Framing The Global Economic Downturn : Crisis Rhetoric And The Politics Of Recessions

Framing the global economic downturn Crisis rhetoric and the politics of recessions Framing the global economic downturn Crisis rhetoric and the politics of recessions Edited by Paul ’t Hart and Karen Tindall Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at: http://epress.anu.edu.au/global_economy_citation. html National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Title: Framing the global economic downturn : crisis rhetoric and the politics of recessions / editor, Paul ‘t Hart, Karen Tindall. ISBN: 9781921666049 (pbk.) 9781921666056 (pdf) Series: Australia New Zealand School of Government monograph Subjects: Financial crises. Globalization--Economic aspects. Bankruptcy--International cooperation. Crisis management--Political aspects. Political leadership. Decision-making in public administration. Other Authors/Contributors: Hart, Paul ‘t Tindall, Karen. Dewey Number: 352.3 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design by John Butcher Cover images sourced from AAP Printed by University Printing Services, ANU Funding for this monograph series has been provided by the Australia and New Zealand School of Government Research Program. This edition © 2009 ANU E Press John Wanna, Series Editor Professor John Wanna is the Sir John Bunting Chair of Public Administration at the Research School of Social Sciences at The Australian National University and is the director of research for the Australian and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG). He is also a joint appointment with the Department of Politics and Public Policy at Griffith University and a principal researcher with two research centres: the Governance and Public Policy Research Centre and the nationally-funded Key Centre in Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance at Griffith University. Table of Contents The contributors ix Part I. Setting the stage 1. From ‘market correction’ to ‘global catastrophe’: framing the economic downturn Paul ’t Hart and Karen Tindall 3 2. Understanding crisis exploitation: leadership, rhetoric and framing contests in response to the economic meltdown 21 Paul ’t Hart and Karen Tindall Part II. One crisis, different worlds: the United States and Canada 3. The United States: crisis leadership in times of transition Isaac Ijjo Donato 43 4. Canada: the politics of optimism Anastasia Glushko 69 Part III. Dark clouds and turbulence in Europe 5. United Kingdom: the politics of government survival Justin Pritchard 99 6. Republic of Ireland: from Celtic tiger to recession victim Adam Masters 127 7. France: dominant leadership Natalie Windle 157 8. The European Union: from impotence to opportunity? Tully Fletcher 181 Part IV. No hiding place: the meltdown and the Asia-Pacific Region 9. Australia: ‘the lucky country’ on a knife edge Matthew Laing and Karen Tindall 203 10. New Zealand: electoral politics in times of crisis Michael Jones 243 11. Singapore: staying the course Faith Benjaathonsirikul 267 vii Part V. Comparisons and reflections viii 12. Contesting the frame: opposition le