ECONOMIC FALLACIES VII

Competition laws are intended to protect consumers but they can be twisted to serve the interests of competitors. Complaints by competitors can be useful in anti-trust cases but, in general, antitrust agencies should be‘deeply sceptical’of such complaints which may reflect attempts to seek protection from a more efficient competitor. Both US and EU officials have not been sufficiently sceptical of complaints against Microsoft by its competitors: consumers will pay the price for this error.     

CURRENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS

In the last month virtually every published indicator has testified to the strength of economic activity. Output is expanding rapidly and. although the pick-up in retail price inflation remains limited, fears abound that high earnings growth and a boom in domestic credit demand will produce higher inflation next year. The government itself recognises that there is a danger of overheating and pushed for an increase in base rates from 9 per cent to 10 per cent in early August.     

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION

Books reviewed in this article: Ralph Bryant, Dale Henderson, Gerald Holtham, Peter Hooper, Steven Symansky (eds) (1988) Empirical Macroeconomics for Interdependent Economies Marcello De Cecco and Alberto Giovannini (eds) (1989) A European Central Bank? Ralph Bryant, David Currie, Jacob Frenkel, Paul Masson and Richard Portes (eds) (1989), Macroeconomic Policies in an Interdependent World Richard Cooper, Barry Eichengreen, Gerald Holtham, Robert Putnam and Randall Henning (1989) Can Nations Agree?     

ECONOMIC PROSPECTS AND POLICY

Patrick Foley agrees with Tim Congdon on the unimportance of the current account and with Patrick Minford on the economy's medium-term growth prospects.     

罗臻毓 同城化将促成健康有序经济体

从提出概念到落地实施,广佛同城化已走过十个年头,今天,从中央到省府,同城化已经成为珠三角迎击风暴,突破时限的先锋试点,而此前,民间与地产行业早已躬身入局,     

信仰缺失是经济危机的本质

这次经济危机和金融危机的实质的确是精神的危机和信仰的危机。在危机中,信心的确比黄金更重要,但信心的基础是诚实,是信赖。越是处在欺骗的环境中,大家就越没有信心。     

循环经济，活力无限——访广西贵糖（集团）股份有限公司副总经理 陈健

采访靠循环经济发展起来的上市公司——广西贵糖(集团)股份有限公司，是记者一个“蓄谋已久”的计划。诸如国有企业上市后所面临的主要问题以及借助西部大开发的时机，企业将会如何运作等都是萦绕在记者心中希望了解的问题。     

ECONOMIC REFORM IN EASTERN EUROPE

Abstract. Since the early 1960s, reforms in the traditional centralized model of a planned economy have been debated. In most of Eastern Europe, reforms have been confined to cautious ones seeking to improve central planning. But in Hungary, and to a small degree elsewhere, more radical reforms have taken root. These retain elements of planning but also introduce the institutions and policies needed to support a more active market orientation for the economy. Such reforms encounter limits when they begin to threaten, or call into question, established political structures and it is an open question how much further reforms can proceed in Hungary without political change.     

THE ETHICS OF ECONOMIC SANCTIONS

This article examines economic sanctions from an ethical perspective. Utilitarian ethics and rights theory are applied to economic sanctions in general. Special attention is paid to the economic sanctions imposed against Iraq and Cuba. The conclusion is that economic sanctions are very difficult to justify on any grounds and have negative consequences. Sanctions should not be used as a tool of international relations.     

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS AND INTER-JURISDICTIONAL COMPETITION

The European Union does not set its regulatory principles in line with those that the theory of public goods suggests. The Union does not have full competence in areas such as defence that might involve public goods over a Europe-wide area. Yet it does have competence over many areas that should be left to member states or local government. However, if competition between jurisdictions is prevented, there will be a drift towards centralisation of economic decision-making. This paper analyses this trend from the point of view of the theory of clubs and theories of market failure.     

THE MAKING OF ECONOMIC POLICY

Books reviewed in this article:
Rosalind Levacic (1987) Economic Policy-Making: Its Theory and Practice.
Paul Whiteley (1986) Political Control of the Macro-Economy.
Douglas A. Hibbs Jr. (1987) The Political Economy of Industrial Democracies.
Wyn Grant with Jane Sargent (1987) Business and Politics in Britain.
Michael Moran (1986) The Politics of Banking     

SOCIAL STATUS IN ECONOMIC THEORY

Abstract.  Social distinction or status is an important motivation of human behaviour. This paper provides a selective survey of recent advances in the economic analysis of the origins and consequences of social status concerns. First, a selection of empirical research from a variety of scientific disciplines is discussed to underpin the further theoretical analysis. I then consider the origins and determinants of tastes for status, discuss the endogenous derivation of such preferences for relative standing and assess the different formalizations of these preferences. Subsequently, the consequences of preferences for status are studied for a variety of problems and settings. The last section discusses a number of implications of status concerns for normative economics and public policy.