We are glad to share Professor Vladmier Papava's New Book "From Retroeconomics to Sanctionomics:  Essays on Unconventional Economics". 

Description

The book is a collection of essays on issues that are beyond those discussed in the generally accepted schemes of economics. The main feature of the book is that it addresses non-trivial and debatable issues in economics. Justifying the crisis that has engulfed the economics, the book gives some recommendations as to how to overcome it.

It is substantiated that the economic ability of the government is an independent factor of production. A theoretical concept of so-called market equality is proposed.

Particular attention is paid to issues of economic development and economic growth. The reasons for the existence of the technological backwardness of the economy, as well as the functioning of varieties of the so-called “dead” economy on an artificial basis, both in post-communist countries and on the scale of the world economy, are studied. The weaknesses of inflation targeting are considered, and a possible solution is proposed. The peculiarities of manifestation of the Laffer effect in the economies of post-Communist countries are revealed.

The book examines pressing issues of our time. In particular, the features of the economic crisis caused by the COVID–19 pandemic are studied, and the externalities of economic sanctions imposed by the West on Russia due to the latter’s war in Ukraine are identified. The process of transformation of globalization from hyper-globalization to confrontational globalization is shown, while the possible future of that globalization is discussed.

The book further contains numerous views and statements on contemporary problems of economic science that will doubtless incite debate.

Reviews and Further Information

“A wide-ranging, stimulating, and unconventional set of essays on the state of economics and economic policy. Everyone will find something of interest in these reflections.”

    – DANI RODRIK, Professor of International Political Economy, Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, President of the International Economic Association, USA

“A wide-ranging group of essays on current issues of economic policy, informed by theory, and enlightened by the perspective of an astute observer in post-Soviet Georgia—with excellent views facing both East and West.”

    – JAMES K. GALBRAITH, Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations and Professor of Government, The University of Texas at Austin, USA

“Professor Vladimer Papava has lived through major upheavals such as a post-socialist transition and a global financial crisis, keeping an eye on the developments from his vantage point in Tbilisi, Georgia. The stimulating essays that have resulted from his observations, collected in this volume, share a heterodox stance, one that showcases appreciation for—and creative destruction of—mainstream economics. Economists and other social scientists will be introduced to novel, promising approaches, which themselves derive from an enviably wide-ranging examination of the international literature. Just as we learn in Professor Papava’s essays how to avoid a post-socialist ‘necroeconomy’ (where production of goods with no demand continues), the volume itself helps protect us against a necroeconomic scientific discipline. May the unconventional become conventional!”

    –  JAMES A. LEITZEL, Executive Director of Public Policy Studies, Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago, USA 

“A book to be read and studied as one digs through a mine in search of many gold veins, in this case formed through the author’s intellectual curiosity, long-standing scholarly work, and experience.”

– SERGIO MARIOTTI, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy

“Professor Vladimer Papava’s analysis offers a fresh and insightful approach to expand our understanding of economic growth and globalization. His work defines with precision the factors which led to misconceptions (and mistakes) about the effectiveness of growth oriented policies and yet limit advances in economic growth. His analysis of the challenges of economic growth provide clarity through the clever use of new and insightful arguments such as Necroenomics which explains why outdated and inefficient technologies continue to be used in the economy.  He imparts Retroeconomics to  explain the basis for the continued use of relatively outdated technologies. All readers will come away from this book with an increased understanding of economic growth and how best to avoid the pitfalls of excessive optimism.”

    – GORDON L. BRADY, Former Wayne D. Angell Distinguished Professor of Economics, Ottawa University, Kansas, USA

“In this book, Professor Vladimer Papava steps off the beaten path of conventional economics and proposes the premises of an alternative economy. By pointing out the limitations and shortcomings of the dominant approaches to modern economics, the economist offers a valuable counterargument for analyzing and understanding the economy differently. The toolbox of conventional economics, trapped in its historical truths, is destroyed, and then rebuilt to consider the new realities of the global economy.

This book consists of essays that address the major issues raised by modern economics, such as crisis, inequality, and sustainable development. In each essay, the economist compares the answers provided by conventional economics with those proposed by the unconventional approach.  The essay on unconventional economics draws on Professor Vladimer Papava’s various theoretical and applied contributions. His experience as an economist and political leader lends legitimacy to his approach.

Without any pretension and in a humble discourse worthy of the great economists, Professor Vladimer Papava begins his book by affirming that unconventional economics is a work in progress to which he contributes. This is a highly interesting essay that encourages structured reflection on the economic, political, and geopolitical questions left unanswered by conventional economics.”

    – WISSEM AJILI BEN YOUSSEF, Professor of Finance, EM Normandie Business School, Paris, France

“Vladimer Papava has written a very interesting and wide-ranging book, covering the major events and crises we have seen in the world economy in recent decades. These include the end of communist and centrally planned economics in central and Eastern Europe, the difficult transition to market type economies. Also discussed is the 2008-9 financial crisis, the Covid–19 pandemic, economic sanctions against  Russia and various approaches to economic policy and globalization. The world economy continues to show significant turbulence and we still have much to learn to manage it better and to design better policies. Vladimer Papava’s book helps to point us in the right direction.”

    – PAUL HARE, Professor Emeritus, Heriot–Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

“In this book, Vladimer Papava offers an unconventional and rather provocative interpretation of the evolution of the global economy over the past half century. A heterodox and eclectic approach is proposed that does not claim to build an organic alternative to the mainstream discipline, but rather presents analyses and insights into the real economy that can fuel debate and provide new perspectives on issues that conventional economics fails to explain.

In terms of methodology, the author calls into question a more robust integration of economics and geoeconomics, while the latter discipline remains predominantly attended to by scholars of political science and international relations rather than economists.

On the merits of the essays, the book addresses major issues, such as: the emergence of a necroeconomy in the countries of the former Soviet bloc, in the difficult transition from a command economy to a market economy, which has led to large-scale deindustrialization and the survival of inefficient and parasitic zombie-enterprises; the formation in large areas of the world, especially in developing countries, of a retro-economy, which thrives on obsolete technologies, protectionism, monopolization and low education, and prevents the action of Schumpeterian creative destruction; the danger of increasing zombification of the world economy, as a result of the Great Financial Crisis and the Covid pandemic; the failure of the sanctioeconomy undertaken by Western countries vis-à-vis Russia, after the invasion of Ukraine, because of the negative externalities it has generated in all countries and because of the illegal channels created by globalization, which circumvent the rules underlying the international movement of goods and capital.

Finally, the author demythologizes the de-globalization narrative, emphasizing instead the current confrontational nature of globalization, in which games of strategic interaction between powers increasingly give rise to win-lose solutions. He advocates for a better globalization, defined by the formula “globalization with economic security,” the latter referring to individual countries and regions. In this light, the last essay offers a critique of the economic policies of governments that often fail to align not only with economics but also with common sense.”

    – SERGIO MARIOTTI, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy  

Author

Vladimer Papava is a Fellow of the CORE Academy in the Division of Social Sciences. He is currently a Professor of Economics at the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University and an Academician-Secretary at the Georgian National Academy of Sciences. He is also an Academician at the Georgian National Academy of Sciences. Prof. Papava is an internationally recognized economist, who has previously served as Minister of the Economy of Georgia and Rector of the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.