Institutional and Policy Responses to Uncertainty in Environmental Policy: A Comparison of Dutch and U.S. Styles

Uncertainties regarding problem definition and policy response are an endemic pan of environmental decisionmaking. Some standard responses to uncertainty in decisionmaking are analyzed and then used to suggest the importance of learning-oriented policy processes in open, flexible, and adaptive institutional environments. The institutional and policy responses to both types of uncertainties are explored in two different institutional settings: the consensus-oriented setting of the Netherlands and the more adversarial and pluralistic context of the United States. The examination displays tensions accompanying learning-oriented environmental policymaking and the complex impact of institutional environments. Conclusions sketch implications for how to accommodate learning-oriented environmental policy processes.     

20世纪90年代以来的中国宏观经济政策调整

20世纪90年代以来,中国政府的宏观经济政策经历了三次较大的调整。即:1993-1996年政府实行了适度从紧的财政、货币政策,降低高通胀率,使国民经济顺利实现第一次“软着陆”;1998-2002年财政货币政策由适度从紧转向积极有限度扩张,扩大内需,降低高失业率,使国民经济顺利实现第二次“软着陆”;2003年下半年至今政府采取稳健的财政货币政策,加强宏观调控,抑制部分行业投资增长过快,减缓物价上涨压力,对保持经济平稳较快发展而避免大起大落起到了显著的作用。     

日本信贷宽松货币政策及其有效性

本文以日本银行在2010年10月到2013年4月间所实施的货币政策作为研究对象,通过考察日本银行的资产负债表规模以及结构的变动,认为上述期间日本银行所实施的货币政策属于非传统货币政策中的信贷宽松货币政策。之后再基于事件研究法,通过考察日本银行货币政策公告以及相关的资产价格变动,定量地分析了日本银行所实施的信贷宽松货币政策对于国债市场产生了较为有效的刺激作用,而对股票市场和外汇市场作用不明显。     

Quelling inflation: The role of the public

Members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England seek to subdue inflation using ‘monetary policy’ to regulate the availability of money and credit to the financial system. The central bank ‘policy rate’ is the blunt instrument conventionally employed to affect the pacing of economic activity, stimulating or retarding growth. Credibly explaining that the rise in interest rates – the ‘tightening’ of monetary policy – underway at the moment will continue suppressing demand for goods and services until an inflation target of around 2 per cent is achieved is the emphatic message the bank seeks to convey. Such intentionally destructive and potentially brutal interventions are the critical aim of current bank policy. This article demonstrates how the design of the contemporary monetary regime, which presents itself unequivocally as the outcome of macroeconomic developments, can be recast in anthropological terms, thus revealing the role of the public in the unfolding monetary drama.     

The late F. P. Pullar

In Rhodesia, as in many other countries of the Third World, rapid population growth aggravates development problems and compounds them with others of its own making. Problems are greatest in the African rural areas but prospects for development there are generally poor. Growth within the monetary sector as presently constituted can provide no more than a palliative. A new national strategy for development is required and this must be based on a comprehensive population policy.     

1984年以来中国宏观调控中的货币政策演变

1984年以来,中国的宏观调控在总体上可界定为以抑制总需求和以扩大总需求为特征的两大阶段,它们决定了中国货币政策的演变及其特点。具体说来,以1997年作为分界线,之前主要是以反通货膨胀为目标,表现出抑制需求的特征;之后是以反通货紧缩及促进经济增长为目标,表现出扩大需求的特征。与此相联系,我国货币政策工具演变的突出特点是计划性工具逐渐减少,市场经济意义上的工具不断增加。我国货币政策演变的进程反映了从直接的计划控制不断向间接的市场调节转变,展示了我国宏观调控向规范化方向发展的一般历程。     

The political requisites of an open international economic system: United States balance of payments policies during the 1960s

This paper explores the political context of an increasingly familiar phenomenon: unilateral interference with international trade and payments. The particular case examined is that of US balance of payments policy between 1960 and 1971, during which time the country which had been the world's foremost advocate of an open world economy attempted to separate the US and international capital markets. The policy is explained at two levels: systemic political imperatives to explain the overall structure of policy choices, and domestic bureaucratic politics to explain the changing sources and objectives of policy. The Bretton Woods system linked US political power to the international monetary system in such a way as to leave the US no choices but those of capital export controls or the destruction of the entire system, as the US balance of payments moved into deficit. The domestic policy process reacting to these international strains followed a pattern of progressive politicisation, which lifted the issue out of the hands of the Treasury and into the White House. Finally, it is suggested that an examination of the political structures which led to restrictive policies in the monetary sphere may shed some light on the current trends toward protectionism in the trade area.     

A VISIT TO YAKUTIA

This paper discusses perceived benefits and disadvantages of direct inflation targeting for economies in transition in Central Europe. It examines the experience of net inflation targeting in the Czech Republic and of CPI forecast targeting regimes in Poland, providing specific suggestions for enhancing transparency of monetary policy. Inflation targeting is compared with exchange-rate pegging and is viewed as a superior solution for facilitating the monetary convergence of central European EU candidates to the inflation level prevailing in the eurozone. Other benefits of inflation targeting for central banks in transition economies are described as well. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: E31, E52, P33. 5 figures, 2 tables, 22 references.     

