In this work we analyse the main interpretations of ownership in Original Institutional Economics... more In this work we analyse the main interpretations of ownership in Original Institutional Economics (OIE) and their links with pragmatist psychology and psychoanalysis.
We consider Thorstein Veblen’s notion of ownership as a relation of possession of persons, and John R.Commons’s distinction between “corporeal” and “intangible” property, that marks the shift from a material possession of goods and arbitrary power over the workers to the development of human faculties in a more participatory environment. For space reasons we do not address other contributions developed both by the OIE and by the New Institutional Economics.
We then consider a number of contributions of pragmatist social psychology and psychoanalysis that, although not dealing directly with the notion of ownership, can cast light not only on the private and “material“ aspects of ownership but also on its collective and “relational aspects”.
The reason why we consider it useful to address different perspectives is that, as observed by the famous sociologist Karl Mannheim (1952), a landscape can be seen only from a determined perspective and without perspective there is no landscape. Hence, observing a landscape (or phenomenon) from different angles (or disciplines) can help to acquire a much clearer insight into the features of the various perspectives. And this is one of the main advantage of a pluralist approach to the study of economic and social phenomena, also aimed at overcoming the fragmentation so often present in social sciences. In this light, the interpretative theories that we address, however different in many respects, present notable complementarities, in the sense that the aspects more overlooked by some are more completely considered by the others. In our work, these different but complementary notions of ownership can help illuminate the manifold aspects of human relations, also with a view to provide a more tailored policy action for the solution of their more problematic aspects.
As we know, also by looking at the slow progress of the UN
Agenda 2030 for sustainable developmen... more As we know, also by looking at the slow progress of the UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable development, attaining the objectives of environmental sustainability (meant in its “strong” meaning) is a process anything but easy. On that account, the aim of the work is to analyse how the synergies between important concepts of deep ecology, ecosocialism and original institutional economics in an interdisciplinary perspective (in particular, pragmatist psychology and psychoanalysis) can help frame more effective sustainable policies. In fact, little synergy has occurred so far between these fields. Also for this reason, while there is a fairly widespread agreement on the fallacy of neoliberalism, there is little agreement on what economic systems – regulated capitalism, democratic socialism, centralised socialism, with their internal differences – can be better suited for realising the green objectives. We try to show the importance of a better collaboration between these fields for realising an equitable and sustainable society.
***********************
Come è noto, anche considerando la lentezza dei progressi dell’Agenda 2030 delle Nazioni Unite per lo sviluppo sostenibile, il raggiungimento degli obiettivi di sostenibilità ambientale (intesa in senso “forte”) è un processo tutt’altro che semplice. In tal senso, lo scopo del lavoro è analizzare come le sinergie tra importanti concetti della “deep ecology”, ecosocialismo ed original institutional economics, anche considerati in una prospettiva interdisciplinare (in particolare, psicologia del pragmatismo e psicoanalisi), possano aiutare a definire politiche sostenibili più efficaci. Infatti, finora si sono verificate poche sinergie tra questi filoni di pensiero. Anche per questo motivo, mentre vi è un consenso abbastanza ampio sui fallimenti del neoliberismo, vi è poco accordo su quali sistemi economici – capitalismo regolamentato, socialismo democratico, socialismo centralizzato, con le loro differenze interne – possano essere più adatti a realizzare gli obiettivi ecologici. Cerchiamo quindi di mostrare l’importanza di una migliore collaborazione tra queste prospettive per realizzare una società equa e sostenibile.
Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a remarkable and sudden increase in global demand for Per... more Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a remarkable and sudden increase in global demand for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as masks, gloves, gowns. The growing biomedical and municipal streams of potentially infectious waste is a new challenge for every country since an inadequate waste management might have serious public health consequences and significant impact on the environment. In this scenario, this review study is aimed to point out that the current pandemic can impact on the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, within SDG12, the crisis of waste could offer countries a new production patterns towards a more sustainable future in its management. From review study, we believe that a new specific target for biomedical and municipal waste management could be added to SDG12: Target 12.9: "Ensure a safe and sustainable management of biomedical and municipal solid waste to attain an environmental sustainability during and especially after this widespread pandemic". In this regard, it will be important to distinguish the ordinary waste from COVID-19 waste both in biomedical and municipal solid waste management to reach this target. In addition, innovative and sustainable strategies in biomedical and municipal waste management should be adopted in association with a new regulation at the legislative level during and after this pandemic. Therefore, new investments in clean techniques and in new infrastructures in management practice can play a crucial role to promote a new environmental transition stage. Furthermore, The United Nation's Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development has created an important framework to realize environmental sustainability. through the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 169 targets. In the last five years, many efforts are made to achieve SDGs, but today this pandemic could be a threat for the realization of these goals by 2030. In this context, all countries can consider this pandemic as a new opportunity to launch a plan to stop pollution, climate change and possible new pandemics.
The main aim of this work is to make a step towards identifying the theories needed to understand... more The main aim of this work is to make a step towards identifying the theories needed to understand and provide policy alternatives to the imbalances of our economies, exacerbated in our covid-19 situation. In particular, we wish to analyse how to attain the objectives of (i) full employment (however defined) and decent work; (ii) sustainable use of resources, in its "strong" meaning; (iii) substantial reduction of economic and social inequalities; (iv) human, scientific and technologi
A special thanks to Dr. Malgorzata Dereniowska and Jake McMurchie and for all their support for t... more A special thanks to Dr. Malgorzata Dereniowska and Jake McMurchie and for all their support for the success of the Conference organization.
In this work, which is organized in two parts, we wish, in the first, to point out the distinctiv... more In this work, which is organized in two parts, we wish, in the first, to point out the distinctive role of the Essays in Persuasion in the elaboration of his far-reaching perspective, which lies at the heart of the theoretical formulation later on expounded in The General Theory. In the ...
The 33rd Annual EAEPE Conference 2021
Recovery from the Covid-19 Pandemic: Re-thinking the role... more The 33rd Annual EAEPE Conference 2021 Recovery from the Covid-19 Pandemic: Re-thinking the role of the State towards safe, cohesive, sustainable, and innovative economies 2-4 September 2021
*************
Global Imbalances and the way towards an Alternative Economy
Arturo Hermann
It is a chapter of a book (2020) edited by Maria A.Madi and me and published by the World Economics Association (WEA) “The 2008 Economic Crisis Ten Years On in Retrospect, Context and Prospect”.
The chapter highlights in particular the growing importance of the public sector in managing the contradictions of mature capitalism, the central role of public spending and credit creation in maintaining effective demand, and the importance of social valuing and democratic planning for moving towards an equitable and sustainable society.
Il presente lavoro riflette il nostro interesse di lunga data per un approccio alternativo della ... more Il presente lavoro riflette il nostro interesse di lunga data per un approccio alternativo della teoria economica. un approccio che, in luogo di cercare a tutti i costi “principi primi”, basati su un concetto astratto e metafisico di “massimizzazione”, sui quali erigere un'analisi di ...
Economic Thought http://et.worldeconomicsassociation.org/papers/the-decline-of-the-original-institutional-economics-in-the-post-world-war-ii-period-and-the-perspectives-of-today/, 2018
Original, or ‘old’, institutional economics (OIE) – also known as ‘institutionalism’ – played a k... more Original, or ‘old’, institutional economics (OIE) – also known as ‘institutionalism’ – played a key role in its early stages; it could be said that it was once the ‘mainstream economics’ of the time. This period ran approximately from the first important contributions of Thorstein Veblen in 1898 to the implementation of the New Deal in the early 1930s, where many institutionalists played a significant role.
However, notwithstanding its promising scientific and institutional affirmation, institutional economics underwent a period of marked decline that spanned from the mid-1930s to the late 1980s, when a new season for institutional economics was set in motion.
In order to cast some light on this complex issue – without any claim of completeness – we have organised the work as follows: in the first section we consider the main interpretations of this phenomenon. In the subsequent sections we analyse a number of ‘endogenous’ aspects which might have played a significant role in the period of decline: (i) the relations of institutional economics with Keynes’s macroeconomic theory; (ii) the links between theoretical and empirical analysis and the supposed lack of a clear theory; (iii) the interdisciplinary orientation.
In this work we analyse the main interpretations of ownership in Original Institutional Economics... more In this work we analyse the main interpretations of ownership in Original Institutional Economics (OIE) and their links with pragmatist psychology and psychoanalysis.
We consider Thorstein Veblen’s notion of ownership as a relation of possession of persons, and John R.Commons’s distinction between “corporeal” and “intangible” property, that marks the shift from a material possession of goods and arbitrary power over the workers to the development of human faculties in a more participatory environment. For space reasons we do not address other contributions developed both by the OIE and by the New Institutional Economics.
We then consider a number of contributions of pragmatist social psychology and psychoanalysis that, although not dealing directly with the notion of ownership, can cast light not only on the private and “material“ aspects of ownership but also on its collective and “relational aspects”.
The reason why we consider it useful to address different perspectives is that, as observed by the famous sociologist Karl Mannheim (1952), a landscape can be seen only from a determined perspective and without perspective there is no landscape. Hence, observing a landscape (or phenomenon) from different angles (or disciplines) can help to acquire a much clearer insight into the features of the various perspectives. And this is one of the main advantage of a pluralist approach to the study of economic and social phenomena, also aimed at overcoming the fragmentation so often present in social sciences. In this light, the interpretative theories that we address, however different in many respects, present notable complementarities, in the sense that the aspects more overlooked by some are more completely considered by the others. In our work, these different but complementary notions of ownership can help illuminate the manifold aspects of human relations, also with a view to provide a more tailored policy action for the solution of their more problematic aspects.
