Blog
2014
Locating Naomi Klein in the political economy of climate change
Martin Craig - 22 December 2014She sits somewhat uneasily between ecological Marxists and pro-market ecological economists
The City of London and Britain’s uneven development
Jeremy Green - 18 December 2014If the City’s prosperity is not made to work for all, then the break-up of Britain may be unavoidable
Reducing hunger in the UK
Hannah Lambie-Mumford - 17 December 2014In an important month for food poverty action has been promised, but the policy problem is still unclear
The changing political economy of oil
Tony Payne - 16 December 2014The recent big fall in price creates some space for new thinking, but also poses questions to which we don’t have answers
Big houses, hotels and increasingly expensive gorillas!
Pritish Behuria & Tom Goodfellow - 11 December 2014The recent big fall in price creates some space for new thinking, but also poses questions to which we don’t have answers
Global capitalism and the rule of law
Robbie Pye - 10 December 2014Christopher May bridges the disciplinary divide between law and political economy to deliver a clear and compelling account of the idea of the rule of law in global politics
The problem with Osborne’s new annual tax summaries
Liam Stanley - 09 December 2014They foster an imagined community of ‘taxpayers’ and subvert the collective identity that should underpin tax
Britain’s future referendum on EU membership: lessons from Scotland
Jim Buller - 04 December 2014Economic arguments in favour of Europe may not resonate with a sceptical public
‘Troubled Families’ or ‘Troubled Bankers’?
Daniela Tepe-Belfrage & Johnna Montgomerie - 03 December 2014There is no end to welfare in sight; yet welfare is no longer for the poor
Can the UK become an ‘Entrepreneurial State’?
Caroline Kuzemko - 02 December 2014The key question is what, politically, might motivate a country, like the UK, to want to move in that direction
The political economy of ‘a country called Europe’
Dimitris Ballas - 27 November 2014New mapping techniques open up the possibility of both a more informed policy-making and a greater sense of solidarity
The rebalancing agenda, Boris Johnson and the politics of pension funds
Craig Berry - 26 November 2014The Conservative agenda on pension investments is inherently shallow and increasingly moralistic in tone
Dilemmas for the left on EU citizenship
Owen Parker - 25 November 2014The Conservative agenda on pension investments is inherently shallow and increasingly moralistic in tone
Social democracy and Scottish independence
James Stafford - 20 November 2014The ‘radical’ proponents of Scottish independence dramatically overstated its potential to transform Britain’s broken political economy
The British crisis and the ‘end of neoliberalism’
Pia Riggirozzi & Jean Grugel - 19 November 2014There are many useful lessons to be learnt from the Latin American debate about ‘post-neoliberal’ political economy
The Catalan democratic rebellion
Mònica Clua-Losada - 18 November 2014A longstanding sense of unfinished business in the democratisation of Spain has moved to a new stage of crisis
The finance curse as a new grand narrative?
Andrew Baker - 13 November 2014As both populist discourse and conceptual apparatus, it is capable of constructing a novel, inclusive coalition in support of the technical reforms we need
Rebuilding the UK’s innovation economy
Richard Jones - 11 November 2014Three steps could be taken immediately by the present or a future UK government
German power under the spotlight
Simon Bulmer - 06 November 201425 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, German institutions, politics and values still present formidable obstacles to real change
Is neoliberalism at last unravelling in Britain?
Tony Payne - 05 November 2014The crisis of the British political economy has now become an urgent crisis also for British politics
The false promise of corporation tax cuts
Matthew Watson - 04 November 2014Recent research suggests that such policies constitute hand-outs, rather than effective means to shape firms’ investment decisions
Devolution and the silence of political economy
Craig Berry - 30 October 2014The shallowness of the UK debate on devolution demonstrates the new marginalisation of political economy in public discourse
The American economy at mid-term
David Coates - 28 October 2014The numbers don’t reflect the reality and give no cause for crowing over the Eurozone
Dilma Rousseff’s development dilemma
Jewellord Nem Singh - 27 October 2014Can a fourth victory for the Workers’ Party secure Brazil’s state capitalism?
Ed Miliband’s economic problems: an issue of communication or substance?
Andrew Scott Crines - 23 October 2014The Labour leader needs to simplify his message and make it more combative
South Korea on the edge
Jin-Young Chung & Timothy J. Sinclair - 25 September 2014The Sewol ferry disaster may prove to be a tipping point in state-society relations
Where now for Scottish devolution?
Paul Sutton - 22 September 2014A number of distinct formats are on the table, all different from federalism
Piketty at last!
Tony Payne - 18 September 2014This is a remarkable book, but not necessarily all that it has been proclaimed to be
Mega-regional trade deals in the Asia-Pacific
Jeffrey Wilson - 16 September 2014The governments of this region are choosing between competing visions for the regional trade system
‘Tartan neoliberalism’ isn’t driving the campaign for Scottish independence
Scott Lavery - 11 September 2014There is instead the prospect of a re-awakened social democracy
Scotland can do better than ‘tartanised’ neoliberalism
Craig Berry - 09 September 2014The SNP has failed to offer a meaningful alternative to the UK’s flawed economic model – a view from Northern England
Citizenship for sale?
