Search

The article discusses economic policies of agencies of the Federal government of the United States. The use by the federal government of semi-autonomous corporations and agencies to accomplish certain quasi-commercial tasks has always been controversial. Many of the quasi-commercial and revenue-producing operations of government should be put in the hands of semi-independent, self-financing agencies and kept completely out of the unified Federal budget. This would reduce the size of the budget and, since the expenditures thus made extra-budgetary would very probably exceed the revenues similarly affected, it would also make for a budget surplus. Administratively, there seem to be some major drawbacks to the extra-budgetary idea in general and to the security issuing process in particular. Unfortunate effects on the government securities market may occur when issues are allowed to reach the market from several sources. When the extra-budgetary paper is sold to about the same group of investors as the regular Treasury issues, a certain element of competition could arise. Real financial independence for an agency of the Federal government seems unlikely.

The article focuses on the book "A World Fit for People," by Adam Smith. This is a collection of 55 essays presents by academics, practicing experts on economic development an government officials at the second Round Table Conference on Global Change held at Bucharest Romania in 1992. The book has four parts: Political Reconstruction, Economic Development, Ecological Values and Countries in Transition. Part 1 create a base for broader policy questions faced by world community and stress the importance of political and governmental institution building in order to make it possible for societies to function in the interest of their people. Part 2 is on Economic Development. There are papers on economic policy and its underlying models and on international aid in support of development. The role of government in investment, in infrastructure, creation and management of public enterprises, providing and enforcing rules and regulations on private enterprises and other interventions in the economy 15 found to have helped the developing countries temporarily in the 1950s and 1960s.

This is essentially an exploration of the available information on the effects of natural disasters on Third World agriculture. These effects are a powerful partial explanation of the lack of agricultural self-sufficiency in a large number of low income countries; and consequently go some way in explaining the occurrence of hunger and poverty in such countries. The paper argues for the systematic collection of economic data on disasters and its analysis and for the establishment of agricultural planning mechanisms in natural disaster- prone developing countries, to mitigate the adverse effects of such disasters. The mechanisms should be linked to national development planning. The paper also sets out the need for international action on a continuing basis in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on Japan's entrance into the international financial community. A money economy although a primitive one, existed for several centuries before the post-1868 breakthrough into a modern economic society. Rice brokerage thus became an essential feature of this mixed economy--and here the merchants were in their glory, for by wielding the tremendous resources they had accumulated by catering to the needs of the free-spending upper classes they were able to profit from the wild speculative gyrations in the rice market, to the distress of the moneys income townspeople as prices went up and to the distress of the rice-income nobles and peasants as prices went down. Paper money came into wide circulation after the seventeenth century, when the daimyo, who were generally forbidden by the Shogunate to mint coins, began to resort to the printing presses to meet their expenses. Some issues had sound backing arid were accepted outside the territories of the issuing authorities, but the majority were issued recklessly and were thus practically worthless.

The article presents a discussion on immigration into Australia after the Second World War. Between 1947 and 1956, over one million immigrants arrived in Australia. This represents an average annual increase of about 1.1 per cent in the total population of the continent. With the exception of Israel, the rate at which these immigrants poured in was the highest of any country. Sustained immigration, plus the equally fast natural growth of about 1.3 per cent annually, should result in a total population of 10 million in about 1960. In 1946, similar to Great Britain's White Paper on full employment, the Commonwealth government of Australia issued its White Paper on Employment. This paper established high and stable employment as the principal objective of economic policy. The original immigration policy has hardly at all been considered in relation to the full employment goal of the Welfare State. In fact, economic motivation became prominent only after humanitarian and national defense reasons of the early post-war Operation Welcome more or less ran out.

