Question: Should governments have restricted trade to enhance domestic supply of personal protective equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic?

18 Oct 2022,6:43 PM

 

Topic 3 - Critical tradition

● What makes the critical tradition ‘critical’ in its study of political economy?

● In what ways does the critical tradition differ from the liberal tradition?

● How useful is Selwyn’s class-relations approach to understanding the global economy?

Core readings:

● Cox, R. W. (1981). Social forces, states and world orders: beyond international relations theory. Millennium, 10(2), 126-130 only.

● Selwyn, B. (2015) ‘Twenty-First-Century International Political Economy: A Class-Relational Perspective’, European Journal of International Relations 21(3): 513–537.

Background readings:

● Bidet, J. (2007) Exploring Marx’s Capital (Leiden: Brill), pp. 272–319.

● Heilbroner, R. (1999 [1953]) The Worldly Philosophers (NY: Simon and Schuster), chapter 6.

Additional readings:

● Luxemburg, R. (1921) The Accumulation of Capital, or What the Epigones Have Made of Marx’s Theory, chapter 1. Available at: https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1915/anti-critique/ch01.htm

● Fraser, N. (2014) ‘Behind Marx’s Hidden Abode’, New Left Review 86: 55–72.

● Marx, K. (1973) Grundrisse: Foundations of the Critique of Political Economy, Introduction. Available at: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1857/grundrisse/ch01.htm

Welcome to our third topic — the critical tradition, where we will be thinking about what it means to take a “critical” approach to understanding the global economy.

Although “critical” is somewhat of a generic term in the social sciences that can apply to a lineage of thought from Karl Marx onto the Frankfurt school and beyond, in political economy it has taken on a particular definition thanks to the path-breaking work of Robert W Cox.

In this week’s reading we are going to read an excerpt from the article where he introduces a distinction between “problem-solving” and “critical” theory. (Note, that you are only required to read pages 126-130 for the seminar, but by all means read the whole article if of interest — it is a brilliant piece of scholarship).

Questions for discussion:

What does Cox mean when he writes ‘theory is always for someone and for some purpose’? Can you think of any examples of where this might be the case?

Can you explain the distinction between problem-solving and critical theory in your own words?

Which do you instinctively gravitate towards?

We are also reading an article by Ben Selwyn, who argues that the field of International Political Economy ignores global class relations and outlines a “class-relational IPE”. The article also contains some discussion of the intellectual history of the field — you can disregard these aspects if you don’t find them interesting. We are interested in Selwyn’s “class-relational” approach as an example of the critical tradition.

To explore this, in the seminar we will watch this TeenVogue video on “The Problem with Fast Fashion” as the basis for an activity:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq0--DfC2Xk

(There are also a couple of other videos you may wish to watch in preparation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLfNUD0-8ts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktx2_Dzy3tM I also recommend reading this short blog post over on SPERI: http://speri.dept.shef.ac.uk/2013/08/21/global-chains-fuss/)

We will then apply this to this question: how is it possible to buy a t-shirt for £2 from Primark?

Our task is to (hypothetically) map out how this might be possible, by imagining what the supply chain might look like. We will use the table below as a guide.

Stage

Geographical location

Cost

Actors involved

Relationship to H&M

We will have a go at filling in this table in groups, starting with a brainstorm, and then aiming to be as precise and detailed as possible.

Questions for discussion:

How is it possible to produce a £2 t-shirt?

Who is benefitting and who is not from this?

What class relations are at play here?

What would the liberal tradition have to say about this?

Critical reflections

For each seminar excluding the Intro and Conc sessions, you will be asked to prepare a 450-word critical reflection on one or a combination of the week’s readings. Although you have the freedom to decide the form of the reflection, you can follow one of the following formats:

● Keeper: an idea you want to keep. It may be a concept that was useful, a problem posed that was particularly compelling, a question that you are compelled to address, or whatever it may be.

● Query: a question that is posed by the readings. It might be a question about the use or misuse of evidence, a proposed flaw in the theoretical framework, a “so what” or “what next” question, or whatever it may be.

● Application: the idea, applied. It might be a topic or policy issue that the idea illuminates, an intellectual puzzle that now appears unlocked, the difficulty in operationalizing the idea, or whatever it may be.

These critical reflections will feed into the first formal assessment of the module.

You will need to bring a copy of your critical reflection to the seminar, as it will be the focus of one our seminar activities.

 

 

The Task

Your bosses have been very impressed by your work. As a result, they are asking you to attend an international conference. The conference will discuss the role of trade in the world’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Your boss has asked you to discuss the role of international supply chains.

