In the first part of this blog (July 13, 2016) – Brexit signals that a new policy paradigm is required including re-nationalisation – I suggested that re-nationalisation of certain sectors has to return as a key industry policy plank for any aspiring progressive political party.
Bill Mitchell – billy blog
The case for re-nationalisation – Part 2
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Affichage des articles dont le libellé est Brexit. Afficher tous les articles
Affichage des articles dont le libellé est Brexit. Afficher tous les articles
Andrew G Haldane — Whose recovery?
It is a great pleasure to be here in Port Talbot. I want to discuss the UK’s economic fortunes. The past few weeks have been dominated by the run-up to the EU referendum vote and its aftermath. This has generated considerable uncertainty about the economy, about policy and about politics – a heady cocktail. I will come to those uncertainties, and their implications for monetary policy, at the end. But I wanted to start by assessing the UK’s economic recovery so far, as this provides important context for what happens next…BIS
Andrew G Haldane: Whose recovery?
Speech by Mr Andrew G Haldane, Executive Director and Chief Economist of the Bank of England, in Port Talbot, Wales, 30 June 2016.
Bill Mitchell — Towards a progressive concept of efficiency – Part 1
Before I present the second part of my discussion about the relevance of re-nationalisation to what I would call a truly progressive policy agenda, we have to take a step backward. I note after the first part – Brexit signals that a new policy paradigm is required including re-nationalisation – there were a few comments posted (and many more E-mails received – apparently readers are happier berating me personally rather than putting their ideas out in the public domain) that I was advocating a return to the ‘bad’ old days of nationalisation where cronyism, inefficiency and trade union bastardry were the norm. The obvious next point was – how can I claim that is progressive and part of the future. In this two part blog (the second part will come tomorrow), I offer a framework for assessing these claims. Today’s blog foscuses on the neo-liberal vision of efficiency and reveals how narrow and biased towards private profit it is. In Part 2 (tomorrow) I will present the progressive vision and how it conditions the way we think of efficiency. Once we break out of the neo-liberal constructs and refocus our attention on Society rather than the individual then the way we appraise policy options also changes – it becomes enriched with new possibilities and understandings. We enter the progressive world and leave behind the austerity nightmare that neo-liberalism has created. We are then able to see how our old conceptions of nationalised industries or public sector job creation are tainted with these neo-liberal biases. And we are then able to see how policy initiatives that invoke scorn from the conservatives and many so-called modern progressives (obsessed with post modern constructs) have a vital role to play in a truly progressive manifesto. I split the discussion into two parts because the blogs are too long as they are.
This blog is part of Part 3 of next book (with co-author, Italian journalist Thomas Fazi), which is nearing completion. Part 3 will present what we are calling a ‘Progressive Manifesto’ to guide policy design and policy choices for governments that are struggling to see a way beyond the neo-liberal macroeconomics which we posit blights any hope of mounting a progressive agenda.
We also hope that the ‘Manifesto’ will empower community groups by demonstrating that the TINA mantra, where these alleged goals of the amorphous global financial markets are prioritised over real goals like full employment, renewable energy and revitalised manufacturing sectors is bereft and a range of policy options, now taboo in this neo-liberal world, are available.…Bill Mitchell – billy blog
Towards a progressive concept of efficiency – Part 1
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Larry Elliott — Bank of England chief economist calls for big post-Brexit stimulus
The Bank of England’s chief economist has called for a big package of measures to support the UK’s post-Brexit economy, stressing the need for a prompt and robust response to the uncertainty.
Andy Haldane made it clear the Bank’s monetary policy committee would do more than merely cut interest rates from their already record low of 0.5% when it meets in August.
The Bank’s chief economist used a speech to warn that decisive action was required at a time when confidence had been dented by the shock referendum result.
“In my personal view, this means a material easing of monetary policy is likely to be needed, as one part of a collective policy response aimed at helping protect the economy and jobs from a downturn.
