Philosophy In The Time Of Economic Crisis

For over 2000 years, economics was studied in the West as a branch of ethics, or moral philosophy. Presently, though, few economists and no textbook in economic orthodoxy claim any close connection between economic science and philosophy. However, might the current ‘crises’ in economics, and in the economics profession have their deep roots in the separation of economics from philosophy and ethics? American pragmatism, among the various contemporary philosophic traditions, lends itself specially to dialogue with economics because of its view of philosophy as an instrument for solving the real, concrete problems of human life, both personal and social. The essays in this volume, drawing heavily on the tradition of pragmatism, suggest that the economic crises of our time (the 2008 collapse of real estate and finance markets) might not be merely technical in nature - that is, the result of faulty applications of economic tools by politicians and policy makers, based up conventional economic models - but also due to the faulty philosophical assumptions underlying those models. These essays suggest that the overcoming of our current economic crises requires that economists once again become moral philosophers, or that philosophers once again engage themselves in economic matters. In either case, this volume aims to foster dialogue between the two disciplines and in that way, contribute to the improvement of contemporary economic life. This book is suitable for those who study political economy, economic theory and economic philosophy.

A look at an economic disaster from a philosophical perspective A decade after the financial crisis, this publication considered the event from the standpoint of philosophy. Moral Responsibility and the Financial Crisis is a Midwest Studies in Philosophy volume that applies analytic philosophy to finance. The issue discusses the normative and meta-ethical challenges brought to light by the crisis. It also explores the individual and collective responsibility for the harm caused during the global economic event.

For a quarter of a century the industrial Western world has been living in the euphoria of continuous improvements in welfare, based on economic programming, increasing integration and terms of trade which favor indus trial countries and discriminate against agricultural regions. It is true that recessions have periodically recurred during these years : time and again, however, government intervention succeeded in reducing them to mere "in ventory cycles". In contrast with the twenties and thirties, when economic policy in the West focused on fighting unemployment and stimulating investment, the postwar period has been characterized by a permanent concern to curb inflationary pressure, which was partly due to full-employ ment. The present welfare economy has given rise to a growth of the pro pensity to consume such that public policy has often been constrained to limit consumption and stimulate saving. In this new framework it has perhaps been forgotten that today's welfare owes much to the lessons from the past. The bitter world crisis experience of the thirties in particular has exerted a fruitful and decisive influence upon the search for means to prevent, eliminate or soften the cyclical fluctuations which the process of economic growth involves. Forty years after the out break of the greatest economic crisis ever, it seems useful to draw up the balancesheet of the lessons learned from it. There exists a large literature about the depression of the thirties.

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, published by the U.S. Government and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in early 2011, is the official government report on the United States financial collapse and the review of major financial institutions that bankrupted and failed, or would have without help from the government. The commission and the report were implemented after Congress passed an act in 2009 to review and prevent fraudulent activity. The report details, among other things, the periods before, during, and after the crisis, what led up to it, and analyses of subprime mortgage lending, credit expansion and banking policies, the collapse of companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the federal bailouts of Lehman and AIG. It also discusses the aftermath of the fallout and our current state. This report should be of interest to anyone concerned about the financial situation in the U.S. and around the world.THE FINANCIAL CRISIS INQUIRY COMMISSION is an independent, bi-partisan, government-appointed panel of 10 people that was created to "examine the causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States." It was established as part of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009. The commission consisted of private citizens with expertise in economics and finance, banking, housing, market regulation, and consumer protection. They examined and reported on "the collapse of major financial institutions that failed or would have failed if not for exceptional assistance from the government."News Dissector DANNY SCHECHTER is a journalist, blogger and filmmaker. He has been reporting on economic crises since the 1980's when he was with ABC News. His film In Debt We Trust warned of the economic meltdown in 2006. He has since written three books on the subject including Plunder: Investigating Our Economic Calamity (Cosimo Books, 2008), and The Crime Of Our Time: Why Wall Street Is Not Too Big to Jail (Disinfo Books, 2011), a companion to his latest film Plunder The Crime Of Our Time. He can be reached online at www.newsdissector.com.

