Suchergebnisse

In reviewing the liberal economic reforms of the last two decades, the paper makes a distinction between three groups of reforms. One involved the improvements in the administration of government functions (managerialism, outsourcing and privatisation). Another involved the adoption of more direct or market‐based methods of policy intervention (such as budget subsidies, incentives, taxes and transfers in lieu of regulation, protection and financial controls). These two groups of reforms were economic‐driven: they sought to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government. Although many mistakes in design and implementation were made, they largely achieved their intended objectives. With sensitive implementation, the reforms achieved a better balance between efficiency and equity than in most other countries. A third group of reforms embodied a new set of policy paradigms (such as downgrading of full‐employment and unconditional need‐based welfare relative to other policy goals). They offered few efficiency or economical benefits and were mainly driven by idealogy.

"This is a sweeping narrative of American Domestic Public Policy-its triumphs, struggles, and failures over the past one hundred and twenty years. In a larger sense, it is a reflection on how the United States has grown and matured, faced challenges and opportunities, and how its federal leaders and policymakers have responded or failed to address pressing problems. Moreover, American public policy addresses the hurdles and challenges that still lie ahead. Four critical questions are posed and answered. First, what were the most significant adversities endured by the American People? Second, what were the landmark domestic policies crafted by the president, enacted by Congress, or issued in Supreme Court decisions? Third, what did the federal policy makers fail to do? Finally, how well have federal policymakers met the challenges facing America: income, inequality, racism, financial crises, terrorist attacks, climate change, gun violence, and other pressures? And what do we still need to do?"--

The move towards multiparty democracy in Zambia in the early 1990s was heralded as the beginning of a new era of more pluralist politics in Africa. The new government's willingness to adopt economic reforms and policies, hitherto resisted, was also seen as a sign that henceforth African governments would be willing to 'own' reforms. A decade later, the optimism seems unjustified. The political reforms floundered, while economic adjustment proved to be much slower than the earlier signs had indicated. Growth ground to a halt and poverty increased in this once rich country. The country's overall dependency on aid increased as well. To increase reform ownership in Zambia, there is need to shift some of the burden of behaviour during adjustment to the government, not just donors. There is scope for the government to take more responsibility for its reforms, including the internal mobilisation of resources for investment. Ultimately, policies enforced from outside will only lead to policy reversal when the conditonalities are removed. – Zambia ; resource booms ; economic reforms ; policy reversal

"The economic process of financialization is defined by many as the development of the dependence and subordination of the productive sector to the financial sector. Leading to an emphasis on maximising shareholder value above all else, the financialization of the economy and production has an enormous impact on the everyday life of ordinary people including the erosion of employment right, the rise of precarious work, and rising inequalities. Using multi-case study research and an exploratory approach, this book analyzes the financialization process in the ten companies with the highest market capitalization worldwide including tech firms, oil companies and banks. This book analyzes indicators of financialization in large corporations including a comparison between profitability sources; shareholding structure, acquisitions and sales of shares; mergers and acquisitions; the origins of directors; payment of compensation to executives; dividend payments to shareholders and stock repurchases; employee salaries; and employment levels. The data demonstrates that what would once have been considered non-core business activities have become more profitable than core business activities in many of these companies. In some cases, these companies are responsible for large investment funds and financial-type institutions which already surpass the largest banks in terms of assets under management. Meanwhile, the average salaries at some of these companies have been falling in real terms due to the rise of outsourcing and the use of cheap or precarious labour. Adopting an economic sociology approach, this book marks a significant contribution to the literature on financialization in economics, sociology and business"--

ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT and controversial policy issues currently facing the British Labour movement is undoubtedly the question of whether or not a Labour government should take the historic step of abandoning sterling—not something it has favoured in the past—and sign up for the European single currency and full European economic and monetary union (EMU).