A panel of distinguished experts discuss the linkages (if any) between monetary policy and the personality of the nation's central banker. Why is the personality of a central banker important to monetary stability and financial leadership? What follows is a written edited version of the short papers that were presented at this panel. The panel was held in Olin Auditorium on Tuesday, April 25, 2006, as part of the Carpenter Lecture Series at Babson College. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT. This paper brings to note for the historical record a facet of Reaganomics with a mercantilist hue. In particular, it is an examination of President Ronald Reagan's 1985 speech, “U.S. Trade Policy: Free and Fair Trade,” President Reagan's major statement on trade policy. The address is shown to have been largely a retaliatory mercantilist tract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines and compares, in both historical and theoretical perspectives, Hayek’s and Schumpeter’s accounts of the role played by banks and credit in their respective explanations of business cycles. The first section is focused on the common inheritance of these two authors, which can be traced back to Wicksell, going from Mises whose Theory of Money and Credit provides, as we shall see, a crucial link in this perspective. The following two sections deal with Hayek’s and Schumpeter’s respective accounts as well as critical reconstruction of this tradition. A close examination of their respective treatments of the banking system and its effects on economic productive structures then allows us to see in a new light the theoretical question of the impact of credit on economic dynamics and its related policy proposals. The last section is dedicated to a comparison between Hayek’s and Schumpeter’s views of the dynamics of monetary economies and their corresponding policy issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents to the English-speaking reader a sample of material contained only in Schumpeter’s first German edition (1911) of Theorie der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung, material subsequently omitted from later German editions and from the English translation. The newly-translated material, presented here for the first time in English, comprises a substantial part of the second chapter, only available in a completely rewritten version, and fully half of the famous seventh chapter, which has not been previously available at all in English. This material merits attention today because it contains remarkable and farsighted visions on economic theory that may inspire current efforts to devise models of economic and social evolution. In order to better appreciate the original text, we briefly introduce the “background” to Theorie and its revisions, briefly describing the social and intellectual environment of the time. We then discuss how the entrepreneur evolved over the three editions of Theorie (from 1911 to 1934) in view of the shift in Schumpeter’s personal and intellectual life and outline the most important implications raised by the first German edition of 1911. Finally, we use Schumpeter’s own statements to settle the obstinate confusion on the publication year of Theorie in favour of the year 1911. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with two issues. By linking culture and political systems, we develop alternatives to the "Developmental State" approach and propose, among other types, the "Bureaucratic State" for explaining the case of Japan. We extend the Laffont-Tirole (L-T) model of regulatory capture and propose a "bureaucratic capture" model. Variations of capture are shown to apply, given particular cultural predispositions. The case of atomic energy in Japan and the United States is then studied to assess the predictive efficacy of the extended L-T model. We conclude that cultural predispositions and the corresponding state types affect the degree to which capture takes place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last two decades there has been a flourishing of writings on the methodological approach of Keynes. Whereas broad interpretations of Keynes's work may have a role to play for future economics the main argument of this paper is to propose a return to the theoretical foundations of a truly Keynesian economics. In the main economic writings of Keynes it is possible to discern a body of beliefs, which is (a) consistent in its own terms and (b) susceptible of being used in the explanation of different realities. That body of beliefs is grounded on (1) the principle of non-neutrality of choice and (2) the principle of non-neutrality of money. Both principles were essential parts of the core of Keynes's A Treatise on Money (1930) and The General Theory (1936), and should be used as foundation for future development of Keynesian economics at the methodological as well as at the theoretical level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT. Since 1992, the rhetoric of Russian economic reformers has been one of full-speed ahead to a free-market economy. The reality, however, has diverged significantly from this rhetoric at both a broad "rules of the game" level and specific "policy within rules" level. The resulting ambiguity of the economic environment and the lingering effects of the previous system which is supposed to be reformed has led to a continued deterioration of the Russian economy. This paper offers a modified defense of "shock therapy" as a path to a cure for Russia's economic malaise, as opposed to the cure itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper scrutinizes the case for an Independent European