Big Government Research Articles

Sense and Nonsense in the Regulation of Equipment Financing Business in Ethiopia

The discourse about equipment financing (financial leasing) business is not as to whether it is useful; but it is about how to create the best possible investment climate for the growth and expansion of the sector; that is how to maximize the economic gains in terms of facilitating alternative access to financing for businesses. Equipment financing or financial leasing is one of the alternative mechanisms of solving financing needs of businesses and individuals. It combines the attributes of lending and leasing, hence the name finance leasing or lease financing. It involves lending equipment (instead of lending the funds needed to purchase it) with the possibility of eventual ownership of the equipment by the borrower. Although equipment financing and leasing existed in Ethiopia over a long period of time, a detailed law on the subject was introduced only recently. However, the new regulatory regime which placed the financial leasing sector under the regulation of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) did not stimulate the emergence of financial leasing companies as intended. It brought about the creation of big government owned leasing companies whose formation and operation is rather politically driven than supported by economic rationales. Much of the reason for the lack of enthusiasm from the private sector seems to be the discouraging regulatory environment. Therefore, the complex and cumbersome regulatory framework should be simplified if financial leasing companies are to flourish and play a meaningful role as alternative sources of financing.Key termsEquipment financing · Financial Leasing · Financial Regulation · National Bank of Ethiopia · Prudential Regulation

The Nationalist Roots of White Evangelical Politics

White evangelicals remain some of Donald Trump's most steadfast supporters. Connections between white supremacy and evangelical political theology first found new expression in the 1970s. For decades now, evangelicals have railed against "big government" as a threat to religious freedom

Are We There Yet? The American Automobile Past, Present, and Driverless by Dan Albert

Book Reviews Dan Albert. Are We There Yet? The American Automobile Past, Present, and Driverless. New York: Norton, 2019. Pp. 304. Notes. Illustrations. Index. Hardcover: $27.95 Dan Albert calls himself a “car guy,” and his lively and opinionated history of Americans and their cars aims at a broad audience, but it is far from a typical celebration of the joys of automobility. Although he follows the story from start to finish and visits some of the usual suspects, he takes detours along the way. He begins with familiar tales of Dearborn, Flint, and Detroit: the remarkable yet repellent Henry Ford, of course, and the rise of Billy Durant’s and Alfred P. Sloan’s General Motors. From there, though, he sometimes wanders off the beaten path, or at least enters it from an unfamilar side road, as he proceeds through chapters on, among other things, the interstate highway system as a last hurrah of big government (not, that is, of rugged individualism); fantasies of the flying car; the 1970s energy crisis and the pathetic models that Detroit responded with; CB-radio-wielding truckers; and his own adventures with engine repair. GM makes a recurring appearance as a notable villain, from its rejection of safety glass and promotion of leaded gasoline in the 1920s, through its postwar contempt for automotive safety and its skullduggery directed against Ralph Nader, to the mismanagement and disdain for the people of Flint decried by Michael Moore. General readers might appreciate Albert’s penchant for outrageous humor (“the average age of a Cadillac buyer is dead” [225]) and his refusal to rely on the theories of “Siggy and Karl”—that is, Freud and Marx. Scholars may find his references, facts, and figures a little (but only a little) inadequate. He dismisses Peter Norton’s arguments about the auto industry’s heavy hand in the reconstruction of city streets, apparently without fully understanding them. Still, even as his jaunty prose and vivid tales glide along, he has serious points to make, including some that specialists might find illuminating. For all the book’s idiosyncracies, Albert’s pointed observations give it an arc. He opens with the distinctly non-technological reasons early electric cars lost out to the Model T and concludes with a warning about the dangers of letting the technology of self-driving cars dictate our future. He recognizes that the car was always two things: “a transportation machine and a consumer product to be desired, owned and enjoyed as a driver.” (72) It—in its gasoline-powered variety—conquered America not merely because it was useful but because it channeled masculine aggression (it’s too bad he does not cite Gijs Mom’s more systematic case 168 The Michigan Historical Review for this claim). Albert the car guy laments the transformation of his sporty ride into an “automotive womb” sheltering its occupants, while Albert the sharp-eyed critic also sees a more pernicious error in this triumph of automotive safety, since air bags and the like have done “nothing to protect vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians.” (174) This historically grounded dual perspective informs his skeptical take on selfdriving cars. These joyless parlors on wheels are the ultimate triumph of traffic engineering, the logic of which “obscures an ideology”: it “trades safety for mobility.” (269) In other words, designs for city streets have long assumed that the highest priority is automotive speed, benefitting only the denizens of those well-padded interiors. Cities for people, not just for cars, cannot be places where roads are reserved for the use of speeding robots. Albert proclaims the imminent end of the automotive age. As the thrill of driving no longer engages the young, and as we read about drivers who doze off while their Teslas cruise at highway speed, historians might take note. Brian Ladd University at Albany Danielle Aubert. The Detroit Printing Co-op: The Politics of the Joy of Printing. Los Angeles, CA: Inventory Press, 2019. Pp. 240. Illustrations. Paper: $29.95 Detroit has a fascinating history of radical politics regarding both the Right—as headquarters of the National Socialist Movement—and the Left—as the founding site of the United Automobile Workers...