Financial Inclusion or Subordination? The Monetary Politics of Debt in Cambodia

Financial inclusion is a leading driver of household debt across the global South. Although critical geographers have analysed this debt through the lens of financialisation, few have examined it in terms of monetary politics. This is a salient issue, because poorer nations often have limited control over their monetary policy due to their dependence on foreign currencies, which can adversely affect the structure of their financial markets. Building on the concept of monetary dependency from scholarship on financial subordination, I analyse the monetary politics of debt in Cambodia. Drawing on elite interviews and ethnographic research, I argue that Cambodia's extreme monetary dependence on the US dollar has shaped monetary and fiscal policies that compel poorer households to take on private debt to pay for their basic needs. This paper advances critical geographies of debt and development by studying financial subordination and its impact on financial inclusion in the global South.     

Geographies of Monetary Exclusion in Kenyan Slums: Financial Inclusion in Question

Financial inclusion has become a prominent development policy objective. Its promotion rests on the understanding that poverty and underdevelopment mainly result from financial constraints that individuals face. Better access to financial services, in particular via the use of mobile money services, is supposed to lift these constraints and allow for growth and development. After outlining this dominant approach and detailing its theory of change, this article challenges it on the basis of the mesoeconomic study (at territorial level) of areas particularly targeted by financial inclusion policies: Kenyan informal settlements. The study of their geography of money shows how the socio-spatial flows of money shape people's economic constraints and opportunities. Based on this empirical account, it is argued that the poor are, first and foremost, in a situation of monetary exclusion, rather than being primarily financially constrained. The article conceptualizes monetary exclusion and highlights the theory and policy implications of this situation.     

Taming Foreign Exchange Derivatives Markets? Speculative Finance and Class Relations in Brazil

This article provides a critical interrogation of the Brazilian tax on foreign exchange derivatives deployed between 2011 and 2013. It analyses the drivers of the policy‐making process that led to implementation of the measure, locates it within the broader policy response regarding the management of cross‐border capital flows and speculative finance, and assesses its political economy significance in light of class dynamics. The author makes three arguments. First, this innovative policy tool must be interpreted in terms of the emergence of a specific form of state power allowing for the continuation of finance‐led strategies of accumulation, while mitigating some of their worst consequences. Second, this form of state power internalizes the subordinate positionality of Brazil in the global financial and monetary system. Third, while financialization processes have eroded the efficiency of a number of policy tools, this policy experiment demonstrates the possibility of regulating complex financial markets, provided that appropriate resources are dedicated to the task, and that there is the political will to do so. The article concludes by discussing theoretical implications, for how to theorize state and financialization, as well as political implications.     

Making EMU a success

One year has elapsed since the European Monetary Union was created between eleven of the fifteen European Union member states. During 1999 the economic prospects for euroland have dramatically improved, with projected growth in 2000 and 2001 well above earlier expectations. This article argues that the recovery, by itself, cannot solve Europe's unemployment problem, neither can monetary union per se, despite its substantial benefits. The authors discuss these benefits and assess the current economic situation in Europe. They recommend a bold, coordinated approach, a growth pact for Europe, based on the three complementary legs: substantial tax cuts; an accommodating monetary policy; and structural reform. They discuss the conditions in which such a pact would be successful.     

ECONOMIC FUNDAMENTALS IN LOCAL HOUSING MARKETS: EVIDENCE FROM U.S. METROPOLITAN REGIONS

ABSTRACT.  This paper investigates the effects of national and regional economic conditions on outcomes in the single-family housing market: housing prices, vacancies, and residential construction activity. Our three-equation model confirms the importance of changes in regional economic conditions, income, and employment on local housing markets. The results also provide the first detailed evidence on the importance of vacancies in the owner-occupied housing market on housing prices and supplier activities. The results also document the importance of variations in materials, labor and capital costs, and regulation in affecting new supply. Simulation exercises, using standard impulse response models, document the lags in market responses to exogenous shocks and the variations arising from differences in local parameters. The results also suggest the importance of local regulation in affecting the pattern of market responses to regional income shocks.     

The Return of Keynesianism in Australia: The Rudd Government and the Lessons of Recessions Past

The global recession of 2008–09 brought Keynesian countercyclical budgeting back into vogue – conveniently for governments of the Left such as the incoming Rudd Labor government in Australia. This paper reviews some of the key moments of 20th century macroeconomic policy to assess the reasons and rationale for this revival and concludes that the lessons of those experiences are not always what they seem to be. The paper argues that: (1) Keynesianism is often confused with a narrow focus on fiscal, rather than monetary, policy and an emphasis on full employment at any cost; (2) the return of Keynesianism in Australia has only been made possible by an unusual, if not unprecedented, convergence of conducive conditions; (3) the ‘automatic stabilisers’ significantly reduce the necessity for discretionary fiscal policy; and (4) policy achievements must be seen in the light of Australia's external economy.     