System of Central Banks (IESCB) Proposals for JESCB are based on some specific interrelated theoretical propositions upon which we cast some doubt The case for an IESCB is rejected on the grounds that it would worsen the performance of the real economy We propose different arrangements, which are focused on high levels of employment throughout the European Union as the prime objective Such a scenario, which emphasizes full employment and requires coordination among member countries in terms of economic policy, will avoid most, if not all, of the problems of the IESCB proposals. The alternative would thus be better able to tackle the unemployment problems of the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On December 8, 1993 President Bill Clinton signed into law the North American Free Trade Agreement and in doing so he brought to a close the lengthy political process that produced the trade agreement This paper combines information for individual legislators with state-level economic data to conduct an empirical analysis of the House and Senate voting patterns on NAFTA Results from the logit model estimation confirm that expected job gains/ losses, the presence of organized labor and political ideology (as represented by political party) were significant predictors of a legislator's vote on NAFTA In addition, the expected impact of NAFTA on the environment was found to be somewhat important in explaining Congressional voting patterns for a free trade agreement with Mexico [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The general stereotype of modern Third World military regimes is that of ultra-conservativism combined with military force to dismantle organizations of popular expression. These organizations through their rent-seeking activities are assumed to have reduced overall rates of economic growth. Empirically, the paper does find some support for this line of argument. However, it is apparent that the traditional stereotypes are inappropriate. The two regime types differ largely in terms of contrasting styles of economic management. Military regimes create an environment where military expenditures tend to have a positive overall impact on economic growth. Civilian regimes having less control over rent seeking groups do not appear to be able to combine rent seeking activities and military expenditures in a manner conducive to overall economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is common agreement that Mexico's industrialization period was helped by a protective commercial policy, there has been little testing of this hypothesis. This paper investigates the possibility that Mexico may have used her changing tariff postures not to provide aid for her growing industries but rather to improve either her terms of trade, her revenues or her balance of payments during the 1930-1965 period. The research shows that except for isolated instances none of the individual arguments examined, nor their combination, could explain Mexico's tariff policy. It is therefore concluded that tariffs for protection were employed to achieve industrial development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on functional finance and the banking system. The article reports that it has become a commonplace to assert that fiscal policy, monetary policy, and debt management constitute a unified whole and must work together rather than at cross purposes. Unfortunately, such statements are usually limited to footnotes appended to the main body of an argument devoted primarily to the merits, faults or complexities of some one particular member of the triumvirate. The notable exception to this practice of giving individual consideration to the neglect of the ways in which the policies necessarily impinge upon each other is "functional finance," as espoused by Professor A. P. Lerner. Peculiarly, however, Lerner completely ignores the role of the banking system in the execution of his policy recommendations. The purpose of the present paper is to amplify the formal concept of functional finance by relating the framework suggested by Lerner to the banking system through which it must necessarily be implemented.

The article presents a note from the authors in which they say that in the following series of papers they shall deal with those parts of the Arab world in the Middle Eastern countries and with the Jewish economy in Palestine, taking into consideration the conformity and divergence of the features of the economic development of these countries. Neither from the political point of view nor from the economic aspect do the Arabs form, in the present historical era, a unity or a whole. The Arabs lead their national life in many countries, each of them characterized by distinct politico-economic or socio-cultural traits in accordance with the prevailing conditions of production in the mentioned countries. Simultaneously and parallel to the Pan-Arabic trends, there are also centrifugal trends, which with varying conditions in the various countries are growing and developing, particularly in Egypt, Syria, and in Lebanon. In the authors' opinion, the result of the struggle between the centrifugal and centripetal trends in the countries of the Middle East will largely depend on whether in each of these countries there will be created specific economic centres with an attractive force of their own essentially different from one another or the issue in question may ultimately depend on whether the economic ties between these countries will have been developed and fostered to such an extent as to create an economic centre in common, round which all the sectors of the Middle East economy will be grouped.

