Chris Rogers

Use of Coniothyrium minitans as a biocontrol agent and some molecular aspects of sclerotial mycoparasitism

The use of the sclerotial mycoparasite Coniothyrium minitans as a biological control agent of diseases caused by sclerotium-forming pathogens especially Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is briefly reviewed. A number of studies have examined production and application methods, integrated control, ecology, and modes of action in order to understand the biology of the mycoparasite and enhance activity and reproducibility of use. Recently, development of a number of molecular-based techniques has begun to allow the examination of genes involved in mycoparasitism. Some of these procedures have been applied to identify pathogenicity genes involved in the infection of sclerotia of S. sclerotiorum by C. minitans and this work is discussed.

From social contract to 'social contrick' : the depoliticisation of economic policy-making under Harold Wilson, 1974–75

The 1974–79 Labour governments were elected on the basis of an agreement with the TUC promising a redistribution of income and wealth known as the Social Contract. However, the government immediately began to marginalise these commitments in favour of preferences for incomes policy and public expenditure cuts, which has led the Social Contract to be described as the ‘Social Contrick’. These changes were legitimised through a process of depoliticisation, and using an Open Marxist framework and evidence from the National Archives, the article will show that the Treasurys exchange rate strategy and the need to secure external finance placed issues of confidence at the centre of political debate, allowing the government to argue that there was no alternative to the introduction of incomes policy and the reduction of public expenditure.

Crisis, Ideas, and Economic Policy-making in Britain during the 1970s Stagflation

This article examines the relationship between crisis, ideas, and economic policy-making in Britain during the 1970s stagflation, looking specifically at the turbulent years 1974–76. It argues that existing ideas-based approaches either fail to define ‘idea’ with any precision, or explain both the causes and resolution of the crisis in terms of competition between ideas, and therefore appear tautological. Instead, the article develops an Open Marxist framework suggesting that crises should be understood as an inherent systemic feature of capitalist social relations, which requires constant management so that governments can simultaneously achieve international financial market credibility and domestic political legitimacy. It uses this framework to produce an interpretation of economic policy change in Britain during the 1970s that argues policy-making was problematised in terms of the competing demands of international financial market credibility and domestic political legitimacy, and not in terms of a debate about economic ideas conducted in a context of crisis.

‘Hang on a Minute, I've Got a Great Idea’: From the Third Way to Mutual Advantage in the Political Economy of the British Labour Party

The article considers the reasons why New Labours political economy failed to insulate Britain from the economic crisis that emerged in 2007, and the characteristics of a political economy platform that would provide Labour with a solid base for a progressive social democratic programme moving forward. The article argues that Third Way political economy failed to appreciate or address the inherent crisis dynamics of market economies, especially the extent to which profit-seeking behaviour tends to contradict social interests more broadly conceived. The article argues that mutual organisation offers an opportunity to mute the crisis dynamics in capital by re-establishing links between production and community, and that the Labour party should seize on this opportunity at a moment of crisis to form the basis of a progressive programme of social democratic reform.

Economic policy and the problem of sterling under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan

Sterlings status in the world economy has often been conceived as a problem for British economic policy making because of its sensitivity to fluctuations in market confidence. In contrast, this paper demonstrates how the appearance of sterling weakness conveyed political advantages for the Wilson/Callaghan government. It shows how the fall in the value of the pound in 1975 and 1976—typically viewed as symptomatic of the ‘problem’ of sterling—actually allowed the core executive to justify the implementation of deflationary policies while minimising political dissent until the resolution of the IMF crisis, at which point sterlings recovery removed this buttress, and laid the foundations of the Winter of Discontent.

From union legislation to financial reform : a reflection on Thatcherism, capital and the British state

In the days and weeks following the death of Margaret Thatcher, a broad range of views about her legacy were expressed in various forums, nearly all of which, for better or worse, emphasised the significance of Thatcherism. This paper reflects on this legacy through an examination of industrial relations policy, macro-economic policy and financial reform, and argues that the Thatcher governments’ primary significance lies in the means by which the interests of labour were subordinated to the end of accumulation, rather than the attempt to achieve these ends as such. Instead, it identifies continuity in attempts by the British state to co-opt or subordinate labour, and argues that the demonization of Thatcherism diverts attention from more fundamental questions about the exploitative and crisis-prone nature of capitalist social relations.

CONTROL OF SCLEROTIAL PATHOGENS WITH THE MYCOPARASITE CONIOTHYRIUM MINITANS

Pressure to reduce the use of chemicals in the environment has led to the search for alternative sustainable methods to control soil-borne pathogens, especially those plant pathogens that form long-lived resting bodies (sclerotia). Mycoparasites that attack sclerotia have been explored as biocon- trol agents of these pathogens and some mycoparasites such as Coniothyrium minitans and Trichoderma species have been the focus of particular study. This paper reviews recent developments in the use, ecology, impact and modes of action of C. minitans especially against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum that may be influential in improving reproducibility of disease control in the future. Some studies of the use of Trichoderma viride to control Allium white rot caused by Sclerotium cepivorum are also discussed.

Mainstreaming social finance: The regulation of the peer-to-peer lending marketplace in the United Kingdom

The article provides one of the first political economy accounts of the regulation of peer-to-peer (P2P) lending in the United Kingdom, drawing on interviews with platforms representing the vast majority of the market at the beginning of the regulatory process. The article links the regulation of P2P lending with debates about regulatory capture. It challenges conventional understandings of its consequences by showing how the regulation of P2P lending displays characteristics of regulatory capture but appears to have realised several aspects of regulators’ visions for a ‘socially useful finance’, rather than facilitating the kind of rent-seeking behaviour that has been identified in the case of other areas of finance. P2P lending is found to represent one of the latest forms of consumer and small business finance that works towards so-called ‘financial inclusion’, with ambiguous social outcomes that necessitate further critical investigation.

The Political Economy of British Social Democracy after New Labour

This section examines the reasons why New Labours political economy failed to insulate Britain from the recent economic crisis, and what the basis for building sustainable social democracy in the UK might be moving forward.

Global finance and capital adequacy requirements : recreating capitalist social relations

The paper argues that capital adequacy regulation has served to recreate the neoliberal form of capitalist social relations. It identifies two dimensions to this process. First, the paper argues that capital adequacy regulation in historical perspective can be understood to have incentivized, facilitated, and legitimated the kind of arbitrage that allow it to proceed. Second, it argues revisions to capital adequacy requirements serve to discipline mutual and cooperative forms of finance. JEL Classification: G28, P13, P16