Showing papers on "Economic problem published in 1988"

Innovation and the productivity crisis

Abstract: The collapse of U.S. productivity growth since the late 1960s has been the most severe and persistent of recent economic problems. This volume reviews the extent of the growth slowdown, evaluates several contributing factors, and suggests strategies for improvement. The authors find that inflation, recessions, oil price fluctuations, and other economic disruptions in the 1970s had an averse effect on economic performance, but, they suggest, a slowing in the pace of innovation and a failure to exploit the benefits of innovation also contributed to the weakness in productivity.Baily and Chakrabarti provide a comprehensive assessment of U.S. technology policy and its importance to growth. They argue for continued support of basic science, even though strength in this area does not give the U.S. economy an immediate competitive advantage, and advocate increased support for "middle ground" and commercial research. They conclude that this support must be structured to preserve the advantages of the market.

Chapter 1 The concept of development

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the concept of development. It is not hard to see why the concept of development is so essential to economics in general. Economic problems involve logistic issues, and a lot of it is undoubtedly “engineering” of one kind or another. On the other hand, the success of all this has to be judged ultimately in terms of what it does to the lives of human beings. The enhancement of living conditions must clearly be an essential,if not the essential object of the entire economic exercise and that enhancement is an integral part of the concept of development. Even though the logistic and engineering problems involved in enhancing living conditions in the poor, developing countries might well be very different from those in the rich, developed ones, there is much in common in the respective exercises on the two sides of the divide. The close link between economic development and economic growth is simultaneously a matter of importance as well as a source of considerable confusion. The importance of “growth” must depend on the nature of the variable the expansion of which is considered and seen as “growth.” The chapter discusses a number of different sources of contrast that have to be clearly distinguished from each other, while drawing a distinction between development and growth. The well-being of a person can be seen as an evaluation of the functionings achieved by that person. This approach has been implicitly used by Adam Smith and Karl Marx in particular. The concept of development is by no meansunproblematic. The different problems underlying the concept have become clearer over the years based on conceptual discussions as well as from insights emerging from empirical work.

Interwar Unemployment in International Perspective: An Overview

Abstract: The outstanding internal economic problem of the interwar period in all countries studied was undoubtedly unemployment. Next to war, unemployment has been the most widespread, most insidious and most corroding malady of our generation, it is the specific disease of western countries in our time. It varied in intensity, and incidence, in the different countries but in nearly every industrial country it held the centre of the social and economic stage in the interwar years. It was a social evil more than an economic evil. Its effects in terms of personal insecurity, maldistribution of income, and the deterioration of health, technical skill and morale were probably graver than the waste of resources and potential wealth involved. At the same time the pressure of the problem on national governments was perhaps the most decisive disrupting factor in international economic relations. (Arndt, 1944, p.250)

Aiding Migration: The Impact Of International Development Assistance On Haiti

Abstract: This book examines the political and economic legacy of the Duvalier regime with the intention of clarifying its implications for Haitis future development. Brutal and self-serving as the Duvalier family may have been its departure has by no means provided a solution to Haitis political and economic problems but only a disruption in the status quo that may enable the Haitian people to establish democratic institutions and policies. Reforming the nations economic development strategy to address the needs of the poor majority is one of the most difficult political tasks that Haitians will face. Chapter 1 presents the historical background of the political and economic caused of recent migration from Haiti to the US and the response of the US government. Chapter 2 explains why internationally sponsored economic assistance programs in Haiti during the 1970s failed to avert a severe economic and political crisis. Chapter 3 describes the new export-led economic development strategy designed by the international agencies and how this strategy has been imposed on Haiti. Chapter 4 examines how the new development strategy has been applied to agriculture and how it has affected Haitis "food security." Chapter 5 evaluates the potential of the assembly industry to contribute to increasing employment raising workers standard of living and promoting Haitis economic development. Chapter 6 explains why the export-led development strategy is likely to maintain or exacerbate the political and economic problems that prompted Haitians to migrate. chapter 7 outlines principles for an alternative development strategy that would follow Haitian rather than foreign priorities in addressing the political and economic problems that cause migration.

