Heterodox Economics Newsletter-21 By: Frederic S. Lee

From the Editor

Happy New Year to All. The ASSA meetings in Boston had many heterodox activities. The heterodox sessions I attended were quite interesting and the URPE sessions were particularly well attended. Moreover, the various heterodox social activities were well attended. At its annual meeting ICAPE announced that it will be holding its second conference in June 2007 at Utah--details will be forthcoming. Finally, on a different note, there is some European interest in setting up a project on the ranking of heterodox journals/departments; if interested, you can contact Carsten Herrmann-Pillath at chepi@uni-wh.de. Also see the short note from Wolfram Elsner below.

Fred Lee

In this issue:

          - 2006 Interdisciplinary Graduate Summer School in Post Keynesian, Institutionalist and Feminist Economics
          - 2006 9th International Post Keynesian Conference Call for Participants (September 15-19, 2006)
          - European Business History Association (EBHA) Conference Copenhagen 2006,17 – 19 August 2006
          - European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy
          - Association for Social Economics
          - Rescaling the Political Economy of Social Justice/Injustice: the Urbanisation and Regionalisation of inclusion/exclusion'
          - "The Spririt of Innovation", "Knowledge, Finance and Innovation" (September, 26-30, 2006)


  - Conferences, Seminars and Lectures

          - LSE Public Lectures and Events
          - Heterodox Economics Workshop
          - Workshop On Growth and Employment in Europe
          - Eighth International Workshop on Institutional Economics
          - The first Socialist Economics Congress in Turkey convenes in Istanbul, on December 17 and 18


- Job Postings for Heterodox Economists

          - The Public Policy Institute of California
          - Programme Specialist, Advocacy / UNDP / New York, NY, USA / Closing date: January 19, 2006.
          - Program Officer for the Americas / The Global Fund for Women / San Francisco, CA, USA / Closing date: January 25, 2006

- Heterodox Conference Papers and Reports and Articles

           - New Publications for the Hong Kong WTO Process
           - The Political Economy of Peer Production by Michel Bauwens
           - Marx- Hegel and Keynes Reading Groups
           - 2005 SHE Conference Papers

           - Earthscan December 2005 Newsletter
           - Review of Political Economy
           - Feminist Economics
           - AALS Section on Socio-Economics Newsletter
           - Feminist Economics- Special Issue
           - Analyse & Kritik- Special issue
           - Journal of Institutional Economics (JOIE)
           - History of Economics Review
           - United for a Fair Economy Electronic Newsletter
           - Earthscan Development Studies


- Heterodox Books and Book Series

           - AIDS and the Ecology of Poverty by Eileen Stillwaggon
           - After the End of History: The Curious Fate of American Materialism by ROBERT E. LANE
           - Regional Monetary Policy
           - New Books from Pluto Press
           - New Political Economy

           - New Websites for the Economists Papers Project at the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library at Duke University
          - Paolo Sylos Labini
          - Joel Baxter Dirlam
          - Harry Magdoff, 1913-2006
          - Rudolf Meidner, 1914 - 2005: A Visonary Pragmatist
          - List of Scientists and Citizens Calling for a Steady State Economy Reaches 1,000

2006 Interdisciplinary Graduate Summer School in Post Keynesian, Institutionalist and Feminist Economics

2006 9th International Post Keynesian Conference Call for Participants (September 15-19, 2006)

Kansas City, Missouri USA
September 15-18, 2006
A Workshop on The Continuing Relevance of The General Theory

September 19, 2006
A Conference Celebrating Keynesian Economics
Keynote Speakers Include: Skidelsky, Goodhart, Davidson, Harcourt, Pasinetti

European Business History Association (EBHA) Conference Copenhagen 2006,17 – 19 August 2006

“The Dynamics of Capitalism and Business enterprise – 200 years of Success, Failure and Scandal”

Nintey four years have passed since Joseph Schumpeter published his “Theorie der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung”, but its focus on innovation and entrepreneurship as well as on creative destruction and crises makes it as topical as ever. With the era of globalization, the dynamics of capitalism have never been more intense and more all-encompassing, and this gives rise to a series of important questions that Business History may be particularly suited to answer.

By inviting papers as well as entire sessions that explore historical parallels and analyze the path that business corporations and societies have taken towards the present state of a global economy, we hope to achieve a better and historically founded understanding of the challenges that capitalist societies and business enterprises face in the 21st century.

We invite papers that deal with the coporate level, the national level, the international level, or the three combined. At the same time, we want to recognize the need for Business History to open up to new theoretical approaches in other disciplines like economics, sociology, anthropology, the humanities, and business studies in order to constitute a truly cross-disciplinary science.

The conference therefore has three themes:
• Corporate Governance and Business Performance - Historical Explanations
• Global Markets and Global Regulation – Institutional Frameworks in History
• Theoretical Challenges and New Perspectives in Business History

Although priority will be given to papers embracing these themes and closely related topics it is normal practice for EBHA conferences to include some papers outside the theme of the conference.

Submission of Abstracts
Those interested in presenting a paper should prepare a one-page abstract. Proposals for panels should contain the abstracts of the individual papers as well as a short summary explaining the rationale of putting these together in one panel. Suggestions for chairs and discussants of the panel will also be welcomed. Please e-mail your abstracts or panel proposals by January 15, 2006 at the latest EBHA2006@cbs.dk All proposals will be evaluated by an academic committee. Decisions will be announced by e-mail before February 28th 2006.

Ph.D. Competition:
At the conference, there will be a competition for the best dissertation in Business History. The best dissertation will be awarded a prize of € 500. The dissertation can be written in any language, and must be completed no later than 2005. The competition will be coordinated by Per Boje, Jørgen Fink and Per Hansen. A short summery should be e-mailed to ehba2006@cbs.dk before 1st of March 2006

EBHA2006 is organized by Center for Business History, Copenhagen; Center for Business History, Aarhus and Center for Industrial and Business History, Odense. You can read more about the three themes and the EBHA2006 Conference in Copenhagen at www.cbs.dk/EBHA2006

European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy

Invites you to attend the 1st EAEPE Symposium

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ECONOMY OF LABOR: NEW DIMENSIONS

Thursday, June 29 – Saturday, July 1, 2006
at the Saint-Petersburg State University,
Saint-Petersburg, Russia
For detailed information: EAEPE sympo06.doc

Association for Social Economics

Annual A.S.S.A. Meetings, Chicago, Illinois, January 5–7, 2007

THEME: Sustainability in Three Dimensions: Economic, Social, Ecological
Economic sustainability is usually understood to mean that living standards are maintained through time, i.e., per capita consumption does not decrease. In a world accustomed to economic growth, economic sustainability would not seem difficult to achieve. But economic sustainability ultimately depends on the sustainability of society and of natural ecosystems. Sustainable ecosystems maintain their biological integrity through time, so that their flow of services to human and non-human life continues undiminished. Sustainability in human society means the maintenance of solidarity, trust and cooperation, leading to high levels of effectiveness of institutions like education, civic administration and commerce. The theme of papers for the 2007 meetings will be the interactions of these three forms of sustainability, and the ways in which economic institutions and policies can contribute to sustainable development. Possible sessions could include:

• Substitutability of real economic (manufactured) and natural capital
• Effects of increased income inequality on the exploitation of the environment and the stability of social institutions
• Globalization of economic activity and its effects on society and the environment
• Ability of the price system to signal the depletion of ecological capital
• Local control of the economy and local knowlege of ecosystems
• Promoting investment in ecological and social capital

There will be an opening plenary session, seven other sessions, and a Presidential Address at the ASE breakfast by Deborah M. Figart. Both members and nonmembers of the ASE are invited to submit proposals. Also, anyone willing and able to organize a full session with three or four papers and discussants on an appropriate topic is encouraged to submit such a session for consideration.

Proposal submission: A one-page abstract (including name, postal and e-mail addresses) should be submitted before the deadline of April 30, 2006. Completed papers will be due by November 15, 2006. It is preferred that abstracts be sent by e-mail to tmst@calvin.edu.

John P. Tiemstra
Department of Economics and Business
Calvin College
North Hall, 1740 Knollcrest Circle SE
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546 USA

Rescaling the Political Economy of Social Justice/Injustice: the Urbanisation and Regionalisation of inclusion/exclusion'

Convenors: Ramon Ribera-Fumaz and Stijn Oosterlynck (Lancaster University)

Session sponsored jointly by Economic Geography (EGRG) and Political Geography Research Group (EGRG)

RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2006 30 August - 1st September 2006 at the Royal Geographical Society with IBG, London

Recent literature in urban and regional development theory and research is largely dominated by concerns about agglomeration economies, learning regions and the geographies of inter-space competition. Urban and regional economic development strategies aim at imaging and producing places that are first and foremost attractive sites for capital accumulation. In this sense, there exists a large body of research and theory looking at the development impact of rescaling economic governance mechanisms to the urban and regional level. On the other hand, most of the literature on local social justice is focused on processes of gentrification and on the privatisation of public space and its exclusionary character at the neighbourhood scale. Yet, there is little research available that actually looks at the rescaling of social justice/injustice at the urban and regional level.

This session aims to look at urban and regional development strategies and the economic imageries informing them from a social justice, rather than from a competitiveness perspective. The session hopes to contribute to our understanding of how certain actors' actions and the imaginaries that inform their actions aim at rescaling development strategies to the urban and regional level in an attempt to produce new scales of political intervention on which they have stronger capacities to act. We invite papers that analyse how regional and urban development strategies and the associated imaginaries work to include certain social groups and social interests while excluding and marginalising others.