Owen Parker - 04 September 2014Individual investor programmes in Europe raise huge questions about citizenship and borders in a globalising world
Deflation trap
Andrew Gamble - 02 September 2014Neoliberalism will struggle to survive if western economies cannot find ways to increase demand
Nigeria’s flawed development
Ejike Udeogu - 27 August 2014The low rate of profit attributable to real production is at the heart of the country’s longstanding growth and development problems
What does China’s renewable energy revolution mean?
John Mathews - 20 August 2014Solar, wind and other renewable sources are now starting to offer a genuine, cost-effective alternative to complete reliance on fossil fuels
Chávez vs UKIP? How Latin America has reinvigorated the European left
Asa K. Cusack - 13 August 2014Radical left parties, Syriza in Greece and Podemos in Spain, did well in the recent European elections. But how far can they go? And what are the lessons for the UK?
What is Labour's narrative?
Matt Bishop - 07 August 2014Without an effective story about the past, the present and the future, Labour will be unable to shape a new British political economy grounded in fairness
Argentina’s latest ‘default’: it’s all in the contract!
Giselle Datz - 05 August 2014Without an effective story about the past, the present and the future, Labour will be unable to shape a new British political economy grounded in fairness
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
Wang Yong & Gregory Chin - 31 July 2014Without an effective story about the past, the present and the future, Labour will be unable to shape a new British political economy grounded in fairness
The future of US techno-hegemony
Linda Weiss - 29 July 2014Why and how ‘financialisation’ threatens innovation and enterprise in America Inc.
What’s really at stake in the renationalisation of the railways?
Jeremy Green - 24 July 2014Renationalisation might spook big business but it represents a welcome injection of legitimacy into a maligned public sphere
Into the Premier League – London and Renminbi internationalisation
Gregory Chin - 03 July 2014Latest moves in RMB internationalisation in London could help push China’s currency into the top global rankings
The asset-based welfare paradox: twist or split?
Colin Hay - 01 July 2014Continuing to rely on asset-price appreciation to provide for our futures is a dangerous gamble
Closing the gender pay gap
Adam Barber - 26 June 2014The inclusion of more women in the labour market is insufficient by itself to guarantee women’s empowerment
The ‘national interest’ test in the Pfizer – Astra Zeneca takeover bid
Valbona Muzaka - 24 June 2014Patients and taxpayers should be central to any decision about the future of the pharmaceutical sector
In fear of Flash Crashes: stock market wobbles past and present
Matthew Watson - 19 June 2014The new era of high-frequency trading threatens our future prosperity
The CGIAR: the most important international organisation you’ve never heard of?
Richard Woodward & Michael Davies - 17 June 2014This little-known organisation is at the forefront of efforts to alleviate hunger and end poverty
The regressive evolution of the UK tax base
Daniel Bailey & Craig Berry - 13 June 2014The declining significance of progressive and business taxation demonstrates the character of ‘austerity’
Will technology save us?
Paul Lewis - 10 June 2014Rising inequality cannot be explained or alleviated by technological change alone
The deliberate impotence of active labour market policy
Craig Berry - 05 June 2014Hyper-Anglicisation typifies the supply-side agenda for employment – and renders it increasingly irrelevant
The end of the G8
Tony Payne - 03 June 2014Russia’s expulsion from the G8 brings to a conclusion a transitional phase in the governance of the global political economy
A life of (global) meaning – in memory of Professor Norman Girvan
Gregory Chin - 01 May 2014Norman Girvan’s life and work have made an enduring contribution to the political economy of the world
Part of the problem or part of the solution? Migration as adaptation to climate change
Andrew Geddes - 29 April 2014We need to begin thinking about migration as a response to the combined pressures of climate change and economic insecurity
The Trans-Pacific Partnership – A Bridge Too Far?
Richard Stubbs - 24 April 2014Differences between national capitalisms may mean that successful completion of the negotiations over TPP proves elusive
Counting the cost of the regressive recovery
Jeremy Green & Scott Lavery - 22 April 2014The Coalition’s recovery has intensified deeply damaging distributional trends within Britain
Asking the right questions
Fred Block - 22 April 2014To get out of the crisis we need to think about radical reforms that produce a greener and more equitable form of capitalism
Paul Ryan as the Prince of Paupers
David Coates - 15 April 2014The hard-nosed approach to poverty from the American Right is a threat to long-term democratic stability in the United States
From negative to positive: money without the debt
Graham Hodgson - 11 April 2014We need to reform a money system that no longer serves the needs of the public
Food banks and welfare reform
Hannah Lambie-Mumford - 09 April 2014A ‘right to food’ approach can help to determine ultimate responsibility for preventing hunger
What happened to the Lisbon Agenda?
