Issue 118 | August 15, 2011

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Editors' Note

In this issue there are a few things we'd like to call your attention to.  First, the Institute  for New Economic Thinking has announced a new round of "requests for proposals."  The general information can be found in the section on Heterodox Graduate Programs, Scholarships, and Grants.  Do not delay, as the deadline is September 15th.    In the For Your Information section, the World Development Movement organization is coordinating a campaign to restrict commodity speculation.  To that end, they have drafted a letter to the G20 Finance Ministers, and they are asking for endorsements.    Lastly, in the Heterodox Websites and Associates, you will find three interesting blogs and the launch meeting report of the African Association for Promoting Political Economy (AAPPE). In solidarity, Tae-Hee Jo and Ted Schmidt, Editors Email: heterodoxnews@gmail.com Website: http://heterodoxnews.com

 

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Table of Contents

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13-15 June, 2012 | University of Bordeaux | website

Inequalities and Development: New Questions, New Measurements

Bordeaux University, CNRS, ESOPE Network and GREThA (Research Unit 5113)  jointly organize the 4th Economic Development International Conference in Bordeaux. This 3-days conference aims at contributing to the ongoing debate about inequalities and development with selected empirical, methodological or theoretical contributions addressing the following topics:

• Inequality measurements
• Economic growth, inequalities and poverty
• Polarization, fragmentation, discrimination and horizontal inequalities
• Economic and social mobility
• Constitution of the middle classes
• Poverty, vulnerability and vertical inequalities
• Inequalities of opportunities, health care and education
• Trade, capital flows and inequalities
• Economic emergence and inequalities
• Spatial and environmental inequalities
• Innovation and inequalities
• Political economy of inequalities
• Evaluation of redistribution policies
• Institutions, conflicts and inequalitiesth Economic Development International Conference in Bordeaux.

 
Keynote speakers

• Michael Grimm (International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam)
• Cecilia Garcia-Peñalosa (GREQAM, EHESS, University of Marseille)

Scientific committee:

Deadlines

• Deadline for submission (Full paper or first draft of the full paper): 15 January 2012
• Notification of acceptance: 15 February 2012
• Registration opening: 1 March 2012
• Final version of papers for the proceedings: 15 April 2012

Submission details
First submission can be a preliminary draft, but not an abstract, even extended.  Final version of selected papers, as well as presentations, can either be in French or English, but the official language of the conference is English.

For submission conference Website: http://jourdev.gretha.u-bordeaux4.fr

Conference fees, transportation and accommodation costs are left at the expense of participants. Nevertheless, the steering committee will attribute limited grants to participants coming from developing countries whose proposal will be accepted.

To apply, please contact (after April 15th 2012): dalila.nicet-chenaf@u-bordeaux4.frth 2012): dalila.nicet-chenaf@u-bordeaux4.fr

18-19 February 2012 | The University of Salford, Greater Manchester, UK | website

 

It is clear to researchers and activists, both in the trade union movement and universities, that global capitalism is increasingly shaping the worlds of work and employment. The imposition of this neo-liberal orthodoxy has many profound implications, not least that states seek to both de-legitimise workers' opposition and marginalise their organisations. However, just as capitalism has embraced neo-liberal strategies, there has emerged a new politics of resistance that is varied and diverse, embracing: trade union and socialist organisations, green and ecological protest movements, anti-war activists, feminists, human rights campaigners and NGOs. It is against this background that the Critical Labour Studies (CLS) symposium has aimed to bring together researchers and activists to discuss key features of work and employment from a radical and labour-focused perspective. We recognise that while left academic researchers participate in the usual round of mainstream conferences, the scope for focused radical debate around these themes is actually quite limited. Through CLS we have developed an open working group and discussion forum that engages with many of the challenges facing researchers and trade unionists within the current environment of work and employment. By 'labour', we anticipate, in the traditions of radical researchers over the ages, a broad understanding of social, economic and political agendas. To date, themes have included: race, identity and organising migrant workers, global unionism and organising internationally, the new politics of production, privatisation, outsourcing and offshoring, restructuring and alternative/inclusive research methodologies. The list of themes and questions that concern us continues to develop over time, and the intention will be to reflect this evolving agenda at this year's symposium. An ancillary objective is to engage in genuinely critical debate, rescuing this term from its co-option by mainstream agendas.

