Roy C. Smith and Ingo Walter
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195171679
- eISBN:
- 9780199783618
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195171675.003.0009
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Microeconomics
The US regulatory framework has evolved since the 1930s, aiming to protect investors from abuse and exploitation. However, this regulation could only restrict specific, identified transactions and ...
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The US regulatory framework has evolved since the 1930s, aiming to protect investors from abuse and exploitation. However, this regulation could only restrict specific, identified transactions and practices. If not so restricted, a business practice was considered permissible. Every few years, a dynamic market environment will tend to produce new practices and transactions, and in time the regulatory machinery catches up and declares some of them impermissible. When a major episode of misconduct occurs, the regulatory machine accelerates and catches up quickly. When this happens, sudden and sometimes retroactive changes in the “ground rules” are declared that inevitably catch a number of practitioners off guard.Less
The US regulatory framework has evolved since the 1930s, aiming to protect investors from abuse and exploitation. However, this regulation could only restrict specific, identified transactions and practices. If not so restricted, a business practice was considered permissible. Every few years, a dynamic market environment will tend to produce new practices and transactions, and in time the regulatory machinery catches up and declares some of them impermissible. When a major episode of misconduct occurs, the regulatory machine accelerates and catches up quickly. When this happens, sudden and sometimes retroactive changes in the “ground rules” are declared that inevitably catch a number of practitioners off guard.
Paul Stoneman
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199572489
- eISBN:
- 9780191722257
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199572489.003.0008
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Innovation
This chapter considers alternative models of the demand for (diffusion of) soft innovations. From the several models, the list of factors shown to be important in the innovation process includes the ...
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This chapter considers alternative models of the demand for (diffusion of) soft innovations. From the several models, the list of factors shown to be important in the innovation process includes the level and, particularly, changes in costs of generating and developing innovations, fixed costs of production, variable production costs, the number of suppliers, the allocation of buyers' preferences, buyers' knowledge bases, buyers price, and technology expectations and the nature of the product. The theoretical analysis in Chapters 7 and 8 also jointly shows that there is no guarantee that free markets will produce a welfare optimal outcome. The outcome may involve either too much or too little variety and innovation. The market failure thus identified can come from a number of sources. One general source is that there are positive or negative externalities in the market that drive a wedge between private and social incentives. Other factors such as creative destruction effects and the standing on shoulders effects also have a role to play.Less
This chapter considers alternative models of the demand for (diffusion of) soft innovations. From the several models, the list of factors shown to be important in the innovation process includes the level and, particularly, changes in costs of generating and developing innovations, fixed costs of production, variable production costs, the number of suppliers, the allocation of buyers' preferences, buyers' knowledge bases, buyers price, and technology expectations and the nature of the product. The theoretical analysis in Chapters 7 and 8 also jointly shows that there is no guarantee that free markets will produce a welfare optimal outcome. The outcome may involve either too much or too little variety and innovation. The market failure thus identified can come from a number of sources. One general source is that there are positive or negative externalities in the market that drive a wedge between private and social incentives. Other factors such as creative destruction effects and the standing on shoulders effects also have a role to play.
Neil Gilbert
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780195140743
- eISBN:
- 9780199834921
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195140745.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
On the basis of the analysis of the changes in the welfare state over the last decade of the twentieth century described in the book, the occurrence of a paradigm shift is identified. The relative ...
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On the basis of the analysis of the changes in the welfare state over the last decade of the twentieth century described in the book, the occurrence of a paradigm shift is identified. The relative stances of the Left and Right on the changes in the welfare state, and the role of the free market in shaping the future course of welfare are discussed. The dangers of the enabling state as a handmaiden to the market are noted, and approaches to creating a healthier balance between the enabling state and market forces, and reviving the public sphere to some extent, are outlined.Less
On the basis of the analysis of the changes in the welfare state over the last decade of the twentieth century described in the book, the occurrence of a paradigm shift is identified. The relative stances of the Left and Right on the changes in the welfare state, and the role of the free market in shaping the future course of welfare are discussed. The dangers of the enabling state as a handmaiden to the market are noted, and approaches to creating a healthier balance between the enabling state and market forces, and reviving the public sphere to some extent, are outlined.