National Management of the International Economy

Abstract: Part 1 International economic integration: the process of international economic integration international economic integration and interdependence in the 1980s. Part 2 The nature, causes and elimination of international economic instability: the concept of fundamental equilibrium short-term, or cyclical, disequilibria fundamental, or structural, disequilibria the long-term adjustment process - major policy options. Part 3 Phases in international economic integration since the 1820s: the doctrine of free trade - internationalism or disguised mercantilism? changes in international competitiveness and national commercial policies historical parallels in the evolution of international economic relationships long-term changes in international openness and income inequality. Part 4 The long-term consequences of the energy crisis: origins of the energy crisis economic consequences of the energy constraint financial effects of the energy crisis. Part 5 The main prerequisites for a stable international economic system: economic progress and economic organization policies compatible with an integrated world economy the optimum policy area.

Two revolutions in economic policy : the first economic reports of Presidents Kennedy and Reagan

Abstract: The juxtaposition of Kennedy and Reagan approaches to economic problems is particularly instructive in that they express the two major - and quite different - approaches of macroeconomic policy in the past three decades: the 1962 Kennedy Camelot which relied on traditional Keynesian economics, and the 1982 Reagan program which called for a supplyside solution to the country's economic difficulties. From today's vantage point it is useful to compare what these two different groups of economic advisors planned to do, what they did, and what the results were.James Tobin, who received the Nobel Prize in economics in 1981, is Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale. His Essays in Economics, collected in three volumes, are available from The MIT Press. Murray L. Weidenbaum is Director of the Center for the Study of American Business and Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor at Washington University.

State, Class, and Transition in Nicaragua

Abstract: The centrality of class in analyzing social change is one of the fundamental propositions of Marxian theory. Unfortunately, the revolutionary insights that can be gained from placing class at the center of analysis are often lost, particularly in transitional experiences. The problems of socialist development in Latin America and the Caribbean are rarely, if ever, viewed through the perspective of class. This is especially true when it comes to so-called economic questions. Key issues of the "peripheral socialist economy," such as the state, accumulation, and macroeconomic stabilization, are discussed as if they were general economic problems, without contradictory class conditions and effects. The danger, of course, is that the socialist project of class transformation may be curtailed or even undermined by not taking these class aspects into account. Is there no alternative? One step in the direction of elaborating a specifically Marxian analysis of socialist development is to investigate the relationship between the state (including state economic policy) and class in the Nicaraguan Revolution. This analysis points out some of the typical tensions and contradictions involved in carrying out a socialist project in the context of a small "mixed" economy faced with external aggression.

Enforcement economics in Exclusive Economic Zones

Abstract: The establishment of Exclusive Economic Zones places enormous burdens on the resources of coastal states' enforcement agencies. An economic problem looms in that decisions must be made as to how much to allocate to enforcement relative to the expected benefits that can be derived. In this paper, the objective is to review the economic methods available for analysis of enforcement programs. A second objective is to report on the enforcement problems and prospects in three areas with important fishery resources.

Co-prosperity and co-security: managing the developed world

Abstract: One consequence of the absence of a major war in the developed world in the last 40 years is the lack of any obvious occasion for a radical reshaping of global institutions. The international economic and security framework of the developed world set up after the Second World War-principally the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), NATO and the US-Japan Security Treaty-has brought prosperity to many millions and has prevented a global war. But evolutionary processes tend to progress to the point where the basic structures need looking at to see if change is needed. The inauguration of a new US president in 1989 provides an opportune moment to survey the problems that have arisen in the international system, as well as possible solutions that could build on and spread further the successes of the postwar era. The present difficulties, which manifest themselves as trade imbalances, currency fluctuations and stock market upheavals, illustrate the persistent and growing set of interlocking problems that have emerged since the breakdown of the Bretton Woods international monetary system in 1971-3 with the crisis of confidence in the world's major currencies and President Nixon's floating of the dollar. The 1970s also saw the US defeat in Vietnam, with its economic implications. Financing the Vietnam war in part made it necessary to float the dollar, while defeat gave the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) both the confidence and the opportunity to raise oil prices and made the US Congress and public reluctant to permit the country to become militarily involved abroad. This in turn emboldened the Soviet Union to extend its influence and presence in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Even though in the late 1980s there has been recognition in Moscow that this was over-extension at too high a cost, with only a small or negative return in terms of influence, the Soviet threat persists in major parts of the world, and there are fears that the linked deficits in both America's federal budget and in the nation's current account will necessitate significant cutbacks in US spending and capabilities. Meanwhile Japan's growing military budget is a topic for discussion both among its neighbours and domestically. Even in the United States people have spoken of a transfer of world leadership, at least in economic and trade terms, from America to Japan, from the dollar to the yen: some have spoken of a world order under a Pax Nipponica. This article seeks to identify current trends in the international economic and security framework and project them to their logical next steps, beginning with the next eight to ten years, and arguing that the developed world's economic problems are