Building on the successes of the past six years, the forthcoming symposium will be structured as a series of plenary sessions. Each will be organised around a particular theme with speakers and discussants, followed by a broad discussion. It has been an important principle of CLS that the conference is not based on the convention of academic conferences with specific papers being presented in separate streams. Rather our intention has been to deepen discussion and debate, and to bring together researchers and labour/ union movement activists (where possible) in joint sessions. All sessions are genuinely open and inclusive and involve a broad range of participants, from established academics to early-career researchers, and from established trade union officials to shop-floor representatives and grass-roots activists. The distinctive organising principles of CLS are, therefore, to assist unions and workers in dealing with the challenges faced in the neo-liberal world of work and employment. Ultimately, discussion of strategies and tactics are related to the broader aim of creating a socialist society.

Deadline 16th September 2011.

Join the Critical Labour Studies Email List: If you would like to be added to the CLS email list, please contact Jane Holgate at j.holgate@londonmet.ac.uk 

1. $300 prize
2. One year student membership in AFIT
3. Paid WSSA Conference Registration
4. Paid admission to the AFIT Presidential Address Dinner

20-22 October, 2011 | Free/Slow University of Warsaw | website

Addressing the issue of social economy of creativity we seek to enlarge the spectrum of creativity’s political economy. Creativity refers to many things: it is both a means of production and a fetish of consumption, a sheer ideology of the capitalism which calls itself post-industrial and an efficient device of social and industrial management, it reflects the elitist privilege of the ruling elite as well as the aspirations of the underprivileged rabble.  If it is true that contemporary capitalism has made an decisive shift in its modes of producing value then creativity and in particular collective creativity becomes a central category for the society as a whole. And artistic and cultural modes of production (along with scientific ones) are no longer merely supplementary fields of capitalistic social infrastructure. They become central sectors of production to which other fields of social labor remain subordinated in economical as well as in symbolic way. They not only accumulate most of the value but also are laboratories for social innovation. Consequently they should also provide a playground and battlefield for new social struggles, reemerging capitalistic contradictions and new forms of appropriation and exploitation.

Or maybe the new paradigm is just a humbug that covers up the overall crisis of the existing one. Maybe we still linger under the rule of the old law of value based rather on living labor then creative
networking. In this case the new social economy of the creativity would be a powerful symptom of a present crisis and it could be analyzed as such. Either of the approaches are welcome.

We are calling for theoretical contributions or artistic interventions in the five following fields:

1. Ideological appropriations: cognitive capitalism and creative industries.
2. The future of work: the changing forms of labor and its remuneration.
3. Property and value.
4. Peripheries of cognitive capitalism – continuation or redefinition.
5. Politics in the age of immaterial labor.

List of confirmed speakers: Luc Boltanski, Neil Cummings, Diedrich Diederichsen, Matteo Pasquinelli, John Roberts, Giggi Rogero, Martha Rosler, Hito Steyrl.

Forms of contribution:
A paper delivered in 15-20 minutes during the conference's sessions. The language of conference is English. We're planning to publish a peer-reviewed, bi-lingual (PL-ENG) summary of  the conference with selected papers.

Applications and inquiries:

Please send a short proposal (up to 300 words) with bio to Szymon Żydek: szymon@funbec.eu, who will also respond to all other inquiries.

Deadline for submissions: 15th of September 2011

Fees / scholarships:

The conference is free of charge. FSUW is capable of providing a limited number of travel (up to 200 Euros) and accommodation grants to free lancers, independent artists and theoreticians who are not affiliated with Academies or other Institutions. If you are interested in receiving a FSUW scholarship,
please indicate so in your proposal and estimate your travel costs to Warsaw.

 

Post-Keynesian and Institutional Political Economy

Guest Editors: Marc Lavoie and Phil O’Hara

In the recent ast, Intervention has published a lot of papers on post-Keynesian macroeconomics and economic policies, but the journal, so far, has tackled few institutional issues. There is a need to explore more fully the links between post-Keynesian and Institutional political economy, including their complementarities, past and potential convergence, and also their views on specific topics such as policy issues.

 

Institutional political economy is here interpreted in a wide sense, including Original Institutionalism, which draws inspiration from Thorstein Veblen and publishes the Journal of Economic Issues, but also related research programs, such as the Social Structure of Accumulation, French Regulation and French Convention schools. Papers that establish links between these areas and institutional/post-Keynesian themes are particularly welcomed, as are papers that scrutinize general issues linking institutional and post-Keynesian principles and practices. Papers that discuss institutional and post-Keynesian schools in the context of general topics (e.g., international, development, ecological, governance and feminist themes), as well as specific topics (e.g., money, pricing, labour and competition) are also welcomed; as are papers that analyse one school from the perspective of the other school.

 

Papers

200-word proposals, along with the usual details of author(s), are to be submitted to the Guest Editors (marc.lavoie@uottawa.ca and philohara@yahoo.com), including the email “Subject” by-line “Intervention Call for Papers on PK & Institutional Schools”. We expect to accept 6 to 8 proposals.

