restructuring of the state, thus, the rearticulation of bourgeois hegemony made essential a diasporic reimagining of the nation. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how these two ongoing, simultaneous processes have resulted in the production of the Indian domestic abroad, centered around the new subject, the “global Indian.”
Jamie Peck
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199580576
- eISBN:
- 9780191595240
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199580576.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy
Amongst intellectuals and activists, neoliberalism has become a potent signifier for the kind of free-market thinking that has dominated politics for the past three decades. Forever associated with ...
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Amongst intellectuals and activists, neoliberalism has become a potent signifier for the kind of free-market thinking that has dominated politics for the past three decades. Forever associated with the conviction politics of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, the free-market project has since become synonymous with the ‘Washington Consensus’ on international development policy and the phenomenon of corporate globalization, where it has come to mean privatization, deregulation, and the opening up of new markets. But beyond its utility as a protest slogan as a shorthand signifier for the political-economic Zeitgeist, what do we know about where neoliberalism came from and how it spread? Who are the neoliberals, and why do they studiously avoid the label? This book presents a radical critique of the free-market project, from its origins in the first half of the 20th century through to its near-death experience in the recent global economic crisis, from the utopian dreams of Friedrich von Hayek, through the dogmatic theories of Milton Friedman and the Chicago School, to the hope and hubris of Obamanomics. The book traces how neoliberalism went from crank science to common sense in the period between the Great Depression and the age of Obama. It is an exploration of the antisocial life of the free-market project, examined in its cradles of invention and in its zones of extension and contestation. In the process, the book elaborates (and puts to work) an understanding of neoliberalism as an adaptive, unevenly developed regulatory project.Less
Amongst intellectuals and activists, neoliberalism has become a potent signifier for the kind of free-market thinking that has dominated politics for the past three decades. Forever associated with the conviction politics of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, the free-market project has since become synonymous with the ‘Washington Consensus’ on international development policy and the phenomenon of corporate globalization, where it has come to mean privatization, deregulation, and the opening up of new markets. But beyond its utility as a protest slogan as a shorthand signifier for the political-economic Zeitgeist, what do we know about where neoliberalism came from and how it spread? Who are the neoliberals, and why do they studiously avoid the label? This book presents a radical critique of the free-market project, from its origins in the first half of the 20th century through to its near-death experience in the recent global economic crisis, from the utopian dreams of Friedrich von Hayek, through the dogmatic theories of Milton Friedman and the Chicago School, to the hope and hubris of Obamanomics. The book traces how neoliberalism went from crank science to common sense in the period between the Great Depression and the age of Obama. It is an exploration of the antisocial life of the free-market project, examined in its cradles of invention and in its zones of extension and contestation. In the process, the book elaborates (and puts to work) an understanding of neoliberalism as an adaptive, unevenly developed regulatory project.
Volker R. Berghahn
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161099
- eISBN:
- 9781400850297
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161099.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter deals with the period between the 1923 economic crisis and an even more severe economic breakdown in 1929. This period saw an engagement of the United States in Europe that had not been ...
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This chapter deals with the period between the 1923 economic crisis and an even more severe economic breakdown in 1929. This period saw an engagement of the United States in Europe that had not been possible in the immediate postwar years, generating a few years of relative stability and prosperity in which American manufacturing companies and banks played a major role. It was the phase in which the United States succeeded in deploying its superior industrial and financial power in an attempt to uplift the economies of Europe. During those five years it was not only American ideas and practices of rationalized mass production that came to Europe through massive foreign direct investments; rather Europe, again for the first time, got a taste of mass consumption, even if it was still quite limited in terms of affordable consumer durables.Less
This chapter deals with the period between the 1923 economic crisis and an even more severe economic breakdown in 1929. This period saw an engagement of the United States in Europe that had not been possible in the immediate postwar years, generating a few years of relative stability and prosperity in which American manufacturing companies and banks played a major role. It was the phase in which the United States succeeded in deploying its superior industrial and financial power in an attempt to uplift the economies of Europe. During those five years it was not only American ideas and practices of rationalized mass production that came to Europe through massive foreign direct investments; rather Europe, again for the first time, got a taste of mass consumption, even if it was still quite limited in terms of affordable consumer durables.
