Health not Wealth: Enlarging the EMU

Economic health not wealth should be the decisive criterion when considering the prospects of the Central and East European (CEE) candidates for EU membership and the capacity of the EU to enlarge. Viewed this way the outlook is promising. The CEE countries are still very poor, compared to most of the existing EU members, but they are also much more dynamic. Growth rates are generally expected to remain around 4-5 per cent in CEE for the foreseeable future, compared to about 2-3 per cent for the EU. This still implies that full catch-up in terms of GDP per capita will take decades, rather than years, but full catch-up is not the relevant criterion if one is concerned about enlargement. Experience in the EU has shown that problems are much more likely to arise from established rich member countries with stagnant economies (Belgium in the 1980s and Germany today) than poor, but more dynamic states (such as Portugal and Ireland today). The fact that most of the so-called 'periphery' is now growing more strongly than the 'core' confirms that EU integration benefits poorer countries even more.     

Global inequality as one of the root causes of the financial crisis: a suggested explanation

Abstract

The global financial crisis was caused because the volume of toxic assets in the financial system had grown to the point where the system could no longer cope. The dominant view among heterodox economists is that this point of critical mass was reached because of various failures in the financial system. This paper puts the accompanying view that the toxic assets were created largely in response to external pressures, a principle source of which was global inequality: while income inequality was an important factor behind the supply of those assets, wealth concentration was a major factor behind the demand for them. The policy implications of this analysis are that income distribution and wealth ownership have to be more equitably structured if global financial crises are to be avoided in the future. This is not to exclude other proposals for making the financial system more transparent and accountable. The point, rather, is that these proposals are insufficient on their own. No matter how radical the re-structuring of the financial system, as long as there remain external pressures on it to create products or to indulge in practices that are harmful to it, such products and practices will continue to be introduced and financial crises will continue to occur.     

Dutch disease and the Azerbaijan economy

The novelty of this study is that it empirically tests four hypotheses of the Dutch Disease in the Azerbaijan economy while systematically controls for other possible explanations of the observed processes over the period 2000–2007. The study concludes that an “absolute de-industrialization” has not taken place in Azerbaijan, rather the country suffers from a “relative de-industrialization” in the non-oil tradable sector. Additionally, the paper shows that the non-tradable sector has substantially expanded during the 2000–2007 period. Analysis also presents that the government expenditures have created a “spending effect”, which is more crucial than the “resource movement effect”. Furthermore, it was found that rapid increases in the wages and the non-tradable prices have led to appreciation of the real exchange rate in Azerbaijan. Finally, the study reveals that foreign direct investments inflow to the oil sector is harmful for non-oil exports and therefore, it contributes to deepening of resource, or oil, dependence. Findings in this paper support the view that to obtain a diversified economy with a long-term balanced growth development of the non-oil tradable sector should be of the major focus for the policymakers.     

牯牛降国家自然保护区珍稀濒危药用植物资源调查

目的 调查牯牛降国家自然保护区的珍稀濒危药用植物资源,对资源的保护及永续利用进行探讨。方法 通过查阅文献、走访调查、野外实地调查、标本采集与鉴定,对保护区的珍稀濒危药用植物特色进行整理分析。结果 牯牛降有珍稀濒危药用植物30科58种,其中国家级保护植物18种,其他珍稀药用植物40种。在58种珍稀濒危药用植物中,28种是常用中药材的正品来源,12种是中国特有的第四纪以前孑遗植物。结论 牯牛降国家自然保护区珍稀濒危药用植物种类丰富,需合理利用,并加强环境和资源保护。     

地方党组织全面引领治理现象的发生机制——以S市动拆迁实践为例

中国共产党是中国特色社会主义事业的领导核心。从公共政策层面看,地方党组织的领导既表现在宏观的政策决策上,如制定方针路线;也可体现在中微观的政策执行中,如全面引领治理过程。在制定方针路线与全面引领治理之间的行为选择中,地方党组织采取后一种行为方式的发生机制是什么?除受党的先进性、上级要求等因素影响外,通过对地方动迁政策实践的个案研究发现,由于复杂政策的"网络性"要求有效的协调制度,制度建构和运作需投入大量资源,而市场或行政机制下的执行方式存在资源投入不足和协调制度匮乏,导致地方治理陷入集体行动困境,进而催生地方党组织全面引领地方治理。基于党章党纪等初始制度,地方党组织得以动员大量资源,进而成功建构和运作内部协调制度和外部协调制度,并分别实现对政策执行主体、主客体之间和客体内部的关系协调,推动了地方善治。