Description
The world is in turmoil, the dynamics of political economy seem to have entered a phase where a ‘return to normal’ cannot be expected. Since the financial crisis, conventional economic theory has proven itself to be rather helpless and political decision makers have become suspicious about this type of economic consultancy. This book offers a different approach. It promises to describe political and economic dynamics as interwoven as they are in real life and it adds to that an evolutionary perspective. The latter allows for a long-run view, which makes it possible to discuss the emergence and exit of social institutions.
Evolutionary Political Economy in Action consists of two parts. Part I provides a broad range of issues that show how flexible evolutionary political economy can handle acute policy problems in Europe: should Europe support the revived build-up of NATO forces on its Eastern border, or should it rather aim at economic cooperation with Russia? How can democracy for a whole continent be reasonably further developed; what is the role of economies of scope? Do the new protest movements against inequality provide alternatives? What could a vision for a unified, socioecological Europe look like? Part II takes a closer look at Cyprus and Greece, where the problems of the financial crisis have been exacerbated by the ‘solutions’ imposed on them by the troika. In all of these essays, the authors demonstrate the unique insights which can be garnered from adopting an evolutionary political economy approach and consider the real solutions that such an approach points towards.
This volume is extremely useful for social scientists in the fields of economics, politics and sociology who are interested to learn what evolutionary political economy is, how it proceeds and what it can provide.
Table of Contents
List of figures
List of tables
List of contributors
Introduction
PART I
Political economy in action
1 NATO expansion versus consolidation of the EU: intra- and interclass dynamics in the context of the next Cold War
HARDY HANAPPI
2 Spanish regions under the euro crisis: did the crisis escalate interregional tensions?
MAKIKO NARITA
3 Some simple macroeconomic remarks on slower economic growth
MALCOLM SAWYER
4 Welfare capitalism versus financial capitalism during globalisation
PASQUALE TRIDICO
5 Achievements and challenges of the Chinese model of capitalism: how much can be explained by Confucianism?
KLAUS NIELSEN
6 Economies of scope: explaining liberal authority and its consequences in the Eurozone
CHARLIE DANNREUTHER
7 Inequality dynamics, (unmet) aspirations and social protest
SVENJA FLECHTNER
8 Any alternatives left? From green narratives of change to socio-ecological transformative utopias – a political economy framework
ANNIKA R. SCHARBERT, BERNHARD LEUBOLT AND MANUEL SCHOLZ-WÄCKERLE
PART II
Crisis in Greece and Cyprus
9 The crisis in Greece: a story in pictures
CHRISTIS HASSAPIS, NIKOLAOS SKOURIAS AND PANOS XIDONAS
10 Structural reform–growth nexus: an examination over time – the importance of Eastern Europe
ANDREAS ASSIOTIS
11 The vicious cycle of Cyprus’s economic crisis
STAVROS TOMBAZOS
12 Government response to the Eurozone crisis: the cases of Greece and Cyprus
SAVVAS KATSIKIDES AND GEORGIA YIANGOU
13 Manufacturing consent or informing the public? A review of recent research on how international mainstream media covered the Greek crisis
LIA-PASCHALIA SPYRIDOU AND PAVLOS KOKTSIDIS
14 Industrial competitiveness and the search for a sustainable path out of the crisis – lessons from the Greek experience
IOANNA KASTELLI AND STAVROS ZOGRAFAKIS
Index
