Issue 48: August 27, 2007

In this issue:

Call for Papers

Second Seminar of Heterodox Microeconomics

The goal of the Second Seminary of Heterodox Microeconomics at Mexico is to be a space of microeconomics analysis from a heterodox perspective. This seminary desires to contribute to the investigation’s development, discussion and communication, between the researches community of those who are working on the field of heterodox microeconomics: the monopoly, oligopoly, industry, firm, consumer, etc., and the microeconomic foundations.
The Second Seminary of Heterodox Microeconomics will be held at the Faculty of Economics, at UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MEXICO UNAM from the 10th to the 13th of October 2007. The deadline for submission of papers is September 15th 2007.
We invite all interested professors, researches, and intellectuals to participate in this effort, through essays, articles, and research whether concluded or in process in the field of the microeconomics.
The special guest of that seminary edition is Dr. Mark Lavoie, who will present two magisterial conferences, and a lecture of heterodox microeconomics.
The central subject of the Second Seminary of Heterodox Microeconomic is:
THE MONOPOLY, THEORY AND PRACTICE
The Seminary’s committee encourages all present papers dealing with theory and practice about monopoly, oligopoly, mega corporations and multinational firms. The paper can be developing theoretical or applied issues, for example; Agro industry, mining, industry, services, banking system, telephony, etc.
The seminary will consider papers on the following fields of knowledge:
• Inflation and growth
• Definitions and general concepts of the microeconomics
• Supply Theory and praxis
• Demand Theory and praxis
• Contributions to education and learning of the microeconomics from the
perspective of the heterodox microeconomics.
Some other subject of relevance in the field of the microeconomics could be put under consideration for the committee.
In this Second Seminary, we emphasize that we are looking forward to create a space of discussion and analysis. This is the reason why the presentation of each subject will consist on a maximum of 30 minutes of presentation and 20 minutes of discussion, with the aim that the speaker will beneficiates from observations of specialists on the subject.
The documents to submit can be:
• theoretical or empirical, in process or finished
• they must consist on maximum of 30 pages, double-spaced,
• Including an abstract: of not more than 500 words to be send by email. It
will be in Spanish and English.
The participants are to submit their application by e-mail as soon as possible.
The documents presented in the seminary will be evaluated in order to publish them if it is possible in an anthology of works on heterodox microeconomics.

Send your application to:
Professor Gustavo Vargas
Faculty of Economics
UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MEXICO
vargassanchez@hotmail.com

Seventh Congress of the U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network

WHAT NEXT: FRAMING A BIG DISCUSSION FOR THE NEXT ELECTION AND BEYOND
March 7-9, 2008
Boston Park Plaza Hotel, Boston, MA

Featured Speakers:
Philippe Van Parijs
Harvard University and the Catholic University of Louvain
Sean Healy
Co-Director of the Justice Commission of the Council of the Religious of Ireland
Brigid Reynolds
Co-Director of the Justice Commission of the Council of the Religious of Ireland

The United States is in the midst of an early 2008 Presidential election season. Although the nation is focused on President George Bush’s foreign policy and the “war on terror,” the current administration has left an extensive domestic legacy as well: massive tax cuts, a controversial prescription drug plan for the elderly, educational reform through No Child Left Behind, increased work requirements for welfare recipients, more support for faith-based initiatives, and a rightward shift of the United States Supreme Court. When it comes to poverty, Bush has argued that poverty can most successfully be addressed through higher rates of marriage and increased work effort. With a change of administration coming, many hope that there will be new domestic policy initiatives as well as a change in foreign policy. Yet none of the major candidates are proposing policies that would eradicate poverty, nor ensure a safety net for future generations.
Click here for detailed information.

Forum The Spirit of Innovation III - 2008

1- "Services, Innovation and Sustainable Development" March, 26-28, 2008, Poitiers, France. Deadline: September 30, 2007
http://riien.univ-littoral.fr/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/Call_for_papers_2008.pdf

2- "Innovation Networks", May, 14-16, 2008, Tacoma, Washington, USA. Deadline: October 19, 2007
http://riien.univ-littoral.fr/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/Tacoma_Seattle_Call2008.pdf

More information on:
http://riien.univ-littoral.fr/

Global Studies Association- Seventh Annual International Conference

Nationalism and Globalization in Conflict and Transition

Pace University, New York City
June 6 – 8th 2008

The GSA is an organization with members in Canada, the U.S and Mexico.
Its purpose is to promote cross-disciplinary discussions and debates among progressive and left academics and activists. We also work to build a left presence in the developing field of globalization study programs and include students in our activities. Our previous conferences have been held at Loyola and DePaul University in Chicago, UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine, Brandeis, University of Tennessee and Windsor University.

We would like to invite URPE and its circle of friends and supporters to participate in our upcoming conference in New York.
Abstracts for presentations are now being accepted and can be addressed to Jerry Harris at gharris234@comcast.net

For further information on the
GSA you can visit our web site at: http://www.net4dem.org/mayglobal

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Conferences, Seminars and Lectures

“What’s the Economy For, Anyway?” Conference

WHEN: October 5-7, 2007

WHERE: Washington DC, U.S.A. Convention Center (part of the annual Green Festival)

What’s the economy for, anyway? Is it just about having the biggest GDP or the highest Dow Jones Average? Or is it about providing for a healthy, happy, fair and sustainable society? If you think quality of life matters, and wonder how the United States compares to other countries when it comes to providing for its people, then the WHAT’S THE ECONOMY FOR, ANYWAY? Conference is for you! Dozens of prominent experts and activists will offers parts of the answer to the big question and offer out-of-the-box ideas about what we can do to make our economy serve us instead of vice-versa. Three tracks include FINDING HAPPINESS, SEEKING JUSTICE and SECURING SUSTAINABILITY.

