DOCSLIB.ORG

Chapter 5 the Golden Age of Capitalism

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Chapter 5 the Golden Age of Capitalism The Golden Age of Capitalism Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira Chapter of the book being written, Rentiers’ Capitalism. March 2020. In the nineteenth century Western Europe and the United States experienced a remarkable economic and cultural progress but was tarnished by the domestic exploitation of the workers and by the reduction of the peoples of Asia and Africa to the condition of colonies. This was also a period of peace among the major potencies under the leadership of Britain, which had begun with its victory over the France of Napoleon. A period that end tragically with the irrational 1914-18 First World War, whose main cause was the resentment of Germany and Italy. The internal division of these two countries retarded their industrial revolution and lost the opportunity of building a colonial empire as The UK and France had been able to build. This war divided and fragilized Europe, opener room for the socialist 1917 Russian Revolution. and marked the transition of the dominant country from The UK to the United States. The post- war 1920s were euphoric years in the US, but, not surprisingly, ended up with the 1929 crash of the New York Stock Exchange and the 1930s’ Great Depression. Followed a huge fall in GDP, mass unemployment, the discredit of the gold standard and of economic liberalism. The time was, now, for fascism in Italy and Germany, for Stalinism in the Soviet Union, which falsified the Democratic Revolution of the turn of the twentieth century, but was also the time for the New Deal in the United States, which showed that capitalism could be made democratic despite the power of capital and or organization – that a compromise was possible between capitalists, technobureaucrats and the workers. The New Deal and the war The West (the sum of the rich capitalist countries) found its way out of the crisis under the leadership of a statesman, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and a genial economist and intellectual, John Maynard Keynes. Roosevelt, with the New Deal, launched an innovative and bold project of reform of the American economy out of economic liberalism, while Keynes, with The General Theory, offered the macroeconomic theory that turned economics into an operational science, instead of just a way of legitimizing this same economic liberalism. With New Deal’s innovative institutions, the US was back to a developmental strategy – for sure, the moderate developmentalism of a mature capitalist economy, but a policy regime where the state had again a say. The 1944 Bretton Woods agreements, with the creation of the IMF, the World Bank, a system of fixed exchange rates and the convertibility of the dollar in gold at US$ 35.00 per ounce assured international financial stability in the economic side. Yet, the supposition that the US would continue to present indefinitely large current account surpluses was the foundation of the agreement – a foundation that, in the late 1960s, would prove to be wrong _________ Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira is emeritus professor of Getúlio Vargas Foundation. [email protected], www.bresserpereira.org.br and lead Bretton Woods System to collapse.1 The United Nations and its Security Council, the political side, assured political stability. A consensus was in the air – a developmental consensus – claiming that, first, that the state should have a bigger say in the growth process; second, that wages should and could grow with productivity while profits could remain satisfying to the companies to invest; and, third, that governments, via their central banks, should tightly regulate finance. Technobureaucratic capitalism was replacing liberal capitalism, and technobureaucrats were assuming the management of the great corporations since the turn of the century, but with the Depression, the state had to act firmly and make the countercyclical investments that recovered effective demand and led the countries to reduce unemployment and resume growth. The increasing sophistication of production and the increasing control of corporations over their markets required an active coordination of these corporations and the national economies. Thus, the state got in, and capitalism turned naturally developmental, and, after the Second World War, also social democratic. This word was not available for the historians that analyzed the New Deal and the post-war Golden Year, but the active although moderate intervention of the state in building a welfare or social and developmental state was quite clear. The working class was getting more organized while turning into a lower middle-class. A class compromise between the capitalist and the working class was required, and the state and the public officials were ready to do this job. The victory of the US in the Second World War was not the victory of liberalism. Was the victory of a great nation Americans built combining economic liberalism with a developmentalism, and political liberalism with republicanism (which, in the US, played the role