nep-pke New Economics Papers
on Post Keynesian Economics
Issue of 2017‒07‒09
nine papers chosen by
Karl Petrick
Western New England University

  1. Populism and Central Bank Independence By Goodhart, Charles A; Lastra, Rosa
  2. Populism and the Economics of Globalization By Rodrik, Dani
  3. Consumption & Class in Evolutionary Macroeconomics By Rengs, Bernhard; Scholz-Waeckerle, Manuel
  4. The Short Rise and Long Fall of heterodox Economics in germany After the 1970s: Explorations in a Scientific Field of Power and Struggle. By Heise, Arne; Thieme, Sebastian
  5. Why has economics turned out this way?’ A socio-economic note on the explanation of monism in economics. By Heise, Arne
  6. Industry Evolution in Varieties of Capitalism: a Comparison of the Danish and US Wind Turbine Industries By Max-Peter Menzel; Johannes Kammer
  7. The African origins of Euro-American development: Pins on an empirical roadmap By Amavilah, Voxi Heinrich
  8. Morishima on Marx By von Weizsäcker, Carl Christian
  9. Reply to Mrs. Robinson, Morishima and Wolfstetter By von Weizsäcker, Carl Christian

  1. By: Goodhart, Charles A; Lastra, Rosa
    Abstract: The consensus that surrounded the granting of central bank independence in the pursuit of a price stability oriented monetary policy has been challenged in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, in the light of the rise of populism on the one hand and the expanded mandates of central banks on the other hand. After considering the economic case for independence and the three Ds (distributional, directional and duration effects), the paper examines three different dimensions in the debate of how the rise in populism - or simply general discontent with the status quo - affects central bank independence. Finally, the paper examines how to interpret the legality of central bank mandates, and whether or not central banks have exceeded their powers. This analysis leads us in turn to consider accountability and, in particular, the judicial review of central bank actions and decisions. It is important to have in place adequate mechanisms to "guard the guardians" of monetary and financial stability.
    Keywords: accountability; central bank independence; Judicial review; Legitimacy; Mandates; populism
    JEL: E50 E58 H10 K10
    Date: 2017–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12122&r=pke
  2. By: Rodrik, Dani
    Abstract: Populism may seem like it has come out of nowhere, but it has been on the rise for a while. I argue that economic history and economic theory both provide ample grounds for anticipating that advanced stages of economic globalization would produce a political backlash. While the backlash may have been predictable, the specific form it took was less so. I distinguish between left-wing and right-wing variants of populism, which differ with respect to the societal cleavages that populist politicians highlight. The first has been predominant in Latin America, and the second in Europe. I argue that these different reactions are related to the relative salience of different types of globalization shocks.
    Keywords: Globalization; populism
    JEL: G02
    Date: 2017–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12119&r=pke
  3. By: Rengs, Bernhard; Scholz-Waeckerle, Manuel
    Abstract: This article contributes to the field of evolutionary macroeconomics by highlighting the dynamic interlinkages between micro-meso-macro with a Veblenian meso foundation in an agent-based macroeconomic model. Consumption is dependent on endogenously changing social class and signaling, such as bandwagon, Veblen and snob effects. In particular we test the macroeconomic effects of this meso foundation in a generic agent-based model of a closed artificial economy. The model is stock-flow consistent and builds upon local decision heuristics of heterogeneous agents characterized by bounded rationality and satisficing behavior. These agents include a multitude of households (workers and capitalists), firms, banks as well as a capital goods firm, a government and a central bank. Simulation experiments indicate co-evolutionary dynamics between signaling-by-consuming and firm specialization that eventually effect employment, consumer prices as well as other macroeconomic aggregates substantially.
    Keywords: Evolutionary macroeconomics; agent-based modelling; micro-meso-macro; conspicuous consumption; social class; firm specialization
    JEL: B52 C63 E21 E23 L11
    Date: 2017–03–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:80021&r=pke
  4. By: Heise, Arne; Thieme, Sebastian
