Applied Economics and Politics (TTP's)

[Surferbeetle]

I don't think the full text of the Philippine paper is available online...

Pity, it's a good paper...out somewhere between the roar of generator and the plaintive cry of an UPS it's helped a dim bulb to flare at least momentarily.

Two definitions:

1. The use of institutional resources for individual advantage.

2. The other guy's hustle.

I personally think that what we think of as "traditional corruption"... bribes, kickbacks, etc is often less damaging to an economy than the use of State power, including coercive force, to maintain elite control of the means of production. They often go together, of course, and it's a fairly poisonous combination.

Hmmm...after reading this...the acronym OPEC springs to mind.

So, with this definition of corruption (#1 in particular) at hand how do we approach the concept of State Owned Enterprises (or hybrid SOE's) such as China Telecom, Lenovo, Deutsche Bahn, GM (?), certain banks, certain oil companies, and other smaller versions of the same concept in a conflict zone?

How about our approach to private businesses in a conflict zone?

We might say that we have two basic choices when it comes to SOE's or private entities in a conflict zone: ignore or enable.

My assumption is that if the majority of the workforce demographic in a city or town are indeed working the opportunities for mischief makers are decreased. Workers can find typically work in both SOE's or private business if they are present.

My assumption is that SOE's are typically inefficient and so they may be seen as typically employing more workers than would a comparable private business. SOE presence does not depend as greatly upon a stable environment as does a private institution.

My assumption is that private businesses typically use capital fairly efficiently (depending upon the economic framework in which they must work) and their presence is indicative of a fairly stable environment.

So...if a grunt (standing in as proxy for the typcial USG actor) ignores both the SOE and private business in a particular conflict zone does that mean the problems associated with unemployment go away? Is there an economic choice to be made which can help to pacify a conflict zone?

Do the concepts of Jugaad, Guanxi, or Shanzhai apply in a economic context in a conflict zone? How about the primarily post conflict experiences of W. Edward Demming and Jospeh Juran?

[Dayuhan]

We might say that we have two basic choices when it comes to SOE's or private entities in a conflict zone: ignore or enable.

Whose conflict zone are we talking about? Assuming it isn't ours...

If the area is stable enough to permit a functioning economy, there's almost certainly local governance of some sort in place, in which case economic policy is their business and our role would be to advise cautiously.

If there is no local governance in place the chances are that economic activity is pretty rudimentary (can't have a state owned enterprise without a state), in which case our role would be to provide as much security as possible and try to at least stay out of the way of whatever economic activity is going on.

As a general rule, I'd say we should at any level be very wary of trying to dictate economic policy for anyone else, and at the military level we shouldn't do it at all.