Category Archives: Political Economy

Published on
21 March 2012

The 2012 Budget: Motoring into Recovery

Posted in British Politics, Political Economy, Public Policy, Social Commentary

All who read British newspapers will have noted fevered speculation over potential measures that may appear in today’s Budget. The suggestion that Britain’s road network of Britain be opened to private investment has attracted much interest. The idea that the Government might lease key routes, such as the M1, to private corporations. These would be […]

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Published on
16 March 2012

An Alternative Take on Prospects

Posted in British Politics, Europe, Political Economy, Social Commentary, World Affairs

From a guest blogger: Draghi is fuelling inflation like the Bank of England. Greece cannot ever repay even the reduced debt after last week’s managed default and target of 120% of GDP by 2020. Greece must leave the Euro. The election this year may precipitate this. Then Portugal (public debt at 93%, and private debt […]

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Published on
14 March 2012

John Maynard Keynes and the Big Society

Posted in Big Society, Ethics in Business, Political Economy, Public Policy, Virtue

Following the financial crash of 2008 the economic ideas of John Meynard Keynes experienced a revival. Some argue that the recent policies of both the British and American governments are Keynesian. The British Prime Minister at the height of the crisis, Gordon Brown, actually referenced Keynes in announcing a fiscal stimulus. Keynes is well-known for […]

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Published on
17 February 2012

Reframing the Economic Debate: Personal Responsibility and the American Homeless

Posted in Built Environment, Ethics in Business, Human Life, Political Economy, Public Policy, Social Commentary, United States of America, World Affairs

At present it is hard to feel anything other than gloom about economic news. Unemployment fugures are high and firms struggle to access much-needed finance. The current global orthodoxy for governments is that of ‘necessary cuts’. Deepening ‘doom and gloom’ the credit rating agency Moody’s has this week noted a negative outlook for the UK […]

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Published on
1 February 2012

Executive Pay and Responsibility: Where the Buck Stops

Posted in British Politics, Ethics in Business, Political Economy, Public Policy, Social Commentary

The recent debate over the bonus of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Chief Executive, Stephen Hester, has reached its all-but-inevitable conclusion. He has decided it would be inappropriate in the present climate to accept it. Two arguments were made against his receiving a bonus. Firstly, it was argued that in a bank effectively owned […]

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Published on
30 December 2011

What Exactly is ‘Governing in the National Interest’?

Posted in British Politics, Culture, Europe, Political Economy, Public Policy

From a Guest Blogger: We have yet to see what will be the ultimate results of David Cameron’s veto earlier this month. Rhetorically he has certainly scored a hit with a majority of the British people. Even many of those opposed to Cameron’s decision have not gone so far as to declare that the Prime […]

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Published on
27 October 2011

Common Cause on the European Union’s Flaws

Posted in British Politics, Europe, Political Economy, World Affairs

The parliamentary debate which occurred on Monday, upon a non-binding motion proposing that a referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU be held, has been widely portrayed as a debate internal to the Conservative party, with its leadership and frontbench squaring up to those on the backbenches. More specifically, the issue has been portrayed […]

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Published on
19 April 2011

Time For a Better Financial Stability Mechanism

Posted in Europe, Ireland, Moral Philosophy, Political Economy, Virtue, World Affairs

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has this last weekend called for a better plan to be drawn up to deal with government debts in Europe, and has criticised responses to individual crises so far which threaten to undermine investor confidence there. As Britain prepares for a referendum on its voting system […]

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