AI, Broken Infrastructure, and Two Giants We Lost
The production of this Newsletter issue was slightly overshadowed by the disruptive impact of AI on our shared computer and internet infrastructure 😅. Critical PHP vulnerabilities, brought to light with AI assistance (see here or here), forced us to take our background machinery down for a while. Our busy-bee editorial team was sadly stalled by this exogenous disruption 😢. However, emergency rescue was quick and efficient – much applause goes to bendlas for first-class and fun emergency intervention services, jointly with the head editor 🎉🚀😂. Still somewhat stressful, though.
In any case, one might say that this disruption served a useful purpose: exposing the bugs and fixing them should make our shared infrastructure safer. In our case, disruption did not turn into destruction – luckily, we were quick enough to shut down our exposed servers with our mobile phones 🤪. However, there are many instances where AI and the way we use it can be destructive in a narrower sense, with ecological costs, undermined learning and the degradation of our shared information environment (here, here or here) being key concerns. As I nonetheless believe that a reflective attitude towards AI is possible (students use it anyway, so why not at least give it a try?), I have prepared a somewhat idiosyncratic, and hopefully fun, guide on how to use AI for my students. If you wanna have a look, you can check it out here.
In more practical terms, without infrastructure there is also no Newsletter, and it would have been a true pity to withhold the current issue from you, which is really rich in opportunity and substance. Aside from the more beaten paths, I cherished hearing about an updated version of the DIY Macroeconomic Model Simulation site (which was already super-impressive without the update 😅), two fresh calls for Erasmus Mundus MA programmes with a strong heterodox component (see here and here), a Special Issue on ‚The Euro at 25‘ in the Review of Evolutionary Political Economy (see here and below) and the Wealth Cap initiative, with its timely proposals on a key question in (heterodox) economics: how to actually put the “wealth of nations” to good use…
Alongside all this good news, there is also sad news: in recent weeks, Perry Mehrling and Anwar Shaikh have left us. Both were giants in heterodox economics in their own, idiosyncratic and impressive ways, and the lasting imprint of their work ensures that we will never forget them. Below, we have collected the tributes that reached the editorial office: a statement from the History of Economics Society for Perry and an obituary by Nikolaos Chatzarakis for Anwar.
All the best,
Jakob