Johannes Lindvall
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199590643
- eISBN:
- 9780191723407
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199590643.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Economy
This chapter describes the consolidation of new macroeconomic regimes in Denmark and the Netherlands in the early 1980s and the end of employment-oriented macroeconomic policies in Austria and Sweden ...
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This chapter describes the consolidation of new macroeconomic regimes in Denmark and the Netherlands in the early 1980s and the end of employment-oriented macroeconomic policies in Austria and Sweden in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The main argument of the chapter is that the policy changes in Austria and Sweden were associated with wider changes in the Austrian and Swedish political models in the late 1980s and early 1990s – a period when Austria and Sweden became, in a certain sense, ordinary European states. The chapter also considers the role of economic ideas and Europeanization.Less
This chapter describes the consolidation of new macroeconomic regimes in Denmark and the Netherlands in the early 1980s and the end of employment-oriented macroeconomic policies in Austria and Sweden in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The main argument of the chapter is that the policy changes in Austria and Sweden were associated with wider changes in the Austrian and Swedish political models in the late 1980s and early 1990s – a period when Austria and Sweden became, in a certain sense, ordinary European states. The chapter also considers the role of economic ideas and Europeanization.
John Hendry
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199268634
- eISBN:
- 9780191708381
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199268634.003.0004
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Strategy
This chapter traces the growing influence of economic culture in the late 20th century and the associated increase in the social legitimacy of self-interest. Key features of the economic mindset ...
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This chapter traces the growing influence of economic culture in the late 20th century and the associated increase in the social legitimacy of self-interest. Key features of the economic mindset include the acceptance and assumption of self-interest, money as a measure of good, an emphasis on property and possession, agency and control, a prioritizing of the present, and a privileging of markets. Perfectly justifiable within particular areas of economics, these ideas have grown to dominate arenas in which they are less evidently appropriate, including public policy generally and the practice of business.Less
This chapter traces the growing influence of economic culture in the late 20th century and the associated increase in the social legitimacy of self-interest. Key features of the economic mindset include the acceptance and assumption of self-interest, money as a measure of good, an emphasis on property and possession, agency and control, a prioritizing of the present, and a privileging of markets. Perfectly justifiable within particular areas of economics, these ideas have grown to dominate arenas in which they are less evidently appropriate, including public policy generally and the practice of business.
Bruce Lyons
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199566358
- eISBN:
- 9780191722790
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199566358.003.0006
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare, International
This chapter provides an assessment of EC merger policy from three perspectives. First, it places the evolution of merger policy alongside the evolution of economic ideas in relation to competition ...
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This chapter provides an assessment of EC merger policy from three perspectives. First, it places the evolution of merger policy alongside the evolution of economic ideas in relation to competition and industrial organization. Second, it highlights recent developments in the practical economic appraisal of competition in four areas: unilateral (non-coordinated) effects, particularly the appropriate use of simulation techniques and the efficiency defence; coordinated effects (collective dominance), particularly the role of the Community Courts; non-horizontal effects, particularly the need for the new guidelines; and remedies, particularly weaknesses in current practice. Third, it introduces a simple bargaining approach to merger policy evaluation to draw conclusions about the trend in overall effectiveness of EC merger policy since 1990.Less
This chapter provides an assessment of EC merger policy from three perspectives. First, it places the evolution of merger policy alongside the evolution of economic ideas in relation to competition and industrial organization. Second, it highlights recent developments in the practical economic appraisal of competition in four areas: unilateral (non-coordinated) effects, particularly the appropriate use of simulation techniques and the efficiency defence; coordinated effects (collective dominance), particularly the role of the Community Courts; non-horizontal effects, particularly the need for the new guidelines; and remedies, particularly weaknesses in current practice. Third, it introduces a simple bargaining approach to merger policy evaluation to draw conclusions about the trend in overall effectiveness of EC merger policy since 1990.