that socialism would play in Europe in taming radical individualism. The time of liberal democracy was over. The time now was of a democracy where the liberal values were combined with social values and a developmental strategy. After the war, the Western European countries understood better this fact than the US, and they got immediately involved in building political regimes that were at the same time liberal politically, social and developmental. The liberal assumption that only the liberal state was consistent with the assurance of the rule of law proved false. Social democracy assured not only the civil and the political rights that define liberal democracy, but also the social rights. Which were assured in two ways: by assuring the workers and salaried classes legal entitlements included in the labour contracts, and by the state offering large social services in education, health care, social security, and basic income arrangements. In the former case the business enterprises financed the costs, which were passed through to prices, in the latter, the state took the responsibility for the social expenditures financed by taxes. After the war, capitalist countries, particularly the Western European, experienced, for around 30 years, fast growth, economic stability, and some reduction of inequality. This period came to be called the Golden Age, or Les 30 Glorieux. They were years of social progress and great expectations; it was a time of reconstruction and catching up for Europe and Japan; the time of building the European Union; the time when the United States achieved the top of its power and ideological hegemony. At this time, American politicians, public intellectuals and the public opinion viewed America as the model for the rest of the world – a model of wealth, 2 mass consumption, and of democracy. In 1960, Walt W. Rostow published an emblematic small book, The Stages of Economic Growth, where the final stage, the utopia turned true, was the phase of mass consumption. In 1971, John Rawls published The Theory of Justice – a book where the unstated assumption was the United States was a society near the ideal of a just society. This was also a time of rethinking. The Americans acknowledged their main social problem was the racial problem, while the Afro-Americans were getting organized and the Supreme Court was taking the first steps to eliminate segregation. Although a large part of the European left was critical of the Soviet Union, in no other moment Marxism was so influential. Nevertheless, besides rejecting communism, the working class gradually abandoned the idea of a short-term socialist revolution. The leading political idea of the time was the transformation of the liberal-democratic into a social democratic state. The basic class coalition was Fordism – a broad class which was able to integrate the business entrepreneurs, the managerial class, the high or traditional middle-class, which is usually conservative, and the working class, at that time, well organized in large unions. The strategy was moderate state intervention or “indicative planning”. The objective, following the German designation, was to build a “Social Market Economy”, was to combine free market and social solidarity. Mainly in Europe, the social democratic and the conservative political parties have sewn a social democratic compromise which supposed a developmental strategy. The time of growth with concentration of income was over; now we would have growth with distribution. Andrew Shonfield, who wrote in 1969 Modern Capitalism, a pioneering analysis of this period, saw in it three elements: “First, economic growth has been much steadier than in the past… Secondly, the growth of production over the period has been extremely rapid… Thirdly, the benefits of the new prosperity were widely diffused” (1969: 61). The Golden Age The economic theory of Keynes contributed decisively to explain and legitimize the intervention of the state the 1929 Crash, the neoclassical policies prevailed even social democratic political coalitions.2 After it, social-democratic administrations implemented intuitively countercyclical policies, as occurred in Sweden in 1932 and in the beginning of the Roosevelt administration. After the Keynesian macroeconomics turned dominant, political coalitions, independently of being on centre-left or in the centre-right, adopted countercyclical policies. According to Hobsbawm (1994: 259-261), “the Golden Age was a worldwide phenomenon, even though general affluence never came within sight of the majority of the world’s
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Care and Freedom
