James Juniper

Foucault and Spinoza: philosophies of immanence and the decentred political subject

Deleuze has suggested that Spinoza and Foucault share common concerns, particularly the notion of immanence and their mutual hostility to theories of subjective intentionality and contract-based theories of state power. This article explores these shared concerns. On the one hand Foucaults view of governmentality and its re-theorization of power, sovereignty and resistance provide insights into how humans are constituted as individualized subjects and how populations are formed as subject to specific regimes or mentalities of government. On the other, Spinoza was concerned with how humans organized themselves into communities capable of self-government. In particular, his idea of immanent causality was crucial because central to his ideas of freedom and power. We argue that Spinozas approach to power and causality prefigures ideas developed by Foucault in his theory of governmentality, especially with respect to his biopolitical rethinking of power and resistance.

Modern monetary theory: contributions and critics

Abstract: Over the past decade or so, a number of post Keynesians have been critical of modern monetary theory (MMT) despite MMT being a part of the post Keynesian tradition. In this paper we argue that the incorporation of MMT principles enhances the post Keynesian theoretical and policy framework. We substantiate this claim by (1) outlining the common theoretical elements that unite post Keynesian and MMT advocates; (2) addressing post Keynesian claims regarding the MMT interpretation of money and the monetary system; and (3) examining the differing perspectives on the role of fiscal policy to achieve sustained full employment.

Environmental Innovation: A Post Keynesian Interpretation

It is argued that mainstream economics, with its present methodological approach, is limited in its ability to analyze and develop adequate public policy to deal with current environmental problems and sustainable development. This book provides an alternative approach. Building on the strengths and insights of Post Keynesian and ecological economics and incorporating cutting edge work in such areas as economic complexity, bounded rationality and socio-economic dynamics, the contributors to this book provide a trans-disciplinary approach to deal with a broad range of environmental concerns.

Reformation or exodus: Assessing the future of the Euro

Eurozone economies were the most adversely affected by the Global Financial Crisis, with forecast macroeconomic outcomes still highly uncertain. This article argues first that the Eurozone policy framework can be viewed as neo-liberalism overlaid with policy constraints associated with a mis-specified Optimum Currency Area. We are critical of this framework since it is incompatible with the policy sovereignty that is experienced, if not utilised, by sovereign economies such as the USA, UK and Australia. Second, recent and proposed policy reforms which generally lie within the constraints of the Eurozone framework are examined. We conclude that these policies are piecemeal and fail to restore policy sovereignty, which ultimately requires that member countries exit the Eurozone. Key issues associated with such an exit are briefly discussed.

Towards a spatial Keynesian economics

What would a Post Keynesian economist see as being the appropriate macroeconomic policy goals of the state? If we polled macroeconomists of all ideological persuasions, and asked them to outline the major macroeconomic policy objectives then the following consensus would probably emerge: (a) full employment; (b) price stability; (c) a robustly sustainable rate of economic growth; and (d) maintaining an equilibrium balance of payments. While these goals are so general that they lack clarity and are regularly used by different economists in ways that do not permit meaningful dialogue, we can use them to motivate our discussion.

The Job Guarantee and Eurozone Stabilisation

Government macroeconomic policy is typically assessed against fiscal accounting imperatives; so called ‘sound’ finance. Modern Monetary Theory, which is underpinned by the principles of chartalism and functional finance, shows that sound finance is not useful for prescriptive policy since it fails to distinguish between (1) a sovereign currency government and non-sovereign currency government and (2) financing (initial finance) and funding (final finance). Instead, the Modern Money/Circuit theoretic approach reframes the debate regarding the appropriate (functional) conduct of fiscal and monetary policy, and is sensitive to specific institutional arrangements. The framework allows for a more informed and robust debate vis-a-vis finance and the Job Guarantee. This chapter engages in this debate by unpacking and extending the arguments of Harvey (2013) and Wray (2013) in the previous edited volume to critically assess the options and implications—macroeconomic and financial—of financing and funding the Job Guarantee for a sovereign currency and non-sovereign currency (Eurozone) government.

Ontological and Computational Aspects of Economic-Environmental Modelling

The paper examines economic-environmental modelling from a computational perspective. It considers the relationship between foundational and reference ontologies, warning that the philosophical implications of making an ontological commitment are often far from benign. In particular, it considers the proximity between foundational ontologies motivated by Husserlian phenomenology and neo-Austrian economic thought. Doubts are raised about capital theory in the modelling of economic-environmental interactions. A range of philosophical approaches towards environmental sustainability are also discussed in terms of their congruence with different schools of economic thought. Computational and mathematical aspects of modelling are then considered.

Machine dreaming: an environmental perspective

Mirowskis Machine Dreaming provides an invaluable critical history of the post-war development of economic theory under the influence of military-funded Cold War research into the cybernetic sciences. However, this reviewer argues that in restricting the scope of his historical analysis to the influence of the natural sciences over the development of economic thought, Mirowski has neglected a variety of traditions within cybernetics and systems theory that draw on the philosophy of language. Moreover, the paper traces the influence these neglected traditions have exerted over various strands of economic analysis. Finally, these strands of economic theory are interrogated to identify various ways they have influenced the development of richer and more comprehensive notions of environmental sustainability.

Knowledge Sharing in the Industrial Milieu

Despite the recent massive reduction in communication costs, and the talk of virtual organisations, the empirical evidence shows that geographically clustered companies are more innovative. This paper highlights the possible reasons for this by focusing on the knowledge sharing problems that reside within the networks between companies. It draws on the evolutionary economics perspective of innovation, which includes an understanding of the learning process that occurs in the industrial milieu or atmosphere between companies and how they share tacit core competencies. This milieu enables tacit to tacit knowledge sharing to operate in that wicked problem domain that arises when a specific product development or process improvement problem has not even been defined. It is an important topic, and one that needs some management, not only because this milieu appears to be the main source of innovation, but also because it underlines some of the complexities of tacit knowledge management.