A Case Study On Global Political Economy

This report will show an overview of the current state of the Australian economy and its management by the Federal government through examining economic indicators such as economic growth (GDP), unemployment, inflation and trade.

The figure obviously had not return to pre-crisis level. Moreover, recent commodity prices had fallen significantly which will affect Australia’s short and long term economy.

Although Australia remains geographically isolated from the world, international trade still remains a main factor that allows Australia’s economy to prosper. Australia’s long history of trade has created tight links and connections with other nations. Being a member of many worldwide organisations, Australia has produced many free trade agreements with countries around the world. However, recently Australia has seen a change in the composition and direction of its trade and has developed a strong trade link with the Asia-Pacific Region.

On the 8th of July 2014 the Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott and the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe signed the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (JAEPA) (Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement, 2016). This agreement has allowed for support in a two-way investment for both these countries. This agreement will bring the economies of both countries closer along their social relations (Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement, 2016). Agreements like these have led to a more successful future for Australia and Japan along with more successful trading relationships with other countries. This can be seen today though agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Global Political Economy is essentially a study of a political battle between the winners and losers of global economic exchange. In fact, understanding global economy relies on a clear knowledge of the process of political competition. Political power possessed by actors regulates economic activity and in turn this creates the basis for and affects political power. Through, critical analysis of the concept of global political economy it becomes clear that there are three prominent theories that form GPE, mercantilism, economic liberalism and Marxism.

The core intend of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is to endorse economic adaptation in the Asian Pacific province. The affiliates of the

Booms, busts, recessions, and growth; all of the preceding terms are characteristics of a typical market economy. There are times when an economy can flourish spectacularly and there are times when it can fail miserably. Consequently, it is the responsibility of a nation’s central bank to manage these fluctuations through conducting effective monetary policy. The following paper will assume the perspective of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and critically analyze the past, present, and future of the Australian economy while considering specific sectors.

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is the pre-eminent economic rally in Australia’s region. APEC’s goal is to drive an extensive trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation agenda. It is focused on structural reform as a means of raising competitiveness and the efficiency of trade and investment flows. It has helped Australia with building and strengthening ties with other countries such as Brunei, Singapore, Philippines and other countries in the region. In 2009, 70% of Australia’s trade is with APEC countries.

The second key national interest of Australia is the economy. Australia’s capital, jobs, standards of living, technological innovations and social advances rely substantially on exports and commodity values within Southeast Asia and the Pacific (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2016a). The stability of South East Asia and the Oceania

Australia’s political view has been recognized by other countries as a strong market leader and a valuable country to have free trade agreements with. All Australians can see that this is a huge benefit to the Australian economy. An increase in trade agreements means more jobs and security for the

Economic growth can be defined as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a country increasing. Economic growth in Australia is a reflection of its capacity to intensify it production of goods and services and its nominal GDP is typically attuned for inflation

Brewing since 2006, a revolutionary free trade agreement has been held under discussion by twelve of the Pacific Rim countries, including the United States, Chile, and Australia (Friel, Sharon, Gleeson, Thow, Labonte, Stuckler, Kay, and Snowdon 1). This agreement is known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and while it shows potential to be a decisive economic deal, there exist outstanding issues. Of these issues are unjust intellectual rights laws, hindrance of the advancement of affordable medicine, and possible harm with U.S.-China relations. Until issues like these are solved this partnership poses to be a burden and should not be approved.

Joseph Stiglitz and Layna Mosley both discuss globalization in detail and both have similar views regarding globalization. In the chapter “The Political Economy of Globalization” Layna Mosley asks the question whether globalizations effect on government policy making has adverse effects on the state of the global economy or if governments retain autonomy in regards to policymaking despite globalization. She analyzes trends in globalization and the hypothesis of “the race to the bottom” as well as economic openness and if government are truly in control of capital markets. Joseph Stiglitz however analyzes globalization in a historical and current point of view and how the management of globalization has comparatively helped developed nations extensively more than developing/poor nations. Stiglitz’s supports his argument regarding the poor management of globalization by arguing that monopoly power created by patents and the TRIPs agreement has resulted in an unfair global market and is overall very critical of trade agreements. This paper will summarize and critically analyze these two readings and why both texts make strong a valid point in regards to the management of globalization and its effect on the global environment. Furthermore this paper will argue why the texts support the claim that globalization has not only prospered but also resulted in the end of the nation-state because of the increasing interdependence between countries all around the world. Globalization has

Originally coined by Bernhard London (1932) in the context of the Great Depression, up to this date there is no generally accepted definition of planned obsolescence. According to a common definition by Tim Cooper, planned obsolescence is “the outcome of a deliberate decision by suppliers that a product should no longer be functional or desirable after a predetermined period” (Cooper, 2010, p. 4). Another frequently cited definition was formulated by industrial designer Brooks Stevens: “Instilling in the buyer the desire to own something a little newer, a little better, a little sooner than is necessary” (cit. in Adamson, 2003, p. 4). Whereas the former definition emphasises the planning involved in designing products, the latter foregrounds the manipulation of consumer desires and implicitly argues that these desires have become detached from 'actual ' human needs.

In March 2015, Greg Jericho published an article called Weak, weak growth and six things about the state of Australia’s economy that outlined how in the past 6 out of 10 quarters the Australian