1st Edition

Evolutionary Political Economy in Action A Cyprus Symposium

    246 Pages
    by Routledge

    246 Pages 77 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The world is in turmoil, the dynamics of political economy seem to have entered a phase where a ‘return to normal’ cannot be expected. Since the financial crisis, conventional economic theory has proven itself to be rather helpless and political decision makers have become suspicious about this type of economic consultancy. This book offers a different approach. It promises to describe political and economic dynamics as interwoven as they are in real life and it adds to that an evolutionary perspective. The latter allows for a long-run view, which makes it possible to discuss the emergence and exit of social institutions.





    Evolutionary Political Economy in Action consists of two parts. Part I provides a broad range of issues that show how flexible evolutionary political economy can handle acute policy problems in Europe: should Europe support the revived build-up of NATO forces on its Eastern border, or should it rather aim at economic cooperation with Russia? How can democracy for a whole continent be reasonably further developed; what is the role of economies of scope? Do the new protest movements against inequality provide alternatives? What could a vision for a unified, socioecological Europe look like? Part II takes a closer look at Cyprus and Greece, where the problems of the financial crisis have been exacerbated by the ‘solutions’ imposed on them by the troika. In all of these essays, the authors demonstrate the unique insights which can be garnered from adopting an evolutionary political economy approach and consider the real solutions that such an approach points towards.





    This volume is extremely useful for social scientists in the fields of economics, politics and sociology who are interested to learn what evolutionary political economy is, how it proceeds and what it can provide.



    List of figures



    List of tables



    List of contributors



    Introduction



    PART I



    Political economy in action



    1 NATO expansion versus consolidation of the EU: intra- and interclass dynamics in the context of the next Cold War



    HARDY HANAPPI



    2 Spanish regions under the euro crisis: did the crisis escalate interregional tensions?



    MAKIKO NARITA



    3 Some simple macroeconomic remarks on slower economic growth



    MALCOLM SAWYER



    4 Welfare capitalism versus financial capitalism during globalisation



    PASQUALE TRIDICO



    5 Achievements and challenges of the Chinese model of capitalism: how much can be explained by Confucianism?



    KLAUS NIELSEN



    6 Economies of scope: explaining liberal authority and its consequences in the Eurozone



    CHARLIE DANNREUTHER



    7 Inequality dynamics, (unmet) aspirations and social protest



    SVENJA FLECHTNER



    8 Any alternatives left? From green narratives of change to socio-ecological transformative utopias – a political economy framework



    ANNIKA R. SCHARBERT, BERNHARD LEUBOLT AND MANUEL SCHOLZ-WÄCKERLE



    PART II



    Crisis in Greece and Cyprus



    9 The crisis in Greece: a story in pictures



    CHRISTIS HASSAPIS, NIKOLAOS SKOURIAS AND PANOS XIDONAS



    10 Structural reform–growth nexus: an examination over time – the importance of Eastern Europe



    ANDREAS ASSIOTIS



    11 The vicious cycle of Cyprus’s economic crisis



    STAVROS TOMBAZOS



    12 Government response to the Eurozone crisis: the cases of Greece and Cyprus



    SAVVAS KATSIKIDES AND GEORGIA YIANGOU



    13 Manufacturing consent or informing the public? A review of recent research on how international mainstream media covered the Greek crisis



    LIA-PASCHALIA SPYRIDOU AND PAVLOS KOKTSIDIS



    14 Industrial competitiveness and the search for a sustainable path out of the crisis – lessons from the Greek experience



    IOANNA KASTELLI AND STAVROS ZOGRAFAKIS



    Index





    Biography

    Hardy Hanappi is a researcher at the University of Technology in Vienna, Austria, a Jean Monnet Chair for political economy of the European integration, and president of the Vienna Institute for Political Economy Research (VIPER).  His expertise is in economic modelling, simulation and game theory. More recently he has focused on the political economy of European unification.





    Savvas Katsikides is University Professor and Jean Monnet Chair at University of Cyprus.





    Manuel Scholz-Wäckerle is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria.