The political economy of transport projects

The UN General Assembly has designated the 1978–1988 period as a Decade of Transport in Africa to draw attention to the immense efforts that are—in an internationally coordinated fashion—still needed in this continent. What contribution to Africa’s social and economic development may be expected from major rail and road proejcts?     

UN development strategy for the eighties

The recently held 11th Special Session of the UN General Assembly reached agreement on an international strategy for the Third Development Decade which is to be formally passed by the current 35th General Assembly. In the discussion it became obvious that the developing countries’ interest still focusses on a New International Economic Order. There are however grave doubts about the possibility of reaching, by institutional reforms, a real solution for the development problems to be faced in this decade.     

The limits to growth — Malthus revived

The publication of “The Limits to Growth — A Report for the Club of Rome’s Project on the Predicament of Mankind” has resulted in a world-wide discussion of this vital issue. The following article reviews different aspects of the study.     

The meaning of the tindemans report

In INTERECONOMICS No. 3, 1976, we published an Interview with Professor Dr Walter Hallstein, former President of the EEC Commission, on the Belgian Prime Minister’s, Leo Tindemans’, “Report on the European Union”. Meanwhile the Report has been discussed on occasion of the last European Council meeting in Luxembourg whose unfortunate outcome pointed out in a dramatic way the weakness of the political will of the Community. In the following article the President of the Council, Gaston Thorn, explains his views of the significance of the so-called “Tindemans Report”.     

UN economic conference in Africa

The 11th session of the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the second Ministerial Conference of that Organisation took place in Accra from February 19 to 23, 1973. The Commission—a regional organisation of the United Nations—has 41 independent African states as members.     

Trade in services: its treatment in international forums and the problems ahead

When the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was concluded in the late 1940s, there was hardly any mention of international transactions in services. At that time, the issue of international trade in services was of minor importance. In addition, attention was initially focused on measures hampering trade at the border. With the principal output of the majority of the sub-sectors of the service industry being “nontangible”, trade impediments relevant for the international exchange of services are of a more subtle nature. These impediments gained importance as the volume of international transactions in this sector increased considerably during the last decade—a development paralleled by the mushrooming of non-tariff barriers in the field of merchandise trade.     

A basis for economic cooperation in Europe

The UN-Economic Commission for Europe, to which today the large majority of the economically most advanced states in the world belong, has in the 21 years of its existence done work that cannot be gauged merely by tangible results. The Commission has played a vital part in creating the essential climatic conditions for the economic reconstruction of Europe after the war. During the dark days of the “cold war” it remained the only functioning forum for a dialogue between East and West. Its activities range from the regulation of cross-frontier traffic, to researches into long-term economic developments in Europe, to the promotion of East-West trade and even to questions of scientific and technological cooperation, and as such the ECE sets an example of economic coexistence. At the beginning of the third decade of its existence the Commission, firmly rooted as it is in a well-balanced mixture of idealism and realism, can look to the future with confidence. On the occasion of the 23rd meeting of the UN/ECE, which ended in Geneva on the second of May, we discussed with its chairman, Dr Treu, some of the main problems of economic cooperation between Eastern and Western Europe.     

Small Business–Bank Relationships and the Role of Internet Banking

In the aftermath of the Cruickshank Report (2000) Cruickshank, D. 2000. “Competition in UK banking (A Report to the Chancellor of the Exchequer)”. London: The Stationery Office.  [Google Scholar] and the Competition Commission's investigation (2002) Competition Commission Report. 2002. “The supply of banking services to SMEs”. HM Treasury, available at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk (accessed 2 December 2002) [Google Scholar] into SME–bank relationships, this paper examines the current state of the small business–bank relationship and ascertains whether the Internet could be used to improve the quality of the relationship. It utilises a qualitative research method, which consisted of 24 interviews with small business owners and relationship managers in banks. The interviews, inter alia, address the following main research questions: what are the needs and expectations of small business owners from their relationships with banks? What do small businesses think about the overall quality of service provided by banks in the relationship context? What was the delivery preference of small businesses and banks in the relationship? What did small business owners and banks think had been the main effects of e-banking on relationship management. The paper incorporates a discussion of the main findings and makes pragmatic policy and practice recommendations based on the results.     

Critical analysis of the Barre-Plan

The Commission of the European Communities, in the spring of 1970, accepted “A Plan for the Phases Establishment of An Economic and Monetary Union”, based on the Barre-Memorandum of February 12, 1969, prepared by M. R. Barre, himself a former Commission member. This article deals with the still unanswered questions which according to the author were raised.     