John Kenneth Galbraith
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691171647
- eISBN:
- 9781400889075
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691171647.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter discusses the history of economics and the events that shaped that history. It first considers the nature and content of economics, taking into account questions related to the theory of ...
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This chapter discusses the history of economics and the events that shaped that history. It first considers the nature and content of economics, taking into account questions related to the theory of value and the theory of distribution, the institutions involved in economic activity, and the larger political and social framework in which economic life proceeds. It views economics as a reflection of the world in which specific economic ideas have developed, such as those associated with Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes. It argues that economic ideas are not very important when and where there is no economy. Change in economics has been reluctant and reluctantly accepted, especially by those who benefit from the status quo and economists who have a vested interest in what has always been taught and believed.Less
This chapter discusses the history of economics and the events that shaped that history. It first considers the nature and content of economics, taking into account questions related to the theory of value and the theory of distribution, the institutions involved in economic activity, and the larger political and social framework in which economic life proceeds. It views economics as a reflection of the world in which specific economic ideas have developed, such as those associated with Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes. It argues that economic ideas are not very important when and where there is no economy. Change in economics has been reluctant and reluctantly accepted, especially by those who benefit from the status quo and economists who have a vested interest in what has always been taught and believed.
P. S. Atiyah
- Published in print:
- 1985
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198255277
- eISBN:
- 9780191681578
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198255277.003.0004
- Subject:
- Law, Law of Obligations
This chapter provides additional intellectual background related to the freedom of contract in England in 1770. It examines the influence of medieval thoughts on the economic ideas of the time and ...
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This chapter provides additional intellectual background related to the freedom of contract in England in 1770. It examines the influence of medieval thoughts on the economic ideas of the time and the intellectual conditions in the country. These include the customary nature of relationships, close relations between economic and ethical ideas, and the exercises of freedom in a way which was consonant with a man's duty to his fellows and to God. It suggests that these traditions contributed to the emergence of firmly held convictions about contractual relationships.Less
This chapter provides additional intellectual background related to the freedom of contract in England in 1770. It examines the influence of medieval thoughts on the economic ideas of the time and the intellectual conditions in the country. These include the customary nature of relationships, close relations between economic and ethical ideas, and the exercises of freedom in a way which was consonant with a man's duty to his fellows and to God. It suggests that these traditions contributed to the emergence of firmly held convictions about contractual relationships.
Ian Kumekawa
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691163482
- eISBN:
- 9781400885206
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691163482.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This book is an intellectual biography of the British economist A. C. Pigou (1877–1959), a founder of welfare economics and one of the twentieth century's most important and original thinkers. Though ...
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This book is an intellectual biography of the British economist A. C. Pigou (1877–1959), a founder of welfare economics and one of the twentieth century's most important and original thinkers. Though long overshadowed by his intellectual rival John Maynard Keynes, Pigou was instrumental in focusing economics on the public welfare. And his reputation is experiencing a renaissance today, in part because his idea of “externalities” or spillover costs is the basis of carbon taxes. The book tells how Pigou reshaped the way the public thinks about the economic role of government and the way economists think about the public good. Setting Pigou's ideas in their personal, political, social, and ethical context, the book follows him as he evolved from a liberal Edwardian bon vivant to a reserved but reform-minded economics professor. With World War I, Pigou entered government service, but soon became disenchanted with the state he encountered. As his ideas were challenged in the interwar period, he found himself increasingly alienated from his profession. But with the rise of the Labour Party following World War II, the elderly Pigou re-embraced a mind-set that inspired a colleague to describe him as “the first serious optimist.” The story is not just of Pigou but also of twentieth-century economics, the book explores the biographical and historical origins of some of the most important economic ideas of the past hundred years. It is a timely reminder of the ethical roots of economics and the discipline's long history as an active intermediary between the state and the market.Less
This book is an intellectual biography of the British economist A. C. Pigou (1877–1959), a founder of welfare economics and one of the twentieth century's most important and original thinkers. Though long overshadowed by his intellectual rival John Maynard Keynes, Pigou was instrumental in focusing economics on the public welfare. And his reputation is experiencing a renaissance today, in part because his idea of “externalities” or spillover costs is the basis of carbon taxes. The book tells how Pigou reshaped the way the public thinks about the economic role of government and the way economists think about the public good. Setting Pigou's ideas in their personal, political, social, and ethical context, the book follows him as he evolved from a liberal Edwardian bon vivant to a reserved but reform-minded economics professor. With World War I, Pigou entered government service, but soon became disenchanted with the state he encountered. As his ideas were challenged in the interwar period, he found himself increasingly alienated from his profession. But with the rise of the Labour Party following World War II, the elderly Pigou re-embraced a mind-set that inspired a colleague to describe him as “the first serious optimist.” The story is not just of Pigou but also of twentieth-century economics, the book explores the biographical and historical origins of some of the most important economic ideas of the past hundred years. It is a timely reminder of the ethical roots of economics and the discipline's long history as an active intermediary between the state and the market.
