*** DARIO VELO, FRANCESCO VELO: A Social Market Economy and European Economic Monetary Union. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, P. O. Box 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2013, 174 pp, €51-70. ISBN 978-3-0343-1291-2.
What if the future of the capitalist world were being played out right now in Europe, and more particularly the in the European Union, but we were not aware of it? This is the substance of a question running throughout this fine tome, in which the two authors' answers force the reader to consider the situation currently being endured in another way. The preface, Cardinal Coccopalmerio, chair of the Pontifical Council for legislation, welcomes Dario and Francesco Velo's 'radical change of paradigm' in the book, which the Cardinal says is a must-read for people who 'in all honesty care about the fate of a better future in the city of humankind, will not restrict themselves to "dealing with daily matters" but will envisage and cultivate "long-term solutions" that characterised the wise founding fathers of the European Union.' In fact, it is based on the European construction project in the form we have received it that the Velo's, lecturers at Pavio University in Italy, suggest that a European Economic Union be constructed to make Europe 'the place where a new economic, social and State order is developed.'
Why this act of faith? Because, as the lecturer in management and the researcher at the Faculty of Economics explain, the European Union is a permanent integration process that right from the start has combined the values of freedom, solidarity and subsidiarity, in other words the foundations of a social market economy. Today, economic union, which was alluded to the Maastricht Treaty, has become a crucial necessity and European political leaders must continue to construct it, in stages if need be, ever aware that unlike monetary union, it 'requires the designation of an economic-social model capable of obtaining the necessary consensus of citizens.' Hence the need to turn (again) to the (German) roots of the social market economy. The authors go back to these roots, which leads them to note the contribution of philosophers like Rathenau, Einaudi and Müller-Armack, the latter being the German foreign minister at the time of the signature of the Treaties of Rome and the inventor of the social market economy concept. They therefore go back to birth of German neo-liberalism, based 'on the idea that the economy is an element of society, and that posing the problem of a new order in the economy implies the need to pose the problem of a new order at a social and a political level.' In the view of economist Alfred Müller-Armack, the social market economy was a way to reconcile political liberalism and Christian humanism, two big philosophical traditions that have affected and shaped Europe more than other continents.
On this basis, the authors argue that the social market economy could prove to be a godsend these days, and perhaps even announce a 'new humanism.' As Cardinal Coccopalmerio summarises it, the protean crises of recent years 'have proved all the limitations of a paradigm based on the solipsistic exaltation of the individual regardless of his constitutive belonging to a community.' At this stage, a deviation of economic liberalism - which gives the State a role to play in protecting the general interest - has turned globalisation into a jungle where the law of the fittest prevails, and also into the bed of 'postmodernity' characterised by 'an absolute relativism, a vision of the individual in a society with no rules, and a radical underestimation of the role played by the institutions.' The authors suggest that this apocalyptic reality be opposed by a European Economic Union as a backfire to the excesses of a self-obsessed capitalism that has gone crazy. They provide details about the feasibility and potential stages of such a process. If one believes them, the EU (or at least the eurozone) could become a compass for humanity. The Velos explain: 'The possessive individualism asserted by post-modernity states the centrality of the market and not of humankind. Subsidiarity, social market economy and new humanism set humankind at the centre of the institutions, as well as in relations between institutions.' This would therefore be a revolution towards which the American inheritors of Roosevelt and the New Deal could not remain insensitive, according to Dario Velo and Francesco Velo. Let us accept the oracle's reading. But have they considered the people who, closer to use, continue to trumpet in the face of all that defending an Anglo-Saxon type capitalism is the idol of modern time? Michel Theys
*** CONSTANTIN TSOUKALAS: La Grèce de l'oubli et de la vérité. De la longue adolescence à l'âge adulte violent. Editions Themelio (81 rue Solonos, GR-10681 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 3612092 - Fax: 3612092 - email: info@themelio-ekdoseis.gr). 2012, 234 pp, €15-44. ISBN 978-960-310-362-2.
Professor at Athens University and former advisor to Costas Simitis when the latter was the Greek prime minister, Constantin Tsoukalas looks in this book at the despair and rage felt in Greece about the crisis that is continuing to worsen. He aims to provide an alternative analysis of the causes of the current situation. He develops the argument that directly or indirectly, Greek society these days is the fruit of the conditions in the country after the civil war (1949). Later, belatedly, various factors arose that enabled Greece to promote the capitalist route based on different rules from those in place elsewhere in Europe. The central argument in the book is that the Greek crisis reveals a system that is reaching its limits. To demonstrate this, the author analyses developments over the past fifty years, examining both Greece's integration in the international division of labour - culminating in the country joining the European Community that went on to become the European Union - and the particularities of Greek capitalism.
(AKa)
*** ARISTOS DOXIADIS: Le fossé invisible. Les institutions et les comportements de l'économie grecque. Editions Ikaros (4 rue Voulis, GR-10562 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 3225152 - Fax: 3235262 - email: info@ikarosbooks.gr - Internet: http://www.ikaros.gr ). 2013, 323 pp, €14-90. ISBN 978-960-572-004-9.
