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5943 results in Economics: general interest

Page 64 of 298

Political Capitalism
  • How Economic and Political Power Is Made and Maintained
  • Randall G. Holcombe
  • Published online:
    13 July 2018
    Print publication:
    19 July 2018
  • Problems associated with cronyism, corporatism, and policies that favor the elite over the masses have received increasing attention in recent years. Political Capitalism explains that what people often view as the result of corruption and unethical behavior are symptoms of a distinct system of political economy. The symptoms of political capitalism are often viewed as the result of government intervention in a market economy, or as attributes of a capitalist economy itself. Randall G. Holcombe combines well-established theories in economics and the social sciences to show that political capitalism is not a mixed economy, or government intervention in a market economy, or some intermediate step between capitalism and socialism. After developing the economic theory of political capitalism, Holcombe goes on to explain how changes in political ideology have facilitated the growth of political capitalism, and what can be done to redirect public policy back toward the public interest.

  • Developing Eastern Johor: The Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex

  • Serina Rahman
  • Book:
    Developing Eastern Johor
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    25 August 2018
    Print publication:
    10 July 2018, pp 1-42

  • Summary

    Introduction

    Johor has had the fastest growing state economy in all of Malaysia since 2011. With lofty goals of becoming the next Shenzhen, the peninsula's southernmost state now seems poised to become the country's second largest state economy within the next few years. Johor is already the country's busiest transshipment hub, benefiting from its position along some of the world's most important maritime routes. Its diversified economy has manufacturing and services as its main strengths.

    While Johor has vast land banks, development has mostly been on its western and southern coasts. Much of its industrial areas remain within the Greater Johor Bahru area. Areas to the east of the Johor River are not part of the Iskandar Development Region, and while Mersing in the upper reaches of eastern Johor is meant to benefit from the Eastern Economic Corridor, “progress” there has been minimal.

    The arrival of the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC) on the east coast is said to have been the game changer for the eastern shores of Johor. The transformation of the wider Pengerang region from five fishing villages and adjacent smallholder farmlands to the bristling metallic towers of the petrochemical refinery, innumerable white domed storage chambers and barren red landscapes waiting to be built upon is both startling and extraordinary.

    This paper looks into the details of the PIPC and examines the components that make up the complex and adjacent auxiliary projects. The sections will discuss the significance of the PIPC in light of regional oil and gas facilities and the value that it brings to Malaysia. The paper will then consider both the need and the success of the project as a catalyst for development in east Johor, as well as its impact on the local community and the environment.

    BACKGROUND TO THE PIPC

    The PIPC began in 2011 as the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project in response to the realization that gas resources in Peninsular Malaysia were finite, limiting the growth of the gas-based petrochemical industry. It was thus decided that it would be financially sustainable to enhance Petronas’ petrochemical portfolio through an integrated refinery and petrochemical complex enabling Malaysia to move into downstream production of premium differentiated petrochemicals. In 2012, then Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak declared the Pengerang Integrated Complex, comprising RAPID and its associated facilities, to be a “National Project of Strategic Importance”.

Developing Eastern Johor
  • The Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex
  • Serina Rahman
  • Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    25 August 2018
    Print publication:
    10 July 2018
  • The Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC) is a huge development that has emerged on the east coast of Johor. Comprising Petronas’ largest refinery facility and numerous ancillary and supporting industrial areas, it is pegged to diversify Malaysia’s petrochemical industry and reap the benefits of the area’s fortunate position on international maritime trade routes. While initial responses to the PIPC development were of concern for Singapore’s oil and gas business, the island-nation’s long reputation and position in the industry means that the PIPC has some steep learning curves to traverse before coming on par with its southerly neighbour. However, the PIPC is likely to provide a solution to Singapore’s limitations in terms of costly services and limited land space. It may also rejuvenate an industry now seen by some SMEs to be somewhat stagnant. While there are myriad global trends that may inhibit the complete success of the PIPC, it seems to be well placed to provide economic spillover benefits for Johor and Malaysia. Even if it does not become a top regional player, it will be able to meet local demands for Euro 5 quality products. The PIPC received a boost with Saudi Aramco’s commitment to invest in the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project. More investments may come on board when the refinery begins operations in 2019. A full assessment of PIPC’s success or failure can be conducted once other announced developments are completed and full operations begin.

  • Foreword

  • Serina Rahman
  • Book:
    Developing Eastern Johor
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    25 August 2018
    Print publication:
    10 July 2018, pp v-vi

  • Summary

    The economic, political, strategic and cultural dynamism in Southeast Asia has gained added relevance in recent years with the spectacular rise of giant economies in East and South Asia. This has drawn greater attention to the region and to the enhanced role it now plays in international relations and global economics.