Disability and the Labor Market: Economic Problems, Policies, and Programs

Abstract: Monroe Berkowitz-the Dean of economists in the field of disability policy-and his colleague M. Anne Hill have edited a very good collection of papers on the interaction of labor market policies and policies targeted on disabled workers. The papers were first presented at an April 1985 conference. Although the book is not free of the unevenness characteristic of conference volumes, the papers in it have clearly been polished in response to discussants' comments and carefully edited. In addition, the editors include a helpful overview essay. The primary purpose of the volume is to elaborate the \"economic model\" of disability and to propose research consistent with that model. Emphasized by the economic model are the important roles of economic incentives, human capital, and demographic and socioeconomic variables in explaining the several aspects of labor market performance affecting working-age people with disabilities. Four broad subjects are covered by the papers: (1) Social Security Disability Insurance and workers' compensation policies and their effects on the supply of and the demand for the labor services of impaired workers; (2) the potential of public programs designed to efficiently increase the job opportunities of disabled workers (including an evaluation of the costs of displacing able-bodied workers that are appropriately charged to such programs); (3) the economic effects of regulations designed to reduce barriers to the employment of impaired workers (the \"accommodation\" and \"discrimination\" issues); and (4) the lessons for U.S. disability policy of the efforts by the western European welfare states to deal with both income support and employment policies targeted on the disabled. The papers are a mix of 'review and critique\" essays, policy analysis, and new research, but nearly all of them attempt both to draw the lessons of what is learned (or known) for policy and to identify research priorities. As in most conference volumes, some papers are gems, moving the field along or bringing to light important research findings. In this book, my favorites are papers by Carolyn Weaver, Jonathan Leonard, John Worrall and Richard Butler, and Robert S. Smith. Weaver's policy analysis essay examines the Social Security Disability Insurance program using an insurance model. In this framework, a wide variety of issues are encountered-moral hazard, adverse selection, measurement of the degree of disablement, disincentives for work, and administrative control in a public supply context. Weaver convincingly demonstrates that the most important problems confronted by existing social legislation arise largely because both Congress and the program's administrators fail to consider the program from an insurance perspective. Leonard reviews the rapid decline in the labor force participation rates of older men and the large number of studies that have attempted to identify the causal role of public disability-related transfers. Leonard effectively explicates and critiques several econometric studies on this subject, and also calculates and compares the various elasticities yielded by those studies (an analysis that could have been enhanced by somewhat more guidance on the relative \"believability\" of the various estimates). Although the estimates have a wide range, they all point to rather sizable labor supply reductions attributable to the generosity of expected benefits relative to labor market income. Leonard concludes that the growth of benefits relative to potential earnings \"can explain nearly half of the puzzling decline in labor force participatioon rates\" (p. 84). My own reading of that literature, with adjustments for the relative strengths of the various studies, suggests that the impact Leonard ascribes to rising benefits is at the upper limit of plausible estimates. Worrall and Butler do much the same for the workers' compensation program as Leonard does for disability insurance. Claim filing, the duration of nonwork spells, and probably risk-taking and injuries all appear to be sensitive to the level of expected benefits. The studies Worrall and Butler examine appear to be weaker methodologically than those reviewed by Leonard; again, however, the reader

The limitations of economic analysis - the case of professional football.

Abstract: The analysis of sport and leisure is being increasingly conducted from an economic perspective, thereby endangering some of the benefits the field of leisure studies has gained from an interdisciplinary approach. We feel that this problem is reinforced by the introduction of a narrow definition of this economic approach. This article attempts to highlight some of the limitations of an orthodox economic focus on professional football in England, although we feel that the arguments are applicable to a wider range of interests. We would argue that quantifiable solutions to the economic problems of the game often suffer from loose correlations with the evidence since the problems need to be conceived more broadly than the economic formulae allow. The problems facing football cannot be addressed without the proper recognition of the cultural traditions of the sport, within the framework of a broadly defined political economy.