How does the Greek economy work in practice? In what ways is it different from other western economies? What forces and practices will help Greece out of the crisis? An economist and analyst for a number of Greek newspapers, Aristos Doxiadis explains in this book that the answers to the questions are not to be found in the macroeconomic statistics or in the simplistic arguments for oligarchs, usurers or trade unionists. He says the answers are rather to be found in plans for families, in the size of companies, in the way companies manufacture in Greece, in the way the State is organised, in the detail of the law, in the behaviour of politicians. It is their actions, whether formal or informal, that have shaped the economy that went into a tailspin in 2009, and it they who will shape the emerging economy. The book reconstitutes the political economy of Greece with the aid of new institutional tools. From case studies taken from tourism, transport, agriculture, public administration and other areas, the author explains the causes of the deficit and of unemployment, along with Greece's position in Europe. In simple and human terms, he describes the path that will lead to wealth though the development of production open to the outside world.
(AKa)
*** Politique. Revue de débats. ASBL Politique (9 rue du Faucon, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 5386996 - email: secretariat@politique.eu.org - Internet: http://politique.eu.org ). January/February 2014, No. 83, 84 pp, €9. Annual subscription: €40.
This issue of a progressive review in Belgium contains a very detailed special report on the return of the question of social-economic inequalities to the forefront of intellectual and political debate. The most striking example of this is a recent speech in which President Obama mentioned the vertiginous level of inequalities in the United States as a sign of moving backwards economically, explains epidemiologist Richard Wilkinson. But even the European Commission pretends to be interested in the risks of widening inequalities to the European contraction project, observes Politique, talking of a possible 'Copernican evolution.' Either way, Laurence Weerts explains in detail the social scoreboard unveiled by the Commission and endorsed by employment and social affairs ministers on 9 December 2013. In an interview with the review, this member of EU Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner László Andor's cabinet explains that this preventative tool for very early detection of social problems (inequalities included in the social imbalance indicators along with unemployment, youth unemployment, poverty and household income) is a translation of the Commission's desire to rebalance economic governance, which has largely focussed on imbalances in budgets and competitiveness. Benjamin Coriat notes that the need for an industrial policy has re-emerged and has to be considered against the backdrop of the current ecological and energy transitions. As far as the this co-president of Economistes Atterrés is concerned, Europe is the best place for generating new impulses, although the EU's energy strategy based on quotas and a carbon tax is clearly failing.
(MT)
*** NATHALIE JALABERT-DOURY: Les inspections de concurrence. Éditions Bruylant (Groupe De Boeck, 39 rue des Minimes, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 5480713 - Fax: 5480714 - email: commande@larciergroup.com - Internet: http://www.bruylant.be ). Concurrence series. 2013, 491 pp, €150. ISBN 978-2-8027-4239-5.
This book takes the form of a detailed instruction manual for competition policy inspections in France and how the European Commission's anti-trust investigations take place. It gives detailed reminders of the legal context and the complexity of this ever-changing subject matter, which justifies the publication of a book like this and its useful annexes providing the basic laws and a detachable summary, a portable first aid course for inspections. The titles are self-explanatory, How to manage a competition investigation, for example. Even seemingly insignificant details are covered, like how to house the investigation team and decide who is going to consult with them. The book also gives psychological tips like 'Don't panic,' 'Don't be aggressive' and 'Have just one person in charge' to guide the inspectors through the company's labyrinths both physically and in terms of accounts and administrative documents. The guide examines procedures one by one, which makes it a very practical manual for preparing companies for any investigation, along with providing answers to the questions that might arise during an investigation. There is also a checklist of boxes to be ticked.
(FBC)
*** CLAIRE MICHEAU: Droit des aides d'Etat et des subventions en fiscalité. Droit de l'Union européenne et de l'OMC. Editions Larcier (Groupe De Boeck, 39 rue des Minimes, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 482511 - Fax: 482693 - email: commande@deboeckservices.com - Internet: http://www.larcier.com ). "Faculté de Droit, d'Economie et de Finance de l'Université de Luxembourg" series. 2013, 266 pp, €50. ISBN 978-2-8044-5169-1.
Following on from doctoral research, this book provides an in-depth study of state aid law and tax subsidies in the European Union and the World Trade Organisation. Along with analysis of the legislation, the author studies the interpretations arising from European Court of Justice case-law and European Commission practices. The author provides explanatory criticisms and measured suggestions.
(PBo)
*** CHRISTIAN KNIESE: Europarechtlicher Rahmen einer steuerlichen Förderung von Forschung und Entwickelung. Peter Lang (see above). "Finanz- und Steuerrecht in Deutschland und Europa" series, No. 21, 2013, 236 pp, €54-95. ISBN 978-3-631-62806-5.
Germany is one of the rare European Union (or Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) member states that does not have any legislation on tax incentives for research and development in the private sector. According to the author, it would be desirable for it to draw up legislation in order to provide effective accompaniment to the direct aid that the federal state or the German Länder already provide for research (via, for example, the financing of research institutes or the direct financing of research by companies through the granting of subsidies). After a brief comparative study of other European countries, Christian Kniese makes proposals in his thesis to enable the German legislator to fill the legislative gap while respecting the powers granted to the European Union when it comes to research and taxation under the Lisbon Treaty, along with the fundamental rights anchored in EU legislation - such as the competition and non-discrimination rules, the principle of limiting restrictions and the EU rules on state aid (a highly regulated area).
(GLe)