“Given the scale of insurance required, a package of mutually complementary monetary policy easing measures is likely to be necessary. And this monetary response, if it is to buttress expectations and confidence, needs I think to be delivered promptly as well as muscularly. By promptly I mean next month, when the precise size and extent of the necessary stimulatory measures can be determined as part of the August inflation report round.”
Ratchet up private debt with low interest and easy credit instead of public debt (increase fiscal deficit).
The Guardian
Bank of England chief economist calls for big post-Brexit stimulus
The Guardian
Bank of England chief economist calls for big post-Brexit stimulus
Larry Elliott
James Petras — Brexit: A Workers’ Response to Oligarchs, Bankers, Flunkies and Scabs
James Petras Website
Brexit: A Workers’ Response to Oligarchs, Bankers, Flunkies and Scabs
James Petras | Professor (Emeritus) of Sociology at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York and adjunct professor at Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Neil Wilson — And what makes you think that stealing other country’s skills is appropriate?
Neil Wilson on importing labor
Medium
And what makes you think that stealing other country’s skills is appropriate?
Bill Mitchell — Brexit signals that a new policy paradigm is required including re-nationalisation
With the new British Prime Minister now indicating that she will push ahead with Brexit and free the nation from the undemocratic imposts of the increasingly dysfunctional European Union, a view that is apparently ‘poisonous’ to some so-called progressive writers, several pro-Remain economists or economic commentators have realised that the game is up for neo-liberalism in Britain. There have been several articles recently arguing (after bitching about the loss of the Remain vote and repeating the catastrophe mantra) that a new economic paradigm is now called for in Britain, based on its new found sovereignty (after it finally exits). It could, by the way, exit through an Act of Parliament without all the Article 50 palaver if it wanted to. That is just a smokescreen. This idea of a new paradigm being required is exactly what Thomas Fazi and I are working on as part of our current book project which is nearing completion. Today, I consider briefly our view that nationalisation has to return as a key industry policy plank for any aspiring progressive political party.…Bill Mitchell – billy blog
Brexit signals that a new policy paradigm is required including re-nationalisation
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Brian Romanchuk — The Calculus Of Crisis
The last remaining drops of yield are being wrung out of the global government bond market while bears run amok. Although the adage "He who panics first, wins!" must be kept in mind, it is still not obvious whether or not this a re-run of previous summer silly seasons in financial markets.
Since I am not able to give financial advice, I will keep these remarks brief. I just want to lay out how investors should weigh various risk scenarios, without suggesting what outcome to expect.…Bond Economics
The Calculus Of Crisis
Brian Romanchuk
Daniella Medina— Class Interests & Discordant Politics: Brexit & the Trump Campaign
Levy Institute grad students' blog that is unabashedly leftist.
The ascent of conservative capitalism- in the US under Reagan and George Bush Sr. and in the UK under Thatcher- meant tax cuts, the erosion of labor unions, and new regulations imposed on the economy. These economic regime changes were based on the mainstream theoretical presupposition that what we really needed to do was create an economic environment conducive to unbarred corporate innovation and investment and eagerly accept international policy which, together, opened the proverbial floodgates allowing neoliberalism to leak all over the globe. What a mess.I would take issue with the phase, "allowing neoliberalism to leak all over the globe." The reality is that this was the intention, and it was imposed internationally by the Anglo-American interests, that is to say, the international finance and translational corporatism the rule the US and UK, along with the deep state bent on global hegemony.
"Allow neoliberalism to leak all over the globe" is not correct way to characterize this. This suggests the natural order that is supposed to arise spontaneously with liberalization, deregulation and privatization, whereas the reality is that neoliberalism was imposed domestically and internationally through oligarchic, plutocratic and militaristic rule masquerading as democracy and government of, by and for the people, in which the elected government acts in the interest of all and spreads the benefits of liberty internationally.
The Minskys
Class Interests & Discordant Politics: Brexit & the Trump Campaign