The environmental challenge

We now come to the ultimate question of whether we should be optimistic or pessimistic about our environmental future, and indeed our survival. If we believe human beings to be rational and thus ultimately acting in their own self-interest, there is no reason to believe that the environmental challenges confronting us as individuals and as a society are not resolvable in a manner that allows both economic development and a reasonable quality of life for human beings. Indeed, we see, at least in the developed world, recognition of the magnitude of the problems that we face and movements toward solutions. Yet our nemesis is time. Irretrievable seconds are ticking away as we struggle against ignorance and economic self-interest. Our concern must be not whether we will act, but whether we will act in time to forestall environmental catastrophe for our civilization. The ultimate solution to our environmental problems must come from a fundamental change in the self-serving psychology that produced the tragedy of the commons. Self-interest must be sublimated not only to the greater needs of society, but to the needs of our posterity. The tragedy of the commons can only be avoided if our time horizon shifts from the short- to long-term. In addition, there must be a shift in values from obsession with economic development to concern for the quality of human life. These shifts dictate that in the future our economic, political, and social system must be built upon a foundation of "sustainable" growth. This means that "industries (and nations, for that matter) cannot thrive if they sacrifice future quality of life for present economic gain. In the long run, the principles of economic growth and environmental quality reinforce each other." How do we make this esoteric speculation relevant to our job each day as materiel managers in health care delivery organizations? We can do this by first understanding the problems that we confront and how we are a part of these problems. Next, we must assume a leadership role in confronting and resolving these problems. This means being an advocate for the environment and championing initiatives within the institution to resolve problems and advance environmental responsibility. Finally, we must remember that every day, with each purchase order we issue, we vote for or against the environment.     

Reflections on a siege economy

The paper examines the political and economic effects for South Africa of living in a state of economic siege. It points out that most economies already exist in partial isolation, often self-imposed. The most serious consequence of sanctions will be the granting to the government of a moral licence to react repressively, thus shutting off existing political and economic ‘safety valves’. The net result will be even more stringent political repression, and further resistance to change. The government will find it hard to retreat from this situation, and relax the repression. The result is a society without the flexibility to change.     

浅谈和谐社会与经济发展

和谐社会作为多方面、多层次与广范围的系统工程,无疑需要政治、经济、社会与文化等多方面的协调、和谐与深入发展。要保持经济社会协调健康发展,必须以经济建设和构建和谐社会为基点,妥善协调好经济社会结构变动过程中的各种利益关系。本文介绍了和谐社会与经济发展的关系,指出和谐社会的发展,必须依赖于市场经济的建设和经济结构的优化升级。     

传统思想政治工作对构建和谐社会的问题分析

当前,我国正处于经济发展的关键期,随着时代的变迁、改革的深化、经济体制的转变、和谐社会目标的提出,经济社会生活中的一些深层次矛盾和长期积累的问题日益显现出来,面对新形势、新任务,只有不断加强和改进传统思想政治工作,从根本上认识到存在的认识误区和薄弱环节,才能把构建社会主义和谐社会的伟大事业推向前进。     

政府与中介组织:互动关系分析及协作机制构建

随着社会变迁速度日益加快,政府已经无力单独处理各种经济社会问题,于是开始寻求与各种兴起的社会组织协作,中介组织在这一过程发挥着越来越重要的作用,因此,十分有必要深入剖析政府与中介组织的互动关系,并在此基础上构建两者之间的协作机制。     

Political market failure? The effect of government unity on energy technology policy in industrialized democracies

When do governments implement technology policies that allow society to solve social problems at a lower cost? Focusing on the case of energy, we argue that in industrialized democracies, severe social problems provoke an effective technology policy response when the government is unified. A unified government can easily strike the bargains required to secure political support for new technology programs. We test this theory against data on public energy research and development (R&D) in 22 OECD countries, 1980–2006. We find that as government fractionalization increases in a country, the sensitivity of public energy R&D to wasteful energy use, which presents economic and environmental difficulties to the society, declines. The analysis reveals a new reason for ineffective technology policies and contributes to the broad literature on political market failure.     

Comments on McClennen's "Prudence and Constitutional Rights"

ABSTRACT . In The Calculus of Consent, Buchanan and Tullock argue, among other things, that institutional safeguards are required to ensure maximal benefit for all members of a community against the potential tyranny of the majority. McClennen extends this idea by introducing prudential concerns and argues that they ought to be factored into the decision making that constructs such safeguards. Specifically, McClennen sees the safeguarding of prudential concerns for all members of society as a matter of distribution that should be secured from the random fate of the political process through constitutional means. His method for ensuring the constitutional mandate is to place the responsibility for achieving this result in the hands of the judiciary. I argue that there are two problems with his solution: (1) it is ahistorical; and (2) it assumes the judiciary is without politics.     

浅谈事业单位国有资产的管理

近年来,随着经济社会的不断发展,事业单位国有资产总量也在不断上升。国有资产管理,尤其是事业单位的国有资产管理,已经成为公权行使、人民对政府信任度的一个重大政治经济问题。本文提出我国事业单位国有资产管理的现状及存在的问题,并对改革完善事业性国有资产管理体制提出一些对策建议。     

Democracy and adaptation to economic and technological change: Is the British political system capable of adjusting?

Political systems provide the framework for organizational and technological change. Democratic systems are in some respects more open to economic and social adjustment than non-democratic systems; but the conflicting demands of entrenched interests and competition among parties for votes themselves create obstacles to adaptation.Britain's political system is the most stable in Western Europe, but it is also (after Italy) the one which is showing most signs of strain. How far is political stability a source of strength or of weakness under conditions of rapid economic and technological change? What aspects of Britain's current political difficulties are common to all democracies (as Sam Brittan argued in a classic study), or to all European social welfare economies, and what aspects are peculiar to our system alone? After five years of the most self-consciously radical government which Britain has had since 1945, how successful has our current government been in promoting economic and social change, while resisting any changes in our political system?It is argued that there has been a negative interaction between repeated efforts to transform Britain's industrial structure, and industrial relations, for example, and the obstacles to change posed by a restricted and centralised political system. Other illustrations of the interaction between political structure and policy output are taken from the evolution of Britain's relations with the European Community, from the management of industrial collaboration with other governments, and from attempts to reform the finances of local government. Britain's experience is compared and contrasted with those of the United States, France, Germany and Japan.     

新形势下“以德铸魂”加强职工思想道德建设的探讨

在市场经济改革不断深入的新形势下,针对职工思想道德建设方面出现的新问题、新情况和新矛盾,认真研究和把握职工思想状况及其变化规律,提高职工思想政治工作的针对性和有效性,增强思想政治工作的凝聚力、向心力、公信力、影响力,是每一位思想政治工作者应该探索的课题。     

经济、社会的发展呼唤经济发展模式创新——“绿色和谐”发展

经济、社会发展在改变着我们,我们也应主动去改变它们,使之沿着“绿色和谐”之路驶向人类“幸福之岛”。经过改革以来20多年的发展,我国在经济、政治、文化等领域取得了巨大成就。在解决众多经济问题的动力内因与创建“和谐社会”目的外因的双重作用下,转变经济发展模式,实行“绿色和谐”发展已成为规律的必然、时代的要求。本文从“绿色和谐”发展提出背景与原因谈起,分析了提出“绿色和谐”发展的动力内因与目的外因;继之提出“绿色和谐”发展的概念,并对其作了详细解释。     

从考课到经济责任审计：历史进程与演化逻辑

考课制度是我国古代对政府官员实施经济监督的基本制度,其发展横跨了我国漫长的封建社会。古代考课制度与我国国家审计中的经济责任审计制度在思想上是一脉相承的,都是对官员实施经济监督的重要手段。从古代考课制度到我国经济责任审计制度的演化过程,既体现了不同历史时期对官员监督手段的相似性,也反映了其根本政治诉求的强烈反差。考课制度是我国经济责任审计制度的先行形态和历史基因。     

A Neo‐Gramscian Approach to Corporate Political Strategy: Conflict and Accommodation in the Climate Change Negotiations*

ABSTRACT A neo‐Gramscian theoretical framework for corporate political strategy is developed drawing from Gramsci's analysis of the relations among capital, social forces, and the state, and from more contemporary theories. Gramsci's political theory recognizes the centrality of organizations and strategy, directs attention to the organizational, economic, and ideological pillars of power, while illuminating the processes of coalition building, conflict, and accommodation that drive social change. This approach addresses the structure‐agency relationship and endogenous dynamics in a way that could enrich institutional theory. The framework suggests a strategic concept of power, which provides space for contestation by subordinate groups in complex dynamic social systems. We apply the framework to analyse the international negotiations to control emissions of greenhouse gases, focusing on the responses of firms in the US and European oil and automobile industries. The neo‐Gramscian framework explains some specific features of corporate responses to challenges to their hegemonic position and points to the importance of political struggles within civil society. The analysis suggests that the conventional demarcation between market and non‐market strategies is untenable, given the embeddedness of markets in contested social and political structures and the political character of strategies directed toward defending and enhancing markets, technologies, corporate autonomy and legitimacy.     

