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582. Rationality, Institutions and Reflexivity in the EU: Some Ontological and Epistemological Considerations
- Author:
- Niilo Kauppi
- Publication Date:
- 01-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Political Sociology
- Abstract:
- Sociological research on the European Union provides a much needed alternative to mainstream EU-studies dominated by economics, law, IR and political science. However, until now this sociological alternative has mostly involved the adaptation of sociological terminology such as “social construction” or “identity” and the introduction of new objects of research, such as the social conventions regulating national security or the discursive constructions of Europe. It is however the claim of this paper that sociological theory also provides the tools for a more fundamental re-evaluation of some of the ontological and epistemological presuppositions of EU research and a corresponding reconstruction of the object of study of European studies.
- Topic:
- Economics, Nuclear Weapons, and Political Theory
- Political Geography:
- Europe
583. WSC 5: Protecting People, Economies, and Infrastructure
- Author:
- Christine Lynch, Devon Tucker, Michael Harvey, and Jacqueline McLaren Miller
- Publication Date:
- 02-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- EastWest Institute
- Abstract:
- Drawing on a diverse array of opinions from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America, the EastWest Institute's Fifth Worldwide Security Conference brought together specialists from the spheres of policy, academia, and civil society. Participants addressed a variety of issues on the contemporary global security landscape. These ranged from specific security threats (whether illicit trade, the targeting of critical infrastructure or cyber crime) to the role of interested actors (such as business, NGOs, and media), as well as a focus on potential strategies to counter terrorism and extremism (either in terms of constructing global cooperative architectures or, more controversially, the possibility of opening dialogue with the terrorists). A variety of policy recommendations emerged from each session—detailed in the main body of the report—but there were several recurring themes binding the debate together and animating the core arguments of proceedings as a whole. These policy recommendations were not necessarily consensus recommendations but reflected a wide range of debated policy prescriptions.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Economics, Education, Globalization, Human Rights, International Security, and Political Theory
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America
584. Money and the Present Crisis
- Author:
- Gerald P. O'Driscoll Jr.
- Publication Date:
- 01-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Cato Journal
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- We remain in an economic crisis and financial crisis, one that Gary Gorton has named “The Panic of 2007” (Gorton 2008). The thesis of this article is that monetary policy has played a pivotal role. Under Alan Greenspan and now Ben Bernanke, the Fed has conducted monetary policy so as to foster moral hazard among investors, notably in housing (O'Driscoll 2008a). More generally, the crisis is the product of a “perfect storm” of misguided policy. Policies to encourage affordable housing fostered the growth of subprime lending and complex financial products to finance that lending. Regardless of the desirability of the social goal, the financial super- structure depended on housing prices never falling. Housing prices do fall sometimes, and did so decisively beginning in 2007 (Gorton 2008: 50).
- Topic:
- Democratization, Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Privatization
- Political Geography:
- United States, Europe, and New Zealand
585. Russian Gas Problem Could Be Opportunity for Europe
- Author:
- Pekka Sutela
- Publication Date:
- 01-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- European Affairs
- Institution:
- The European Institute
- Abstract:
- Generalities are not very useful in discussing the energy problems of "Europe" because so many issues are country-specific. But there are some key overall aspects - notably the risk that Russia may not be able to export much more gas any time soon, even if it wants to. So European companies should work at helping Russia improve its energy efficiency to prolong supply.
- Topic:
- Economics
- Political Geography:
- Russia and Europe
586. Forget Bretton Woods II: the Role for U.S.-Japan-China Trilateralism
- Author:
- Yoichi Funabashi
- Publication Date:
- 04-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Washington Quarterly
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Abstract:
- In this age of globalization, nations rise and fall in the world markets day and night. Europe, Germany in particular, may at first have indulged in a certain amount of schadenfreude to observe the abrupt fall from grace of the U.S. financial system. But not for long. As of November 2008, the euro zone is officially in a recession that continues to deepen. Germany's government was compelled to enact a 50 billion euro fiscal stimulus package. The Japanese economy, though perhaps among the least susceptible to the vagaries of the European and U.S. economies, followed soon after, with analysts fearing that the downturn could prove deeper and longer than originally anticipated. The U.S.—Europe—Japan triad, representing the world's three largest economies, is in simultaneous recession for the first time in the post-World War II era. China, meanwhile, is suddenly seeing its 30-year economic dynamism lose steam, with its mighty export machine not just stalling but actually slipping into reverse.