As we know, also by looking at the slow progress of the UN
Agenda 2030 for sustainable developmen... more As we know, also by looking at the slow progress of the UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable development, attaining the objectives of environmental sustainability (meant in its “strong” meaning) is a process anything but easy. On that account, the aim of the work is to analyse how the synergies between important concepts of deep ecology, ecosocialism and original institutional economics in an interdisciplinary perspective (in particular, pragmatist psychology and psychoanalysis) can help frame more effective sustainable policies. In fact, little synergy has occurred so far between these fields. Also for this reason, while there is a fairly widespread agreement on the fallacy of neoliberalism, there is little agreement on what economic systems – regulated capitalism, democratic socialism, centralised socialism, with their internal differences – can be better suited for realising the green objectives. We try to show the importance of a better collaboration between these fields for realising an equitable and sustainable society.
***********************
Come è noto, anche considerando la lentezza dei progressi dell’Agenda 2030 delle Nazioni Unite per lo sviluppo sostenibile, il raggiungimento degli obiettivi di sostenibilità ambientale (intesa in senso “forte”) è un processo tutt’altro che semplice. In tal senso, lo scopo del lavoro è analizzare come le sinergie tra importanti concetti della “deep ecology”, ecosocialismo ed original institutional economics, anche considerati in una prospettiva interdisciplinare (in particolare, psicologia del pragmatismo e psicoanalisi), possano aiutare a definire politiche sostenibili più efficaci. Infatti, finora si sono verificate poche sinergie tra questi filoni di pensiero. Anche per questo motivo, mentre vi è un consenso abbastanza ampio sui fallimenti del neoliberismo, vi è poco accordo su quali sistemi economici – capitalismo regolamentato, socialismo democratico, socialismo centralizzato, con le loro differenze interne – possano essere più adatti a realizzare gli obiettivi ecologici. Cerchiamo quindi di mostrare l’importanza di una migliore collaborazione tra queste prospettive per realizzare una società equa e sostenibile.
Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a remarkable and sudden increase in global demand for Per... more Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a remarkable and sudden increase in global demand for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as masks, gloves, gowns. The growing biomedical and municipal streams of potentially infectious waste is a new challenge for every country since an inadequate waste management might have serious public health consequences and significant impact on the environment. In this scenario, this review study is aimed to point out that the current pandemic can impact on the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, within SDG12, the crisis of waste could offer countries a new production patterns towards a more sustainable future in its management. From review study, we believe that a new specific target for biomedical and municipal waste management could be added to SDG12: Target 12.9: "Ensure a safe and sustainable management of biomedical and municipal solid waste to attain an environmental sustainability during and especially after this widespread pandemic". In this regard, it will be important to distinguish the ordinary waste from COVID-19 waste both in biomedical and municipal solid waste management to reach this target. In addition, innovative and sustainable strategies in biomedical and municipal waste management should be adopted in association with a new regulation at the legislative level during and after this pandemic. Therefore, new investments in clean techniques and in new infrastructures in management practice can play a crucial role to promote a new environmental transition stage. Furthermore, The United Nation's Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development has created an important framework to realize environmental sustainability. through the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 169 targets. In the last five years, many efforts are made to achieve SDGs, but today this pandemic could be a threat for the realization of these goals by 2030. In this context, all countries can consider this pandemic as a new opportunity to launch a plan to stop pollution, climate change and possible new pandemics.
The main aim of this work is to make a step towards identifying the theories needed to understand... more The main aim of this work is to make a step towards identifying the theories needed to understand and provide policy alternatives to the imbalances of our economies, exacerbated in our covid-19 situation. In particular, we wish to analyse how to attain the objectives of (i) full employment (however defined) and decent work; (ii) sustainable use of resources, in its "strong" meaning; (iii) substantial reduction of economic and social inequalities; (iv) human, scientific and technologi
A special thanks to Dr. Malgorzata Dereniowska and Jake McMurchie and for all their support for t... more A special thanks to Dr. Malgorzata Dereniowska and Jake McMurchie and for all their support for the success of the Conference organization.
In this work, which is organized in two parts, we wish, in the first, to point out the distinctiv... more In this work, which is organized in two parts, we wish, in the first, to point out the distinctive role of the Essays in Persuasion in the elaboration of his far-reaching perspective, which lies at the heart of the theoretical formulation later on expounded in The General Theory. In the ...
The 33rd Annual EAEPE Conference 2021
Recovery from the Covid-19 Pandemic: Re-thinking the role... more The 33rd Annual EAEPE Conference 2021 Recovery from the Covid-19 Pandemic: Re-thinking the role of the State towards safe, cohesive, sustainable, and innovative economies 2-4 September 2021
*************
Global Imbalances and the way towards an Alternative Economy
Arturo Hermann
It is a chapter of a book (2020) edited by Maria A.Madi and me and published by the World Economics Association (WEA) “The 2008 Economic Crisis Ten Years On in Retrospect, Context and Prospect”.