实行经济的“绿色发展”创建社会的和谐氛围——对“和谐社会”的经济学解读

“和谐社会”是2005年全国人大和政协“两会”上讨论的重点话题和主题。“和谐社会”的提出体现了新一届领导集体执政方式、理念的进步与完善,是经济发展到一定阶段的必然选择和要求。在存在一些不和谐因素的情况下提出建立“和谐社会”,目标虽明确,道路却艰难。正视不和谐才能建设和谐。因此,我们应通过经济的“绿色发展”解决不和谐因素,置社会的和谐于经济的“绿色发展”基础之上。为此,本文分析了作者对“和谐社会”的认识;进而分析了现实社会中的不和谐因素;继之解释何为经济的“绿色发展”?如何通过“绿色发展”,解决现实中的不和谐因素,创建社会的和谐氛围。     

The Changing Political and Economic Status of the American Indians

A bstract . Resource development on American Indian lands is bringing about a dramatic transformation of the political and economic status of American Indians. Recently, scholars observing this change have increasingly used underdevelopment theory to explain the nature of these changes. However, this discussion points out that as applied to American Indians , the perspective of underdevelopment theory is skewed in several important ways. Specifically, it fails to take into account the distinctive historical and political status of Indians in American society , A simple typology, captive nations 2Lad internal colonies is proposed for describing the status of Indian tribes before and after development.     

Does political propaganda matter in mitigating climate change? Insights from the United States of America

Some research on climate change has been the basis of climate change denialism (hereafter, CCD is used to refer to denial, denialism, and deniers). There is formative knowledge about the role of political propaganda in climate policies and resulting outcomes. To contribute to the understanding of political ideology and the extent of CCD, we adopt econometric techniques to study the impact of the United States of America's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. The results show that ideological political propaganda has psychological and philosophical consequences that impact climate change policies. In addition, we find that the effect of a state's economic growth on climate change is mediated by CCD. In particular, low-income capitalist states have a higher propensity to become CCDs because they are more likely to engage in economic expansion even at the expense of environmental sustainability. Global climate change policies depend on high-income nations and industries' willingness to adopt economic policies to achieve sustainable future development. Thus, this study fills the literature gap on the relationship between political ideology and climate change. The findings show that CCD significantly influences voting patterns and socioeconomic outcomes. It impedes states from achieving net-zero emissions and carbon neutrality and it is used as a political propaganda. Subject to these findings, relevant policy suggestions are offered.     

知识经济下普通高校学生思想政治教育探索

知识经济的发展,对整个社会的政治、经济、文化产生了深刻的影响,同时也对我国普通高校思想政治教育带来巨大的冲击和挑战。作为以大学生为教育对象的高校思想政治教育工作必须跟上知识经济时代的发展,步入新的发展阶段。文中就知识经济时代高校如何开展学生思想政治工作进行了探索。     

An Economics Classic and Plutology

A bstract . Henry George's Progress and Poverty , published a century ago, laid the foundation for a theory that attracted a worldwide following. He emphasized that political economy investigates the way a community produces wealth and the proportions in which that wealth will be distributed between individuals. In our day that has been called 'plutology' , a subdiscipline of political economy. Many of George's critics, then and now, act as apologists of the status quo, in society and in the academy. But the science's purview must be broader than plutology. Economics , to be relevant, must be useful in the solution of economic and social problems. In redirecting economists to their basic responsibility, George made a lasting contribution to economic science. He also was a perennial influence on economic scholar, even on some of his most antagonistic critics. But George is neglected because his doctrines were and are a threat to various establishments. However, by force of logic and through clarity of expression, he is a goad to the consciences of all folk of good will.     

The Euro System as a Laboratory for Neoliberalism: The Case of Spain

Since the 1970s, neoliberalism has evolved from ideology to political agenda, from political program to public policy, and from public policy to a system that replaces democratic control over economic policy with a system of elite economic management. This process of change has been possible due to the endorsement of a meta‐political theory that destroys democracy and legitimizes technocratic despotism, financial deregulation, the debasement of labor into a new proletariat, and the purging of constitutional politics. In this article, we analyze this profound transformation of social and legal relations in the “euro system” and, specifically, in the regressive policies that have emerged from the “crisis” in Spain, a peripheral country of the European Union. The problems in contemporary Europe are a direct consequence of the neoliberal version of European economic unity. Their solution will depend on the capacity of the member states to create a social Europe that strengthens institutional democracy and develops universal systems of social protection. This, in turn, will depend on the ability of citizens to remodel state institutions in accordance with new social goals that place life at the center.     

高校理论社团对思想政治教育的载体功能及创新研究

高校理论社团是思想政治教育的重要载体。但随着时代的发展,理论社团在发挥其思想政治教育功能时却面临着各方面的严峻挑战,这必然要求对其进行创新,为促进大学生思想政治教育提供可行的现实举措。本文在分析高校理论社团的思想政治教育载体功能的基础上总结其存在的问题并探讨如何对其进行创新研究。