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10
years of IDEAs: Conference
series |
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To
commemorate 10 years
of International Development
Economics Associates
(IDEAs), we are organising
a conference titled
''Global Economy
in a Time of Uncertainty:
Capitalist trajectories
and progressive alternatives''
in Muttukadu, Chennai,
during 24-26 January
2012, and a
Seminar titled ''Whither
Global Capitalism''
in the Convention Center,
Jawaharlal Nehru University
(JNU), Delhi, during
28-29 January 2012.
The following papers
and notes are the contributions
by the various participants
in the two events.
Global
Crisis: How deep and
for how long?
Can
the Euro Hold?
The
Future of Finance
Long-run
Roots of the Crisis
The
Agrarian and Food Crises
Competition
for Resources
Is
Decoupled Growth Possible
Changing
Global Production Structures
Challenges
to Neoliberalism 1
Challenges
to Neoliberalism 2
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| Social
Protection and Socioeconomic Security
in Nepal |
| Gabriele
Koehler |
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Nepal is a 'least
developed country' characterised
by significant socioeconomic insecurity
that is currently witnessing some
interesting socio-political policy
innovations, triggered by the
end of a ten-year violent conflict.
The article explores the social
protection policies devised by
the interim government to address
the various dimensions of insecurity,
discusses their novelty, limitations
and offers suggestions for improvements.
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| Explaining
Global Financial Imbalances: A critique
of the saving glut and reserve currency
hypotheses |
| Thomas
I. Palley |
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This
paper examines three different explanations
of the global financial imbalances.
It begins with the neoliberal globalisation
hypothesis that explains the imbalances
as the product of the model of globalisation
implemented over the past thirty
years. It then examines the saving
glut and reserve currency hypotheses.
The paper concludes by arguing that
both the saving glut and reserve
currency hypotheses are inconsistent
with the empirical record and both
provide a misleading guide for policy. |
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- International
Seminar on ''Whither Global
Capitalism?''
organised by International Development
Economics Associates (IDEAs),
Jawaharlal Nehru University,
New Delhi, 28-29
January, 2012.
- International
conference on ''The Global Economy
in a Time of Uncertainty: Capitalist
trajectories and progressive
alternatives'', organised by
International Development Economics
Associates (IDEAs), Muttukadu,
Chennai, India, 24-26 January,
2012
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| Monetary
Union Stability: The need for a government
banker and the case for a European
public finance authority |
| Thomas
I. Palley |
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There is accumulating evidence
that the euro's current architecture
is unstable. The source of instability
is high interest rates on highly
indebted countries which creates
unsustainable debt burdens. Remedying
this problem requires a central
bank that acts as government banker
and pushes down government bond
interest rates to sustainable
levels. That can be accomplished
by the creation of a European
Public Finance Authority (EPFA)
that issues public debt which
the European Central Bank (ECB)
is allowed to trade.
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| Modernizing
Russia: Round III. Russia and the
Other BRIC Countries: Forging ahead,
catching up or falling behind? |
| Erik
S. Reinert and Rainer Kattel |
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Looking
at Russian economic dynamics through
evolutionary and Schumpeterian Other
Canon lenses, the authors provide
alternative explanation as to why
Russia is still lagging behind other
BRIC and leading catching-up economies.
In this context they argue that
learning from successful cases of
managing industrial policy under
the WTO - what the rest of the BRIC
economies have long been doing -
is perhaps the main issue for Russia's
economic policy-making in the near
future. |
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| The
Role China Plays |
| C.P.
Chandrasekhar
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China,
which is being touted as the biggest challenger to
US economic supremacy, is witnessing slowdown in its
growth rates. However, such a slowdown could prove
to be bad news for the US economy as well, because
China also happens to be the biggest market for all
US MNCs. |
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Could
Ecuador be the most radical and exciting place on
Earth? |
| Jayati
Ghosh |
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A
decade ago, Ecuador was a banana republic, an economic
basket case. Today, it has much to teach the rest
of the world. |
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| Year
of Centenaries |
| Jayati
Ghosh |
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100
years ago when Gustav Mahler composed his 9th Symphony,
it reflected the troubling times he lived in. It was
music for uncertain times, even though it contains
within it certainties of different kinds. 100 years
later, there is almost a sense of déjà
vu with Europe, and indeed the whole world, now faced
with another period of political and economic volatility.
