LookingGlass
LookingGlass by Glasshouse Forum No. 4/2009 (Autumn 2009)
(LookingGlass No.1/2008, 2/2008, 1/2009, 2/2009 and 3/2009 are available further down on this page.)
Glasshouse Forum has the pleasure of presenting the sixth issue of LookingGlass, a newsletter written by Glasshouse Forum’s secretariat and fellow researchers. Its aim is to present and discuss topics taken up within the framework of Glasshouse Forum’s work and to provide an arena for critical reflection on the merits and problems of capitalism. LookingGlass contains in-depth reports, short interviews, essays and book reviews. You will also find presentations of recent Glasshouse Forum publications. The content will in a flexible way mirror the themes on which Glasshouse Forum is running projects, while LookingGlass also enables explorative analysis of issues surrounding capitalism. Read more.
In this autumn issue we look at what global order will arise when the USA climbs down from its current position of power. We have interviewed the Italian political scientist Giovanni Grevi who argues that the world will become both multipolar and more interdependent. We have also read a number of recent books on deglobalisation and the economic crisis.
Download the full LookingGlass No. 4/2009 (or read each article separately by clicking the links above)
LookingGlass by Glasshouse Forum No. 3/2009 (Autumn 2009)
In this autumn issue of we continue the debate on the nature of the Chinese system and present a new report, written by Orion A. Lewis and Jessica C. Teets, which helps us grasp what "socialist market economy" in fact means. We also take a closer look at the origins of the Great Recession in an interview with Thomas I. Palley.
Download the full LookingGlass No. 3/2009
...or read and download each article separately here:
A China Model? Understanding the Evolution of a "Socialist Market Economy"
In February 2009, Glasshouse Forum convened leading academics from China and from the West to a China-West Intellectual Summit near Paris. It was manifest that the Chinese participants considered China well positioned to handle the global economic crisis. There was some uncertainty however over how to characterise the system in Kina and how one might theoretically describe the major changes that have taken place in recent decades. Representatives for the new Chinese Left underscored the socialistic element, but it is not easy to grasp what “socialist market economy” in fact means. How should one define the Chinese economic model? What are the differences and similarities in the state’s role in the market and welfare provision when compared to American liberal capitalism, the European social model and the Scandinavian welfare model?
There was no really satisfactory answer to these questions during the China-West Intellectual Summit, and Glasshouse Forum therefore asked the American political scientists Orion A. Lewis and Jessica C. Teets of Middlebury College to try to clarify matters in a comparative perspective, and to discuss the implications of the global economic crisis on China’s socialist market economy.
Low wages the ultimate cause of the global recession
The global recession is a crisis for the neo-liberal paradigm, says the Washington-based economist Thomas I. Palley. It has lead to stagnating wages and a growth fuelled by debt and asset price inflation. What we need, says Palley in an interview with LookingGlass, are policies that ensure that the mobility of production does not create a race to the bottom.
Drafting scenarios: Three possible economic trajectories
Readers of LookingGlass no. 2/2009, our summer issue, may already be aware of Daniel W. Drezner's scenario study. However, we are in no less need now of understanding the medium-term effects of the current global economic crisis. There are many signs that we are now facing the beginning of a structural sea change. But what will it be like? In Alphabet Soup: The Political Economy of the Great Recession, Daniel W. Drezner, Professor of International Politics at The Fletcher School, Tufts University, and author of the Glasshouse Forum report White Whale or Red Herring? – Assessing Sovereign Wealth Funds, drafts scenarios and makes qualified estimates based on as much objective data and historical parallels as possible.
Upcoming conference: Inequality in a Time of Contraction, Stanford 12-13 November
International conference organised by Glasshouse Forum and Stanford University. Although there has been extensive discussion of the financial dimensions of the crisis, to date there has been far less written about the distributional implications. The goal of the conference is to bring together scholars from the social sciences, such as economics, sociology, and political science, to deepen our understanding of the link between globalisation (of both financial and real markets) and economic inequality. In this way we will be in a better position to understand and perhaps predict the consequences to inequality of the current economic turmoil.
LookingGlass by Glasshouse Forum No. 2/2009 (Summer 2009)
(LookingGlass No.1/2008, 2/2008 and 1/2009 are available further down on this page.)
In this summer issue, LookingGlass takes a look at the role of the state in the economy and the rise of protectionism as a response to the global crisis. We have interviewed George Soros, James K Galbraith and Dean Baker. We also have the pleasure of presenting a new scenario report written by Daniel W. Drezner.
