Global Political Economy

Part 2 Global structures and social inequality
Economic disparity caused by structural inequalities and Imperial Legacy.  One of the leading questions in 2020 which has been partly raised by the impact of the pandemic on the global economy, is whether world structures need reform, these ideas or concepts in international relations are not new, Robert Cox introduced the ideas of structural transformations and social forces in his work, Approaches to World Order in 1996.  Where he describes hyper liberalism in the 1970’s and capitalism as something which is facilitated and encouraged by state. This experience of capitalism he describes as evident throughout Northern European, but this is not the same capitalism driven by social-liberal state. The first world structure is neo-liberal which shaped the views of Thatcher and Reagan that fundamentally reject state intervention, that supports instead market lead behaviour and values that fit comfortably with many Keynesian values and economic aims. Here the state is responsible for introducing the policies, that support market growth and encourage competition and there is little empathy for humanity when trying to balance the books. The state restrains public spending on moral grounds that it is unwise and unnecessary to provide social support to those who are unsuccessful at competition.
This has been evident again in aspects of Austerity policies applied in Europe since 2010-2018 and those policies implemented in liberal democracies following the 2008 Financial Crisis.  Politically these have been policies developed and pursued by right wing or conservative governments, who favoured restraint over increasing debt and preferred to roll back social provision.
These ideas about the economy were challenged in the old structures of the 1970’s by social movements and international ideas about labour regulation, aid and sustainable growth. Robert Cox describes the failures of socialism, but gives some hope to the possibility for change in Social Forces and dynamics, that change the world.  One example includes the transformations already occurring with the election of President Biden, who replaces a populist and autocratic figure, President Trump of the USA. Today’s world of social, economic and cultural and international interdependencies is far from the world described by Robert Cox, as the calls for solidarity, environmental and equitable solutions call for a very different structure, in the use of international organisation, which has little to do with promoting liberal and unrestricted markets. These two worlds speak a different language. Yet it was only recently that austerity policies dominated Europe and most of the developed world, in fact they seemed like rational and inevitable solutions to economists.  Today the world expects more dialogue, discussions and multilateralism. There is an interdependency on issues such as the environment, terrorism and pandemics, also an agreements to provide adequate responses to alleviate poverty and to change the structures that cause them.
It is within this world order that the USA remains the hegemon, but with very different leadership, that can provide the continuation to a very different story, one which was left by President Obama in 2017.  For now, Trump Politics has come to an end abruptly and un-magnanimously, with a two times impeached President, his legacy is marred. What we do know about past cycles and historical structures is that they tend to return in new forms. Adam Smith and other capitalist describe boom and bust scenarios in history from economic crisis to depressions (bust), to industrialisations (boom) and economic growth.  Economic cycles relate to experiences from which governments and regulators learn to respond to, as well as international Banking institutions. Early economic expansion through trade is also a subject familiar to Adam Smith and later global economists. Although his is an entirely capitalist system, strong economic growth is also found amongst the economies which are centrally planned and relate to social theories and socialist political economy and communism, both found in China under the Chinese Communist Party, the former Soviet Union. It could be argued that these systems died, not simply because the old economic drivers had come to an end and were exhausted ideologically and politically, but because the economies themselves were limited by the state. Structural transformation was required in both worlds; needed for another stage of human growth and activity, through digitalisation, internet and more open and diverse technology markets in order to prepare for growth in more open diverse technology markets and to prepare for growth in financial services and Bitcoin, which would rapidly transform our daily lives from the late 1990’s to today.

Bez obzira na određenu dinamiku ruskog uticaja u svetu, američko-kinesko rivalstvo odlučiće o dominaciji na globalnom nivou. Pandemija će nesumnjivo ubrzati ovaj proces.
https://novimagazin.rs/svet/238189-svet-u-promeni-ravnoteze-snaga-sta-ce-biti-sa-zapadom

‘The essays in this volume are refreshingly different in their tone and mode of analysis. Using a few basic concepts like rent, balance of class power, and wage-led growth through mass consumption, the author provides a multi-dimensional explanatory framework for development. With impressive scholarship, he links history, economics and sociology seamlessly with country-based observations. Whether in agreement or not, the reader, an experienced researcher or an aspiring scholar, will feel greatly rewarded by the insightful freshness of these essays.’
–Amit Bhaduri, Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

‘One of my greatest revelations as a young scholar came when I read Hartmut Elsenhans’ 1983 article “Rising Mass Incomes as a Condition of Capitalist Growth”. Almost 30 years, and dozens of articles, later, Elsenhans’ much more fully developed theory still provides one of the freshest, most insightful, and coherent policy-relevant visions of the economy of our supposedly “post”-colonial world. This volume celebrates Elsenhans’ long career with a welcome introduction to his vision.’

–Craig N. Murphy, Betty Freyhof Johnson ’44 Professor, Wellesley College, USA

‘Hartmut Elsenhans is the most clear-sighted political economist of our time. This book rounds out his theory of rent with a series of articles not previously available in English. Highly recommended!’

