ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

Articles by Biju MathewSubscribe to Biju Mathew

Reflecting on the Share Economy and Urbanising Capital

Three vectors together constitute the new urban phenomenon, the so-called, ideologically labelled, "share economy," which is actually a "sharing the scraps economy." The three vectors are: (i) the hybrid subsumption structure of the labour process, (ii) the primitive accumulation structure of recommoditisation, and (iii) the extension of the workday. These are being sold to a new generation of youth as a kind of a technologically-inspired new space that they need to occupy. But functionally, these three vectors are at the service of capital.

Contemporary Fault Lines in Applied Economic Research

A widely-cited social cost-benefit analysis conducted by the National Council of Applied Economic Research projected net benefi ts from the POSCO steel project in Odisha. Yet, a close examination of the report suggests a fl awed methodology and inexplicable changes in assumptions. As a result, the two primary benefi ts claimed for the POSCO project - employment and revenues to the state - seem to be grossly incorrect. The privatisation of base data used in some of the projections not only makes the task of verifi cation arduous, but also puts it beyond the reach of democratic oversight. The issues in applied economic research in this case can be seen as symptomatic of structural problems in neo-liberal policymaking.

Great Opportunity, Serious Danger

The Anna Hazare situation invites two common reactions among progressives and those concerned with social change: some dismiss it as a middle class “urban picnic” and others acclaim it as just short of a revolutionary movement to establish “people’s power”.

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