468 research outputs found
Comment on Edlin and Jaffee: Show Me the General Theory
No full textAaron Edlin and Dwight Jaffee point to a problem straight out of Keynes, according to Dirk Ehnts, so why not look to Keynes for the answer?
Das Nichts ist Zentralbankgeld. Anmerkungen zu Dirk Ehnts' Buch über Geld und Kredit
No full textThe importance of liquidity for banks and even for nation states has been demonstrated once more by the last series of global crises, of which the repercussions still are being felt ten years later. It is a common understanding that a shortage of liquidity leads to insolvency. Under the auspices of central banks and a two-level monetary system, the connection between lost liquidity and insolvency could be cut. If central banks are lenders of last resort, they are capable of removing any problem of illiquidity and insolvency. This is a thesis propagated by Dirk H. Ehnts (2016), who presents a monetary theory beyond the one we find in textbooks. Ehnts extends his super-optimistic view even to states that can – according to him – solve any crisis if they are allowed to enhance their spending.
In his theoretical approach to monetary theory, Ehnts puts the examination of balance sheets in the center of his deliberations. The whole body of arguments can be found in his book, “Money and Credit,” which is written in German, as is this analysis of the new perspective to modern money. It results in a list of more than forty flaws - wrong assertions, inherent contradictions and unfounded consequences.
The main problems of the balance sheet-centered analysis are these:
(i.) Balance sheets are identities. They cannot inform us about causal relations and action sequences. It is an illusion to hope that balance sheets can highlight the functioning of the monetary system. Ehnts’ book is filled with statements that are not consequences of his balance sheets, but untested hypotheses being presented as plausible claims about reality.
(ii.) The balance sheet approach is masking the legal dimension of financial interactions. For instance, in credit agreements it is accepted by the debtor to pay back the sum. Otherwise, he or she faces a compulsory execution. According to Ehnts, only one thing happens: the creditor loses his or her claim.
(iii.) The theoretical conception ignores the role of the collateral, which is a limiting factor to central bank money and serves as an anchor to stabilize its value. High quality securities are scarce and therefore real money cannot be delivered unlimited in size.
(iv.) The subject matter of a credit is not specified correctly in the theoretical framework. According to the author, it can even be jelly babies. But it is money emitted by central banks. No complete explanation of the creation of money by central banks can be found in the whole book. The availability of central bank money is an ignored prerequisite to the creation of money by commercial banks. If money could be created out of nothing, like it is claimed, no bankruptcy would have ever happened.
The rationale of Ehnts’ policy advice has as many holes as Swiss cheese. It is not the base upon which serious policy recommendations can be built
Spatial decisions of multinational enterprises and their effect on local firms
No full textSince the 1980s empirical research has been conducted on the influence of MNEs on local firms. The spillovers predicted by growth theory models used in the research designs have not been found. The main result is the importance of increased competition for the productivity of local firms. When FDI flows expanded rapidly in the 1990s, it became clear that MNEs play an important role in international technology transfer. However, growth theory models are limited in that market structures and firms cannot be modeled explicitly. The New Economic Geography (NEG) is better equipped to handle these issues. Instead of spillovers it relies on linkages. Therefore, new insights might be gained by basing empirical research on a NEG model and looking for linkages among firms
Formal Techniques and Self/Other Relations in the Novels of Dirk Bogarde
No full textThe thesis foregrounds the distinctive contribution Dirk Bogarde made to
contemporary writing in a second career that developed in parallel to his screen
commitments. It dispels the notion that Bogarde followed a familiar path as an actor
who wrote books. Instead it establishes his reputation as an innovative writer whose
formal technique was substantially influenced by the textual systems of cinema and
the cross-fertilisation from acting to writing.
In examining the formative factors that steered Bogarde towards authorship, the
thesis addresses the role of performance as a generative factor in the evolution of the
novels, establishing a discursive link with Bakhtinian dialogism, and specifically,
transgredience as a formal imperative. Secondly, it affords a critical insight into why
the major concerns with staging and performativity preoccupy his writing career.
