Journal of Economic and Social Thought
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Productivity and Technical Change According to Salter – A note
Get PDFAbstract. Salter’s simple and clear explanation of productivity and how it relates to technical change has anchored many elaborate and fancy growth and change analyses. Unfortunately many of these elaborations do not even reference Salter. They should. This note shows that some old ideas are like wine which gets better with age.Keywords. Salter and productivity; Salter and technical change; productivity and technical change.JEL. O30, 040
The Postulate of the Three Regimes of Economic Growth Contradicted by Data
Get PDFAbstract. Economic growth in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia, countries of the former USSR, Africa and Latin America were analysed. It is demonstrated that the fundamental postulate of the Unified Growth Theory about the existence of the three regimes of growth (Malthusian regime, post-Malthusian regime and sustained-growth regime) is contradicted by data. These regimes did not exist. In particular, there was no escape from the Malthusian trap because there was no trap. Economic growth in all these regions was not stagnant but hyperbolic. Unified Growth Theory is fundamentally incorrect. However, this theory is also dangerously misleading because it claimsa transition from the endless epoch of stagnation to the new era of sustained economic growth, the interpretation creating the sense of security and a promise of prosperity. The data show that the opposite is true. Economic growth in the past was sustained and secure. Now, it is supportedby the increasing ecological deficit. The long-term sustained and secure economic growth has yet to be created. It did not happen automatically, as suggested incorrectly by the Unified Growth Theory.Keywords. Regional economic growth, Gross Domestic Product, Unified Growth Theory, Malthusian stagnation, post-Malthusian regime, sustained-growth regime, Industrial Revolution, hyperbolic growth.JEL. A10, C12, C20, F00, N00, O10
Is Ross Ulbricht of Silk Road a Libertarian Hero?
Get PDFAbstract. Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole for electronically facilitating trade in illegal drugs with his website Silk Road. This is a more severe penalty given to drug dealers, and even murderers. Is he heroic for violating an unjust law, which makes selling drugs a victimless crime? Is he a libertarian? Is he a libertarian hero? These are the questions addressed in the present paper.Keywords: Silk Road, Hero, Libertarianism.JEL. A10
Revisiting Free Market Utopia: A Hayek-Polanyi Reminder
Get PDFAbstract. As pundits discuss the causes and results of the 2008 financial crisis and ensuing Great Recession, economists of various strands—led mainly by Keynesians—are slowly beginning to question the supposed wisdom of unfettered markets. Since Keynesian-liberal disputes revolve around the symptoms of the crisis rather than the historical and structural features of market economies, we thought that a Hayek-Polanyi comparison would be a timely intervention in order to understand the real nature of the subject. This comparison may also pave the way for the creation of an alternative to the vagaries of unfettered markets.Keywords. Polanyi, Hayek, Markets, Capital, State intervention.JEL. A12, A13, B13, B15
Analyzing Tax Policy and Economic Growth by Using Semi-Parametric Approach
Get PDFAbstract. Due to complexities in measuring the impact of tax policy on economic growth, there is need to explore functional relationship between response and predictors. Semi-parametric approaches are often very handy in modeling relationships which are non-linear but cant be completely described either through parametric or non-parametric approaches. To determine the effects of tax policy on economic growthfunctional, cubic smoothing spline method is used along with cross validation test to control the smoothing parameter. To replace the functional form of smoothing coefficients into linear mixed model, maximum likelihood estimation is used. Results indicate that proposed methodology is robust in determining functional form and in achieving increasing average marginal tax rates has negative impact on economic growth results. Empirical results indicate that high AMTRs and population growth rate reduce the performance of economic growth in the developing countries. A reduction on dependence of AMTRs in South Asian countries is needed.Keywords: Spline smoothing method, Semi-parametric, Tax structure, Economic growth, Average marginal tax rate.JEL. H26, O40, C14, H71
Angelo A. Camillo (Edt.), Global Enterprise Management, Volume I: New Perspectives on Challenges and Future Developments
Get PDFAbstract. As an on-going process of integrating companies, people, and governments on an international level, globalization is driven by economic motives. International trade and investment provides opportunities for enterprises to alleviate costs, increase productivity, and compete on a global scale. Managers that lead global enterprises are faced with complex and dynamic situations for which they require practical tools and real-world solutions. Although other books have addressed globalization with respect to an individual practitioner, a relevant theory, or a particular market, Volume I brings together an international interdisciplinary team of scholars in an effort to provide a truly global perspective. Against a fragmented tapestry that makes up the current literature on global enterprise management (see international marketing/project management/human resource management for examples), the 256-page volume edited by Angelo A. Camillo, represents an ambitious attempt to bring together international talent for a collaborative effort that spans nine countries and four continents. Organized in two volumes - of which the first is herein reviewed, Global Enterprise Management showcases a collection of essays with a world-wide perspective that provides unique interpretations, theoretical considerations, and credible solutions to global enterprise managers.Keywords. Globalization, MNE, MNC, Comparative management.JEL. F60, N00, O30
Rural Perspective towards Financial Inclusion
Get PDFFinancial Inclusion or inclusive financing is the delivery of financial services at affordable costs to sections of disadvantaged and low-income segments of society, in contrast to financial exclusion where those services are not available or affordable. For the purpose of giving such financial services in easy and convenient way government has developed many financial plans in the rural areas. These plans are helpful for people who want to access financial services. The availability of banking and payment services to the entire population without discrimination is the prime objective of this public policy. Thus the term Financial Inclusion can be defined as the process of ensuring access to financial services and timely and adequate credit where needed by vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low income groups at an affordable cost. The nations should takeover and remedy to reach the financial services to the weaker sections. So, this study has been undertaken to analyse the prospects of financial inclusion in rural areas.Keywords. Bank, Financial Services, Financial Inclusion, Rural Perspective.JEL. G20, G29, G30
Léonce Ndikumana & James K. Boyce, Africa's Odious Debts: How Foreign Loans and Capital Flight Bled a Continent
Get PDFAbstract. After a period when the discourse on capital flight was largely coined for a rhetoric aimed to feed into the Marxist argument that capitalism could not lead to the development of the Third World, the debate on capital flight has increasingly become part of mainstream economics since the 1990s. This move has been accompanied by unprecedented efforts to refine the concept of, and measurement approach to capital flight, and better understand the challenges and opportunities of capital flight curbing or reversal for developing countries. Africa’s Odious Debts is one of the outcomes of such efforts
