nep-pke New Economics Papers
on Post Keynesian Economics
Issue of 2020‒05‒04
two papers chosen by
Karl Petrick
Western New England University

  1. Matter and regulation: socio-metabolic and accumulation regimes of French capitalism since 1948 By Cahen-Fourot, Louison; Magalhães, Nelo
  2. A History of Global Capitalism: Feuding Elites and Imperial Expansion By Sambit Bhattacharyya

  1. By: Cahen-Fourot, Louison; Magalhães, Nelo
    Abstract: This paper aims at integrating macroeconomic and institutional analyses of long run dynamics of capitalism with material flow analysis. We investigate the links between accumulation and socio-metabolic regimes by studying French capitalism from a material perspective since 1948. We characterize its social metabolism both in production- and consumption-based approaches. We show that the periodization of accumulation regimes in terms of Fordism and Neoliberalism translates into material terms. The offshore materiality of Neoliberalism partly substitutes for and partly complements the more domestic materiality inherited from Fordism. The transition phase between the two socio-metabolic regimes clearly corresponds to the emergence of the offshoring-financialization nexus of French capitalism indicating the shift from the fordist accumulation regime to the neoliberal accumulation regime. Acknowledging that socio-metabolic regimes have their own logic, we highlight strong inter-linkages between accumulation and material dynamics and discuss how materials may be instrumental in shaping accumulation regimes. This work therefore illustrates the relevance of combining institutional macroeconomics with methods and approaches derived from Ecological Economics.
    Keywords: Material Flow Analysis; Material footprint; Socio-metabolic regime; Financialization; Offshoring; Accumulation regime
    Date: 2020
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wus045:7565&r=all
  2. By: Sambit Bhattacharyya (Department of Economics, University of Sussex, Falmer, United Kingdom)
    Abstract: The global order is in a state of flux. The established post-cold war rules of commerce are unravelling. Trade wars and threats of unilateral trade restrictions are becoming common practice when it comes to relations between great power economies. Therefore, we are witnessing the gradual demise of the old politico-economic order but the new is yet to be born. Witnessing the rapidly changing landscape of international relations deeply influenced my desire to catalogue the events and find an explanation. The uncanny similarity between the past and the present also encouraged me to search for an explanation that can stand the test of time. This quest of analyzing economic and political history from a long run perspective lies at the heart of this book. Without running the risk of oversimplification, the book emphasizes the role of economic factors in great power conflict, hot or cold. Therefore, a common error would be to view this as another attempt of offering unidimensional explanation to a multidimensional and complex phenomenon. It is anything but. As the creator of this ambitious project, I am acutely aware that the trajectory of human history is the resultant vector of a combination of factors many of which are extremely complex. Therefore, caution is exercised wherever possible to limit the risk of oversimplification while interpreting historical events. Nevertheless, it is perhaps prudent to acknowledge right at the outset that omissions are inevitable. They are in no way deliberate.
    Keywords: economic history
    JEL: N10
    Date: 2020–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sus:susewp:1020&r=all

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