Nearly 100 confirmed prominent speakers, including:

Nancy Folbre, feminist economist, author of The Invisible Heart
Gar Alperovitz, author of America After Capitalism
Vicki Robin, author of Your Money or Your Life
Riane Eisler, author of The Real Wealth of Nations, The Chalice and the Blade
Juliet Schor, author of The Overworked American, Born to Buy
Dean Baker, author of The United States Since 1980
Eric Liu, former presidential speechwriter and domestic adviser for Bill Clinton
Hunter Lovins, co-author of Natural Capitalism
Ann Crittenden, author of The High Price of Motherhood
Kim Gandy, President of the National Organization for Women
John Stauber, author or Trust Us, We’re Experts, Weapons of Mass Deception
Jared Bernstein, director of The Economic Policy Institute
Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, co-author of The Motherhood Manifesto
Celinda Lake, Democratic pollster, author of What Women Really Want
Frances Moore Lappe, author of Diet for a Small Planet, Hope’s Edge
Bill Spriggs, Chairman, Economics Department, Howard University
Karen Nussbaum, AFL-CIO, former director, Women’s Bureau, US Dept. of Labor
Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy, The End of Nature
Peter Barnes, co-founder of Working Assets and author of Capitalism 3.0
Karen Kornbluh, Policy Director for Senator Obama
James Lardner, editor of Inequality Matters
Cecile Andrews, author, Slow Is Beautiful
Chuck Collins, founder, United for a Fair Economy
Julie Nelson, author Economics for Humans

Contact: John de Graaf: jodg@comcast.net  (206) 443-6747
or Laura Pacheco: laurapacheco@comcast.net  (617) 694-7998

See the full schedule and register early at: www.timeday.org/economyconference

Launch Lecture for UNCTAD

UNCTAD Trade and Development Report Regional Cooperation for Development: Wednesday 5 September 2007, 6.30-8pm
Venue: New Theatre, East Building, LSE
Speakers: Heiner Flassbeck and Professor Robert Wade

Heiner Flassbeck director of the division on globalization and development strategies of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will present the Trade and Development Report 2007, subtitled "Regional Cooperation for Development".

Event Information: http://tinyurl.com/3ey4xg

Symposium on Economics and Sustainability

Saturday September 15, 2007
9:30 AM – 4:30 PM
Holliday Park’s Nature Center
6363 Spring Mill Road, Indianapolis

Topics:
- “Indiana’s Contribution to Global Warming” by John Blair
- Peak Oil
- Local food security with Michael Simmons
- Panel discussion: politicians, candidates and policy, including Steve Bonney (independent candidate for governor of Indiana) and Jack Miller (of Indiana Alliance for Democracy and advocate for campaign finance reform).
- Socially Responsible Investing with Bill Stant of L. B. Stant and Associates, LLC
- Natural capital and rethinking economics
- The future of Campaign for Sustainable Economics

Perks: trails, nature exhibit, and library.

Admission: no charge. Low priced lunch. Booth space: $10.
Please register by September 12.

Volunteers and donations are encouraged. Volunteers needed to make signs, set up, take down, work AV equipment, and loan and operate video recording equipment.

Politicians and Candidates: Join our panel while there are still vacancies.
Only use the parking lot for parking. Please do not eat in the auditorium.
Updates, map and ridesharing: http://www.rideshare.us/  Enter lookup code 123.
Campaign for Sustainable Economics
317-917-1638
ecothinker@gmail.com

SCEME Workshop on Knowledge

Revised Programme for SCEME workshop on Knowledge, Information and the Economy, 13 October. Please note that the programme for the Workshop on 13 October www.sceme.stir.ac.uk/events.htm  has been revised to include Deirdre McCloskey as an additional discussion leader.

The High Road Runs Through the City: Advocating for Economic Justice at the Local Level

Sept. 27-28 2007 , Buffalo, NY

Sponsored by the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School, the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy, and Cornell University ILR.

Local government provides important opportunities and challenges for efforts to address economic inequality. Living wage ordinances are one example of the recent interest in using local policy to promote more equitable economic development. However, such local initiatives for economic justice frequently raise questions about the relationship between local democratic governance and economic policymaking. Many cities have failed to enforce their living wage ordinances; many local economic policies are made outside of democratic processes; local governments are often constrained by “subsidy wars” encouraging a race to the bottom; and local politics is often dominated by narrow interests. This conference brings together scholars in a variety of disciplines with activists and policymakers to explore the possibilities and challenges for developing progressive economic policies in local government.

Panelists will include Peter Enrich, Northeastern University School of Law; Susan Jones, George Washington University School of Law; J. Phillip Thompson, III, MIT Urban Politics; Annette Bernhardt, NYU Brennan Center for Justice; Jen Kern, ACORN Living Wage Resource Center; Greg LeRoy, Good Jobs First, Stewart Acuff, AFL-CIO; Stephanie Luce, University of Massachusetts Labor Studies; Joel Rogers, University of Wisconsin. Panel topics will include Shadow Governments and Privatization; New Frontiers for the Living Wage; Subsidy Reform; Building Lasting Institutions from Progressive Coalitions; Green Cities; and Global Connections. Journalist Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy, will give a keynote address.

