Neoliberalism and the Financialization of Agriculture

2019 ◽  
pp. 49-78
Author(s):  
Anna Chadwick
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Food System ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
Land Grab ◽  
Neoclassical Economic Theory ◽  
Food Commodity

Chapter 2 explores the progressive financialization of the food system since the 1980s and relates this phenomenon to the Neoliberal policy agenda. In addition, the chapter carries out some important theoretical work that informs the analysis throughout the remainder of the book. The author argues that the financialization of the food system can only be understood in the context of broader trends in the financialization of the global economy, which has to be linked to the Neoliberal policy agenda and its relationship to Neoclassical economic theory in order to be fully appreciated. The chapter analyses three additional developments that, together with practices of food commodity speculation, are significant in the financialization of agriculture: the growing importance of finance in shaping the operations of global value chains; the global land grab that has seen financial investors gaining control over large tracts of agricultural land; and the rise of microcredit as a mechanism that is incorporating populations in the Global South into the logics of financial markets.

The Twenty-First Century Agricultural Land Rush

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Thaler
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
First Century ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Land Grab ◽  
Investment Capital ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Political Economic

The 2007–2008 global food crisis has been followed by a rapid acceleration in large-scale agricultural land deals, which activists have labeled a “global land grab.” This chapter explores the origins of this twenty-first century agricultural land rush, its geography, and the responses it has engendered. The origins of the land rush are located in interlinked food, financial, and ecological crises that are indicative of fundamental shifts in the global political economy. In response to these crises, land grabbing represents an effort to reconstruct a stable political-economic order, both on the part of investment capital seeking to relaunch accumulation and on the part of political actors and companies seeking to secure stable supplies of food and energy. The geography of the land rush is analyzed through the interrelated variables of land availability, the structural position of a country in the global economy, and a country’s domestic institutional structure. Finally, the main theoretical positions in the debate over land deals are linked to distinct political responses. The real historical significance of the structural changes behind the agricultural land rush suggests that the implications of the land rush will be both durable and systemic.

International trade: Research of the reasons for the fall

2019 ◽  
pp. 79-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. S. Nazarov ◽  
S. S. Lazaryan ◽  
I. V. Nikonov ◽  
A. I. Votinov
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
International Trade ◽  
Exchange Rate ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Negative Contribution ◽  
Basic Commodity ◽  
The Impact

The article assesses the impact of various factors on the growth rate of international trade. Many experts interpreted the cross-border flows of goods decline against the backdrop of a growing global economy as an alarming sign that indicates a slowdown in the processes of globalization. To determine the reasons for the dynamics of international trade, the decompositions of its growth rate were carried out and allowed to single out the effect of the dollar exchange rate, the commodities prices and global value chains on the change in the volume of trade. As a result, it was discovered that the most part of the dynamics of international trade is due to fluctuations in the exchange rate of the dollar and prices for basic commodity groups. The negative contribution of trade within global value chains in 2014 was also revealed. During the investigated period (2000—2014), such a picture was observed only in the crisis periods, which may indicate the beginning of structural changes in the world trade.

IRVING FISHER AND THE MECHANISTIC CHARACTER OF TWENTIETH CENTURY ACCOUNTING THOUGHT

1995 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Mouck
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
World View ◽  
Neoclassical Economic ◽  
Neoclassical Economics ◽  
Newtonian Mechanics ◽  
Neoclassical Economic Theory

This paper provides an overview of the influence of Newtonian mechanics on the development of neoclassical economic theory and highlights Fisher's role in the popularization of the resulting mechanical conception of economics. The paper also portrays Fisher's The Nature of Capital and Income — a work which has been aptly characterized as the “first economic theory of accounting” — as the first move toward the colonization of accounting by economics. The result of Fisher's influence has been a paradigmatic linkage between the Newtonian world view of science, neoclassical economics, and mainstream academic accounting thought. The picture that emerges from this linkage is then used as a backdrop against which the emerging challenges to economics-based accounting thought are highlighted.

