an article by Richard Freeman published by Transforming Society
What do policy makers do? The question is important, because making policy engages a great number of people one way or another, and what they do they might do well or badly. Our standard answers are rather hazy, not least because policy making entails such great numbers of people doing a great number of things.
The literature tends to have addressed the question in functional terms, outlining and defining – and endlessly debating – different sets of activities such as advocacy and agenda-setting, formulating and decision making, implementing and evaluating.
But what if we were to begin somewhere else, to explore policy as a set of human actions, as a form of work, as real-time, practical and physical ‘doings and sayings‘? What do policy makers really do? What does their work entail?
The answer is surprisingly simple:
‘The two things that civil servants do is write papers and have meetings. Because that’s what we do. From that, things happen. Extraordinary though it might seem’ (quote from a senior civil servant)
‘When someone asks me what I do at work … I read, write and have meetings, that’s what I do’ (quote from a policy manager)
Continue reading
Please note that the link to the article in “Policy & Politics” only takes you to the abstract – a lot less information than in the Transforming Society article.
Showing posts with label production. Show all posts
Showing posts with label production. Show all posts
Friday, 25 October 2019
Friday, 11 January 2019
Unconventional Monetary Policies in the Euro Area, Japan, and the United Kingdom
an article by Giovanni Dell’Ariccia, Pau Rabanal and Damiano Sandri (International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC) published in Journal of Economic Perspectives Volume 32 Number 4 (Fall 2018)
Abstract
The global financial crisis hit hard in the euro area, the United Kingdom, and Japan. Real GDP from peak to trough contracted by about 6 percent in the euro area and the United Kingdom and by 9 percent in Japan.
In all three cases, central banks cut interest rates aggressively and then, as policy rates approached zero, deployed a variety of untested and unconventional monetary policies. In doing so, they hoped to restore the functioning of financial markets, and also to provide further monetary policy accommodation once the policy rate reached the zero lower bound.
In all three jurisdictions, the strategy entailed generous liquidity support for banks and other financial intermediaries and large-scale purchases of public (and in some cases private) assets. As a result, central banks' balance sheets expanded to unprecedented levels.
This paper examines the experience with unconventional monetary policies in the euro zone, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
The paper starts with a discussion of how quantitative easing, forward guidance, and negative interest rate policies work in theory, and some of their potential side effects. It then reviews the implementation of unconventional monetary policy by the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, and the Bank of Japan, including a narrative of how central banks responded to the crisis and the evidence on the effects of unconventional monetary policy actions.
JEL Classification: E23, E32, E43, E44, E52, G01, H63
Full text (PDF 26pp)
Abstract
The global financial crisis hit hard in the euro area, the United Kingdom, and Japan. Real GDP from peak to trough contracted by about 6 percent in the euro area and the United Kingdom and by 9 percent in Japan.
In all three cases, central banks cut interest rates aggressively and then, as policy rates approached zero, deployed a variety of untested and unconventional monetary policies. In doing so, they hoped to restore the functioning of financial markets, and also to provide further monetary policy accommodation once the policy rate reached the zero lower bound.
In all three jurisdictions, the strategy entailed generous liquidity support for banks and other financial intermediaries and large-scale purchases of public (and in some cases private) assets. As a result, central banks' balance sheets expanded to unprecedented levels.
This paper examines the experience with unconventional monetary policies in the euro zone, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
The paper starts with a discussion of how quantitative easing, forward guidance, and negative interest rate policies work in theory, and some of their potential side effects. It then reviews the implementation of unconventional monetary policy by the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, and the Bank of Japan, including a narrative of how central banks responded to the crisis and the evidence on the effects of unconventional monetary policy actions.
JEL Classification: E23, E32, E43, E44, E52, G01, H63
Full text (PDF 26pp)
Thursday, 23 February 2017
The production and reproduction of inequality in the UK in times of austerity
an article by Alex Nunn (University of Derby, UK) published in British Politics Volume 11 Issue 4 (December 2016)
Abstract
Inequality appears to be back on the intellectual and political agenda.
This paper provides a commentary on this renewed interest, drawing on an empirical discussion of inequality in the UK. The paper argues that inequality should be seen as produced in the inherently unequal social relations of production, drawing attention to the role of social struggle in shaping dynamics of inequality.
However, inequality is not just produced in dynamic class struggle in the formal economy, but also through the social reproduction of labour power on a day-to-day and inter-generational basis. As such, inequalities of household resources at any point in time may be reproductive of greater future inequality.
It is argued that inequality has risen in the UK over recent decades because of changes in the social relations of production in the formal economy and social reproduction in the domestic sector, both of which have witnessed significant state interventions that have increased structural inequalities.
It is argued that, absent of significant change, the underpinning structural dynamics in the UK will lead to further increases in inequality over the short and longer-term. Given this, we might expect to see an already emergent ‘New Politics of Inequality’ intensifying in the coming decades.