The thesis claims that Bogarde was an empirically dialogical writer whose use
of camera-eye narration fostered the proliferation of competing discourses across the
fiction. This formal dynamic is centred on the relationship between stages and
dialogism, which incorporates the work of Erving Goffinan as a complementary
critique to Bakhtinian theory with its emphasis on self-presentation. The concern
with socially-constructed behaviour leads the thesis to address the associated issues of
stereotyping and 'otherness', which in terms of body politics is articulated by the
mono logic drive to confine the sexual 'other' to a fixed representation.
Bogarde's ability to draw on cinematic and performance techniques identifies
an area of expertise unavailable to most other writers. This is an unusual repository
of skills to bring to writing which is why the thesis makes the claim for his singular
achievement as a contemporary author. There are fruitful points of intersection to be
explored in this respect with the work of Christopher Isherwood, whom Bogarde read
and admired, as a basis for further research. It is hoped that the thesis will play its
part in opening up new possibilities for Bogarde's writing to be re-visited by future
critics
Knapp's 'State Theory of Money' and its reception in German academic discourse
No full textIn 1905, Georg Friedrich Knapp published The State Theory of Money in his native German, claiming that money is a "creature of law" and not connected to metals via some intrinsic value. When the English translation appeared in 1924, apparently at the wishes of John Maynard Keynes, the German version had run through four editions, upon which the last the translation builds. There also had been considerable debate about "Chartalism" - the idea that money derived its acceptance by legal means - in the German academic literature. Among others, Knut Wicksell and Georg Simmel commented on it. Since so far there has not been any English-language publication on this issue, it is deemed worthwhile to provide such. After presenting the main arguments that Knapp makes in his book, the academic reviews that followed are presented and evaluated
Liquidity, insolvency and the state
No full textThe importance of liquidity and insolvency for nation states and banks has been highlighted by current economic woes in the eurozone and elsewhere. The concepts are grounded in monetary theory, which determine the way they are interpreted. Connected to the discussion of autometallism and Chartalism in the early 20th century, monetary economists of today have come full circle. Discussing some modern authors, it is argued that the concepts of liquidity and insolvency are connected. However, if the central bank functions as lender of last resort the link is cut. Also, fiscal policy has the potential to remove problems of illiquidity and insolvency in the financial system. Illiquidity and insolvency are signals of stress in the real economy. Their oppression through central bank policy might lead to the (wrong) perception that all is well in the economy
The job guarantee: full employment, price stability and social progress
No full textThis paper presents the idea of the Job Guarantee (JG), which is a logical extension of the paradigm of a tax-driven fiat currency. The JG involves the government offering a public purpose-oriented job with a fixed hourly wage and job benefits to anyone willing to work. The JG as a bottom-up approach is locally administered but federally funded. As the analytical lens of MMT reveals, a monetarily sovereign government is always able to provide the spending required. Macroeconomically, the JG works as an automatic countercyclical stabilizer and an excellent tool for aggregated demand management, ensuring the economy is continuously operating at full capacity. On top, the JG uses an employed buffer stock approach as a superior means to maintain price stability. Next to its favourable macroeconomic impacts, the JG offers many social benefits, particularly related to continuous employment, working conditions in the private sector, power relations in the labour market and democracy. While the JG and Universal Basic Income (UBI) are often discussed as comparable, competing policy proposals, the JG addresses more macroeconomic and social issues than the UBI does. This paper concludes that the JG qualifies for being the single most effective policy in order to drive the economy towards continuous full employment and price stability while realizing additional social benefits
Spatial decisions of multinational enterprises and their effect on local firms
No full textSince the 1980s empirical research has been conducted on the influence of MNEs on local firms. The spillovers predicted by growth theory models used in the research designs have not been found. The main result is the importance of increased competition for the productivity of local firms. When FDI flows expanded rapidly in the 1990s, it became clear that MNEs play an important role in international technology transfer. However, growth theory models are limited in that market structures and firms cannot be modeled explicitly. The New Economic Geography (NEG) is better equipped to handle these issues. Instead of spillovers it relies on linkages. Therefore, new insights might be gained by basing empirical research on a NEG model and looking for linkages among firms. --New Economic Geography,Foreign Direct Investment,Multinational Enterprises
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