Domestic policies, external constraints and economic development in nigeria since 1950

Abstract: IN THE 1970s the economic problems of sub-Saharan Africa came to be viewed as of extreme, and of increasing, seriousness. 1 A highly contentious study of the region by the World Bank, Accelerated Development in SubSaharan Africa, argued that 'for most African countries, and for a majority of the African population, the record [of economic development] is grim and it is no exaggeration to talk of crisis. Slow overall economic growth, sluggish agricultural performance coupled with rapid rates of population increase, and balance of payments and fiscal crises these are dramatic indicators of economic trouble.'2 The contentiousness of the study lay in its prominent, although not exclusive, focus on 'domestic policy inadequacies. The domestic focus was repeated in two other studies by Bates who argued that the political use of marketing boards to further urban interests had prevented, or at least seriously curtailed, the growth of the agricultural sector. 3 Bates' criticisms of marketing board policies repeated many of the arguments many years before by Bauer.4 The implication of these arguments was that a major change in direction was required in African economic policies, and that domestic policies, not external constraints, were the major factors which prevented growth. The interaction of domestic policies and external constraints are examined in this paper in a different context from that of the World Bank study and Bates. The question is approached through a detailed study of the pattern and rate of growth of Nigeria since 1950, a country whose oil wealth in the 1970s ensured that external factors were almost uniquely favourable for its

Human resources development and its population dimensions in the Arab world.

Abstract: After tracing the genesis and evolution of human resources development and its role in economic development the study provides a definition of this multi-disciplinary concept at the micro and macro-level. Human resources development is an economic concept. It does however expand the traditional economic approach by providing for the allocation of investment resources to improve human inputs which are basically social in nature. In this sense it is a step towards humanizing development but it still falls short of human development since resource allocation continues to be based solely on economic criteria which is bound to set priorities for investments in human beings on the exclusive basis of economic ability without taking into account the most vulnerable groups in society. It goes on to describe the human resources situation in the Arab world at the macro-level and stresses that in the context of underdevelopment strict economic criteria should not be applied to human resources development. Finally the study outlines a number of urgent measures that need to be undertaken in the Arab region.

Background to a Mathematical Model of Price Reform in China

Abstract: China is currently undergoing an extensive economic reform. The reform has provided the economists with an excellent opportunity to compare and analyze the centrally planned economy and the market economy in regard to their merits and shortcomings. Most of the analytical tools in modern economics stem from the market economy of the Western world to which many top economists have dedicated so much and on which they have developed valuable theories and practical experience over the past century. While identifying and summarizing the internal rules of the market economy, these economists also pointed out the shortcomings and faults of such an economic model. Obviously there is a big difference in the cultural background and social and economic structures between China and the West. Mechanically applying some conclusions or analysis from contemporary economic theory to explain what is happening in today's economy in China will surely lead nowhere. Economists should never overlook one fact: One-third of the wo...

Economic thought in the netherlands: the contribution of professor jan tinbergen*

Abstract: Considering the controversies about Macro-economic theory, and looking at the conflicting economic policies put forward to cure our present eco? nomic ills, one cannot avoid feeling that we are suffering from a bad "hangover." After the "good time" we had in the 'sixties, we are now afflicted by the "hangover" of shaken confidence. Then, in the 'sixties, we were convinced that we had at our disposal many good instruments to control the business cycle and to regulate the economy. And indeed, while the Netherlands were gradually becoming a mixed economy in that period, i.e. were becoming a country with an economic system of regulated capital? ism in which serious economic slumps were no longer expected, the fluctua? tions of the business cycle remained restricted within reasonable limits. The new situation with which we are confronted since the 'seventies casts doubt upon this optimism and makes a critical reassessment imperative. In this vein, for example, Professor Driehuis [1977, p. 39] blames the Dutch government's current impotence to solve the country's serious economic problems upon the inadequacies of Macro-economic theory and the practi? cal considerations of economic policy. Similarly, Professor Vermaat deplores the lack of a consistent set of related Macro-economic hypotheses and too little attention to structural developments in comparison to the attention devoted to cyclical oscillations in economic policies. The absence of a consistent set of related hypotheses comes to light in what is known as "the models discussion," i.e. in the controversies about the explanatory powers and predictive reliability of the economists' analytical instruments. This controversy rages on in spite of the fact that with the passage of time the analytical instruments have become increasingly sophisticated and devel? oped from mainly short-term into rather complex vintage and medium-term models. [Vide: VINTAF II; Driehuis and Van der Zwan 1978, p. 268 seq.] Concerning practice, it is said that the aims of economic policy have been too global and too ambitious to be realizable simultaneously. To this the growing recognition must be added that the market mechanism does not

Greece & Turkey : economic and geopolitical perspectives

Abstract: Part I: Background Introduction A Historical Perspective The Establishment of Modern Greece and Turkey Part II: Domestic Economic Problems Resources and Productivity Sectoral Resource Allocation Fiscal Policy Monetary Policy and Inflation Part III: International Economic Relations and Cooperation Foreign Trade and Investment Relations with the European Economic Community Geopolitical Considerations

Michał Kalecki on a socialist economy

Abstract: The democratically planned economy the question of workers' self-management the functioning of the socialist economy long-term planning the foundations of growth theory calculating the efficiency of investment some social and economic problems of postwar Poland Kalecki's system.

