Zygmunt Bauman’s Ethical Warnings in the Area of Economics. The Third Millennium’s Perspective

Zygmunt Bauman is not only a sociologist and philosopher reputable in the world of science, he is also a father figure for people interested in the phenomenon of globalization. Bauman investigates how current economic and political changes influence the lives of particular societies. It was important to underline that also economists can make use of Bauman’s ideas but with a few reservations That is why the following crucial areas were proposed relating to economic aspects: the meaning of consumptionism and wastage; global inequalities; the reasons and consequences of the global economic crisis, and some heterodox matters such as happiness, welfare, and well-being, all of which can be helpful in understanding the multidimensional globalization process

Why does cooperation work or fail? The case of EU-US sanction policy against Iran

In the article, we explore the factors which brought about the transatlantic coordination of the policy of imposing sanctions on Iran. We will mainly focus on the events in the 21st century when the new incentives for cooperation appeared due to the growing concern over the development of Iran’s nuclear programme. Considering the capabilities of using the tools of economic statecraft and diplomacy, we claim that the EU-US cooperation can be termed a co-leadership. The assessment and the reasons for the transatlantic break-up on this matter during the presidency of Donald Trump was examined using the concept of relative gains. We evaluate to what extent the initial goals were achieved in practice, and we also try to predict the possible consequences of the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). As to whether the effectiveness of the sanctions through the cooperation has been enhanced, the answer is ambivalent. On the one hand, the cooperating transatlantic partners managed to coerce Iran through isolating the country from international economic contacts and negotiated the JCPOA. On the other hand, Trump’s renouncement of this agreement brought many negative consequences and undermined the earlier joint effort

Studia nad bogactwem i ubóstwem narodów na przełomie mileniów – wkład Darona Acemoglu i Jamesa A. Robinsona

At the turn of the third millennium, a number of books were published in which their authors, among them eminent economic historians and economists, undertook to identify the reasons for wealth and poverty worldwide.This paper aims to present the main works of the recent years, which focused on income disproportions occurring globally and their possible reasons. A particular attention has been given to the latest work by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson Why Nations Fail. The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty (2013), in which the authors, on the example of dozens of historical cases, attempt to explain the origin of the differences existing between the wealthy and poor countries. The work is an institutional interpretation of history in which the authors attempt to answer the question how history shapes institutional development paths of different nations. In their opinion, history is not destiny, nor is it determined by geographical factors, cultural events or even ignorance of the rules or governors. Instead, it is determined by institutions.Na przełomie drugiego i trzeciego milenium ukazało się wiele nowych inspirujących prac, które podejmowały temat przyczyn bogactwa i ubóstwa na świecie. Wśród autorów znajdowali się zarówno wybitni historycy gospodarczy, jak i ekonomiści wykorzystujący analizę instytucjonalną. Celem artykułu jest przybliżenie najważniejszych prac opublikowanych w ostatnich latach podejmujących problem dysproporcji dochodowych na świecie i poszukujących przyczyn tego zjawiska. W przeglądzie uwzględniono ważniejsze pozycje z zakresu historii gospodarczej. Szczególne miejsce zostawiono na omówienie najnowszego dzieła Darona Acemoglu i Jamesa A. Robinsona „Why Nations Fail. The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty” [Dlaczego narody upadają. Geneza potęgi, dostatku i ubóstwa], w którym autorzy, korzystając z dziesiątków przykładów historycznych, również starają się wyjaśnić, skąd biorą się różnice między bogatymi a biednymi krajami. Praca Acemoglu i Robinsona jest instytucjonalną interpretacją historii i próbuje odpowiedzieć na pytanie, w jaki sposób historia kształtuje instytucjonalne ścieżki rozwoju narodów. Historia nie jest według nich przeznaczeniem, nie determinują jej też czynniki geograficzne, kultura, przypadek, a nawet ignorancja rządzących, ale determinują ją instytucje. Obok przybliżenia podstaw teoretycznych, które wykorzystują instytucjonaliści, w artykule znajdują się komentarze autorskie, wspomagane przykładami zachowań instytucji również na gruncie polskim