    Care and freedom Author: S. Umi Devi Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/4083 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Berkeley, CA: Center for Working Families, University of California, Berkeley, 2000 Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons "Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States" (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/) Care and Freedom S. Uma Devi* October 2000 *S. Uma Devi is currently on sabbatical from her position as Chairperson of the Economics Department at the Univeristy of Kerala, India, where until recently she was also the Director of Women’s Studies. S. Uma Devi was a visiting scholar at the Center for Working Families during the Spring of 1999-2000. ÓCenter for Working Families, University of California, Berkeley Acknowledgments I am grateful to the Vanguard Foundation for generously funding my research on globalization, human development, and gender concerns. This paper, part of that ongoing project, would not have been possible but for Professor Arlie Hochschild’s keen interest and investment of time, energy, and care. She reversed the global chain of caregivers. I also thank Professors Arlie Hochschild and Barrie Thorne as co-directors of the Center for Working Families, for inviting me to affiliate with the center. Their team, consisting of Bonnie Kwan, Chi-Shan Lin, and Janet Oh, have gone out of their way to provide assistance with loving care. I will always cherish the cordial work atmosphere of the center. I also wish to thank Professors Hochschild and Thorne for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper, and Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Culture and Development Economics: Theory, Evidence, Implications
    39-62b.qxd 22.10.2002 13:12 Page 39 POLSCI PAPERS CULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS: THEORY, EVIDENCE, IMPLICATIONS Michael Woolcock * Vijayendra Rao ** Sabina Alkire *** 1 The only way to offer universality for one's scientific judgement is to use other disciplines that can contribute to that judgement - or, at least, this seems to be the latest consensus among scholars. Economics is a complex domain which cannot function well without the help of other sciences. Cultural variables are relevant for the economic studies because various forms of cultural behaviour have to be tested by economists for the success of developing and implementing economic strategies. Although economics has the arrogance to consider itself self sufficient, quantitative data must be sustained for accuracy by qualitative interpretations supplied by sociology or anthropology. One can, after using cultural data, find new research questions and raise more accurate theories. This article argues that multidisciplinary studies are the best cure for superficial and unfounded conclusions Key words: economy, culture, multidisciplinarity, development, social capital, epistemology * Michael Woolcock is social scientist with the Development Research Group at the World Bank and an adjunct lecturer in Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University ** Vijayendra Rao is senior economist with the Development Research Group at the World Bank *** Sabina Alkire is research writer for the Commission on Human Security and Senior Research Associate with the Von Hugel Institute, University of Cambridge 1 Our thanks to Anthony Bebbington, Lynn Bennett, Michael Cernea, Paul Clements, Shelton Davis, Kreszentia Duer, Katrinka Ebbe, David Ellerman, Scott Guggenheim, Robert Klitgaard, Alexandre Marc, Stephen Marglin, Deepa Narayan, Ron Parker, Frank Penna, Nicholas Sambanis, Amartya Sen, Marco Verweij, Michael Walton, and Anna Wetterberg for comments on earlier drafts of this paper.
    [Show full text]
  • February 11, 2016 Curriculum Vitae Stephen A. Marglin EDUCATION
    February 11, 2016 Curriculum Vitae Stephen A. Marglin EDUCATION Ph.D., Harvard University, 1965 Cambridge University, 1959-1960 A.B., Harvard University, 1959 PRINCIPAL ACADEMIC POSITIONS Walter S. Barker Professor of Economics, Harvard University, 1984– Professor of Economics, Harvard University, 1969–1984 Associate Professor of Economics, Harvard University, 1968–69 Assistant Professor of Economics, Harvard University, 1965–68 Assistant Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1964–65 Research Associate (India Project), Center for International Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India, 1963–65 Junior Fellow of the Society of Fellows, Harvard University, 1960–63 Henry Fellow, Pembroke College, Cambridge University, 1959–60 OTHER ACADEMIC POSITIONS Research Adviser, World Institute for Development Economics Research (United Nations University), Helsinki, 1985-1993 Directeur d'Études Adjoint, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris, 1982 Visiting Scholar, Concordia University, Montreal, 1978-1984; Visiting Professor, 1974–78 Visiting Professor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1974 Visiting Professor, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi, 1967–68 ASSOCIATIONS Econometric Society (Fellow) World Economic Association (Founding Member) World Future Council (2006–2009) BOOKS Dismal Science: How Thinking Like An Economist Undermines Community, Harvard University Press, 2008 Perdiendo el Contacto, Cochabamba and Lima: Cai Pacha and PRATEC, 2000 Growth, Distribution, and Prices,
    [Show full text]
  • Ownership in the Electricity Market: Property, the Firm, and the Climate Crisis