Martin Ruef
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691162775
- eISBN:
- 9781400852642
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691162775.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter studies the extent to which the Freedmen Bureau's effort to reinstate plantation labor for former slaves in the mid-1860s was associated with changes in the valuation of black labor. ...
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This chapter studies the extent to which the Freedmen Bureau's effort to reinstate plantation labor for former slaves in the mid-1860s was associated with changes in the valuation of black labor. Despite similarities in coercion and the organization of labor, the valuation of wage labor under the bureau was linked to human capital investments and statistical discrimination in ways that were fundamentally different from the valuations observed in appraisals, purchases, and hires within the antebellum slave market. This shift in the logic of valuation produced uncertainty among bureau agents, employers, and former bondsmen and women themselves as to how black workers would be compensated within the emerging free labor market of the American South.Less
This chapter studies the extent to which the Freedmen Bureau's effort to reinstate plantation labor for former slaves in the mid-1860s was associated with changes in the valuation of black labor. Despite similarities in coercion and the organization of labor, the valuation of wage labor under the bureau was linked to human capital investments and statistical discrimination in ways that were fundamentally different from the valuations observed in appraisals, purchases, and hires within the antebellum slave market. This shift in the logic of valuation produced uncertainty among bureau agents, employers, and former bondsmen and women themselves as to how black workers would be compensated within the emerging free labor market of the American South.
Louis Putterman
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195078725
- eISBN:
- 9780199854950
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195078725.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This book is a detailed study of rural reform in China. After the death of Mao, and with the ascendency of Deng Xiaoping in 1978, China began a programme of agricultural reform intended to increase ...
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This book is a detailed study of rural reform in China. After the death of Mao, and with the ascendency of Deng Xiaoping in 1978, China began a programme of agricultural reform intended to increase productivity. Three major changes moved the agricultural sector from a centrally planned system to a more market-oriented one. First was the replacement of collective teams by farming by households. Second, an increase in free markets for rural products, and an increase in state prices for farm products, and the partial elimination of the two-tier price system. Third were changes in the economic structure that facilitated greater productivity and a 250% increase in average real rural incomes between 1979 and 1986. This book is unique in that it studies a single township (Dahe in Hebei Province) in depth over the two periods, thus providing data about the effects of reform at village level.Less
This book is a detailed study of rural reform in China. After the death of Mao, and with the ascendency of Deng Xiaoping in 1978, China began a programme of agricultural reform intended to increase productivity. Three major changes moved the agricultural sector from a centrally planned system to a more market-oriented one. First was the replacement of collective teams by farming by households. Second, an increase in free markets for rural products, and an increase in state prices for farm products, and the partial elimination of the two-tier price system. Third were changes in the economic structure that facilitated greater productivity and a 250% increase in average real rural incomes between 1979 and 1986. This book is unique in that it studies a single township (Dahe in Hebei Province) in depth over the two periods, thus providing data about the effects of reform at village level.
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.
Russell Hardin
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198290841
- eISBN:
- 9780191599415
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198290845.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The US Constitution embodied a limited degree of laissez faire, enough to give capitalism at least an advantage over any other economic organization of the society if Adam Smith's theory is roughly ...
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The US Constitution embodied a limited degree of laissez faire, enough to give capitalism at least an advantage over any other economic organization of the society if Adam Smith's theory is roughly right. What capitalism mainly needed was free markets, and the US Constitution went very far toward providing that interstate commerce would not be trammeled by the states acting for narrow interests against farmers and producers in other states. In the conflicts between commerce, small farming, and plantation agrarianism, nearly neutral government was good for the longer‐run workability of the constitution and its government. The fundamentally important issue in the design of constitutions is to enable rather than hinder economic transitions that are not well understood in advance. When the economies of eastern socialist regimes ceased to benefit from centrally controlled mobilization to do what was already well done elsewhere, their Communist governments were an obstacle to developing in other ways and, in particular, to making the transition to market economies.Less
The US Constitution embodied a limited degree of laissez faire, enough to give capitalism at least an advantage over any other economic organization of the society if Adam Smith's theory is roughly right. What capitalism mainly needed was free markets, and the US Constitution went very far toward providing that interstate commerce would not be trammeled by the states acting for narrow interests against farmers and producers in other states. In the conflicts between commerce, small farming, and plantation agrarianism, nearly neutral government was good for the longer‐run workability of the constitution and its government. The fundamentally important issue in the design of constitutions is to enable rather than hinder economic transitions that are not well understood in advance. When the economies of eastern socialist regimes ceased to benefit from centrally controlled mobilization to do what was already well done elsewhere, their Communist governments were an obstacle to developing in other ways and, in particular, to making the transition to market economies.