Daniel Stedman Jones
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161013
- eISBN:
- 9781400851836
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161013.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter considers how economic crises led to the breakthrough of transatlantic neoliberal politics in the 1970s. As Great Britain and the United States experienced stagflation—the combination of ...
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This chapter considers how economic crises led to the breakthrough of transatlantic neoliberal politics in the 1970s. As Great Britain and the United States experienced stagflation—the combination of high unemployment, high inflation, and low or no growth—political leaders and policymakers cast around for serious alternative economic policies to Keynesian demand management. The end of the Bretton Woods international monetary system, two oil price shocks in 1973 and 1979, the Vietnam War, the Watergate break-in at the Democratic Party headquarters in Washington, D.C., Great Britain's International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan of 1976, the virtual collapse of British industrial relations, and the failure of the prices and income policies that were supposed to fight inflation in both countries all created a policy vacuum into which neoliberal ideas flowed.Less
This chapter considers how economic crises led to the breakthrough of transatlantic neoliberal politics in the 1970s. As Great Britain and the United States experienced stagflation—the combination of high unemployment, high inflation, and low or no growth—political leaders and policymakers cast around for serious alternative economic policies to Keynesian demand management. The end of the Bretton Woods international monetary system, two oil price shocks in 1973 and 1979, the Vietnam War, the Watergate break-in at the Democratic Party headquarters in Washington, D.C., Great Britain's International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan of 1976, the virtual collapse of British industrial relations, and the failure of the prices and income policies that were supposed to fight inflation in both countries all created a policy vacuum into which neoliberal ideas flowed.
Jong‐Ii You and Ju‐Ho Lee
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195145465
- eISBN:
- 9780199783960
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195145465.003.0009
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, International
Only a while ago, the South Korean economy was the envy of the developing world, and its success was scrutinized by numerous analysts, with most agreeing that the secret of this success was a ...
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Only a while ago, the South Korean economy was the envy of the developing world, and its success was scrutinized by numerous analysts, with most agreeing that the secret of this success was a judicious mix of the state and the market. However, the exact mix of the state and the market has undergone through some changes, with, in particular, a steady, albeit gradual and patchy, move toward liberalization since the early 1980s; the impact of this on the labor market and social policy is not easily observable in the Korean case because of the very gradual nature of the process. The liberalization took a serious turn only a few years ago with a series of measures concerning capital accounts; the end result was the catastrophic financial crisis of 1997–8, which, no doubt, will have profound effects on the labor market and social policy for years to come. In this chapter, the overall developments in the political economy of Korea since 1980 are reviewed, with a focus on the connections among liberalization policies, the macroeconomic and labor market developments, and the social consequences. The chapter is organized as follows: the first section analyzes the political economy of liberalization in Korea – how it happened, why it happened, and why it went wrong; the second section describes the macroeconomic developments in the era of liberalization; the third section takes a closer look at the labor market, discussing changes in wage inequalities; the next section examines problems of social policy; this is followed by conclusions and recommendations.Less
Only a while ago, the South Korean economy was the envy of the developing world, and its success was scrutinized by numerous analysts, with most agreeing that the secret of this success was a judicious mix of the state and the market. However, the exact mix of the state and the market has undergone through some changes, with, in particular, a steady, albeit gradual and patchy, move toward liberalization since the early 1980s; the impact of this on the labor market and social policy is not easily observable in the Korean case because of the very gradual nature of the process. The liberalization took a serious turn only a few years ago with a series of measures concerning capital accounts; the end result was the catastrophic financial crisis of 1997–8, which, no doubt, will have profound effects on the labor market and social policy for years to come. In this chapter, the overall developments in the political economy of Korea since 1980 are reviewed, with a focus on the connections among liberalization policies, the macroeconomic and labor market developments, and the social consequences. The chapter is organized as follows: the first section analyzes the political economy of liberalization in Korea – how it happened, why it happened, and why it went wrong; the second section describes the macroeconomic developments in the era of liberalization; the third section takes a closer look at the labor market, discussing changes in wage inequalities; the next section examines problems of social policy; this is followed by conclusions and recommendations.