    MPIfG Discussion Paper 20 / 5 Ownership in the Electricity Market Property, the Firm, and the Climate Crisis Gregory Ferguson-Cradler MPIfG Discussion Paper MPIfG Discussion Paper Gregory Ferguson-Cradler Ownership in the Electricity Market: Property, the Firm, and the Climate Crisis MPIfG Discussion Paper 20/5 Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung, Köln Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne April 2020 MPIfG Discussion Paper ISSN 0944-2073 (Print) ISSN 1864-4325 (Internet) © 2020 by the author(s) About the author Gregory Ferguson-Cradler is Associate Professor in the Department of Law, Philosophy and International Studies at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Lillehammer, Norway. Email: [email protected] MPIfG Discussion Papers are refereed scholarly papers of the kind that are publishable in a peer-reviewed disciplinary journal. Their objective is to contribute to the cumulative improvement of theoretical knowl- edge. Copies can be ordered from the Institute or downloaded as PDF files (free). Downloads www.mpifg.de Go to Publications / Discussion Papers Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies Paulstr. 3 | 50676 Cologne | Germany Tel. +49 221 2767-0 Fax +49 221 2767-555 www.mpifg.de [email protected] Ferguson-Cradler: Ownership in the Electricity Market iii Abstract Electricity is a key area in climate mitigation. The sector needs to significantly expand while transitioning to renewable production, all in an extremely short timeframe. This paper fo- cuses on ownership and control in the electricity sector in an era of climate change. Bor- rowing substantially from classical American Institutionalism, heterodox theories and his- tories of the firm, and legal institutionalism, this paper discusses the historically constituted nature of the categories of property, capital, and the firm and how these literatures provide helpful frameworks for analyzing the recent history and possible futures of electricity sec- tors.
    [Show full text]
  • Culture and Public Action
    SUP_Rao.qxd 3/30/20042:58PMPagei Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Culture and Public Action Culture andPublic SUP_Rao.qxd 3/30/2004 2:58 PM Page ii Contributors Anita Abraham Sabina Alkire Arjun Appadurai Lourdes Arizpe Fernando Calderón Monica Das Gupta Shelton H. Davis Mary Douglas Simon Harragin Carol Jenkins Arjo Klamer Timur Kuran Jean-Philippe Platteau Vijayendra Rao Amartya Sen Alicia Szmukler Marco Verweij Michael Walton SUP_Rao.qxd 3/30/2004 2:58 PM Page iii Culture and Public Action Edited by Vijayendra Rao and Michael Walton Stanford Social Sciences an imprint of Stanford University Press Stanford, California 2004 SUP_Rao.qxd 3/30/2004 2:58 PM Page iv Stanford University Press Stanford, California © 2004 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/ The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20433 Telephone 202-473-1000 Internet www.worldbank.org E-mail [email protected] Chapter Three © 2004 by Arjun Appadurai All rights reserved. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work.The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of the World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Rights and Permissions The material in this work is copyrighted.
    [Show full text]
  • The Nature of the Labor Exchange and the Theory of Capitalist Production
    The Nature of Labor Exchange and the Theory of Capitalist Production* HERBERT GINTIS ABSTRACT: This article compares the neoclassical and Marxian theories of the firm. The neoclassical, interpreting the social relations in the production process, in particular the relations of authority and inequality, as flowing from the nature of technology and atomistic preferences, is shown to be incorrect. The Marxian theory which interprets the social relations of the production process as the outcome of class struggle, is supported theoretically and empirically. The Marxian analysis presented herein starts with the labor/ labor-power distinction, and derives the relations of authority, control, al forms of inequality in the capitalist firm from the dynamic of extraction of surplus value. ***** Introduction tions and preference structures) are determined outside economic theory by the state of science and the psychology of the individual. Thus the neoclas- This paper contrasts two perspectives on the sical analysis of capitalism reduces to the examina- organization and structure of the production pro- tion of market relations among technologically and cess, neoclassical and Marxist, defending the latter psychologically determinate actors. Were this as a more accurate portrayal of capitalist produc- valid, the neoclassical of tion. Neoclassical theory, in capsule form, views the methodology theory production would follow as a matter of course. organization of the capitalist enterprise as the In Marxist theory, however, the social rela- solution to the problem of finding a least-cost tions of capitalism cannot be reduced to technique of production given an array of factor exchange relations. The essence of prices. Marxist theory views this capitalism is the exploi- organization, tation of labor the and rather, as the outcome of a struggle (albeit an through private ownership control of capital on the one hand, and the system unequal struggle) between capital and labor over of on the other.
