This book presents economic policies to combat the challenges posed by financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the climate crisis. How the role of the markets, the state, and social cohesion have come into question is explored, alongside broader issues, such as inequality. Particular attention is given to policies relating to the funding and financing of investment to confront the climate emergency, enhancing productivity and technical innovation, the significance of the commons in the context of the state, and macroeconomic policies to underpin sustainability.This book aims to present a framework for a sustainable future, with policy suggestions that promote both environmental and economic sustainability. It will be relevant to students and researchers interested in the political economy and sustainable development.
Author(s): Philip Arestis, Malcolm Sawyer
Series: International Papers in Political Economy
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 325
City: Cham
Preface
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
1: The Recent Global Crises and Economic Policies for Future Durable Recovery
1 Introduction
2 Economic Developments and Economic Policies
Recent Developments
Current Relevant Developments
3 Coordination of Economic Policies
4 Summary and Conclusions
References
2: State Capitalism, Government, and Central Bank Responses to Covid-19
1 Introduction
2 Theoretical Background and Related Literature
The Rise and Return of State Capitalism
State Capacity as a Central Component of State Capitalism
Government and Central Bank Responses to Covid-19
3 Empirical Approach
Determinants of Covid-19-Related Response
4 Stylised Facts
5 Data and Methodology
6 Results and Interpretations
Covid-19 and State Capitalism
7 Summary and Recommendations
References
3: Law and (Un)Sustainability in the Age of the Anthropocene
1 Introduction
2 Law and Capitalism in the Long Durée: The Legal Institution of Land, Labour and Capital
The Invention of ‘Land’: The Transition from Common to Individual Ownership
Property in Labour: From the Guild to the Factory
Disembedding the Market: The Rise and Fall of the Poor Law
Instituting Capital: The Evolution of the Corporation
Enclosing the Corporate Commons
The Legal Organization of Nature
3 Unveiling the Corporation: Three Case Studies
P & O Ferries
Vedanta
Royal Dutch Shell
4 Conclusion: A Prospective View of Post-Neoliberal Law
References
Cases
4: Re-thinking Macroeconomics After the Covid-19 Pandemic
1 Introduction
2 The Story of a Magic Money Tree
3 The Story of Modern Monetary Theory
4 Is MMT a ‘Left-Wing’ Theory?
5 An Alternative Narrative?
6 The Inflation Story: Transient or Permanent?
7 Summary and Conclusions
References
5: Productivity, Innovation and Sustainability
1 Introduction
This Changes Everything
The Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren
Measuring Output and Growth
2 Productivity Growth: Producing More Goods, or Enjoying More Leisure?
3 Innovation
Harnessing the Energy of the Sea
Innovating for Environmental Sustainability
Innovation—Good and Bad
Machine Learning, AI and Robotics
The Rise of the Robots?
How Productive Is New Technology?
Get Back
Modern Times?
4 Sustainability
Geoengineering
Sustainable Finance
5 Creating Social and Environmental Sustainability
Reinvent the Corporation
Progressive Taxation
Creating a New Era of Social and Environmental Sustainability
References
6: Combining Short-Term Economic Recovery with Long-Term Sustainability
1 Introduction
2 Covid-19 and the Idea of a Green Recovery
The Economic Shock from Covid-19
Greening the Economic Recovery
Modelling Green Recovery Measures
3 Long-Term Impacts of the Green Recovery Measures
Going from Short Term to Long Term
Putting the World on a Path to Sustainability
4 From Green Recovery to Net-Zero
Treading the Path to Global Sustainability
Economic Prosperity in a Net-Zero World
5 Comparison to the IPCC’s Modelling Results
Limitations to Existing Modelling Approaches
Modelling Human Behaviour and the Economy
Modelling Technology Development
6 Do We Want an Economic Recovery?
Is Economic Growth (GDP) the Solution or the Problem?
Contribution of Our Model Results
Acknowledging the Limitations
7 Summary and Conclusions
References
7: Creating Local Sustainability Transitions: Finance, Citizen Participation and the Multi-scalar Governance Challenges of Municipal Energy Transition
1 Introduction
2 Municipal Transition, the Return of the State and Multi-scalar Governance
3 Methodology
4 Placing Municipal Energy Transition in Its Broader Context
5 Uneven Development and the Problems of Shared Learning Across Space in European Municipal Transition
6 The Multi-scalar Legacies and Constraints for Local Actors of the UK’s Centralised and Marketised Energy System
7 Enabling Municipal Transition in Germany’s Decentralised Energy System
8 Municipal Action and a Global Just Transition
9 Ordinary Municipal Action: Getting Beyond the Municipalist Moment
10 Conclusion
References
Index
