With an endorsement by Olivier Blanchard, former chief economist of the IMF
ANTI-BLANCHARD MACROECONOMICS. A COMPARATIVE APPROACH. By Emiliano Brancaccio (University of Sannio) with Andrea Califano (IUSS Pavia and SSSUP Pisa). Presentation by Mauro Gallegati. Preface by Robert Skidelsky. With an endorsement by Olivier Blanchard. Edward Elgar Publishing (UK and US) 2018, pp. 176. ISBN: 9781788118996.
Contents: Presentation by Mauro Gallegati – Preface by Robert Skidelsky – Acknowledgements – 1. Introduction – 2. Blanchard’s AS-AD model – 3. The alternative model – 4. Blanchard’s “new approach”: the IS-LM-PC model – 5. The competing approaches: theory and policy – Appendix I: Labour flexibility and unemployment by Domenico Suppa – Appendix II: Contractionary fiscal policy and multipliers by Andrea Califano and Fabiana De Cristofaro – Further readings – Index.
Critical acclaim: “When Emiliano asked me to endorse Anti-Blanchard Macroeconomics, I was a bit taken aback. You can guess why. But I agree with him that we should always question our assumptions, confront them with the facts, and be open to change if the facts dictate it. Questions such as whether we can expect the economy to return to health by itself, whether recessions have permanent adverse effects, whether the interest rate channel of monetary policy works, are essential ones. For the time being, I stand by the conclusions of my textbook, but I am happy and indeed eager to see them challenged” (Olivier Blanchard). “Beyond its provocative title, the Anti-Blanchard raises constructive critiques of our approach to macroeconomics teaching” (Alessia Amighini and Francesco Giavazzi, coauthors of the European edition of Blanchard’s Macroeconomics). “Even if designed for students, this textbook offers food for thought also to researchers interested in reopening a debate on the foundations of contemporary macroeconomics” (Mauro Gallegati). “The Anti-Blanchard increases variety in macroeconomic theory: it shows what is wrong with the dominant theory and draws attention to its alternatives” (Heinz D. Kurz). “The fact that one of the cardinals of pre-crash macroeconomic orthodoxy is willing to commend this heterodox text, is evidence of the mess in which orthodox macroeconomics finds itself after the collapse of 2007-09” (Robert Skidelsky).
Estratto da “Il Giornale” del 21 luglio 2018
“[…] Dobbiamo puntare ai borghesi buoni. Marchionne parla della risposta ai problemi dell’impresa, non scaricando sui lavoratori e sul sindacato, ma assumendola su di sé […]”. (Fausto Bertinotti)
“[…] Alcuni intellettuali e politici hanno etichettato Marchionne come ‘cattivo manager’, che investe poco e punta solo ad abbattere il costo del lavoro. C’è del vero in queste accuse, ma bisogna rendersi conto che esse sono superficiali. In un certo senso potremmo considerarle simmetriche all’affrettato elogio del ‘capitalista buono’ che gli veniva rivolto non moltissimo tempo fa. La verità è che Marchionne non è né buono né cattivo: egli è solo una equazione, è una mera funzione del meccanismo di riproduzione del capitale. Finché a un manager viene concesso, questi minaccerà sempre di effettuare investimenti lì dove le opportunità di sfruttamento del lavoro e i relativi profitti sono maggiori […]”. (Emiliano Brancaccio)
MARKETS DO NOT COUNT MORE THAN DEMOCRACY
Financial Times, 5 June 2018
by Emiliano Brancaccio (Sannio University, Italy) and Mauro Gallegati (Marche Polytechnic University, Italy)
The political crisis in Italy has reopened the Pandora’s box of eurozone instability and brought to the fore the unresolved problems that we and many others had already highlighted in the Economists’ Warning (FT September 23, 2013). We have always considered the rise of reactionary, ultranationalist and xenophobic political parties in Europe to be disastrous. But an equally great danger is that voters have the feeling that their choices count less than the bets of financial market players. In order to alleviate this risk it is necessary to take all the available measures of “financial repression” to reduce the interference of market volatility on future political decisions on the single currency […]
Read the full letter here
In italiano, si veda anche l’intervista a Emiliano Brancaccio su Micromega del 30 maggio 2018: “Applicare subito l’art. 65 del Trattato sul funzionamento dell’UE per il controllo dei movimenti di capitale”.
Traduction en Francais de l’entretien à Emiliano Brancaccio: “Voici comment bloquer le spread et l’attaque des marchés (Mediapart, 2 Juin 2018)
LEGGERE MARX DOPO LA GRANDE CRISI
Mercoledì 2 maggio 2018, ore 17
Largo Gemelli 1, MILANO
Università Cattolica, sala Pio XI
Tavola rotonda con:
Luigi Pasinetti (Università Cattolica), Gianni Vaggi (Università di Pavia), Rony Hamaui (Università Cattolica), Riccardo Bellofiore (Università di Bergamo), Andrea Boitani (Università Cattolica), Emiliano Brancaccio (Università del Sannio). Modera: Maria Cristina Origlia (Il Sole 24 Ore)
Nell’ambito della “Marx2Day Bicentennial Conference”
Programma completo della conferenza
Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 6 March 2018
by Emiliano Brancaccio, Raffaele Giammetti, Milena Lopreite, Michelangelo Puliga
Neither the existence of a global tendency toward the centralization of capital as theorized by Marx nor the possible links between economic crisis and capital centralization have been verified by empirical studies. Using techniques of complex network analysis applied to the Thomson Reuters Eikon database we introduce a definition of centralization as network control and present a first study of its global evolution from 2001 to 2016. We find that the global network control is highly centralized: the fraction of the top holders cumulatively holding the 80% of the global economic value of the companies examined does never exceed 2%. Furthermore, by inspecting the temporal dynamics of the phenomenon we observe a relevant increase in the centralization of capital: this trend assumes a more regular and general character since the financial crisis started in 2007, with a growth of more than 20%.
JEL classification: B5, D85, F23, G34
Keywords: Network analysis, Capital centralization, Concentration, Financial crisis, Top holders holding, Ownership and control structures, Marx, Laws of tendency
Link to the article
