Re: International Keynesian Possibilities

[Michael Perelman <michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Barkley, I would like to see some more information regarding the success
of the open northern European economies.  One thing they seem to have in
common is a relatively egalitarian system by U.S. standards, together with
a good educational system.  These conditions can make it possible to
compete without a race to the bottom -- what I have called elsewhere, the
Haitian Road to Development.

On Thu, Apr 26, 2001 at 01:15:03PM -0400, J. Barkley Rosser, Jr. wrote:
>      This depends on what one is talking about.  Is
> one referring to more generalized "Keynesian"
> fiscal or monetary policies, or is one talking
> about the more direct kinds of intervention
> such as incomes policies that have been more
> specifically associated with Post Keynesian thought?
>      I would submit that we are more likely to see
> the latter in highly globally exposed economies.
> The Scandinavian countries and Austria and the
> Netherlands are those that come to mind.  All of
> these are very open, with almost zero protectionism
> and high percentages of their GDP exported.  They
> are also at the high end on measures of "corporatism"
> economy-wide wage bargaining, one form of
> incomes policy.
>       Of course there is another variable entering in
> here.  It is easier to carry out such policies in somewhat
> smaller and more homogeneous countries, which these
> all are.  That correlates with being highly open.  Thus,
> although it may be harder to carry out Keynesian
> fiscal or monetary policies in a highly open context
> (especially when your trading partners are not doing so),
> it is not at all the case that other PK policies are unlikely.
> Indeed, in the case of Sweden the motivation for such
> bargaining was very much driven by the perceived need
> to keep inflation under control and to not have wage
> increases exceed labor productivity increases in the
> all important export sector.  So, openness may actually
> stimulate incomes policies.
> Barkley Rosser
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John Gelles" <johng@xxxxxxxxxx>
> To: "Post Keynesian Thought" <pkt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: "Gernot Kohler" <gkohler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "1944" <1944@xxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2001 5:09 AM
> Subject: International Keynesian Possibilities
>
>
> > "Keynesian ideas should be injected into international
> > economic policies, international financial architecture,
> > etc.  ..."
> >     -- Gernot Kohler, reflecting on the difficulty of
> >          popularizing PKT in nations with substantial
> >          exposure to globalization
> >
> >
> >         Keynesian-Lerner money, which many of us hope can
> >         be used to stimulate full employment and production to
> >         raise minimum living standards (via a living wage that gets
> >         better every year), is a national legal thing -- related to
> >         national laws of contract and debt enforcement.
> >
> >         Gernot shows that hard money has power across
> >         borders. He wonders if Keynesian money can be
> >         effective in meeting some of the challenges of today's
> >         hard-money based global trade. The challenges are:
> >         exploitation of labor and ruin of the environment.
> >
> >         Gernot wonders how treaties might take advantage
> >         of Keynesian principles. It seems to me IF we had
> >         a national Keynesian program that worked -- in any
> >         prosperous place -- ANY treaty that place made
> >         would disclose the techniques Gernot seeks.
> >
> >         Without any nation committed to a Keynesian program,
> >         it is hard for me to see how several nations could find
> >         a regional or global approach to our, so called, "non-
> >         neutral" money.
> >
> >         What we call Keynesian or Keynesian-Lerner money
> >         is also called "non-neutral" money.  By non-neutral,
> >         we mean that money is not just a means of exchange
> >         for goods and services. It is also a catalytic agent that
> >         can facilitate production which will later justify the use
> >         of money that starts as a promise to be "good as gold"
> >         -- when it is really only paper or an account with no
> >         commodity or collateral value at all.
> >
> >         In all events, I believe Gernot is right to observe how
> >         hard it is to use K. money ideas in nations tied to global
> >         trade.
> >
> >         Especially hard it is BECAUSE no one is really using
> >         K. money for full employment -- anywhere.
> >
> >         Nations like the US use fiscal and monetary policy in
> >         ways that resemble Keynesian principles. But they also
> >         use mostly hard money backed by existing collateral.
> >
> >         And in actual banking and trading practice the details
> >         of the law are so formidable there may be nobody able
> >         to explain to academics, politicians or the voters, of any
> >         nation, just what we need to do to return to the way we
> >         financed wartime needs without losing our freedom
> >         from 1939 to 1945.
> >
> >             John G.
> >
> > ====== Gernor's comment above prompted by: =====
> >
> >         Message  To: PKT 23 April:
> >             From:   John Gelles
> >         Subject:    Keynesian thought -- what is it for?
> >
> >         Why Keynesian thought?  Why not "admit" the
> >         American economy works just fine as it is?  We
> >         Keynesians wanted less than five percent
> >         unemployment. We have it. We wanted less
> >         disparity. Now that dot.com guys are poor, we
> >         have it. What is it that Keynesian thought offers
> >         that other economic thought does not?
> >
> >         ... <snip> ... [original message in PKT
> >         proceedings for April 2001
> >
> >
>

--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929

Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx