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11. Privilege, Economy and State in Old Regime France: An Interview with Lewis Wade

Author:
Tehreem Husain and Lewis Wade
Publication Date:
12-2023
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The Toynbee Prize Foundation
Abstract:
Dr. Lewis Wade’s new book Privilege, Economy and State in Old Regime France: Marine Insurance, War and the Atlantic Empire under Louis XIV (Boydell and Brewer, 2023) closely analyses the rise and fall of Louis XIV's marine insurance institutions in Paris, which were central to the French monarchy's efforts to stimulate commerce, colonial enterprise and economic growth. The book discusses two leading ministers, Jean-Baptiste Colbert and his son, the Marquis de Seignelay who both recognised that marine insurance was crucial for protecting commercial investment in French maritime endeavours. While Colbert looked to private enterprise to lure capital away from passive investments in state debt towards the marine insurance industry. Seignelay, by contrast, leveraged the tools of privilege on which the French economy was built by creating the first chartered company in the history of marine insurance. The book discusses in detail the overarching system of risk management that lay at the heart of absolutism itself. I was delighted to interview Dr. Wade to dig deeper into his book.
Topic:
History, Economy, Economic Growth, State, Interview, and Capital
Political Geography:
Europe and France

12. Regenerate: Biotechnology and U.S. Industrial Policy

Author:
Ryan Fedasiuk
Publication Date:
07-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for a New American Security (CNAS)
Abstract:
Arevolution in biotechnology is dawning at the precise moment the world needs it most. Amid an ongoing climate crisis, fast-paced technological maturation, and a global pandemic, humans must find new ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve food security, develop new vaccines and therapeutics, recycle waste, synthesize new materials, and adapt to a changing world. But incentive structures in the U.S. private sector are generally biased against risk, and therefore constrain development in ways that do not have the same effect on firms in China and other U.S. competitors. This puts the United States at a relative disadvantage and risks ceding American leadership over one of the most powerful and transformative fields of technology in recent memory. The United States needs some form of industrial policy to promote its bioeconomy—one that is enshrined in democratic values and focused on improving access to four key drivers of bioeconomic growth: equipment, personnel, information, and capital. This report attempts to measure the health and outlook of the U.S. synthetic biology industry and broader bioeconomy by examining U.S. access to each of these four resources. It concludes that the United States still possesses an advantage in each of these fields—but that, absent a proactive strategy to ensure resource access, and without a significant infusion of capital, the U.S. bioeconomy risks languishing behind competitors such as China in the decades ahead.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Industry, Capital, Biotechnology, Personnel, and Information
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

13. Financial Cold War – A Book Talk

Author:
James Fok and Shang-Jin Wei
Publication Date:
04-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
James Fok will give a talk regarding the publication of his recent book, Financial Cold War, where he addresses internationalizing China’s capital markets: the geopolitical realities; China’s financial challenges: implications for the global financial sector; China-US geopolitical tensions: challenges for international financial institutions; and implications and opportunities for US-China relations.
Topic:
Bilateral Relations, Geopolitics, Finance, and Capital
Political Geography:
China and United States of America

14. The Impact of ICT and Intangible Capital Accumulation on Labour Demand Growth and Functional Income Shares

Author:
Robert Stehrer
Publication Date:
07-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (WIIW)
Abstract:
This paper investigates whether the diffusion of tangible IT and CT capital and intangible capital asset types has an impact on labour demand growth and the share of labour income in total income at the industry and country level. The econometric analysis is derived from a Cobb-Douglas production function taking empirical stylized facts into account. The effects of technical progress embodied in the various forms of capital impact along inter-industry and intercountry production linkages, which are considered by using global value chain indicators. The analysis is broken down to examine the influence on different types of labour, including the dimensions of gender, age, and educational attainment. Accumulation of ICT assets have generally insignificant and in some cases small positive effects on labour demand and income shares, though patterns differ across types of labour. Intangible assets show a positive relation with respect to labour demand growth.
Topic:
Labor Issues, European Union, Capital, Income, and Capital Accumulation
Political Geography:
Europe

15. Capital markets: where we are and what can be done

Author:
Emani Torres
Publication Date:
11-2022
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI)
Abstract:
This text analyzes some of the recent dynamic changes in the Brazilian capital market, with an emphasis on the changes on long-term corporate credit offer, and makes suggestions on public policies. Issuance of debentures by financial institutions, that is, long-term corporate bonds, took a leading role in 2021, which was possible due to a highly favorable institutional framework, such as the existence of a broad and organized public debt market, the sustained fall in domestic interest rates observed in the same year, as well as the shrinkage of BNDES' relevance, historically the main supplier of term credit in Brazil. The text also explores some particularities of the Brazilian capital market in the light of international experiences. Finally, it presents suggestions for public policies to encourage the launch of corporate bonds to a wider audience, as well as to expand BNDES' participation in this segment.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, Political Economy, and Capital
Political Geography:
Brazil and South America

16. Determinants of Cottage and Small Industries Growth in Thimphu Thromde

Author:
Tashi Norbu, Tendri Gyeltshen, and Phuntsho Drukpa
Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:
Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the determinants of the growth of Cottage and Small Industry (CSI) under Thimphu Thromde. We adopted a cross-sectional study design where samples were drawn using proportionate stratified random sampling technique. The analysis is based on the 102 CSI owners who responded to the online survey. Descriptive analysis shows that CSI sector in Thimphu Thromde is growing both in terms of employment generation and capital accumulation. Furthermore, multiple linear regression (MLR) test indicates that management know-how, technology, support CSIs get, and marital status are statistically significant with capital growth while access to finance, government rules and regulations and firm age were statistically significant with employment growth.
Topic:
Employment, Economic Growth, Management, Capital, and Small Industries
Political Geography:
South Asia, Bhutan, and Thimphu Thromde

17. The People’s Steel Plant and the Fight Against Privatisation in Visakhapatnam

Author:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Publication Date:
08-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Abstract:
When the storm of neoliberalism swept across India three decades ago, the country’s public sector industry was the first to take a frontal hit. For those that unleashed the storm – an alliance of international capital and Indian big capital – state-owned enterprises represented a succulent buffet of assets and resources to be gobbled up. There were hundreds of public sector enterprises that could be privatised in order to feed the asset-hunger of big capital; these included ports, shipping and ship-building industries, airports, airlines, railways, oil and gas extraction industries, petrochemical refineries, the telecommunication network, the nationwide railway network, enterprises that manufacture heavy machinery and electrical equipment, hotels, power generation and distribution, large insurance companies, the huge network of public sector banks, and, last but not least, steel plants. During these thirty years of neoliberalism, the Indian state, at the behest of big capital, has run a persistent and pernicious offensive to undermine public sector enterprises. However, this offensive has not been as smooth-sailing or as fruitful as the neoliberal camp has wished, as the unionised working class has fought tooth and nail against every move towards privatisation, be it big or small, with much more success than failure. Though the Indian government has privatised or shut down scores of public sector enterprises, many more units – particularly the largest of them, such as the public sector steel plants – remain in the public sector as a result of workers’ resistance. This struggle between the Indian working class and big capital, mediated through the Indian state, makes for an instructive tale of the fight against neoliberalism – a fight whose successes are seldom spoken about. The story of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant is an important example of this unyielding struggle. Located on the coast of the Bay of Bengal in the port city of Visakhapatnam in India’s south-eastern Andhra Pradesh state, Visakha Steel, as the plant is affectionately called by the people of the state, or Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), as it is officially christened by the Indian government, holds pride of place in the state’s industrial landscape. The birth story of Visakha Steel is itself an illustration of the public sector industry’s deep roots in Indian society and the reasons for its continued survival. This unique steel plant, which was born of the will of the people in 1982, has survived multiple attempts to privatise it and has thrived in the face of many challenges. Based on the political and economic situation at different points in time, governments have tried various routes to privatise the plant: when the plant is vulnerable, they try to push disinvestment, the privatisation of individual departments, and the sale of assets; when the plant is going strong, their methods include diverting resources, policy sabotage, denying permissions, and delaying vital business decisions. All such attempts have been successfully beaten back by the plant’s workers alongside allied movements and people in the region who fought for the steel plant.
Topic:
Privatization, Neoliberalism, and Capital
Political Geography:
South Asia and India