Please send your abstract by January 15th 2006 to:
Ramon Ribera-Fumaz <r.ribera-fumaz@lancaster.ac.uk> Stijn Oosterlynck

Conference webpage: http://www.rgs.org/templ.php?page=AC2006

"The Spririt of Innovation", "Knowledge, Finance and Innovation" (September, 26-30, 2006)

The call for paper is at the following address:
http://rii.univ-littoral.fr/en/index_en.html

Second Forum - The Spirit of Innovation
Research Unit on Industry and Innovation –
University of Littoral France
International Symposium
Knowledge, Finance and Innovation
September, 26-30, 2006

Keynes, in his day, warned politicians of the dangers of entrepreneurial short-sightedness and the potential for undermining longer-term economic performance. His observations remain prescient, particularly with regard to innovation.
Innovation is characterized by the market introduction of new products, typically accompanied by new means of production, new methods of management, and the ultimate attainment of new forms of industrial organization. These outcomes are dictated by the imperatives of integration, the coordination of intellectual resources, and ultimately by the pursuit of financial profitability.
The myopic pursuit of short-term profitability may be the contemporary embodiment of Keynes’ apprehension. For instance, innovation projects jointly funded by large companies and units of government may by undermined by declining support for the basic research upon which those projects depend. This is particularly true regarding the reduction of public funding that often accompanies the opening of traditional markets to new sources of competition.
The logic of financial investment drives the valuation of technological capital (incorporating scientific knowledge, industrial knowledge and innovation engineering) and often motivates large firms to pursue a path of short-term expedience. Also, technological progress may evolve so rapidly that the industrial and social integration of scientific knowledge may be hindered.
On the other hand, scientific knowledge may perish due to insufficient profitability, prompting that knowledge to be ignored and withheld from contributing to innovation. Because profitability typically is the pre-eminent criteria in the short-run, only those enterprises that rapidly absorb scientific resources attain viability. Entire scientific fields, therefore, may become neglected.
The outcome may be the long-term neglect of the common good. Of course, as Keynes reminds, in the long-run we shall all be dead. But wasn’t Keynes really calling for more thoughtful linkages between short-term behaviors and long-term outcomes? Arguably—in the spirit of Keynes—it is expedient for societies to carefully reconsider how innovation occurs and to nurture the process more fully, both publicly and privately. What drives innovation and how may its nurturance be accomplished?

Is it through the pursuit of pure knowledge (ensuing from R&D processes), its development, and its management for industrial use?
Or is it through greater nurturance of profitability? How do the imperatives of return on investment influence research and its industrial exploitation?
Or is it through measurement of the value of innovation in terms of its usefulness? Does this value depend upon the amount of capital and labour dedicated to its production?
Or, is it through greater reliance upon the profitability of knowledge? What are the consequences of the relationship between the management of knowledge and financial strategies on technical progress, economic growth and globalization of economic activities?These and other questions will be pursued within the International Symposium on Knowledge, Finance and Innovation, through three axes:

· Enterprise logic, profitability and technological selection
Innovation trajectories and “autonomous science”
Financing and managing scientific and technical knowledge
Investments in the protection of knowledge and innovation
New organization of work, new financial structures and organizational change

· Network logic, technological and financial complementarity
Strategic Alliances and collective logic of innovation
Innovation networks: enterprises and public institutions
The cognitive division of labour, innovation and investment location
Networks, technical standards and competition

· Public logic, administration and routines
Scientific research, its institutions, its aims, its actors
Innovation policies and innovation systems
Economics of knowledge, innovation and economic growth

Theoretical, historical and applied proposals will be examined by the scientific committee. The submission of papers and whole sessions (5 participants maximum) are welcome.

Organizing Committee:
Alioune Ba (ULCO), Christine Barthelet (ULCO), Thierry Barthelet (ULCO), Sophie Boutillier (ULCO), Philippe Chagnon (ULCO), Michèle Clotilde (ULCO), Bruno Coreen (Communauté Urbaine de Dunkerque), Michèle Crost (IGS), François Diquero (IGS), Claude Fournier (Institut Supérieur des Métiers), Marie-Francine François (Ville de Dunkerque), Sylvie Guillet (ENACT Dunkerque), Nathalie Hannebau (ULCO) Godefroy Kizaba (ULCO), Christine Lancesseur (IGS), Blandine Laperche (ULCO), Joël Marcq (ULCO), Clotaire Mouloungui (ULCO), Nathalie Mudard (ULCO), Marc Richevaux (ULCO), James Sawyer (université de Seattle, USA), Eric Vernier (ULCO), Yannick Vissouze (Communauté Urbaine de Dunkerque), Maria Vitali Volant (ULCO), Dimitri Uzunidis (ULCO)

Scientific Committee :
Philip Arestis, University of Cambridge and Levy Economics Institute, UK; Alioune Ba, Université du Littoral, France; Christine Barthelet, Université du Littoral, France; Rolande Borrelly, Université de Grenoble II, France; Sophie Boutillier, Université du Littoral, France; Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira, Fondation Getulio Vargas, Brazil; Suzanne de Brunhoff, CNRS, France; Guy Caire, Université de Paris X, France; François Chesnais, Université de Paris XIII, France; Annie L. Cot, Université de Paris I, France; Jerry Courvisanos, University of Ballarat, Australia; Paul Davidson, New School University, New York, USA; Renato Di Ruzza, Université de Provence, France; Abdelkader Djeflat, Université de Lille I, France; Gérard Dokou¸Université du Littoral, France; Roger Durand, Université du Littoral, France; Yves Enrègle, IGS, France; Giuseppe Fontana, University of Leeds, UK; Jacques Fontanel, Université de Grenoble II, France; Dominique Foray, OCDE, France; Claude Fournier, Institut Supérieur des Métiers; Alan Freeman, University of Greenwich, UK; Christopher Freeman, University of Sussex, UK; Jean Gadrey, Université de Lille I, France; Jean-Luc Gaffard, Université de Nice, France; James Kenneth Galbraith, University of Austin, USA; John Hagedoorn, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands; Geoffrey Harcourt, University of Cambridge, UK; Stefan Kesting, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand; Blandine Laperche, Université du Littoral, France; Fred Lee, University of Missouri Kansas City, USA; Jean François Lemettre, Université de Versailles, France; George Liodakis, Technical University of Crete, Grèce; Jean Lojkine, EHESS-CNRS, France; Ben Aagt Lundvall, Université de Aalborg, The Netherlands; Bernadette Madeuf, Université de Paris X, France; Michel Marchesnay, Université de Montpellier I, France; Joël Marcq, Université du Littoral, France ; Bernard Maris, Université de Paris VIII, France; Jordi Molas Gallart, University of Sussex, UK; El Mouhoub Mouhoud, Université Paris 13; Christian Palloix, Université de Picardie, France; Pascal Petit, Cepremap, France; James Petras, Université de Binghamton, USA; Joël Thomas Ravix, Université de Nice, France; Marc Richevaux, Université du Littoral, France; Yorgos Rizopoulos, Université de Picardie, France; Philippe Rollet, Université de Lille I, France; Jean-Jacques Salomon, Cnam, France; James Sawyer, University of Seattle, USA; Malcolm Sawyer, University of Leeds, UK; Claude Serfati, Université de Versailles, France; Dimitri Uzunidis, Université du Littoral, France; Michel Verret, Université de Nantes, France; Eric Vernier, Université du Littoral, France; Nick Von Tunzelmann, University of Sussex, UK ; Philippe Vrain, Centre d'Etudes de l'Emploi, France
Coordination : Blandine Laperche, Université du Littoral, France

Deadlines:
Deadline for communication proposals: March 1 2006.
Final decision of scientific committee: June 1 2006
Final texts: September 5 2006

Languages: English, French

Address:
Blandine Laperche
Lab.RII- ULCO
21, quai de la Citadelle
59140 Dunkerque –France
laperche@univ-littoral.fr

It is not too late to send it to your colleagues, friends and all persons who could be interested in this symposium. Do not hesitate as well to publish it in your information letters, reviews, websites,...

Location: Palais des congrès de Dunkerque - Kursaal:
http://www.dunkerquekursaal.com/index2.php?rub=destination

***********
Below, please find information about the publications ensuing from the First forum "The Spirit of Innovation. John Kenneth Galbraith International Symposium" (Sept 04)

- John Kenneth Galbraith and the Future of Economics (ed. Blandine Laperche and Dimitri Uzunidis), Palgrave Macmillan 2005.
Authors: Philip ARESTIS, Norman BIRNBAUM, John CORNWALL, Wendy CORNWALL, Fanny COULOMB, Paul DAVIDSON, Jacques FONTANEL, Jean-Luc GAFFARD, James Kenneth GALBRAITH, Jeff MADRICK, Stanislav MENSHIKOV, Richard PARKER, Kunibert RAFFER, James SAWYER, Malcolm SAWYER, Dimitri UZUNIDIS, Robert Hunter WADE
http://www.palgrave.com/products/Catalogue.aspx?is=1403996164

- John Kenneth Galbraith. The Affluent Society of and the liberalism, Innovations, Cahiers d'économie de l'Innovation, n°23, 2006-1 (in French Language)
Authors : Michel Alexandre BAILLY, Laurent CORDONNIER, Fanny COULOMB, Jacques FONTANEL, Bertrand De LARGENTAYE, Pierre LE MASNE, Eric T. MANDRARA, Michel MARCHESNAY, Richard PARKER, Pascal PETIT, Marlyse POUCHOL, Rémy VOLPI.
http://www.harmattan.fr/index.asp?navig=catalogue&obj=revue&no=21

- Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Vol.28, n°1, Fall 2005
Authors : Stefan KESTING, James Ronald STANFIELD and Mary WRENN, Marc HUMBERT, Francis MUNIER and Zhao WANG, Jerry COURVISANOS, Paul DAVIDSON
http://www.mesharpe.com

- L'Economie politique n°28. Dossier "Galbraith : un intellectuel en économie", 2005
Auteurs: Richard PARKER, Stéphanie LAGUERODIE, Blandine LAPERCHE, James Kenneth GALBRAITH
http://www.alternatives-economiques.fr/ecopol/index.html

- The innovative firm and the market. Reading Galbraith, Economie et Innovation , col. “L’esprit économique”, Innoval-L’Harmattan, Paris, 2005 (ed. B. Laperche, in French Language)
Authors : Jean-Gabriel BLIEK, Sophie BOUTILLIER, Guy CAIRE, Godegroy Amkampese KIZABA, Blandine LAPERCHE, Bernadette MADEUF, Joël MARCQ, Francis MUNIER, Antoine REMOND, Bérangère SZOSTAK TAPON, Zhao WANG.
http://www.harmattan.fr/index.asp?navig=catalogue&obj=livre&no=20021

and .... Forthcoming!
- Innovation, Evolution and Economic Change. New ideas in the tradition of Galbraith (ed. by B. Laperche, J.K. Galbraith, D. Uzunidis), New Directions in Modern Economics series, Edward Elgar, 2006.
Authors : Sophie BOUTILLIER, Luiz Carlos BRESSER PEREIRA, Guy CAIRE, Denis CARRE, Jerry COURVISANOS, Michael DIETRICH, James Kenneth GALBRAITH, Andrée KARTCHEVSKY, Blandine Laperche, Giliane LEFEBVRE, George LIODAKIS, Bernadette MADEUF, Muriel MAILLEFERT, Luc MAMPAEY, Christian MILELLI, Jordi MOLAS-GALLART, Victor PELEAZ, Pascal PETIT, Marlyse POUCHOL, Claude SERFATI, Abhijit SHARMA, Puay TANG, Dimitri UZUNIDIS
http://www.e-elgar.co.uk/Bookentry_Main.lasso?id=4087

Finally, the new address of Lab.RII's website is :
http://rii.univ-littoral.fr

LSE Public Lectures and Events

Michio Morishima Memorial Lecture "Economics as a Discipline"
Date: Thursday 26 January 2006 Time: 6.30pm
Venue: Old Theatre, Old Building, LSE
Speaker: Professor Amartya Sen

Amartya Sen is Lamont University Professor and professor of economics at Harvard University. He was previously professor of economics at LSE and remains a senior research associate of STICERD. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998.