Jean-Pierre Poussou
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265383
- eISBN:
- 9780191760433
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265383.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
This chapter demonstrates that the idea of a ‘general crisis’ affecting the whole of Louis XVI's reign is unsustainable. This is particularly true of the French economy, where the influence of Ernest ...
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This chapter demonstrates that the idea of a ‘general crisis’ affecting the whole of Louis XVI's reign is unsustainable. This is particularly true of the French economy, where the influence of Ernest Labrousse has long dominated our understanding of the period. Far from experiencing a general economic downturn, which made 1789 a ‘revolution of misery’, the pattern of industrial and agricultural production and colonial trade was far more positive. Problems arose primarily from the failure of political reform, especially in fiscal matters, but they only took a dramatic turn for the worst after the summoning of the Assembly of Notables in the Spring of 1787.Less
This chapter demonstrates that the idea of a ‘general crisis’ affecting the whole of Louis XVI's reign is unsustainable. This is particularly true of the French economy, where the influence of Ernest Labrousse has long dominated our understanding of the period. Far from experiencing a general economic downturn, which made 1789 a ‘revolution of misery’, the pattern of industrial and agricultural production and colonial trade was far more positive. Problems arose primarily from the failure of political reform, especially in fiscal matters, but they only took a dramatic turn for the worst after the summoning of the Assembly of Notables in the Spring of 1787.
Alfred Maizels, Robert Bacon, and George Mavrotas
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198233381
- eISBN:
- 9780191678981
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198233381.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
The collapse in commodity prices since 1980 has been a major cause of the economic crisis in a large number of developing countries. This book investigates whether the commodity-producing countries, ...
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The collapse in commodity prices since 1980 has been a major cause of the economic crisis in a large number of developing countries. This book investigates whether the commodity-producing countries, by joint action, could have prevented the price collapse by appropriate supply management. The analysis is focused on the markets for the tropical beverage crops: coffee, cocoa, and tea. Using new econometric models for each market, the impact of alternative supply management schemes on supply, consumption, prices, and export earnings is simulated for the later 1980s. The results indicate that supply management by producing countries would, indeed, have been a viable alternative to the ‘free market’ approach favoured by the developed countries. This has important implications for current international commodity policy, and, in particular, for future joint action by producing countries to overcome persistent commodity surpluses as a complement to needed diversification.Less
The collapse in commodity prices since 1980 has been a major cause of the economic crisis in a large number of developing countries. This book investigates whether the commodity-producing countries, by joint action, could have prevented the price collapse by appropriate supply management. The analysis is focused on the markets for the tropical beverage crops: coffee, cocoa, and tea. Using new econometric models for each market, the impact of alternative supply management schemes on supply, consumption, prices, and export earnings is simulated for the later 1980s. The results indicate that supply management by producing countries would, indeed, have been a viable alternative to the ‘free market’ approach favoured by the developed countries. This has important implications for current international commodity policy, and, in particular, for future joint action by producing countries to overcome persistent commodity surpluses as a complement to needed diversification.
Lord Bullock and William Deakin
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198221142
- eISBN:
- 9780191678417
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198221142.003.0014
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The years between 1929 and 1933 represent the hinge connecting the two decades of the inter-war period, the decade of reconstruction and the decade of disintegration. A time of great fluidity and ...
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The years between 1929 and 1933 represent the hinge connecting the two decades of the inter-war period, the decade of reconstruction and the decade of disintegration. A time of great fluidity and unease in international relations, the cracks that had opened in the European state system by the late 1920s now began to gape even wider. The chief feature of the period, dominant in all historical discussions, was that of economic crisis. The actions taken during this hinge period would unleash the full force of nationalism and give greater importance and influence to the more dynamic revisionist countries, Japan, Italy, and Germany, once Adolf Hitler and the National Socialists ‘captured’ power in January 1933. The search for solutions to the old problems of European stability and security continued but in a very different global context, as states opted for highly nationalist solutions to the problems of economic recovery and armaments.Less
The years between 1929 and 1933 represent the hinge connecting the two decades of the inter-war period, the decade of reconstruction and the decade of disintegration. A time of great fluidity and unease in international relations, the cracks that had opened in the European state system by the late 1920s now began to gape even wider. The chief feature of the period, dominant in all historical discussions, was that of economic crisis. The actions taken during this hinge period would unleash the full force of nationalism and give greater importance and influence to the more dynamic revisionist countries, Japan, Italy, and Germany, once Adolf Hitler and the National Socialists ‘captured’ power in January 1933. The search for solutions to the old problems of European stability and security continued but in a very different global context, as states opted for highly nationalist solutions to the problems of economic recovery and armaments.
