Liberal political economy

The second, closely related factor is the private sector in liberal political economy. As Foucault put it unlike absolutism and mercantilism, political economy announces the unknowability for the sovereign of the totality of economic processes and, as a consequence, the impossibility of an economic sovereignty. The point of liberal political economy was not only that a free market protected property and ere-... 

But high modernism, unimpeded by liberal political economy, is best grasped through the working out of its high ambitions and its consequences. It is to this practical terrain in urban planning and revolutionary discourse that we now turn. 

Derrick Hudson B.S., Humanities (United States Air Force Academy), M.A. Political Science (University of Central Oklahoma), Ph.D. International Relations (University of Denver). Assistant Professor of International Relations, Liberal Arts and International Studies, and Director, Master of International Political Economy of Resources (MIPER), Colorado School of Mines. Current research and teaching areas African pohtics, globalization, religion and international relations, and engineering education. 

After 1988, many of the countries of Eastern Europe and Eurasia initiated political and economic reforms, which led to the demise of communism and movement toward the establishment of democratic polities and market-based economies. A series of economic reforms were introduced, under which domestic currencies were allowed to float in the open markets. Consequently, the currencies of these countries depreciated rapidly. Such devaluations followed by deregulation and liberalization resulted in rapid increases in the prices of many commodities. Sudden withdrawal of the government from agriculture, industry, and trade also resulted in the disruption of marketing and distribution channels. Hence, fertilizer prices increased, and fertilizers were not available to the farmers on time. Further, farmers were unable to sell their agricultural produce and have adequate financial resources to purchase fertilizers. Inflationary pressures, inadequate credit arrangements, and poor technical support to new private farmers also adversely affected fertilizer use. 

The liberal state is a recurring term in this project. The short explanation is that a liberal state is a state with some form of representative democracy, a market economy based on private property rights and constitutional protections of civil and political rights. Other attributes have been added There is a dense network of transnational transactions by social and economic actors, multiple channels of communication on all levels exist and the distinction between domestic and foreign issues is blurred. ... 

These are important attributes in a minority setting. They cannot guarantee minority rights but at least they provide an open framework. Liberal democracy is important to minorities who want to participate in various fields, especially in the political field. Market economies provide members of minorities with the possibility to participate on equal footing with members of the majority. If transnational transactions are tmderstood broadly, they can occur in political, economic and cultural spheres. Minorities, especially those with kin-states, are likely to be interested in transnational transactions. The approximation of domestic and foreign issues has happened in the field of minorities as they are regarded to be of international concern. 

Part 1 introduces the subject matter. In Chaps. 1 and 2, the framework and outer limits of the project are provided. A very basic assumption is that international law is relevant. Another basic viewpoint is that international relations are based on much more than only binding international law. Regimes and institutions defined in broad terms are relevant. The project is limited to Europe while the term Europe calls for a clearer definition. The project deals with liberal states which are defined in terms of democracy, market economy, private property rights and civil and political rights. 

Here in the United States, the main elements of our effort to guide science and engineering are a free economy and a liberal democratic political system. The main case for a free economy is well known, but it is worth a brief quotation by Founding Father Alexander Hamilton to call it to mind ... 

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