nep-pke New Economics Papers
on Post Keynesian Economics
Issue of 2009‒05‒16
four papers chosen by
Karl Petrick
University of the West Indies

  1. The finance-dominated growth regime, distribution, and the present crisis By Engelbert Stockhammer
  2. The Money Supply in Macroeconomics By Peter Howells
  3. Is Government Ownership of Banks Really Harmful to Growth? By Panicos Demetriades; Svetlana Andrianova; Anja Shortland
  4. The Military Industrial Complex By J Paul Dunne; Elisabeth Skons

  1. By: Engelbert Stockhammer (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics & B.A.)
    Abstract: The paper discusses the interactions of changes in income distribution and the accumulation dynamics in the post-Fordist accumulation regime in OECD countries, which is characterized by deregulated financial markets. The neoliberal mode of regulation came with a decisive shift in power relations at the expense of labor, which is clearly reflected in the fall of wage shares across OECD economies. The notion of a “finance-dominated” accumulation regime is proposed to highlight that financial developments crucially shape the pattern and the pace of accumulation. Financial globalization has relaxed balance of payment constraints and thereby allowed the build up of big international imbalances. The combination of real wage moderation and financial liberalization has led to different strategies (or at least outcomes) in different countries. While some countries (like the USA) exhibit a credit-fuelled consumption-driven growth model that comes with large current account deficits, others (like Germany and Japan) show an export-driven growth model with modest consumption growth and large current account surpluses. Overall the finance-dominated accumulation regime is characterized by a mediocre growth performance and by a high degree of fragility.
    JEL: B50 E20 E21 E E44 E60 P17
    Date: 2009–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwwuw:wuwp127&r=pke
  2. By: Peter Howells (UWE, Bristol)
    Abstract: The notion that the quantity of money in an economy might be endogenously determined has a long history. Even so, it has never been part of mainstream economic thinking which has remained dominated by the view that the policymaker somehow controls the stock of money and that interest rates are market-determined. However, the need to design and operate a monetary policy that works for modern economies as they are currently constructed, has led to the emergence of the so-called ‘new consensus macroeconomics’ in which it is recognised that the policymaker sets a short-term interest rate and the quantities of money and credit are demand-determined. This paper looks at the way in which this ‘new consensus’ is (at last) forcing a recognition, in the teaching of money, that the money supply is endogenously determined. It also shows how we can take this further by adding a banking sector to a model of the real economy in which the money supply is endogenously determined. The paper ends by showing how some of the issues currently emerging in the new consensus are very closely related to earlier debates amongst post Keynesian economists.
    Keywords: Money supply; macroeconomics
    JEL: E50
    Date: 2009–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwe:wpaper:0904&r=pke
  3. By: Panicos Demetriades; Svetlana Andrianova; Anja Shortland
    Abstract: We show that previous results suggesting that government ownership of banks has a negative effect on economic growth are not robust to adding more “fundamental” determinants of economic growth, such as institutions. We also present regression results from a more recent period (1995-2007) which suggest that, if anything, government ownership of banks has been associated with higher long run growth rates, even after controlling for institutions and other variables suggested by the growth literature. Drawing on the current global financial crisis, we provide a conceptual framework which explains why under certain circumstances government owned banks could have a greater effect on economic growth than privately-owned banks.
    Date: 2009–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lec:leecon:09/11&r=pke
  4. By: J Paul Dunne (Department of Economics, British University in Egypt and UWE, Bristol); Elisabeth Skons (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI))
    Abstract: This paper reviews the origin and theoretical foundation of the concept Military-Industrial Complex and explains the key issues involved in the literature on the MIC in the Cold war context. It then considers the implications for the MIC of some main post-Cold War developments, with particular emphasis on the arms industry, its structure and effects. It then assesses the degree to which the end of the Cold War may result in a fundamental change of the MIC.
    Keywords: Arms Industry; MIC
    JEL: H56 D4
    Date: 2009–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwe:wpaper:0907&r=pke

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