Japan's economy was predominantly agrarian, farmers being outranked only by warriors among the four traditional classes of society, with artisans below them and merchants at the very bottom. Land was held in customary tenure, the largest holdings by 250 daimyos (feudal lords), each with his retinue of dependent samurai. Rents and taxes were paid in kind by peasant cultivators. From the standpoint of social justice, the assessment formula embodied in the Land Tax Revision Act was severely flawed, in that it gave landlords a tax advantage over owner- cultivators. This was not the intention of the technocrats who devised it, for they had no personal bias toward landlordism. Despite periodic land reforms, Japan's only real experience with land-value taxation was in the early decades of the Meiji Restoration. Because it relied on a technically flawed assessment formula and failed to allow for lean years, the tax unintentionally favored absentee landlordism and caused great hardship and loss to small working farmers. Political realities make it unlikely that the government will soon cease its futile tinkering with short-term palliatives, and instead institute a perfected version of the program that could have given the nation economic justice and stability as well as dynamism had it been correctly implemented.

The federal government began to manage American agriculture in the 1930s as a way of alleviating the economic plight of farmers during the Great Depression The various programs of the New Deal set up the mechanism for both curtailing production and storing agricultural surpluses During World War II, these same mechanisms were used to increase the supply of food and fiber Before 1948, the Truman administration sought to cut back federal subsidies, but reversed this policy due to campaign promises The Eisenhower administration initiated a change in farm policy aimed at promoting a free market orientation Subsequent Republican presidents have built upon this by seeking the free trade of agricultural commodities on a world scale [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agreement is general that the U.S. budget deficit of the Reagan administrations is a national disaster. The supply side and Laffer curve economics of Mr. Reagan and his advisers have proved totally fallacious. Draconian monetary policy curbed the inflation. But most of the negative charges against the deficit have also proved wrong. The U.S. is not a 'debtor country.' The purchasing power pumped into the economy may have mitigated the crisis in major U.S. industries. The real Issue in the budget deficit debate is how big a share in the economy should the Federal Government have and should it be financed by taxation or borrowing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Committee on Taxation, Resources and Economic Development, a group of American fiscal economists, commemorated the centenary of the publication of Henry George's classic, Progress and Poverty, with a conference re- ported in the book, Land Value Taxation. It raises, typically from a variety of perspectives, the major issues engendered by George's analysis and policy recommendations. Economists who are at least open-minded on George recognize him as a true progressive, a believer in the distribution of income in accordance with productive contribution and a convincing advocate of the social appropriation of economic rent on scientific and moral grounds. George was fundamentally correct in the idea that some form of land value taxation is an especially suitable mode of financing government, though the notion that this could be the single tax is and was unrealistic, The case for this as a cure for poverty is substantially exaggerated but it would remove one source of economic inequality. George, like Edward Bellamy, in promoting equality of opportunity rallied public support for the long-developing movement for pluralist economic democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social scientists and philosophers are engaged in a pro- found re-examination of the foundations of economic science. Among them the economist, Adolph Lowe, opened a new vista. First, in his Economics and Sociology: A Plea for Cooperation in the Social Sciences (1935) he argued compellingly for a unified social science. Lowe introduced there the concept of "instrumental analysis" which he greatly modified in On Economic Knowledge (1965) and applied to a major issue of contemporary economics in The Path of Economic Growth (1976). Instrumental analysis is intended to achieve a system of "political economics," a theory for deriving one or more paths-a sequence of positions-over which an initial state of an economy can be transformed into a terminal state-a goal itself stipulated by political decision. Instrumental analysis is also used to determine measures of public control to achieve the behavioral pattern suitable to set and keep the system on the goal-adequate trajectory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extension of coastal State jurisdiction to 200-nautical miles-a `fact of international law' about to receive juridical status-would lead to a unique situation in the ownership of ocean resources, viz. 15 coastal states would receive among them approximately 42 percent of the world's 200-mile economic zone area. At least 8 of these countries are less-developed coastal states (LDCS) which lack the key factors, capital, technology and managerial skill, necessary to tap these resources. As a result, the reliance of the LDCS on marine multinational corporations will markedly increase since a significant part of marine technology exists in the private sector. Concurrently, a dramatic rise in the control of coastal states over MNCs engaged in ocean resource development will occur. Thus, under the new regime of ocean resource management, the relationship between MNCs and Nation-States is likely to be one of constructive partnership in development, rather than one of conflict and discord. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is informed that one of the most notable recent trends in American historiography has been the development of a pluralistic causal explanation of the Progressive Era. This new direction is the result of scholarly dissatisfaction with earlier monocausal treatments, including the "status revolution" thesis and the contrasting themes of corporate and urban liberalism. The historian's traditional criteria for evaluating political influence would be admittedly inappropriate if applied to those insurgents who repudiated conventional approaches and sought instead to implement more radical programs. One such progressive was George Lawrence Record whose career as a contributor and activist in numerous reform causes over four decades prompted the New York Times to describe him as "New Jersey's outstanding liberal in major party politics." Ransom E. Noble Jr., the pioneer historian of New Jersey progressivism, has done much in attracting scholarly attention to Record's struggle for political and economic reform.