Abstract
Inequality appears to be back on the intellectual and political agenda.
This paper provides a commentary on this renewed interest, drawing on an empirical discussion of inequality in the UK. The paper argues that inequality should be seen as produced in the inherently unequal social relations of production, drawing attention to the role of social struggle in shaping dynamics of inequality.
However, inequality is not just produced in dynamic class struggle in the formal economy, but also through the social reproduction of labour power on a day-to-day and inter-generational basis. As such, inequalities of household resources at any point in time may be reproductive of greater future inequality.
It is argued that inequality has risen in the UK over recent decades because of changes in the social relations of production in the formal economy and social reproduction in the domestic sector, both of which have witnessed significant state interventions that have increased structural inequalities.
It is argued that, absent of significant change, the underpinning structural dynamics in the UK will lead to further increases in inequality over the short and longer-term. Given this, we might expect to see an already emergent ‘New Politics of Inequality’ intensifying in the coming decades.
Tuesday, 16 June 2015
The Global Trade of Textiles and Clothing in the Early Modern Period: Exchange, Meaning and Materialities
an article by Karolina Hutkova (University of Warwick) published in Exchanges: the Warwick Research Journal Volume 2 Number 2 (2015)
Abstract
The two-day workshop [International PhD and Postdoctoral Workshop, 27-28th November 2014, University of Warwick] at the University of Warwick brought together early career researchers studying various aspects of textile history – production, consumption, trade, fashion, and design – with the aim of drawing broader conclusions about the role of textiles and clothing in the development of societies, cultures and economies.
The methodological and geographical breadth of the presented research holds a promise that in the near future we will be presented with a much more global picture of textile production, consumption and trade in the early modern period.
Full text: HTML PDF
Hazel’s comment:
I know. I do not normally put images into references to journals but I could not resist this!
Early modern period, for those who like me are not sure, spans approximately 300 years from 1500 (Wikipedia).
Abstract
The two-day workshop [International PhD and Postdoctoral Workshop, 27-28th November 2014, University of Warwick] at the University of Warwick brought together early career researchers studying various aspects of textile history – production, consumption, trade, fashion, and design – with the aim of drawing broader conclusions about the role of textiles and clothing in the development of societies, cultures and economies.
The methodological and geographical breadth of the presented research holds a promise that in the near future we will be presented with a much more global picture of textile production, consumption and trade in the early modern period.
Full text: HTML PDF
Hazel’s comment:
I know. I do not normally put images into references to journals but I could not resist this!
Early modern period, for those who like me are not sure, spans approximately 300 years from 1500 (Wikipedia).
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
Mental health: the new frontier for labour economics
an article by Richard Layard (Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK) published in IZA Journal of Labor Policy Volume 2 Number 2 (2013)
Abstract
This lecture argues that mental health is a major factor of production.
It is the biggest single influence on life satisfaction, with mental health eight years earlier a more powerful explanatory factor than current income. Mental health also affects earnings and educational success. But, most strikingly, it affects employment and physical health.
In advanced countries mental health problems are the main illness of working age – amounting to 40% of all illness under 65. They account for over one third of disability and absenteeism in advanced countries. They can also cause or exacerbate physical illness.
It is estimated that in the absence of mental illness, the costs of physical healthcare for chronic diseases would be one third lower. The good news is that cost-effective treatments for the most common mental illnesses now exist (both drugs and psychological therapy).
But only a quarter of those who suffer are in treatment.
Yet psychological therapy, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, if more widely available would pay for itself in savings on benefits and lost taxes.
The lecture ends by illustrating how rational policy can be made using life-course models of well-being. Such policies should include a much greater role for the treatment and prevention of mental illness.
JEL classification: I30, J30
Full text (PDF 19pp + charts and graphs)
Abstract
This lecture argues that mental health is a major factor of production.
It is the biggest single influence on life satisfaction, with mental health eight years earlier a more powerful explanatory factor than current income. Mental health also affects earnings and educational success. But, most strikingly, it affects employment and physical health.
In advanced countries mental health problems are the main illness of working age – amounting to 40% of all illness under 65. They account for over one third of disability and absenteeism in advanced countries. They can also cause or exacerbate physical illness.
It is estimated that in the absence of mental illness, the costs of physical healthcare for chronic diseases would be one third lower. The good news is that cost-effective treatments for the most common mental illnesses now exist (both drugs and psychological therapy).
But only a quarter of those who suffer are in treatment.
Yet psychological therapy, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, if more widely available would pay for itself in savings on benefits and lost taxes.
The lecture ends by illustrating how rational policy can be made using life-course models of well-being. Such policies should include a much greater role for the treatment and prevention of mental illness.
JEL classification: I30, J30
Full text (PDF 19pp + charts and graphs)
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