Public Law’s Rationalization of the Legal Architecture of Money: What Might Legal Analysis of Money Become?
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that many of the ills afflicting democratic capitalism have their source in the current legal architecture of money and finance, and that the reimagination of institutions of money can offer an avenue for reform to democratize the economy and prevent the perpetuation of austerity politics.
Abstract: Many of the ills afflicting democratic capitalism have their source in the current legal architecture of money and finance. At the same time the reimagination of institutions of money and finance promise an avenue for reform to democratize the economy and prevent the perpetuation of austerity politics. Such institutional reimagination requires a perspective that recognizes money as an institution linking state and civil society, politics and the economy. Economics in great part eschews such a perspective and perceives of money as a medium of exchange largely independent of government and politics. Legal analysis, by contrast, should be ideally suited for the endeavor to analyse the various ways in which the institutional design of money configures political economy.
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01 Jan 2017
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide five short reflections which aim at such contextualisation and deal with the interrelations between politics, law and economics, which originated as a set of comments on lectures by Koen Lenaerts and Martin Nettesheim held at the University of Heidelberg in September 2016.
Abstract: German Abstract: In der Krise bedarf die Diskussion uber die Zukunft des Rechts der europaischen Integration einer intra- und interdisziplinaren Kontextualisierung. Dabei ist den Koordinaten Recht, Politik und Okonomie besonderes Augenmerk zu widmen. Kontextualisierung hat es mit Distanz zu tun. Damit ist jedoch nicht die Aquidistanz der Vogelperspektive gemeint, sondern eine reflexive Disziplinaritat, die Verortung erfordert und ermoglicht. Der nachfolgende Beitrag bundelt funf kurze Beobachtungen, die eine Kontextualisierung in diesem Sinne versuchen und dabei eine transdisziplinar europarechtliche Perspektive einnehmen. In diesen Beobachtungen geht es um das Verhaltnis von Politik und Recht, aber auch von Politik, Recht und Okonomie. Der Beitrag ist aus einem Kommentar zu Vortragen von Koen Lenaerts und Martin Nettesheim hervorgegangen, der im September 2016 an der Universitat Heidelberg gegeben wurde.
English Abstract: In times of crisis, the debate about the future of the law of the European Union needs contextualisation -- contextualisation not from the equidistance of the bird’s eye view, but contextualization as an exercise of reflexive disciplinarity. This chapter provides five short reflections which aim at such contextualisation and deal with the interrelations between politics, law and economics. The contribution originated as a set of comments on lectures by Koen Lenaerts and Martin Nettesheim, held at the University of Heidelberg in September 2016.
2 citations
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01 Jan 2020
TL;DR: Theoretically, Geld sei ein Ding, auf das der Mensch nur begrenzt Einfluss habe as discussed by the authors, ausgehend von bestimmten Zielen und Normen einen abstrakten Wert-and Rechenmasstab festlegen and mittels eines Zahlungssystems verwirklichen.
Abstract: Viele soziale und okologische Innovationen scheitern oft an Renditezwangen. Etliche Okonomen sprechen dem Geld einen neutralen Charakter zu. Dies entspringt der Vorstellung, Geld sei ein Ding, auf das der Mensch nur begrenzt Einfluss habe. Ein Blick in die historische Entwicklung des Geldwesens lasst an dieser Theorie starke Zweifel aufkommen: Geld entsteht bereits in der Antike, jedoch spatestens in der Neuzeit durch Kollektive, die ausgehend von bestimmten Zielen und Normen einen abstrakten Wert- und Rechenmasstab festlegen und mittels eines Zahlungssystems verwirklichen. Mit dieser Perspektive eroffnet sich das Geld selbst als eine formbare Institution. Die Handlungsspielraume werden einerseits durch die Zusatzlichkeit einer Wahrung stark erweitert, andererseits aber auch durch Regeln und Normen begrenzt. An Beispielen von Regionalwahrungen in Worgl, im Chiemgau und auf Sardinien werden unterschiedliche Umweltbedingungen betrachtet und die Zielrichtung und Losungsansatze der jeweiligen Wahrungsinitiativen vorgestellt. Das neu geschaffene „Geld“ wirkt dabei wie ein Bindemittel, das die Beteiligten dynamisch und dauerhaft zu Kooperationen anregt. Welchen Beitrag leisten solche alternativen Wahrungen im Hinblick auf globale Herausforderungen wie demographischer Wandel, Klimaerwarmung und soziale Ungleichheit? Sind sie vielleicht sogar Wegbereiter eines grundlegenden Transformationsprozesses im Geldwesen?
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01 Jan 1962
TL;DR: In the classic bestseller, Capitalism and Freedom, Friedman presents his view of the proper role of competitive capitalism as both a device for achieving economic freedom and a necessary condition for political freedom as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In the classic bestseller, Capitalism and Freedom, Milton Friedman presents his view of the proper role of competitive capitalism--the organization of economic activity through private enterprise operating in a free market--as both a device for achieving economic freedom and a necessary condition for political freedom. Beginning with a discussion of principles of a liberal society, Friedman applies them to such constantly pressing problems as monetary policy, discrimination, education, income distribution, welfare, and poverty. "Milton Friedman is one of the nation's outstanding economists, distinguished for remarkable analytical powers and technical virtuosity. He is unfailingly enlightening, independent, courageous, penetrating, and above all, stimulating."-Henry Hazlitt, Newsweek "It is a rare professor who greatly alters the thinking of his professional colleagues. It's an even rarer one who helps transform the world. Friedman has done both."-Stephen Chapman, Chicago Tribune
7,026 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors present three key facts about income and wealth inequality in the long run emerging from my book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, and seek to sharpen and refocus the discussion about those trends.