Boundary making in anti-corruption policy: behaviour,responses and institutions

Boundaries are an increasing focus for academics and practitioners seeking to understand public policy dynamics. In anti-corruption policy how these boundaries are established and by whom has far-reaching implications for public trust. Drawing on interview data, this paper explores the enduring tensions and administrative conflicts at play in three key aspects of the anti-corruption boundary making process: behaviour, responses and institutions. The evidence presented demonstrates that these boundaries are unstable and unresolved. While some tensions, such as those between morality and the law, are enduring, many of the administrative conflicts indicate a sensible and purposeful balance between the important considerations of accountability and responsiveness on the one hand, and efficiency and effectiveness on the other, is yet to be achieved.     

Human Trafficking and Online Networks: Policy,Analysis, and Ignorance

Dominant anti‐trafficking policy discourses represent trafficking as an issue of crime, “illegal” migration, victimhood and humanitarianism. Such a narrow focus is not an adequate response to the interplay between technology, trafficking and anti‐trafficking. This article explores different levels of analysis and the interplay between human trafficking and technology. We argue for a shift from policy discourses with a very limited focus on crime and victimisation to more systemic understandings of trafficking and more robust micro‐analyses of trafficking and everyday life. The article calls for an agnotological understanding of policy responses to trafficking and technology: these depend upon the production of ignorance. We critique limitations in policy understandings of trafficking‐related aspects of online spaces, and argue for better engagement with online networks. We conclude that there is a need to move beyond a focus on “new” technology and exceptionalist claims about “modern slavery” towards greater attention to everyday exploitation within neoliberalism.     

Research on the history of the third world in Scandinavia

The aim of this paper is to challenge some of the established views on monetary and economic aspects of medieval Norwegian history. This challenge is not only based on a different understanding of the evidence, but also on new interpretations of documentary and numismatic evidence. Contrary to what has been the general understanding I argue that money was available, and it was, in longer periods of time, available within a framework of a well organized monetary system with large coinages. In the second half of the 12th century, coins became distributed and used among a larger group of people in rural areas than ever before. In market places and towns, money economy was emerging in the 11th and 12th, and probably seen partly in effect in the 13th and 14th century. If we accept the evidence for coinage and the use of money as being widely distributed, or even accept it partly, it opens up a range of new perspectives to use as starting points for understanding medieval monetary and economic history in Norway.     

从开放到管制——战后国民政府外汇政策的演变及后果

抗日战争胜利后,国民政府先后制订和实施相关财金政策以应付突如其来的巨变。在金融方面最为重要的举措即将战时外汇管制政策转变为战后初期的开放外汇和黄金市场,然而这一政策随着内战的爆发而最终失败。随后国民政府军事由盛转衰,正常的经济活动因恶性通货膨胀难以维持,外汇市场不得不再次施行管制。     

Problem Definitions and Policy Contradictions: John F. Kennedy and the "Space Race"

Usually, when governments appear to be pursuing contradictory or mutually exclusive goals, the response of the scholarly community has been to look for evidence of bureaucratic error, a lack of leadership, or some other type of administrative malfunction. This essay argues that the concept of problem (or issue) definition, which has been widely applied in the study of public policy, may in some cases also help explain the occurrence of this phenomenon as well. Using as an example a major (and, at the time, quite startling) policy "reversal" in President Kennedy's approach to the U.S. space program, the essay shows how the appearance of a "contradiction" within the administration may well have been the result of a disagreement over how U.S. space policy was to be defined.     

Origins of State Housing Policy in Canada: the Case of the Central Mortgage Bank

In the literature, Canadian federal housing policy is most often considered to be a post-Second World War phenomenon and to have been effectively initiated, at least in an institutional sense, with the establishment of Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation (chmc) in 1945 (Bettison, 1975; Hatch. 1975; Rose, 1980). It is generally accepted that the state was led to intervene in the private housing market as a result of an unprecedented demand from returning servicemen. This demand was heightened by increasing levels of disposable income and exacerbated by reduced levels of housing production during the war. In this scenario. the state is seen to have been responding to a specific market crisis; the response resulted in the creation of various agencies, most notably cmhc, and in National Housing Act amendments, virtually all of which took place in the post-war era. The ‘market-crisis’ perspective to the study of federal housing policy tends to overlook the initiation of state monetary and credit system management during the 1930s and its implications for the form of state intervention in housing during the 1940s and beyond. I wish to make a case here for pushing back the study boundaries to at least the early 1930s in conjunction with a brief examination of the Central Mortgage Bank (cmb). The argument is that the essential ‘actors’ in the determination of housing policy at the federal level (i.e. the Department of Finance, the institutional lenders [particularly the insurance companies], and the provinces) came to be delineated in the 1930s around the issue of debt management in the wake of widespread mortgage default, especially in the rural districts of the prairie provinces. The cmb, although never becoming active, is seen here as the first substantial collaboration between the state and finance capital in the area of residential mortgage lending practices. It represents an additional facet of state monetary and credit system management that proceeded apace with the formation of the Bank of Canada in 1935.