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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
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Issue of 2024–12–16
nine papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Myles, Jamieson |
| Keywords: | Trade finance, Cooperative business, Cotton, Federal credit institutions, History of capitalism |
| JEL: | N00 J54 N12 N22 N42 N52 P10 P13 Q13 Q14 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gnv:wpaper:unige:181156 |
| By: | McKenzie, Rex; Koutny, Christian |
| Abstract: | This paper develops the concept of the hyper-capitalist urban node (HCUN) as a new theoretical framework for understanding how financial capitalism transforms contemporary cities. Through systematic analysis of London's economic, social, and technological changes from 1992 to 2023, we demonstrate that global financial centres have evolved beyond established models of the global city. Drawing on comprehensive longitudinal data, we identify six distinctive characteristics of HCUNs: financial sector dominance, extreme income polarisation, housing financialisation, the political-financial nexus, technological acceleration, and social-spatial transformation. London's empirical evidence demonstrates how these characteristics manifest in concrete terms through dramatic shifts in employment structure, housing markets, income distribution, and spatial organisation. We argue that HCUNs represent not merely a quantitative intensification of existing urban processes, but rather a qualitative shift in how cities function within global capitalism. The analysis reveals fundamental contradictions within the HCUN model, explaining why conventional urban policies often fail to achieve their intended outcomes. Through this research, we advance both theoretical understanding of contemporary urban transformation and methodological approaches to studying it, including the development of the HCUN Index. Our findings demonstrate the need for fundamental innovation in urban theory and governance to address the distinctive challenges posed by financial capitalism's intensifying influence over urban development. |
| Date: | 2024–11–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:fhk2c |
| By: | Matthias Wrede |
| Abstract: | Housing cooperatives have a significant share in some countries, particularly in urban housing markets, and are supported by municipalities through tax breaks and preferential access to land. We examine the contribution of housing cooperatives to the provision of affordable housing and how they are affected by rent control. For Germany, we find that residents of cooperative housing pay lower rents than for-profit owners, but are still affected by rent control. In particular, we show that stricter limits on rent increases for existing residential leases in tight housing markets have the effect of lowering rents for housing cooperatives, while we find no such effect of rent regulation for for-profit landlords. |
| Keywords: | housing affordability, housing cooperatives, housing tenure, rent control |
| JEL: | P13 R21 R31 R38 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11452 |
| By: | Carpio Pacheco, Carla Verónica (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) |
| Abstract: | Las mercaditas, son grupos de mujeres que se reúnen para vender e intercambiar productos en el espacio público como forma de protesta contra la violencia económica. Dado que no se trata de una manifestación con un pliego petitorio específico ni con demandas laborales definidas de antemano, es preciso saber qué sentido dan a la protesta y a la economía a partir del tipo de prácticas que llevan a cabo. Para ello se utilizan herramientas concep-tuales de la economía feminista como la reproducción de la vida y el trabajo de cuidados para entender la crisis que atraviesan en el modelo neoliberal imperante. El objetivo de este artículo es mostrar algunas estrategias de estos colectivos de mujeres para hacer frente a la precariedad que se incrementó de forma generalizada a partir de la pandemia del COVID-19. Los hallazgos arrojaron que a través de prácticas de reciprocidad como el trueque se formaron y consolidaron redes de apoyo mutuo sustentadas en el cuidado comunitario. |
| Keywords: | economía feminista; economía social; violencia económica; reproducción de la vida; economía y otras disciplinas |
| JEL: | B54 J16 Y80 |
| Date: | 2024–09–13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000418:021233 |
| By: | Researcher, AS Independent |
| Abstract: | "Divided We Fall: A Multidisciplinary Analysis of Polarization, Social Divides, and the Fragility of Unity in Human Societies" explores the escalating threat of polarization and tribalism in modern human societies. By examining historical case studies, such as Nazi Germany and McCarthyism, alongside contemporary events like Brexit and the U.S. elections of 2016 and 2024, the paper identifies recurring patterns in how societal divisions are exploited for political and ideological gain. The analysis integrates insights from social psychology, highlighting cognitive biases like confirmation bias, in-group/out-group dynamics, and heuristic-driven decision-making, which leave individuals vulnerable to manipulation. The paper also delves into the role of emerging technologies, such as social media and AI-driven propaganda, in amplifying divisions, creating echo chambers, and eroding democratic norms. Beyond diagnosing the problem, it explores opportunities for fostering unity, drawing on historical examples of collective action, such as post-WWII reconstruction and the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings underscore the fragility of social cohesion and emphasize the urgent need for proactive leadership, media responsibility, and grassroots mobilization to counter polarization. This multidisciplinary framework aims to provoke discussion on how humanity can navigate its growing divides and build resilience against future existential threats. The paper also explores how modern technologies—such as social media algorithms and artificial intelligence—amplify polarization, creating echo chambers and eroding trust in democratic processes. Insights from social psychology, including heuristics, cognitive biases, and tribalism, highlight the vulnerabilities that make societies susceptible to manipulation. Finally, the paper discusses pathways to unity through shared goals, historical examples of successful collaboration, and the necessity of ethical leadership and robust institutions. The findings underscore the urgent need for proactive measures to counteract polarization, emphasizing education, transparency, and collective action as essential tools for preserving democracy and fostering global unity in the face of existential threats such as climate change and technological disruption. |