This article focuses on the adequacy of the growth record of the American economy in recent years. Within the past several years the question of whether or not the economy is advancing at a rapid enough pace has become a matter of serious interest to the general public as well as the economic specialist. This is true to such an extent that the economy's allegedly inadequate growth rate became one of the major issues in the 1960 presidential election campaign. The question of the adequacy of the growth performance of the American economy has been brought forcefully to public attention from a number of responsible and professionally competent sources. The central question in any discussion of the adequacy of the growth record of the economy is that of criteria. Evidence based upon per capita data rather than growth rates suggests that the economy's performance from 1944 through 1960 was relatively unsatisfactory. Real gains of sizable proportions were recorded in living standards as reflected in per capita consumption outlays, but the primary source of such gains was not the sustained growth iii the economy as a whole, but a large-scale shift in the end-use of the nation's total output. As the 1950's drew to a close, however, the possibilities of further progress in living standards from this particular source were becoming exhausted. The same holds for any future increases in the other major components of the output total, particularly investment outlays. In retrospect, therefore, the era 1945-1960 was primarily one in which the fruits of the economy's massive ware tune surge of growth were adapted to peacetime uses. It was not, an era of satisfactory growth.

This article presents information on institutional economics. This conception of institutionalism seems to imply a fatal disjunction between theory and the study of the actualities of a particular economic system. The dispute between institutional economics and standard economics is reduced to one over description vs. theory. Those standard economists who are more charitably inclined feel that the conflict can be resolved by an inexpensive shotgun wedding of theory and description. If this formulation of the conflict is an accurate one, this would seem to be a logical resolution. The time and energy now wasted in useless conflict could be put to work in the major endeavor of the economist -- the analysis of those patterns of economic behavior which in their totality compose an economic system. But to many institutionalists this does not seem to be a satisfactory statement of the issues which divide the parties to the dispute. The dispute seems to rage over the meaning of the word "institutional." For the confusion on this point both the standard economists and the institutionalists must bear some responsibility. Despite the pride in the rigor with which the standard economist defines his terms, his conception of institution has been unusually vague and lacking in rigor. It may be unfair to accuse the standard economist of any absence of rigor in the use of "institutions" because the loose use of this term seems to be a general condition in all of the social sciences.

The article discusses the general institutionalist theory of economic development. Joseph A. Schumpeter's theory of economic development, which attributes paramount importance to the role of the entrepreneur and identifies entrepreneurial activity as the dynamic force responsible for economic development, is an incomplete statement of a special case encompassed within the general institutionalist theory. Schumpeter is the author of the book "The Theory of Economic Development." More specifically with regard to the charge of incompleteness, the Schumpeterian theory provides no real explanation of the nature or role of technological change in economic development. The proposition that the Schumpeterian theory deals with a special case can also be made specific. When first published, the Schumpeterian theory was admittedly an attempt to explain economic development in a commercially organized state, one in which private property, division of labor, and free competition prevail. In view of the special assumptions on which the Schumpeterian theory rests, it is inadequate when offered as a basis for policies to be followed by so-called under-developed or backward areas.