This event is free and open to all however a ticket is required. One ticket per person can be requested from 10.00am on Monday 16 January 2006.

Members of the public, LSE staff and alumni can request one ticket via the online booking form which will be live on this weblisting
(http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/LSEPublicLecturesAndEvents/events/2006/200 51209t1128z001.htm) from 10.00am on Monday 16 January 2006.

LSE students are able to collect one ticket from the LSESU reception, located on the ground floor of the East Building from 10.00am on Monday 16 January 2006.

For further information email events@lse.ac.uk.

If you are planning to attend this event and would like details on how to get here and what time to arrive, please refer to Coming to an event at LSE (http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/conferenceAndEventsOffice/comingToAnEventAtLSE.htm).

Heterodox Economics Workshop

The Economics Network of the Higher Education Academy invites you to a heterodox economics workshop

When: Wednesday 3 May 2006, 1030 registration for 1100 start, 1600 finish
Where: Boardroom at the Empire and Commonwealth Museum, next to Temple Meads train station, Bristol
What: A participatory workshop to share ideas for the innovative teaching of heterodox economics, as well as using a pluralist
perspective in the teaching of mainstream economics. We will also explore unique issues
surrounding this specialism. Come prepared to share.

For more information, e-mail Heather: h.witham@bristol.ac.uk.
For registration details, go to:
http://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/events/hetero0506.htm

Workshop On Growth and Employment in Europe

DATE: 27 January 2006

VENUE: Oxford Brookes University Business School, Wheatley Campus, Wheatley, Oxford OX33 1HX

DIRECTIONS TO THE BUSINESS SCHOOL: There is a University bus, which runs both during and out of term times. It leaves from the train station at 26 and 56 minutes passed the hour and is called the U1 (and it is blue and white with Oxford Brookes all over it). People need to ask for Wheatley Campus and it takes just over 30mins.

PLACE OF MEETING: Room PG203. Please go to the Business School Reception - as it is a swipe card entrance. For those people that want parking, could they email Judith Piggott so that they can have a ticket to be picked up at the Porters Lodge (just inside the entrance) - and the Porters will direct to the Business School. Directions are on the Brookes website for drivers but make sure it clearly states Wheatley Campus on the publicity.

PROGRAMME

11.30 – 1.00: Three Papers

SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES: Jonathan Perraton
({perraton@sheffield.ac.uk" }j.perraton@sheffield.ac.uk)
Title: Paradise Lost? The Fate of the Scandinavian Economies in
the 21st Century

DENMARK: Jesper Jesperson (jesperj@ruc.dk)
Title: The Danish Case: Flexicurity and Demand Management

GERMANY: Eckhard Hein (Eckhard-Hein@boeckler.de) and Achim Truger (achim-truger@boeckler.de)
Title: Germany's Stagnation in the European Context

1.00 – 2.00 Lunch

2.00 – 3.30 p.m.: Three papers

FRANCE: Pascal Petit (Petit@jourdan.ens.fr / pascal.petit@cepremap.cnrs.fr)
Title: Thirty Years of Massive Unemployment: Its Impact on the
Wage Labour Nexus

ITALY: Elisabetta De Antoni
(elisabetta.deantoni@economia.unitn.it)
Title: Italy and the EMU: A Controversial Issue

UK: Philip Arestis (pa267@cam.ac.uk) and Malcolm Sawyer (mcs@lubs.leeds.ac.uk)
Title: Economic Policy in the UK Under New Labour: The End of Boom and Bust?

3.30 – 4.00 p.m.: Tea and Coffee

4.00 – 5.30 p.m.: Three papers

GREECE/IRELAND: Eleni Paliginis (eleni90@aol.com)
Title: The Impact of EMU on Greece and Ireland

SPAIN: Jesus Ferreiro (jesus.ferreiro@ehu.es), Carmen Gomez (carmen.gomez@ehu.es) and Felipe Serrano
(felipe.serrano@ehu.es)
Title: Can Miracles Come to an End? Limitations of the Current Model of Growth in Spain

PORTUGAL: Isabel Salavisa (isabel.salavisa@iscte.pt) Title: The End of Catching up in Portugal: Causes and Consequences

Eighth International Workshop on Institutional Economics

"Human Needs and Markets: New Foundations for Health and Social Policy"

Organised by the Centre for Research in Institutional Economics, University of Hertfordshire, UK.

Speakers:

Stephen Dunn (Department of Health), Barbara Harriss-White (University of Oxford), Colin Haslam (University of Hertfordshire), Geoffrey Hodgson (University of Hertfordshire), Robert McMaster (University of Aberdeen).

19-20 June 2006

This residential workshop will be held on the De Havilland campus of the University of Hertfordshire, in Hatfield, England.

This workshop is designed to provide in-depth discussion of cutting-edge issues in institutional economics, in a forum that permits the attention to detail and definition that is often lacking in larger, conference-style events. The expected maximum number of participants is 50. Please book early to avoid disappointment.

The De Havilland Campus of the University of Hertfordshire is about one mile from Hatfield railway station. There are regular trains from Hatfield to London Kings Cross, taking about 20 minutes. There is easy access to all London airports.

The first Socialist Economics Congress in Turkey convenes in Istanbul, on December 17 and 18

PROGRAM/TIMETABLE

The Socialist Economics Congress in Turkey (SEC) convenes on December 17 and 18 at the headquarters of Petrol-Is (Petroleum Chemical Rubber Worker's Trade Union of Turkey) in Istanbul.

DECEMBER 17, SATURDAY

10:00-11:00: FIRST SESSION (Convenor: Erkin Özalp)
OPENING SPEECHES
• Opening speech on behalf of the Left Council / Mesut Odman
• Opening speech on behalf of the University Councils Association / İzzettin Önder
FIRST PRESENTATIONS
• On the Fundamental Line of Economic Thought in Turkey / Tevfik Çavdar
• Economic Policy Debates in Turkey: Moving Forward by Defending the Past / Korkut Boratav

11:30-13:00: WORLD CAPITALISM: QUO VADIS? (Convenor: Mesut Odman)
• The Pattern of Crisis in World Capitalism as a Relationship between State and Capital / Ahmet Haşim Köse-Ahmet Öncü
• Limits of Cooperation and Competition Among Imperialist Powers / Nail Satlıgan
• Changes in the Production Process and the Working Class / İlker Belek

14:30-16:00: WORKING GROUPS PANEL (Convenor: Nihat Falay)
European Union (Barış Karaağaç, Erkin Özalp, İlhami Alkan), Foreign Economic Relations (Burak Gürbüz, Erkin Özalp, Ömer Emirkadı), The Relationship between Economics and Politics (Deniz Alca, Türkan Hançer, Yasemin Dildar), Unemployment and Health (Alp Ergör, Belgin Ünal, Bülent Kılıç, Yücel Demiral). With the participation of one member from each working group.

16:30-18:00: THE SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVE ECONOMIC POLICIES (Convenor: İlker Belek)
• Ideological and Economic Meanings of the Concept of "Globalization" / E. Ahmet Tonak
• Limits of the Search for Alternatives with an Unsound Class Basis / İzzettin Önder
• Is the EU an Alternative? Is it Possible to Create Alternatives within the EU? / Nikos Papaconstantinou (Greece - Member of the Direction of the Center for Marxist Research)
• Economics Education and the Search for Alternatives / Nihat Falay

DECEMBER 18, SUNDAY

10:00-11:30: TURKISH CAPITALISM: QUO VADIS? (Convenor: İzzettin Önder)
• What has Changed and has not Changed in the Turkish Economy after the 2001 Crisis? / Erinç Yeldan
• Economic and Social Aspects of the EU Accession Process / Özgür Müftüoğlu
• Industrialization and Deindustrialization Dynamics in Turkey / Ayfer Eğilmez
• The Role of Foreign Capital in the Financial Sector / Öztin Akgüç

13:00-14:30: WORKING GROUPS PANEL (Convenor: Ayfer Eğilmez)
Science and Technology Policies (Beyza Üstün, Çiçek Çavdar, Helin Dutağacı, Koray Çiftçi), State-Economy Relationships (Attila Güney, H. Yasemin Özuğurlu, Metin Altıok, Yüksel Akkaya), Intellectual Property in the Pharmaceuticals Industry (Ahmet Alpay Dikmen, Nurettin Abacıoğlu), Socialist Labor Process (Ali Murat Özdemir, Burçak Özoğlu, Gamze Yücesan-Özdemir), Industrial Policies of Turkey (Ali Somel, Alper Birdal, Aytek Soner Alpan). With the participation of one member from each working group.

15:00-16:30: SOCIALIST STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPMENT (Convenor: Burçak Özoğlu)
• Contributions of the Cuban Economy to Socialist Perspectives / Ernesto Gomez Abascal (Cuban Ambassador to Turkey)
• Capitalism as the Barrier to Industrialization in Turkey and Socialism as the Only Alternative / Aziz Hatman
• Underground Resources of Turkey and Socialism / Tahir Öngür
• New Opportunities for Socialist Planning in Light of Technological Innovations / Erkin Özalp

17:00-18:00: Forum and Declaration of the Final Report

Small concerts and slide shows will also take place during the congress.

Auditing the congress is free.

ADDRESS: Petrol-İş Sendikası Genel Merkez Binası (Altunizade Mah. Kuşbakışı Cad., No:25, ÜSKÜDAR/İSTANBUL)

Detailed Information: www.iktisatkongresi.org

Communication: sekretarya@iktisatkongresi.org

The Public Policy Institute of California
The Public Policy Institute of California is an independent, nonpartisan, non-profit research institution, based in San Francisco.
The institute informs policymaking by producing and disseminating high-quality, objective research on a range of public policy issues.

I'd like to bring two items to your attention. First, we have two Dissertation Fellow positions available. These are one-year-long, fully paid position in our San Francisco office, for Ph.D. students with a background in a relevant field. For details on the application process:
http://www.ppic.org/main/position.asp?i=1430

Application due date: January 30, 2006.