Avner de‐Shalit
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199240388
- eISBN:
- 9780191599033
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199240388.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
Many theorists are happy with democracy as a means to protect the environment; however, there is empirical evidence that democracy is not enough to guarantee environment friendly policies. This ...
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Many theorists are happy with democracy as a means to protect the environment; however, there is empirical evidence that democracy is not enough to guarantee environment friendly policies. This chapter examines the economic arrangements (private vs. public ownership, decentralized and free market, centralized and planned production) that are more likely to protect the environment. It is argued that despite current scepticism, democratic socialism is best for the environment, although the case with public ownership of property is more complicated: it is more likely to protect the environment when the relevant ownership is of means of production, but not necessarily when the question is of the object that is being polluted.Less
Many theorists are happy with democracy as a means to protect the environment; however, there is empirical evidence that democracy is not enough to guarantee environment friendly policies. This chapter examines the economic arrangements (private vs. public ownership, decentralized and free market, centralized and planned production) that are more likely to protect the environment. It is argued that despite current scepticism, democratic socialism is best for the environment, although the case with public ownership of property is more complicated: it is more likely to protect the environment when the relevant ownership is of means of production, but not necessarily when the question is of the object that is being polluted.
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/9780691161013.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter talks about how a distinct neoliberal worldview was built on the foundations of the critique of New Deal liberalism and social democracy synthesized in the writings of Ludwig von Mises, ...
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This chapter talks about how a distinct neoliberal worldview was built on the foundations of the critique of New Deal liberalism and social democracy synthesized in the writings of Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, and Karl Popper. The adrenaline generated by the neoliberal movement and its ideas in the Conservative and Republican parties radically changed the political and economic life of both the United States and Great Britain. The chapter also shows how neoliberal ideas developed a sharper focus and an icy coherence. Neither Milton Friedman's intelligent loquaciousness nor Ronald Reagan's warm sentiments could disguise a philosophy that was built on a cold and abstract individualism, yet the vision was still very much a utopian one, centered on a fantasy of the perfect free market.Less
This chapter talks about how a distinct neoliberal worldview was built on the foundations of the critique of New Deal liberalism and social democracy synthesized in the writings of Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, and Karl Popper. The adrenaline generated by the neoliberal movement and its ideas in the Conservative and Republican parties radically changed the political and economic life of both the United States and Great Britain. The chapter also shows how neoliberal ideas developed a sharper focus and an icy coherence. Neither Milton Friedman's intelligent loquaciousness nor Ronald Reagan's warm sentiments could disguise a philosophy that was built on a cold and abstract individualism, yet the vision was still very much a utopian one, centered on a fantasy of the perfect free market.
Jason G. Ralph
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199240975
- eISBN:
- 9780191598999
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199240973.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Explores the gap between rhetoric and practice in the American policy of promoting democracy. It attributes it to the US, promoting two inconsistent goals at the same time: democratization and free ...