The article discusses the differential impact of grants-in-aid upon the industry of the states of the United States. The differential impact of grants-in-aid upon the economies of the states is a perennial issue. Although considerable interest in such a question may be generated on the basis of purely selfish interests, there are aspects to the matter which might well attract the attention of those with broader objectives. For example, a grant-in-aid may provide essential services but may do so in such a way as to encourage the use of resources where their productivity is less than it could be. To know whether or not such fiscal pressures on resources exists would help responsible policy makers to improve over-all economic well being. It is likely that the grants-in-aid financing puts some interstate pressure upon industry, because grants-in-aid always involve the use of one completely general financial system and forty-eight different and partial financial systems. Such a plan of finance leads to differences on the cost or tax burden side for an industrial establishment which sells its output in competition with similar products produced by industry in other states.

The article comments on ten essays on the industrialization of Turkey. In a useful introduction the editor, Fikret Senses, summarizes the papers and discusses the important shift of emphasis in Turkish economic policy towards export-oriented industrialization (EOI) during the 1980s. This shift encompasses a change from import-substituting industrialization to EOI accompanied by a stabilization and structural adjustment program. The first three chapters make the volume more comprehensive by going beyond the Turkish case. The subsequent seven chapters analyze the Turkish industrialization experience by comparing the pre-1980 to post 1980 macroeconomic policies. The manufacturing sector, with specific emphasis on trucking, textile and clothing, is also analyzed in some detail.

Post Keynesian economics has two complementary theories of crisis that were used to predict the 2007 crisis and diagnose its causes: Minsky's financial instability hypothesis and Godley's stock-flow-consistent approach. Both theories take a monetary perspective on capitalism and argue that the dynamics of private debt caused the crisis. As well as explaining the crisis and enabling its occurrence (though not precise timing) to be predicted, both theories imply that the current recovery will be short-lived because the underlying cause of the last crisis has not been addressed by subsequent economic policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the impact of two important socio-economic variables-urbanization and industrialization-on energy consumption in a panel of emerging economies. The results indicate that income increases energy consumption in both the long run and the short run. In the long run, urbanization decreases energy consumption, while industrialization increases it. Long-run dynamics are important as evidenced by the estimated coefficient on the error correction term. These results have implications for sustainable development. Economic growth policies designed to increase income and industrialization will increase energy consumption. Since most energy needs in emerging economies are currently met by the burning of fossil fuels, economic growth and industrialization policies will be at odds with sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the differences between mainstream and heterodox economists based on the responses to a questionnaire from a representative sample of Italian economists. Using different definitions for mainstream and heterodox economics, we compare the individual and academic characteristics of the economists belonging to these groups. We measure the within and between disagreement for each group and we test whether belonging to one or the other group predicts differences in economists' opinions on economic policy. Results show that: 1) mainstream and heterodox economists differ as to individual and academic characteristics and political views; 2) the disagreement within heterodox economics is lower than within mainstream economics; 3) some of commonly used ways of grouping heterodox and mainstream schools of thought have little explicative power in relation to individual opinions; 4) on critical economic policies, the opinions of heterodox and mainstream economists are significantly different even after controlling for a number of individual characteristics, including political opinions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the evolution of the welfare system in Hungary and Latvia since the early 1990s. We identify the main components of social protection and investigate whether they have shifted. We find evidence of significant changes, but not of a definite and major shift. Rather, we argue that various benefits have evolved differently. In general, reforms tend to recombine (rather than replace) specific components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on fiscal policies is paying increasing attention to the impact of the composition of public expenditures on long-term economic growth. Public policy endogenous growth models recommend to change the composition of public expenditures to items considered productive expenditures. In this sense, European institutions are encouraging the rise in the share of productive outlays like public investments, R&D, and active labor market policies, among others. The article analyzes whether these recommendations are followed by European Union countries and whether a convergence to a new pattern of public finances with a higher share of those items considered productive expenditures by European institutions is arising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why did the Iranian government push its economy towards Dutch disease, even when the consensus of Iranian