Rolph Van Der Hoeven
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264911
- eISBN:
- 9780191754098
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264911.003.0014
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter reviews the various contributions made to this volume and interventions offered at the conference held at the British Academy in May 2009. Reflecting on how theory has been and could be ...
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This chapter reviews the various contributions made to this volume and interventions offered at the conference held at the British Academy in May 2009. Reflecting on how theory has been and could be put into practice, it recognises that current trends towards globalisation and the recent economic crisis have forced us ‘to be cognisant of growing (and unsustainable) inequality between and within countries’. We now need to envisage policies to counter this and seize the opportunity to ensure participation in the debates which could shape such policies. A better realisation of labour standards could ‘play an important role in diminishing the social consequences of the crisis and in building a better socio-economic system to avoid or face future crises’, so that it is ultimately sustainable.Less
This chapter reviews the various contributions made to this volume and interventions offered at the conference held at the British Academy in May 2009. Reflecting on how theory has been and could be put into practice, it recognises that current trends towards globalisation and the recent economic crisis have forced us ‘to be cognisant of growing (and unsustainable) inequality between and within countries’. We now need to envisage policies to counter this and seize the opportunity to ensure participation in the debates which could shape such policies. A better realisation of labour standards could ‘play an important role in diminishing the social consequences of the crisis and in building a better socio-economic system to avoid or face future crises’, so that it is ultimately sustainable.
Bob Hepple QC
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264911
- eISBN:
- 9780191754098
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264911.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter discusses how the theory of comparative institutional advantage might be applied in the context of development. In so doing, it draws on the work of Hall and Soskice on Varieties of ...
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This chapter discusses how the theory of comparative institutional advantage might be applied in the context of development. In so doing, it draws on the work of Hall and Soskice on Varieties of Capitalism (2001) and the author's own work on Labour Laws and Global Trade (2005), which argued that nations prosper in a globalised economy, not by becoming more similar in their labour laws, but by building their institutional advantages on a floor of fundamental human rights. The chapter develops this argument in the context of national responses to economic crisis. It considers the issue of comparative advantage in trade, questioning assumptions relating to the sources of such advantage, and proposing innovative regulatory means of addressing current shortcomings. It advocates positive interaction of local, national, regional, and international measures which empower workers' voices.Less
This chapter discusses how the theory of comparative institutional advantage might be applied in the context of development. In so doing, it draws on the work of Hall and Soskice on Varieties of Capitalism (2001) and the author's own work on Labour Laws and Global Trade (2005), which argued that nations prosper in a globalised economy, not by becoming more similar in their labour laws, but by building their institutional advantages on a floor of fundamental human rights. The chapter develops this argument in the context of national responses to economic crisis. It considers the issue of comparative advantage in trade, questioning assumptions relating to the sources of such advantage, and proposing innovative regulatory means of addressing current shortcomings. It advocates positive interaction of local, national, regional, and international measures which empower workers' voices.
Suresh D. Tendulkar and T.A. Bhavani
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198085584
- eISBN:
- 9780199082087
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198085584.003.0009
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
The hesitant economic policy reforms of the 1980s and the wide-ranging systemic ones since 1991 have resulted in a remarkable transformation of the Indian economy from a slow-growing one to ranking ...
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The hesitant economic policy reforms of the 1980s and the wide-ranging systemic ones since 1991 have resulted in a remarkable transformation of the Indian economy from a slow-growing one to ranking among the top ten fastest growing economies in the world. This chapter reflects on certain general issues in the reform process in the light of experiences in India and other countries. It specifically deals with the role of external influences, reforming leaders, economic and political crises, and the all-important issue of ownership of reforms and consensus-building.Less
The hesitant economic policy reforms of the 1980s and the wide-ranging systemic ones since 1991 have resulted in a remarkable transformation of the Indian economy from a slow-growing one to ranking among the top ten fastest growing economies in the world. This chapter reflects on certain general issues in the reform process in the light of experiences in India and other countries. It specifically deals with the role of external influences, reforming leaders, economic and political crises, and the all-important issue of ownership of reforms and consensus-building.