 

Submitted papers will undergo a rigorous peer-review process. Manuscripts will not exceed 8000 words in total length. More guidelines will be provided once abstracts are accepted.

 

Important Dates

 

Guest Editors:

 

About the Journal

"INTERVENTION. European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies" was firstly published in March 2004. The journal comes out on a half-yearly basis. It is a peer-reviewed journal which serves as a forum for studies in macroeconomic theory, economic institutions and economic policies. INTERVENTION invites contributions acknowledging the pluralism of research approaches in economics. It aims at a productive debate and reciprocal interventions among such approaches. In particular, the editors hold that a wide variety of institutional and social factors shape economic life and economic processes. Only a careful study and integration of such factors into economics will lead to theoretical progress and to adequate economic policy recommendations. Therefore, the submission of theoretical and empirical work in these fields is encouraged. For more information, see:

http://www.journal-intervention.org/seiten/englisch/about_intervention.shtml

May 26-27, 2012 | Fukushima University, Japan | website

The 76th Annual Conference of the Japanese Society for the History of Economic Thought (JSHET)
will be held on May 26-27, 2012 at Fukushima University, Fukushima, Japan.

The organising committee invites proposals for individual papers (in English or in Japanese) on all aspects of the history of economic thought.

Submissions should be mailed to: ikeda@econ.keio.ac.jp

Each author should send his/her abstract of about 600 words in English or 2000 letters in Japanese for a paper, as an attached document (PDF or WORD format) to an electronic mail, containing the title of the paper, his/her name, affiliation, postal and electronic addresses and the fax number. The deadline for submission is September 20, 2011.

A complete list of accepted contributions and a provisional programme will be available at the beginning of December 2011. The outlines (within 6 pages of format A4) of the paper should be submitted by
February 27, 2012. They will be printed and mailed to all participants one month before the conference.

The fee for non-members of JSHET to present a paper at the conference is 6,000 yen.

 

Œconomia Special Issue on Economic Imperialism

Deadline for submission: June 15th, 2012
Planned publication of the issue: 2013
Editor: Pedro Teixeira and Annie L. Cot
Coordinating committee: Pedro Teixeira, Annie L. Cot, John Davis, Jean-Sébastien Lenfant

The last decades have seen the growing confidence of economists to tackle a number of socio-economic topics with standard economic tools. This project has been significantly fostered by Gary Becker and has become a distinguishing feature of the Chicago School. The initial strong resistance, within and outside economics, has been giving way to a growing acceptance as a result of changes in other social sciences, namely through the increasing pervasiveness of rational choice theory in fields such as sociology, political science or demography. [Read More]

Three other “call for papers” are still open:

• The codifying function of the entrepreneur (deadline, September 15th, 2011)
• Behavioral economics and neuroeconomics meet economic policy (deadline, September 15th, 2011)
• The economics of migrations: Lessons from history, theoretical debates, and methodological issues (deadline, October 15th, 2011)

For more information, visit Weboeconomia website.

Palgrave-MacMillan has announced a new book series on the Basic Income Guarantee, and the The Basic Income Earth Network is encouraging scholars to put together books and collections for this series. I have written up a CFP for a collection of essays on the desirability of a basic income guarantee as a potential replacement for current redistribution and public services, with the distinctive feature that the proposals and rebuttals in the book will all engage both Austrian and Market Socialist ideas.

I intend for the collection to open a dialog between Austrian and Market Socialist economists as well as between libertarian and left-leaning political scientists and policymakers. The dialog begins with the question: "Can't we all agree that a truly free market system with a generous basic income would be better than what we have today? For example, than the corporate welfare, foreign policy imperialism, and dominant multinationals? Or, if not, why not? And, If these two 'polar-opposites' could come together on this, couldn't it potentially be very powerful?"

The CFP can be found here: http://economicliberty.net/cfp.html

I hope that some of you will consider contributing to the collection. If you are not interested please also consider whether you know anyone (left or libertarian, Austrian or socialist) who might be interested - and send them the link.

WorkingUSA: The Journal of Labor and Society Special Issue on Labor and Punishment

Scholars interested in being considered for this special issue should submit a paper to the journal by December 1, 2011.