    The sustained effort made by Southeast Asian nations since 1967 towards a peaceful and gradual integration of their economies has had indubitable success, and perhaps as a consequence of this, most of these countries are undergoing deep political and social changes domestically and are constructing innovative solutions to meet new international challenges. Big Power tensions continue to be played out in the neighbourhood despite the tradition of neutrality exercised by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

    The Trends in Southeast Asia series acts as a platform for serious analyses by selected authors who are experts in their fields. It is aimed at encouraging policymakers and scholars to contemplate the diversity and dynamism of this exciting region.

  • Developing Eastern Johor: The Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex

  • Serina Rahman
  • Book:
    Developing Eastern Johor
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    25 August 2018
    Print publication:
    10 July 2018, pp vii-viii

  • Summary

    Executive Summary

  • • The Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC) is a huge development that has emerged on the east coast of Johor. Comprising Petronas’ largest refinery facility and numerous ancillary and supporting industrial areas, it is pegged to diversify Malaysia's petrochemical industry and reap the benefits of the area's fortunate position on international maritime trade routes.

  • • While initial responses to the PIPC development were of concern for Singapore's oil and gas business, the island-nation's long reputation and position in the industry means that the PIPC has some steep learning curves to traverse before coming on par with its southerly neighbour. However, the PIPC is likely to provide a solution to Singapore's limitations in terms of costly services and limited land space. It may also rejuvenate an industry now seen by some SMEs to be somewhat stagnant.

  • • While there are myriad global trends that may inhibit the complete success of the PIPC, it seems to be well placed to provide economic spillover benefits for Johor and Malaysia. Even if it does not become a top regional player, it will be able to meet local demands for Euro 5 quality products.

  • • The PIPC received a boost with Saudi Aramco's commitment to invest in the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project. More investments may come on board when the refinery begins operations in 2019.

  • • A full assessment of PIPC's success or failure can be conducted once other announced developments are completed and full operations begin.

  • 7 - Corporate Discourse in Friedrich Christian Delius's Unsere Siemens-Welt, 1972

  • Schonfield Ernest
  • Book:
    Business Rhetoric in German Novels
    Published by:
    Boydell & Brewer
    Published online:
    15 August 2018
    Print publication:
    29 June 2018, pp 133-152

  • Summary

    Ingenuity for life

    —Siemens advertising slogan used in 2017

    Introduction: Business and Bureaucracy

    THIS CHAPTER EXAMINES Friedrich Christian Delius's representation of corporate rhetoric and bureaucracy in his pioneering work of post-1968 documentary fiction. Whereas Hermann Kant writes from within the GDR establishment, Delius (b. 1943) was, until 1971, a doctoral student and an activist associated with the Außerparlamentarische Opposition (Extra-Parliamentary Opposition) in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). While Kant writes in a realist mode, Delius's early work belongs to the genre of Dokumentarliteratur (documentary literature) developed in the 1960s and 1970s by East and West German authors, including Rolf Hochhuth, Maxie Wander, Peter Weiss, Heinar Kipphardt, Günter Wallraff, Irina Liebmann, and Erika Runge. Practitioners of the genre called for the politicization of literature and for writers to engage with the facts of the modern industrial world. Although Kant and Delius are writing from opposite sides of the Cold War divide and using different literary forms, to a certain extent they have a shared preoccupation: the inevitably bureaucratic nature of modern life. For some West German writers in the 1970s, the growth of the capitalist corporation was a major concern. This preoccupation was reflected in Wallraff's polemics against industry and big business; in Mathias Scheben's science-fiction novel Konzern 2003 (1977; Corporation 2003) most of Western Europe is ruled in 2003 by the giant Zannen Corporation. Seen from this perspective, there seemed to be a number of parallels between the bureaucracy of the Soviet states and what President Dwight D. Eisenhower called “the military-industrial complex” of the US in his farewell address of January 17, 1961.

    Unsere Siemens-Welt (Our Siemens World) seems to invite such parallels. For example, considering Siemens in the late nineteenth century, the narrator notes approvingly that “das Betriebsklima entsprach dem einer staatlichen Behörde, es herrschten alle Vorzüge eines ‘kalten militärischen Tons’” (the atmosphere of the firm was equivalent to that of a government agency; it had all the advantages of a “cold military tone”). Even the notorious Stasi has a counterpart in Delius's corporate world, in which there is a confidential personnel file on every employee. At one point the narrator regrets that the new employment law allows employees to apply to view their files, but he adds that the corporation will find ways to ensure that certain data remain confidential.