    Abstract: In the context of ongoing criticisms of the lack of pluralism in economics, the present article aims to discuss the development of ‘heterodox’ economics since the 1970s. Following Lakatos’s concept of scientific research programs (srp), and concentrating on the situation in Germany, the article will discuss classifications of economics, and will specify the understanding of diversity in the light of ‘axiomatic variations’ of the economic mainstream. This will form the basis for the subsequent description of the development of heterodoxy in Germany, with special reference to the founding of new universities and the reform movements in the 1970s. It can be shown that the heterodox scene flourished in this period, but that this pluralization remained fragmented and short-lived; by the 1980s at the latest heterodoxy was again on its way to marginalization. The history of heterodoxy in Germany thus presents itself as an unequal ‘battle of the paradigms,’ and can only be told as the story of a failure.
    Keywords: Heterodox economics, pluralization, philosophy of science, sociology of science
    JEL: A14 B40 B50 N01 Z13
    Date: 2016
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:80022&r=pke
  5. By: Heise, Arne
    Abstract: Economic science has – lamented by some, applauded by others – turned into a monistic discipline. In this short research note, a socio-economic answer to the question of why this has happened is provided by combining an economic approach to the market for economic ideas with a sociological approach to a scientific (power) field.
    Keywords: pluralism, monism, heterodoxy, standardization, regulation
    JEL: A14 B40 B50 L15
    Date: 2016
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:80023&r=pke
  6. By: Max-Peter Menzel; Johannes Kammer
    Abstract: In this study, we combine KlepperÕs framework on the evolution of industries with the Varieties of Capitalism approach to argue that industry evolution is mediated by institutional differences. We expect that new industries will evolve with a stronger connection to established industries in coordinated marked economies than in liberal market economies. Our assumptions are supported by the survival analysis of US and Danish wind turbine manufacturers from 1974 to 2014. Length:
    JEL: L64 O15 P51
    Date: 2017–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1716&r=pke
  7. By: Amavilah, Voxi Heinrich
    Abstract: Despite their obvious ideological bends, economic studies of the interactions between Africa and “developed” Europe and America (Euro-America) have been decidedly lopsided. Existing studies conceive the effects of the interactions to be unidirectional, with Africa always on the receiving end in both good and bad ways. The conception is incorrect; it lacks the appreciation that the effects are interactive, mutual, dynamic, and simultaneous. Thus, I argue that contrary to the extant literature, the development of Euro-America has origins in Africa through the mechanism of mercantile, slave, and free trade. For example, the growth of colonial Britain depended on foreign trade with the Americas – exports of manufactured goods and imports of raw materials. In turn, American raw materials were produced by African slave labor. When slavery ended African raw materials began to flow to Euro-America in greater amounts than before, replacing slave labor. The result was a smooth transition from a slave-labor-based economy to a modern economy in Euro-America, and a stunted economy in Africa. The objective of this paper is to sketch how one might go about illustrating such effects in a simple quantitative way. In other words, it puts some pins to suggest a roadmap for empirical studies. To do so, first I review very briefly the history of African and Euro-American interactions. Second, I attempt to establish the channels of interactions. Third, I construct a simple model for measuring Africa’s effects on Euro-American development as a system of three seemingly unrelated equations, which can be estimated individually and/or simultaneously. Fourth, I indicate the challenges and methods for generating the data required to implement the model empirically. While this version of the paper is unaccompanied by its empirical counterpart, it is nonetheless clear that at least some of the origins of Euro-American development are African.
    Keywords: African origins of Euro-American development, growth and development, growth and change
    JEL: N13 O33 O47 O55 P16 P51 P52
    Date: 2017–06–28
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:79925&r=pke
  8. By: von Weizsäcker, Carl Christian (Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University)
    Date: 2017–04–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bie:wpaper:7&r=pke
  9. By: von Weizsäcker, Carl Christian (Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University)
    Date: 2017–04–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bie:wpaper:13&r=pke

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