The chapter highlights in particular the growing importance of the public sector in managing the contradictions of mature capitalism, the central role of public spending and credit creation in maintaining effective demand, and the importance of social valuing and democratic planning for moving towards an equitable and sustainable society.
Il presente lavoro riflette il nostro interesse di lunga data per un approccio alternativo della ... more Il presente lavoro riflette il nostro interesse di lunga data per un approccio alternativo della teoria economica. un approccio che, in luogo di cercare a tutti i costi “principi primi”, basati su un concetto astratto e metafisico di “massimizzazione”, sui quali erigere un'analisi di ...
Economic Thought http://et.worldeconomicsassociation.org/papers/the-decline-of-the-original-institutional-economics-in-the-post-world-war-ii-period-and-the-perspectives-of-today/, 2018
Original, or ‘old’, institutional economics (OIE) – also known as ‘institutionalism’ – played a k... more Original, or ‘old’, institutional economics (OIE) – also known as ‘institutionalism’ – played a key role in its early stages; it could be said that it was once the ‘mainstream economics’ of the time. This period ran approximately from the first important contributions of Thorstein Veblen in 1898 to the implementation of the New Deal in the early 1930s, where many institutionalists played a significant role.
However, notwithstanding its promising scientific and institutional affirmation, institutional economics underwent a period of marked decline that spanned from the mid-1930s to the late 1980s, when a new season for institutional economics was set in motion.
In order to cast some light on this complex issue – without any claim of completeness – we have organised the work as follows: in the first section we consider the main interpretations of this phenomenon. In the subsequent sections we analyse a number of ‘endogenous’ aspects which might have played a significant role in the period of decline: (i) the relations of institutional economics with Keynes’s macroeconomic theory; (ii) the links between theoretical and empirical analysis and the supposed lack of a clear theory; (iii) the interdisciplinary orientation.
PART I. THE “AGENDA 2030 FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT” AND THE DEBATE ON ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS.....................................................14
1. The Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development………..………………..................………………..14
2. The EU Initiatives on Sustainable Development…………………………….…………......................24
3. The Various Strands of Environmental Economics………………….....................………………..51
PART II. EXPLAINING MACROECONOMIC IMBALANCES: INSIGHTS FROM HETERODOX ECONOMICS........................................................................66
4. Underconsumption: A Rather Neglected Issue……..………………...………………......................66
5. Keynes’s Theory of Effective Demand………………………………..........................…………………...80
6. The Role of Public Spending and Credit Creation in Sustaining Effective Demand……………………………………….............................………………..…93
7. Implications for Some Hotly Debated Concepts……….……………………………..................….107
8. The Role of the Structural Factors………………………………………………………............................113
PART III. SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY AND THE NEED OF A DEMOCRATIC PLANNING………………..……......................…………………………122
9. The Institutional Foundation of the Market………...………………………………....................……122
10. John Dewey’s Theory of Democracy and Its Relevance for an Interdisciplinary Perspective in Economics…………………….……………...................139
11. Institutional Economics, Social Valuation and Democratic Planning…….…………………………………………...……………................................151
CONCLUSIONS: TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PARADIGM……….......…170
In proposing a new book on the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, a central question comes to the fore: what is the utility of adding another book to the vast literature already existing on the subject? One reason can lie in the circumstance that what seems relatively lacking is the synergic employ of the theories that can help explain the imbalances of our economies and the possible ways to overcome them. This is a typical problem of economics and other social sciences, which often tend to be rather fragmented. In this regard, we have tried to build a stronger bridge between environmental economics, and a number of heterodox theories of economic imbalances that ─ by helping identify a more comprehensive interpretative framework of these phenomena ─ can make headway to devise a more effective and coordinated policy strategy. In particular, we employ these theories for analysing how to render more and more compatible the objectives of (i) full employment (however defined) and decent work; (ii) sustainable use of resources in all its forms; (iii) substantial reduction of economic and social inequalities; (iv) scientific and technological development. These macro-objectives are fairly related to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.
We have then organized the work in the following way: in the first part we will consider the main features of the Agenda 2030 and of the related UE commitment. We try to show the comprehensive character of these initiatives, and the need of realising an effective institutional and policy coordination for their progress. We then address the main strands of environmental economics. We consider in particular the perspective of bioeconomy, the theories of “commons” and of “appropriate technologies”, and the various forms of ecosocialism, with an eye to their policy implications.