  • 9 - Communicative Contests in Philipp Schönthaler's Das Schiff das singend zieht auf seiner Bahn, 2013

  • Schonfield Ernest
  • Book:
    Business Rhetoric in German Novels
    Published by:
    Boydell & Brewer
    Published online:
    15 August 2018
    Print publication:
    29 June 2018, pp 171-194

  • Summary

    reden ist besser als schweigen [speaking is better than not speaking]

    —Philipp Schönthaler

    Introduction: Training the Corporate Communicator

    DAS SCHIFF das singend zieht auf seiner Bahn (The Ship That Goes Singing on Its Way), by Philipp Schönthaler (b. 1976), focuses on consultants who “develop” personnel, and employees who “develop” themselves, in line with company selection procedures. Like Delius's Unsere Siemens-Welt, Schönthaler's novel is a documentary satire. It is set in a fictional cosmetics company, “Pfeiffer Beauty Kosmetik,” in Stuttgart. This is appropriate because the novel depicts a world in which employees are expected to be “attractive” to employers. The plot hinges on a series of job interviews, mentoring sessions, staff meetings, and corporate presentations. The third-person narrator recedes behind the characters and their discourse. This is significant, given that Schönthaler wrote his doctoral thesis on the figure of the narrator in the works of Thomas Bernhard, W. G. Sebald, and Imre Kertész. Perhaps Schönthaler's decision in Das Schiff to avoid using a narrator who says “I” is an attempt to distance himself from these authors. Nevertheless, Bernhard's influence is evident when moments of physical lapse bring the characters’ professional facade crashing down, e.g., when Rike Njlhouz starts farting uncontrollably during a job interview (DS 6), or when List, a fraud investigator making a sales pitch, accidentally swings his briefcase into the human resources director's private parts (DS 83).

    Das Schiff is saturated with the discourse of “continuing professional development” (CPD). Schönthaler's interest in Bildung (education) and berufliche Weiterbildung (professional development) signals an intellectual affinity with Thomas Mann, which is confirmed by Schönthaler's short story “Nach oben ist das Leben offen” (2012; Life Opens Up toward the Top), set in a “Sportheim” (sports facility) in the Swiss Alps that offers motivational sports training for high fliers. One member of the staff is Dr. Behrens, an allusion to Mann's Der Zauberberg (1924; The Magic Mountain), which is set in a Swiss sanatorium run by a Dr. Behrens. This connection takes the present monograph full circle, suggesting that there are long-term continuities in depictions of the business world by German authors.

  • 5 - Giving an Account of the Self in Ingeborg Bachmann's Malina, 1971

  • Schonfield Ernest
  • Book:
    Business Rhetoric in German Novels
    Published by:
    Boydell & Brewer
    Published online:
    15 August 2018
    Print publication:
    29 June 2018, pp 98-119

  • Summary

    daß sich neuerdings die Geschichte im Ich aufhält [these days, history resides inside the self]

    —Ingeborg Bachmann

    Introduction: A Sociopolitical Approach to Malina

    MALINA, BY INGEBORG BACHMANN (1926–73), centers upon the enigma of a split personality: the female narrator (Ich), who is gradually supplanted by her male alter ego, Malina. Most interpretations of the novel have focused on the gendered aspect of this dislocation in the self, and indeed, the novel thematizes the imbalances of power as enshrined in normative binary models of gender relations. Georgina Paul, for example, reads Malina's appropriation of the narrative subject as a work of mourning for the lost “feminine” aspect within himself and takes the novel's absence of closure (i.e., the enigma of its final words, “Es war Mord” [“It was murder”]1) as an affirmation of a “feminine” plurality. Anyone studying Malina today must take account of the exponential growth in Bachmann scholarship if one-sided interpretations are to be avoided. As early as 1992, Sara Lennox and Leslie Morris asked feminist readers to abandon “wishful thinking” about Bachmann's politics, and to stop trying “to make her conform to our ideas.” More recently, Dirk Göttsche suggests that “it is time to move beyond the notion that there could be one single privileged approach or key to the meaning of Bachmann's work.” Like Kafka's, Bachmann's work is fundamentally open. But the fact that Bachmann's work resists interpretive closure does not mean that anything goes. Politicizing Bachmann may be a risky business, but to focus solely on aesthetics, without reference to the political and historical contexts in which they are embedded, is also questionable. In 1995 when Susanne Baackmann proposed a political approach to Bachmann's work, Albrecht Holschuh called for a “purely literary” reading. The tension in Bachmann scholarship between political and “apolitical” readings resembles an exchange between Ich and Ivan in the novel. Ich tells Ivan: “Gerade habe ich erfunden, wie ich die Welt doch noch verändern kann!” (M 105; “I've just invented a way to change the world after all!” Ma 64). Ivan replies scornfully: “Was? du auch? die Gesellschaft, die Verhältnisse? das muß ja heutzutage der reinste Wettbewerb sein” (M 105; “What? you too? society, relationships? these days that has got to be the biggest game around,” Ma 64).

Page 64 of 298