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Explores the gap between rhetoric and practice in the American policy of promoting democracy. It attributes it to the US, promoting two inconsistent goals at the same time: democratization and free market capitalism. This is not because the US responds only to corporate interests. Instead, this policy mix stems from America's image of its own success: at the time of its foundation, democratic development was compatible with economic individualism due to extraordinary socio–economic circumstances. However, given the contemporary socio–economic circumstances of new democracies, it would be more appropriate to promote social democracy rather than liberal democracy.Less
Explores the gap between rhetoric and practice in the American policy of promoting democracy. It attributes it to the US, promoting two inconsistent goals at the same time: democratization and free market capitalism. This is not because the US responds only to corporate interests. Instead, this policy mix stems from America's image of its own success: at the time of its foundation, democratic development was compatible with economic individualism due to extraordinary socio–economic circumstances. However, given the contemporary socio–economic circumstances of new democracies, it would be more appropriate to promote social democracy rather than liberal democracy.
David Howell (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195165845
- eISBN:
- 9780199835515
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195165845.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Macro- and Monetary Economics
Much of Europe remains plagued by high levels of unemployment. Fighting Unemployment critically assesses the widely accepted view that the culprit is excessive labor market regulation and overly ...
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Much of Europe remains plagued by high levels of unemployment. Fighting Unemployment critically assesses the widely accepted view that the culprit is excessive labor market regulation and overly generous welfare state benefits. The chapters include both cross-country statistical analyses and country case studies and are authored by economists from seven North American and European countries. They challenge the standard free market prescription that lower wages for less skilled workers, weaker labor unions, greater decentralization in bargaining, less generous unemployment benefits, and much less job security are necessary for good employment performance. There is little or no evidence of an equality-employment tradeoff: more wage equality is not associated with higher unemployment (or lower employment) rates. And while some recent statistical tests of the role of protective labor market institutions across the most affluent countries have been interpreted to lend support to the orthodox view and have been highly influential in both professional and policy circles, these results are shown to vary significantly across studies and to be highly sensitive to minor changes in the way the tests are run. The case study chapters suggest that good employment performance has been achieved less by shrinking the welfare state and deregulating the labor market than by effectively coordinating macroeconomic and social policies with the wage bargaining system —an achievement that requires both strong employer and union associations and a relatively stable and consensual political environment. The larger message of this book is that fundamentally different labor market models are compatible with low unemployment, ranging from the free market “American Model” to the much more regulated and coordinated Scandinavian systems.Less
Much of Europe remains plagued by high levels of unemployment. Fighting Unemployment critically assesses the widely accepted view that the culprit is excessive labor market regulation and overly generous welfare state benefits. The chapters include both cross-country statistical analyses and country case studies and are authored by economists from seven North American and European countries. They challenge the standard free market prescription that lower wages for less skilled workers, weaker labor unions, greater decentralization in bargaining, less generous unemployment benefits, and much less job security are necessary for good employment performance. There is little or no evidence of an equality-employment tradeoff: more wage equality is not associated with higher unemployment (or lower employment) rates. And while some recent statistical tests of the role of protective labor market institutions across the most affluent countries have been interpreted to lend support to the orthodox view and have been highly influential in both professional and policy circles, these results are shown to vary significantly across studies and to be highly sensitive to minor changes in the way the tests are run. The case study chapters suggest that good employment performance has been achieved less by shrinking the welfare state and deregulating the labor market than by effectively coordinating macroeconomic and social policies with the wage bargaining system —an achievement that requires both strong employer and union associations and a relatively stable and consensual political environment. The larger message of this book is that fundamentally different labor market models are compatible with low unemployment, ranging from the free market “American Model” to the much more regulated and coordinated Scandinavian systems.
John Tomasi
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691144467
- eISBN:
- 9781400842391
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691144467.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter defends a “market democratic” interpretation of justice as fairness that it calls free market fairness, with a particular focus on institutions. The discussion encompasses the difference ...