Abstract: In this article, I present three key facts about income and wealth inequality in the long run emerging from my book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, and seek to sharpen and refocus the discussion about those trends. In particular, I clarify the role played by r > g in my analysis of wealth inequality. I also discuss some of the implications for optimal taxation, and the relation between capital-income ratios and capital shares.
7,011 citations
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01 Aug 2013
TL;DR: Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century as mentioned in this paper is an intellectual tour de force, a triumph of economic history over the theoretical, mathematical modeling that has come to dominate the economics profession in recent years.
Abstract: A New York Times #1 Bestseller An Amazon #1 Bestseller A Wall Street Journal #1 Bestseller A USA Today Bestseller A Sunday Times Bestseller Winner of the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award Winner of the British Academy Medal Finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award "It seems safe to say that Capital in the Twenty-First Century, the magnum opus of the French economist Thomas Piketty, will be the most important economics book of the year-and maybe of the decade." -Paul Krugman, New York Times "The book aims to revolutionize the way people think about the economic history of the past two centuries. It may well manage the feat." -The Economist "Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century is an intellectual tour de force, a triumph of economic history over the theoretical, mathematical modeling that has come to dominate the economics profession in recent years." -Steven Pearlstein, Washington Post "Piketty has written an extraordinarily important book...In its scale and sweep it brings us back to the founders of political economy." -Martin Wolf, Financial Times "A sweeping account of rising inequality...Piketty has written a book that nobody interested in a defining issue of our era can afford to ignore." -John Cassidy, New Yorker "Stands a fair chance of becoming the most influential work of economics yet published in our young century. It is the most important study of inequality in over fifty years." -Timothy Shenk, The Nation
6,234 citations
01 Jan 1961
TL;DR: A theory of optimum currency areas is proposed in this paper, where the authors argue that periodic balance-of-payments crises will remain an integral feature of the international economic system as long as fixed exchange rates and rigid wage and price levels prevent the terms of trade from fulfilling a natural role in the adjustment process.
Abstract: It is patently obvious that periodic balance-of-payments crises will remain an integral feature of the international economic system as long as fixed exchange rates and rigid wage and price levels prevent the terms of trade from fulfilling a natural role in the adjustment process. It is, however, far easier to pose the problem and to criticize the alternatives than it is to offer constructive and feasible suggestions for the elimination of what has become an international disequilibrium system.' The present paper, unfortunately, illustrates that proposition by cautioning against the practicability, in certain cases, of the most plausible alternative: a system of national currencies connected by flexible exchange rates. A system of flexible exchange rates is usually presented, by its proponents,2 as a device whereby depreciation can take the place of unemployment when the external balance is in deficit, and appreciation can replace inflation when it is in surplus. But the question then arises whether all existing national currencies should be flexible. Should the Ghanian pound be freed to fluctuate against all currencies or ought the present sterling-area currencies remain pegged to the pound sterling? Or, supposing that the Common Market countries proceed with their plans for economic union, should these countries allow each national currency to fluctuate, or would a single currency area be preferable? The problem can be posed in a general and more revealing way by defining a currency area as a domain within which exchange rates are fixed and asking: What is the appropriate domain of a currency area? It might seem at first that the question is purely academic since it hardly appears within the realm of political feasibility that national currencies would ever be abandoned in favor of any other arrangement. To this, three answers can be given: (1) Certain parts of the world are undergoing processes of economic integration and disintegration, new experiments are being made, and a conception of what constitutes an optimum currency area can clarify the meaning of these experiments. (2) Those countries, like Canada, which have experimented with flexible exchange rates are likely to face particular problems which the theory of optimum currency areas can elucidate if the national currency area does not coincide with the optimum currency area. (3) The idea can be used to illustrate certain functions of currencies which have been inadequately treated in the economic literature and which are sometimes neglected in the consideration of problems of economic policy. A Theory of Optimum Currency Areas It is patently obvious that periodic balance-of-payments crises will remain an integral feature of the international economic system as long as fixed exchange rates and rigid wage and price levels prevent the terms of trade from fulfilling a natural role in the adjustment process. It is, however, far easier to pose the problem and to criticize the alternatives than it is to offer constructive and feasible suggestions for the elimination of what has become an international disequilibrium system.' The present paper, unfortunately, illustrates that proposition by cautioning against the practicability, in certain cases, of the most plausible alternative: a system of national currencies connected by flexible exchange rates. A system of flexible exchange rates is usually presented, by its proponents,2 as a device whereby depreciation can take the place of unemployment when the external balance is in deficit, and appreciation can replace inflation when it is in surplus. But the question then arises whether all existing national currencies should be flexible. Should the Ghanian pound be freed to fluctuate against all currencies or ought the present sterling-area currencies remain pegged to the pound sterling? Or, supposing that the Common Market countries proceed with their plans for economic union, should these countries allow each national currency to fluctuate, or would a single currency area be preferable? The problem can be posed in a general and more revealing way by defining a currency area as a domain within which exchange rates are fixed and asking: What is the appropriate domain of a currency area? It might seem at first that the question is purely academic since it hardly appears within the realm of political feasibility that national currencies would ever be abandoned in favor of any other arrangement. To this, three answers can be given: (1) Certain parts of the world are undergoing processes of economic integration and disintegration, new experiments are being made, and a conception of what constitutes an optimum currency area can clarify the meaning of these experiments. (2) Those countries, like Canada, which have experimented with flexible exchange rates are likely to face particular problems which the theory of optimum currency areas can elucidate if the national currency area does not coincide with the optimum currency area. (3) The idea can be used to illustrate certain functions of currencies which have been inadequately treated in the economic literature and which are sometimes neglected in the consideration of problems of economic policy.
4,673 citations