Principles and Economic Style Moulded Into Sustainability and Foreign Policy Interests
“The concept of the Social Market Economy links the principle of freedom on the market and the instrument of competitive economics with the principle of solidarity and with mechanisms of social compensation. This link is not a mere smart decision of a purely institutional wisdom, but it lays on a decision on values which is borne by the moral foundations of our European culture”. This is the statement of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community. Most politicians and even academics who see themselves as Catholics normally take seriously most doctrinal declarations of this church’s leadership. Thus, it is expected that such declarations are to be found to a larger or smaller extent in drafted legislation and in created institutions. From such statements, the Social Market Economy develops advantages and shortcomings. Its advantages are related to its purpose of organising economic and social life at a national level in such a way that a competitive and creative balance of power between the economic agents, government and individuals as actors is achieved. Another advantage is its attempt at inclusiveness which is done via the corporatist approach in social and professional relations. Convincing individuals to join professional groups and defend their common interest is an inclusive and integrative approach. Nevertheless, corporatism can also be a shortcoming of the Social Market Economy because it induces a danger. If professional groups defend their interests in common, they have quite a big chance to dominate not only some of the members of parliament via their professional affiliation but even minister and thus parts of government. Particular interests are served here, even though they are not individual interests but small group interests. This happens at the expense of the general interest when such corporatist groups from within the Social Market Economy delay and sometimes block necessary economic reforms. Following the economic and financial crisis in 2007–2009, the national economic and social system in place in Germany and Austria had become known enough in order for the term “social market economy” to be adopted in art. 3 (3) of the EU Treaty of Lisbon. Thus, this system managed to pass from a national terminology in economic policy, which at times was even taken for a mere political label given in Germany, to a legally consecrated term enshrined in the EU Treaty texts.
Globalisierung, Sicherheit und Wirtschaftspolitik
The current economic crisis has intensified the debate on globalisation. There is a widespread scepticism about it, which can be instrumentalised by extremist groups and thus may lead to violence and terror. On the other hand, globalisation and the international division of labour may well contribute to peace since it raises the opportunity cost of violence, terror and war. The paper investigates the empirical evidence, which is straightforward for international official conflicts: they are reduced by globalisation and trade. With respect to terror, the evidence is less clear: some studies claim a terror enhancing effect of globalisation, some the opposite. Therefore, it seems necessary to improve the knowledge about the effects of international trade, besides keeping markets open to further reduce the potential of international conflict. Die gegenwartige Weltwirtschaftskrise hat die Diskussion um die Wirkungen der Globalisierung und einer kapitalistischen Wirtschaftsordnung neu entfacht, vielfach herrscht eine grose Skepsis uber die moglichen negativen Wirkungen der Globalisierung. Derartig motivierte Sorgen konnen sich durch radikale Krafte instrumentalisieren lassen und Konflikte beziehungsweise Gewalt entfachen. Auf der anderen Seite kann Globalisierung friedensstiftend wirken, weil der Handel zum gegenseitigen Vorteil aus Fremden Partner macht. Vor diesem Hintergrund untersucht der Aufsatz die Evidenz und gibt einen Uberblick uber die relevante Literatur. Es zeigt sich, dass zwischenstaatliche Konflikte eindeutig durch internationale Arbeitsteilung reduziert werden. Fur Terrorakte kann keine klare Evidenz gesehen werden. Daraus ist die wirtschaftspolitische Schlussfolgerung zu ziehen, die Markte offen zu halten und die Kenntnisse uber die Wirkungsmechanismen in breiten Kreisen der Bevolkerung zu verbessern.
Complexity, Network-Decisions And Alternative Risk Premia: Some New Theories Of Structural Change And Portfolio Decisions.
Structural Change is the basis for many decisions such as government fiscal and monetary policies, government interventions, corporate-expenditure decisions, corporate strategic decisions, portfolio management decisions in finance; household allocation decisions, etc.. Structural change in industries and national economies is increasingly more difficult to detect partly because of the growth and dominance of Complex Systems and “Networks” in modern industries and economies – such Networks and Complex Systems include GVCs (global value chains), retail store networks; franchising networks; internet networks; services networks; credit-chains in industries; online social networks; etc.. The relationship between Complexity and Structural Change is well established in the physics, applied math and economic dynamics literatures. Traditional definitions and modeling of structural change have erroneously focused on changes in labor, technological progress, market share, and or capital – which are grossly inadequate in the new economy and post- global financial crisis (as confirmed by changes in the global retailing and housing industries and other industries). Also the modeling of structural change seems to be constrained by the availability of data, and often omits the relationship between structural change on one hand, and globalization, financial stability and international financial contagion. This article: i) introduces the Operations Strategy Model of structural change, explains how it differs from the Lewis Model of Structural Change; and explains the often omitted relationship between operations strategy (of companies and government agencies) and structural change; ii) introduces other new Complexity-based models/theories of Structural Change in industries; iii) reviews the relationships among Operations Research, Complexity and Structural Change; iv) explains the symbiotic relationship between structural change on one hand, and economic growth, financial stability, financial contagion and globalization; v) discusses the significant gap between academic research and practice and explains some issues and factors that should be considered in the development and testing of structural change models; vi) explains how alternative risk premia can be generated from new models of Structural Change.