For more information, visit http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/wied/highroadrunsthroughthecity/  or contact Martha McCluskey, Professor of Law and William J. Magavern Fellow, State University of New York at Buffalo, mcclusk@buffalo.edu

Marxism and Political Economy

A one-day conference hosted by International Socialism journal
Saturday 29 September, Central London, 10.30am-5.30pm
Sessions on:
The Dynamics of the System
John Weeks (author of Capital & Exploitation)
Alex Callinicos (author of the Revolutionary Ideas of Marx and Resources of Critique)
Finance Capital
Jim Kincaid (regular contributor to Historical Materialism journal)
Rob Hoveman (International Socialism editorial board)
Developments in Marx’s Theory of Value
Andrew Kliman (author of Reclaiming Marx’s “Capital”)
Simon Mohun (author of several book chapters and journal articles on value theory)
Migration, Corporate Restructuring and Globalisation
Jane Hardy (author of Restructuring Krakow: Desperately Seeking Capitalism)
Phil Marfleet (author of Refugees in a Global Era)
Capitalism and Development
Paul Cammack (author of several articles and book chapters on political economy and development)
Capitalism Today
Chris Harman (author of Explaining the Crisis and Economics of the Madhouse)
Alan Freeman (co-editor of Marx and Non-equilibrium Economics and The New Value Controversy)

Advanced booking is essential and costs £10 waged / £5 unwaged.
For information or bookings:
Phone 020 7819 1177 Email isj@swp.org.uk

Download the poster.

Fair Employment Forums

- What is a Fair Workplace?
Guest Speaker: Tony Lawrence
Workplace Rights Advocate, Victoria

- What Rights? Whose Rights? A discussion about the rights based approach to employment relations in Australia.
Guest Speaker: Lisa Heap, Executive Director, Australian Institute of Employment Rights

- The work-life juggle and Work Choices
Guest Speaker: Professor Barbara Pocock
Director of the Centre for Work + Life at the University of South Australia

Download the flier

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Job Postings for Heterodox Economists

Locker Associates, Inc.

Immediate Job Opening for Senior Associate

Locker Associates -- a business consulting firm that specializes in enhancing the
competitiveness of businesses and industries on behalf of union, corporate and government clients
-- seeks qualified candidates for the position of Senior Associate. Typical projects include:

- leading joint labor/management business improvement initiatives;
- facilitating ownership transitions to secure the long-term viability of a business;
- conducting strategic industry studies to identify future challenges and opportunities;
- representing unions in strategic planning and workplace reorganization;
- formulating business plans for turnaround situations; and
-  performing due diligence for equity and debt investors.

Responsibilities: The Senior Associate will be responsible for all aspects of project
implementation and management. Specifically, the Senior Associate will:
-  perform strategic studies of companies and plants, including detailed analysis of their
financial, operating and market performance;
-  conduct financial and economic analyses of industry trends;
-  prepare client reports and presentations; and
-  prepare business plans.

Qualifications: Eligible candidates should have some experience conducting in-depth analyses
of businesses and industries. Specific requirements include:
-  strong analytical and quantitative skills, including working knowledge of financial
accounting and analysis, economics and statistical methods;
-  excellent writing and communication skills;
-  ability to handle multiple projects and tight deadlines;
-  strong computer skills, including working knowledge of Word, Excel and PowerPoint;
-  familiarity with labor unions, economic development finance, securities law and
investment banking preferred;
-  MBA and/or CPA a plus

Locker Associates is an equal opportunity employer that provides a competitive salary and
benefits. Interested candidates should immediately forward a resume, writing samples and a list
of references to:

Michael Locker, President
Locker Associates
225 Broadway, Suite 2625
New York, NY 10007
Phone: 212-962-2980
Fax: 641-453-0838
E-mail: lockerassociates@yahoo.com

University of Vermont – Diversity Cluster Hire

The College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Vermont is recruiting for a cluster hire in race/ethnicity and stratification. Three positions in the cluster are: Women and Gender Studies (Director, any social science); Sociology; and Political Science. The job descriptions follow as well as some information on UVM and the Burlington area as a place to live. We are excited about the possibility for this hire to bring in a cohort of diverse faculty. I would be most grateful if you would share this information widely and write me directly if you would like to nominate candidates for any of these positions. I and the hiring committees will follow up with all of the nominees.

In addition to this cluster hire, the college is recruiting for several related positions including History (global history) and Sociology (policy). There is thus the potential to bring in an even larger cohort of diverse faculty than suggested by the 3-person cluster hire. Further, we are recruiting in numerous disciplines in addition to those already mentioned, and these will be collectively advertised in a Chronicle ad in the near future, of for more information, contact me directly.

Best regards,
Stephanie Seguino
Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
Professor, Economics

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Heterodox Conference Papers and Reports and Articles

“The Employer of Last Resort Programme: Could It Work for Developing Countries?”

by L. Randall Wray http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/download/elm/elm07-5.pdf

An article by Dean Baker

Find below a link to a useful article by Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (www.cepr.net) on the current financial turmoil in the housing and stock markets and its implications for the wider economy:

http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/meltdown_2007_08.pdf

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Heterodox Journals and Newsletters

The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought

Volume 14 Issue 2 is now available online at http://www.informaworld.com .