| Date: | 2024–11–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:wzm5d |
| By: | Marcin W\k{a}torek; Marcin Kr\'olczyk; Jaros{\l}aw Kwapie\'n; Tomasz Stanisz; Stanis{\l}aw Dro\.zd\.z |
| Abstract: | Multifractality is a concept that helps compactly grasping the most essential features of the financial dynamics. In its fully developed form, this concept applies to essentially all mature financial markets and even to more liquid cryptocurrencies traded on the centralized exchanges. A new element that adds complexity to cryptocurrency markets is the possibility of decentralized trading. Based on the extracted tick-by-tick transaction data from the Universal Router contract of the Uniswap decentralized exchange, from June 6, 2023, to June 30, 2024, the present study using Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (MFDFA) shows that even though liquidity on these new exchanges is still much lower compared to centralized exchanges convincing traces of multifractality are already emerging on this new trading as well. The resulting multifractal spectra are however strongly left-side asymmetric which indicates that this multifractality comes primarily from large fluctuations and small ones are more of the uncorrelated noise type. What is particularly interesting here is the fact that multifractality is more developed for time series representing transaction volumes than rates of return. On the level of these larger events a trace of multifractal cross-correlations between the two characteristics is also observed. |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2411.05951 |
| By: | Assa, Jacob; Morgan, Marc |
| Abstract: | This paper argues that fiscal space is not given in absolute terms, but is relative to a country’s macroeconomic conditions. We first identify the relativity of fiscal space in the ideas of John Maynard Keynes, drawing an analogy to the theory of special relativity by Albert Einstein. We then present the outline of a ‘general relativity’ theory of fiscal space based on our interpretation of functional finance. Building on our theory we operationalize four macroeconomic determinants of relative fiscal space – two cyclical factors (unemployment and inflation) and two structural factors (productive capacity and monetary sovereignty) – using available data for 151 countries. Among the structural factors, we contribute a novel Monetary Sovereignty Index (MSI). We use this index, alongside UNCTAD’s Productive Capacities Index (PCI), the rate of unemployment, and the inflation rate, in a principal component analysis (PCA) to compute a Fiscal Space Index (FSI) for each country. We find that there is a wide variety of fiscal space across countries, and even within regions – with some developing economies scoring high, and some developed economies scoring low on the index. We illustrate the dynamic operation of our framework with mechanical simulations covering three scenarios for the case study of Malawi, the country with the fifth lowest fiscal space in our sample. We find that the functional finance paradigm of fiscal space outperforms the sound finance paradigm for a range of macroeconomic variables, including the FSI, and more so when government spending is targeted to easing import dependence, rather than just targeting increased productive capacity. We end by discussing key political economy and geopolitical constraints and identify various reforms that would facilitate countries to fully use or increase their fiscal space. |
| Keywords: | Fiscal Space, Relativity, Sound Finance, Keynes, Functional Finance, Development |
| JEL: | B50 C38 E00 E61 E62 H6 H87 O23 O50 O55 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gnv:wpaper:unige:176185 |
| By: | Chris McElroy (University of Vermont; University of Leeds); Daniel W. O'Neill (University of Leeds; Universitat de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | We use multi-regional input-output analysis to calculate the paid labour, energy, emissions, and material use required to provide basic needs for all people. We calculate two different low-consumption scenarios, using the UK as a case study: (1) a "decent living" scenario, which includes only the bare necessities, and (2) a "good life" scenario, which is based on the minimum living standards demanded by UK residents. We compare the resulting footprints to the current footprint of the UK, and to the footprints of the US, China, India, and a global average. Labour footprints are disaggregated by sector, skill level, and region of origin. We find that both low-consumption scenarios would still require an unsustainable amount of labour and resources at the global scale. The decent living scenario would require a 26-hour working week, and on a per capita basis, 89 GJ of energy use, 5.9 tonnes of emissions, and 5.7 tonnes of used materials per year. The more socially sustainable good life scenario would require a 53-hour working week, 165 GJ of energy use, 9.9 tonnes of emissions, and 11.5 tonnes of used materials per capita. Both scenarios represent substantial reductions from the UK's current labour footprint of 68 hours per week, which the UK is only able to sustain by importing a substantial portion of its labour from other countries. We conclude that reducing consumption to the level of basic needs is not enough to achieve either social or environmental sustainability. Dramatic improvements in provisioning systems are also required. |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2411.06337 |
| By: | Maya, Guillermo (Universidad Nacional de Colombia) |
| Abstract: | Existe la ilusión o pretensión de que todos los países gozan de una soberanía plena y que son entidades políticas iguales. Sin embargo, la realidad es completamente distinta. La relación entre naciones es una relación de poder. Es decir, hay países que son dominantes y otros subordinados, y otros que son intermedios con mas grados de libertad que los segundos. Si bien Inglaterra dominó el mundo en el siglo XIX, a lo largo de tres continentes —Asia, África y América—, Estados Unidos (EE. UU.) tomó la hegemonía mundial en el siglo XX, después de la segunda postguerra, como líder del “mundo libre” pero no se considera a si mismo como un imperio, sino una república constitucional. |
| Keywords: | imperialismo; Gran Bretaña; Estados Unidos; Siglo XIX; Siglo XX |
| Date: | 2023–09–13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000418:021223 |