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Cycles, crises and innovation are the major economic forces that shape capitalist economies. Using a critical realist political economy approach, the analysis in this fine work is based on the works of Michal Kalecki and Joseph Schumpeter - both of whom identify these three dynamic forces as plotting the path of economic development. Jerry Courvisanos' thought-provoking book examines how the rise of capital through investment enshrines innovation in profit and power which in turn determines the course of cycles and crises. The author concludes by arguing for strategic intervention by transform

"Political aspects" that enhance, but also undermine, the positive transformational power of public innovation policies are examined. As such, this paper follows Michał Kalecki in his 1943 paper that identifies the "political aspects" which enhance and undermine the positive transformational power of Keynesian full employment policies. Similarly, this paper provides a policy framework that identifies what government and business support as innovation policies. The role of innovation stems from Schumpeter's long-run perspective, but incorporates the more dynamic cyclical short-term and trend perspectives of Kalecki. This paper critiques the strategy of public innovation policy in general and derives policy implications. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The 2009 "Great Recession" has created a severe collapse of business expectations to coincide with severe financial overexposure. In this economic climate there is the tendency for the private sector to withdraw from investing in the future and for the public sector to seek to protect the major institutions of capitalism. Both lead to the exclusion of innovation and the concomitant deterioration of the accumulation process. In this context, there have been calls by some prescient economists and politicians to recognise this severe downturn as the opportunity for the generation and implementation of new knowledge. Innovation needs to be generated - particularly eco-innovation into sustainable development - and supported with a large public and private accumulation programme. In about 1623, Francis Bacon wrote a fable about a secret undiscovered island, Bensalem, in which scientific progress through innovation (Bacon's "instauration") created an idyllic economy where humanity was in concert with nature. This Bacon juxtaposed with another island, Atlantis, which gained wealth and prominence through its domination over nature, until nature took its revenge. From Adam Smith onwards writings on economics have recognised the power of innovation to drive an economy. Using Bensalem as the ideal, this paper appraises visions of innovation and accumulation from various HET schools (especially Neoclassical, Austrian, Schumpeterian, Post-Keynesian, Ecological) to assess what these schools can contribute to development of an ecologically sustainable economic trajectory out of the 2009 Great Recession.

This paper aims to identify within capitalism the "political aspects" that enhance, but also can undermine, the positive transformational power of innovation policies. As such, this paper follows the approach of Micha

There is a lack of ontology in the study and explication of innovation. Does this matter? It matters because 'innovation' has become an important word in the 21st Century, reflecting all that is modern, progressive and exciting in a complex world. This is reflected in every phase of daily existence in modern capitalist economies. Firms are urged to be innovative to gain or sustain a 'competitive edge', consultants advertise their strategic advice as the essence of innovation, local communities' survival depend on the capacity building that comes from innovation, schools are exalted to have innovation in their curriculum, universities promote themselves as leaders in innovation. Politicians respond to the need for supporting all the above through policies for enhancing such innovation in the nation. ; E1

This paper aims to examine the political economy role of R & D in the context of the innovation dilemma between its roles as a knowledge generating processes and the entrenched power that such knowledge creates. ; E1

Innovation in Australia has become the top national priority in strengthening competitiveness of firms and generating strong economic development. This paper investigates the building of workforce innovation capacity through human resource management (HRM) practices to foster innovation in Australia. Two HRM strategies are identified as having operated in Australia over 40 years. One is a 'soft' HRM strategy based on greater worker autonomy; a strategy which dominated in the 1970s and 1980s. The other is a 'hard' HRM strategy based on routine worker performance measurement which has increasingly become more relevant since the 1990s and into the 21st Century as the basis for stronger competitive advantage. A dynamic discrete choice model is developed to provide a method for capturing and explaining variations in the relationship between the two strategies and innovation. This approach reframes the economics of innovation using a unique 'containment of structure and contingency of agency' spectrum to explain innovation-successful HRM practices which can account for both internal firm management policies and external-to-the-firm effects of government economic policies. For this reason, this study provides a historical understanding that links effective HRM strategy to building innovation capacity from both firm and government levels. Such experience can assist building a stronger Australian Innovation System so often demanded.