Relations of Economics and Ethics in the Thought of Mohandas Gandhi

The aim of the article is to present the economic thought of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi with respect to ethical aspects. There are lots of statements and remarks about the relations of ethics and economics in Gandhi’s writings. In his opinion, both areas should be treated as integrated. That is why it is worth analysing Gandhi’s views on various economic matters. Only a selected presentation was possible because it was difficult to find cohesion in his socio-economic system. One of the hypothesis underlined is that it is even risky to write about Gandhi’s united system. Generally his economic thought was not a part of economics as a discipline. Nevertheless it is not a reason to relinquish studies of it. Because of the fact that many remarks linked with microand macroeconomics are of considerable value, they can be used to research economic changes in India in 20th century or to study the attitude of Indian society towards those changes. The main source of the paper was the autobiography ‘The Story of My Experiments with Truth’ published in 1925. More of Gandhi’s economic thought can also be found in the work ‘Hind Swaraj’ from 1909 and in the lecture ‘Does Economic Progress Clash with Real Progress?’ from 1916

The Role of Immigrants in the ‘Take-Offs’ of Eastern European ‘Manchesters.’ A Comparative Case Studies of Three Cities: Lodz, Tampere, and Ivanovo

In this paper, we try to identify the institutional offers for emigrants and evaluate the role of immigrants at the time of the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century history of three cities where the dynamic growth and the ‘take-offs’ depended largely on newcomers. In all cases, the industry was the main factor that led to the ‘take-off’ in terms of the number of inhabitants and also the creation of the bourgeoisie as a socio-economic class. In our paper we reveal key institutional and geographical factors that accelerated the unprecedent waves of immigrants (with different strengths in different cities) to these Eastern European ‘Manchesters’ and made their role central to urban economic development. Their activity was the result of advantageous institutional circumstances connected with changes in the borders, the appearance of governments, and new local management being strictly related to changes in customs policy or extraordinary international situations

Plato’s The Republic recovered. A few ethical, economic and social aspects in contemporary dialogues

The main purpose of the article is the presentation and interpretation of some ethical, economic and social aspects in the works of Plato. The division of labour, wealth, the meaning of money, use of interest and paying taxes are the most interesting problems in Plato’s vision of The Republic. There one can also find some current problems such as the attitude of citizens towards their states, the ethical standards required of the authorities or the role of women. This article was written in the form of a dialogue; the same as the works of Plato.Publication of English-language versions of the volumes of the "Annales. Ethics in Economic Life" financed through contract no. 501/1/P-DUN/2017 from the funds of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education devoted to the promotion of scholarship

Institutions Without Culture. A Critique of Acemoglu and Robinson's Theory of Economic Development

Acemoglu and Robinson’s theory presented in their famous Why Nations Fail, and other papers, should be placed among the institutional theories of economic development. Yet the problem is they strongly differentiate their concept from the so-called culture hypothesis, which they reject. This stance is difficult to accept, not only because of the significance of culture-related factors of economic development, but it is also difficult to reconcile with their own model. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that such a strong rejection of the culture hypothesis is inconsistent with their own analysis, triggers some principal problems with understanding the basic notion of institution, and suggests Acemoglu and Robinson are only focused on considering formal institutions. The article concludes with the statement that, paradoxically, Acemoglu and Robinson’s unconvincing rejection of the culture hypothesis may be regarded as a justification of the importance of culture-related factors

Morality, Religion and the Development of Capitalism – the View of Deepak Lal

The economist Deepak Lal researches the influence of morality and religion on the shaping of capitalism in different civilizations. His thought was confronted with the remarks of other institutionalists. Lal tries to find out what was the influence of the cost of transactions and the religious beliefs on the evolution of capitalism in chosen countries and regions. Lal claims that materialistic beliefs of agricultural civilizations had not played the key role in the economic growth. The reforms in the Church in the Middle Ages allowed to spread of the instinct of exchange and production of homo oeconomicus. As a result the individualism started to dominate over collectivism. Lal tries to prove that the individualism was not the basis of the Christian faith. The following virtues as: diligence, discipline, frugality, self-help, self-control have had secular origin and nowadays they are more common in India and China than in the West. The Asian civilizations face the dilemma during the economic expansion of the West. They had to choose the path of their development. China and India followed Japan and they modernized without westernization. They tried to find middle course between the tradition and the modernity. We tried to emphasize in the article, that none of the religions have determined the economic fate of the countries. Rather, the morality of the societies and the decision-makers’ beliefs had an influence on economic development

