POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF SOCIO-ECONOMICS*

Avariety of efforts are currently underway to develop alternatives to the neoclassical paradigm and neoclassical analysis of economic behavior. Here, the author seeks not to argue which approach is most productive, but to demonstrate the useful policy implications of adding key noneconomic (so- cial, psychological and political) variables to a paradigm that attempts to model economic behavior. This co-deterministic paradigm is called socio- economics. The article discusses the different and often insightful policy analysis that results from employing a socio-economic set of variables in four major areas: (1) allowing for shifting preferences; (2) including institu- tional contexts and influences within which individual transactions take place; (3) recognizing the effects of political as well as economic power differences; and (4) combining macro and structural policies.     

The Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding Ten Years on: Critical Reflections and Stimulating Ideas on an Evolving Scholarship

ABSTRACT

The Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. This special volume opens up with a selection of nine of the most influential articles published in the journal. JISB's editorial team has asked the authors for their reflections on their original articles, telling us more about the writing process at that time, what they would do differently (with hindsight), or how they see their articles contributing to current debates on intervention and statebuilding. We have selected one article per volume, and we have ordered the contribution starting from volume 1 (2007) to volume 9 (2015). The articles will be made open access for the year, and we highly recommend (re-)reading the original articles along with the comments from the authors.     

The fusion of the private and public sectors*

ABSTRACT

Much of contemporary analysis treats the public and private sectors as two rather separate and fundamentally different realms. Many see one of the two sectors as inherently virtuous and the other as corrupt. The paper shows, in considerable detail, that the two sectors are deeply intertwined. It follows that we need a rather different framework to study state and society.     

The Capture Theory of Regulations—Revisited

Amidst the rekindled interest in regulating the market that has emerged since the 2008 financial crisis, most attention has been paid to the debate between those who call for more regulation of the private sector in order to protect the public good, and those who claim that such regulations would do further damage to the economy by unduly constraining business. This essay seeks to refocus the debate about regulation by examining an alternative criticism––the theory of regulatory capture––which argues that regulations are routinely and predictably 'captured' and manipulated to serve the interests of those who are supposed to be subject to them, or the bureaucrats and legislators who write or control them. Ample evidence suggests that regulatory capture is indeed widespread and takes a variety of forms, which are reviewed here. Rather than debating whether more or less regulations are needed, the paper suggests that what is needed is a way to make regulations stronger––more capture-proof. It closes with a major policy change that would help accomplish this goal.

The Global Communitarian Deficit

This article uses the sociological/philosophical theory of liberal communitarianism to analyze existing trends in global affairs. The European Union (EU) has often erred by expanding its missions without also recognizing the pull of nationalism and conducting community-building to strengthen the bonds among member nations. EU nations and countries around the world are retreating to nationalism. Rather than bringing the world together to fight a common enemy, the COVID-19 crisis has accelerated these global trends. The rise of nationalism has not increased domestic cohesion, but has led to high levels of domestic polarization. International communities seem a long way off, and the world order in the near future may depend to a considerable extent on whether the United States will permit China to increase its influence in the Western Pacific, which would allow for collaboration on most other matters.     

The Great Entitlement Raid

To bail out the banks, and more generally Wall Street, and as a result of their profiteering, the nation faces a great deficit. It is premature to deal with it, but when the time comes, it should not be closed by scaling back social programs and entitlements. Such a way to deal with the deficit would in effect amount to a two-step major wealth transfer from the most vulnerable Americans to the most endowed. (First the funds were given to Wall Street; next they will be taken from the poor and working-class Americans, to cover the shortfalls). There are other sources for reducing government expenditures and for new revenues.