Stephen Conway
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199210855
- eISBN:
- 9780191725111
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199210855.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
The first section explores the investment flows that connected Britain and Ireland to the rest of Europe. The second sketches out the contours of British and Irish trade with the Continent, and then ...
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The first section explores the investment flows that connected Britain and Ireland to the rest of Europe. The second sketches out the contours of British and Irish trade with the Continent, and then looks at the growth of Atlantic commerce. The third section demonstrates that European trade picked up significantly after the American Revolution. The final section considers how capital and commodity flows affected British and Irish attitudes towards the Continent. A narrowly national perspective is not difficult to find, but from the second half of the eighteenth century in particular, an alternative conception of trade, which stressed a community of economic interests between the different European nations, began to gain ground.Less
The first section explores the investment flows that connected Britain and Ireland to the rest of Europe. The second sketches out the contours of British and Irish trade with the Continent, and then looks at the growth of Atlantic commerce. The third section demonstrates that European trade picked up significantly after the American Revolution. The final section considers how capital and commodity flows affected British and Irish attitudes towards the Continent. A narrowly national perspective is not difficult to find, but from the second half of the eighteenth century in particular, an alternative conception of trade, which stressed a community of economic interests between the different European nations, began to gain ground.
Ben Clift
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- April 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198813088
- eISBN:
- 9780191851070
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198813088.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
This chapter places the IMF’s recent and longer-term evolution within the context of evolving prevailing approaches in economics on macroeconomic and fiscal policy. It outlines briefly the ...
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This chapter places the IMF’s recent and longer-term evolution within the context of evolving prevailing approaches in economics on macroeconomic and fiscal policy. It outlines briefly the intellectual underpinnings of these economic ideas, their significance, and their coexistence alongside each other within Fund thinking and practice. The view that ‘New Consensus Macroeconomics’ had solved economic stabilization problems was demolished by the GFC and the deep recession that followed. The chapter charts how parallel re-evaluations were helpful to those within the Fund seeking to shift positions and priorities, since they could draw on the views of leading economists evolving in a similar direction. A key finding of the chapter and the book is the breadth of the policy approaches reconcilable to mainstream economic thinking. Provided certain form conditions are met, the content of acceptable new economic thinking is surprisingly open.Less
This chapter places the IMF’s recent and longer-term evolution within the context of evolving prevailing approaches in economics on macroeconomic and fiscal policy. It outlines briefly the intellectual underpinnings of these economic ideas, their significance, and their coexistence alongside each other within Fund thinking and practice. The view that ‘New Consensus Macroeconomics’ had solved economic stabilization problems was demolished by the GFC and the deep recession that followed. The chapter charts how parallel re-evaluations were helpful to those within the Fund seeking to shift positions and priorities, since they could draw on the views of leading economists evolving in a similar direction. A key finding of the chapter and the book is the breadth of the policy approaches reconcilable to mainstream economic thinking. Provided certain form conditions are met, the content of acceptable new economic thinking is surprisingly open.