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This chapter defends a “market democratic” interpretation of justice as fairness that it calls free market fairness, with a particular focus on institutions. The discussion encompasses the difference principle, fair equality of opportunity, fair value of political liberties, and the rest of the first principle guarantee of basic liberties. Market democracy is explored in light of some secondary considerations of justice: the just savings principle, environmental justice, and duties of international aid. The chapter also examines how free market fairness interprets the component of justice as fairness in question and how that interpretation compares to John Rawls' social democratic interpretation. Finally, it asks whether market democratic regimes can satisfy the distributional requirements of free market fairness.Less
This chapter defends a “market democratic” interpretation of justice as fairness that it calls free market fairness, with a particular focus on institutions. The discussion encompasses the difference principle, fair equality of opportunity, fair value of political liberties, and the rest of the first principle guarantee of basic liberties. Market democracy is explored in light of some secondary considerations of justice: the just savings principle, environmental justice, and duties of international aid. The chapter also examines how free market fairness interprets the component of justice as fairness in question and how that interpretation compares to John Rawls' social democratic interpretation. Finally, it asks whether market democratic regimes can satisfy the distributional requirements of free market fairness.
Leif Lewin
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198277255
- eISBN:
- 9780191599774
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198277253.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The final chapter of the book draws conclusions and implications from the evidence presented in previous chapters that public interest seems to be of greater importance in democratic politics than ...
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The final chapter of the book draws conclusions and implications from the evidence presented in previous chapters that public interest seems to be of greater importance in democratic politics than self‐interest. Analysing collective rationality, the public‐choice theory maintains the notion that realization of collective choice often brings about ‘unfortunate and unintended consequences’, thus suggesting that more self‐regulatory, privately owned free‐market economy can solve many problems, providing individuals better opportunities to reach their goals. As an alternative, drawing on such classics of political philosophy as Rousseau, Kant, and Hume, as well as on insights of iterative games of ‘Prisoner Dilemma’, Leif Lewin describes concepts of welfare state, social contract, and common good. Upholding the belief that the man is a rational human being, who endeavours to realize his preferences, the author maintains that these preferences need not be egoistic in nature and calls political scientists not to deny the findings of their own empirical research. He concludes that for the most part the man tries to further the public interest in politics, assuming that in the long run such policies are also to his own benefit.Less
The final chapter of the book draws conclusions and implications from the evidence presented in previous chapters that public interest seems to be of greater importance in democratic politics than self‐interest. Analysing collective rationality, the public‐choice theory maintains the notion that realization of collective choice often brings about ‘unfortunate and unintended consequences’, thus suggesting that more self‐regulatory, privately owned free‐market economy can solve many problems, providing individuals better opportunities to reach their goals. As an alternative, drawing on such classics of political philosophy as Rousseau, Kant, and Hume, as well as on insights of iterative games of ‘Prisoner Dilemma’, Leif Lewin describes concepts of welfare state, social contract, and common good. Upholding the belief that the man is a rational human being, who endeavours to realize his preferences, the author maintains that these preferences need not be egoistic in nature and calls political scientists not to deny the findings of their own empirical research. He concludes that for the most part the man tries to further the public interest in politics, assuming that in the long run such policies are also to his own benefit.
David Gauthier
- Published in print:
- 1987
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198249924
- eISBN:
- 9780191597497
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198249926.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Economics celebrates an ideal of interaction free from all constraint, an ideal found in the perfectly competitive market, where equilibrium and optimality coincide. Morality can then be thought of ...
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Economics celebrates an ideal of interaction free from all constraint, an ideal found in the perfectly competitive market, where equilibrium and optimality coincide. Morality can then be thought of as arising from market failure; the perfect market itself operates as a morally free zone, because the only behaviour it makes possible excludes those features of natural interaction that prevent individuals, each acting to maximize his own utility, from achieving optimality. We examine the conditions for market success—individual factor endowments, free individual activity, private goods, mutual unconcern, and the absence of all externalities—showing that these extend the freedom of the solitary individual to the context of interaction, and exclude all free‐riding, parasitism, and any form of partiality. But we note that the initial factor endowment of each person, taken as a given in market interaction, is itself subject to rational and moral scrutiny (a matter examined in Ch. 7). The chapter concludes with a discussion of utilitarian and Marxist objections to the market, both of which we reject.Less
Economics celebrates an ideal of interaction free from all constraint, an ideal found in the perfectly competitive market, where equilibrium and optimality coincide. Morality can then be thought of as arising from market failure; the perfect market itself operates as a morally free zone, because the only behaviour it makes possible excludes those features of natural interaction that prevent individuals, each acting to maximize his own utility, from achieving optimality. We examine the conditions for market success—individual factor endowments, free individual activity, private goods, mutual unconcern, and the absence of all externalities—showing that these extend the freedom of the solitary individual to the context of interaction, and exclude all free‐riding, parasitism, and any form of partiality. But we note that the initial factor endowment of each person, taken as a given in market interaction, is itself subject to rational and moral scrutiny (a matter examined in Ch. 7). The chapter concludes with a discussion of utilitarian and Marxist objections to the market, both of which we reject.