In the second part we will analyse a number of relevant theories which can shed light on the macroeconomic imbalances of our days, and, in particular, on the systemic tendency of effective demand to lag behind the supply of full employment. The analysis of these aspects, we believe, is pivotal also for a better integration between environmental and macroeconomic objectives. In this light, in chapter 4, we will make a reappraisal of the most important theories of effective demand, with particular attention to the aspects of divergence and reciprocal influence. In chapter 5 we will address the main aspects of Keynes’s theory of effective demand. We try to show its revolutionary import, together with some aspects of weakness which, in our view, are caused by some adherence of such theory to neoclassical economics, in particular with regard to the relations between wages and employment. Then, we will outline a broad theory of effective demand by considering more in detail a number of aspects of Keynes’s theory which, in our opinion, are not sufficiently clarified. In particular, the role of public spending and credit creation as fundamental drivers of effective demand, and profits for the entrepreneurs. Then, in chapter 6 we will focus on a number of structural factors that may contribute to render more complex and slow the dynamics of effective demand. In the third part we will look at these issues from a complementary, and somewhat more microeconomic, perspective. In particular, considering the widespread reality of economic transactions, how should we appraise market structures, public and private action, and the role of economic planning? What types of institutional arrangements can render policy action more effective? In order to try to cast some light on these tangled issues, in chapter 9 we will highlight, also with the aid of a number of important theories, the institutional foundation of the market: namely the circumstance that markets should be appraised, rather than as exogenous and maximizing mechanisms, as evolutionary institutions created and maintained by a well defined set of norms and policies. In chapter 10 we will consider the contributions of John Dewey ─ whose perspective has many ties with institutional economics ─ to the manifold relations between culture, democracy and economic action. In chapter 11 we will appraise the approach of institutional economics to the clarification of (i) the institutional and evolutionary nature of economic action; (ii) the need of an interdisciplinary approach for a better understanding of these phenomena; and (iii) the potential of democratic planning for overcoming the failures of the state and of the market; and, relatedly, (iv) the role of social valuing for promoting an effective policy action.
In the concluding chapter we will underscore that much more than a simple laissez faire option is needed for realizing the Agenda 2030’s Sustainable Development Goals. The theories that we address, however different in many respects, present notable complementarities, in the sense that the aspects more overlooked by one are more completely considered by the others. As observed by the famous sociologist Karl Mannheim, a landscape can be seen only from a determined perspective and without perspective there is no landscape. Hence, observing a landscape (or phenomenon) from different angles (or disciplines) can help to acquire a much clearer insight into the features of the various perspectives. Hence these theories, by helping identify the manifold aspects of economic system, can make headway towards a more effective policy coordination. This would involve a horizontal level, between policies, in particular macroeconomic (in particular, fiscal and monetary) and structural (in particular, environmental, industrial, research and innovation, social). And a vertical level, between institutions (supranational, national, sub-national, local). Such coordination would be greatly fostered by a process of social valuation involving all the considered dimensions of policy action.
In recent years, after the collapse of the central planned economies and the failure of the neo-l... more In recent years, after the collapse of the central planned economies and the failure of the neo-liberalist policies of today, it has emerged a growing awareness of the need to find a "third way to economic and social progress". In our work, we focus attention on how a systematic collaboration between heterodox economics and psychoanalysis can help to achieve this objective. We explore the potential of this interdisciplinary perspective for (i) attaining a deeper insight into the causes of economic and social imbalances of our days; and, on this basis, (ii) for realizing a roadmap of policy action targeted at the solutions of the most urgent economic and social problems. In this way, the transition from the "mixed capitalism" of today, heavily influenced by powerful interest groups, to more sustainable and equitable social systems would no longer be considered as a kind of socialist utopia but as a feasible objective to be pursued with a new course of policy action
The most prominent aspect of the current financial crisis is its systemic character which manifes... more The most prominent aspect of the current financial crisis is its systemic character which manifests itself in high levels of inequality, rampant unemployment, economic and social insecurity and environmental decay. This book explores the potential of a pluralistic and interdisciplinary approach for a deeper understanding of the manifold aspects of the economic crisis. This book examines the potential of a number of contributions from heterodox economics and psychoanalysis in providing a deeper understanding of these problems. The book analyses some of the most debated aspects of the concepts of market, democracy and socialism and explores the role of structural ties between economic, social and psychological aspects of collective life. It also addresses the main economic aspects of the crisis and pays particular attention to a number of structural imbalances, and to the psychological interpretation of these phenomena. By drawing together approaches from heterodox economics and psychoanalysis, this book adopts a pluralist and interdisciplinary approach to the study of these phenomena and manages to overcome the fragmentation so often present in social sciences.
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Papers by Arturo Hermann
We consider Thorstein Veblen’s notion of ownership as a relation of possession of persons, and John R.Commons’s distinction between “corporeal” and “intangible” property, that marks the shift from a material possession of goods and arbitrary power over the workers to the development of human faculties in a more participatory environment. For space reasons we do not address other contributions developed both by the OIE and by the New Institutional Economics.
We then consider a number of contributions of pragmatist social psychology and psychoanalysis that, although not dealing directly with the notion of ownership, can cast light not only on the private and “material“ aspects of ownership but also on its collective and “relational aspects”.