John Kenneth Galbraith
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691171647
- eISBN:
- 9781400889075
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691171647.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This book presents a compelling and accessible history of economic ideas, from Aristotle through the twentieth century. Examining theories of the past that have a continuing modern resonance, the ...
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This book presents a compelling and accessible history of economic ideas, from Aristotle through the twentieth century. Examining theories of the past that have a continuing modern resonance, the book shows that economics is not a timeless, objective science, but is continually evolving as it is shaped by specific times and places. From Adam Smith's theories during the Industrial Revolution to those of John Maynard Keynes after the Great Depression, the book demonstrates that if economic ideas are to remain relevant, they must continually adapt to the world they inhabit. A lively examination of economic thought in historical context, the book shows how the field has evolved across the centuries.Less
This book presents a compelling and accessible history of economic ideas, from Aristotle through the twentieth century. Examining theories of the past that have a continuing modern resonance, the book shows that economics is not a timeless, objective science, but is continually evolving as it is shaped by specific times and places. From Adam Smith's theories during the Industrial Revolution to those of John Maynard Keynes after the Great Depression, the book demonstrates that if economic ideas are to remain relevant, they must continually adapt to the world they inhabit. A lively examination of economic thought in historical context, the book shows how the field has evolved across the centuries.
Ben Clift
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- April 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198813088
- eISBN:
- 9780191851070
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198813088.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
The conclusion reflects on how the IMF’s post-crash rethink has sought to alter the contours of ‘sound’ economic policy. It reflects on the implications of the argument of the book as a whole about ...
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The conclusion reflects on how the IMF’s post-crash rethink has sought to alter the contours of ‘sound’ economic policy. It reflects on the implications of the argument of the book as a whole about malleability of economic orthodoxy. It considers the scope and limits of the IMF authority in its dealings with advanced economies and how this authority can be constrained. Recalling the key role played in the social construction of economic orthodoxy by authoritative voices like the IMF, it considers the potential for advancing new research agendas in ideational political economy, the study of international organizations, and the politics of austerity.Less
The conclusion reflects on how the IMF’s post-crash rethink has sought to alter the contours of ‘sound’ economic policy. It reflects on the implications of the argument of the book as a whole about malleability of economic orthodoxy. It considers the scope and limits of the IMF authority in its dealings with advanced economies and how this authority can be constrained. Recalling the key role played in the social construction of economic orthodoxy by authoritative voices like the IMF, it considers the potential for advancing new research agendas in ideational political economy, the study of international organizations, and the politics of austerity.
Roger W. Spencer and David A. Macpherson (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780262027960
- eISBN:
- 9780262325868
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262027960.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This book is an informal history of modern economic thought as told through autobiographical chapters by twenty-three Nobel Prize laureates in Economics. The chapters not only provide unique insights ...
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This book is an informal history of modern economic thought as told through autobiographical chapters by twenty-three Nobel Prize laureates in Economics. The chapters not only provide unique insights into major economic ideas of our time but also shed light on the processes of intellectual discovery and creativity. This edition adds four recent Nobelists to its pages: Eric Maskin, who illustrates his explanation of mechanism design with an example involving a mother, a cake, and two children; Joseph Stiglitz, who recounts his field's ideological wars linked to policy disputes; Paul Krugman, who describes the insights he gained from studying the model of the Capitol Hill Babysitting Coop (and the recession it suffered when more people wanted to accumulate babysitting coupons than redeem them); and Peter Diamond, who maps his development from student to teacher to policy analyst. This text grows out of a continuing lecture series at Trinity University in San Antonio, which invites Nobelists from American universities to describe their evolution as economists in personal as well as technical terms.Less
This book is an informal history of modern economic thought as told through autobiographical chapters by twenty-three Nobel Prize laureates in Economics. The chapters not only provide unique insights into major economic ideas of our time but also shed light on the processes of intellectual discovery and creativity. This edition adds four recent Nobelists to its pages: Eric Maskin, who illustrates his explanation of mechanism design with an example involving a mother, a cake, and two children; Joseph Stiglitz, who recounts his field's ideological wars linked to policy disputes; Paul Krugman, who describes the insights he gained from studying the model of the Capitol Hill Babysitting Coop (and the recession it suffered when more people wanted to accumulate babysitting coupons than redeem them); and Peter Diamond, who maps his development from student to teacher to policy analyst. This text grows out of a continuing lecture series at Trinity University in San Antonio, which invites Nobelists from American universities to describe their evolution as economists in personal as well as technical terms.