Kimberly J. Morgan and Andrea Louise Campbell
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199730346
- eISBN:
- 9780199918447
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730346.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter examines the ideational and political movements advocating market-based forms of delegated governance since the 1970s. In part, the embrace of marketizing reforms reflected the ...
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This chapter examines the ideational and political movements advocating market-based forms of delegated governance since the 1970s. In part, the embrace of marketizing reforms reflected the refinement of ideas about the inefficient and oppressive nature of government as juxtaposed with the dynamism, efficiency, and liberating qualities of markets and individual choice. Some conservative and centrist policy-makers also believed the American state was inherently weak—a self-fulfilling prophecy given their longstanding resistance to building effective bureaucratic capacity at the federal level. In a context of rising health care costs, some policy-makers sought ways to make private insurers do the tough work of disciplining health care interests, delegating to these non-governmental authorities responsibility for meting out pain to medical providers. We trace this impulse through the push for allowing HMOs to administer Medicare benefits; the gathering enthusiasm for managed competition and the Clinton health care reform effort of 1993/94; proposals that emerged in the 1990s for complete Medicare voucherization; and the movement for Health Savings Accounts.Less
This chapter examines the ideational and political movements advocating market-based forms of delegated governance since the 1970s. In part, the embrace of marketizing reforms reflected the refinement of ideas about the inefficient and oppressive nature of government as juxtaposed with the dynamism, efficiency, and liberating qualities of markets and individual choice. Some conservative and centrist policy-makers also believed the American state was inherently weak—a self-fulfilling prophecy given their longstanding resistance to building effective bureaucratic capacity at the federal level. In a context of rising health care costs, some policy-makers sought ways to make private insurers do the tough work of disciplining health care interests, delegating to these non-governmental authorities responsibility for meting out pain to medical providers. We trace this impulse through the push for allowing HMOs to administer Medicare benefits; the gathering enthusiasm for managed competition and the Clinton health care reform effort of 1993/94; proposals that emerged in the 1990s for complete Medicare voucherization; and the movement for Health Savings Accounts.
David Brady
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195385878
- eISBN:
- 9780199870066
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195385878.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
While liberal economics exerts great influence in poverty debates, systematic evaluations of the approach have rarely been undertaken. In particular, few have articulated the core precepts of the ...
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While liberal economics exerts great influence in poverty debates, systematic evaluations of the approach have rarely been undertaken. In particular, few have articulated the core precepts of the liberal economic explanation of poverty, demonstrated its coherence, and subjected it to empirical scrutiny. This chapter reviews the core elements of the liberal economics of poverty by identifying strands in classic and contemporary liberals and recent social science and policy developments. Liberal economics can be distilled to a set of four theoretical precepts: harmonious progress, free market capitalism, human capital and worker productivity, and supply and demand. Next, the chapter operationalizes each of the tenets of liberal economics and conducts an empirical analysis of affluent Western democracies. In the process, this book compares the empirical performance of liberal economics against institutionalized power relations theory. Ultimately, based on these results and others' findings, liberal economics is critiqued and institutionalized power relations theory is advocated as a superior explanation of poverty.Less
While liberal economics exerts great influence in poverty debates, systematic evaluations of the approach have rarely been undertaken. In particular, few have articulated the core precepts of the liberal economic explanation of poverty, demonstrated its coherence, and subjected it to empirical scrutiny. This chapter reviews the core elements of the liberal economics of poverty by identifying strands in classic and contemporary liberals and recent social science and policy developments. Liberal economics can be distilled to a set of four theoretical precepts: harmonious progress, free market capitalism, human capital and worker productivity, and supply and demand. Next, the chapter operationalizes each of the tenets of liberal economics and conducts an empirical analysis of affluent Western democracies. In the process, this book compares the empirical performance of liberal economics against institutionalized power relations theory. Ultimately, based on these results and others' findings, liberal economics is critiqued and institutionalized power relations theory is advocated as a superior explanation of poverty.
