Optimism versus realism - economic development in N. Ireland

In contrast to the ambitious popular planning model recently advocated by Gaffikin and Morrissey to deal with N. Ireland's economic problems this article argues for a more pragmatic issue based approach which engages more with the present political realities in the region.     

Shipping and economic development in nineteenth‐century Ireland1

The tonnage of shipping entering and leaving Ireland grew rapidly from the late eighteenth century until the mid‐1870s, after which there was a distinct slowdown. The mid‐nineteenth century was notable for a five‐fold increase in shipping per capita, an indicator of the Irish economy’s increasing commercialization. The slowdown after 1870 would have been even greater without the industrial dynamism of Belfast, Ireland’s leading port from the 1880s. The early and rapid introduction of steamships from the 1820s made possible large‐scale exports of live animals and fresh eggs, products that would account for 60 per cent of agricultural exports and a quarter of total exports by 1910.     

From a labor-managed economy to a market economy: A contribution to economic transformation

Does transition of a labor-managed economy to a capitalist economy really lead to an efficient economy? Which transformation strategies can be established during the transition? Which type of capitalist economy can be predicted by such transition strategies? This paper answers these questions by using the economic models described and explained by the main principles of post-Keynesian economic theory. It is found that the transition process leads to replacing the investment function, instituting the labor market, and replacing the expectations of a personal income rate with a profit rate. To achieve these processes, privatization and institution building, or institutional restructuring, are crucial. They also remove problems that should be removed by stabilization and restructuring.     

遵从市场经济规律推动"长三角"发展

经过20多年的改革开放,长江三角洲城市的后发优势日益明显.在上海的带动和辐射下,"长三角"已成为今日中国经济最发达、发展最迅速的区域,并已排名世界城市群第六."长三角"的政府和企业也参与和组织了四个区域性的合作组织:长江沿岸中心城市经济协调会、"长三角"城市经济协调会、长江流域发展研究院、长江开发沪港促进会;同时还建立了"长三角"三省市高层沟通机制,并对"长三角"的发展前景达成共识.但是,区域经济长期以来仍呈悬而未决的态势,竞争多于合作,产业结构趋同,市场壁垒不少.诸如外资引进时优惠政策搞N+1,同类产品出口时价格搞N-1,最终大大增加了外商商业利益,而使国家的利益受到损害,区域发展也出现了不平衡.如何探索长江三角洲地区联动发展的新路子,已成为一项亟待解决的发展战略课题,即以城市群这个更大的能级,来带动全国的经济发展.由于"长三角"不同于"珠三角"处在一个行政区域内,在现行的体制下,地方利益又不可能被完全排除,因此联动发展的新路子是否可以从以下几方面着手:     

“Community” economic development in Knowsley, Merseyside. Rhetoric versus reality

The European Union's long-term goal for regional policy is economic and social cohesion. In Merseyside the Union has been engaged in a range of policies, through Objective 1 status, to stimulate regional economic development. In view of the current government's concern to promote capacity building and community economic development, an interesting aspect of Objective 1 is Pathways to Integration, a policy that seeks to tackle the problems of high unemployment and social exclusion across Merseyside through community economic development and capacity building. This paper contrasts the rhetoric of the Pathways literature with the reality of its local delivery in the Knowsley Borough of Merseyside. It argues that the reality of Pathways, particularly in relation to community involvement, does not match the rhetoric and the local delivery has been problematic, and that this experience has important lessons for local economic development strategies that include a large element of capacity building.     

The decline of economic complementarity? Australia and Britain 1945—1952

At the end of the Second World War, Australia implemented a development program designed to improve the nation's defence capabilities through a rapid increase in population and the growth of manufacturing industry. These plans were contrary to the vision of `complementarity' promoted by the United Kingdom, in which the British economy would export manufactured goods to other members of the Commonwealth in return for primary products. Despite British objections, the Chifley government persevered in its development policy although Australia did control the level and origin of its imports to fit the availability of dollars within the Sterling Area. In the early 1950s, however, the Menzies government attacked the autarchic policies of the Sterling Area, first by arranging to borrow dollars directly from the World Bank, and later by calling for an abandonment of the inward focus of the Sterling Area.     

Party politics,political economy,and economic development in early eighteenth‐century Britain

Economic growth and change in eighteenth‐century Britain, both the expansion of pre‐industrial commercial society and the industrial revolution itself, have been explored using a variety of approaches. This article highlights a relatively ignored aspect of the problem, arguing that the state, politics, and political economic ideology played a central role. In particular, the early eighteenth‐century political victory of a version of political economy associated with the Whig party, which centred on manufacturing and consumption, was a prerequisite for the economic developments later in the century. The article begins by describing a political economy of manufacturing and its rival, a political economy of re‐exporting associated with the Tory party. It then explains how and why a political economy of manufacturing became dominant, examining both political elites and ordinary voters and petitioners. The growth of manufacturing and consumption must be understood, therefore, as political as much as economic events.     

Local economic strategies and area based initiatives — another view of improvement areas

In this continuing discussion on the role of industrial improvement areas the author extends the arguments to suggest how IIAs could be a progressive planning tool linking economic, property and land-use strategies.