Fears in the Light of Zygmunt Bauman’s Liquid Post-Modernity

Main task of the paper is to recall sociologist and philosopher – Zygmunt Bauman’s observations and concepts on the fears, anxieties, and uncertainties that appear in the modern world. Main focus was directed to Europe as Bauman was particularly concerned about its future and its role in the global society. The paper is illustrated using current examples from political, social, and economic life to confirm and/or negate Bauman’s concepts. We ask: are fears stable or changeable? Are they stronger or weaker? Are they constant, coming to an end, or are they replaced by new ones? Additionally, we confront Bauman’s concepts with the ideas of other sociologists who applied the interpretative perspective

The four horsemen of the Apocalypse. Remarks on the book The great leveler. Violence and the history of inequality from the Stone Age to the twenty-first century by Walter Scheidel. Princeton-Oxford: Princeton University Press 2017 - REVIEW ESSAY

This article constitutes a review of the book “The great leveler” written by Walter Scheidel. We refer to the issue of constructing theories and pointing out the regularities in history. We present the scientific background of the author, as well as his inspirations from other publications of a similar kind, notably “Capital in the twenty-first century” by Thomas Piketty. We analyse the elements of Scheidel’s thesis that the levelling of income inequalities within the framework of states may come about only from violent shocks: mobilization warfare, transformative revolution, state failure, and lethal pandemics. We comment on each of these factors, offering a critical approach to the author’s interpretation and directions for further research. We also argue that for the studies of income disparities the estimation of data about the middle class is crucial, as the lack of or small scope of it is the most dangerous for domestic stability. The estimations of the top 1% of the richest means less in this context. We also propose a greater focus on the impact of welfare politics in democratic states. However, we highly appreciate the author’s thoroughness in compiling such a great amount of data as well as his logical argumentation, which make his work valuable, convincing, and intellectually stimulating.Esej zawiera recenzję książki Walter Scheidela “The great leveler”. Odnosimy się w nim to przedstawionej przez Autora teorii oraz dostrzegania przez niego prawidłowości w procesie historycznym. Przedstawiamy syntetycznie biografię naukową Scheidela oraz identyfikujemy Jego inspirację publikacjami, w których podejmowano podobne wątki, szczególnie pracą Thomasa Piketty’ego “Kapitał w XXI wieku”. Odnosimy się do poszczególnych elementów tezy Scheidela, który twierdzi, że wyrównywanie nierówności dochodów w ramach państwa może mieć miejsce jedynie w wyniku silnych wstrząsów, takich jak działania wojenne, rewolucje, upadek państw czy epidemie śmiertelnych chorób. Przedstawiamy krytyczną analizę twierdzeń Autora oraz proponujemy kierunki dalszych badań poszczególnych czynników. Przybliżamy również tezę, że dla badań nad nierównościami dochodów kluczowe są dane dotyczące klasy średniej, gdyż jej brak lub niewielki udział najbardziej zagrażają stabilności wewnętrznej państw. Skupienie się jedynie na 1% najzamożniejszych obywateli ma w tym kontekście mniejsze znaczenie. Proponujemy również wzięcie w większym stopniu pod uwagę polityk społecznych – państwa opiekuńczego – realizowanych w wielu państwach demokratycznych. Mimo tych krytycznych uwag, bardzo pozytywnie oceniamy skrupulatność naukową Autora, który oparł swoje badania na ogromnej liczbie danych. Na najwyższe uznanie zasługuje również logiczna argumentacja. To wszystko czyni Jego wywód przekonującym i inspirującym intelektualnie