Kean Birch - 08 April 2014The European economy has been financialised, rather than ‘Lisbonised’
Inequality and the electoral system
Daniel Laurison - 03 April 2014To understand the relationship between economic and political inequality, look at what campaign professionals do (and don’t do)
Why is political science not in crisis as a result of the crisis?
Mick Moran - 25 March 2014Economics is beginning to rethink many of its presuppositions as a consequence of the financial crisis, but political science sails blithely and complacently onwards
Reparations for slavery?
Matt Bishop - 20 March 2014The legacy of the slave trade lives on and forces us to think about political economy in new and uncomfortable ways
Scotland, England and currency union – or two bald men and a comb
Craig Berry & Richard Berry - 18 March 2014The phoney currency debate in Scotland relies on misunderstanding and is helping to marginalise the real alternatives
‘Civic Capitalism’: locating the new model within the global context
Tony Payne & Colin Hay - 13 March 2014We need to build up more intensive and sophisticated mechanisms of global governance capable of serving as the guiding intelligence of the whole global economy.
A Big Broken Society?
Daniela Tepe-Belfrage - 11 March 2014British society is broken, but it is an indifferent and disconnected elite that is really to blame
Blowing bubbles
Timothy J. Sinclair - 06 March 2014A booming property market is transforming life in New York City and reviving a price bubble that threatens future stability
Understanding ‘Europessimism’
Andrew Glencross - 04 March 2014In the aftermath of the crisis this new scholarly position in the debate about the EU has become an increasingly important strand of thinking
‘Civic Capitalism’: a shared commitment to reduce inequality
Tony Payne & Colin Hay - 27 February 2014We need to recognise that stable and sustainable capitalist development can only be built upon a broader, more equal, social base
Britain’s unreal recovery risks a very real economic crisis
Craig Berry - 26 February 2014Investment and consumption performance demonstrates the frailty of the UK economy; the economic recovery is not yet secure
The unravelling of Chavismo?
Matt Bishop - 25 February 2014The unique experiment represented by the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela is potentially on the brink of a painful and protracted crisis
‘Floating voters’, rules of rescue and the challenge to austerity discourse
Matthew Wood - 20 February 2014The onset of massive flooding is throwing up some uncomfortable challenges for the UK Coalition government’s austerity agenda
Britain’s trade deficit persists in spite of sterling devaluation
Craig Berry & Scott Lavery - 18 February 2014Sterling’s falling value has not been exploited, exposing the coalition’s failure to rebalance the economy
‘Civic Capitalism’: bringing in the social dimension
Colin Hay & Tony Payne - 13 February 2014We need to develop new social policies that foster the quality of the societies within which citizens live their daily lives under capitalism
Putting the ‘political’ into political economy
Stephanie Mudge - 11 February 2014We really should care about how party politics works—or isn’t working—in unsettled times
Visibilities, invisibilities and ‘spaces of labour control’ in Asia
Juanita Elias - 07 February 2014The mistreatment of migrant labour has become central to Asian development strategies and needs increasingly to be tackled
Income inequality and the downward wage push
Scott Lavery - 04 February 2014The most dangerous ‘imbalance’ at the heart of the UK economy is the disproportionate bargaining power that firms have over labour
‘Civic capitalism’: Towards an alternative currency of global economic success
Colin Hay & Tony Payne - 30 January 2014We need to begin to design a new Social, Environmental and Developmental Index to replace GDP
The Treasury’s depoliticisation agenda
Richard Berry - 28 January 2014The appointment of a Whitehall ‘Chief Financial Officer’ is a symbolic gesture designed to further undermine democratic decision-making
Who owns the US federal debt?
Sandy Brian Hager - 23 January 2014Massive increases in inequality are transforming the politics of public debt
Small island economies, offshore finance and development
Adam Barber - 21 January 2014Playing host to Offshore Financial Centres may ultimately prove to be damaging to the economic prospects of small island economies
‘Civic Capitalism’: sustainable development through investment
Colin Hay & Tony Payne - 16 January 2014We need to move from private debt to public investment as the means to stimulate demand and to link deficit reduction to the promotion of growth
America’s War on Poverty, America’s War on the Poor
David Coates - 14 January 2014Fifty years after Lyndon Johnson’s vision, American politicians desperately need to reinvigorate the stalled campaign against poverty
Business as usual as City pay soars while manufacturing stagnates
Craig Berry - 09 January 2014George Osborne promised a ‘march of the makers’ but as yet there is little sign that a resurgence of manufacturing is helping the economy to rebalance
A threat to growth? Environmental activism in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis
Genevieve LeBaron & Peter Dauvergne - 07 January 2014Since the crisis states have raised the stakes for environmentalists, cracking down on dissent and stifling criticism of the ecological costs of economic growth
‘Civic capitalism’: the need for sustainability
Tony Payne & Colin Hay - 03 January 2014Since the crisis states have raised the stakes for environmentalists, cracking down on dissent and stifling criticism of the ecological costs of economic growth