Crisis management and the diversity of capitalism: fiscal stimulus packages and the East Asian (neo-)developmental state

Abstract

This paper contributes to the understanding of East Asian capitalism by investigating the political economy of crisis management in Japan, Korea and China during the global economic crisis. Reacting to the global shock of the economic crisis that began in 2008, East Asian capitalism has remained a distinct state-led model that differs substantially from the liberal, neo-corporatist or welfare state varieties of capitalism in the West. More specifically, this paper studies the fiscal stimulus packages implemented by East Asian countries to address the global financial crisis from 2008 to 2010. We find that East Asian fiscal stimulus packages were comparatively large and supply-side-oriented. Unlike in the West, where a (short-lived) revival of demand-side-oriented Keynesian strategies stimulating consumption could be observed, East Asian countries reinforced industrial policies and supported investment and international competitiveness. We argue that the East Asian variety of crisis management can largely be explained by a path-dependent transformation of the East Asian developmental state into a neo-developmental competition state.     

‘Spending Wisely: Principles for a Good Spending Review': The First Report of the Fabian Commission on Future Spending Choices

This article examines the work of the Fabian Society Commission on Future Spending Choices published in June 2013. The Commission is undoubtedly the most detailed and ambitious attempt by a centre‐left think‐tank to analyse the structure of UK public spending since Labour's 2010 defeat. The Commission makes an eloquent case for a strategic approach to UK public spending, filling the substantial void in thinking on the centre‐left since Labour's 2010 defeat. Inevitably, the proposals raise fundamental questions about the capacity of the British state and the constitutional framework of the UK political system to accommodate a long‐term, future‐orientated approach to public expenditure, which deserve to be properly aired and debated.     

纳兰性德的边塞词

清代著名词人纳兰性德的词在清代占有重要位置 ,在他的 70 0首词中 ,边塞词无论在质量和数量上都值得一提。在边塞词中他抒写了深藏不露却又压抑不住的人生感慨 ,在苍茫壮阔的境界中深入了清新婉怨的清思 ,已历 30 0余年仍为广大研究纳兰词者重视。     

健全我国不起诉制约机制探析

我国现行的不起诉制约机制主要侧重于内部审批和事后制约,缺乏中立性、公开性和当事各方的参与性,外部制约效果不明显。应当赋予当事各方参与不起诉决定的权利,完善被害人的司法救济,加强人民监督员的外部监督,完善检察机关的内部制约,建立一套规范和科学的不起诉制约机制。     

NUMBERS

正$1.9 billion The net direct investment received by China’s financial institutions from overseas investors in the third quarter$100 million The number of loans that will be received by southwest China’s Guizhou Province from the World Bank over the next five years for rural development     

论对警察权的制约

警察权是指由国家宪法、法律赋予警察机关执行警察法规范、实施警务活动的权力由于受到人性及权力自身特点的影响,其具强烈的强制性,单方性特点,且容易出现权力的扩张、侵犯和擅变,在现代法治的国家里.对其控制和制约及其必要。制约的手段从其自身的构成要素即权力的来源要素、权力的主体要素、权力的运行要素、权力的对象要素、权力的保障要素着手进行,以其真正达到警察权的控制和制约。     

关于未决羁押场所的思考

未决羁押场所涉及到被告人人权保护;对此进行解构与建构必须建立在客观基础之上。该基础就是砌筑社会共识。     

法治反对解释的原则

反对解释是法治初级阶段的一个重要原则.这一原则要求法官奉行司法克制主义,对明确的法律条文必须无条件遵守,在解释中不能附加法官个人的意思.反对解释不是说不要解释,而是说不能过度解释,法官只能行使有限的创造权力,对法律文本已明确的含义,法官的解释就是认同.在我国,由于长期以来一直批判法家的严苛,主张判决中天理、人情与法律的和谐相处,结果使得法律文本被置于不重要的地位.严格执法实际上没有成为我们的执法理念,法律被任意解释、曲解的现象大量发生.严格法制是我们不能逾越的阶段,反对解释的原则应是司法活动的重要原则.     

The politics of fiscal policy during economic downturns, 1981–2010

This article investigates fiscal policy responses to the Great Recession in historical perspective. It explores general trends in the frequency, size and composition of fiscal stimulus as well as the impact of government partisanship on fiscal policy outputs during the four international recessions of 1980–1981, 1990–1991, 2001–2002 and 2008–2009. Encompassing 17–23 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, the analysis calls into question the idea of a general retreat from fiscal policy activism since the early 1980s. The propensity of governments to respond to economic downturns by engaging in fiscal stimulus has increased over time and no secular trend in the size of stimulus measures is observed. At the same time, OECD governments have relied more on tax cuts to stimulate demand in the two recessions of the 2000s than they did in the early 1980s or early 1990s. Regarding government partisanship, no significant direct partisan effects on either the size or the composition of fiscal stimulus is found for any of the four recession episodes. However, the size of the welfare state conditioned the impact of government partisanship in the two recessions of the 2000s, with left‐leaning governments distinctly more prone to engaging in discretionary fiscal stimulus and/or spending increases in large welfare states, but not in small welfare states.     

Differences That Matter: Overcoming Methodological Nationalism in Comparative Social Policy Research

Abstract

Welfare states are often discussed as if they were territorially homogeneous state-wide institutions measurable by state-wide expenditure averages and explained by country-level variables. It is rare in comparative policy studies to investigate the role of territorial politics in the outcomes of even federal countries. This article argues, using social policy examples in the UK and US, that the impact of intergovernmental finance and division of labour profoundly shapes social investment and redistribution – producing almost as much expenditure variance within the US as within the OECD. The findings show the importance of incorporating territorial politics and intergovernmental arrangements into comparative welfare state and policy analysis.