This new issue contains the following articles:

Professor Samuelson on Sraffa and the classical economists p. 181
Authors: Pierangelo Garegnani
Link
Classical and Neoclassical harmonies and dissonances p. 243
Authors: Paul A. Samuelson
Link
Alfred Marshall's use of Adam Smith: Coming to grips with an aspect of Alfred Marshall's citation practice p. 273
Authors: Peter Groenewegen
Link

American institutionalism and its British connections p. 291
Authors: Malcolm Rutherford
Link
How did Keynes transform his theory from the Tract into the Treatise ?—Consideration through primary material p. 325
Authors: Toshiaki Hirai
Link
Parametric external economies and the Cambridge controversy on returns p. 349
Authors: Roxana Bobulescu
Link
Milton Friedman – a brief obituary p. 373
Authors: David Laidler
Link

Revue du MAUSS

Revue du MAUSS has published a volume on “Avec Karl Polanyi, Contre la société du tout-marchand” (semestrielle n° 29, 1er semestre 2007, 368 p). For further information please visit www.revuedumauss.com  or  www.journaldumauss.net
The journal offers a special price for Friends of the Karl Polanyi Institute.

The Associative Economics Bulletin

The Associative Economics Bulletin consists of news and views on associative economics, including short extracts from Associative Economics Monthly (available electronically for £1 an issue at www.cfae.biz/aem or in a hard copy format - tel (UK) 01227 738207). To unsubscribe from this list, reply or send an email to info@talkingeconomics.com with 'bulletin unsubscribe' in the subject line.

1) The View From Rare Albion, Editorial, AEM AUGUST 2007
2) The Colours of Money - An introduction to associative economics - Oct 2007

For detailed information: The Associative Economics Bulletin.doc

CASE Newsletter

The July/August edition of the CASE newsletter is now available.

Click here to view:
http://www.case.com.pl/plik--16202338.pdf 

or download it from the below site:
http://www.case.com.pl/ 

Journal of the History of Economic Thought

Volume 29 Issue 1 is now available online at informaworld ( http://www.informaworld.com ).

This new issue contains the following articles:

2006 HES PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS A TALE OF TWO MAINSTREAMS: ECONOMICS AND PHILOSOPHY OF NATURAL SCIENCE IN THE MID-TWENTIETH CENTURY p. 1
Authors: D. Wade Hands
Link

THE EDITOR AS SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONARY: KEYNES, THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL , AND THE PIGOU AFFAIR, 1936–1938 p. 15
Authors: Nahid Aslanbeigui; Guy Oakes
Link

MILL AND SENIOR ON LONDON'S WATER SUPPLY: AGENCY, INCREASING RETURNS, AND NATURAL MONOPOLY p. 49
Authors: Nicola Tynan
Link

WILLIAM ALONSO, RICHARD MUTH, RESOURCES FOR THE FUTURE, AND THE FOUNDING OF URBAN ECONOMICS p. 67
Authors: John F. McDonald
Link

ON THE BICENTENNIAL OF THE OTHER “INQUIRY”: LAUDERDALE'S p. 85
Authors: Syed Ahmad
Link

THE MACROECONOMIC THOUGHT OF NICHOLAS BARBON p. 101
Authors: James H. Ullmer
Link


Feminist Economics

Volume 13 Issue 3 & 4is now available online at informaworld ( http://www.informaworld.com ).
Special Issue: A Special Issue on Gender, China, and the World Trade Organization

This new issue contains the following articles:

China's Transition and Feminist Economics p. 1
Authors: Günseli Berik; Xiao-yuan Dong; Gale Summerfield
Link

Land management in rural China and its gender implications p. 35
Authors: Denise Hare; Li Yang; Daniel Englander
Link

Gender and rural reforms in China: A case study of population control and land rights policies in northern Liaoning p. 63
Authors: Junjie Chen; Gale Summerfield
Link

Women's market work and household status in rural China: Evidence from Jiangsu and Shandong in the late 1990s p. 93
Authors: Fiona MacPhail; Xiao-yuan Dong
Link

Gender dynamics and redundancy in urban China p. 125
Authors: Jieyu Liu
Link

An Ocean formed from one hundred rivers: the effects of ethnicity, gender, marriage, and location on labor force participation in urban China p. 159
Authors: Margaret Maurer-Fazio; James Hughes; Dandan Zhang
Link

Gender equity in transitional China's healthcare policy reforms p. 189
Authors: Lanyan Chen; Hilary Standing
Link

Foreign direct investment and gendered wages in urban China p. 213
Authors: Elissa Braunstein; Mark Brenner
Link

Gendering the dormitory labor system: production, reproduction, and migrant labor in south China p. 239
Authors: Pun Ngai
Link

Chinese women after the accession to the world trade organization: A legal perspective on women's labor rights p. 259
Authors: Julien Burda
Link

Western cosmetics in the gendered development of consumer culture in China p. 287
Authors: Barbara E. Hopkins
Link

Meinü Jingji /China's beauty economy: Buying looks, shifting value, and changing place p. 307
Authors: Gary Xu; Susan Feiner
Link

Journal of the History of Economic Thought

Volume 29 Issue 3 is now available online at informaworld ( http://www.informaworld.com ).

This new issue contains the following articles:

Economic Science Wars p. 267
Authors: E. Roy Weintraub
Link

How, And For How Long, Did Keynes Maintain The Treatise Theory? p. 283
Authors: Toshiaki Hirai
Link

The Fallacy of Wage Cuts and Keynes's Involuntary Unemployment p. 309
Authors: John Levendis
Link

Transcribing the Tableau Économique: Input-Output Analysis À La Quesnay p. 331
Authors: Albert E. Steenge; Richard Van Den Berg
Link

Kautilya On Administration Of Justice During The Fourth Century B.C. p. 359
Authors: Balbir S. Sihag
Link

History of Economics Review 45, Winter 2007

Just published: Download the content.

Metroeconomica

Metroeconomica offers a wide spectrum of theoretical approaches to analytical economics. An international forum for debate, it goes beyond the traditional emphasis on market equilibrium/disequilibrium by:
• Focusing on economic processes in real time
• Addressing the role of social institutions, technical change and income distribution
• Emphasizing the behavioural foundations of economics
• Exploring methodological innovations in economics and from other disciplines
Articles now available online ahead of print!

From July 2007 articles which have been fully copy-edited and peer-reviewed will be published online before the print edition of Metroeconomica is published.
Check Metroeconomica's OnlineEarly papers here!

International Review of Applied Economics

Volume 21 Issue 4 is now available online at informaworld ( http://www.informaworld.com ).

This new issue contains the following articles:

Trade Liberalisation and the Trade-Off Between Growth and the Balance of Payments in Latin America p. 469
Authors: Penélope Pacheco-López; A. P. Thirlwall
Link

The Economic Consequences of Dollar Appreciation for US Manufacturing Investment: A Time-Series Analysis p. 491
Authors: Robert A. Blecker
Link

Measuring Productive Efficiency in Input–Output Models by Means of Data Envelopment Analysis p. 519
Authors: José L. Zofío; Angel M. Prieto
Link

Causes of Growth and Decline in Mexico’s Maquiladora Apparel Sector p. 539
Authors: Mehrene Larudee
Link

Time Irreversibility in Consumers’ Expenditure: An Analysis of Disaggregated Data p. 561
Authors: Steven Cook; Alan Speight
Link

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Heterodox Books, Book Series, and Book Reviews

An Australian Charter of Employment Rights

Please find attached an invite to *the Melbourne launch* of our book "An Australian Charter of Employment Rights" and the prelaunch event *on 5 September 2005* which I am sure will be of interest to you.

A launch of the book will also occur at the Queensland Industrial Relations Society conference on the *Gold Coast* on the 31^st August.

The *Perth* launch is being held in conjunction with an event sponsored by the WA Fair employment advocate (see brochure attached) on 18 September.

A *Sydney* launch will be held on 27 September and you will be advised of those details shortly.

The book is of very high standard and I would suggest it will become a manual for IR/HR practitioners, unions, lawyers and academics.

If you cannot attend a launch and would like to purchase a copy of the book I suggest ordering directly through AIER as we can offer members a substantial discount. Details of how to go about this will be available on our website shortly www.aierights.com.au

An Empire of Indifference

American War and the Financial Logic of Risk Management
Randy Martin

In this significant Marxist critique of contemporary American imperialism, the cultural theorist Randy Martin argues that a finance-based logic of risk control has come to dominate Americans’ everyday lives as well as U.S. foreign and domestic policy. Risk management—the ability to adjust for risk and to leverage it for financial gain—is the key to personal finance as well as the defining element of the massive global market in financial derivatives. The United States wages its amorphous war on terror by leveraging particular interventions (such as Iraq) to much larger ends (winning the war on terror) and by deploying small numbers of troops and targeted weaponry to achieve broad effects. Both in global financial markets and on far-flung battlegrounds, the multiplier effects are difficult to foresee or control.

Drawing on theorists including Michel Foucault, Giorgio Agamben, Michael Hardt, Antonio Negri, and Achille Mbembe, Martin illuminates a frightening financial logic that must be understood in order to be countered. Martin maintains that finance divides the world between those able to avail themselves of wealth opportunities through risk taking (investors) and those who cannot do so, who are considered “at risk.” He contends that modern-day American imperialism differs from previous models of imperialism, in which the occupiers engaged with the occupied to “civilize” them, siphon off wealth, or both. American imperialism, by contrast, is an empire of indifference: a massive flight from engagement. The United States urges an embrace of risk and self-management on the occupied and then ignores or dispossesses those who cannot make the grade.

“An Empire of Indifference is a brilliant study, both theoretically profound and politically compelling.”— Michael J. Shapiro, author of Methods and Nations: Cultural Governance and the Indigenous Subject

“An Empire of Indifference is the perfect answer to Thomas Friedman’s The World Is Flat. Randy Martin well understands that finance capital flattens and gouges at the same time. This book is the anti-Friedman.”—Neil Smith, author of The Endgame of Globalization

“While a great deal has been written about globalization, empire, and international finance, I know of no other work besides this one that looks at their intersection through the rhetorical and conceptual lens of finance. An Empire of Indifference is a strong piece of original scholarship on a very important topic.”—Chris Hables Gray, author of Peace, War, and Computers

Randy Martin is Professor of Art and Public Policy at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. His books include Financialization of Daily Life, On Your Marx: Relinking Socialism and the Left, and Critical Moves: Dance Studies in Theory and Politics, also published by Duke University Press. He is a former editor of the journal Social Text.