Bruce Caldwell
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226091914
- eISBN:
- 9780226091921
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226091921.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
Friedrich A. Hayek is regarded as one of the preeminent economic theorists of the twentieth century, as much for his work outside of economics as for his work within it. During a career spanning ...
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Friedrich A. Hayek is regarded as one of the preeminent economic theorists of the twentieth century, as much for his work outside of economics as for his work within it. During a career spanning several decades, he made contributions in fields as diverse as psychology, political philosophy, the history of ideas, and the methodology of the social sciences. This book offers us an intellectual biography of this pivotal social theorist. The book begins by providing the necessary background for understanding Hayek's thought, tracing the emergence, in fin-de-siècle Vienna, of the Austrian school of economics—a distinctive analysis forged in the midst of contending schools of thought. The second part of the book follows the path by which Hayek, beginning from the standard Austrian assumptions, gradually developed his unique perspective on not only economics but a broad range of social phenomena. The third part offers both an assessment of Hayek's arguments and, in an epilogue, an estimation of how Hayek's insights can help us to clarify and reexamine changes in the field of economics during the twentieth century. As Hayek's ideas matured, he became increasingly critical of developments within mainstream economics: his works grew increasingly contrarian and evolved in striking—and sometimes seemingly contradictory—ways. The book's analysis situates Hayek in a broader intellectual context, unpacking the often difficult turns in his thinking, and showing how his economic ideas came to inform his ideas on the other social sciences.Less
Friedrich A. Hayek is regarded as one of the preeminent economic theorists of the twentieth century, as much for his work outside of economics as for his work within it. During a career spanning several decades, he made contributions in fields as diverse as psychology, political philosophy, the history of ideas, and the methodology of the social sciences. This book offers us an intellectual biography of this pivotal social theorist. The book begins by providing the necessary background for understanding Hayek's thought, tracing the emergence, in fin-de-siècle Vienna, of the Austrian school of economics—a distinctive analysis forged in the midst of contending schools of thought. The second part of the book follows the path by which Hayek, beginning from the standard Austrian assumptions, gradually developed his unique perspective on not only economics but a broad range of social phenomena. The third part offers both an assessment of Hayek's arguments and, in an epilogue, an estimation of how Hayek's insights can help us to clarify and reexamine changes in the field of economics during the twentieth century. As Hayek's ideas matured, he became increasingly critical of developments within mainstream economics: his works grew increasingly contrarian and evolved in striking—and sometimes seemingly contradictory—ways. The book's analysis situates Hayek in a broader intellectual context, unpacking the often difficult turns in his thinking, and showing how his economic ideas came to inform his ideas on the other social sciences.
R. Glenn Hubbard
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226473031
- eISBN:
- 9780226473062
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226473062.003.0021
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter focuses on some of the challenges in developing and implementing well-designed innovation policy initiatives. It points out the disjunction between arguments for particular policies—for ...