The reason why we consider it useful to address different perspectives is that, as observed by the famous sociologist Karl Mannheim (1952), a landscape can be seen only from a determined perspective and without perspective there is no landscape. Hence, observing a landscape (or phenomenon) from different angles (or disciplines) can help to acquire a much clearer insight into the features of the various perspectives. And this is one of the main advantage of a pluralist approach to the study of economic and social phenomena, also aimed at overcoming the fragmentation so often present in social sciences. In this light, the interpretative theories that we address, however different in many respects, present notable complementarities, in the sense that the aspects more overlooked by some are more completely considered by the others. In our work, these different but complementary notions of ownership can help illuminate the manifold aspects of human relations, also with a view to provide a more tailored policy action for the solution of their more problematic aspects.
Agenda 2030 for sustainable development, attaining the objectives of
environmental sustainability (meant in its “strong” meaning) is a
process anything but easy. On that account, the aim of the work is to
analyse how the synergies between important concepts of deep ecology,
ecosocialism and original institutional economics in an interdisciplinary
perspective (in particular, pragmatist psychology and psychoanalysis)
can help frame more effective sustainable policies. In
fact, little synergy has occurred so far between these fields. Also for
this reason, while there is a fairly widespread agreement on the fallacy
of neoliberalism, there is little agreement on what economic systems
– regulated capitalism, democratic socialism, centralised socialism,
with their internal differences – can be better suited for realising
the green objectives. We try to show the importance of a better collaboration
between these fields for realising an equitable and sustainable
society.
***********************
Come è noto, anche considerando la lentezza dei progressi
dell’Agenda 2030 delle Nazioni Unite per lo sviluppo sostenibile, il
raggiungimento degli obiettivi di sostenibilità ambientale (intesa in
senso “forte”) è un processo tutt’altro che semplice. In tal senso, lo
scopo del lavoro è analizzare come le sinergie tra importanti concetti
della “deep ecology”, ecosocialismo ed original institutional economics,
anche considerati in una prospettiva interdisciplinare (in particolare,
psicologia del pragmatismo e psicoanalisi), possano aiutare a
definire politiche sostenibili più efficaci. Infatti, finora si sono verificate
poche sinergie tra questi filoni di pensiero. Anche per questo
motivo, mentre vi è un consenso abbastanza ampio sui fallimenti del
neoliberismo, vi è poco accordo su quali sistemi economici – capitalismo
regolamentato, socialismo democratico, socialismo centralizzato,
con le loro differenze interne – possano essere più adatti a realizzare
gli obiettivi ecologici. Cerchiamo quindi di mostrare
l’importanza di una migliore collaborazione tra queste prospettive
per realizzare una società equa e sostenibile.
Recovery from the Covid-19 Pandemic: Re-thinking the role of the State towards safe, cohesive, sustainable, and innovative economies
2-4 September 2021
*************
Global Imbalances and the way towards an Alternative Economy
Arturo Hermann
It is a chapter of a book (2020) edited by Maria A.Madi and me
and published by the World Economics Association (WEA)
“The 2008 Economic Crisis Ten Years On in Retrospect, Context and Prospect”.
The chapter highlights in particular the growing importance of the public sector in managing the contradictions of mature capitalism, the central role of public spending and credit creation in maintaining effective demand, and the importance of social valuing and democratic planning for moving towards an equitable and sustainable society.
However, notwithstanding its promising scientific and institutional affirmation, institutional economics underwent a period of marked decline that spanned from the mid-1930s to the late 1980s, when a new season for institutional economics was set in motion.
In order to cast some light on this complex issue – without any claim of completeness – we have organised the work as follows: in the first section we consider the main interpretations of this phenomenon. In the subsequent sections we analyse a number of ‘endogenous’ aspects which might have played a significant role in the period of decline: (i) the relations of institutional economics with Keynes’s macroeconomic theory; (ii) the links between theoretical and empirical analysis and the supposed lack of a clear theory; (iii) the interdisciplinary orientation.
We consider Thorstein Veblen’s notion of ownership as a relation of possession of persons, and John R.Commons’s distinction between “corporeal” and “intangible” property, that marks the shift from a material possession of goods and arbitrary power over the workers to the development of human faculties in a more participatory environment. For space reasons we do not address other contributions developed both by the OIE and by the New Institutional Economics.
We then consider a number of contributions of pragmatist social psychology and psychoanalysis that, although not dealing directly with the notion of ownership, can cast light not only on the private and “material“ aspects of ownership but also on its collective and “relational aspects”.
The reason why we consider it useful to address different perspectives is that, as observed by the famous sociologist Karl Mannheim (1952), a landscape can be seen only from a determined perspective and without perspective there is no landscape. Hence, observing a landscape (or phenomenon) from different angles (or disciplines) can help to acquire a much clearer insight into the features of the various perspectives. And this is one of the main advantage of a pluralist approach to the study of economic and social phenomena, also aimed at overcoming the fragmentation so often present in social sciences. In this light, the interpretative theories that we address, however different in many respects, present notable complementarities, in the sense that the aspects more overlooked by some are more completely considered by the others. In our work, these different but complementary notions of ownership can help illuminate the manifold aspects of human relations, also with a view to provide a more tailored policy action for the solution of their more problematic aspects.
