The Political Economy of Long-term Planning

This book breaks down new ways to use foresight and economic theory to enhance economic planning at a national level. Common economic forecasting models often rely on time series analysis, which can limit an economist’s ability to foresee future economic outcomes comprehensively. Effective economic planning and policymaking require a deep understanding of the socio-economic and political forces that shape future economic outcomes. Using an interdisciplinary approach to economic theory and foresight, this book explores a new way to approach economic planning nationally. Emphasizing resilience, adaptability, and future-oriented behavior, this book highlights how policymakers and researchers can integrate foresight and futures methodologies to enhance long-term planning and decision making at both individual and national levels. It explores the methodological challenges inherent in foresight and offers a comprehensive guide to developing and utilizing scenarios. The chapters examine the shaping factors of human thinking and behavior, and the authors demonstrate how this knowledge can be continuously applied to support emerging developments across various economies. The Political Economy of Long-term Planning offers valuable resources and management tools to help readers understand economic development using economic foresight. Acknowledging both the challenges and opportunities of long-term planning within developing economies, the authors provide recent case studies from Greece and beyond. Readers will gain a thorough understanding of the political economy of foresight and the essential theories needed to illustrate unique dynamics of socioeconomic change. Panagiotis E. Petrakis is Professor Emeritus of Economics and a scientific supervisor for the E-Learning Programme at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA).He is an editor for two Palgrave book series on European and Greek economic futures. Giorgos Vasilis is a researcher for the E-Learning Programme at the NKUA. His recent research is oriented around political economy, the history of economic thought, economic history, microeconomics, and long-term planning as well as foresight. Anna-Maria Kanzola is a researcher for the E-Learning Programme at the NKUA. Since 2024, she has held administrative roles in the R&D department.