Jaime Ros and Nora Lustig
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195145465
- eISBN:
- 9780199783960
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195145465.003.0007
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, International
By the mid‐1980s, the Mexican economy was still suffering the consequences of the 1982 debt crisis, and these were compounded by the difficulties created by the collapse of oil prices in early 1986, ...
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By the mid‐1980s, the Mexican economy was still suffering the consequences of the 1982 debt crisis, and these were compounded by the difficulties created by the collapse of oil prices in early 1986, but three years later, a turnaround had taken place. Following a successful heterodox stabilization program, which began in late 1987, a sharp reduction in domestic and external public debt, facilitated by a Brady agreement in mid‐1989, and financed with large privatization revenues, Mexico returned to the international capital markets, and its economy finally appeared to be on its way to recover economic growth and price stability after almost a decade of economic decline and high inflation. When the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was approved in 1993, optimistic expectations became even more rampant; this chapter addresses the question of why the country that was supposed to enter a period of sustained prosperity, and one of the most successful emerging markets, found itself in the mid‐1990s immersed in the worst economic crisis in the last seventy years. In the first section, the balance of payments liberalization measures that preceded the episode of massive capital inflows of the early 1990s are reviewed, and its macroeconomic consequences discussed. The second section then examines how these macroeconomic developments were reflected in the labor market, the third section turns to the evolution of income distribution and poverty since the mid‐1980s, and a concluding section draws lessons from the Mexican experience, and discusses the prospects of the economy after the crisis.Less
By the mid‐1980s, the Mexican economy was still suffering the consequences of the 1982 debt crisis, and these were compounded by the difficulties created by the collapse of oil prices in early 1986, but three years later, a turnaround had taken place. Following a successful heterodox stabilization program, which began in late 1987, a sharp reduction in domestic and external public debt, facilitated by a Brady agreement in mid‐1989, and financed with large privatization revenues, Mexico returned to the international capital markets, and its economy finally appeared to be on its way to recover economic growth and price stability after almost a decade of economic decline and high inflation. When the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was approved in 1993, optimistic expectations became even more rampant; this chapter addresses the question of why the country that was supposed to enter a period of sustained prosperity, and one of the most successful emerging markets, found itself in the mid‐1990s immersed in the worst economic crisis in the last seventy years. In the first section, the balance of payments liberalization measures that preceded the episode of massive capital inflows of the early 1990s are reviewed, and its macroeconomic consequences discussed. The second section then examines how these macroeconomic developments were reflected in the labor market, the third section turns to the evolution of income distribution and poverty since the mid‐1980s, and a concluding section draws lessons from the Mexican experience, and discusses the prospects of the economy after the crisis.
Roderick Martin, Peter D. Casson, and Tahir M. Nisar
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199202607
- eISBN:
- 9780191707896
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199202607.003.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Finance, Accounting, and Banking
Shareholder value provides the rationale, incentive, and justification for investor engagement. The chapter outlines the basic concepts of shareholder value, its preconditions, and the reasons for ...
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Shareholder value provides the rationale, incentive, and justification for investor engagement. The chapter outlines the basic concepts of shareholder value, its preconditions, and the reasons for its growth since the 1980s, especially in the UK and the USA. Shareholder value developed out of responses to the economic crises of the 1970s, facilitated by the dominance of liberal economics and the absence of counter definitions of corporate transformation by organized labour.Less
Shareholder value provides the rationale, incentive, and justification for investor engagement. The chapter outlines the basic concepts of shareholder value, its preconditions, and the reasons for its growth since the 1980s, especially in the UK and the USA. Shareholder value developed out of responses to the economic crises of the 1970s, facilitated by the dominance of liberal economics and the absence of counter definitions of corporate transformation by organized labour.
George F. DeMartino
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199730568
- eISBN:
- 9780199896776
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730568.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
Economists alter the course of economic affairs and thereby affect the life chances of current and future generations. They do this through their scholarship and teaching, and through their ...