Ian Simpson Ross
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198288213
- eISBN:
- 9780191596827
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198288212.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, History of Economic Thought
Adam Smith (1723–90) was a Scottish moral philosopher, famous for writing the Wealth of Nations (WN: 1776), widely regarded as one of the foundation works of free‐market economics. He also ...
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Adam Smith (1723–90) was a Scottish moral philosopher, famous for writing the Wealth of Nations (WN: 1776), widely regarded as one of the foundation works of free‐market economics. He also contributed notably to ethics with his Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS: 1759, 6th edn. 1790). The Introduction summarizes the biography, which depicts the personality and experience behind these books; their origin in studies at Glasgow and Oxford; then his teaching at Edinburgh and Glasgow; and their matrix in the cultural ferment of the Scottish Enlightenment, with its attention both to moral and natural science. The era of economic growth of Britain and political revolution in America and France is sketched in the background. Smith's legacy for legislators that the establishment of perfect justice, liberty, and equality is the ‘very simple secret,’ which secures prosperity for all, is presented as an ethical as well as economic ideal.Less
Adam Smith (1723–90) was a Scottish moral philosopher, famous for writing the Wealth of Nations (WN: 1776), widely regarded as one of the foundation works of free‐market economics. He also contributed notably to ethics with his Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS: 1759, 6th edn. 1790). The Introduction summarizes the biography, which depicts the personality and experience behind these books; their origin in studies at Glasgow and Oxford; then his teaching at Edinburgh and Glasgow; and their matrix in the cultural ferment of the Scottish Enlightenment, with its attention both to moral and natural science. The era of economic growth of Britain and political revolution in America and France is sketched in the background. Smith's legacy for legislators that the establishment of perfect justice, liberty, and equality is the ‘very simple secret,’ which secures prosperity for all, is presented as an ethical as well as economic ideal.
Wilfred Beckerman and Joanna Pasek
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199245086
- eISBN:
- 9780191598784
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199245088.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
Generations are not homogeneous entities and are composed of individuals and nations that have conflicting interests in the way in which resources are allocated among competing uses. This chapter ...
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Generations are not homogeneous entities and are composed of individuals and nations that have conflicting interests in the way in which resources are allocated among competing uses. This chapter discusses whether ‘the environment’, or ‘nature’, should enjoy special status in any allocation; whether the economist's approach is too anthropocentric; the concept of ‘intrinsic’ values; and the application of these concepts to environmental valuation. It is argued that while many environmental assets are ‘public goods’, so that the free market is unlikely to supply the socially optimal amount, the same applies to many other things, such as public health or education services or the arts, not to mention the fact that most people in the world are, anyway, in dire need of a simple increase in their ability to buy simple basic private goods. This means that the allocation of resources to environmental objectives ought to take into account some form of cost‐benefit analysis.Less
Generations are not homogeneous entities and are composed of individuals and nations that have conflicting interests in the way in which resources are allocated among competing uses. This chapter discusses whether ‘the environment’, or ‘nature’, should enjoy special status in any allocation; whether the economist's approach is too anthropocentric; the concept of ‘intrinsic’ values; and the application of these concepts to environmental valuation. It is argued that while many environmental assets are ‘public goods’, so that the free market is unlikely to supply the socially optimal amount, the same applies to many other things, such as public health or education services or the arts, not to mention the fact that most people in the world are, anyway, in dire need of a simple increase in their ability to buy simple basic private goods. This means that the allocation of resources to environmental objectives ought to take into account some form of cost‐benefit analysis.
Thomas F. Farr
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195179958
- eISBN:
- 9780199869749
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195179958.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter examines how a more realistic and historically accurate understanding of religion and democracy can increase the effectiveness of U.S. foreign policy in influencing the natural desire of ...