Agenda 2030 for sustainable development, attaining the objectives of
environmental sustainability (meant in its “strong” meaning) is a
process anything but easy. On that account, the aim of the work is to
analyse how the synergies between important concepts of deep ecology,
ecosocialism and original institutional economics in an interdisciplinary
perspective (in particular, pragmatist psychology and psychoanalysis)
can help frame more effective sustainable policies. In
fact, little synergy has occurred so far between these fields. Also for
this reason, while there is a fairly widespread agreement on the fallacy
of neoliberalism, there is little agreement on what economic systems
– regulated capitalism, democratic socialism, centralised socialism,
with their internal differences – can be better suited for realising
the green objectives. We try to show the importance of a better collaboration
between these fields for realising an equitable and sustainable
society.
***********************
Come è noto, anche considerando la lentezza dei progressi
dell’Agenda 2030 delle Nazioni Unite per lo sviluppo sostenibile, il
raggiungimento degli obiettivi di sostenibilità ambientale (intesa in
senso “forte”) è un processo tutt’altro che semplice. In tal senso, lo
scopo del lavoro è analizzare come le sinergie tra importanti concetti
della “deep ecology”, ecosocialismo ed original institutional economics,
anche considerati in una prospettiva interdisciplinare (in particolare,
psicologia del pragmatismo e psicoanalisi), possano aiutare a
definire politiche sostenibili più efficaci. Infatti, finora si sono verificate
poche sinergie tra questi filoni di pensiero. Anche per questo
motivo, mentre vi è un consenso abbastanza ampio sui fallimenti del
neoliberismo, vi è poco accordo su quali sistemi economici – capitalismo
regolamentato, socialismo democratico, socialismo centralizzato,
con le loro differenze interne – possano essere più adatti a realizzare
gli obiettivi ecologici. Cerchiamo quindi di mostrare
l’importanza di una migliore collaborazione tra queste prospettive
per realizzare una società equa e sostenibile.
Recovery from the Covid-19 Pandemic: Re-thinking the role of the State towards safe, cohesive, sustainable, and innovative economies
2-4 September 2021
*************
Global Imbalances and the way towards an Alternative Economy
Arturo Hermann
It is a chapter of a book (2020) edited by Maria A.Madi and me
and published by the World Economics Association (WEA)
“The 2008 Economic Crisis Ten Years On in Retrospect, Context and Prospect”.
The chapter highlights in particular the growing importance of the public sector in managing the contradictions of mature capitalism, the central role of public spending and credit creation in maintaining effective demand, and the importance of social valuing and democratic planning for moving towards an equitable and sustainable society.
However, notwithstanding its promising scientific and institutional affirmation, institutional economics underwent a period of marked decline that spanned from the mid-1930s to the late 1980s, when a new season for institutional economics was set in motion.
In order to cast some light on this complex issue – without any claim of completeness – we have organised the work as follows: in the first section we consider the main interpretations of this phenomenon. In the subsequent sections we analyse a number of ‘endogenous’ aspects which might have played a significant role in the period of decline: (i) the relations of institutional economics with Keynes’s macroeconomic theory; (ii) the links between theoretical and empirical analysis and the supposed lack of a clear theory; (iii) the interdisciplinary orientation.
About the Green Economics Institute........................................................................................3
Acknowledgements......................................................................................................................7
About the Author............................................................................................................................8
Introduction..................................................................................................................................12
PART I. THE “AGENDA 2030 FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT”
AND THE DEBATE ON ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS.....................................................14
1. The Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development………..………………..................………………..14
2. The EU Initiatives on Sustainable Development…………………………….…………......................24
3. The Various Strands of Environmental Economics………………….....................………………..51
PART II. EXPLAINING MACROECONOMIC IMBALANCES:
INSIGHTS FROM HETERODOX ECONOMICS........................................................................66
4. Underconsumption: A Rather Neglected Issue……..………………...………………......................66
5. Keynes’s Theory of Effective Demand………………………………..........................…………………...80
6. The Role of Public Spending and Credit Creation
in Sustaining Effective Demand……………………………………….............................………………..…93
7. Implications for Some Hotly Debated Concepts……….……………………………..................….107
8. The Role of the Structural Factors………………………………………………………............................113
PART III. SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY AND
THE NEED OF A DEMOCRATIC PLANNING………………..……......................…………………………122
9. The Institutional Foundation of the Market………...………………………………....................……122
10. John Dewey’s Theory of Democracy and Its Relevance
for an Interdisciplinary Perspective in Economics…………………….……………...................139
11. Institutional Economics, Social Valuation
and Democratic Planning…….…………………………………………...……………................................151
CONCLUSIONS: TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PARADIGM……….......…170
References………………..……………………………………………….………….........................................…………172
***************************************
Introduction
In proposing a new book on the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, a central question comes to the fore: what is the utility of adding another book to the vast literature already existing on the subject? One reason can lie in the circumstance that what seems relatively lacking is the synergic employ of the theories that can help explain the imbalances of our economies and the possible ways to overcome them. This is a typical problem of economics and other social sciences, which often tend to be rather fragmented.
