A Theory of Civil Conflict and Democracy in Unequal Societies

This paper examines the endogenous choice between democracy and conflict in a scenario with different social classes in terms of income inequality and with parties representing each of the two social classes. We consider how the change in economic inequality between the poor and rich people affects the sustainability of democracy against conflict and how it impacts the equilibrium levels of tax rate and public expenditure under democracy. We show that the increase in economic inequality destabilizes of democracy since the poor hardly has the incentive to sustain the democracy Further the increase is positively associated with the equilibrium levels of both the tax rate and public expenditure. Therefore, we successfully provide theoretic justification for the fact that sufficiently large economic inequality decreases the possibility of a self-enforcing democracy.

The Role of Financial Speculation in Copper Prices

The recently ended rise in commodity price boom and the ensuing spectacular price falls that followed, have inspired an interest among the researchers on the role played by other factors besides the physical supply and demand. This paper examines the role played by financial speculation in copper price boom during the last decade. Using least squares with breakpoints, the results indicate that from January 1993 to December 2016 LME real copper spot prices have been characterized by structural changes and its determinants significantly varies in distinct periods. The results reveal that, financial speculation accentuated copper price moves during the last decade. The results support the conclusion that, fundamentals alone cannot fully explain price moves

Long-Term Sustainability of Copper and Iron Based on a System Dynamics Model

Copper and iron are critical to the economic growth of modern society. Nations depend on these metals for the development of infrastructure, transportation, and other industries. However, concerns regarding future availability of peak minerals with a limit to growth have been extensively debated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the amount of potential resources and the recycling rate from secondary metal scrap recycling for the sustainable development of mineral resources. The long-term mineral supply and demand balance with respect to recycling for copper and iron were developed for the next 50 years at the regional and global levels. The results indicate that the supply of copper would increase four-fold by 2070 compared to 1991, with primary copper remaining the main contributing source. For iron, the total supply would increase by nine times from 2000 to 2070, with secondary recycling surpassing the primary iron supply by 2033 and becoming the main contributor by 2070. Even though there is no future resource constraint, further promotion of scrap recycling, especially for copper, is necessary to address environmental concerns through reduction in material extraction. Emphasizing the importance of metals in society is essential for stock accountability through resource efficiency and resource conservation