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This chapter focuses on some of the challenges in developing and implementing well-designed innovation policy initiatives. It points out the disjunction between arguments for particular policies—for example, a particular tax rate or regulatory change—and the broader evidence that the rate and impact of innovation reflect broader measures of the overall innovation environment. The chapter also emphasizes the disjunction between academic and policy approaches. The role of certain types of institutions—for example, long-term interagency working groups—in facilitating a more sophisticated innovation policy-making process is also highlighted. Interagency processes approaches have tended to be much more successful in things related to finance than to technology, and one might look to success stories of long-term interagency working groups. The chapter concludes with a discussion on an important and underemphasized element: the policy process.Less
This chapter focuses on some of the challenges in developing and implementing well-designed innovation policy initiatives. It points out the disjunction between arguments for particular policies—for example, a particular tax rate or regulatory change—and the broader evidence that the rate and impact of innovation reflect broader measures of the overall innovation environment. The chapter also emphasizes the disjunction between academic and policy approaches. The role of certain types of institutions—for example, long-term interagency working groups—in facilitating a more sophisticated innovation policy-making process is also highlighted. Interagency processes approaches have tended to be much more successful in things related to finance than to technology, and one might look to success stories of long-term interagency working groups. The chapter concludes with a discussion on an important and underemphasized element: the policy process.
Kenneth Dyson and Ivo Maes
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198735915
- eISBN:
- 9780191799860
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198735915.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union, Political Economy
This chapter spells out the central questions. Who were the architects? From what sort of backgrounds did they come? What kinds of attitudes and beliefs inspired their engagement with Economic and ...
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This chapter spells out the central questions. Who were the architects? From what sort of backgrounds did they come? What kinds of attitudes and beliefs inspired their engagement with Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)? Was there a shared factor of generational experience? What kind of project did they seek to construct, how, and with whom? How successful were they in embedding their ideas in the final design? Were the design failures attributable to their lack of warnings? The chapter spells out the criteria of selection. It examines the value and the pitfalls of intellectual biography, pointing to the possibilities and to the limits of individual creativity and inventiveness. The chapter points to the characteristic biases that arise in assessing the role of architects. Finally, it warns against the danger of seeing EMU as a linear, teleological process.Less
This chapter spells out the central questions. Who were the architects? From what sort of backgrounds did they come? What kinds of attitudes and beliefs inspired their engagement with Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)? Was there a shared factor of generational experience? What kind of project did they seek to construct, how, and with whom? How successful were they in embedding their ideas in the final design? Were the design failures attributable to their lack of warnings? The chapter spells out the criteria of selection. It examines the value and the pitfalls of intellectual biography, pointing to the possibilities and to the limits of individual creativity and inventiveness. The chapter points to the characteristic biases that arise in assessing the role of architects. Finally, it warns against the danger of seeing EMU as a linear, teleological process.
John Kenneth Galbraith
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691171647
- eISBN:
- 9781400889075
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691171647.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter discusses some economic questions during the time of the Greek city-states and the Athenian Empire and later in the age of Rome. The basic industry of both ancient Greece and Rome was ...
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This chapter discusses some economic questions during the time of the Greek city-states and the Athenian Empire and later in the age of Rome. The basic industry of both ancient Greece and Rome was agriculture, and the use or consumption of goods was infinitesimal for all but a small governing minority. Aside from the elementary character of economic life in this period, the most important reason that ethical questions were addressed to the exclusion of economic ones in the ancient world was the existence of slavery. The chapter considers the issue of capital, wages, and interest rates in the ancient world, taking into account the ideas of Aristotle on subjects such as money, coinage, and moneymaking, as well as Plato's inclination to communism. It also examines the contribution of the Romans to the history of economic ideas, especially Roman law and private property.Less
This chapter discusses some economic questions during the time of the Greek city-states and the Athenian Empire and later in the age of Rome. The basic industry of both ancient Greece and Rome was agriculture, and the use or consumption of goods was infinitesimal for all but a small governing minority. Aside from the elementary character of economic life in this period, the most important reason that ethical questions were addressed to the exclusion of economic ones in the ancient world was the existence of slavery. The chapter considers the issue of capital, wages, and interest rates in the ancient world, taking into account the ideas of Aristotle on subjects such as money, coinage, and moneymaking, as well as Plato's inclination to communism. It also examines the contribution of the Romans to the history of economic ideas, especially Roman law and private property.