Duke University Press May 2007
232 pages
£12.99 PB 978-0-8223-3996-0
SPECIAL DISCOUNTED PRICE OF £9.00 to CAPITAL-AND-CLASS Subscribers
Postage and Packing £2.75
To order a copy please contact Marston on 44(0)1235 465500 or email direct.orders@marston.co.uk or visit our website www.combinedacademic.co.uk
(PLEASE QUOTE REF NUMBER: CAC87EI for discount)

The Origins of Capitalism and the "Rise of the West"

Eric H. Mielants
"A major contribution to the worldwide debate on the origins of the modern world. It is controversial, encompassing in its survey of the data and the literature, and bound to be included in all further discussions."
—Immanuel Wallerstein, Yale University
Eric Mielants provides a fresh, interdisciplinary interpretation of the origins of modernity in general and of capitalism in particular. He argues that, contrary to established thinking, the "Rise of the West" should not be examined through the lens of the Industrial Revolution or the colonization of the New World but viewed through long-term developments that began in the Middle Ages.
A fascinating overview of civilizations in East Asia, South Asia, and northwestern Africa is provided and then systematically compared to developments in Europe at the same time. Utilizing this analysis, the book addresses some of the most important current debates in world history, comparative sociology, political economy, sociological theory and historical sociology. Mielants uncovers the ways that existing theories (such as Marxism, World-Systems Theory, and Smithian Modernization Theory) have suffered from either Eurocentric or limited temporal and spatial analyses, preventing them from fully explaining the reasons behind the emergence of capitalism in Western Europe.
Reviews
"The strength of this book is its careful comparisons among regions and the strong effort to overcome the Eurocentrism that has undeniably been a great plague on our efforts to comprehend and explain the rise of the West."
—Christopher Chase-Dunn, Department of Sociology, University of California, Riverside
"Mielants has pulled together a vast mass of material and challenges hypotheses that have been in danger of being repeated as unquestionable dogmas in some circles."
—International Socialism
Temple University Press
August 2007, 280 pages £27.00 cloth
SPECIAL DISCOUNTED PRICE OF £18.99 to CAPITAL-AND-CLASS Subscribers
Postage and Packing £2.75
To order a copy please contact Marston on 44(0)1235 465500 or email direct.orders@marston.co.uk or visit our website www.combinedacademic.co.uk

The Bias of the World: Theories of Unequal Exchange in History

By John Brolin. Sweden: Lund University, 2007. 383 pp.
Reviewed by Yan Liang University of Missouri-Kansas City and University of Redlands.

Feminist Economics of Trade

Irene van Staveren, Diane Elson, Caren Grown and Nilüfer Çagatay
Download the content and detailed information.

Introduction to Ecological Economics

The first edition of Introduction to Ecological Economics, originally, published by in 1997 by St. Lucie Press, has recently been put up on the Encyclopedia of Earth ( http://www.eoearth.org/   - go to eBooks on the right or go directly to: http://www.eoearth.org/article/An_Introduction_to_Ecological_Economics_%28e-book%29 ) The book can be read by anyone on-line. Please pass this information on to colleagues, students or others who may be interested.

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Heterodox Websites

Heednet

Heednet is a network of researchers and policy analysts aimed at expanding the range of economic thinking supporting environment and sustainable developmpent policy making.
View or download a printable version of this site here as a PDF.

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For Your Information

ICLAD International Consortium for Law and Development

Knowledge in the Service of Democratic Social Change
http://www.iclad-law.org/  

Charles Leopold Mayer Foundation for the Progress of Humankind

In order to meet the challenges of the XXIst century, new forms of citizen’s participation are developing. What is at stake is also the ability to consider the complexity of global problems using innovative approaches and methods of exchange, enhancement, analysis and vulgarisation of information in order to reinforce citizens’ initiatives that contribute to building global democracy. In today’s world of Internet communication, the challenge of democracy is less that of gaining access to information than that of sorting through the vast quantities of available data to select that which is reliable and relevant, and how to structure it in an intelligent manner, which is the central question.

It is with this in mind that the Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation for the Progress of Humankind and Ritimo have created an international data base of experiences dph, which is now up and running in four languages.

We are happy to indicate the on-line address :
www.d-p-h.info 
In dph you can find:
- an enriched data base of over 7000 experience sheets, analysis, write-ups
- thematic files linked to partner resource sites
- a directory of some 400 authors and structures who have contributed to dph
- a section of tools and methods that describe the philosophy of exchange of experience and tools to structure and enhance information on a resource site
- a call for contributions that this year concerns two files
* Governance of water: the urgent need to change attitudes and practice
* Achieving sustainability via industrial sectors: from production to consumers
The aim of dph is to create collective intelligence in order to build international citizenship, and we hope you will contribute by sending us your experience sheets or files

dph sheets are communicated using the means defined in our editorial Charter which is available on line and may be reproduced, on condition that the source and dph logo are used.

We hope that you will find this tool of use, and that it will inspire you to participate in the political project of organising a global democratic citizen’s scene, by exchanging experience, structuring information and jointly developing knowledge and citizen’s alliances and developing alternative proposals to build a XXIst century of solidarity and responsibility.

We look forward to hearing from you, and send you all our best wishes

Suzanne Humberset Pierre Calame
Aude Delavernhe Director of the FPH
Erika Campelo

The Ritimo/dph Team
dph@ritimo.org

www.d-p-h.info

Pour relever les défis du XXIème siècle, de nouvelles formes de participation citoyenne se mettent en action. L’enjeu repose également sur la capacité à aborder la complexité des problèmes planétaires avec des approches innovantes et des méthodes d’échange, de valorisation, d’analyse et de vulgarisation de l’information pour renforcer les initiatives citoyennes qui participent de la construction d’une démocratie mondiale. Aujourd'hui à l'heure du Web, le défi de la démocratie est moins d’accéder à l’information que de trier au sein d’une masse gigantesque d’informations celle qui est fiable et pertinente, la question de la structuration intelligente de l'information demeure une question centrale.