HYMAN P. MINSKY’S “BIG GOVERNMENT” APPROACH IN SECURING ECONOMIC STABILITY AND ITS APPLICABILITY IN THE TURKISH ECONOMY

The aim of this article is to discuss the applicability of Hyman P. Minsky’s “big government policy” proposal in the Turkish economy. According to Minsky, one of the main causes of economic cycles is the private sector’s decreasing investments and profits. The government is able to contribute to economic stability by reversing the decreasing investments and profits by means of big government policies. Turkish macroeconomic data verifies theoretical explanations of big government regarding total profits. Moreover, budget indicators show that the government can implement big government policies to secure financial and economic stability in Turkey.

Старый и новый антисемитизм в Европе и уроки для «удобно устроившихся евреев» (Old Fashion and ‘New’ Fashion Antisemitism in Europe: Lessons for ‘Comfortable Jews’)

Russian Abstract: Рост антисемитизма в Европе анализируется по политическим источникам и с точки зрения степени опасности для евреев. «Традиционный» антисемитизм на почве страха перед чужаком не представляет смертельной опасности. Более опасная – ревность к общему наследию монотеистических религий в наши дни теряет актуальность. Самая опасная форма основана на небеспочвенных подозрениях политиков тоталитарного толка. Исторически евреи имели сложную историю отношений с тоталитарными режимами, не нуждались в принудительной заботе и «проигрывали» в готовности слепо следовать приказам. Последняя разновидность быстро растет не из среды правых антииммигрантских партий, а среди левых - социалистических и социал-либеральных. Эти партии предпочитают евреям новых зависимых и управляемых избирателей – иммигрантов. Готовность евреев из Восточной Европы куда новые тенденции докатываются с запозданием воспринять их адекватно может предотвратить как разочарования, так и куда более тяжелые последствия. English Abstract: The paper presents analysis of anti-Semitism rising in the Western and Central Europe. The phenomena is scrutinized by its political sources (anti-immigrant vs. Leftist parties) and as a potential threat to the Jews. Traditional xenophobia constitutes a pretty moderate menace. The religious zeal and jealousy of the Jews as competing heirs of monotheistic tradition is potentially much more dangerous but it is currently far from being pressing and urgent. The greatest menace is totalitarian hate of rebellious tribe, denying authority of totalitarian ruler, everywhere suspected of being disloyal to the Government or ruling party. The latter form of Antisemitism is evidently most dangerous for the Jewish communities and for the Jewish people as a whole. This form is currently spreading and rising among left-wing and even left liberal parties supporting Big Government, promoting compulsory governmental cradle-to-grave care. As the Jews are less dependent from this care, new West-hating and Jews-hating immigrants are pretty reasonable choice for these parties. Eastern European Jewry awareness of above mentioned menace could do them a good turn irrespectively of their vision of future place of permanent residence.

Innovative and Technological Development of a Megapolis Within the Public and Private Partnership

Current demographic trends show that large cities, both in Russia and in leading foreign countries attract the most active and creative population groups. Thus, it is possible to state that megacities have become drivers of the overall economic development of countries. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make a significant contribution to the development of cities, including in the sphere of high technology and innovation. However, SMEs need support from the State to implement their projects for the benefit of society. The paper states that the activities of small and mediumsized enterprises should be harmonized, taking into consideration the participation of big business and government agencies, and be aligned with the free-market ideology. For the balanced and successful management of Russian economy, it is necessary to highlight trends in their development and major problems faced by modern urban agglomerations. The study employs the methods of analysis, synthesis and logical research based on the creative and informational approach. The authors analyze important aspects of public-private partnership, challenges being experienced by SMEs, modern measures for their support, and illustrate them by the case of Moscow. The results of the implemented programs and projects show that the development of small and medium-sized enterprises through the public-private partnership is a promising area for Russia, and Moscow is the most demonstrative example in this sphere.

