Re: ReOrient global Keynesianism (2) - Sen

[Harry Veeder <eo200@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

It is nice to see the concepts of construction and distribution (re)entering
economic discourse. For too long the concepts of production and consumption
have dominated all discourse on the nature of money as if the former were
reducible to the latter. However, a highly productive economy is not
necessarily a prosperous economy. A prosperity requires a balance between
creative construction and diligent production.


Full employment cannot be achieved by simply increasing demand as this will
eventually lead to a state of over employment. This is the problem faced by
rich nations while under employment plagues poor nations. (Over employment
does not mean the absence of all unemployment. In any period some frictional
unemployment is consistent with a state of under employment or a state of
over employment. Keynes recognised the former possibility, because he
defined full employment as the absence of underemployment or involuntary
unemployment.

It is time to redefine the nature of full employment, to include the absence
of both over employment and underemployment. However, this requires a more
comprehensive monetary theory. The outline of such a theory involves savings
as a constructive stimulus (or a form of hoarding in times and places of
under employment), investment as a productive drive (or a form of alienation
in times and places of over employment), spending as form of consumption,
and income as form of distribution.

Harry Veeder

> From: g kohler <kohlerg@xxxxxxxx>
> Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 08:48:23 -0500
> To: pkt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: ReOrient global Keynesianism (2) - Sen
>
> ReOrient global Keynesianism (2) - Sen
>
> Amartya Sen (monetary causes of famines, Nobel laureate 1998) may not be a
> (post)(-) Keynesian, but some of what he says (see, text below) would surely
> have to be included in a modernized (global) (transnational)
> (multi-civilizational) (multi-cultural) (multipolar) (ecologically sane)
> (world-system) (post) (-) Keynesianism.
>
> (1) Sen insists that globalization must be fair and equitable. (2) Sen calls
> for global political and institutional change. (3) Sen calls for "global
> construction", to use his expression. "Global construction in the face of
> fundamental uncertainty" (and fundamental injustice) - could be a nice theme
> for a post-Keynesian conference.
>
> Gernot Köhler
>
> ["ReOrient", with capital letter "O", is a logo that appeared in a book
> title by Andre Gunder Frank]
>
> ------------------------  Sen text  --------------------------------
> REFERENCE:
> Amartya Sen, "If It's Fair, It's Good: 10 Truths About Globalization"
> International Herald Tribune, July 14, 2001
>
> Sen writes: [quote] . . .
> [1] Anti-globalization protests are not about globalization . .
> [2] Globalization is not new, nor is it just Westernization . . .
> [3] Globalization is not in itself a folly. . .
>
> [4] The central issue is inequality: . . .
> [5] The primary concern is the level of inequality, not its marginal change:
> [6] The question is whether the distribution of gains is fair: . . .
>
> [7] The use of the market economy can produce different outcomes: The
> central question cannot be whether or not to make use of the market economy.
> . . .The market economy can generate many different results, depending on
> how physical resources are distributed, how human resources are developed,
> what rules prevail and so on, and in all these spheres, the state and the
> society have roles, within a country and in the world.
>
> [8] The market is one institution among many. Aside from the need for public
> policies that protect the poor (related to basic education and health care,
> employment generation, land reforms, credit facilities, legal protections,
> women's empowerment and more), the distribution of the benefits of
> international interactions depends also on a variety of global arrangements.
>
> [9] The world has changed since the Bretton Woods agreement: . . .
> policy and institutional changes are needed: . . .
>
> [10] Global construction is the needed response to global doubts: . . .
>
> [end quote] [I inserted the numbering.]
> ______________________
> ADVERT --
> (see amazon.com)
>
> G. Köhler and E.J. Chaves (eds), Globalization: Critical Perspectives. Nova
> Science, USA, 2003 -  with contributions by: Amin, Wallerstein, Chase-Dunn,
> Kiljunen, Tausch, Bond, Haritatos, Frank, Gantman, Ross, Ünay, Hanappi,
> Hanappi-Egger, Chaves, Köhler
>
> G. Köhler and A. Tausch, Global Keynesianism: Unequal Exchange and Global
> Exploitation. Nova Science, USA, 2002.
>
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