 

You will be writing a short report about this. Your report will answer the following questions:

 

Should governments have restricted trade to enhance domestic supply of personal protective equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic? (500words)

 

Lecture 8

 

When we feel threatened, we look to the government for protection. This also goes for trade protection and the present pandemic is a case in point. Call it disaster protectionism.

 

The Covid-19 crisis has revealed how much we depend on the rest of the world for products. Therefore, if we do not want to live through another shortage of essential supplies, we must produce these products itself.

 

Export restrictions were instituted by 80 countries, primarily on the export of medicines, personal protective equipment and other medical devices.

 

Australia imposed a temporary prohibition on the non-commercial export of face masks, gloves, gowns and goggles, alcohol wipes and hand sanitiser on 30 March 2020, subject to a number of exemptions, including humanitarian relief.

 

https://www.agriculture.gov.au/coronavirus/export

https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/covid-19-and-international-trade-issues-and-actions-494da2fa/

https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/covid19_e/trade_related_goods_measure_e.htm

At the same time, the Australian government facilitated imports.

 

export restrictions impact on GVCs, preventing companies from exporting goods which are later imported as finished products.

 

These countries were harming their capacity to produce goods.

 

At the same time, export restrictions stopped goods from meeting demand, exacerbating the health costs of the pandemic.

 

France and Germany banned the export of personal protective equipment and confiscated equipment produced in other countries sent through their countries by third parties.

 

EU trade of the medical goods needed to treat Covid-19 went down by 13 percent, a reduction that was especially damaging for oxygen therapy equipment, which fell by 42 percent!

 

After the European Commission stepped in, controls were lifted, but other forms of export restrictions were re-created at the EU level, prohibiting exports unless a license was obtained.

 

https://ecipe.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/ECI_21_PolicyBrief_02_2021_LY02.pdf

 

Is re-shoring the best approach to deal with shocks like Covid-19 or similar events? (500 words)

 

Explain what is “re-shoring”

 

“Reshoring” is the practice of bringing manufacturing and services back home from overseas.

 

Reshoring is the process of returning the production and manufacturing of goods back to the company's original country.

 

Pros:

 

Naturally, this process of transportation and delivery is pricey, lengthy, and risky. American-made goods have much simpler distribution processes and don't require expensive overseas shipping, which also means less risk of damage, loss, and delays.

 

This process can help balance trade and budget deficits, reduce unemployment by creating well-paying manufacturing jobs, and develop a skilled workforce

 

Reshoring also benefits manufacturing companies by potentially reducing the total cost of their products, improving balance sheets, and making product innovations more effective.

 

Cons:

 

In practice this is impossible!

 

Explain GVC here…

 

For example, Philips, one of the largest manufacturers of ventilators, identified that in one machine there are 621 crucial components which were designed, produced, and assembled in facilities scattered across the world.

 

If a country wanted to replicate the whole value chain behind a ventilator, it would have to build factories to produce all these 621 components. This would be expensive and inefficient…. And quite unlikely!

 

It depends on type of industries, features of goods, and what are the supply chains involved in producing the goods, and evaluate the cost of bringing back to the home country.

 

From trade theory perspective, if the home country does not have comparative advantage producing the product, they should not be brought back to home country, should import instead.

 

But in practice/in reality, the call is not made based on the economics theories. It might be a political reason.

 

https://www.brookings.edu/research/reshoring-advanced-manufacturing-supply-chains-to-generate-good-jobs/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CReshoring%E2%80%9D%20is%20the%20practice%20of,and%20develop%20a%20skilled%20workforce.

 

What other policies should governments pursue to secure access to crucial medical goods during shocks? (500 words)

 

We should get rid of import tariffs and export restrictions

 

We should enter trade agreements with more countries, to diversify our potential supplies. (No to reshoring and yes to diversifying).

 

We should accept the regulatory processes of more countries so that we can instantly buy medical products from them when needed.

 

https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/global-value-chains-efficiency-and-risks-in-the-context-of-covid-19_67c75fdc-en

 

https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/trade/covid-19-and-global-value-chains-policy-options-to-build-more-resilient-production-networks_04934ef4-en

 

https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/trade/covid-19-and-global-value-chains-policy-options-to-build-more-resilient-production-networks_04934ef4-en

 

https://www.oecd.org/newsroom/OECD-G7-Report-Fostering-Economic-Resilience-in-a-World-of-Open-and-Integrated-Markets.pdf

 

https://www.oecd.org/trade/resilient-supply-chains/

 

 

 

The background and theoretical foundation is sound. Detailed conclusions are reached from the evidence offered.

 

Your answer shows a thorough understanding of course concepts