I'd also like to remind you that we are still recruiting several Research Fellows, as detailed in the descriptions on our website at http://www.ppic.org/main/opportunities.asp
We plan to review applications for these positions as they come in, until they are filled.
If you know of qualified and interested candidates, I would appreciate it if you could refer them to our website. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Chris Marhula

Chris Marhula
Public Policy Institute of California
HR Assistant
500 Washington Street, Suite 800
San Francisco, CA 94111
Tel: (415) 291-4485
marhula@ppic.org

Programme Specialist, Advocacy / UNDP / New York, NY, USA / Closing date: January 19, 2006.

DESCRIPTION:

Job expertise: Gender, Governance
Duration of initial contract: One Year (Renewable)

Under the overall supervision of the Governance, Peace and Security Adviser, the Programme Specialist for Advocacy will undertake the following duties and responsibilities:

- Assist in organizing an inter-agency advocacy initiative, in
collaboration with non-governmental organizations, to support efforts to end sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict contexts. This initiative will build upon IASC guidelines for addressing Gender-Based Violence in Humanitarian Situations and will promote their use through resource-generation and international awareness.

The initiative will also aim to galvanize global concern about impunity for sexual violence in conflict and speed up the response of the peacekeeping and humanitarian communities to violations of women's rights in conflict and post-conflict settings.

- This will include:
- setting up a database for participating organizations and maintaining regular communications with these.
- organizing regular meetings of the working groups associated with the advocacy initiative.
- conceptual work to clarify campaign goals, rational, messages.
- organizational work to help build a management structure for the campaign.
- fundraising to generate resources for the campaign.
- networking to expand participation in the campaign.
- securing endorsement for the campaign from key supporters such as national governments, military spokespersons, celebrities, etc.
- building buy-in for the campaign from UN and non-governmental personnel working in theatre or in post-conflict recovery.

- Liaise with staff running UNIFEM's Portal: www.WomenWarPeace.org
to build website for the advocacy campaign.

REQUIREMENTS:

- Post-graduate degree in gender studies, international relations, development, political sciences, international law, economics or related discipline.
- Knowledge or experience in web design and development.
- Excellent command of English, ability to draft in English.
- Fluency in written and spoken English; knowledge of other UN
languages an asset.
- Experience and track record in advocacy work.
- Minimum of five years of post-Masters experience with increasing
responsibility in the field of women, peace and security.
- Understanding of GBV, sexual violence, gender justice issues
preferably in conflict situations. Field experience in addressing these problems an asset.
- Understanding of the UN system structure, including those related
to women, peace and security. Understanding of non-governmental community addressing GBV and sexual violence in conflict and humanitarian settings.
- Good organizational skills, sound judgment, initiative,
demonstrated capacity to perform effectively within a multicultural work environment, tact and ability to deal with confidential matters in a discreet and reliable manner.
- Capacity to plan, prioritize and deliver tasks on time. Ability to set priorities; work under pressure with colleagues at all levels.
- Ability to participate effectively in a team-based, information-
sharing environment, to collaborate and cooperate with others.
- Willingness to accept additional responsibilities as required by
the demands of the service.
- Ability to communicate sensitively and effectively across different constituencies.
- Strong interpersonal, writing and research skills.
- Evidence of capacity to be a self-starter, self-motivator and
take initiative.

TO APPLY:

Ref. No.: ALD2006/0615

Please apply ONLINE at:
http://stone.undp.org/undpweb/ohr/ohrjbview.cfm?jaf_uid_c=2066

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: JANUARY 19, 2006.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Program Officer for the Americas / The Global Fund for Women / San Francisco, CA, USA / Closing date: January 25, 2006.

JOB SUMMARY:

The Program Officer (PO) manages the Americas portfolio of grants for the Global Fund for Women. As a member of the Program team, the PO reviews, manages, and prioritizes requests from organizations seeking funding from the Global Fund.

Main areas of responsibility include:

- Grant-Making;
- Outreach and Communications;
- Management and Supervision.

Projected start date for this position is mid March, 2006.

SUMMARY OF REQUIREMENTS:

- Knowledge of women's human rights and the work of women's groups in
the
region
- Knowledge of the economic, political, social and cultural trends in the region
- Fluency in oral and written English and Spanish required (knowledge of Portuguese and/or French is highly desirable)
- Strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to perform analytical and researched work
- Leadership and people skills, with a demonstrated ability to support and encourage team members
- Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail and ability to manage complex tasks
- A minimum 4-5 years substantive professional, academic or activist experience in international women's rights issues and a BA/BS degree is required.
- A Master's degree in social sciences is preferred, international development or gender studies, along with previous overseas living/working experience in the particular region.

SEE FULL DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENTS AND RESPONSIBILITES AT:
http://www.globalfundforwomen.org/5other/jobs.html#programs

TO APPLY:

Applications and all supporting documents MUST BE POSTMARKED BY JANUARY 25, 2006.

Please submit an original of the full application to The Global Fund for Women office by mail or email (see below). All pages of the application should be typed in a reasonable size font (10-14 pt.), single-spaced and double-sided to conserve paper. Please do not submit applications in folders or binders. Each application package should include the following:

- Cover letter with the applicant's current contact information
- Resume (including detailed work experience, education/degrees, and references with contact information)
- 2-3 page Writing Sample

All applications and supporting documents should be sent to us by email or mail to: (jobs@globalfundforwomen.org) or

Program Officer, Americas (POAm1-06)
The Global Fund for Women
Attn: Human Resources
1375 Sutter Street, Suite 400
San Francisco, CA 94109, USA

Website: http://www.globalfundforwomen.org/5other/jobs.html#programs

Kevin P. Gallagher and Timothy A. Wise, from GDAE’s Globalization and Sustainable Development Program, will be attending the WTO meetings in Hong Kong December 13-18 to present the institute’s research on the social, economic, and environmental impacts of trade liberalization. They will present their findings to negotiators and in parallel NGO forums taking place in Hong Kong. In addition, the institute has released new publications relevant to the negotiations:

For a full listing of GDAE publications relevant to the Hong Kong ministerial meeting, Gallagher and Wise’s speaking itineraries in Hong Kong, and contact information for them there, please go to: http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/policy_research/WTO05.htm

The Political Economy of Peer Production by Michel Bauwens

The following essay examines the widespread emergence of a new mode of non-reciprocical exchange, as found in the immaterial and cooperative peer production techniques evident in free software and knowledge-based projects such as Wikipedia. It compares the interplay of peer production with three other modes of exchange, outlining its specificities in terms of governance and property regimes: 1) for the market, through pricing; 2) traditional reciprocity-based gift economies; 3) resource allocation through the state or corporate hierarchies. How can economics, by definition dealing with scarce resources, incorporate modes of exchange that are predicated on an abundance of input and a free output through universal access-based common property regimes? The author argues that a full knowledge of contemporary political economy will only succeed if it is based on such an integration of the new modes of production, not just on the market. http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=499

Review of Political Economy

Volume 18 Number 1/January 2006 of Review of Political Economy is now available on the journalsonline.tandf.co.uk web site at http://journalsonline.tandf.co.uk.

This issue contains:

- Kydland and Prescott's Nobel Prize: the methodology of time consistency and real business cycle models, James E. Hartley
- Immigration as industrial strategy in American meatpacking, Dell Champlin, Eric Hake
- On the Tobin Tax,Korkut A. Erturk
- Does the market self-correct? Asymmetrical adjustment and the structure of economic error, Peter T. Leeson, Christopher J. Coyne, Peter J. Boettke
- Political rights, civil liberties, and the black market premium on foreign exchange: Evidence from developing countries, Mohsen Bahmani-Oskooee, Gour G. Goswami
- Eriksson on critical realism: a comment, Andrew Mearman
- Eriksson on Critical Realism: a rejoinder,Ralf Eriksson,
- Book reviews

Feminist Economics

Volume 11 Number 3/November 2005 of Feminist Economics is now available on the journalsonline.tandf.co.uk web site at http://journalsonline.tandf.co.uk.

This issue contains:

- Reflections on gender mainstreaming: An example of feminist economics in action?, Jill Rubery
- Credit and women's group membership in South India: Testing models of intrahousehold allocative behavior, Nathalie Holvoet
- Determinants of women's microenterprise success in Ahmedabad, India: Empowerment and economic, Paula Kantor
- The citation impact of feminist economics, Frances Woolley
- Feminist ecological economics, Ellie Perkins, Edith Kuiper, Rayén Quiroga-Martínez, Terisa E. Turner, Leigh S. Brownhill, Mary Mellor, Zdravka Todorova, Maren A. Jochimsen, Martha McMahon
- Sen on freedom and gender justice, Mozaffar Qizilbash
- Book Review
- Notes on contributors
- Errata
- Thanks to reviewers
- A special issue on AIDS, sexuality, and economic development, Cecilia Conrad, Cheryl Doss
- Information and announcements
- Feminist economics editorial policies
- Submission and style guidelines

AALS Section on Socio-Economics Newsletter

The updated electronic version of the AALS Section on Socio-Economics Newsletter (which sets forth the AALS and Georgetown programs) can be viewed and downloaded by way of the following link.

http://journaloflawandsocioeconomics.com/NL50927-15-1.pdf

Feminist Economics- Special Issue

Special Issue on Women and Wealth
Volume 12, Issue 1&2 £15/US$25
Guest Edited by Carmen Deere and Cheryl R. Doss

This special issue examines asset gaps and the distribution of wealth by gender around the world. Contributors employ a broad range of methods to explore how wealth ownership affects household decisions and women’s well being. For further information please visit: http://www.tanf.co.uk/journals//pdf/spissue/rfec_06.pdf

Quote code XF04701W when ordering.

Routledge is pleased to offer the Special Issue of Feminist Economics - Women and Wealth, at the special issue rate of £15/US$25 (subject to availability). You may order this issue by filling in the form below and clicking on the submit button (we will then send you a pro-forma invoice). Alternatively, complete and print this form and send it to: Nicky McArthur, Routledge, Taylor & Francis, 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, OX14 4RN, UK, Fax: +44 (0)207 017 6713

Analyse & Kritik 27 (1), 2005 on Ernst Fehr and Human Altruism
Editors: Mark Peacock & Michael Schefczyk

Contents:
Mark Peacock & Michael Schefczyk - "Editorial", pp. 1-5
Ernst Fehr & Urs Fischbacher - "Human Altruism - Proximate patterns", pp. 6-47
Herbert Gintis - "Neoclassical Economics Meets Behavioral Game Theory", pp. 48-72
Ernst Fehr & Urs Fischbacher - "Altruists with Green Beards", pp. 73-84
Robert Frank - "Altruists with Green Beards: Still Kicking?", pp. 85-96
Christopher Stephens "Strong Reciprocity and the Comparative Method", pp. 97-105
Jason Alexander - "The Evolutionary Foundatons of Strong Reciprocity", pp. 106-112
Terry Burnham & Dominic Johnson - "The Biological and Evolutionary Logic of Human Cooperation", pp. 113-135
Alexander Rosenberg & Stephan Linquist - "On the Original Contract: Evolutionary Game Theory and Human Evolution", pp. 136-157
Anton Leist - "Social Relations instead of Altrusitic Punishment", pp. 158-171
Hans Bernhard Schmid - "'Nostrism': Social Identities in Experimental Games", pp. 172-187
Mark Peacock, Michael Schefczyk and Peter Schaber - "The Indispensability of Motives: Thoughts on Ernst Fehr and Altruism", pp.- 188-196
Jon Elster - "Fehr on Altruism, Emotions and Norms", pp. 197-210.