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This chapter examines how a more realistic and historically accurate understanding of religion and democracy can increase the effectiveness of U.S. foreign policy in influencing the natural desire of peoples for freedom. It begins with a discussion of the nature of democracy and what makes it stable and lasting. It asks how and why U.S. diplomacy has ignored the connections between religion and democracy, and how the deficit might be remedied. It surveys America's understanding of religion at the founding and beyond. It describes concepts vital to a refurbishing of American diplomacy in an age of faith: religious pluralism and the free market, the “twin tolerations,” and social and spiritual capital. It analyzes the history of Protestant and Catholic experiences with liberal governance and provides insights into the larger question of how religious societies might accommodate themselves to democracy.Less
This chapter examines how a more realistic and historically accurate understanding of religion and democracy can increase the effectiveness of U.S. foreign policy in influencing the natural desire of peoples for freedom. It begins with a discussion of the nature of democracy and what makes it stable and lasting. It asks how and why U.S. diplomacy has ignored the connections between religion and democracy, and how the deficit might be remedied. It surveys America's understanding of religion at the founding and beyond. It describes concepts vital to a refurbishing of American diplomacy in an age of faith: religious pluralism and the free market, the “twin tolerations,” and social and spiritual capital. It analyzes the history of Protestant and Catholic experiences with liberal governance and provides insights into the larger question of how religious societies might accommodate themselves to democracy.
William Bain
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199260263
- eISBN:
- 9780191600975
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199260265.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
On 1 Nov 1994, the UN Trusteeship Council voted to suspend operations after Palau, the last remaining trust territory, attained independence. The sovereign state has emerged out of decolonization as ...
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On 1 Nov 1994, the UN Trusteeship Council voted to suspend operations after Palau, the last remaining trust territory, attained independence. The sovereign state has emerged out of decolonization as the supreme form of political organization in post‐colonial international society—an international society in which dominions, colonies, principalities, free cities, and, of course, mandates and trust territories have all but vanished. However, the ostensible failure of this post‐colonial project—the fact that the promise of peace and prosperity held out by independent statehood is too often betrayed by appalling violence and absolute poverty—has reinvigorated interest in trusteeship as a way of responding to problems of international disorder and injustice. The purpose of this chapter is threefold: first, it examines the principal dilemma of decolonization that has resulted in a renewed interest in trusteeship; second, it considers this renewed interest in trusteeship in the context of international involvement in administering Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and, until recently, East Timor; third, it reflects upon the normative implications that a resurrected practice of trusteeship carries for a society of states that is premised on the juridical equality of all its members. The five sections of the chapter are: The False Promise of post‐Colonial Independence; Innovation and Convention—the case for trusteeship in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and East Timor; The New International Legitimacy—the resurrection of trusteeship; A Universal Society of States?; and Answering the Call of Humanity.Less
On 1 Nov 1994, the UN Trusteeship Council voted to suspend operations after Palau, the last remaining trust territory, attained independence. The sovereign state has emerged out of decolonization as the supreme form of political organization in post‐colonial international society—an international society in which dominions, colonies, principalities, free cities, and, of course, mandates and trust territories have all but vanished. However, the ostensible failure of this post‐colonial project—the fact that the promise of peace and prosperity held out by independent statehood is too often betrayed by appalling violence and absolute poverty—has reinvigorated interest in trusteeship as a way of responding to problems of international disorder and injustice. The purpose of this chapter is threefold: first, it examines the principal dilemma of decolonization that has resulted in a renewed interest in trusteeship; second, it considers this renewed interest in trusteeship in the context of international involvement in administering Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and, until recently, East Timor; third, it reflects upon the normative implications that a resurrected practice of trusteeship carries for a society of states that is premised on the juridical equality of all its members. The five sections of the chapter are: The False Promise of post‐Colonial Independence; Innovation and Convention—the case for trusteeship in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and East Timor; The New International Legitimacy—the resurrection of trusteeship; A Universal Society of States?; and Answering the Call of Humanity.
