Beyond False Dilemmas in Economic Policy

This session of the webinar series will feature Dr. Sanjay G. Reddy. He will be discussing false dilemmas in economic policy.

Abstract

The aspirations of the people of the developing countries for improved living standards seems to make continued, indeed increased, economic growth a necessity. At the same time, the growth process that is present in many countries is economically, socially, and ecologically inadequate if not harmful (for instance, because the growth that is taking place is often "jobless", and because it is often accompanied by ecological devastation). How should we think about the resulting conundrum and how to overcome it? What are the roles of national policies and of international arrangements in resolving the dilemma? How can sensible international arrangements help to foster and sustain suitable national policies? Being "for or against" growth, markets or globalization proves conceptually inadequate, when the question is instead one of what forms of growth, markets or globalization one should seek. I will describe the economic arguments for "dissolving" rather than resolving this false dilemma, and sketch the shape of an alternative.

Biography

Sanjay G. Reddy is an Associate Professor of Economics at The New School for Social Research.

For more please visit his personal webpage.

Format

Dr. Reddy will be speaking for the first 45 minutes. We will then be holding a Q&A Session.

This session is part of the larger project:

Dissecting Capitalism: Its past, present and future

This series aims to explore the tenets of capitalism over the fabric of time and examine its influence on the global economy and social classes.