On the definition of Transnational Corporations in a UN Code of Conduct

The UN Commission on Transnational Corporations which was appointed by ECOSOC will have its next meeting in May. An Intergovernmental Working Group will have held ten sessions by then and present a draft Code of Conduct dealing with transnational corporations. (For a review of the state of preparations for this Code see the article by Hartmut Scheele in INTERECONOMICS No. 6/1979). The Commission itself and the Working Group have dealt more than once with the question to which enterprises the future Code is to apply but they have so far been unable to reach agreement. The difficulties are examined in the following article.     

Why economic sanctions always fail — the case of Rhodesia

Demands for the imposition of economic sanctions under UN auspices on South Africa have been voiced for quite some time. Rhodesia was the first country ever to be subjected to a full obligatory embargo by the UN Security Council. An analysis of the embargo against Rhodesia will therefore help to answer the question whether an embargo on South Africa stands a chance of success.     

Western aid and trade policy trends

The Third Development Decade of the United Nations opened with a promising outlook for the developing countries. The economic situation of the OECD countries had improved during 1979 and the “North-South dialogue” seemed to be making progress. But the further course of 1980 and the subsequent years revealed that the extent and long-term effects of the slump in world economic activity had been seriously underestimated. A large number of developing countries continue to be heavily dependent on development aid. The following article outlines current trends in aid and the likely prospects for the future.     

Development policy in the doldrums?

The “Third Development Decade” of the United Nations, which runs to the end of the present decade, opened with a promising outlook for the developing countries. The economic situation of the OECD countries had improved during 1979 and the North-South dialogue seemed to be making progress. But the further course of 1980 revealed that the extent and long-term effects of the second oil price explosion had been seriously underestimated. As a rule these affected the developing countries more seriously than the industrialized countries. The recessive trend in the industrialized countries moreover contributed to budgetary bottlenecks which were not without consequence for development policy.     

For a Social Market Economy in North-South relations

The North-South dialogue on a New International Economic Order has reached deadlock. To revive it Prof. Sautter is counseling an offensive application of the basic principle of the Social Market Economy to the global economic relations between industrialised and developing countries.     

GATT’s role in East-West trade

After a phase of stagnation in East-West trade lasting several years, both sides have more recently been at pains to intensify economic relations between East and West, the reasons being both economic and political. What part can the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) play in this regard?     

A concept for an Open World Economy

One of the many new publications dealing with the reform of the International trade system is the report of the Trade Policy Research Centre “Towards an Open World Economy”. The following article analyses and criticlses the main proposals of the report.     

Developing Sustainable Strategies: Foundations,Method, and Pedagogy

While the United Nations Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) are a very positive development in the horizon of management education over the last decade, there are still many significant challenges for engaging the mind of the manager in ways that will foster the values of PRME and the UN Global Compact. Responsible management education must address three foundational challenges in business education if it is to actualize the aspirations of PRME: (1) it must confront the cognitional myth that knowing is like looking, (2) it must move beyond mere analysis to systems thinking, and (3) it must transition from a values-neutral stance to a values-driven stance. Using Developing Sustainable Strategies, an MBA practicum in the Sustainable Management Concentration at DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business as a case study, this article identifies the ways in which Pragmatic Inquiry can address these challenges. The method of Pragmatic Inquiry prepares students to become responsible managers, to develop sustainable strategies, and to be creators of shared value. Built from the philosophical foundations of American pragmatism and Bernard Lonergan’s critical realism, Pragmatic Inquiry is an effective method and pedagogy for responsible management education.     

The internal morality of the corporation

Is good morality the natural outcome of profitable business practices? The thesis explored here is one version of the recent literature on corporate culture, typified by the bestselling In Search of Excellence — that the corporation that creates a strong culture, one that best serves the customer, the product, and the employee, must also be profitable. The thesis turns out to have an historical parallel in Plato's Republic (subtitled, I suppose, “In Search of Justice”). Parallel “virtues” can be worked out for state and corporation. In the end, profitability turns out not to be a necessary consequence of excellence, just as Plato's “Ideal” state turned out to be mortal.     

EFTA and its relations with the EC

With its association with the EC in July 1977, EFTA will have achieved its immediate goal of bridging the economic division of Western Europe. Moreover, the influence of this small but efficient international organization — which due to its pragmatism and liberal principles fits quite well into the world trade order — has spread to the countries behind the iron curtain as well as to the international cooperation inside OECD and might go still further into an even more international economic order emerging from the North-South dialogue.     

International raw material policy in the agricultural and industrial sphere

The demands in the sphere of raw material policy are a cardinal element of the “New International Economic Order” on which the developing countries are insisting. Dr Hermes, Secretary of State in the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, discusses the Common Fund and other issues concerning raw material policy from the German point of view.