economists and the majority of the media warned about the consequences of the adopted policies and the symptoms of economic illness? This study shows that Iranian Dutch disease occurred between 2006 and 2009 when a combination of favorable socioeconomic incentives and affirmative structural-cultural backgrounds, including public acceptance of redistributive policies, short-term perspectives of life and the development process, institutionalized obedience, and the increasing general perception of corruption, led the government to neglect economists' warnings and insist on its policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public policies have become embedded with market-based mechanisms to radically transform essential goods and services markets. This article proposes a framework for empirical analysis of these markets. Key theoretical propositions are distilled to 12 distinctive properties of markets. These properties foreshadow a set of questions to interrogate a market's structure, operation, participants, behaviors, rules, and price setting to generate a substantive, realistic picture of outcomes. This 'analytical grid' of questions is applied to four Australian essential goods and services markets. The findings unequivocally demonstrate a very different picture of markets from that promulgated by mainstream neoclassical economics and public policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article evaluates critically the competing explanations for the persistence and growth of informal employment in contemporary societies. These interpret the normality of informality either through a structuralist lens as arising out of 'exclusion' from state benefits and the circuits of the modern economy or through a neo-liberal and/or post-structuralist lens as driven by the voluntary 'exit' of workers out of formal institutions and into this alternative realm. To evaluate critically the validity of these competing explanations, this article reports a 2005/6 survey of informal employment in post-socialist Ukraine. Analyzing the results of 600 face-to-face interviews, the finding is that either/or explanations need to be transcended. Informal employment is neither universally driven by exclusion nor exit. Instead, some participate mostly due to exclusion, others mostly for exit rationales, and some for a combination of the two, with different mixtures across different populations and types of informal employment. The outcome is a call to move towards more context-bound understandings of the pervasiveness of informality through greater appreciation of the heterogeneity of this sphere and how both exit and exclusion are variously entwined in different settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article evaluates Laibman's reformulation of Marxian exploitation theory, and compares it to two preference-based analyses of household time use (advanced by Becker and Hakim). Using a quantitative Marxist approach, and the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), we show profound dissatisfaction with working hours for members of dual-career households, and inequality, by gender, vis-à-vis pure consumption time. The results support exploitation-based theories of the household, and cast doubt on such preference-based theories of time use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In developing countries with high levels of corruption, people are often forced into small-business venturing or survivalist entrepreneurship because larger, more efficient firms do not exist. In developed countries, however, low corruption means that people choose entrepreneurship as a better means of innovating. In this article we use federal convictions of state and local officials and the Small Business Administration's firm formation data to test whether corruption within the United States forces some people into business venturing. We find that business venturing within the United States is caused in part by corruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most forms of macroeconomics today, whether Keynesian or monetarist, presuppose that problems of economic instability can be treated as errors in financial management. Neither fiscal nor monetary policy recognizes the existence of systemic faults in the real economy that result in overinvestment in durable capital that turns over slowly, in contrast to forms of capital that interact more frequently with land and labor. Only by removing serious distortions in microeconomic relations can macroeconomic problems be resolved. The current global economic crisis exemplifies the limitations of policies that ignore distortions in the rate of turnover of investment capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1960s, Norway lagged behind its Scandinavian neighbors in the aggregate value of economic production per capita, as it had for decades. By the 1990s, Norway had caught up with and forged ahead of Denmark and Sweden. When and why did Norway catch up? The discovery and extraction of oil in the early 1970s is usually suggested as the explanation. But oil alone cannot explain Norway’s growth, since Sachs and Warner (2001 ) show that resource gifts often reverse growth, making oil a curse, not a blessing. Moreover, there is the possibility of contracting the Dutch Disease, which involves a rapid and substantial contraction of the traded goods sector. This article explains how deliberate macroeconomic policy, the arrangement of political and economic institutions, a strong judicial system, and social norms contributed to let Norway escape the Resource Curse and the Dutch Disease for more than two decades. Intriguingly, it appears that Norway in the late 1990s may show some symptoms: Norway has experienced reversed relative growth compared to Denmark and Sweden and a contraction of industrial activity. This article explores the political economy behind this