Browsing by Author "Martins, Nuno Ornelas"
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- Adam Smith and Catholic Social TeachingPublication . Martins, Nuno OrnelasThe connections between Adam Smith and Catholic Social Teaching (CST) raise several questions. The principle of subsidiarity adopted in CST, according to which higher associations should not replace subordinate organizations on what the latter can do, seems to be in line with the idea that governmental intervention in the market sphere should be restricted to the minimum required, in line with what is typically seen as Smith’s view. But the principle of the common good would also recommend intervention from political authorities in order to ensure that the common good is achieved. Here I shall argue that this question must be addressed taking into account another principle of CST, the principle of solidarity, and also the basic principle of CST, regarding human dignity. To do so, it is necessary to understand how the various principles of CST spring from the notion of imago Dei in CST, which is behind the notion of human dignity. This leads to a relational conception of human beings which can be fruitfully articulated with Smith’s moral philosophy and political economy.
- An ontology of power and leadershipPublication . Martins, Nuno OrnelasIn this article I draw upon the social ontologies developed by John Searle, Roy Bhaskar, Margaret Archer and Tony Lawson in order to distinguish between power and leadership. To do so, I distinguish the different organizing principles behind natural phenomena, collective phenomena and institutional phenomena, and argue that an understanding of those different organizing principles is essential to a clearer conceptualization of power and leadership. Natural power and cultural power, as I argue, depend upon the organizing principles of natural phenomena, and differ depending on whether those organizing principles have been transformed by humans, in which case it becomes cultural power, or not, in which case it simply is natural power. Leadership emerges with the ability of making other humans share mental states through collective intentionality. Institutional power, in contrast, is connected to the creation of a deontology of rights and obligations that provide what Searle calls desire‐independent reasons for action.
- Barry Eichengreen. Hall of mirrors: the Great Depression, the Great Recession, and the uses-and misuses-of historyPublication . Martins, Nuno Ornelas
- Classical Surplus Theory and Heterodox EconomicsPublication . Martins, Nuno OrnelasIt has recently been suggested that heterodox economics can benefit from an engagement with classical surplus theory. However, caution is often recommended due to the ideological concepts that are embedded in classical political economy. This article argues that many of the ideological concepts that are often attributed to classical political economy are actually not part of classical political economy, but rather of a “vulgar” form of political economy, a project that emerged after Ricardo. This vulgar project, often termed as “Ricardian economics,” is often mistakenly taken to be a development of classical political economy, but it is actually a rupture with the classical political economy of Petty, Smith, and Ricardo, as Marx, and later Sraffa, argued. Once this is acknowledged, the relationship between classical political economy and heterodox economics becomes clearer.
- Desigualdade e EuropaPublication . Martins, Nuno Ornelas
- Development and the revival of political economyPublication . Martins, Nuno OrnelasHa-Joon Chang argues that there has been a switch in development thinking from a “productionist” view, in which development is conceptualized in terms of the productive structures of the economy, to “neoliberal” and “humanistic” views of development, where in the humanistic view development is studied in terms of its impact on human well-being. Chang calls for a new developmentalism that integrates both the productionist and the humanistic view, within an institutionalist approach. Here I address the prospects for a synthesis between productionist and humanistic views drawing on the idea of a revival of political economy developed at Cambridge, UK, especially on the contributions of Joan Robinson, Piero Sraffa, and others. More specifically, I argue that Celso Furtado's suggestion of applying the theoretical framework that underpins this revival of political economy to the study of development can help achieving a fruitful synthesis between productionist and humanistic approaches to development, while also drawing on elements from post Keynesianism and original institutionalism.
- Garegnani’s surplus equation and Marx’s falling rate of profitsPublication . Martins, Nuno OrnelasHere I shall argue that Pierangelo Garegnani’s surplus equation can help in understanding the relationship between Piero Sraffa’s economic system and Karl Marx’s idea of a tendency for the rate of profits to fall. Garegnani’s surplus equation enables us to understand Marx’s analysis of the composition of capital in the context of Sraffa’s system, in order to identify the tendency for the rate of profits to fall, and the countervailing tendencies that act against it. This analysis is in line with Garegnani’s own view that the perspectives of Marx and Sraffa are best seen as complementary approaches, rather than opposed ones.
- Human development: which way now?Publication . Martins, Nuno OrnelasThe capability approach to human development, which has been very influential within the United Nations Development Programme, has been instrumental in bringing out an emphasis on final goals of development connected to the expansion of human freedom. Because these final goals are also seen as means for further development, there is a tendency to neglect other means of development, such as changes in the productive structure and in the distribution of power within the relations of production. Here I assess the intellectual origins of the capability approach to human development, and its influence on development discourse. I argue that it is important to bring back to development discourse, and to the capability approach to human development in particular, a concern with productive structures that characterised earlier approaches to development centred on industrialisation. This requires a greater focus on how power relationships in productive systems influence human capabilities.
- ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’: a critical realist approach to industrial policyPublication . Paiva-Silva, João; Martins, Nuno OrnelasThe resurgence of interest in the topic of industrial policy has been accompanied by an attempt to study it through novel methods of mainstream Economics, within what has been termed the ‘new empirics’ of industrial policy. Such an attempt stands in contrast to the more usual methodology adopted in what we call here the Industrial Policy/Developmental State (IPDS) paradigm. Drawing on the Critical Realist approach to Economics, we show why the methodology adopted in the IPDS paradigm is more adequate for the study of industrial policy than the methodology adopted within the ‘new empirics’ of industrial policy. We also argue that the methodology employed in the IPDS paradigm is quite compatible with Critical Realism, and would benefit from a more explicit engagement with the latter when systematizing its key methodological tenets.
- Inequality, sustainability and Piketty's capitalPublication . Martins, Nuno OrnelasIn this article I address the implications of Thomas Piketty's book Capital in the Twenty-First Century for our understanding of inequality and sustainability, drawing upon Amartya Sen's capability approach, and the revival of classical political economy it brings. I argue that Piketty's contribution is a significant one which has the potential to lead economic analysis in a more fruitful direction. But its potential becomes much greater if its empirical analysis is combined with the revival of classical political economy undertaken by Sen and other authors, rather than with marginalist theory.