Guns, identity, and nationhood

The article provides a theoretical perspective on the symbolic meaning of the right to bear arms in modern America, especially among its conservative movement. Neglecting this issue, scholarship on gun symbolism has commonly focused on guns possessed by offenders in inner-cities, such as juveniles or gang members. Offering a multidisciplinary and comparative outlook, the article explains how guns have become symbols of a worldview under which armed patriots must stand ready to defend America from “tyranny,” “big government,” “socialism,” and other existential threats. In particular, the U.S. conservative movement does not merely perceive the right to bear arms as a means of self-defense against criminals, but as a safeguard against an oppressive government that “patriots” may have to overthrow by force. The article examines the hypothesis that guns foster a sense of belonging in this conception of nationhood. This worldview is not solely limited to politicians, elites, or activists, as it can encompass rank-and-file conservatives. Group identification can rest on sharing radical beliefs that enhance cohesion, including rallying against perceived threats. This mindset helps explain resistance to elementary reforms to regulate firearms. If one believes that an unbridled right to bear arms is not only key to protecting the United States, but also key to what it means to be an American, concessions on gun control become difficult to envision. While conservatives in other Western democracies tend to support significant gun control, a key dimension of American exceptionalism is the relative normalization of a conservative identity in which firearms have acquired a peculiar symbolic value.

Hayekian welfare states: explaining the coexistence of economic freedom and big government

AbstractTo explain the coexistence of economic freedom and big government, this paper distinguishes between big government in the fiscal sense of requiring high taxes, and big government in the Hayekian sense of requiring knowledge that is difficult to acquire from a central authority. The indicators of government size in measures of economic freedom capture the fiscal size but ignore the Hayekian knowledge problem. Thinking about government size in both the fiscal and Hayekian dimensions suggests the possibility of Hayekian welfare states where trust and state capacity facilitate experimentation and learning, resulting in a public sector that is big in a fiscal sense but not necessarily more vulnerable to the Hayekian knowledge problem. Pensions in Sweden are used as a case to illustrate the empirical relevance of the argument. The new pension system represents big government in a fiscal sense, but by relying on decentralized choice it requires relatively little central knowledge.

BUSINESS AND THE NORDIC WELFARE STATES, 1890-1970

Social scientists have, since the 1990s, shown an increasing interest in the role of business actors in welfare state development, and these debates provide many opportunities for historians of the Nordic countries to contribute with their insights and findings. This special issue brings together six historical studies on the role of business in the development of the welfare states in the Nordic countries, including the role of firms as providers of company welfare as well as the activities of firms and of business interest groups to influence policies and public opinion. Two observations stand out. First, the contributions draw a picture of a gradual shift in this period from that of fundamental opposition, which often dominated up to the mid-20th century, to a more pragmatic approach of cooperation. Cooperation in policy-making co-existed with confrontation in public debate, in which business interest groups promoted alternatives to ‘big government’. Second, these studies underline the value of paying attention to what Reinhart Koselleck called ‘horizons of expectations’. These historical studies show how the vocabulary of the actors changed in this period, and how business interest groups not only influenced political decisions but also adapted their expectations to changes in the political context.

What I Missed (review of "The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America") [Book review

This book discusses the start and development of the California technology industry in Silicon Valley. The author sees the rapid ascent of Silicon Valley as arising from a fortunate mixture of two incompatible elements. For much of its history, that industry was led by people who distrusted authority in general and big government in particular. The rugged individual (cowboy) mentality of the west stood in sharp contrast to the values and behavior of the eastern establishment. On the other hand, much of the industry’s funding came, directly or from large amounts of government spending during World War II and in the quartercentury that followed. The arms race, the space race, and massive post-Sputnik investments in education helped to create fortunes that then fueled innovation through a decentralized system of entrepreneurship and venture capital. Included are the stories from the many people who are part of this tech industry, including Fred Terman, David Packard, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Ben Rosen, Esther Dyson, and Regis McKenna.