The US has seen explosive growth in its prison population, ushering in a historically unprecedented era of mass incarceration. On any given day, more than two million individuals are incarcerated (either in jail or in prison) and as many as seven million individuals - roughly one out of every thirty-one adults - are under some form of correctional supervision (either incarcerated, on probation or on parole). Rates of incarceration among black men are particularly staggering: although they constitute less than ten percent of the U.S. population, they represent over thirty-five percent of the country’s population behind bars. Given the devastating social and economic consequences of incarceration, it is no exaggeration to say that the prison both reflects and reproduces racial and class inequality. These facts have inspired a resurgence of critical attention in a wide array of disciplines to the causes, contours and consequences of America’s imprisonment binge.

This special issue of WorkingUSA: The Journal of Labor and Society will examine the wide-ranging implications of these trends for work, labor markets and the labor movement. It will both foreground the ways in which the politics of punishment are enmeshed with the politics of labor and shed a long overdue spotlight on the plight of some of society’s most vulnerable workers (incarcerated and formerly-incarcerated). The guest editors of this issue will consider original empirical papers on a wide array of topics that address the intersection of labor and punishment. Examples of possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• The experiences of formerly-incarcerated individuals in the labor market and in the workplace
• Collaboration or conflict between prisoner “re-entry” and movements for workplace justice
• Prison guards’ unions and the politics of imprisonment
• Criminal background checks, employer discrimination and “ban the box” initiatives
• Historical or contemporary analyses of prison labor
• Organizing and collective actions of prisoners (protests, labor strikes, hunger strikes, riots)
• Case studies of targeted apprenticeship or job-training/job-placement programs for formerly incarcerated individuals

To be considered for this special issue, please email a copy of your paper to Gretchen Purser (gwpurser@maxwell.syr.edu), Daisy Rooks (daisy.rooks@mso.umt.edu) and Immanuel Ness (iness@brooklyn.cuny.edu) by December 1, 2011.

For more information, on submission guidelines to WUSA, go to our webpage: www.working-usa.org

 

15th Conferene of the Research Network Macroeconomics and Macroeconomic Policies (FMM)

Berlin, 28–29 October 2011 | website

The Research Network Macroeconomics and Macroeconomic Policies (FMM) organises its 15th conference on From crisis to growth? The challenge of imbalances, debt, and limited resources.

With introductory lectures on post-Keynesian Economics for graduate students on 27 October 2011 (see below).

Four years after the first turbulences on the U.S. housing market that triggered the subsequent global crisis, the future of the world economy is still highly uncertain. Is the crisis over, or are we heading towards a period of stagnation or recession? What will be the drivers of future growth? How to cope with high private and public debt? Is there a new growth model capable of overcoming the problems of financial instability, income inequality and trade imbalances? Are high growth rates still possible or desirable, given limited natural resources?

Conference website and online registration here.

FMM Introductory Lectures on Post-Keynesian Economics

Berlin, 27 October, 2011 | website

To meet the rising interest in Keynesian economics, the Research Network Macroeconomics and Macroeconomic Policies (FMM) will be organising a one-day Introductory workshop on post-Keynesian Economics on Thursday, 27 October 2011, 9.00 am – 4.00 pm

The workshop will take place the day before the annual conference of the network on ‘From crisis to growth? The challenge of imbalances, debt, and limited resources’, 28 – 29 October 2011, Berlin.

Topics include: A post-Keynesian model of demand, distribution, inflation and employment, post-Keynesian theories of distribution and growth, New Keynesian Economics and post-Keynesian Economics.

Lecturers: Professor Philip Arestis (University of Cambridge and University of the Basque Country), Professor Eckhard Hein (Berlin School of Economics and Law), Professor Mark Setterfield (Trinity College)

There are no fees but registration is required. Please register online: http://www.boeckler.de/35334_29110.htm

Economic Governance and Innovation: The Role of Institutions, Product Market Competition and Networks

9-10 September 2011 | hosted by the University of Greenwich, held at the Greenwich Campus, Old Royal Naval College | website

I am writing to invite you to the international conference above, which examines the determinants of innovation at firm, sector, regional or national levels. The papers are empirically rich and innovative in terms of methods and analysis. The contributors will consider both the input and output measures of innovation; as well as different measures of governance quality, competition and network characteristics.

Themes addressed in the conference include:

• The relationship between the quality of economic governance institutions (EGI) and innovation performance at national or sub-national levels
• The relationship between the quality of corporate governance institutions (CGI) and innovation performance at firm level
• How does competition, governance quality and/or network structures interact to affect the level of innovation at country, regional, industry or firm levels?
• How do internal governance structures of global industries (e.g. buyer’s imposition and enforcement of product specification) OR external governance structures of global industries (mandatory and voluntary environmental and social standards) affect the firms’ innovation effort?

We look forward to seeing you at the conference, which promises to be a platform of lively debate, deliberation and networking.

