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43631. The new old choice for economic policymakers in Belarus

Author:
Alexander Chubrik
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
In 2011, the Belarusian ruble lost nearly 2/3 of its value. In December, the inflation rate approached 110% yoy. At the same time, the economy grew by 5.3% that year and continued with 3.6% yoy growth in January 2012. Is this a sign of economic recovery? Will it turn into sustainable growth? Or has the country exited from the crisis at all? To address these questions, CASE Fellow and Director of the IPM Research Centre in Minsk Alexander Chubrik looks at the roots of the 2011 crisis and compares them with the features of the long-lasting period of economic growth in Belarus.
Topic:
Globalization, Economic Growth, Inflation, Trade, and Economic Integration
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe and Belarus

43632. What Can Arab Countries Learn From Post-communist Transition?

Author:
Marek Dabrowski
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
More than a year has passed since the beginning of the political uprising against the authoritarian regimes in the Arab world. But, as demonstrated by the recent dramatic developments in Syria, the process is far from over. Meanwhile nations which have already freed themselves from their authoritarian rulers (Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen), must decide where to go and how to manage their political and economic changes. To a lesser extent, a similar challenge is being faced by those constitutional monarchies (like Morocco or Jordan) which accelerated reforms in order to avoid political destabilization. Many politicians and experts, especially those from Central and Eastern Europe, suggest their Arab colleagues learn from the experience of the postcommunist transition of the early 1990s. However, while learning from others is always a useful exercise, the geopolitical and socio-economic context of the Arab revolution seems to be different, in many respects, from that of former Soviet bloc countries more than twenty years ago.
Topic:
Development, Authoritarianism, Arab Spring, and Post-Soviet Space
Political Geography:
Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Arab Countries

43633. Will Europe Fall into a Japanese-Style Stagnation Trap?

Author:
Peter Harrold
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
Can Europe avoid falling in to a Japanese-style stagnation trap? In this type of trap, we see a repeated cycle of a financial crisis leading to a fiscal crisis, leading to a decline in consumer and investor confidence, and a resulting fall in demand. The decline in growth that inevitably follows simply causes the cycle to repeat itself. In theory, this should lead to improved competitiveness, but in Japan the forces of decline outweighed any boost in export demand. This E-brief is based on Peter Harrold’s presentation at the CASE 2011 International Conference on "Europe 2000: Exploring the Future of European Integration" held on November 18-19, 2011.
Topic:
Financial Crisis, Crisis Management, Economic Policy, Exports, Macroeconomics, and Strategic Competition
Political Geography:
Japan, Europe, and Asia

43634. The need for contingency planning: potential scenarios of Eurozone disintegration

Author:
Marek Dabrowski
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
Since the beginning of 2010, the common currency area in Europe found itself under serious strain as a consequence of the sovereign debt crisis in several member states. While a substantial political and financial effort has been made to avoid a collapse of the Euro project, its ultimate outcome remains uncertain due to continuous financial market pressures and political challenges faced by individual member states. Therefore, one cannot entirely rule out the possibility of either a partial or total breakup of the Eurozone, even if such a demise would bring about disastrous economic and political consequences for the entire EU and its external partners.
Topic:
Debt, European Union, Economic Policy, Macroeconomics, and Eurozone
Political Geography:
Europe

43635. The Impact of Remittances on Poland’s Economy

Author:
Irena Topińska, Katarzyna Pietka-Kosinska, and Luca Barbone
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
This E-Brief reports on the results obtained with respect to the macroeconomic impact of remittances (simulated through a macro model of the Polish economy), as well as their effect at the household level and in terms of their regional distribution. The authors show that remittances have had a significant and positive impact on the Polish economy, and that the impact can be expected to increase with the expected rise in labor mobility in Europe over the next few years. This E-Brief is a summary of the report titled “Wpływ przepływów pieniężnych na polską gospodarkę w latach 1992-2012 – raport Western Union, przygotowany przez Centrum Analiz Społeczno-Ekonomicznych - CASE”, (Effects of Remittances on the Polish economy in the years 1992-2012 – report Western Union, prepared by CASE).
Topic:
Finance, Economy, Macroeconomics, and Remittances
Political Geography:
Europe and Poland