In a subsequent issue of Analyse & Kritik, Ernst Fehr will reply to his critics.

Journal of Institutional Economics (JOIE)

The December 2005 issue of the Journal of Institutional Economics (JOIE) (published by Cambridge University Press) has appeared. See
http://journals.cambridge.org/jid_JOI

The European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy (EAEPE) has decided that its paid up members will receive the 2006 as well as the 2005 issues of JOIE as part of their membership entitlements. See
www.eaepe.org

Joining EAEPE is a good way for individuals to subscribe to JOIE. To join EAEPE please email Annette Bartels abartels@fbk.eur.nl

Please also ensure that your library subscribes to JOIE. For subscriptions please email subscriptions_newyork@cambridge.org (North America)
journals@cambridge.org (rest of the world)

In 2006, JOIE will appear in April, August and December.

JOIE is devoted to the study of the nature, role and evolution of institutions in the economy, including firms, states, markets, money, households and other vital institutions and organizations. It welcomes contributions by all schools of thought that can contribute to our understanding of the features, development and functions of real world economic institutions and organizations.

Submission should be made by email and electronic attachment to the JOIE Editor-in-Chief g.m.hodgson@herts.ac.uk

Notes For Contributors
All articles must be in English. They may be submitted by electronic means only, in a single file. MSWord, WordPerfect and pdf files are acceptable, up to a maximum size of 500kb.

There must be no indication of the personal identity or institution of any author of the article within the article itself, or in the ‘properties’ of the electronic file. Normally, articles (including footnotes and references) must be no longer than 9,000 words. In special cases, such as an extended review or survey article, this limit may be extended to 12,000 words. A declaration of the total word count (including footnotes and references) must accompany or be within the article.

Papers with some formal content will be considered if it is fully explained for a general readership, the mathematics is consigned as much as possible to appendices, the assumptions have sufficient grounding in reality, and the paper enhances our understanding of past, present, or feasible socio-economic institutions. JOIE is not interested in the advancement of formal or econometric technique for their own sake.

The front page of the electronic file of the article should include the following information: the title; an abstract of the article of up to 150 words; the Journal of Economic Literature classification codes for the article (consisting of a single letter followed by two numeric digits, see www.aeaweb.org/journal/jel_class_system.html ); and up to six key words or short phrases.

Footnotes should be kept to a minimum and the Harvard referencing system should be used.

Submissions should be accompanied, in the email text or in a separate file, with the following details: the name(s) of the author(s); the email address of the corresponding author; and the institutional affiliation(s) of the author(s).

Submission of a paper will be held to imply that it contains original unpublished work and is not being submitted for publication elsewhere.

George E. Economakis , ‘Definition of the Capitalist Mode of Production: A Re-examination’, pp. 12-28

Peter Groenewegen, ‘A Book that Never Was: Marshall’s Final Volume on Progress and his System of Ethical and Political Beliefs’, pp. 29-44.

Marc Lavoie, ‘René Roy, the Separability and Subordination of Needs, and Post Keynesian Consumer Theory’, pp. 45-9.

René Roy, ‘The Hierarchy of Needs and the Concept of Groups in Consumer Choice Theory [1943]’, pp. 50-6.

Gregory Moore, ‘”Masters of Theory” and its Relevance to the History of Economic Thought’, pp. 77-99.

Michael C. Howard , ‘Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism’, pp. 100-3.

December 2005

In this issue:
1. New book on inequality features UFE voices

2. Picketing Wells Fargo's Grinch-like actions with ACORN

3. $10 million bash thrown by UFE's featured war profiteer

4. Action alert to rein in CEO pay

5. New bankruptcy law: moral bankruptcy

6. Have you made your end-of-year gift to UFE?

New book on inequality features UFE voices
Inequality Matters:The Growing Economic Divide in America and Its Poisonous Consequences (New Press, 2006) is now available for online purchase. The book features UFE's Meizhu Lui and Betsy Leondar-Wright, as well as Bill Moyers, Barbara Ehrenreich, and 20 other speakers at the June 2004 national conference sponsored by UFE and Demos.

Picketing Wells Fargo's Grinch-like loans with ACORN
Two Responsible Wealth members spoke at a picket outside Wells Fargo's San Francisco headquarters on December 14 to protest the racial disparities exacerbated by the company's predatory lending abuses and short-term, high cost "payday" loans.

Members of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) who have actually been ripped off by Wells Fargo's loans spoke as well. ACORN staged a street performance in which the "CEO," dressed as the Grinch, drove the "Wells Fargo wagon," stole gifts from low-income homes and deposited them at the bank's front door. Passersby were handed a very creative flyer.

Barry Hermanson, a Wells Fargo customer, and Theo Ferguson, a shareholder who spoke at the bank's annual meeting last year, both urged Wells Fargo to enact reforms similar to those made by other leading lenders. UFE has been involved in six months of negotiations with Wells Fargo that resulted in some reforms, but which left other unfair practices unfixed and didn't compensate borrowers ripped off by past loans with excessive fees and deceptive clauses.

Responsible Wealth members have filed a shareholder resolution for 2006 that calls on the company to investigate racial disparities in the cost of their loans.

$10 million bash thrown by war profiteer featured by UFE
David H. Brooks, profiled in UFE's report Executive Excess 2005, took home over $180 million in pay and stock sales from selling bullet-proof vests for the Iraq war, some of them recalled by the Marines for not stopping bullets well enough. We couldn't help but wonder what he did with all that money.

Now we know. His $10 million party for his daughter made gossip columns because it included performances by members of Aerosmith, Kenny G, 50 Cent and other stars.

More outrageous details can be found on UFE's website.

New bankruptcy law: moral bankruptcy
The new bankruptcy law, which went into effect October 17, makes it harder for families suffering from economic hardships to write off their debt, most of which is incurred after job loss, divorce and medical crises. Importantly, it is also likely to widen the racial divide. Read more about what "compassionate conservatism" really means and on how debt has been used historically to block people of color from gaining assets.

Action alert to rein in CEO pay
Over the last seven years United for a Fair Economy and Responsible Wealth members have filed more than 65 shareholder proposals on executive pay. While we have succeeded in raising awareness of this issue, excessive executive pay continues to be a problem, in part because shareholders have little control over it.

That may be changing. Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank recently introduced legislation requiring companies to increase their disclosure of executive pay and perks.

In addition, the legislation would give shareholders a greater role in approving compensation plans, golden parachutes that create huge windfalls for executives when companies merge, and executive severance packages.

Congressman Frank's bill would go a long way toward strengthening shareholder influence over executive pay. Corporate boards continue to be packed with current and retired CEOs, the very people who benefit from the out-of-control CEO pay system. Two years ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission sought to open the director nominating process to greater shareholder participation. But despite a record number of public comments, more than 90% in support of the changes, big business lobbyists have successfully blocked the measure. Congressman Frank's bill would replicate the British system, in which shareholders must approve executive pay packages. Though British shareholders have only once voted down a CEO's pay, the prospect that they could has kept executive pay more under control than in the United States.

Contact your Congressperson (Congressional switchboard: 202-224-3121) and ask them to sign on as a co-sponsor of HR4291, Congressman Frank's bill to improve CEO pay disclosures.

Have you made your end of year gift to UFE?
UFE members are our single most important source of contributions. Please don't let the year go by without renewing your membership and making a donation to United for a Fair Economy or Responsible Wealth today. Log on to our secure site to donate .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can become a member of United for a Fair Economy anytime through our secure website.

Find out if there is a workshop near you.

Earthscan Development Studies

----CONTENTS----

(1) NEW BOOK
* State of the World 2006 - Save 10%

(2) IIED's NEW WEBSITE
* IIED's website has a 'new look' and publications database http://www.iied.org/

***********************************************************
JUST PUBLISHED
***********************************************************
State of the World 2006: CHINA, INDIA AND THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD

Worldwatch Institute

RRP £14.99
Discount price £13.49

Long established as the most authoritative and accessible annual guide to our progress towards a sustainable future, State of the World is relied upon by national governments, UN agencies, development workers and law-makers for its authoritative and up-to-the-minute analysis and information. It is essential for anyone concerned with building a positive, global future.

The Worldwatch Institute in Washington DC is one of the world's leading research centres for environmentally sustainable development.

What people have said about the book:

'The environmentalist's bible'
Times Higher Education Supplement

'Essential reading'
The Good Book Guide

AIDS and the Ecology of Poverty by Eileen Stillwaggon

(Oxford University Press, 0195169271, hardback, 272 pages, $35.00
Why does AIDS policy ignore much of what is known about epidemics and why they spread? HIV/AIDS flourishes where people are dying of myriad other diseases that are almost unknown among affluent populations. AIDS and the Ecology of Poverty draws on conventional epidemiology, which recognizes that people who are malnourished, burdened with parasites and infectious diseases, and who lack access to medical care are vulnerable to other diseases, regardless of whether they are transmitted by air, water, food, or sexual contact. HIV/AIDS is no exception. This book delivers a telling critique of the behavioral explanation of epidemic AIDS and the stereotypes that lie beneath it. It also shows how the methodologies applied in recent epidemiology and health economics are based on a one-risk-fits-all model that ignores the greater vulnerability of poor people and gives rise to policies that are narrow, shortsighted, and dead-end.

Eileen Stillwaggon combines the insights of economics and biology to explain the epidemic spread of HIV/AIDS in poor populations in developing and transition countries. Drawing on a wealth of scientific evidence, the author demonstrates that the HIV/AIDS epidemic cannot be stopped in isolation. She offers pragmatic solutions to economic, social, and health problems that beset poor populations and contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS. The message of this book is optimistic because the solutions to almost all of the co-factor conditions and infections that promote HIV are already known, and the institutions that make those solutions available to poor people already exist.
Features
Interdisciplinary approach integrates economic analysis with biological information to explain the causes of the AIDS epidemic
Only work to show that poverty directly increases vulnerability to HIV transmission through malnutrition and parasite infection
Explains the differential spread of HIV in different world regions
Controversial: criticizes the behavioral assumptions of global AIDS policy, most of the organizations that carry it out, and the philosophical and empirical basis for that policy.
About the Author: Eileen Stillwaggon is Associate Professor of Economics at Gettysburg College. She was educated at Georgetown, Cambridge, and American Universities. Her research includes work in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Argentina, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Lithuania, and on the Ute Reservation in Utah.