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Economists alter the course of economic affairs and thereby affect the life chances of current and future generations. They do this through their scholarship and teaching, and through their leadership of and staff-level positions in important government and multilateral agencies, consulting firms, investment banks and other economic institutions. And yet, the economics profession consistently has refused to explore the ethical aspects of its work. There is no field of professional economic ethics. As a consequence, economists are largely unprepared for the ethical challenges they face in their work. This book challenges the economic orthodoxy on the matter of professional ethics. It builds the case for professional economic ethics step by step—first by rebutting the economist’s arguments against and then by presenting an escalating positive case for professional economic ethics. The book surveys what economists do and demonstrates that this work is ethically fraught. It explores the principles, questions and debates that inform professional ethics in other fields, and identifies the lessons that economics can take from the best established bodies of professional ethics. The book demonstrates that in the absence of professional ethics, well-meaning economists have committed basic, preventable ethical errors that have caused severe harm for societies across the globe. The book investigates the reforms in economic education that would be necessary were the profession to recognize its professional ethical obligations; and it concludes with the Economist’s Oath that draws on the book’s central insights and highlights the virtues that are required of the “ethical economist.”Less
Economists alter the course of economic affairs and thereby affect the life chances of current and future generations. They do this through their scholarship and teaching, and through their leadership of and staff-level positions in important government and multilateral agencies, consulting firms, investment banks and other economic institutions. And yet, the economics profession consistently has refused to explore the ethical aspects of its work. There is no field of professional economic ethics. As a consequence, economists are largely unprepared for the ethical challenges they face in their work. This book challenges the economic orthodoxy on the matter of professional ethics. It builds the case for professional economic ethics step by step—first by rebutting the economist’s arguments against and then by presenting an escalating positive case for professional economic ethics. The book surveys what economists do and demonstrates that this work is ethically fraught. It explores the principles, questions and debates that inform professional ethics in other fields, and identifies the lessons that economics can take from the best established bodies of professional ethics. The book demonstrates that in the absence of professional ethics, well-meaning economists have committed basic, preventable ethical errors that have caused severe harm for societies across the globe. The book investigates the reforms in economic education that would be necessary were the profession to recognize its professional ethical obligations; and it concludes with the Economist’s Oath that draws on the book’s central insights and highlights the virtues that are required of the “ethical economist.”
R. J. Overy
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198202905
- eISBN:
- 9780191675584
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198202905.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, Economic History
Tim Mason has argued that there is a half-way house, that Adolf Hitler's declared intentions and their flawed realisation are evidence of a dialectical relationship between actors and historical ...
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Tim Mason has argued that there is a half-way house, that Adolf Hitler's declared intentions and their flawed realisation are evidence of a dialectical relationship between actors and historical context which gives primacy to neither. There is a widely held explanation for the origins of World War II, and indeed this has been so since these ideas were first formulated some twenty years ago. In the complex politics of the Third Reich two key elements have been observed: first, the effort to push through a programme of rearmament in a short period of time to satisfy the demands of the military elites, the party hawks, secondly, the desire that rearmament should not be compromised by provoking the masses into political opposition by reducing living standards and courting economic crisis.Less
Tim Mason has argued that there is a half-way house, that Adolf Hitler's declared intentions and their flawed realisation are evidence of a dialectical relationship between actors and historical context which gives primacy to neither. There is a widely held explanation for the origins of World War II, and indeed this has been so since these ideas were first formulated some twenty years ago. In the complex politics of the Third Reich two key elements have been observed: first, the effort to push through a programme of rearmament in a short period of time to satisfy the demands of the military elites, the party hawks, secondly, the desire that rearmament should not be compromised by provoking the masses into political opposition by reducing living standards and courting economic crisis.
Ida Susser
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195367317
- eISBN:
- 9780199951192
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195367317.003.0000
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility, Urban and Rural Studies
This chapter opens with a brief discussion of the production of urban space and the historical contributions of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs to the structuring of New York City. The section that ...
