Neo versus new isolationism

the latter was published by Transaction.     

The effects of global crisis on the Albanian economy

East European countries, including Albania aren＇t totally immune from the troubles of the international financial trade, although they will not have direct influence on their finances system. These effects of the global economy crisis have begun to be felt even in Albania. The poor classes will be much more and faster effected from this crisis. This article will treat the effects of the crisis into these classes, and the risks that this crisis brings to their finances. Important factors for this will be the decrease of the monetary incomes in the country, the emigrant remittance and foreign investments decrease and as a result they will influence in a decrease of the income for person in the country, which will have much influence at this level. The intention of the article is to treat the policies that should be taken by the government to protect them. The government of these countries should be concentrated in the social protection of the poor classes and in the ways of overcoming the crisis for them.     

Spurn Thy neighbour: Direct democracy and Swiss isolationism

In recent years, Switzerland has conspicuously distanced itself from the international community. It has rejected membership in the UN, the EEA treaty and participation in UN peacekeeping operations; and it remains outside the EU. After the year 2004, foreign freight lorries will no longer be allowed on Swiss highways. This starkly isolationist posture is not by government design; rather, these decisions are the product of Swiss direct democracy. In the past 11 years, Swiss voters have considered six ballot issues concerning international integration. In five of the six cases, they delivered a sharp rebuff to the international community and to their own government. This article examines the referendums in detail and offers several conclusions. Most importantly, a renewed linguistic cleavage between German speakers and French speakers has shaped the outcomes decisively. Also critical has been the desire of many voters to preserve a wide scope for Swiss direct democracy by rejecting binding international agreements. And finally, government campaign tactics have exacerbated popular opposition to international integration.     

The transfer of governance from the nation state to a corporate global economy

The purpose of this document is to analyze the emerging phenomenon of the transfer from state governance to global economic corporate governance. After determining the economic globalization processes driven by a corporate global economy, which affects the formation of globalized business-intergovernmental networks, we discuss their outcome and impact. Finally we outline the main challenges facing governance driven by a corporate global economy.     

The heterogeneity of consumer sentiment in an increasingly homogenous global economy

Recent investigations concerning consumer confidence in the U.S. have shed light on both the economic and political forces that contribute to its dynamics. And yet, as the recent financial crisis makes clear, the world economy is an increasingly interdependent place. This paper explores whether, in fact, consumer confidence responds differently to economic events in different political and institutional contexts. Our preliminary findings indicate that consumer confidence has shared variance in four countries for which we have data, but also unique variance with origins in national politics.     

Malaysia's new economic policy and the global economy: The evolution of ethnic accommodation

Abstract

Developing countries commonly must deal not only with issues of economic development, but also with the problems associated with a multi‐ethnic population. Most analyses of ethnic programs, however, focus on the domestic political economy and fail to appreciate the importance of international factors. In this essay, I note that Malaysia's New Economic Policy (NEP) and its successors have been affected not only by the domestic ethnic situation but also by the global economy. Furthermore, I argue that current international pressures and constraints have forced a re‐evaluation of the NEP in the past decade. While a concern for ethnic factors is by no means absent from the policy‐making process today, ethnic concerns are now overshadowed by the realities of the international economic order and the government's realization that ethnic accommodation can only be successful within the confines of an outward‐looking, expanding economy.     

Economists and public policy: Chicago political economy versus conventional views

Both conventional welfare economics and public choice analysis suggest that economists have an important educational role to play in the public policy process — in improving the decision-making process. In sharp contrast, information and incentive problems related to voting rules, the bureaucracy, and the legislature do not arise in CPE because these processes are all perfect agents of interest groups. Consequently, the political process is efficient and there is no scope for beneficial economic analysis as it relates to the sugar program or other public policies. That is, the polity is efficient or it would be reordered by competing interest groups to make it so. But, as Mitchell (1989: 290) stresses, the important unanswered question in CPE remains: if there is no scope for improvement how and why does change occur?The analysis here suggests that the sugar program (and similar policies) may persist not because they are beneficial to the public at large but rather because information and incentive problems in the collective choice process lead to perverse results. Consequently, economic analysts can make a positive contribution to the public policy process by providing information about the responsiveness of alternative institutional arrangements to the values and choices of individual citizens (Wiseman, 1989). The Friedmans' Tide in the Affairs of Men view holds that economic analyses are important in changing public opinion, which is an important precursor to changes in public policy.     

Unfree labour and adverse incorporation in the global economy: comparative perspectives on Brazil and India

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to contribute to our understanding of unfree labour in the contemporary global economy, the processes by which it is generated, and its connections with poverty and vulnerability. I challenge dominant ‘residual’ views of unfree labour as either external to global economic activity or occurring solely within small-scale, localized or non-market contexts. Instead, I contend that unfree labour needs to be understood in ‘relational’ terms as a particular form of ‘adverse incorporation’ in the global economy. This form of adverse incorporation is constituted through the circular interaction between, on the one hand, the functioning of the global productive economy and associated labour markets, and, on the other, the social relations of poverty which give rise to vulnerability and to unfree labour. I draw throughout on original empirical research conducted on ‘slave labour’ in Brazilian agriculture and child labour in the Delhi garments sector.     

Institutional competitiveness in the global economy: Denmark,the United States,and the varieties of capitalism

Despite high taxes, a large welfare state, and much economic regulation, Denmark competes successfully against other advanced capitalist economies. Denmark’s success is based in large part on its institutional competitiveness – its capacity to achieve socioeconomic success as a result of the competitive advantages that firms derive from operating within a particular set of institutions. The institutional basis for successfully coordinating labor markets and vocational training programs are examined for Denmark and the US – two countries that were very different institutionally but very successful in the 1990s and in the 2000s. We show that there is no one best way to achieve success in today’s global economy, except with respect to social inequality; that the mechanisms underlying institutional competitiveness are more complex than often recognized; that institutional hybrids can be as successful as purer political economic cases; and that high taxes and state spending can enhance socioeconomic performance. As such, this paper challenges both neoliberalism and the varieties of capitalism school of comparative political economy.     

Sharing sovereignty for global regulation: The cases of fuel economy and online gambling

Globalization is sometimes taken as a synonym for market liberalization, because it is claimed that power has flowed from states to markets. Whether happening as a result of undeniable “forces” or some hegemonic consensus, many on both the left and right of politics agree that this is a reality. However, this article argues that states which share sovereignty with market actors are able to influence outcomes beyond their borders. The cases of fuel economy and online gambling regulations are used to illustrate the point. In the former case, Japanese and European industry‐driven regulations are being “exported” in the attributes of the products of their car industries. In the latter, UK market‐friendly regulations are likely to be “exported” to the European region and beyond because of industry support, and market liberalization principles embodied in European Union institutions. Both cases indicate that sharing sovereignty in the process of making and implementing national regulations produces opportunities for global regulation.     

Buchanan at the American Founding: the constitutional political economy of a republic of equals and unequals

Public Choice - James M. Buchanan cited the American Founding as an important inspiration for his constitutional vision. Buchanan and the Founders shared a belief in the moral equality of persons...