The political economy of global finamcial meltdown (Depression): The implication for Nigeria

Abstract

This treatise set out to examine if indeed the global economy and by implication the Nigerian economy had progressed into depression. Applying the political economy paradigm as a perceptual prism of analysis, the paper established the linkages between political and economic sphere and upheld that political decisions determine who gets what when and how in the economy. It averred that the dominant socio-political ideology is the ‘free-market’ which goes into crisis occasionally. It upheld that the current global economic meltdown is not unconnected with the occasional crisis of capitalism. It submitted that the global economy was indeed in depression. The implication of mono-economy based on crude oil, purchased only by the west whose economy is shrinking is very dire to the Nigeria it observed. It recommended the adaptation of the Keynesian principles of economic management which involved massive public intervention in the various sectors, stimulating employment, demand and above all allowing the private sector to participate while the commanding heights of the economy remained with the state. The paper concluded that the economy should progress with a development plan for both the global and the Nigerian economy as a way out of depression. This was how past depressions were managed.