The Economic-Nationalist Perspective

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We live in a volatile world today. Maybe not to a Vietnam veteran but definitely to a baby boomer and soon the youth of today. The world of economics is a dog eat dog. What direction is the best direction one might ask? The definitive answer of course is there is no universally practiced direction for guiding ones ship through the economic swell (democratic capitalism is basically the closest bet). I found myself watching a truly comical and hilarious film: Dr. Strangelove. A line resonated with me; “war is too important to be left to the politicians”, said by the deranged General ‘Jack Ripper’ (IMDB, 2012). Luckily I had a pen and paper in front of me and I wrote this down¬¬¬¬--- is International Political Economy to important to be left to governments? Neo-Liberals would say it is too important to be left to the government; they would however say that the government and state are influenced by numerous factors such as factors deriving from individuals, corporations or interest groups (O’Brien & Williams, 2010, pg. 21). What about Economic-Nationalism though? Economic-Nationalists would take the statement the other way and say that the state and government are quintessential in the international political economy (O’Brien & Williams, 2010, pg.17). Ha-Joon Chang writes persuasively and brilliantly in 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism. He describes free-market capitalism as a flawed economic system which makes the rich richer and the poor poorer (Chang, 2010, pg. 63). I myself have heard that statement thousands of times throughout my life, which leaves me to believe that there is in fact a major issue at hand. If Chang is not a liberalist in favour of free-market capitalism, where does he fit in the spectrum? Chang has been called many things; he himself is often undecided on which school of thought he is a part of. From reading his book and comparing

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