Download the full LookingGlass No. 2/2009
...or read each article separately here:
Markets are Bubble-Prone
The fact that the authorities has intervened whenever US prospetity was threatened has reinforced the misperception that financial markets should be left to their own devices, says, George Soros.
Alphabet Soup: The Political Economy of the Great Recession
The current global economic crisis, which began as a subprime crisis and developed into a general credit crisis, is the deepest since the Depression of the 1930’s. There are many signs that we are now facing the beginning of a structural sea change. But what will it be like? To get a better understanding of the medium-term effects of the crisis, Glasshouse Forum asked Daniel W. Drezner, Professor of International Politics at The Fletcher School, Tufts University, and author of the Glasshouse Forum report White Whale or Red Herring? Assessing Sovereign Wealth Funds, to draft scenarios and make qualified estimates based on as much objective data and historical parallels as possible
Deglobalisation in a Multipolar World Order
The world economy is contracting and the states are trying to save and protect national companies. Companies also tend to retreat to their regions of origin. This could be the beginning of a new multi-polar world order.
Protectionism Will Not Help the West
Low wages are not the secret behind China’s competitiveness, says James K. Galbraith. If the West keeps neglecting its educational system, it will loose the advantages it still has.
Trade Will Develop Along Different Paths
We are not witnessing the end of free trade, says Dean Baker. But the USA will be a far less significant trade partner and the exporting countries will look to regional markets instead.
Upcoming conference: Inequality in a Time of Contraction, Stanford 12-13 November
International conference organised by Glasshouse Forum and Stanford University. Although there has been extensive discussion of the financial dimensions of the crisis, to date there has been far less written about the distributional implications. The goal of the conference is to bring together scholars from the social sciences, such as economics, sociology, and political science, to deepen our understanding of the link between globalisation (of both financial and real markets) and economic inequality. In this way we will be in a better position to understand and perhaps predict the consequences to inequality of the current economic turmoil.
Glasshouse Forum in the media
"Beware the Beijing model" - The Economist reports from Glasshouse Forum's China-West Intellectual Summit and the film "Is There a China Model?". The Financial Times chief foreign affairs columnist Gideon Rachman writes on his FT blog under the heading "Chinese views of the crisis" about the same China-West summit and the film.
LookingGlass by Glasshouse Forum No. 1/2009 (Spring 2009)
(LookingGlass No.1/2008 and 2/2008 available further down on this page.)
Download the full LookingGlass No. 1/2009
...or read each article separately here:
Is There a China Model? - Film release
Glasshouse Forum assembled prominent academics from China and the West at Maison Louis Carré outside Paris on 23-24 February 2009 to an intellectual summit on the theme “Is there a China model?” In the video documentation which Glasshouse Forum has produced in cooperation with the production company Edinim, we can follow the occasionally tense debate, moderated by Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times, on the issue of whether there is such a model and whether the rest of the world, including the West, might have something to learn from it. This documentation gives fascinating and thought-provoking insights into what may become the political landscape of the future.
Towards a new austerity?
US household consumption has been the engine of the world economy. This structure has to large extent been financed by debt and is no longer sustainable. How will the younger generation, used to high levels of consumption, react to the crisis? Will we see a renaissance for thrift, and a shift towards a culture less focused on material wealth?
The Impact of the Global Crisis on EU-China Relations, Stockholm 12 May
A joint Glasshouse Forum-ECFR seminar with Timothy Garton Ash, Oxford, Shaoguang Wang, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and John Fox, ECFR. Moderated by Mark Leonard, ECFR. The seminar will start with a screening of the film Is There a China Model?
Upcoming conference: Inequality in a Time of Contraction, Stanford 12-13 November
International conference organised by Glasshouse Forum and Stanford University. Although there has been extensive discussion of the financial dimensions of the crisis, to date there has been far less written about the distributional implications. The goal of the conference is to bring together scholars from the social sciences, such as economics, sociology, and political science, to deepen our understanding of the link between globalisation (of both financial and real markets) and economic inequality. In this way we will be in a better position to understand and perhaps predict the consequences to inequality of the current economic turmoil.
Other Glasshouse Forum publications
If you missed the first issues of LookingGlass you might also have missed Glasshouse Forum's publications on authoritarian capitalism, short-termism, and inequality. All of them can be downloaded from our website.
LookingGlass by Glasshouse Forum No. 2/2008 (Winter 2008)
(LookingGlass No. 1/2008 is available further down on this page.)