recent slowdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smith uses his analysis of bounties to form one aspect of his overall critique of the mercantile system. He stresses the fact that the system of bounties has not promoted the development of the English economy. However, Smith also stresses that, as destructive as the system of export bounties is to public welfare, these bounties are not significant enough to greatly retard the growth of the English economy, which has more to do with secure property rights and securing investors their return on their investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keynesianism continues to lose its dominance in macroeconomics. New Keynesians attempt to rescue it from irrelevance with models recognizing (1) the noninstantaneous adjustment of product prices, (2) imperfect knowledge, and (3) nonclearing labor markets. But these are conditions recognized in classical macroeconomics. The new, post-, and neoclassical Keynesians also seem to be unaware that the five principal pillars upon which Keynes founded his economics, including his conception of saving, the multiplier process, and theory of interest, are badly flawed. Confronting evidence of these flaws will turn the future of Keynesianism into one of a struggle to sustain a dimming light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT. The authors of this article review the late E. Lynn Turgeon's contributions to economics, including his studies of the Soviet economy, use of qualitative and demographic analyses, his Keynesian critique of U.S. economic performance, and his critique of international financial markets. Turgeon's comparative approach led to unique insights about the challenges that confronted planned economies, including the differential impact of military spending on the demand-constrained economy of the United States and the supply-constrained economy of the Soviet Union. His study of the Soviet and planned economies also informed his analysis of the U.S. economy and international adjustment mechanisms. Turgeon argued for expansionary fiscal and neutral monetary policies, prudential restrictions on portfolio capital flows, and increased foreign direct investment and foreign assistance to shift the burdens of adjustment from deficit to surplus countries. Throughout his career, Turgeon measured economic policies by their effects on real people, including impacts on employment, the environment, living standards, and distributions of income and wealth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT. The article surveys factors external and internal to the Georgist movement that account for its relative lack of success. Key factors are the identification of income with productivity and the belief in a right to privatize economic rent. The Georgist defense of productive property thus was seen as an attack on property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT. The 16th Amendment and the formation of the European Union were major political/economic reforms that should be seen as affirmations of the fundamental principles and teachings of Henry George. That these are not matters of interest to the self-defined Georgist movement reveals an excessively narrow focus of that movement and suggests its members’ unfamiliarity with much of George's teachings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT. This essay identifies and explores the role of selective perception, sentiment and valuation in the formation of economic policy, with particular reference to the conduct of policy-making under the aegis of Pigovian and Paretian welfare economics. First, we identify certain background conditions. Second, we present an argument with regard to the economic role of government. Finally, we apply the argument to Pigovian and Paretian welfare economic reasoning, showing first the equivalence of Pigovian and Paretian reasoning under particular assumptions and their non-equivalence under more realistic conditions, and then how the latter results give rise to selective perception, sentiment and valuation in the formation of economic policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A trustworthy monetary system is necessary to support the division of labor and extended trading relationships. In the context of classical economics and of Keynes' macroeconomics, the origin of pervasive economywide problems have been traced to monetary disturbances. The relevance (to interest rate theory) of the market for credit and of bond price speculation is critical to judging the plausibility of those rival theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a widely accepted theory that the growth of a middle class is essential to the development of a low‐income nation. Geithman considers what the effect of an expanding middle class will have on Latin American economic development. It that area the middle class is not exclusively associated with industrial development, but is scattered among professionals, service industries and to a great extent in government service. The Middle class is conventionally seen as a force for change, but it may be a force for preserving the status quo when the middle class adopt the values of their country's “traditional oligarchy”. In Latin America, for instance, a secondary education carries with it a disdain for any manual work and it tends to separate the middle class from the workers. The governments controlled by the oligarchy and the middle class support and institute programs of economic development which will not threaten the status quo. In the Western world, “accelerating economic development was a precondition as much as a consequence of middle class growth.” This is not the case in Latin America and the conventional concept of middle class growth being a stimulant for economic development may or may not be valid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]