Tag Archives: state

The Virtues of the Market: Wilhelm Röpke as a Cultural Economist

Posted on August 24, 2019 by Oleg Komlik

by Erwin Dekker* Neoliberalism is often associated with an excessive focus on the market at the expense of both the state and society. A new book Wilhelm Röpke (1899–1966): A Liberal Political Economist and Conservative Social Philosopher, edited by Patricia Commun … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Community members posts | Tagged ‪culture, economics, ethics, ordoliberalism, state | Leave a comment

The Making of Homo Financius and Neoliberal Morality

Posted on August 11, 2019 by Oleg Komlik

“There is [a] set of qualities ascribed to the actions and conduct of mankind, distinct from their propriety or impropriety, their decency or ungracefulness, and which are the objects of a distinct species of approbation and disapprobation. These are Merit … Continue reading →

Posted in Papers | Tagged discourse, financial literacy, financialization, marketization, morality, neoliberalism, state | Leave a comment

The 2019 Zelizer Award for Best Book in Economic Sociology goes to ‘Starving the Beast’ by Monica Prasad

Posted on July 23, 2019 by Oleg Komlik

Northwestern University scholar Monica Prasad is the winner of the 2019 Zelizer Book Award given by the American Sociological Association’s Economic Sociology section for an outstanding book in the field. Prasad will receive the Award for her superb book Starving … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Awards, Books | Tagged economic history, fiscal sociology, institutions, neoliberalism, policy, Political economy, state, taxation, varieties of capitalism | Leave a comment

Are Entrepreneurs Dangerous to the Market Economy more than Marxists?

Posted on July 11, 2019 by Oleg Komlik

Yes — asserts regarding the odd question in the title one of the founders of Ordoliberalism Professor Franz Böhm: “The entrepreneurs […] in contrast with their emphatic declarations in favour of the market economy, are more inclined, at least, to … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Oleg Komlik | Tagged entrepreneurship, Germany, law, markets, Marxism, neoliberalism, socialism, state | 2 Comments

Central Banks, Technocratic Power, and the Fear of Democracy

Posted on September 12, 2018 by Oleg Komlik

Jacqueline Best has an interesting new article that starts with catchy and provocative analogy and then presents thought-provoking discussion and arguments: “What do border guards and central bankers have in common? Both operate, on a day-to-day basis, in political spaces exempt … Continue reading →

Posted in Papers | Tagged central banking, democracy, economics, neoliberalism, state | Leave a comment

Gramsci on the State, the Proprietorial Class, and the Sovereign Laws of Capitalism

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Oleg Komlik

“In the sphere of general capitalist activity, even the worker operates on the plane of free competition, is a citizen-individual. But the starting conditions of the struggle are not equal for all, at the same time: the existence of private … Continue reading →

Posted in Oleg Komlik | Tagged Antonio Gramsci, capitalism, class, power, state | 2 Comments

Marketcraft as the New Statecraft

Posted on March 11, 2018 by Oleg Komlik

by Steven K. Vogel* What if we thought of marketcraft (market governance) as a core government function comparable to statecraft? And what if we sought to optimize market governance rather than to minimize government intervention? I submit that this simple … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Community members posts | Tagged deregulation, embeddedness, institutional change, institutions, liberalization, markets, Political economy, Regulatory State, state | 1 Comment

A Critique of the Critique of Finance: Critics of neoliberal capitalism rarely recognize the productive power of speculation

Posted on February 23, 2018 by Oleg Komlik

by Martijn Konings* If there is one theme that unites the various critiques of contemporary finance, it is the emphasis on its speculative character. Financial growth is said to be driven not by the logic of efficient markets, but rather … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Community members posts | Tagged financial crisis, financial markets, financialization, Hyman Minsky, neoliberalism, speculation, state | Leave a comment

Foucault: Neoliberalism is not laissez-faire, but permanent vigilance, activity, and intervention

Posted on January 29, 2018 by Oleg Komlik

The following Michel Foucault’s sharp insights on neoliberalism were presented during his lecture series “The Birth of Biopolitics” at the Collège de France in 1979 — a few months before Thatcher and Reagan took power, but several decades after Walter Lippmann, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books | Tagged economics, Michel Foucault, neoliberalism, policy, state | 4 Comments

Political Economy of Labor Repression in the United States

Posted on September 12, 2017 by Oleg Komlik

by Andrew Kolin* The task at hand is to place the political economy of repression within the contours of U.S. history and sketch in broad terms how, over time, repression is the product of dynamic and fixed relations between capital and … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Community members posts | Tagged capitalism, economic history, labor, state, United States | Leave a comment

Zygmunt Bauman on Liberalism and Neoliberalism

Posted on January 10, 2017 by Oleg Komlik

Zygmunt Bauman, one of the greatest thinkers of the post-Second World War period, a distinguished sociologist and influential public intellectual, has passed away. He has departed to “liquid eternity”, his family told. This is a sad news and an enormous loss. During … Continue reading →

Posted in Oleg Komlik | Tagged neoliberalism, state, Zygmunt Bauman | 1 Comment

Back to the Future: Authoritarian Neoliberal Regime versus Democratic Social State

Posted on July 27, 2016 by Oleg Komlik

The destiny of the 20th century, especially after the WWII, has been determined and shaped by the multifaceted confrontation between capitalism and ‘communism’, the ‘West’ vis-a-vis the ‘East’. But history did not end in 1991, as some have tried to convince … Continue reading →

Posted in Books | Tagged capitalism, democracy, institutional change, Marxism, neoliberalism, politics, social movements, state | 3 Comments

Ethnographies of austerity

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Oleg Komlik

Austerity is not about numbers, economic data or amorphous macro-scale policies; Austerity is about people. Middle and working-class people, they are the ones who bear the brunt of oppressive neoliberalism and carry the depressing burdens of austerity in their everyday life: increasing unemployment, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books | Tagged austerity, ‪culture, class, debt, ethnography, globalization, neoliberalism, policy, state | 2 Comments

Financialization as a state project

Posted on October 18, 2015 by Oleg Komlik

Financialization is a key feature of neoliberalism. It refers to the capturing impact of financial markets, institutions, actors, instruments and logics on the real economy, labor, households and daily life. Essentially it has significant implications for the broader patterns and functioning of an … Continue reading →

Posted in Papers | Tagged finance, financialization, neoliberalism, policy, Political economy, state, United Kingdom | 2 Comments

Listen to the Athenian Solon: “Our virtue sticks with us and makes us strong, but money changes owners all day long”

Posted on October 14, 2015 by Oleg Komlik

Solon (c. 638 – c. 558 BC) was an Athenian statesman, lawmaker and poet, particularly known for ending exclusive aristocratic control of the government and his efforts to legislate against political, economic, and moral decline in archaic Athens, whose elite was obsessed with wealth, power, and prestige. His first … Continue reading →