Download the full LookingGlass No. 2/2008
...or read each article separately here:
Introducing LookingGlass and Glasshouse Forum
Glasshouse Forum has the pleasure of presenting the second issue of LookingGlass, a newsletter written by Glasshouse Forum’s secretariat and fellow researchers. Its aim is to present and discuss topics taken up within the framework of Glasshouse Forum’s work and to provide an arena for critical reflection on the merits and problems of capitalism. LookingGlass contains in-depth reports, short interviews, essays and book reviews. You will also find presentations of recent Glasshouse Forum publications. The content will in a flexible way mirror the themes on which Glasshouse Forum is running projects, while LookingGlass also enables explorative analysis of issues surrounding capitalism.
Towards an hourglass society? - a new publication from Glasshouse Forum
Glasshouse Forum begins its project on the middle class in the Western world with this publication containing a review of trends in income differentials between and within countries, and country-specific reports and interviews looking at the situation in the US, Germany, France and Sweden.
An edited transcript from a round-table conference on short-termism - a new publication from Glasshouse Forum
What proof is there that short-termism really exists? What drives the development? Can we see a convergence on an Anglo-Saxon model of shareholder value? What consequences does short-termism have for businesses, employees and society at large?
The fall of Babylondon
The large financial sectors in the USA and Great Britain have been hit hard by the financial crisis. LookingGlass asks why these financial sectors grew so big in the first place, and whether their expansion might have contributed to widening income gaps and short-termism. This crisis also marks the end of the deregulation era and the beginning of a new political paradigm.
Germany is Russia's natural ally
In LookingGlass No. 1/2008 we examined the relationship between Germany and Russia from the German perspective. Now we take a look at it from the Russian perspective. Germany and Continental Europe are considered as the natural partners and allies of Russia. For the Russian elite, the true enemy is the Anglo-Saxon world. By Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of Russia in Global Affairs.
Is the middle class sliding away from the middle?
The large middle class in Britain is still feeling quite good, but nearly all economic growth has been at the top. If the middle class is going to be hit hard by the crisis, we will probably see a lurch towards conservatism, says Polly Toynbee. Interview by Rachel Briggs, Glasshouse Forum advisory board member.
Upcoming: China-West Intellectual Summit
As a follow up to the first round-table conference on authoritarian capitalism, Glasshouse Forum will bring together prominent intellectuals from the West and China for a "China-West Intellectual Summit" in Paris on 23-24 February 2009. The summit aims at exploring China’s search for a modernity of its own as an alternative to the logic of the Euro-American modernity and capitalism. It will discuss whether China is, or has the potential of becoming, a model for such an alternative modernity and which consequences might follow. How can different cultural and political value-system coexist on the global arena?
Glasshouse Forum in the media
“Wake up Left, you’ve won!”, article in the arts and culture section of Sweden's largest daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter; opinion piece in the same newspaper based on the report Tolerance and Democracy in Liberal and Authoritarian Market Economies and an interview about Glasshouse Forum with Daniel Sachs, CEO of Proventus, in the business section of Dagens Nyheter.
LookingGlass by Glasshouse Forum No. 1/2008 (Autumn 2008)
Download the full LookingGlass No 1/2008
...or read each article separately here:
Introducing LookingGlass and Glasshouse Forum
Starting with this issue, Glasshouse Forum has the pleasure of introducing LookingGlass, a newsletter written by Glasshouse Forum’s secretariat and fellow researchers. Its aim is to present and discuss topics taken up within the framework of Glasshouse Forum’s work and to provide an arena for critical reflection on the merits and problems of capitalism.
Pluralist economy without pluralist political system? – New Glasshouse Forum publications on authoritarian capitalism
What is the relationship between liberal democracy and capitalism? Experience of communism shows that democracy needs some sort of market economy as its basis. Does this also mean that capitalism needs liberal democracy?
The special relation between Russia and Germany
There is quite a lot of talk – and some whispering – about a special relationship between Germany and Russia. Opinion surveys show that the Russian elite views Germany as a true friend and advocate in the West. Germany is Russia’s principal trade partner. Moscow does not see Germany as a rival in the geopolitical arena that has arisen after the fall of the Soviet Union.
The return of geopolitics and authoritarian capitalism – Recent books on capitalism and authoritarian capitalism
Most attempts to historically localise the present age have focused on something reaching its end, not on something new beginning. We have for example been post-modern for a number of decades. Another influential interpretation even states that history has come to an end.