In this regard, we have tried to build a stronger bridge between environmental economics, and a number of heterodox theories of economic imbalances that ─ by helping identify a more comprehensive interpretative framework of these phenomena ─ can make headway to devise a more effective and coordinated policy strategy. In particular, we employ these theories for analysing how to render more and more compatible the objectives of (i) full employment (however defined) and decent work; (ii) sustainable use of resources in all its forms; (iii) substantial reduction of economic and social inequalities; (iv) scientific and technological development.
These macro-objectives are fairly related to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.
We have then organized the work in the following way: in the first part we will consider the main features of the Agenda 2030 and of the related UE commitment. We try to show the comprehensive character of these initiatives, and the need of realising an effective institutional and policy coordination for their progress. We then address the main strands of environmental economics. We consider in particular the perspective of bioeconomy, the theories of “commons” and of “appropriate technologies”, and the various forms of ecosocialism, with an eye to their policy implications.
In the second part we will analyse a number of relevant theories which can shed light on the macroeconomic imbalances of our days, and, in particular, on the systemic tendency of effective demand to lag behind the supply of full employment. The analysis of these aspects, we believe, is pivotal also for a better integration between environmental and macroeconomic objectives.
In this light, in chapter 4, we will make a reappraisal of the most important theories of effective demand, with particular attention to the aspects of divergence and reciprocal influence.
In chapter 5 we will address the main aspects of Keynes’s theory of effective demand. We try to show its revolutionary import, together with some aspects of weakness which, in our view, are caused by some adherence of such theory to neoclassical economics, in particular with regard to the relations between wages and employment. Then, we will outline a broad theory of effective demand by considering more in detail a number of aspects of Keynes’s theory which, in our opinion, are not sufficiently clarified. In particular, the role of public spending and credit creation as fundamental drivers of effective demand, and profits for the entrepreneurs. Then, in chapter 6 we will focus on a number of structural factors that may contribute to render more complex and slow the dynamics of effective demand.
In the third part we will look at these issues from a complementary, and somewhat more microeconomic, perspective. In particular, considering the widespread reality of economic transactions, how should we appraise market structures, public and private action, and the role of economic planning? What types of institutional arrangements can render policy action more effective?
In order to try to cast some light on these tangled issues, in chapter 9 we will highlight, also with the aid of a number of important theories, the institutional foundation of the market: namely the circumstance that markets should be appraised, rather than as exogenous and maximizing mechanisms, as evolutionary institutions created and maintained by a well defined set of norms and policies. In chapter 10 we will consider the contributions of John Dewey ─ whose perspective has many ties with institutional economics ─ to the manifold relations between culture, democracy and economic action.
In chapter 11 we will appraise the approach of institutional economics to the clarification of (i) the institutional and evolutionary nature of economic action; (ii) the need of an interdisciplinary approach for a better understanding of these phenomena; and (iii) the potential of democratic planning for overcoming the failures of the state and of the market; and, relatedly, (iv) the role of social valuing for promoting an effective policy action.
In the concluding chapter we will underscore that much more than a simple laissez faire option is needed for realizing the Agenda 2030’s Sustainable Development Goals. The theories that we address, however different in many respects, present notable complementarities, in the sense that the aspects more overlooked by one are more completely considered by the others.
As observed by the famous sociologist Karl Mannheim, a landscape can be seen only from a determined perspective and without perspective there is no landscape. Hence, observing a landscape (or phenomenon) from different angles (or disciplines) can help to acquire a much clearer insight into the features of the various perspectives. Hence these theories, by helping identify the manifold aspects of economic system, can make headway towards a more effective policy coordination. This would involve a horizontal level, between policies, in particular macroeconomic (in particular, fiscal and monetary) and structural (in particular, environmental, industrial, research and innovation, social). And a vertical level, between institutions (supranational, national, sub-national, local).
Such coordination would be greatly fostered by a process of social valuation involving all the considered dimensions of policy action.
This book examines the potential of a number of contributions from heterodox economics and psychoanalysis in providing a deeper understanding of these problems. The book analyses some of the most debated aspects of the concepts of market, democracy and socialism and explores the role of structural ties between economic, social and psychological aspects of collective life. It also addresses the main economic aspects of the crisis and pays particular attention to a number of structural imbalances, and to the psychological interpretation of these phenomena.
By drawing together approaches from heterodox economics and psychoanalysis, this book adopts a pluralist and interdisciplinary approach to the study of these phenomena and manages to overcome the fragmentation so often present in social sciences.