What is the Core Argument in the Text by Vogel - Assignment Example

Week 2: What is the core argument in the text by Vogel? For David Vogel, author of the seminal book Fluctuating Fortunes: The Political Power of Business in America, businesses loses its political power when the economy soars however. When the economy is down, corporate accountability appears to be like a costly valuables. As an advice, Vogel called on businesses to unite so as to increase and make their political power formidable. But he warned that even though unity may be achieved, such solidarity vary over time, and sometimes fluctuates. In order to become progressive in their mission of uniting businesses, firms and industry must be conscious of the ways through which its political fortunes are affected. He notes of factors that may affect the extent of businesses’ political unity, namely: public perception of the society’s long-term strength, cooperation among companies and industries, and the dynamics of the political system. Hence, Vogel said businesses must seriously commit its political resources to support or oppose any particular policy. Week 3: What is distinctive about business-government relations in the ‘developmental state’ model? Although any business-government relations where the state is expected to perform key roles in encouraging private investments through active policies may be remote in most mercantile states, is re-emerging as the developmental state model, inspired by Keynes’ suggestion that state must perform key investment function. This model then may be said to be unique for mixing the old and new approaches in political economy that advocates state spending for infrastructure in order to encourage private firms to do business, which may in turn increase the nation’s overall investment levels. It is argued that in this model, pursuing active policies to encourage industry involvement may be tantamount to requiring the state to commit a permanent intervention in order to assure overall levels of investments. The impetus for this has always been the awareness on common observation that private investments in market economies are infrequently rare. Week 4: What are the key factors determining the strength and influence of business associations? Business associations have its own strengths and influences. This may be accounted to the assumption that the shift in the individual interest perceptions into a common interest parameter, by which such formation of political identity is centrally important. However, obtaining satisfactory results remain elusive, that is why business associations are compelled to politicize their interests. By politicizing, it is inevitable that it showcases its strengths and influences. Among these many strengths and influences include: a) the generation of systematic contradictions and crises to pursue the capital owners’ individual interests; b) the political mobilization of workers which remain a big challenge among firms in deciding to invest, and c) increased polity that continues to drive private firms to serve as a mechanism of resource allocation, which has declined. In sum, when private firms and industry banded together as a business association, their influence is likely to increase and boost the nation’s economy. Week 5: What, according to Coleman, is the difference between policy advocacy and policy participation? What characteristics must a business association have to be strong in each of these areas? The main difference between policy participation and policy advocacy lies in the respective target participants each requires. On one side, policy participation attempts to increase active involvement among other associations to increase its domains and to formalize stage-by-stage relationships with other associations or groups. On the other, policy advocacy favors narrowing its domain by cementing support from fellow members and the independent politicking by association members. In order to be strong in each policy area, policy advocacy must promote independence and live by its ideologies in order to be productive. Policy participation may be more effective when its ideology is supressed when issues are not politicized. Moreover, business associations must be aggressive in embracing competition in order to capture any so-called distributional benefits. Week 6: Give an account of the changes to business associational activity brought about by ‘the economic-political restructuring of the 1980s and 1990s’. From the 1980s to 1990s, two historic landmarks occured as a result of “the economic-political restructuring”. Business associations are beginning to flourish, adopting greater inter-association cooperation. Fellow businesses band together for protection and assistance for their members with complex tariff administration matters. Apart from this, the gradual rise of interest groups entered the decade, all geared to compete for power with organized labour, welfare recipients, and environmentalists. From the government side, however, it is busy implementing micro-economic reform and tariff reduction policies, which are part of its commitment to shut off its involvement in the economy into so-called “level playing field”. This subtle role then shaped most business associations based on mutual dependency. Inevitably as major arbitration and protectionism were abandoned, associations and cooperation where ushered in, a sure sign of businesses’ zealous intent to forge ties with their kinds, also referred to as a “strategy of building ad-hoc, issue-based coalitions of associations.” Week 7: Comment on the proposition that in a globalised world business power cannot be constrained by government authority or popular action. In a globalizing world, it was seen that business and government relations may become too difficult to separate, especially in an era when interdependence and integration of economic, political, cultural and other systems are expected. The proposition that business power may be more superior and stronger in this era of globalization, may be viewed using Olson’s statement in his The Logic of Collective Action essay. He says business power may not be thwarted in certain condition by government regulators and popular actions on the account that large groups often do not form their own organization to advance a common cause, especially in the absence of force or incentives offered to members of a certain group. In real case scenarios, the manufacturers of weapons of mass destruction, for instance, despite persistent mass popular movements and even government regulation opposing the production of these, the effort proved futile. Week 8: What are some of the key strategies employed by regulatory agencies to ensure compliance by business firms? To ensure compliance by business firms without completely preventing businesses to participate in a market economy with liberty, regulatory agencies make sure that any difficulty private firms may encounter or face to meet requirements of different domains or jurisdictions are already cushioned or softened. Regulatory agencies also aimed at encouraging frequent to regular review and update of regulation, whereby the core reason that government demanded standard measures include a sun-setting condition so that measures automatically expired after a given time. Another key strategies employed by government in order to put a damper or means to serve as shock absorber on newly implemented regulations is by demanding that businesses submit proposals for new or reviewed regulation. When the goal is to ensure competition without having the consumer suffer from the ill-effects of market domination by certain businesses, regulatory agencies sometimes employ policies that outlaw predatory or other forms of anti-competitive behaviours in the market. Week 9: What are the key responsibilities of the ACCC? The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the main agency responsible in regulating anti-competitive conduct, is responsible in the design, planning, implementation and enforcement of market trade practices to make sure that competition polity work. Among the key responsibilities of the agency involve the regulation of information disclosures. Disclosures that the public have the right to be informed of include that of corporate fund raising, take-overs, licensing and monitoring of financial service providers, trading of shares and other securities, and prices in privatized industries. Apart from these responsibilities, the ACCC it is the key agency that enforces trade regulations against price fixing, and cartels, abuse of market power, and various other setup in order to keep a clean, transparent market activity. prevent competition or maintain artificially high prices. With regard to mergers and acquisitions, the ACCC concerns itself into prohibiting companies from growing out as a dominant player in the market. Week 10: What were the major instruments of industry policy in Australia prior to the 1990s? Prior to the Pooled Development Funds (PDF) program of 1990s, the Australian federal government during the Howard administration devised action agendas that aimed at bringing together firms in industries, including ways that will encourage behavioural change among industry players and collaboration between government and businesses. Management and Investment Companies program, which operated from 1984 to 1991, was introduced as the first substantial federal government policy in support of the venture capital industry. Under this scheme, the program can use government funds to leverage the private sector into early stage of venture capital financing, which in effect can remedy coordination failures in the economy. As an industry policy, the Australian government will be responsible in examining an environment’s competitiveness and identifying opportunities, among many others. Another ways that government can do is by creating a business environment that shall encourage private actors to operate in an efficient manner. Week 11: Can you propose an argument that ‘efficient market hypothesis’ can be maintained by modifying it in some way? What way or ways? The once celebrated but beleaguered “efficient market theory”, which assume that stock prices react quickly to disclosure of information, may still be saved. Market efficiency, it may be assumed, can still be retained on by testing how the release of a company’s annual earnings report, including dividents, may affect the stock price of the companies listed in the stock exchange. Equally important is to determine the effects of a company’s change in capitalization into their market efficiency or stock prices. Technically also, this writer will initiate efforts that will look into or forecast any expectational mistakes to the tests conducted. This is important since stock market players have the right to know the degree by which errors are made to remove any doubts about the accuracy of the study. Read More