C'est dans cet esprit que la Fondation Charles Léopold Mayer pour le progrès de l'homme et Ritimo ont créé une base de données internationale d'expériences dph qui se concrétise aujourd'hui dans un site ressources en 4 langues.

Nous sommes heureux de vous annoncer sa mise en ligne à l'adresse suivante :

www.d-p-h.info 

Vous y découvrirez :

- Une base de données de plus de 7000 fiches d'expériences, d'analyses, de lectures
- Des dossiers thématiques en lien avec des sites ressources partenaires
- Un annuaire des quelques 400 auteurs et organismes qui ont contribué à dph
- Une rubrique « Outils et méthodes » qui décrit la philosophie de l'échange d'expériences et les outils pour structurer et valoriser l'information sur un site ressources.
- Un appel à contributions qui concerne cette année deux dossiers :

* Gouvernance de l'eau : l'urgence de changer de regard et de pratiques
* Atteindre la durabilité par les filières : de la production à la consommation
L’ambition de dph étant de créer une intelligence collective pour construire une citoyenneté internationale, vous pouvez y contribuer en nous envoyant des fiches d'expériences ou des dossiers.
Les fiches dph sont diffusées selon les modalités définies par la Charte éditoriale qui est disponible en ligne, et sont reproductibles, avec mention impérative des sources et du logo dph.

Nous espérons que cet outil vous sera directement utile et qu’il vous donnera envie de participer au projet politique d’organiser une scène démocratique citoyenne mondiale, en échangeant des expériences, en structurant son information, en élaborant en commun des savoirs, en mettant en place des alliances citoyennes et en élaborant des propositions alternatives pour construire un XXIème siècle solidaire et responsable.

Dans l’attente de vos nouvelles, recevez, Madame, Monsieur, nos cordiales salutations.

Suzanne Humberset Pierre Calame
Aude Delavernhe Directeur de la FPH
Erika Campelo

Equipe Ritimo/dph
dph@ritimo.org

www.d-p-h.info

Para afrontar los desafíos del siglo XXI entran en acción nuevas formas de participación ciudadana. Lo que está en juego depende asimismo de la capacidad de abordar la complejidad de los problemas planetarios con acercamientos innovadores y métodos de intercambio, de valorización, de análisis y de divulgación de la información para reforzar las iniciativas ciudadanas que participan en la construcción de una democracia mundial. Hoy día, en la era de Internet, el desafío que se le presenta a la democracia no tiene tanto que ver con el acceso a la información como con la capacidad de escoger, en el seno de una masa gigantesca de informaciones, aquella que es fiable y pertinente; la cuestión de la estructuración inteligente de la información tiene por eso una importancia central.

Este es el espíritu con el que la Fundación Charles Léopold Mayer para el Progreso del Hombre y Ritimo han creado una base de datos internacional de experiencias dph, que hoy toma forma en un sitio web de recursos disponible en 4 lenguas.

Con gran placer les anunciamos su publicación en Internet, en la siguiente dirección:

www.d-p-h.info 

En ella descubrirán:

- Una base de datos de más de 7000 fichas de experiencias, análisis, lecturas;
- Dossiers temáticos vinculados con sitios web de recursos asociados;
- Un anuario de unos 400 autores y organismos que han contribuido a dph;

- Una rúbrica « herramientas y métodos », que describe la filosofía del intercambio de experiencias y las herramientas para estructurar y valorizar la información de un sitio de recursos;

- Un llamamiento a enviar contribuciones, que este año tiene que ver con dos dossiers:

* Políticas del agua: la urgencia de cambiar conceptos y prácticas

* Hacia unos eslabones sostenibles: de la producción al consumo

Dado que la ambición de dph consiste en crear una inteligencia colectiva para construir una ciudadanía internacional, usted puede contribuir a ello enviándonos fichas de experiencia o dossiers.

Las fichas dph son difundidas conforme a las modalidades definidas por la Carta editorial (que está disponible en la red) y son reproductibles con mención obligatoria de las fuentes y del logo dph.

Esperamos que esta herramienta le sea directamente de utilidad y que le anime a participar en el proyecto político de organizar una escena democrática ciudadana de carácter mundial, intercambiando experiencias, estructurando su información, elaborando saberes en común, introduciendo alianzas ciudadanas y elaborando propuestas alternativas para construir un siglo XXI solidario y responsable.

A la espera de sus noticias, le enviamos nuestros saludos más cordiales.

Suzanne Humberset Pierre Calame
Aude Delavernhe Director de la FPH
Erika Campelo

Equipo Ritimo/dph
dph@ritimo.org 

In Time of Tumult,Obscure Economist Gains Currency

Mr. Minsky Long Argued
Markets Were Crisis Prone;
His 'Moment' Has Arrived

By JUSTIN LAHART
August 18, 2007; Page A1

The recent market turmoil is rocking investors around the globe. But it is raising the stock of one person: a little-known economist whose views have suddenly become very popular.

Hyman Minsky, who died more than a decade ago, spent much of his career advancing the idea that financial systems are inherently susceptible to bouts of speculation that, if they last long enough, end in crises. At a time when many economists were coming to believe in the efficiency of markets, Mr. Minsky was considered somewhat of a radical for his stress on their tendency toward excess and upheaval.