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| India's
External Sector |
| C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
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Even
before global currents caused relatively rapid outflows
of mobile finance capital from India, the Indian economy
was vulnerable on the external front. The recent pattern
of growth that has been reliant on capital inflows
to generate domestic credit-driven bubbles, rather
than trade surpluses is not sustainable and puts the
economy at greater risk. |
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| Myanmar
- Reflections on a ''Rich Country with Poor People" |
| Gabriele
Koehler |
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The
sudden interest in Myanmar by the West after years
of ostracizing is not just a response to the reforms
being introduced by the Government of Myanmar, but
stems from the realization that China and India have
been benefiting from the abundant natural resources
of Myanmar that they missed out on. However Myanmar
has the means to use its policy space to innovate
and create a democratic developmental welfare state
with the new acceptance it has found internationally.
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| The
Nature of the Current Capitalist Crisis |
| Prabhat
Patnaik |
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The
most common interpretation of the current capitalist
crisis is that this was caused by the collapse of
the housing bubble, accentuated by 'bad economics'.
Interpreting the current crisis as such a situational
crisis would be erroneous, as the developments since
the outburst of the crisis in 2008 clearly prove that
the problem is more of a systemic crisis of capitalism. |
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| Lies,
Damned lies, and Statistics: On Arvind Panagariya's
Kerala adventure |
| R.
Ramakumar |
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This
is a response to the article titled ''Cracking the
Kerala Myth'', published in the newspaper Times of
India dated 2 January 2012. The author refutes the
claims that the development of Kerala was not state-led
success, and highlights the statistical fallacies
in the argument. |
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| Prospects
for the World Economy in 2012 |
| C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
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2011
revealed that the much vaunted economic recovery after
the Great Recession was not inherently sustainable,
as the recent problems of global capitalism, including
those associated with excessive debt build-up, were
reflected in new areas and caused economic slowdown
across the world. Against the backdrop of economic
trends in 2011, this article assesses the prospects
for the world economy in 2012. |
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| Retail
Rollback |
| C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
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The
whole fiasco over the decision to allow FDI in retail
and the subsequent withdrawal of the same has been
a major embarrassment for the Indian Government. The
failure to get its own allies on board proves that
political democracy held its sway. |
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| Lessons
from Abroad |
| C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
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Contrary
to the arguments given in favour of allowing FDI in
retail, international experiences have shown that
such moves can have dire consequences. |
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| Multinational
Retail Firms in India |
| Jayati
Ghosh |
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The
actual impact of large corporate retail, and especially
multinational retail chains, in developing countries
clearly shows that many of the claims made by proponents
of such corporate retailing - in terms of employment
generation or benefits to producers and consumers
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| Democracy
and the Financial Markets |
| Jayati
Ghosh |
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In
the last few decades, it has become increasingly common
for various developing and ''emerging'' markets to
give greater importance to appeasing the interests
of financial markets over the requirements of political
democracy. Now, this is afflicting developed countries
as well, where governments are sacrificing democracy
in favour of the markets. |
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| The
End of Europe? |
| C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
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The
crisis in Europe has recently claimed many political
victims, with the governments in Greece and Spain,
two of the worst hit countries, being changed. The
newer governments promise to implement stringent austerity
measures that are being proposed as a solution to
the crisis. |
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| Summit?
What Summit? |
| Jayati
Ghosh |
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The
recent G20 summit was held when the global economy
is at the threshold of another major financial crisis.
There was a need for fast, co-ordinated and effective
action. However, the final declaration that emerged
shows that such an unified stance is yet to be achieved. |
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