On the relation between savings,distribution and inflation

A model of inflation, distribution and savings analysed by Thirlwall is evaluated. We replace the Kaldor saving function, instead following Pasinetti, where capitalists’ and workers’ savings are assumed proportional to their respective incomes. With this formulation, estimates of the inflation required to change the overall savings rate are generally larger than Thirlwall's. The magnitude of the difference is related, inter alia, to the share of capitalists’ profits in total income. Alternative estimates are presented, and it is shown that in general very large inflation changes are required to raise savings through redistribution. We also discuss the empirical evidence on the value of the wage adjustment parameter in the models.     

Psychological Injuries,Workers’ Compensation Insurance,and Mental Health Policy Issues

A selected review of workers’ compensation (WC) statutes reveals significant discrepancies between and within state coverage of job-related psychological injuries. Examples of the different rules on compensability of different types of injuries, across various state jurisdictions, are provided using specific case examples to demonstrate some of the more pronounced idiosyncrasies within and between the state statutes. PTSD and depression are frequent WC claims, and examples of how these injuries are treated within the WC systems, between states, are offered. In addition to an overview of various psychological injuries, attention is also provided to more specific qualifying issues, including extraordinary or unusual circumstances and occupational comparison groups (e.g., similarly situated). Examples of the omission of large bodies of scientific evidence related to the epidemiology, assessment, and failure to treat workplace psychological injuries are highlighted. Individual, employee, employer, and societal costs further demonstrate the implications of untreated psychological injuries. Given the disparity between the states and the lack of parity for mental health-related injuries, recommendations are offered to begin a move towards the parity of mental and medical benefits in WC.     

Elitist democracy and China's democratization: A gradualist approach towards democratic transition by a group of Chinese intellectuals

This article examines how a group of Chinese intellectuals experimented with the western concept of elitist democracy in a Chinese context in the late 1980s. Drawing insights from western theories on political development and political culture, they argued that China's lack of a civic culture meant an elitist democracy would be an historically necessary and inevitable stage during the process of democratization. To implement elitist democracy in China, the existing political institutions should be made more open to experts, technocrats and intellectuals. This political proposal was advanced, involuntarily, during the Tiananmen Movement of Spring 1989, but eventually suffered a great setback. Nevertheless, the article maintains that elitist democracy remains relevant to China's democratization in the future.     

Communing with Disaster: What We Can Learn from the Jusen and the Savings and Loan Crises

Now that the Japanese economic miracle has soured into the Japanese economic meltdown, scholars are confronted with a new challenge: instead of trying to penetrate the secret of Japan's successes, they must try to unravel the enigma of its misfortunes. Professors Curtis Milhaupt and Geoffrey Miller (1997) have performed a great service in documenting one of the most dramatic of those misfortunes – the collapse of the jusen companies. Professor Shinsaku Iwahara (1997) has also performed an equally valuable service by placing this event in the larger context of Japanese politics and society. But despite its record setting scale, the jusen problem was not unprecedented; Japan merely followed in the footsteps of its economic mentor, the United States, which experienced a very similar financial meltdown about a decade earlier. This commentary briefly describes that event – the U.S. savings and loan crisis – and then draws some tentative conclusions on the basis of a comparison of the two events.     

The WikiLeaks Cables: How the United States Exploits the World,in Detail,from an Internal Perspective, 2001–2010

The disclosure of more than 250,000 American diplomatic cables by the dissident media organisation WikiLeaks in 2010–2011 gained much attention in the American mass media but generated little interest for diplomatic historians. A small number of scholars explored small parts of the archive, but diplomatic historians and political scientists largely dismissed the cables as insignificant source material. These scholars overlooked important primary sources. The cables provide important revelations about American actions in every region of the world, especially between 2001 and 2010. Although United States officials and their supporters in the American mass media insisted that the cables showed American diplomats performing admirable work, the cables reveal how the United States exploits the world.     

Budget Appraisal—The Next Step in the Quest for Better Budgeting?

Noting that budgeting now represents the most important instrument of governance, transcending the traditional role of legislation, and also noting that recognition of this development stimulated a search for better methods, which is still underway, the author explores the possibility of using periodic, criteria-based appraisals to encourage governments to adopt exemplary practices. Surfacing after World War II, dissatisfaction with budgetary practice led to continuing experimentation with alternative formats and procedures. Although the alternative approaches reflect different standards, they also share similarities, which can provide a foundation for the construction of an exemplary model of public budgeting, embracing critical dimensions of the budgetary process. Further noting the constructive impact of auditing standards on accounting practices and financial reports, the author suggests that the post-audit model may be applicable to budgeting. Experimenting with this model is advanced as a likely next step in the search for better budgeting methodologies.