This book directly addresses the social and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. It does so by focusing on both the immediate effects during the pandemic and the lockdowns, as well as the issues related to the long-term social consequences that are likely to result from the economic crisis in the coming years. To date, most philosophical essays and books have focused on the health aspects of the pandemic, and in particular on the fields of medical ethics and public health ethics. Containing a truly international and interdisciplinary group of scholars, a unique and global perspective is offered on the rarely discussed social and economic consequences of the pandemic. This book is of great interest to academic philosophers, but also to researchers from the social sciences. "This collection contributes significantly to our understanding of the ethics of pandemics, drawing our attention to existing injustices and inequities that have been laid bare by the COVID crisis. Perhaps just as important is the way in which it seeks to connect theory to practice. In short, it provides a compelling identification of ethical issues and potential resolutions to injustices highlighted by the pandemic. It would be valuable for anyone working in areas of global justice, social justice, international ethics, immigration, or international political theory." Joshua J. Kassner (Professor, Division of Legal, Ethical and Historical Studies, University of Baltimore) "For those who wish to gain both a deep and wide understanding of the societal consequences of the Covid-19 global pandemic, especially with a focus on ethics and fairness from an expansive array of perspectives, a deep dive into this book will be time well spent. The book deserves to find its footing with as wide an audience as possible. It is both ambitious and timely." Michael J. Stevens (Brady Distinguished Presidential Professor, Weber State University).

For the past decade European countries have undergone a severe economic crisis, with severe consequences both for individuals and for governments. Unemployment and rising poverty have compelled individuals to reconsider their own priorities and goals, while governments have been forced to rethink social policies on the national level, as well as their international economic and political agreements. Some countries have been more deeply affected by the crisis than others, and the impact of economic shortage on individuals and governments has differed, not only because of the different magnitudes of the crisis, but also because individuals react differently to the contextual changes. This book makes use of cross-national survey data to explore the impact of wealth and economic contexts on social values. Instead of attempting to explain how aggregate changes occur (as previous volumes have done) the chapters in this collection focus on micro-level effects to interrogate more deeply the interplay between attitudes and values – and the way both can change as a result of transformation of economic context. This book elaborates on several dimensions of value change: the measurement model and the way it changes under the impact of economic shortage; the connection between universal value orientations and attitudes towards different objects (e.g. the welfare state, immigrants and ethnic groups); the effects of economic factors and vulnerability on values and attitudinal orientations; how particular political and economic contexts produce changes in political orientations. This book focuses on the interrelationship of social values, attitudes and economic scarcity in the context of the last economic crisis experienced by many European countries. It will appeal to scholars and students of sociology, political science and economics.

Controlling inflation is among the most important objectives of economic policy. By maintaining price stability, policy makers are able to reduce uncertainty, improve price-monitoring mechanisms, and facilitate more efficient planning and allocation of resources, thereby raising productivity. This volume focuses on understanding the causes of the Great Inflation of the 1970s and ’80s, which saw rising inflation in many nations, and which propelled interest rates across the developing world into the double digits. In the decades since, the immediate cause of the period’s rise in inflation has been the subject of considerable debate. Among the areas of contention are the role of monetary policy in driving inflation and the implications this had both for policy design and for evaluating the performance of those who set the policy. Here, contributors map monetary policy from the 1960s to the present, shedding light on the ways in which the lessons of the Great Inflation were absorbed and applied to today’s global and increasingly complex economic environment.

What is money? Where does it come from? Who makes our money today? And how can we understand the current state of our economy as a crisis of money itself? In Making Money, Ole Bjerg turns these questions into a matter of philosophical rather than economic analysis. Using the thinking of Slavoj Žižek, while still engaging with mainstream economic literature, the book provides a genuinely philosophical theory of money. This theory is unfolded in reflections on the nature of monetary phenomenon such as financial markets, banks, debt, credit, derivatives, gold, risk, value, price, interests, and arbitrage. The analysis of money is put into an historical context by suggesting that the current financial turbulence and debt crisis are symptoms that we live in the age of post-credit capitalism. By bridging the fields of economics and contemporary philosophy, Bjerg's work engages in a productive form of intellectual arbitrage.