RELATED READING

"The Financial Instability Hypothesis" by Hyman P. Minsky, May 1992

"The Plankton Theory Meets Minsky" by Paul McCulley, March 2007

"Capitalism's Beast of Burden" by Paul McCulley, January 2001

Today, his views are reverberating from New York to Hong Kong as economists and traders try to understand what's happening in the markets. The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, where Mr. Minsky worked for the last six years of his life, is planning to reprint two books by the economist -- one on John Maynard Keynes, the other on unstable economies. The latter book was being offered on the Internet for thousands of dollars.

Christopher Wood, a widely read Hong Kong-based analyst for CLSA Group, told his clients that recent cash injections by central banks designed "to prevent, or at least delay, a 'Minsky moment,' is evidence of market failure."

Indeed, the Minsky moment has become a fashionable catch phrase on Wall Street. It refers to the time when over-indebted investors are forced to sell even their solid investments to make good on their loans, sparking sharp declines in financial markets and demand for cash that can force central bankers to lend a hand.

Mr. Minsky, who died in 1996 at the age of 77, was a tall man with unruly hair who wore unpressed suits. He approached the world as "one big research tank," says Diana Minsky, his daughter, an art history professor at Bard. "Economics was an integrated part of his life. It wasn't isolated. There wasn't a sense that work was something he did at the office."

She recalls how, on a trip to a village in Italy to meet friends, Mr. Minsky ended up interviewing workers at a glove maker to understand how small-scale capitalism worked in the local economy.

Although he was born in Chicago, Mr. Minsky didn't have many fans in the "Chicago School" of economists, who believed that markets were efficient. A follower of the economist John Maynard Keynes, he died just before a decade of financial crises in Asia, Russia, tech stocks, corporate credit and now mortgage debt, began to lend credence to his ideas.

Following those periods of tumult, more investors turned to the investment classic "Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises," by Charles Kindleberger, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who leaned heavily on Mr. Minsky's work.

Mr. Kindleberger showed that financial crises unfolded the way that Mr. Minsky said they would. Though a loyal follower, Mr. Kindleberger described Mr. Minsky as "a man with a reputation among monetary theorists for being particularly pessimistic, even lugubrious, in his emphasis on the fragility of the monetary system and its propensity to disaster."

At its core, the Minsky view was straightforward: When times are good, investors take on risk; the longer times stay good, the more risk they take on, until they've taken on too much. Eventually, they reach a point where the cash generated by their assets no longer is sufficient to pay off the mountains of debt they took on to acquire them. Losses on such speculative assets prompt lenders to call in their loans. "This is likely to lead to a collapse of asset values," Mr. Minsky wrote.

When investors are forced to sell even their less-speculative positions to make good on their loans, markets spiral lower and create a severe demand for cash. At that point, the Minsky moment has arrived.

"We are in the midst of a Minsky moment, bordering on a Minsky meltdown," says Paul McCulley, an economist and fund manager at Pacific Investment Management Co., the world's largest bond-fund manager, in an email exchange.

The housing market is a case in point, says Investment Technology Group Inc. economist Robert Barbera, who first met Mr. Minsky in the late 1980s. When home buyers were expected to have a down payment of 10% or 20% to qualify for a mortgage, and to provide income documentation that showed they'd be able to make payments, there was minimal risk. But as home prices rose, and speculators entered the market, lenders relaxed their guard and began offering loans with no money down and little or no documentation.

Once home prices stalled and, in many of the more-speculative markets, fell, there was a big problem.

"If you're lending to home buyers with 20% down and house prices fall by 2%, so what?" Mr. Barbera says. If most of a lender's portfolio is tied up in loans to buyers who "don't put anything down and house prices fall by 2%, you're bankrupt," he says.

Several money managers are laying claim to spotting the Minsky moment first. "I featured him about 18 months ago," says Jeremy Grantham, chairman of GMO LLC, which manages $150 billion in assets. He pointed to a note in early 2006 when he wrote that investors had become too comfortable that financial markets were safe, and consequently were taking on too much risk, just as Mr. Minsky predicted. "Guinea pigs of the world unite. We have nothing to lose but our shirts," he concluded.

It was Mr. McCulley at Pacific Investment, though, who coined the phrase "Minsky moment" during the Russian debt crisis in 1998.

Laurence Meyer, who served on the faculty with Mr. Minsky at Washington University in St. Louis, was a Federal Reserve Governor during those turbulent times. Mr. Meyer says that when he was an academic, Mr. Minsky's work didn't interest him very much, but that changed when he went into the real world. He says he grew to appreciate it even more when he was at the Fed watching financial crises unfold.

"Had Minsky been there, he probably would have been calling me and alerting me along the ride. And that would have been a good thing," Mr. Meyer says. "Every year that goes by, I appreciate him more. I hear myself sometimes and I think, oh my gosh, I sound like Hy Minsky."

Steven Fazzari, an economics professor at Washington University, says that Mr. Minsky would have supported the Federal Reserve's recent move to provide cash and cut the rate it charges banks on loans from its discount window to try to avert a financial crisis that could spill over to the economy. But he would probably be worried, too, that the moves might be bailing out investors who would all too soon be speculating again.

Having seen recent events unfold in the way his friend and former colleague predicted, Mr. Fazzari says, "I hope he's someplace saying, 'Aha, I told you so!'"

--Jon E. Hilsenrath contributed to this article.

Turning Your Labor Activism Into a Career

By SUSAN BASALLA MAY
BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER
What you should know about nonacademic careers for Ph.D.'s
Read the article.


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