43636. How to improve the economic and social performance of Eastern and Southern Mediterranean countries

Author:
Luc De Wulf and Marek Dabrowski
Publication Date:
11-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
The Eastern and Southern Mediterranean region has many advantages. Its proximity to European markets and its strategic location along the Mediterranean Sea help facilitate the trade of goods among Europe, Asia and Africa. The region has great historical and civilizational importance. It also has plentiful supplies of oil and natural gas resources and great demographic potential. Yet despite these many advantages, the Eastern and Southern Mediterranean region remains relatively backward in economic and social terms and is rightly considered a potential source of social and political instability. In this brief the authors analyze the key challenges facing the MED11 countries and propose policy measures that could improve the region’s economic and social performance.
Topic:
Markets, Macroeconomics, Trade, Economic Integration, and Instability
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Asia, and Mediterranean

43637. The Insistence of the Material: Theorizing Materiality and Biopolitics in the Era of Globalization

Author:
Christopher Breu
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:
In what follows, then, I will first provide a brief account of the value and limits of the cultural turn. I will then map out some of the trajectories of the recent material turn, putting it in dialogue with older materialist approaches and suggesting the ways in which we can draw on both older and newer approaches to the question of materiality in order to theorize the bodies, objects, biopolitics, political ecology, and political economy in our globalizing present.
Topic:
Politics, Culture, and Material Culture
Political Geography:
Global Focus

43638. An Interdisciplinary Forum on Time and Globalization

Author:
Christopher Breu
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:
How do globalization and temporality relate to one another? This was the question addressed by a 2011 workshop sponsored by Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition (IGHC) at McMaster University. In the past, globalization and temporality have both been characterized as moving forward independently of human volition, carrying all of us along in their flow. Now there are large literatures challenging this view, and showing how globalization and time are constructed and modified by humans. However, with some important exceptions (Harvey 1990, Sassen 2000, Appadurai 2005, Bauman 2000), the literatures on globalization and on temporality have developed separately from one another. It is important to bring these literatures into closer dialogue, because a great many urgent issues in contemporary human affairs involve interactions between temporality and globalization. These range from individual-level questions, such as managing the accelerated pace of everyday life, to large epochal problems, such as climate change, that may not always be readily apprehended, but are no less significant. The workshop participants, drawing on their backgrounds in a variety of academic disciplines, addressed the relationship between temporality and globalization in a variety of settings. Six of the papers presented at this workshop are gathered in this IGHC Working Paper. The assembled papers, individually and jointly, identify a number of themes of particular relevance to any comprehensive discussion of globalization and time. By way of introduction, it is useful to briefly consider how the most prominent of these themes are addressed by the contributors.
Topic:
Globalization, Human Development, and Time
Political Geography:
Global Focus

43639. Africa Capacity Indicators 2012: Capacity Development for Agricultural Transformation and Food Security

Publication Date:
01-2012
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)
Abstract:
In Africa, the challenges impacting on the agricultural sector growth are multi-faceted. They include but are not limited to, an over-dependence on rainfall, weak capacity to respond to shocks, political governance, choice of crops, changing needs and changing food habits due to globalization, land degradation, land renting and sale to foreign companies. All of these contribute to an unnecessary level of food insecurity. The aforementioned are exacerbated by the low level of commitment to the sector in terms of policy and physical and human investment, especially in Agricultural Research, Extension and Education. This is coupled with the ineffectiveness and inefficiency in the supply side of the Agricultural Knowledge and Information System (AKIS) – institutional and process – and the absence of an organized and structured demand side of AKIS – the farmers.
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, Food, and Food Security
Political Geography:
Africa

43640. Women Count: Security Council Resolution 1325: Civil Society Monitoring Report 2012

Publication Date:
10-2012
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP)
Abstract:
The Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP) brings together 67 women’s organisations and networks and aims to bridge the gap between policy discussions and implementation and action on the ground on women, peace and security issues. GNWP’s work focuses on the following objectives: ▶ Enhance women’s capacities to use legal mechanisms available at the international, regional and national levels in order to protect their rights and ensure their participation in decision-making, peace building, conflict prevention and reconstruction; ▶ Enhance capacity amongst civil society, especially women’s civil society, to conduct effective monitoring, mobilize and advocate for effective policy implementation; ▶ Bring visibility to women’s issues and concerns on peace and security and amplify their voices at the national, regional and global levels; ▶ Support effective implementation of UNSCR 1325, 1820 and the supporting Women, Peace and Security resolutions particularly at the national level; ▶ Bolster Member State (MS) accountability in a range of ways and fora, which go beyond UNSCR 1325 anniversaries every October.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Gender Issues, United Nations, Peacekeeping, Women, Peace, and WPS
Political Geography:
Global Focus