    [Show full text]
  • Hegelian Freedom and the Communitarian Critique of the Market
    Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Philosophy Theses Department of Philosophy Summer 8-7-2018 Hegelian Freedom and the Communitarian Critique of the Market Matthew Schrepfer Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/philosophy_theses Recommended Citation Schrepfer, Matthew, "Hegelian Freedom and the Communitarian Critique of the Market." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2018. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/philosophy_theses/233 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Philosophy at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philosophy Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HEGELIAN FREEDOM AND THE COMMUNITARIAN CRITIQUE OF THE MARKET by MATTHEW SCHREPFER Under the Direction of Sebastian Rand, PhD. ABSTRACT Market structures have come to dominate every area of our society, and market logic—in the form of rational choice theory, the law and economics movement, and the like—has equally dominated our thinking about society. In this thesis, I will examine one critique of this state of affairs: that offered by G.W.F. Hegel. I compare Hegel’s critique of the market to the similar critique of modern communitarians like Charles Taylor and Michael Sandel, and argue that Hegel’s distinctive conception of freedom allows him to capture what is right about the modern communitarian view while avoiding most
    [Show full text]
  • OPEN ECONOMIES, CLOSED POLITIES: FINANCIAL GLOBALIZATION and AUTHORITARIAN POLITICS a Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of T
    OPEN ECONOMIES, CLOSED POLITIES: FINANCIAL GLOBALIZATION AND AUTHORITARIAN POLITICS A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Igor O. Logvinenko January 2015 © 2015 Igor O. Logvinenko OPEN ECONOMIES, CLOSED POLITIES: FINANCIAL GLOBALIZATION AND AUTHORITARIAN POLITICS Igor O. Logvinenko, Ph. D. Cornell University 2015 This project investigates financial openness policies of authoritarian regimes during the modern age of globalized finance. Over the last quarter-century, increasingly restive publics and heightened international mobility of capital have complicated the task of governing authoritarian regimes. Financial globalization created immense opportunities for enrichment and further power consolidation, but it also made authoritarian elites increasingly vulnerable to political challenges that some regimes are better equipped to handle than others. Given this conundrum, I set out to explore the answers to the following questions: Why do some authoritarian regimes opt for greater financial openness than others? How are these decisions related to the tactics these regimes employ to remain in power? How does the nature of the asset base in the economy impact these decisions? This thesis develops a theoretical framework to address these questions, and also evaluates this theory empirically. I construct a game-theoretical argument that endogenizes financial openness policies in a model that accounts for the profit opportunities from openness and the risks associated with increased economic volatility for the authoritarian elites. I argue that when rulers consider adopting a policy of financial openness, they also take into account their ability to maintain political stability after doing so.