After the End of History: The Curious Fate of American Materialism by ROBERT E. LANE

Vol. 6 in the Michigan Press Series, Evolving Values for a Capitalist World Neva R.Goodwin, Series Editor

“Robert E. Lane is one of the most prominent and distinguished critics of both the human impact of market economies and economic theory, arguing from much research that happiness is more likely to flow from companionship, enjoyment of work, contribution to society, and the opportunity to develop as a person, than from the pursuit of wealth and the accumulation of material goods in market economies. This latest work playfully personalizes the contrast through a dialogue between a humanistic social scientist, Dessi, and a market economist, Adam. It is all too rare to have the two sides talking to each other. Moreover, in Lane’s witty and literate hands, it is an open-minded and balanced conversation, in which neither side has all the answers.” (David O Sears, Professor of Psychology and Political Science, UCLA)

“There is no one who has read more widely or thought more deeply about the human condition in modern times than Robert Lane. In this book he makes his discoveries available in a delightful form to readers inside and outside of academia. It is the sort of book that is bread and music to a bright and eager mind – and that the friends and relatives of such people will discover joyfully as the ideal Christmas gift.” (From the Forward by Neva Goodwin, economist and co-director of the Global Development And Environment Institute, Tufts Univer sity)

Robert Lane’s previous publications include The Market Experience (1991) and The Loss of Happiness in Market Democracies (2000).

Regional Monetary Policy

Carlos J. Rodriguez-Fuentes,
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0415327636
Publications date: November 2005
Extent: 304 pages

Abstract (from Routledge): With the final phase of the European Monetary Union underway concern has been raised over the regional implications of the European Central Bank's Monetary Policy. Departing from the standard approach utilised by the ECB, this book provides a comprehensive theoretical framework to explore the ways through which money and monetary policy may affect regions.

Regional Monetary Policy examines the role that the banking system and the liquidity preference of economic agents play in the transmission of central banks monetary policy decisions to regions within a country or countries within a currency union. This book utilises a unique framework built upon the basic principles of the Post-Keynesian
monetary theory which enables the identification of a new way for money and monetary policy to have a regional impact: the behavioural effect.

This book will prove essential reading for all students of economics and politics as well as readers interested in the development of the European Union.
Carlos J. Rodríguez-Fuentes is 'Profesor Titular de Universidad' in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain.

Book abstract (from Author): Regional Monetary Policy is about the regional effects of monetary policy and was partially motivated by the increasing attention that this topic is attracting in Europe over the last decade or so. In January 1999, with the establishment of the third and final stage of the European Monetary Union (EMU), some European Union (EU) countries became regions within the euro area. This fact has raised some concerns over the regional implications of the European Central Bank (ECB) monetary policy and there is accordingly an increasing number of contributions addressing this issue.

This book aims to contribute to this debate by presenting a theoretical framework that explores the ways through which money and monetary policy may affect regions. Our analysis emphasizes the role that the banking system and the liquidity preference of economic agents (including banks) play in the transmission of central banks monetary policy decisions to regions within a country, or countries within a currency union.

One peculiarity of this framework, which is built on the basic principles of the Post-Keynesian monetary theory, is that it broadens the scope of the analysis of the regional effects of monetary policy by taking into account the underlying factors determining regional credit availability: the stage of banking development and the liquidity preference of financial agents (including the banking system). The consideration of these two variables allows us to identify a new way for money and monetary policy to have a regional
impact: the behavioral effect. Our analysis specifically suggests that monetary policy affects regional credit availability through its influence on bank's and borrowers liquidity preference and that regional differences in terms of banking development and liquidity preference may produce higher instability in credit availability in less developed regions. One of the consequences of the framework presented in this book is that the proper analysis of the regional impact of monetary policy should explicitly take into account the spatial differences in terms of banking development and liquidity preference, as well as the influence that monetary policy may have on such variables (the behavioral effect), and not only the structural differences that might produce regional asymmetric responses to exogenous monetary policy shocks (the structural effect).

Are you angered by inaccurate and uncritical media coverage of the Iraq war? Then this book is for you. Written by the team behind ‘Media Lens’ (www.medialens.org) -- one of the world’s leading organisations dedicated to challenging the distorted vision of the corporate media -- this book is perfect for anyone who’s disappointed by the New York Times, the Guardian, the BBC, and their supposedly ‘liberal’ agenda. With a foreword by John Pilger, packed with interviews and correspondence with leading journalists, this is required reading for anyone who wants to know more about the systematic inability of our most respected media to bring us the truth.

‘Regular critical analysis of the media has never been more important. Media Lens has performed a major public service by carrying out this service with energy, insight and care.’ Noam Chomsky

Who are the greatest reporters ever? David Randall of the Independent on Sunday offers his own personal selection of the world’s best journalists – past and present – and the amazing stories that they brought to light. A heart-warming and inspiring account that has just been voted the London Press Club media book of the year.

‘Entertaining, amusing, even inspirational. Above all, what every good reporter aims to deliver, a great read.’

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry under Lord Saville is the longest legal proceedings in British or Irish history. Saville is due to conclude his report in the New Year. Its repercussions may go to the heart of government.

This is the story of how the inquiry came about, and the hopes and suspicions that surround it, told by survivors and relatives of those who died. The interviews have been conducted by Eamonn McCann, a journalist and activist, who took part in the 1972 march and now chairs the Bloody Sunday Trust. It is the only on-the-record account of the long fight for justice told by those most intimately involved.

This new edition of Yoel Cohen’s acclaimed account of the Vanunu affair offers a timely assessment of the world-famous whistleblower and the questions he’s brought to light. The author interviewed Vanunu since his release. The book provides a devastating analysis of the problems that nuclear secrecy raises in any democracy at a time when nuclear proliferation is high on many government agendas.

* With Noam Chomsky * Angela Davis * Scott Ritter * Pete Seeger * Gore Vidal * Edmund White * Howard Zinn * Survivors of 9/11 * and many others

The documentary film ‘XXI Century’ explores American reactions to recent global events, captured in interviews and at political rallies. This book accompanies the film. Including interviews with some of America’s leading thinkers and activists, it’s a passionate rallying cry for change that covers a diverse range of topics from Iraq to human rights, the growing peace movement, and the inadequacies of the media. Full of hope for the future, this is a book that should appeal to progressives everywhere.

Edited by Sam Gregory, Gillian Caldwell, Ronit Avni and Thomas Harding with WITNESS

The ultimate guide to how to use video to create social and political change. Put together by members of WITNESS, the world’s leading video advocacy campaign group, this shows you how to make, edit and distribute your film, with examples of successful campaigns worldwide. Anyone can become a documentary film-maker – the information is here at your fingertips!

New Political Economy
Series Editor: Richard McIntyre, University of Rhode Island

Routledge is currently seeking manuscripts for its distinguished monograph series, New Political Economy. Manuscripts can be theoretical, empirical, or both. They also may be focused on a particular history or history of thought. We are particularly interested in innovative work in Marxian Political Economy but are open to any original attempt to explore some question or issue in the broadly conceived field of political economy. The general series editor is Richard McIntyre, Professor of Economics at the University of Rhode Island. He conducts a review of each manuscript for possible inclusion in the series.

Recent titles in the series include:

Political Economy from Below: Economic Thought in Communitarian Anarchism, 1840-1914
Rob Knowles

Structuralism and Individualism in Economic Analysis: The "Contractionary Devaluation Debate" in Development Economics
S. Charusheela

Encoding Capital: The Political Economy of the Human Genome Project
Rodney Loeppky

Miracle for Whom? Chilean Workers Under Free Trade
Janine Berg

Market Sense: Toward a New Economics of Markets and Society
Philip Kozel

We print our books on 250-year-life acid-free paper with hard cover/library standard bindings. Our worldwide market is composed primarily of research and university libraries to which we sell between 250 and 450 copies of each text. Books in our series are published in hardcover and as attractively as possible for the library market. We do not provide individually illustrated covers (there is one standard series cover) or copyediting for the books, although they are typeset and proofread. Authors receive a royalty of 4% on net sales of the book and a predetermined number of free copies (usually 5) for personal use.

Interested authors are invited to contact the Routledge editor below and to submit an abstract and CV to his attention.

Heterodox Associations, Institutes, and Departments

Short Report on the Economic Departments Ranking Issue in Germany

We traditionally had departments' rankings along the same lines, with a small group of four or five departments being always on top of the line for many years. These were faculties publishing highly formalized, neoclassical equilibrium-style material in the 8, 20 or 30 top mainstream journals (the EEA used to rely on the top-8 selection!).

Notably, the quasi-official German Bertelsmann Corporation subsidiary CHE (Center for University Development), a quasi-privatization of university policies in the German states and responsible for the official rankings in Germany, has changed its ranking procedure four years ago to take in publications listed in the three major literature files in Germany. The rankings in the area ‘research & publications’ now include low and non-ranked journals, practical transfer oriented articles, grey papers etc.

The CHE's cirticism of the traditional method was its inherent bias in favor of a mini-group continuously reproducing itself. Obviously, a criticism against mainstream economics shared by major interests among the top corporations!

What happened after they had reconfigured their ranking methods was surprising: some of the younger, smaller and even largely heterodox faculties such as Bremen ranked at the top now. Of course, there have been immediate and major attacks against this result and underlying method from the top mainstream advocates with discussions in the German Economic Review.

But CHE has stuck to its new method so far. As a compromise it offers both methods now, the traditional one with a journal base of 30 top-ranked journals, and the broader, practical and transfer-oriented publications data base. While the first continues to confirm the four top mainstream departments, the new broader based ranking sees the major German heterodox faculty, Bremen, at rank two (!!!) for four years in a row now (the latest ranking with Bremen at no. 2 just came out in December 2005.)

Bremen is careful not to overstress the results but to take this as a support to put the traditional ranking methods into question, querying its self-reproducing effect for a tiny group of alleged flagships of the discipline.

A nice discussion is currently going on now with the traditional "underdog" Bremen continuously at no. 2 of a ranking. It will be interesting to see whether the CHE will drop their new method.