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This chapter opens with a brief discussion of the production of urban space and the historical contributions of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs to the structuring of New York City. The section that follows outlines the impact of globalization and the increasing inequalities that have framed the lives of New Yorkers over the past three decades. The next section focuses on the changing conditions of life in Greenpoint and Williamsburg, as well as the ongoing community organizing around environmental justice and affordable housing. It follows the long and concerted collaboration among many community groups, churches, local politicians, and others for a fair and sustainable Community Development Plan, which came to be known as 197A. It shows how, after 9/11/2001, in Greenpoint–Williamsburg, the Bloomberg administration introduced massive plans for rezoning, overruling the previously approved Community Development Plan 197A. The final section traces the immediate impact of the 2008 global economic crisis on the half-built new condominiums precipitated by the Bloomberg rezoning.Less
This chapter opens with a brief discussion of the production of urban space and the historical contributions of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs to the structuring of New York City. The section that follows outlines the impact of globalization and the increasing inequalities that have framed the lives of New Yorkers over the past three decades. The next section focuses on the changing conditions of life in Greenpoint and Williamsburg, as well as the ongoing community organizing around environmental justice and affordable housing. It follows the long and concerted collaboration among many community groups, churches, local politicians, and others for a fair and sustainable Community Development Plan, which came to be known as 197A. It shows how, after 9/11/2001, in Greenpoint–Williamsburg, the Bloomberg administration introduced massive plans for rezoning, overruling the previously approved Community Development Plan 197A. The final section traces the immediate impact of the 2008 global economic crisis on the half-built new condominiums precipitated by the Bloomberg rezoning.
Roderick Martin
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198775690
- eISBN:
- 9780191695377
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198775690.003.0003
- Subject:
- Business and Management, International Business, Political Economy
This chapter focuses on the macro level economic environment within which the enterprise operates. It is divided into six sections. Following a brief introduction, the second section outlines the ...
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This chapter focuses on the macro level economic environment within which the enterprise operates. It is divided into six sections. Following a brief introduction, the second section outlines the socialist economic situation at the end of the 1980s, a period of decline following the ‘era of stagnation’ under Brezhnev. The third section summarizes trends in the macroeconomy after 1989, covering GDP, inflation, state budgets, international trade flows, and balance of payments. The fourth section discusses labour market trends — employment, unemployment, earnings, and labour productivity. The fifth section discusses the development of macroeconomic policies in the region after 1989. The concluding sixth section provides a brief summary.Less
This chapter focuses on the macro level economic environment within which the enterprise operates. It is divided into six sections. Following a brief introduction, the second section outlines the socialist economic situation at the end of the 1980s, a period of decline following the ‘era of stagnation’ under Brezhnev. The third section summarizes trends in the macroeconomy after 1989, covering GDP, inflation, state budgets, international trade flows, and balance of payments. The fourth section discusses labour market trends — employment, unemployment, earnings, and labour productivity. The fifth section discusses the development of macroeconomic policies in the region after 1989. The concluding sixth section provides a brief summary.
Arsenio M. Balisacan
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195158984
- eISBN:
- 9780199869107
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195158989.003.0010
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
Examines the nature, pattern, characteristics, and causes of poverty and inequality in the Philippines over the last quarter‐century using comparable household data. The principal macro conclusion is ...
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Examines the nature, pattern, characteristics, and causes of poverty and inequality in the Philippines over the last quarter‐century using comparable household data. The principal macro conclusion is that levels of poverty are highly growth‐sensitive. Since distribution does not change significantly in the short to medium term, this means that changes in the level of household income, which is affected by aggregate levels of economic activity, is the major proximate determinant of poverty. Apart from the economic growth, other factors – such as education, infrastructure, terms of trade, agrarian reform, governance, and certain geographic attributes – exert direct impact on the welfare of the poor. The chapter concludes with policy suggestions for winning the war against poverty.Less
Examines the nature, pattern, characteristics, and causes of poverty and inequality in the Philippines over the last quarter‐century using comparable household data. The principal macro conclusion is that levels of poverty are highly growth‐sensitive. Since distribution does not change significantly in the short to medium term, this means that changes in the level of household income, which is affected by aggregate levels of economic activity, is the major proximate determinant of poverty. Apart from the economic growth, other factors – such as education, infrastructure, terms of trade, agrarian reform, governance, and certain geographic attributes – exert direct impact on the welfare of the poor. The chapter concludes with policy suggestions for winning the war against poverty.
