Re: Cox on international/global

[Gernot Kohler <gernot.kohler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Robert Cox was mentioned in a recent post. While not a
Post(-)Keynesian, he made some interesting observations
which, in my view, are quite important for Post Keynesian
studies of the world system. Cox makes the point that,
at present, there are two systems coexisting in the
international arena -- the traditional system of
"international economics" and a recently emerged system
of "global economics" (global production, global finance, etc.).
He dates the emergence of this phenomenon to the 1968-75 period.
He argues that the recently emerged system of global economics,
while having no world government as public authority to deal with,
has a system of "governance", nevertheless. In Cox's view,
national governments have lost a great deal of economic sovereignty
and have become enforcers of the exigencies of the global
system. (An example would be: Canada's government has, in
recent years, been more worried about its international credit rating
than about its high unemployment rate, or so it seems.)

Gernot Kohler