“Community Interests” and the Role of International Law in the Creation of a Global Market for Agricultural Land

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jochen von Bernstorff
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Land Grab ◽  
Large Scale Land ◽  
The One

The chapter explores the notion of “community interests” with regard to the global “land-grab” phenomenon. Over the last decade, a dramatic increase of foreign investment in agricultural land could be observed. Bilateral investment treaties protect around 75 per cent of these large-scale land acquisitions, many of which came with associated social problems, such as displaced local populations and negative consequences for food security in Third World countries receiving these large-scale foreign investments. Hence, two potentially conflicting areas of international law are relevant in this context: Economic, social, and cultural rights and the principles of permanent sovereignty over natural resources and “food sovereignty” challenging large-scale investments on the one hand, and specific norms of international economic law stabilizing them on the other. The contribution discusses the usefulness of the concept of “community interests” in cases where the two colliding sets of norms are both considered to protect such interests.

scholarly journals Amplified risk of spatially compounding droughts during co-occurrences of modes of natural ocean variability

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jitendra Singh ◽  
Moetasim Ashfaq ◽  
Christopher B. Skinner ◽  
Weston B. Anderson ◽  
Deepti Singh
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Food System ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Ocean Variability ◽  
Positive Indian Ocean Dipole ◽  
Precipitation Seasonality ◽  
Multiple Regions ◽  
Climate Model Simulations

AbstractSpatially compounding droughts over multiple regions pose amplifying pressures on the global food system, the reinsurance industry, and the global economy. Using observations and climate model simulations, we analyze the influence of various natural Ocean variability modes on the likelihood, extent, and severity of compound droughts across ten regions that have similar precipitation seasonality and cover important breadbaskets and vulnerable populations. Although a majority of compound droughts are associated with El Niños, a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, and cold phases of the Atlantic Niño and Tropical North Atlantic (TNA) can substantially modulate their characteristics. Cold TNA conditions have the largest amplifying effect on El Niño-related compound droughts. While the probability of compound droughts is ~3 times higher during El Niño conditions relative to neutral conditions, it is ~7 times higher when cold TNA and El Niño conditions co-occur. The probability of widespread and severe compound droughts is also amplified by a factor of ~3 and ~2.5 during these co-occurring modes relative to El Niño conditions alone. Our analysis demonstrates that co-occurrences of these modes result in widespread precipitation deficits across the tropics by inducing anomalous subsidence, and reducing lower-level moisture convergence over the study regions. Our results emphasize the need for considering interactions within the larger climate system in characterizing compound drought risks rather than focusing on teleconnections from individual modes. Understanding the physical drivers and characteristics of compound droughts has important implications for predicting their occurrence and characterizing their impacts on interconnected societal systems.

A Modern Kaleckian-Keynesian Framework for Economic Theory and Policy

2013 ◽  
pp. 309-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Arestis ◽  
Malcolm Sawyer
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Monetary Policy ◽  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Labor Markets ◽  
Macroeconomic Policy ◽  
Financial Policy ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
Macroeconomic Policies ◽  
John Maynard Keynes ◽  
Main Instrument

Macroeconomic policies come from the “vision” of the ways in which an economy works. A “vision” of the economy where unemployment is a frequent occurrence gives rise to quite different policies from a “vision” of the economy in which there is little room for unemployment of labor, as, for example, in the New Classical macroeconomics. The macroeconomic vision that underlies the policy agenda of this chapter is described as Kaleckian-Keynesian, as it draws on the works and ideas of Michal Kalecki and John Maynard Keynes and others that approach the matter in a similar fashion. This chapter explores a modern Kaleckian-Keynesian framework for economic theory and policy. It first discusses fiscal policy, the main instrument of macroeconomic policy, before turning to monetary policy as well as financial policy, inflation, and policies that relate to product markets and labor markets.

scholarly journals The institutional development of International Association of Academies of Sciences: from scientific councils to international scientific-technological consortia

2020 ◽  
pp. 4-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr A. Vityaz ◽  
Vyacheslav K. Shcherbin
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
International Association ◽  
Institutional Development ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Institutional Structures ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Stable Source ◽  
To Receive

The article considers the history of creation of formal and informal institutional structures of International Association of the Academies of sciences (IAAS) the functioning of which is based on the technological chains of cognition that are characteristic of traditional disciplinary science. The differences between the technological chains of cognition and the global value chains that have developed in the global economy are shown. The prospects of combining the chains of these types within the framework of international scientific and technological consortia, which are more consistent with the requirements of modern technoscience, are determined. The conclusion is substantiated that the creation of a number of international scientific-technological consortia on the basis of scientific councils of association will allow IAAS to receive a stable source of its additional financing.

scholarly journals The Theory of Agricultural Price Bubble & Price Crash in Global Economy