Malcolm Fairbrother
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- October 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190635459
- eISBN:
- 9780190635497
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190635459.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy, International Relations and Politics
This chapter summarizes the main themes of this book, and the theory it proposes of why the governments of so many nations around the world decided to globalize their economies in the late 20th ...
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This chapter summarizes the main themes of this book, and the theory it proposes of why the governments of so many nations around the world decided to globalize their economies in the late 20th century. The book asks whether the foundations of globalization were democratic, in the sense that politicians’ decisions derived from public opinion and electoral incentives, and also whether globalization as based on mainstream economic ideas. As shown by the cases of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, and the ways they established free trade in North America, the book shows that globalization has been more of an elite than a democratic project, and one based on folk economics rather than expert ideas. Business has been the motor force in developed countries; in developing countries, states have acted more autonomously from domestic business, but they have been more subject to pressure from international financial institutions.Less
This chapter summarizes the main themes of this book, and the theory it proposes of why the governments of so many nations around the world decided to globalize their economies in the late 20th century. The book asks whether the foundations of globalization were democratic, in the sense that politicians’ decisions derived from public opinion and electoral incentives, and also whether globalization as based on mainstream economic ideas. As shown by the cases of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, and the ways they established free trade in North America, the book shows that globalization has been more of an elite than a democratic project, and one based on folk economics rather than expert ideas. Business has been the motor force in developed countries; in developing countries, states have acted more autonomously from domestic business, but they have been more subject to pressure from international financial institutions.
Malcolm Fairbrother
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- October 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190635459
- eISBN:
- 9780190635497
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190635459.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy, International Relations and Politics
This chapter sets the stage for the rest of the book, describing key political economic events, conditions, and changes in Canada, Mexico, and the United States from the 1940s to the early 1980s. The ...
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This chapter sets the stage for the rest of the book, describing key political economic events, conditions, and changes in Canada, Mexico, and the United States from the 1940s to the early 1980s. The US government was broadly keen on regional economic integration throughout this period, but Canada and Mexico were opposed. As a consequence, this was in some ways a period of deglobalization. Canadian economists advocated freer trade (like their counterparts in the United States), but Canadian businesspeople prevented the state from pursuing it. In Mexico, political elites maintained a closed economy because they subscribed to the developmentalist economic ideas of the day. Public opinion everywhere was little informed about international economic issues, and had no significant role to play in shaping public policies.Less
This chapter sets the stage for the rest of the book, describing key political economic events, conditions, and changes in Canada, Mexico, and the United States from the 1940s to the early 1980s. The US government was broadly keen on regional economic integration throughout this period, but Canada and Mexico were opposed. As a consequence, this was in some ways a period of deglobalization. Canadian economists advocated freer trade (like their counterparts in the United States), but Canadian businesspeople prevented the state from pursuing it. In Mexico, political elites maintained a closed economy because they subscribed to the developmentalist economic ideas of the day. Public opinion everywhere was little informed about international economic issues, and had no significant role to play in shaping public policies.
Ben Clift
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- April 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198813088
- eISBN:
- 9780191851070
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198813088.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
The book provides a path-breaking comprehensive analysis of how the IMF approach to fiscal policy has evolved since 2008, the Fund’s role within the politics of austerity, and how it worked to shape ...