Prof. Wolfram Elsner
University of Bremen
Faculty of Economics and Business Studies
Department of Economics
Industrial and Regional Research
and Economic Policy Group
iiso - Institute for Institutional and Social-Economics
Hochschulring 4
D-28359 Bremen/Germany
Fon ++49/421/218-7535
Fax ++49/421/218-4974

Bob Hughes
I would welcome thoughts on my paper "From Useful Idiocy to Activism - towards a Marxist interpretation of computer development": http://www.dustormagic.net/Idiocy.html ... or the official pdf version:
http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1094562.1094588

This was a first and quite hurried attempt to pull together a lot of threads. I want to start major work on this in the coming year, events permitting, so this would be a very good time to have your feedback.

Dr C.L. Richardson

Dear All,
I'm creating a group email address list of everyone who <might> be interested in following my Tayside Economy Simulation Model research project as it progresses.
This post-Keynesian TESM Project was dead in the water for want of resources but now, thankfully, it has been resurrected.
I've taken a scattergun approach to building the group email address list, so not all of you will be interested. If you'd like your name removed, please let me know by simply
hitting "Reply" and sending me a blank email. Although the eventual Sectors Module will integrate the micro- and macro-economic equations and identities, I've been advised to start with a small macro model of the Tayside regional economy.
You'll find my first stab at this task in the five-page attached MS-Word file, together with more information on the TESM Project. Comments and criticisms would be gratefully received. All will be carefully considered and replied to.
Kindest regards,
Colin
Dr C.L. Richardson
Scottish Economic Research
Room 2010, Old College
University of Abertay
Bell Street
DUNDEE DD1 1HG
Tel (01382) 308-706
Fax (01382) 308-400

Paolo Sylos Labini

Dear friends,
I am writing to give you the sad news that Paolo Sylos Labini passed away yesterday in Rome, after a short illness.
I am sure you remember him as a great economist, a fighter of many causes and a kind and generous person.
With kind regards,
Cristina
Prof. Maria Cristina Marcuzzo
Direttore del Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche

Paolo Sylos Labini: un economista eretico?
La notizia della morte di Paolo Sylos Labini non può che rattristare tutti coloro che ne apprezzavano le capacità teoriche, scientifiche, espositive e la grandissima verve polemica, negli ultimi anni rivolta particolarmente contro Berlusconi (si veda ad esempio l'interessante e per certi aspetti divertente, "Un paese a civiltà limitata", libro-intervista pubblicato nel 2001 per i tipi di Laterza).
Del resto sono ancora oggi molto importanti i suoi studi sulle tendenze oligopolistiche del capitalismo, sui rapporti tra sviluppo e progresso tecnico, sui ceti medi; volumi ricchi di osservazioni interessanti e di senso storico e sociologico. Si può ritenere che Sylos Labini sia stato dopo Pareto il primo economista italiano a occuparsi seriamente dell' evoluzione delle classi medie.
Quel che però non convince, e basta dare un'occhiata ai "coccodrilli" apparsi ieri sui giornali, è la pretesa di considerarlo un eretico. Su questo giudizio non si può essere d'accordo. Perché?
In primo luogo, Sylos Labini fu allievo negli Stati Uniti di Schumpeter, grande e tragico profeta (ma anche apologeta) del capitalismo. Un'esperienza che lasciò su di lui segni indelebili. Infatti, fin dai primi suoi lavori (cfr. la voce "investimenti", nel "Dizionario di economia" a cura di Napoleoni - 1956, pp. 765-793), Sylos Labini, sulla scia di Schumpeter, non si è mai stancato di ripetere che il capitalismo, pur con le sue manchevolezze (burocratizzazioni, oligopoli, rendite parassitarie) resta sempre il migliore dei mondi possibili: l'unico scenario economico capace di favorire gli investimenti e dunque di promuovere lo sviluppo umano nella democrazia.
In secondo luogo, anche l'importanza che nella sua opera ha assunto l'innovazione teconologica "creatrice" in rapporto allo sviluppo non solo sociale ma produttivo, testimonia quanto l'interpretazione schumpeteriana del capitalismo, come forza creatrice e distruttrice al tempo stesso, abbia pesato sullo sviluppo del suo pensiero.
In terzo luogo, il problema dell' innovazione resta in lui legato, come del resto anche in Schumpeter, a quello della funzione imprenditoriale. Di qui la sua critica alle forme di imprenditoria semipubblica, parassitarie e nemiche delle regole di mercato, che secondo l'economista italiano, sono splendidamente illustrate, e per sempre racchiuse, nella "Ricchezza delle Nazioni" di Adam Smith.
In quarto luogo, il rapporto Sylos Labini-Marx è piuttosto controverso. L'economista italiano ne sempre ammirato più la sociologia che l'economia (il collegamento tra economia capitalista e classi sociali), ma di Marx non ha mai condiviso due tesi: quella sulla caduta del saggio di profitto e quella sull' impoverimento bipolare delle classi sociali.
Ora, proprio per queste ragioni (sostanzialmente: il muoversi teoricamente all'interno della visione schumpeteriana del capitalismo), Paolo Sylos Labini non può essere considerato un eretico. O comunque non nel senso che oggi viene dato a questo termine. Detto in breve Sylos Labini è per la "crescita" e non per la "decrescita". Tutta la sua opera è un elogio dell' innovazione produttiva e dello sviluppo economico indefinto, come solo strumento per redistribuire la ricchezza.
Questo spiega, ma è solo una curiosità, perché la bibbia dell'economia eterodossa il "Biographical Dictionary of Dissenting Economists" (Elgar 1992, 2000 www.e-elgar.com) non gli abbia dedicato alcuna voce.
Dispiace ma è così.

By Carlo Gambescia

On behalf of ESHET, I send an obituary of Paolo Sylos Labini, elected as Honorary Member of the society. Daniele Besomi

Paolo Sylos Labini passed away on December 7th, 2005, aged 85. Emeritus Professor at the University La Sapienza (Rome) and one of the most eminent economists in the world, he was known for his seminal theory of oligopoly and many other contributions. His book Oligopolio e progresso tecnico (1956) is a milestone in the history of economics. He has left us many important studies about economic development and its determinants, nearly all of them translated into English. His last book, published a few months ago, goes back to his preferred theme of development and technical progress and to his preferred approach: the history of economics as a way to understand present problems. Its title is: Torniamo ai classici. Produttivite del lavoro, progresso tecnico e sviluppo economico, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2005 (Let's go back to the Classics. Labour productivity, technical progress and economic development).

After graduation, Sylos Labini studied at Harvard, with Joseph Schumpeter, and in Cambridge (UK); he was member of some of the most prestigious academies and scientific associations, in Italy (among which the Accademia dei Lincei ) and in the world (among which the American Economic Association). He also was awarded many prestigious scientific prizes, and was repeatedly called to advise the Italian government and other policy institutions.

At the last ESHET Conference, in Stirling, the Council awarded him the title of Honorary Member, with the following motivation:"Sylos Labini is an eminent scholar of economics always interested in the history of economics. His studies on oligopolistic markets, on development and underdevelopment, and on social classes cannot be really detached from his interests in the Classical school, in the value theory, in the economics of underdevelopment and especially in Adam Smithï¿½s thought. Beside giving us a deep insight in these problems, Sylos Labini has thought us a scientific approach free from ideologies, independent but also socially engaged."

When I officially informed him of the award, his reaction was:"I am really pleased about this title of Honorary Member of ESHET. Please convey to the Council and the Executive Committee my feelings of real happiness. It will be a great pleasure for me to attend the Dinner in Porto, provided that I am still around!" (my translation from Italian).
Probably he felt his end near, but hinted at it with much sobriety. He was disenchanted with human nature and social injustice, and nevertheless passionately fought for social development and justice at a scientific and a civic level. In times dominated by ideologies, even in economics, he stood for an empirical approach, looking for rational ways to promote economic development and defending the often neglected role of technical progress. He did not like grand theories about human nature. He preferred to "measure" factors of production and cultural attitudes, without losing sight of the social and moral values. This is how he repeatedly approached issues like social classes in Italy, underdevelopment, industrial relations and the development of Southern Italy.

The language of his research was simple and straightforward; the concepts were neat and clear, free from any rhetoric. Thanks to his disinterested commitment to science and to society, Paolo Sylos Labini was exceptionally able to stir human sympathy. His life is a remarkable example of how scientific engagement and civic commitment can be combined without prejudicing their reciprocal independence.

Cosimo Perrotta

Joel Baxter Dirlam

On December 1, 2005 Joel Baxter Dirlam died. For those of you who know your heterodox pricing theory, Dirlam was one of the authors of the well-known Kaplan, Dirlam, and Lanzillotti, Pricing in Big Business: A Case Approach (1958). Although dated a bit, the book is still cited by those few heterodox economists that work in the area of pricing/micro theory.

Harry Magdoff, 1913-2006

Harry Magdoff, co-editor of Monthly Review since 1969 and one of the world's leading political economists, died on New Year's Day, 2006 at his home in Vermont. He kept the journal to the socialist principles and theoretical and pedagogical standards of its late founders, Paul M. Sweezy, who died in February 2004, and Leo Huberman.

A capsule biography from MR, May 1999, by Christopher Phelps:

The twentieth anniversary issue of Monthly Review in May 1969 carried the announcement that Harry Magdoff - the independent economist - had officially joined Paul Sweezy as co-editor, replacing Leo Huberman, who had died in 1968.

Born in 1913 in the Bronx, son of a house painter, Magdoff attended the City College of New York where he became a member of the Social Problems Club and editor of Frontiers, the club's monthly periodical. In 1932, he traveled to Chicago to attend the founding conventions of the National Students League and the Youth League Against War and Fascism.

On that trip, he married fellow New York student Beatrice Greizer (familiarly known as Beadie, to whom he has been married ever since). He was editor of the NSL's national publication Student Review in 1932-1933.
After being expelled from City College for his activism, he attended New York University, receiving a B.S. in economics in 1936.

He accepted a position in Philadelphia with the Works Progress Administration's national research project, for which he conducted studies of the labor force, unemployment, industrial capacity, and productivity. In 1940, he moved to Washington, D.C., to take charge of the civilian requirements division of the National Defense Advisory Commission.

After U.S. entry into the Second World War in 1941, he served with the War Production Board. Near the end of the war, he was the chief economist in charge of the Current Business Analysis Division at the Department of Commerce, where he oversaw the Survey of Current Business. He spent his final years in government as special assistant to Secretary of Commerce Henry Wallace.

In 1948, he was summoned before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Unemployed, he returned to New York, where he took various jobs, sometimes anonymously, in financial analysis and insurance before joining the staff of Russell & Russell, a publisher of scholarly out-of- print books, between 1959 and 1965.

