IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/rsocec/v78y2020i1p77-97.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Managing the discontent of the losers

Author

Listed:
  • Mark Setterfield

Abstract

During the 1990s, social structure of accumulation (SSA) theorists identified the solidification of a neoliberal SSA that included a capital-citizen accord based on ‘managing the discontent of the losers’. This created social stability by reconciling working households to material hardships emanating from the neoliberal labour market by means of either coercion or non-economic distraction. This paper argues that there was, in fact, a material basis to the neoliberal capital-citizen accord, including the ability of households to accumulate debt in order to limit the growth of consumption inequality arising from burgeoning income inequality. The material basis of the capital-citizen accord broke down during the financial crisis of 2007–2009, destabilizing the accord itself. The result is that the neoliberal SSA is now threatened by rising populism. The outcomes of this process are highly uncertain – a key characteristic of the periods of inter regnum that separate successful SSAs.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Setterfield, 2020. "Managing the discontent of the losers," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 78(1), pages 77-97, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocec:v:78:y:2020:i:1:p:77-97
    DOI: 10.1080/00346764.2019.1623908
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00346764.2019.1623908
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00346764.2019.1623908?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mark Aguiar & Mark Bils, 2015. "Has Consumption Inequality Mirrored Income Inequality?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(9), pages 2725-2756, September.
    2. Setterfield, Mark & Kim, Yun K., 2016. "Debt servicing, aggregate consumption, and growth," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 22-33.
    3. Cynamon,Barry Z. & Fazzari,Steven & Setterfield,Mark (ed.), 2013. "After the Great Recession," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107015890, October.
    4. A. B. Atkinson, 2009. "Factor shares: the principal problem of political economy?," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 25(1), pages 3-16, Spring.
    5. Barry Z. Cynamon & Steven M. Fazzari, 2016. "Inequality, the Great Recession and slow recovery," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 40(2), pages 373-399.
    6. Orazio Attanasio & Luigi Pistaferri, 2014. "Consumption Inequality over the Last Half Century: Some Evidence Using the New PSID Consumption Measure," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(5), pages 122-126, May.
    7. Gene Amromin & Mariacristina De Nardi & Karl Schulze, 2018. "Household Inequality and the Consumption Response to Aggregate Real Shocks," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, issue 1, pages 1-20.
    8. Atif Mian & Amir Sufi, 2011. "House Prices, Home Equity-Based Borrowing, and the US Household Leverage Crisis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(5), pages 2132-2156, August.
    9. Cynamon Barry Z. & Fazzari Steven M., 2008. "Household Debt in the Consumer Age: Source of Growth--Risk of Collapse," Capitalism and Society, De Gruyter, vol. 3(2), pages 1-32, October.
    10. Orazio Attanasio & Erich Battistin & Hidehiko Ichimura, 2007. "What Really Happened to Consumption Inequality in the United States?," NBER Chapters, in: Hard-to-Measure Goods and Services: Essays in Honor of Zvi Griliches, pages 515-543, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Yun K. Kim & Mark Setterfield & Yuan Mei, 2014. "A theory of aggregate consumption," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 11(1), pages 31-49, April.
    12. Victor D. Lippit, 1997. "The Reconstruction of a Social Structure of Accumulation in the United States," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 29(3), pages 11-21, September.
    13. Amitava Krishna Dutt, 2006. "Maturity, Stagnation And Consumer Debt: A Steindlian Approach," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(3), pages 339-364, July.
    14. Simon Mohun, 2006. "Distributive shares in the US economy, 1964--2001," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 30(3), pages 347-370, May.
    15. Richard Blundell & Luigi Pistaferri & Itay Saporta-Eksten, 2016. "Consumption Inequality and Family Labor Supply," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(2), pages 387-435, February.
    16. Jonathan Heathcote & Fabrizio Perri & Giovanni L. Violante, 2010. "Unequal We Stand: An Empirical Analysis of Economic Inequality in the United States: 1967-2006," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 13(1), pages 15-51, January.
    17. Christopher Brown, 2008. "Inequality, Consumer Credit and the Saving Puzzle," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12877.
    18. Dirk Krueger & Fabrizio Perri, 2006. "Does Income Inequality Lead to Consumption Inequality? Evidence and Theory -super-1," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 73(1), pages 163-193.
    19. Thomas I. Palley, 2018. "Re-theorizing the welfare state and the political economy of neoliberalism's war against it," FMM Working Paper 16-2018, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    20. John Komlos, 2018. "The Economic Roots of the Rise of Trumpism," CESifo Working Paper Series 6868, CESifo.
    21. Jakob Kapeller & Bernhard Schütz, 2015. "Conspicuous Consumption, Inequality and Debt: The Nature of Consumption-driven Profit-led Regimes," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(1), pages 51-70, February.