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The book provides a path-breaking comprehensive analysis of how the IMF approach to fiscal policy has evolved since 2008, the Fund’s role within the politics of austerity, and how it worked to shape advanced economy policy responses to the global financial crisis (GFC) and the Eurozone crisis. The book aligns with and advances cutting-edge ideational scholarship in international political economy (IPE) and comparative political economy (CPE) to build an innovative theorizing of how ideational change operates in international organizations (IOs). The construction of economic policy knowledge is understood here as a social process, wherein the IMF works to impress its interpretation of sound policy upon member countries through surveillance and other interactions. It updates and refines our understanding of how the IMF seeks to wield ideational power by analysing the Fund’s post-crash ability to influence what constitutes legitimate knowledge, and their ability to fix meanings attached to economic policies. This book is interested in the politics of economic ideas, focused on the assumptive foundations of different approaches to economic policy, and how the interpretive framework through which authoritative voices evaluate economic policy is an important site of power in world politics. After establishing the internal conditions of possibility for new fiscal policy thinking to emerge and prevail, detailed case studies of IMF interactions with the UK and French governments during the Great Recession drill down into how the Fund seeks to shape the policy possibilities of advanced economy policymakers and account for the scope and limits of Fund influence.Less
The book provides a path-breaking comprehensive analysis of how the IMF approach to fiscal policy has evolved since 2008, the Fund’s role within the politics of austerity, and how it worked to shape advanced economy policy responses to the global financial crisis (GFC) and the Eurozone crisis. The book aligns with and advances cutting-edge ideational scholarship in international political economy (IPE) and comparative political economy (CPE) to build an innovative theorizing of how ideational change operates in international organizations (IOs). The construction of economic policy knowledge is understood here as a social process, wherein the IMF works to impress its interpretation of sound policy upon member countries through surveillance and other interactions. It updates and refines our understanding of how the IMF seeks to wield ideational power by analysing the Fund’s post-crash ability to influence what constitutes legitimate knowledge, and their ability to fix meanings attached to economic policies. This book is interested in the politics of economic ideas, focused on the assumptive foundations of different approaches to economic policy, and how the interpretive framework through which authoritative voices evaluate economic policy is an important site of power in world politics. After establishing the internal conditions of possibility for new fiscal policy thinking to emerge and prevail, detailed case studies of IMF interactions with the UK and French governments during the Great Recession drill down into how the Fund seeks to shape the policy possibilities of advanced economy policymakers and account for the scope and limits of Fund influence.
Rahul Mukherji
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- June 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780198096177
- eISBN:
- 9780199082964
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198096177.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
This chapter details the political economy of the 1966 devaluation when India was faced with a grave crisis of foreign exchange. At that time, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was unsure about the ...
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This chapter details the political economy of the 1966 devaluation when India was faced with a grave crisis of foreign exchange. At that time, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was unsure about the benefits of globalization and the technocracy within the government and was a firm believer in import substitution. The business class too was largely a votary of import substitution. When the government and the business class both wished import substitution, pressure from the World Bank could not coerce India to promote either globalization or private sector driven industrialization.Less
This chapter details the political economy of the 1966 devaluation when India was faced with a grave crisis of foreign exchange. At that time, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was unsure about the benefits of globalization and the technocracy within the government and was a firm believer in import substitution. The business class too was largely a votary of import substitution. When the government and the business class both wished import substitution, pressure from the World Bank could not coerce India to promote either globalization or private sector driven industrialization.
Rahul Mukherji
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- June 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780198096177
- eISBN:
- 9780199082964
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198096177.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
This chapter describes institutional change in Indian telecommunications—from government monopoly to competition with private players. This transition has produced one of the world’s largest and most ...
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This chapter describes institutional change in Indian telecommunications—from government monopoly to competition with private players. This transition has produced one of the world’s largest and most efficient telecommunications networks. This transition too follows a tipping-model where changes in the 1980s prepared the way for more significant changes after 1991. The changes were gradual and largely endogenous, and the World Bank was not allowed to fund structural adjustment in the sector. The process was ridden with corruption and financial crises, and was driven to a great extent by the evolution of regulation in the sector.Less
This chapter describes institutional change in Indian telecommunications—from government monopoly to competition with private players. This transition has produced one of the world’s largest and most efficient telecommunications networks. This transition too follows a tipping-model where changes in the 1980s prepared the way for more significant changes after 1991. The changes were gradual and largely endogenous, and the World Bank was not allowed to fund structural adjustment in the sector. The process was ridden with corruption and financial crises, and was driven to a great extent by the evolution of regulation in the sector.