- Topic:
- Economics, Globalization, and Government
- Political Geography:
- United States, Japan, China, Europe, and Germany
587. What lessons from the 1930s?
- Author:
- Daniel Gros and Cinzia Alcidi
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- This paper explores three areas in which the experience of the Great Depression might be relevant today: monetary policy, fiscal policy and the systemic stability of the banking system. We confirm the consensus on monetary policy: deflation must be avoided. With regard to fiscal policy, the picture is less clear. We cannot confirm a widespread opinion according to which fiscal policy did not work because it was not tried. We find that fiscal policy went to the limit of what was possible within the confines of sustainability, as they existed then. Our investigation of the US banking system shows a surprising resilience of the sector: commercial banking operations (deposit-taking and lending) remained profitable even during the worst years. This suggests one policy conclusion: At present the authorities in both the US and Europe have little choice but to make up for the losses on 'legacy' assets and wait for banks to earn back their capital. But to prevent future crises of this type, one should make sure that losses from the investment banking arms cannot impair commercial banking operations. At least a partial separation of commercial and investment banking thus seems justified by the greater stability of commercial banking operations.
- Topic:
- Economics, Markets, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
588. The Effect of the Financial Crisis on Systemic Trust
- Author:
- Felix Roth
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The financial crisis had a significant impact on the levels of trust that citizens place in the system and its institutions. Recent data from Eurobarometer show a significant fall in confidence on the part of European citizens in the EU's institutions. For the first time since its creation, a majority of European citizens no longer trust the European Central Bank. However, confidence levels in national governments have actually risen, supporting a contrasting trend between confidence levels in European and national institutions. This decrease in confidence towards the ECB is flanked in the case of Germany by strong anti-capitalist sentiments and a sharp decline in support for the social market economy.
- Topic:
- Economics, Markets, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Germany
589. The Case for a Gas Transit Consortium in Ukraine: A Cost-Benefit Analysis
- Author:
- Michael Emerson and Elena Gnedina
- Publication Date:
- 01-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The 2009 gas dispute between Ukraine and Russia has led to a severe drop in Russian gas supplies to some EU member states. The dispute has once again shown that the status quo is defective and unsustainable as a policy. This Policy Brief argues that – beyond ad hoc temporary measures, such as the monitoring by EU experts agreed on January 12th and the 2009-10 price agreement apparently reached on January 18th – the problem needs a comprehensive and robust solution. This would be a gas transit consortium, bringing all major stakeholders – Gazprom, Naftohaz, one or a few European energy companies, and the international financial institutions – to jointly manage the trans-Ukrainian trunk pipeline. The consortium agreement would be underwritten politic ally and legally by a tripartite treaty to be ratified by the EU, Russia and Ukraine. The consortium should be bound by European standards of transparency, corporate governance and accounting in order to tackle the major problem – the lack of trust – in the EU- Ukraine-Russia energy triangle.
- Topic:
- Economics, Energy Policy, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Ukraine
590. Ottoman De-Industrialization 1800-1913: Assessing the Shock, Its Impact and the Response
- Author:
- Jeffrey G. Williamson and Şevket Pamuk
- Publication Date:
- 02-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- India and Britain were much bigger players in the 18th century world market for textiles than was Egypt, the Levant and the core of the Ottoman Empire, but these eastern Mediterranean regions did export carpets, silks and other textiles to Europe and the East. By the middle of the 19th century, they had lost most of their export market and much of their domestic market to globalization forces and rapid productivity growth in European manufacturing. Other local industries also suffered decline, and these regions underwent de-industrialization as a consequence. How different was Ottoman experience from the rest of the poor periphery? Was de-industrialization more or less pronounced? Was the terms of trade shock bigger or smaller? How much of Ottoman de-industrialization was due to falling world trade barriers—ocean transport revolutions and European liberal trade policy, how much due to factory-based productivity advance in Europe, how much to declining Ottoman competitiveness in manufacturing, how much to Ottoman railroads penetrating the interior, and how much to Ottoman policy? The paper uses a price-dual approach to seek the answers. It documents trends in export and import prices, relative to each other and to non-tradables, as well as to the unskilled wage. The impact of globalization, European productivity advance, Ottoman wage costs and policy are assessed by using a simple neo-Ricardian three sector model, and by comparison with what was taking place in the rest of the poor periphery.
- Topic:
- Economics, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
- Political Geography:
- Britain, Europe, Turkey, India, and Egypt