Magdoff returned to the fore as a public Marxist intellectual with "Problems of United States Capitalism," an essay in The Socialist Register 1965, edited by Ralph Miliband and John Saville (London:
Merlin Press). Widely recognized for his economic analysis of imperialism, Magdoff is author of The Age of Imperialism (1969) and Imperialism: From the Colonial Age to the Present (1977), and co-author with Paul Sweezy of The Dynamics of U.S. Capitalism (1970), The End of Prosperity (1977), The Deepening Crisis of U.S. Capitalism (1980), Stagnation and the Financial Explosion (1987), and The Irreversible Crisis (1988), all from Monthly Review Press.

Rudolf Meidner, 1914 - 2005: A Visonary Pragmatist

By ROBIN BLACKBURN

Rudolf Meidner, chief economist of the LO, Sweden's largest trade union federation, and an immensely practical socialist visionary, died in December. If Meidner had not been a Swedish citizen, and still a controversial figure at the age of 91, he would very likely have been awarded the Nobel Prize for economics. Meidner was, after all, the co-architect -- with Gosta Rehn -- of the Swedish welfare state, an achievement which, by itself, would have merited such a nomination.
Those responsible for this prize tend to prefer theory to policy but it should be clear to everyone that the Rehn/Meidner model was based on its own distinctive theoretical insights and that policy-oriented economics is anyway deserving of recognition.

Building on Keynes and James Meade, the two men understood that welfare and corporate finance needed to be thought through together if high employment levels were to be maintained and inflation avoided.
Remarkably enough, their model did for long succeed in delivering on both fronts -- something which, sadly, cannot be said about other European welfare states, where monetary stability was achieved at the expense of a long and debilitating toleration of high levels of unemployment, with younger workers, older workers and ethnic minorities the worst affected.

From the time of the introduction of the second pension system, the ATP, in 1959 the 'Swedish home' could accumulate a trust fund so that in future asset income as well as current taxes could be drawn on to pay ATP entitlements. Continental European pension systems were more purely reliant on pay-as-you-go. The famous wage-bargaining round was another device which Rehn and Meidner integrated into their model, helping it to avoid the twin perils of hyperinflation and persistent, high joblessness. Meidner's position as the chief economist of the LO, the main trade union federation, must have been important in promoting a species of solidaristic wage-bargaining in which the fruits of productivity advances were widely shared. In recent years the Netherlands has had good results with a similar approach.

Another crucial mechanism for maintaining macro-economic balance in the Rehn/Meidner model was the investment reserve. Whereas Anglo-Saxon companies are encouraged to take 'contribution holidays' -- and put nothing into their pension and health-care funds during upswings of the business cycle -- Swedish corporations were encouraged to stow operating profits in special tax-exempt reserves. More generally the Swedish welfare state guaranteed secondary pensions and health care to all citizens, instead of offering private corporations tax incentives to take on the task of supplying social insurance to their own workers. The latter formula -- Anglo-Saxon style corporate welfare -- has proved to be a trap for employees, depriving them of their promised benefits and threatening their jobs as once-famous companies plunge into bankruptcy and entire industries -- steel, airlines, auto and telecoms -- are ravaged by the burden of pension and health entitlements. The corporate pensions crunch destroys good jobs and their replacement by low-wage, insecure service employment -- MacJobs-- is scant compensation.

I am aware that Sweden's welfare state and social market economy faced its own near-collapse in the early 1990s and that the Rehn/Meidner model did not emerge unscathed. This crisis was deemed to reflect badly on the model though both Rehn and Meidner had stepped down long before, and their advice had anyway not been heeded. Looking back over three or four decades, there remains something very distinctive about the Swedish achievement, something which owes much to the original model. Swedish welfare remains comparatively generous and Swedish unemployment only a little over a half of the core EU rate. Swedish parents have access to better child-care, and Swedish women have better-paying and more flexible jobs than are to be found in other advanced countries.

Meidner's achievement goes beyond his role, important as that was, in helping to set up the 'Swedish home'. He saw that an ageing and learning society would require social expenditure on a scale unprecedented in peacetime (one could easily add such challenges as ecological degradation and climate change). Meidner came to believe in the need to establish strategic social funds -- 'wage-earner funds' - to be financed by a share levy. The huge controversy which was provoked by this proposal generated more heat than light.

The Social Democratic party leadership did not share Meidner's vision and did a poor job of presenting it to the Swedish people. Meidner's plan was very radical and they were not. With hindsight there were aspects of the plan that needed adjustment but those made by the SAPD went in the wrong direction. Having, as they saw it, burnt their fingers, the Social Democratic leaders began to see Meidner as an embarrassment, or as a relic of a by-gone age. He was consigned to the shadows and no part of his thinking was more disdained than the 'wage-earner funds'.

Yet financing pensions, research and education becomes increasingly difficult throughout the OECD countries. Does it really make sense to pay for public programmes only out of current tax revenues and not to pre-fund them, or to introduce even the most modest tax on shareholding wealth. It is a striking fact that while most governments are happy to tax the homes people live in, they all refuse to have any direct levy on share-holding wealth or to allow -- as Meidner boldly imagined -- social funds to exercise control over the large corporations.

Increasingly, it seems, we live in a society like the French Ancièn Regime before 1789. Then the wealth of the feudal aristocracy was largely exempt from tax; now it is the holdings of the corporate millionaires and billionaires that escape taxation. Other signs reminiscent of the age of Louis XVI include the spirit of 'après nous le deluge', the reliance on lotteries, and the emergence of modern variants of 'tax farming' -- for example, laws which oblige citizens to pay their taxes (pension contributions) to commercial fund managers rather than to an accountable public body. But the taboo on effective taxation of corporate wealth is the most crucial sign of the reign of privilege.

Rudolf Meidner's share levy, unlike so many modern taxes, was extraordinarily difficult to evade. On the other hand it was not at all punitive. Unlike traditional corporate taxation, it did not subtract from the cash-flow or resources which the enterprise needed for investment. It diluted shareholder wealth without weakening the corporation as a productive concern. According to the original plan every company with more than fifty employees was obliged to issue new shares every year equivalent to 20 per cent of its profits. The newly issued shares -- which could not be sold -- were to be given to the network of 'wage earner funds', representing workplaces and local authorities. The latter would hold the shares, and reinvest the income they yielded from dividends, in order to finance future social expenditure. As the wage earner funds grew they would be able to play an increasing part in directing policy in the corporations which they owned.

The idea that workers ands citizens should tame the corporations by establishing control of financial instruments was an echo of ideas that Meidner imbibed in his youth from the debates of German and Austrian Marxian economists like Rudolf Hilferding and Karl Polanyi.
For Meidner was not born in Sweden but arrived there as a refugee in 1938.

Meidner's visionary scheme was warmly welcomed by many trade unions and by members of the Social Democratic party but strongly opposed by the press and by the '20 families' who then dominated the country's large corporations. It was adopted by the LO in 1976 and, much more cautiously, by the Social Democrats a couple of years later.
Opponents of the scheme, claimed that it would aggrandize the trade unions who would dominate the 'wage-earner funds'. It was also alleged that the scheme unfairly favoured employees in the private sector since they were to be the first to receive shares from the levy. Scare campaigns persuaded the governing Social Democratic not simply to reduce the size of the levy -- 10 per cent of profits would have been a perfectly good starting point -- but to abandon the principle of the levy itself. Likewise they did not improve the funds' accountability but instead prevented them from having any say in corporate policy. By
1992 even the scaled-down social funds owned 7 per cent of the Swedish stock market but, to prevent them getting any larger, were wound up by the Conservatives in 1992 and the proceeds used to finance a string of scientific research institutes. So Meidner's plan has yet to be properly tried, though even in its diluted form the social funds helped to propel Sweden to the forefront of the knowledge-based economy.

Rudolph Meidner, as a radical social democrat, an egalitarian and an organic intellectual of the labour movement was committed to a 'third way' that was actually the antithesis of the doctrine of that name subsequently espoused by Tony Blair. Were Blair is vague and rhetorical, Meidner was precise and institutionally specific. Where Blair encourages the privatization and commodification of everything, Meidner was dedicated to the 'de-commodification' of welfare, education and research. And his proposal for a network of regional funds broke with the traditional socialist practice of concentrating more power in the central state.

It is now a long time since governments of the Left have dared to tried to tame the corporations and ask whether the owners of the large corporations might be obliged to contribute more to the wider society, without which their own profits would be impossible. The most far-sighted attempt to think through the types of new finance that would be needed to guarantee generous social provision remains that of Rudolf Meidner and this will be his legacy to the 21st century.

Robin Blackburn is Visiting Distinguished Professor at the New School for Social Resaerch in New York and professor of sociology at the University of Essex, UK. He is the author of Banking on Death: the History and Future of Pensions

List of Scientists and Citizens Calling for a Steady State Economy Reaches 1,000

• List maintained by the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy, Arlington, VA • Signatories include renowned scientists and economists • Signatures supplemented by endorsements and professional society position statements

Arlington, VA (November 30, 2005) – The one thousandth signature was obtained today on an internet petition maintained by the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy, or “CASSE.” The CASSE petition explains what economic growth is, identifies the major threats posed by economic growth, and calls for the establishment of a steady state economy before the American and global economies exceed the capacity of the environment to support them. A steady state economy, the petition explains, is achieved when population and consumption are stabilized. Eventually, the petition states, the American government should lead other nations to develop their own steady state economies.

The signature list includes prominent scientists such as Wes Jackson, James Karr, and Reed Noss, as well as leading resource economists such as John Loomis, Tom Power, and John Ikerd. William Rees and Mathis Wackernagel, developers of the “ecological footprint” concept, have signed.
Several conservation
organization presidents and past presidents have signed as well, including Brent Blackwelder (Friends of the Earth), Rod Heitschmidt (Society for Range Management), and John Proops (International Society for Ecological Economics).
Doug LaFollette, Wisconsin Secretary of State, is one of several politicians who have signed. Herman Daly - one of the founders of ecological economics - serves on the CASSE Board of Advisors, helped craft the CASSE position, and was one of the first signatories.

Brian Czech, President of CASSE, says CASSE’s “number one goal is to educate citizens and policy makers of the fundamental conflict between economic growth and environmental protection, economic sustainability, national security and international stability.” The petition, found at www.steadystate.org, is one of CASSE’s primary educational tools.

In addition to its signature list, CASSE has a list of endorsements from conservation organizations, and works with professional natural resources societies, such as the Ecological Society of America, to develop their own positions on economic growth. According to Shannon Pederson, CASSE Public Relations Director, “natural resources professionals will have to take a stance on economic growth. Otherwise, economic policy is left entirely to economists, corporations, and politicians, all of whom seek to maximize economic growth without understanding the perils.”

Greg Buck
Director
Campaign for Sustainable Economics
Indianapolis, IN USA