‘Whatever it takes’: Polanyian perspectives on the eurozone crisis and the gold standard

Abstract

The parallels between the monetary politics of the gold standard and that of the eurozone crisis are striking and have informed contemporary debate about the future of European integration. The eurozone crisis has been widely interpreted as the result of a mismatch between international monetary integration and a concomitant lack of fiscal integration, or more broadly as the result of a European Union which is economically integrated, yet politically fragmented. The prospect of a 1930s-style descent into division and nationalism has formed the backdrop against which moves towards extensive integration at the supranational level have been made. Polanyi diagnosed the political effects of monetary integration through his analysis of the gold standard system in The great transformation, making it important that we unpack his analysis and consider carefully how a Polanyian perspective might apply to the eurozone today. I argue that Polanyi encourages us to look beyond ‘monetary vs. fiscal’ and ‘economic vs. political’ characterizations of European integration, and instead to examine how such oppositions are formed in the first place and how they constrain political debate, particularly in terms of how ‘sound money’ is established as the highest policy concern. Through a re-reading of Polanyi's distinction between ‘all-purpose’ and ‘special-purpose’ money, I highlight how, despite the huge efforts undertaken to preserve the identity of the euro as an all-purpose currency, the eurozone crisis has rendered visible a series of latent conflicts between the different functions of money. This analysis moves us away from the ‘monetary vs. fiscal’ integration view of the eurozone crisis and towards a more open study of how the various possible purposes of money are being articulated and challenged, offering some limited hope for alternatives to the current eurozone policy agenda.     

A comprehensive model for the evaluation of standard expenditure needs and standard level of local services

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses the problem of the simultaneous evaluation of local governments’ standard expenditure needs together with the related level of standard public services proposing a new approach to fiscal equalisation based on quantitative methods. Standard expenditure needs are estimated using quantile regression, moreover robust non-parametric methods are employed for the computation of composite indicators of demand and supply factors. Data from English local authorities over the period 1997–2006 have been used to test the internal and external validity of the model.     

“党的领导”入法原则及其标准

推进党的领导制度化、法治化,是建设社会主义法治国家的必然要求,除党内法规具体规定“党的领导”外,“党的领导”无疑应写入相应的国家法律之中。“党的领导”无需入法论、全面入法论等观点均不能成立。基于党内法规与国家法律在调整范围上的功能分工,只有政治性较强的国家法律有必要抽象规定“党的领导原则”,且不宜涉及党的具体领导方式、领导权限、领导程序等内容,形塑出“党的领导”入法的抽象确认原则与政治判断标准。为了避免“党的领导”入法的“泛化”现象,应在政治判断标准内涵的指引下进一步构建“党的领导”入法的清单模式,厘清“党的领导”入法的正面清单与负面清单,确保“党的领导”入法的规范化和准确化。     

醉驾案件中醉酒标准认定之思考

目前,司法机关对危险驾驶犯罪的醉酒认定标准较为宽松,导致实践中部分无社会危害性的行为被纳入犯罪圈。为贯彻新时代良法善治的刑事司法理念,对危险驾驶犯罪中醉酒标准的认定应持审慎态度,建议借助证据法遏止醉酒驾驶行为过度犯罪化倾向,对于危险驾驶犯罪中的醉酒认定不宜过度依赖血液酒精鉴定,侦查机关应充分收集各类证据,统一交由审判者依其理性最终确定该行为是否构成犯罪。     

法医学鉴定强制性标准的现状、问题和对策——以《强制性国家标准管理办法》为视角

法医学鉴定意见是重要的诉讼证据,鉴定标准尤其是强制性标准直接影响鉴定意见的科学性、公正性和权威性。当前我国法医学鉴定的强制性国家标准仅有3项,推荐性国家标准及行业标准489项。法医学标准数量有限,尤其强制性标准奇缺,已经影响到我国法医学鉴定实践和学科发展。《强制性国家标准管理办法》旨在加强和推进我国强制性国家标准的管理和发展。笔者建议,以该办法的实施为契机,相关行政管理部门应当发挥更多作用,采取有力措施推进法医学鉴定强制性国家标准的制定,进一步补充、修改、完善法医学鉴定行业标准,强化法医学鉴定强制性国家标准的执行。     

行政不作为的国家赔偿责任

作为违法行政行为的一种形式,行政不作为具有消极性、非法性、侵害性、损害性和隐蔽性等特征。这种以行政不作为形式的致害行为,在符合国家赔偿责任归责原则和构成要件的前提下,应当依法被纳入国家赔偿的范围之内,以促进行政主体依法行政、合理行政。     

基于主成分-聚类分析的农村地区生活水准分类——以吉林省为例

该文提出农业生产活力、社会经济活力水平是影响农村生活水准区域分类的2个主要因素，并选取地区经济力、农业投入力、产业发展力等指标作为衡量标准，利用分层聚类分析方法，对吉林省县域地区进行区域分类，分为地域特性差异较大的4类地区。针对各区域特征、生活水准发展现状对比，在提高生活水准的发展模式上提出有针对性的思路和政策建议。     

村干部挪用公款的样态分析——基于489起犯罪案件的法律社会学研究

现阶段,精准识别村干部挪用公款的现实样态,是有效治理村级腐败的重要前提。为此,运用内容分析、统计分析和案例解剖等方法,对中国裁判文书网中的村干部挪用公款犯罪案件展开法律社会学研究就显得十分必要。通过考察村干部挪用公款的两大核心犯罪要件发现,在目的用途上,以营利活动型案件和超期未还型案件为主,非法活动型案件较为少见;在具体对象与类别上,以征地补偿资金案件和扶贫等特定款物资金案件为主。另外,社会保险资金、农林业补贴资金、基建项目专项资金也会被村干部挪用。针对村级腐败尤其是村干部挪用公款问题,须以上述样态特征为基础对症下药。     

我国生态补偿法治化路径探究

党的十九大明确提出要建立市场化、多元化生态补偿机制。为实现这一战略目标,就要以法律来规范和调整与生态补偿相关的各种社会关系,运用法治化办法清晰界定生态资源的产权,明确生态补偿主体和受偿主体的权利和义务。本文梳理了生态补偿法治化的理论逻辑,分析了我国生态补偿法治化建设进程中存在的问题并提出了相应的破解之策,希冀能对生态补偿机制的构建有所帮助。     

论商标侵权案件中的损害赔偿水平

商标损害赔偿如同一个装水的"杯子",乐观派将其视为是半满,着力鼓噪如何将其另一半注满,新《商标法》中法定赔偿限额的提高是典型的例子。然而,对中国商标司法的实证研究表明,原告对商标的主观估值和损害赔偿的预期并不高,司法满足度更低。这不能简单地归咎于法定标准过低,企图通过提高法定赔偿限额来改善知识产权保护水平是不切实际的。商标赔偿是一个市场问题,其保护水平在很大程度也取决于交易和评估市场的健全。