–Salvatore Babones, University of Sydney, Australia

This book combines Hartmut Elsenhans’ ideas on the laws of motion of capitalism and his approach to world system analysis and rent theory, his thoughts on development theory and finally, international relations and the past, present, and future dynamics of the international system. Hartmut Elsenhans shows that capitalist growth depends on rising mass incomes and on the strength of labor unions and their bargaining power. This alternative approach challenges mainstream assumptions on capitalism, growth, and development by both leading leftist authors, such as David Harvey, Immanuel Wallerstein, Andre Gunder Frank or Samir Amin, as well as by neoclassical economists and western institutionalist political and social scientists. Hartmut Elsenhans offers a unique approach to understand the dynamics of  capitalism as well as the prospects for development. This Festschrift brings together his major contributions on these topics that were initially never or only published in German or French.

The official development assistance (ODA) has an internationally agreed definition and its measurement has been based on a standard methodology for more than 50 years. However, work on aid terminology, and the debate on the appropriateness and credibility of the concept still continue. The size of development aid provided by donor countries is calculated based on various definitions. These definitions, especially the definition of official development assistance (ODA), have immense significance for the assessment and measurement of aid figures and performances. This study critically examines the origins and the evolution of the concept of official development assistance (ODA) to demonstrate how the vagueness of its definition and the inconsistencies in its measurement contribute to the manipulation and exaggeration of aid figures and performances by the OECD-DAC donor countries.

Son yıllarda dünyanın ikinci en büyük ekonomisi haline gelen Çin ile stratejik olarak bölgesel öneme sahip olan Türkiye arasında, yeni diplomatik ve ekonomik ilişkilerin geliştirilmesi önem arz ediyor. Bu gelişmelere en yeni örnek, dünyanın bankacılık devi Çin Endüstri ve Ticaret Bankası’nın -Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)- Türkiye’de Tekstilbank’ın yüzde 75,5’ini alarak Türk Bankacılık Sistemine giriş yapan ilk Çin bankası olmasıdır. 29 Nisan 2014 tarihinde, Kamu Aydınlatma Platformu’nda (KAP) yayınlanan açıklamada, Tekstilbank’ın yüzde 75,5 payının 2014 rakamları ile toplam 668,8 milyon lira bedelle ICBC'ye satılması konusunda anlaşmaya varıldığı duyurulmuştu. Bu anlaşma, 22 Mayıs 2015 tarihinde Çırağan Sarayı’nda yapılan bir törende, başlama vuruşuyla hayata geçirildi.

In recent years, it is very important to develop new diplomatic and economic relations between Turkey and China which has become the world's second largest economy and has a strategic regional importance. The most recent example of these developments is, the world's giant bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's (ICBC) entering the Turkish banking system by buying 75.5 percent shares of Tekstilbank, and becoming the first Chinese bank in Turkey. On 29 April 2014, the Public Disclosure Platform (PDP) published a statement, saying it has been agreed that 75.5 percent share of Tekstilbank is sold to ICBC with the total sales price of 668.8 million pounds with the figures of 2014. The agreement was launched with the kickoff meeting on 22 May 2015 with a ceremony held at the Çırağan Palace.

The author of the article presents basic principles of the Theory of Wave Dualism of Cracy (Power), which are design for modeling and forecasting political, social, economical and cultural processes in the society. The theory consists of general and specific terms parameters that have multi-level characteristics, which can contribute to more correct verification of processes.

The course will rest on an examination of the Global Political Economy literature, providing us with the concepts to discuss the role of the financial markets in contemporary capitalism and the volatilities arising from financial transactions. We will pay specific attention to the evolution and globalization of financial markets and the ramifications of financialization in the 21st century. The ways financial markets are regulated, steered, managed and the short-circuiting by the financial community will also be major concerns.

Financial Crisis of 2008 triggered lots of question among the experts and the public in general. A lot of write ups are being produced with most probable problems, possible solutions and preventive strategies. The admission in preface by the author who happens to be former chairman of UK Financial Services Authority, 'The crisis I didn't see coming' speaks volumes of how complex and deceitful the crisis was. He points out that the most debt was given out on real estate sector but very little on new constructions. He suggests increase in capital requirements for banks by four to five time current requirements to keep economy stable and to discourage over lending. The author uses the word 'Debt Pollution' for over supply and over demand of credits. He believes it creates economic risk and hence he recommends taxing the debt. He believes tax benefits given to 'debt' encourage borrowing. He wants debt to be treated at par with dividend. He writes the debt contracts are less flexible compared to equity contracts which are according to him more flexible financial innovation. I think the book is thought provocative and indicative of evils of debt with interest. I recommend the book to the readers. The book is published by Princeton University Press in 2016. ISBN 978-0-691-16964-4 priced at USD 29.95