Successful Counter‐trading

Abstract: Economic problems have led to the increasing role off counter‐trade in the world trade scene. Countries with large external debts are able to acquire imports and settle bills with goods or services rather than through a financial settlement. This article looks at varying forms of counter‐trade.

Strategic Planning, Performance Indicators, Research Policy: the New Issues Facing University Management

Abstract: Higher education systems throughout the world are coming under the joint influences of continuing reduced resources, demand for research to solve short term economic problems, and the perceived value in the application of business models of management. These influences have given rise to several related movements: strategic planning, performance indicators, research policy. The paper provides a discussion of each of these movements.

National Economic Management and the Supranational Economy

Abstract: Economic disruptions of the past 20 years have periodically focused the American public’s attention on international economic problems. The determinants of energy and food prices, plant location, the value of the dollar, and domestic financial stability all have global dimensions; and if newspaper articles and television reports are any indication at all of popular consciousness, many Americans recognize this new reality. Unfortunately, an expansion of our regional vision does not guarantee a more cosmopolitan populace. External economic disturbances are just as likely to generate an inward-looking hostility. There certainly is evidence that many U.S. citizens would support a more nationalistic economic program, but specific protectionist proposals have received surprisingly little coherent support in Congress. There are two plausible explanations for this anomaly. Corporations and government agencies with strong interests in overseas trade and investment can effectively lobby representatives to prevent measures that would restrict international economic intercourse. Or the public itself may believe that no measure—however useful for particular sectors of the populace—could really improve the general welfare of U.S. citizens.1

A Qualitatively New Stage in the Development of Soviet Society

Abstract: The most important result of the period following the Twenty-seventh CPSU Congress has been the recognition of the fact that restructuring is a substantially more difficult task than it appeared to be at the outset. And no matter how difficult the technical and economic problems, the largest problems are in the sphere of social relations. It will be necessary to overcome the inertia of existing social structures and to open the way to the play of society's dynamic forces. Life itself advances the analysis of social processes to the forefront of contemporary economic research.

African Recovery and Development

Abstract: The Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on the Critical Economic Situation in Africa ended with the adoption, without dissent, of a United Nations Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development. It was a unique occasion in many ways. First, it was a crucial stage in the series of international actions prompted by the African economic crisis — crucial in the sense that the Session was devoted specifically to addressing the fundamental economic issues of the African crisis rather than to the organisation of emergency supplies of food to feed the hungry. Second, it was the first time that a special session had been held on the economic problems of a particular region of the world, rather than on the problems of developing countries as a whole. Third, the fact that such a special session was held midway through the Third United Nations Development Decade gave rise to several questions about the state of implementation of the Decade programme and the state of the New International Economic Order. Fourth, it gave rise to some discussion about Africa’s relations with the rest of the developing world.

Superfairness: Applications and Theory

Abstract: With his characteristic acuteness and lucidity, William Baumol, one of America's foremost economists, tackles the problem of equity considerations in welfare economics by applying the novel "superfairness" criterion to the distribution of resources, product, income, and wealth that arises from economic decisions. Baumol extends the theory of fairness or equity in micropolicy beyond its more common technical analysis by exploring its applicability to a variety of practical and applied economic problems. He demonstrates that the tradeoff between fairness and efficiency in economic decision making does not have to be as great as generally believed, and he demonstrates a theory of fairness that provides economists with the analytic tools to make fairness analysis tractable. Superfairness covers a wide range of applications such as rationing, cross-subsidy pricing (as in telephone and utility services), predatory pricing, transfer payments and progressive taxation, wage negotiations, divorce settlements, and arbitration.

The State's Role in an Era of Economic Transition: The Pennsylvania Experience

Abstract: As the decade of the 1970s drew to a close, Pennsylvania was in serious economic trouble. The most serious of its problems was its overcommittment to traditional "smokestack" industries, without any strategy for diversification or modernization. The Governor's Office of Policy Development, along with the State Planning Board, developed an economic strategy based on new economic priorities. With this strategy as a starting point, steps were taken to improve the economy and turn Pennsylvania around. The author concludes that the ability to look to the long run is critical for other states that are addressing their own economic problems.