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 168
Author(s):  
M.B. Dastagiri ◽  
L. Bhavigna
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Wholesale Price ◽  
Price Transmission ◽  
Price Fluctuations ◽  
Agricultural Prices ◽  
Forecasting Models ◽  
Price Bubble ◽  
Agricultural Price

Agricultural prices play greater role in living Economics. Since many decades’ farmers faced declining agricultural prices and low prices in developing countries. Therefore, in these countries agricultural price policies are under closer appraisal.  Government and policy makers worry about inflation. Economic precision is required in determining prices. This understanding led to conception of the study. The specific objectives are to review various agricultural price theories, research evidences and construct the theory of agricultural price bubble and crash and their effect on macro economy and suggest measures to improve. The study reviews various agricultural price theories, concepts, policies, research gaps and do meta-analysis and formulated the theory of Agricultural prices bubble and price crash. Since 1950, many development economists and practitioners prophesy in developing countries is that low agricultural commodities prices discourage poverty alleviation. Many countries are unable to make successful pricing policies due to there is not enough operative methodological and theoretical support for decision-making. According to the economic theory of cooperativism, the entities come closer to the pecking order theory. Unexpected changes and changes in regulations can have significant impact on the profitability of farming activities. “Demand channel" is the crucial factor in elucidation of commodity price growth. Future prices moments in agriculture have fat-tailed distributions and display quick and unpredicted price jumps. World Trade Organization study highlights the importance of strengthening multilateral disciplines on both import and export trade interventions to food price fluctuations to reduce beggar-thy-neighbor unilateral trade policy. The theory of NAFTA regionalism did not lead to regionalization and not increasing share of intraregional international trade. In EU countries land rents in modern agriculture causing upward trend in agricultural land prices. Information friction, agricultural supports, agricultural price & trade policies, agricultural price transmission are responsible price fluctuations. In economic theory, asymmetric price transmission has been the subject of considerable attention in agricultural gaps. Selection of forecasting models are based on chaos theory. Chaos in agricultural wholesale price data provides a good theoretical basis for selecting forecasting models. This theory can be applied to agricultural prices forecasting. Novelties in agricultural products fluctuations research offer scientific basis in planning of agricultural production.

scholarly journals The crisis in economics – nature and ways to overcome it

2019 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-37
Author(s):  
A. D. Nekipelov
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Economic System ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Economic Science ◽  
Mainstream Economic ◽  
Pure Science ◽  
Economic Problems ◽  
Neoclassical Economic Theory ◽  
Multiple Alternative ◽  
Alternative Approaches

Recent decades have witnessed an upsurge in multiple alternative approaches to unraveling major economic problems, together with the mainstream economic theory, which in this study has been considered an indicator of economic crisis. In this study, we attribute institutional stasis, as well as methodological heterogeneity of its two constituent sections, micro- and macroeconomics, to the primary drawbacks of neoclassical economic theory. Overcoming the crisis of economic science correlates with the creation of a general economic theory on the principles of “pure science,” with elucidated functions of various socioeconomic disciplines. If “pure economic theory” intends to form an intellectual layout of the economic system, then the “realistic sciences,” also including modern macroeconomics in this study, are tools for analyzing specific socioeconomic phenomena and processes. As people with consciousness and interests act in the society, this study postulates the existence of a certain zone of ambiguity, which cannot be entirely covered.

scholarly journals ECONOMIC CRISIS THEORY OR ECONOMIC THEORY CRISIS?

2018 ◽  
pp. 28-35
Author(s):  
ELGUJA MEKVABISHVILI
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Stationary Regime ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Crisis Theory ◽  
Neoclassical Economic Theory ◽  
The Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Problematic Aspect

The global financial crisis has brought a new impulse to the discussion of the problem of economic crisis. Economists have divided into two groups - one group believes the main reason for the crisis is the failure of economic theory. The second group thinks that economists have not been charged in the formation of economic crisis. The most problematic aspect of the economic crisis is their prediction. Mainstream neoclassical economic theory completely excludes the possibility of predicting crises. In the analysis of this issue, we use the concepts: “point prediction”, “prediction corridor”, “stationary regime” of economy functioning, and N. Kondratiev’s Great Cycles Conjunction Theory. There is possible to define the “prediction’s corridors” within the stationary regimes of economy functioning. In these periods the economy is characterized with high quality of volatility. By observing the main economic indicators in these periods, we think, it is possible to predict the approximate date of the economic crisis.

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