Search

This paper introduces a two-sector model of endogenous distributive cycles and overproduction, by using elements from Marxian and Kaleckian perspectives. The model combines the two-sector model with market power presented by Dutt (1988) with insights from the cyclical model of Goodwin (1967) and the model of growth and distribution of Dutt (1987). The paper establishes the analytical conditions for a short-run equilibrium point for sectoral capacity utilization rates. Furthermore, for the long run, considering capital accumulation, the paper demonstrates the existence of stable cycles in four dimensions (sectoral distribution of capital, employment rate, and markups for sectors producing capital and consumption goods). These findings are used to reinterpret overproduction within capitalist cycles, where the relative magnitudes of overaccumulation of capital and underconsumption change at different phases of the cycle, while full employment is not a relevant case. The paper concludes by suggesting insights for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is: first, to show that the relationship between Latin America and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a faithful reflection of a class struggle on a world scale, where the correlation of internal and external forces has been articulated over the years in favor of capital; second, to analyze the concrete possibilities that the region will face in the future if it intends to reverse this unfavorable history. The paper argues that the IMF has played a key role in the reconfiguration and extension of the dominance of international finance capital over the productive resources of Latin America by favoring the consolidation of a local capitalist class subordinated to the designs and power of transnational capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To effectively address the grand challenges of our time, we cannot simply tinker around the edges by fixing market failures. We must actively shape markets to deliver on the objective of generating more sustainable and inclusive growth. This paper argues that an objective-oriented economy requires a market-shaping approach; one that accompanies the concept of the public good with the common good framing that is needed to design the interface for this collaboration. This is about structuring the conditions and governance mechanisms that shape the capabilities, tools, institutions, and partnerships needed to take concrete action. Building collective intelligence into these dimensions ex-ante is essential for maximising public value for all actors involved. This paper sets out how a market-shaping and common good framing can be conceptualised and brought together. Importantly, missions can be used to orient and coordinate policies, institutions, innovation, and investments around clear, ambitious, and measurable goals. Further, this paper addresses the implications for key global challenges, from climate change to pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neoliberalism is a political-economic philosophy that consists of two claims: one economic and the other political. The economic claim is: that free market laissez faire economies are the best way to organize economic activity as they generate efficient outcomes that maximize well-being. The political claim is: that free market economic arrangements promote individual liberty. This paper argues both claims are problematic. The evidence from the forty-year experiment that began in 1980 shows neo liberalism has undercut shared prosperity and unleashed illiberal forces that threaten liberty. The paper distinguishes between the first political turn which saw the establishment of neoliberal political hegemony, and the second one toward proto-fascism that we are now experiencing. The second turn is being driven by a collection of factors that have created a demand for proto-fascism and weakened the defenses against alt-right ideas. Those factors include socio-economic disembedding, institutional destruction and political disembedding, increased economic inequality that tilts political power, an alteration in attitudes to government and governance, transformation of economic identity, and a cultural transformation that celebrates sociopathic egotism. The Third Way's capture of center-left politics means liberal elites occupy the political place that should be held by true opponents of neoliberalism. Those liberal elites obstruct the politics needed to reverse the deep causes of the drift to proto-fascism. Ironically, that makes those elites a real danger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the different approaches and policies that are most used in the literature to measure the level of poverty with tools of fuzzy logic. These policies are based on the integrated measurement method (IM), which combines poverty line methods and unmet basic needs. Moreover, we present the most recent studies on the measurement of the level of poverty in different sectors and populations, as well as the more relevant conclusions of the work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies Argentina's economic growth trajectory between 1962 and 2019. To achieve this, we analyze the pattern of technological progress deduced from the dynamics of labor productivity and the output capital ratio. Between 1962 and the mid 1980s, technical change was Marx biased (for example, labor saving and capital consuming), which resulted in decreased profitability. From then and until 2008, technological change has been Hicks neutral with increased profitability. Afterward, profitability resumes the negative trend until the end of the analyzed period. The structural change observed since the middle 1970s is associated with a halving of the average rate of capital accumulation, greater macroeconomic volatility, and changes in development models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reinterprets some intuitions from Marx by using a model of endogenous cycles in three dimensions: employment rate, wage share, and labor intensity (this last variable has not received enough attention in the Marxian literature of cyclical models). The paper presents an analytical demonstration (using the Hopf bifurcation theorem) and numerical simulations for the existence of stable cycles in the model if the mechanization rate is sufficiently high and the bargaining power of the working class to increase wages is lower than a given threshold. In contrast, the model is unstable when the bargaining power of the working class is too high; a result that motivates the discussion of the notion of structural economic crises (which differ from the periodic economic crises that emerge in the context of capitalist cycles). The paper concludes with a summary of results and suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyze the relationship between agricultural methane and nitrous oxide emissions as a function of per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and its quadratic term in 26 Latin American and Caribbean countries (1990-2019). It also considers the stock of foreign investment to test the polluting paradise hypothesis, agricultural land (AL), and, additionally, methane for nitrous function. The study comprised unit root and cointegration tests. Coefficients were estimated by using fully modified least squares (FMOLS), correlated common effects (CCE), and augmented mean group (AMG). Results by FMOLS show statistical evidence of an environmental Kuznets curve in the set of countries for methane and support the polluting paradise hypothesis. However, results from CCE and AMG show the opposite. For nitrous oxide, FMOLS confirms a U-shaped curve. The above supports a joint environmental policy for both gases, where AL is a key element. The previous results must be corroborated with other methods and the studies extended to other countries over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its appearance in 2020, Brazil and Mexico have been among the most affected countries in the world by covid-19. Their respective presidents, Jair Bolsonaro and Andrés Manuel López Obrador (known as AMLO), have played a leading role in specific policies during the pandemic. Their choices were both singular and counter- intuitive. On the health front, AMLO initially underplayed the seriousness of the situation, and the Brazilian president, Bolsonaro, defended a frankly negationist attitude, with a dramatic balance sheet, without his popularity being seriously affected. On the economic front, they have chosen policies that contradict not only each other but also their own supposed ideological stances. Bolsonaro, who is ranked on the far right, has implemented an emergency transfer program on a scale comparable to those of developed countries and the most massive the country has ever seen. Conversely, AMLO, considered a progressist, provided just a minimum policy package, maintaining his previous electoral program. By adopting a comparative approach and mobilizing a unique and diversified set of data, the objective of this paper is to explore these apparent contradictions. After having established the precise diagnosis of the policies implemented to deal with the crisis and the economic and health situation in the two countries during the 2020-2022 period, we propose an original interpretation grid of the central role played by the two presidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze the progressivism in Latin America, by inquiring about the peculiarities for which this phenomenon could not promote structural changes and what would be the chances of achieving them with the advance of the hegemonic and capitalist transition that the world is going through. If progressivism manages to continue and preserve itself to the point of the transition where the advanced capitalist class emerges to replace the decadent class, it could achieve, in alliance with the latter, the promotion of changes that modify the productive structure in favor of the subaltern classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]