    [Show full text]
  • Sample Chapter [PDF]
    RESEARCH IN THE HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND METHODOLOGY RESEARCH IN THE HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND METHODOLOGY Founding Editor: Warren J. Samuels (1933À2011) Series Editors: Luca Fiorito, Scott Scheall, and Carlos Eduardo Suprinyak Recent volumes: Volume 33: Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: A Research Annual; 2015 Volume 34A: Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: Including a Symposium on Austrian Economics in the Postwar Era; 2016 Volume 34B: Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: Including a Symposium on Albert O. Hirschman; 2016 Volume 35A: Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: Including a Symposium on the Historical Epistemology of Economics; 2017 Volume 35B: Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: Including a Symposium on New Directions in Sraffa Scholarship; 2017 Volume 36A: Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: Including a Symposium on Bruce Caldwell’s Beyond Positivism after 35 Years; 2018 Volume 36B: Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: Including a Symposium on the Work of Mary Morgan: Curiosity, Imagination, and Surprise; 2018 Volume 36C: Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: Including a Symposium on Latin American Monetary Thought: Two Centuries in Search of Originality; 2018 RESEARCH IN THE HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND METHODOLOGY VOLUME 37A INCLUDING A SYMPOSIUM ON 50 YEARS OF THE UNION FOR RADICAL POLITICAL ECONOMICS EDITED BY LUCA FIORITO University of Palermo, Italy SCOTT SCHEALL Arizona State University Polytechnic Campus, USA CARLOS EDUARDO SUPRINYAK Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil United Kingdom À North America À Japan India À Malaysia À China Emerald Publishing Limited Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK First edition 2019 Chapter 10 r Stephen A.
    [Show full text]
  • The Political Economy of a Plural World: Critical Reflections on Power, Morals and Civilization
    The Political Economy of a Plural World ‘For thirty years Robert Cox has been at the forefront of developing a criti- cal international political economy of modern world capitalism. A seminal thinker with an immense following, his work in the past has rarely been any- thing less than challenging. A dissident in a world where intelligent dissent is in short supply, here once again in a set of superb essays, Cox shows precisely why he has achieved – and why he deserves – his enviably huge reputation. A must read for anybody seriously interested in the fate of civilization before and after September 11th.’ Professor Michael Cox, Department of International Politics, Aberystwyth The Political Economy of a Plural World is a new volume by one of the world’s leading critical thinkers in international political economy. Building on his seminal contributions to the field, Robert W. Cox engages with the major themes that have characterized his work over the past three decades, and also the main topics which affect the globalized world at the start of the twenty-first century. The book addresses such core issues as global civil soci- ety, power and knowledge, the covert world, multilateralism, and civilizations and world order. Michael G. Schechter has written an introductory essay which addresses current critiques of Coxian theory, enabling the author to enter into a stimulating dialogue with critics of his work. Timely, provocative and original, this book is a major contribution to international political economy and essential reading for all students and academics in the field. Robert W. Cox is Professor emeritus of political science at York University, Toronto.
    [Show full text]
  • Work and Power in Post-Fordist Production: a Case Study of Four Machine Shops
    University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Spring 1994 Work and power in post-Fordist production: A case study of four machine shops Stephen A. Sweet University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation Sweet, Stephen A., "Work and power in post-Fordist production: A case study of four machine shops" (1994). Doctoral Dissertations. 1796. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1796 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material bad to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps.
    [Show full text]
  • Blockchain Machines, Earth Beings and the Labour of Trust
    BLOCKCHAIN MACHINES, EARTH BEINGS AND THE LABOUR OF TRUST Larry Lohmann The Corner House Abstract: The last decade's developments in computation are major topics of debate among business, policymakers, and social movements alike. Blockchain, Bitcoin, smart contracts, the Internet of Things, machine translation, image recognition, the Earth Bank of Codes – all are understood to be not only business opportunities but also political and environmental issues. Seldom mentioned, however, is the extent to which these innovations are part of an ecological history that goes back to the early 19th century and before. A strategic understanding their dynamics and contradictions requires looking again at long- standing pictures of labour, mechanization, commons, and capital accumulation. Different ways of thinking about Marx's categories of living and dead labour inspired by the work of the later Wittgenstein can help.1 “The only way to grasp the true novelty of the New is to analyze the world through the lenses of what was ‘eternal’ in the Old.”2 Slavoj Zizek “People worry that computers will get too smart and take over the world, but the real problem is that they’re too stupid and they’ve already taken over the world.”3 Pedro Domingos Welcome to Nature 2.0 Davos. The World Economic Forum announces a public-private partnership called the Earth Bank of Codes. The Bank would collect digitized information on the genomes and capacities of every plant, animal and single-cell organism on earth and store it securely on the internet in the form of private property that could be quickly found by, and sold to, any business worldwide.
    [Show full text]