    22. Thomas I. Palley, 2002. "Economic contradictions coming home to roost? Does the U.S. economy face a long-term aggregate demand generation problem?," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 9-32.
    23. David Houston, 1992. "Is There a New Social Structure of Accumulation?," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 60-67, June.
    24. Orazio P. Attanasio & Luigi Pistaferri, 2016. "Consumption Inequality," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(2), pages 3-28, Spring.
    25. Aldo Barba & Massimo Pivetti, 2009. "Rising household debt: Its causes and macroeconomic implications--a long-period analysis," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 33(1), pages 113-137, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mark Setterfield, 2024. "Managing the Discontent of the Losers Redux: A Future of Authoritarian Neoliberalism or Social Capitalism?," FMM Working Paper 98-2024, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    2. Mark Setterfield, 2022. "Neoliberalism: An Entrenched but Exhausted Growth Regime," Ensayos Económicos, Central Bank of Argentina, Economic Research Department, vol. 1(79), pages 131-146, May.
    3. van Netten, Jamie, 2023. "The relationship between inequality and bank credit in Australia," Warwick-Monash Economics Student Papers 54, Warwick Monash Economics Student Papers.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mark Setterfield & Yun K. Kim & Jeremy Rees, 2016. "Inequality, Debt Servicing and the Sustainability of Steady State Growth," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1), pages 45-63, January.
    2. Yun K. Kim & Mark Setterfield & Yuan Mei, 2014. "A theory of aggregate consumption," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 11(1), pages 31-49, April.
    3. Yun K. Kim, 2020. "Household Debt Accumulation and the Great Recession of the United States: A Comparative Perspective," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 52(1), pages 26-49, March.
    4. van Treeck, Till. & Sturn, Simon., 2012. "Income inequality as a cause of the Great Recession? : A survey of current debates," ILO Working Papers 994709343402676, International Labour Organization.
    5. Yun K. Kim, 2017. "Rise of Household Debt and the Great Recession in the US: Comparative Perspectives," Working Papers 2017_03, University of Massachusetts Boston, Economics Department.
    6. Setterfield, Mark & Kim, Yun K., 2016. "Debt servicing, aggregate consumption, and growth," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 22-33.
    7. Till van Treeck, 2012. "Did inequality cause the U.S. financial crisis?," IMK Working Paper 91-2012, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    8. Till Treeck, 2014. "Did Inequality Cause The U.S. Financial Crisis?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 421-448, July.
    9. Jan Behringer & Till van Treeck, 2013. "Income distribution and current account: A sectoral perspective," IMK Working Paper 125-2013, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    10. Mark Setterfield & Yun K Kim, 2020. "Varieties of capitalism, increasing income inequality and the sustainability of long-run growth," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 44(3), pages 559-582.
    11. Pintu Parui, 2023. "Worker household debt, functional income distribution and growth: A neo‐Kaleckian perspective," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(2), pages 446-476, May.
    12. Mark Setterfield, 2014. "Using Interest Rates as the Instrument of Monetary Policy: Beware Real effects, Positive Feedbacks, and Discontinuities," Ensayos Económicos, Central Bank of Argentina, Economic Research Department, vol. 1(70), pages 7-22, June.
    13. Jonathan Heathcote & Fabrizio Perri & Giovanni Violante & Lichen Zhang, 2023. "More Unequal We Stand? Inequality Dynamics in the United States, 1967–2021," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 50, pages 235-266, October.
    14. Brant Abbott & Giovanni Gallipoli, 2022. "Permanent‐income inequality," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 13(3), pages 1023-1060, July.
    15. Mark Setterfield, 2022. "Neoliberalism: An Entrenched but Exhausted Growth Regime," Ensayos Económicos, Central Bank of Argentina, Economic Research Department, vol. 1(79), pages 131-146, May.
    16. De Giorgi, Giacomo & Gambetti, Luca & Naguib, Costanza, 2020. "Life-Cycle Inequality: Blacks And Whites Differentials In Life Expectancy, Savings, Income, And Consumption," CEPR Discussion Papers 15182, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. Barry Z. Cynamon & Steven M. Fazzari, 2016. "Inequality, the Great Recession and slow recovery," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 40(2), pages 373-399.
    18. Hein, Eckhard & Dodig, Nina, 2014. "Financialisation, distribution, growth and crises: Long-run tendencies," IPE Working Papers 35/2014, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    19. Giacomo De Giorgi & Luca Gambetti & Costanza Naguib, 2023. "Life-Cycle Inequality: the Black and White Differential," Diskussionsschriften dp2301, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    20. Yun K. Kim & Alan G. Isaac, 2017. "Firms’ Retention Behavior, Debt, and Macroeconomic Dynamics," Working Papers 2017_04, University of Massachusetts Boston, Economics Department.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • B51 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Socialist; Marxian; Sraffian
    • B52 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Modern Monetary Theory;
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:rsocec:v:78:y:2020:i:1:p:77-97. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RRSE20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.