Taking Government Out of Politics: Murray Rothbard on Political and Local Reform During the Progressive Era

Murray Rothbard’s The Progressive Era contains nine full chapters of Rothbard’s unfinished manuscript as well as later published essays on material he wanted to discuss (Rothbard 2017). Chapter 9, “The National Civic Federation: Big Business Organized for Progressivism,” documents the cartelizing state and local reforms pushed by big business, big government, and court intellectuals in the early twentieth century. In Chapter 10, of which only notes remain because it was unfortunately not written, Rothbard would have continued his analysis of local Progressive Era interventions by analyzing both their political and urban reforms. Using his published writings and lectures, this paper discusses what Rothbard would have written about in the tenth chapter of the book.

The United States, Checks and Balances, and a Commercial Republic – An Experiment

This chapter explains how the concept of the rule of law grew and changed in the founding of the United States. The United States was founded by people who thought they were adopting their common law heritage. United by a hustling spirit and a deep distrust of big government (especially England’s), the Founders were deeply influenced by the Scottish Enlightenment and its focus on individual liberty (as can be seen in Madison’s Federalist Papers), and they were determined to create a commercial republic (Hamilton). With the passage of the Constitution, they were fascinated by the French Revolution, and some (Jefferson) felt a strong accord with its theoretical concepts. Others (Adams) believed that the Philosophes were unrealistic, far too involved in theory, and had not seen the down-side of legislation-centered democracy. While originally English in the focus on limited government and individual liberty, the American conception of the rule of law first became more self-conscious, more self-critical, and next developed a deeper (or at least more self-conscious) set of checks and balances than its parent country. That concept – the American understanding of the relationship between man and government – has gradually become more conflicted and intertwined with Rechtsstaat during and after the Great Depression and the creation of a national income tax, social security, and other ‘safety-net’ governmental programs to help those in need, as will be discussed in Chapter 5.

The Revival of ‘Big Government’ Discourse in South Korea, 2017

After the democratisation of South Korea in 1987, political discourse on ‘big government’ nearly disappeared, largely because it recalled past authoritarianism. Authoritarian states are highly likely to employ ‘big government’ – exerting policy influence over the distribution of private resources – to sustain their political power, and Korea’s authoritarian state was no exception. Thus, newly inaugurated President Moon Jae-in’s official implication that he would pursue big government is notable, because he claimed to represent pro-democracy groups that opposed both historical authoritarianism and the former president’s undemocratic governance. In this context, this study examines external and internal political-economic factors behind the revival of big government discourse in Korea. Results show that critical factors included the lack of pressure in the global capitalist market and the dominance of governmentalists over marketists in the political-economic discourse influencing the administration’s maintenance and expansion of its political foundation.

Briefly Noted

The federal Department of Justice (DOJ) is impeding efforts to produce high‐quality marijuana for research purposes, according to a report published on Vox. In particular, California entrepreneur George Hodgin, who wants to grow it, and researchers who want to use what he grows are frustrated. “We only want to provide clean, consistent, compliant cannabis for researchers,” Hodgin, CEO of Biopharmaceutical Research Company, told Vox. “We're sitting on one of the most sophisticated cannabis production facilities in the United States. And it's empty, because the federal government is playing politics with something that is apolitical.” Because marijuana is still illegal under federal law, despite the fact that it is legal for medical and recreational purposes in some states, growing the plant for research purposes is only allowed by the federal government by the University of Mississippi. Critics say that is not of high enough quality. “I feel like the government I fought to protect doesn't understand the urgency of this problem,” said Hodgin, a retired Navy SEAL. “My story should be the American dream: A Navy SEAL uses the GI Bill to get a graduate education and start a company that helps Americans and creates jobs. But sadly, the DOJ and DEA are playing politics with science and lives, and instead big government inertia and red tape are blocking critical research.” He added: “Democrats and Republicans have both argued the need for more marijuana to be produced for research. Why would [the Justice Department] ignore them?” Indeed. It's hypocritical for the federal government to say there's no proof marijuana works as medicine, and no proof that it's safe, and at the same time ban what would make it possible to find out whether those things are true.

The interactive impact of government size and quality of institutions on economic growth- evidence from the states of India

This paper investigates the impact of government size on economic growth across 23 states in India between 2005 and 2014 for varying degrees of quality of institutions. Using pooled OLS, panel random effects estimation, as well as system-GMM estimation techniques, we find that in general, akin to findings in the literature, a bigger government is detrimental for state-level economic growth. However, the extent of the negative growth impact depends on the quality of institutions of the states, measured by a newly available index. States that have better quality of institutions register a lower negative impact on economic growth compared to their less progressive counterparts for similar increase in government size. Also, reduction in non-development government expenditure has a better growth impact compared to reduction in development government expenditure, especially for higher levels of institutional quality. Our results, that are robust to various specifications of government size, quality of institutions and estimation techniques, lead us to conclude that state governments should emphasize on quality of institutions to enhance state-level economic growth.

Fair Housing After “Big Government”: How Tax Credits Are Reshaping the Legal Fight Against Racial Segregation

ABSTRACTIn June 2015, the Supreme Court ruled, in a 5–4 split decision, that facially neutral state policies and practices that unintentionally segregated minorities could violate the Fair Housing Act. This article draws on the Texas fair housing litigation to engage broader debates on fair housing as a legal framework, and its potential for disrupting or transforming patterns of structural inequality. Specifically, it examines how shifts in the ways that society designs and implements housing policies may encourage courts, advocates, and legal actors to think about fair housing issues in new ways. Moving beyond the emphasis on disparate impact, my findings elaborate on two mostly overlooked ways that LIHTC reshapes the legal battleground in the fight for fair housing, by opening contentious debate on (a) the state level of government, and (b) passive government administration of policies. I interpret these effects as unintended consequences of the gradual shift toward market-driven policies that allow officials to govern at a distance.

Limitless Deficit Financing for Economic Prosperity: Where They Got Keynes’s Deficit Spending Wrong?

The recent wave of recommendations of unlimited credit creation to finance government expenditures to achieve economic growth and prosperity seems to be grounded in misunderstanding Keynes’s countercyclical fiscal policy. Keynes’s deficit spending denotes the stimulus geared towards increasing private investment as opposed to big government spending boosting consumption. Taking Japan as a case study, I showcase that deficit financing meeting Keynesian preconditions, including a sound monetary system, well-developed financial markets, and lower/zero interest rate, may not lead to raising growth and lowering public debts as the proponents predict. I maintain that unlimited credit expansion to the public sector in consumption-based economies, which is the general case for developing countries, is most likely to generate inflation while leaving the economy’s productivity unchanged.

Persistent Exclusion in Mexico: Regulatory Governance as an Imperfect Project of Political Modernization

The aim of this article is to show the scope and limitations of regulatory governance as a project of political modernization in Mexico—a project formally designed to foster greater inclusion in decision‐making processes. To do so, I present empirical evidence from case studies of consultative bodies in four regulatory domains: the use of transgenic seeds; the regulation of telecommunications; the restriction of junk food in schools; and the control of carbon emissions from automobiles. Influencing the economic, social, and political interests of a wide variety of stakeholders (from consumers to big business and government), these decision‐making processes constituted a “living laboratory” through which to assess the effectiveness of institutional innovations designed to put regulatory governance into practice. Ultimately, this article contributes to understanding the challenges of a project of political modernization in Mexico, a project launched in the 1980s that still has not achieved its institutional strengthening mission of improving mechanisms of participatory democracy.

Big Data and government: Evidence of the role of Big Data for smart cities

Scholars are becoming increasingly interested in whether and how government use of Big Data will affect public policy outcomes. Despite such growing scholarly interests, however, little evidence exists on the role Big Data can play in improving government service. We undertake one of the first quantitative studies revealing the potential utility and limitations of “Big Data-based policymaking” by exploring its recent use by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. In 2013, the government introduced the “Owl Bus”—a late-night bus system—the routes of which were selected based on government analyses of Big Data relating to citizens’ late-night taxi and mobile phone use. The findings suggest that the average number of passengers utilizing the Owl Bus routes was significantly greater than that on other daytime bus routes with comparable characteristics. That said, we also present the potential limitations of evidence-based policymaking in general, especially when politics and equity considerations are factored in.

The Concept of the Administrative State: Five Problems and Three Suggestions

Troubled by actions of the Trump Administration, some academics have defended the administrative state. This may be a mistake. The scholarly definition of the administrative state has shifted over decades, and today scholarly usage of the term diverges substantially from popular usage. When academics invoke the concept, they may unwittingly trigger negative associations in the minds of non-academics and defeat their own cause. This mistake is easily avoided, because academics often do not need to talk about the administrative state at all. Scholarly inquiry would be improved by using different terms to describe three distinct ideas: the state, the administrative component of the state, and the administrative state, a type of state that emerged at a specific moment in American history. If academics want to defend the public service in the realm of politics, it would be better to do so in those terms, rather than using a phrase that triggers fears about big and irresponsible government.