For further information and registration, please vists: www.gre.ac.uk/egic

Mehmet Ugur
Jean Monnet Reader in Political Economy
University of Greenwich Business School
[Ecgov10@greenwich.ac.uk]

HETSA 2012, Schumpeter Society Conference 2012, and Australian Conference of Economists 2012

The 25th History of Economic Thought Society od Australia(HETSA) Conference will take place in Melbourne from July 5-7th it will be hosted by HETSA and the University of Ballarat. it will take place in the historic setting of the Royal Society of Victoria Building. There are no set conference themes though we do intend to have several sessions where young HET scholars

Just before our conference the Joseph Schumpeter society are having a conference at the University of Queensland, Brisbane .It will be held from July 2 till July 5. At the End of the HETSA conference the 41 Australian Conference of Economists will take place in Melbourne from the 8th july till the 12 JUly. Like the HETSA conference it is taking place in Melbourne CBD and is being hosted by Victoria University. There is, alas, no joint registration fee arrangement. All three conferences are run by three different field societies.

Obviously you might be able to chalk up a couple of conferences one after another and see a bit of downunder.
I invite early offers of papers for the HETSA conference and please contact me re accommodation options at this early stage.

Alex Millmow
President of HETSA

Marxian Economics: An online course from UMass Amherst developed by Stephen Resnick

This course will be offered in fall 2011. Registration information is below.

Marxian Economics (Econ 305)

The UMass Amherst Department of Economics (www.umass.edu/economics) offers a unique online course in Marxian Economics (Econ 305). Professor Stephen Resnick developed online Marxian Economics based on his well-known and popular undergraduate course, which he has taught many years at UMass Amherst. The online version of Marxian Economics offers students an exciting opportunity to engage with other students from around the world in learning about and discussing the original and thought-provoking perspectives on Marxian social theory developed by Stephen Resnick and his colleague Richard Wolff.

The instructor for the course will be a Ph.D. student in economics at UMass Amherst. The course combines reading, discussion, lecture, and writing for an interactive and enriching learning experience. Students will read Marx’s own writings and historical and contemporary interpretations. A series of video lectures by Professor Resnick illustrates concepts with examples, visual aids, and anecdotes refined over years of successful teaching. Instructor-guided participatory discussions promote interaction among students and critical thinking on the central themes of the course. Graded essays, exams, and participatory discussions help students organize and consolidate their knowledge.

This intensive analysis addresses the central themes of Marxian social theory and economics: an understanding of the class process as the organization of surplus value; an analysis of the relationship between class and non-class processes using the concept of overdetermination; the epistemological foundations of Marxian theory (including a discussion of empiricism, rationalism, and dialectics); and other topics. The course ends with application of Marxian concepts to understand the stress and strain of US capitalism over the last four decades.

Offered in Fall 2011 by instructor Hyun Woong Park. Enroll at www.UMassULearn.net or, for current UMass Amherst students, at spire.umass.edu. Questions? Email us: online@econs.umass.edu.

Knowledge Networking and Capacity Building Program on Engendering Macroeconomics and International Economics

1st European Regional Intensive Workshop and Symposium
October 9 - 17, 2011 | İstanbul, TURKEY

In collaboration with ITU Women's Studies Center in Science, Engineering and Technology; Warsaw School of Economics; Levy Economics Institute, Gender Equality and the Economy Program,(GEEP) and University of Utah, Department of Economics

For more information, visit here.

Tenure-Line Faculty Position in Governance, Democracy, and Development | School of International Service

The School of International Service invites applications for a scholar-practitioner for a tenure-line position at the assistant professor level in the field of international development, starting in Fall (August) 2012. The successful candidate will hold a PhD or equivalent degree and have significant field experience in developing countries, a strong record of research and scholarship, and a clearly developed plan for future research and publications.

The successful candidate should be able to design and teach interactive and dynamic courses at both graduate and undergraduate levels that incorporate theory and practice; have expertise in, and be able to teach courses on, governance, democracy, and development; and be able to teach a jointly developed multidisciplinary course in international development, or/and micropolitics of development, or/and research methods.

Interested candidates should send a letter of intent, curriculum vitae, three letters of reference, evidence of teaching effectiveness, copies of relevant publications, and a graduate school transcript. All application materials can be sent by email or paper mail.

 

Please address materials to idsearch@american.edu (Subject: line: ID 2012 Search) or Chair, International Development Faculty Search Committee, School of International Service, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20016-8071.

 

Consideration of applications will commence on September 16, 2011 (note: this is not the deadline) and will continue until the position is filled.

The multi-disciplinary faculty of the School of International Service includes more than one hundred full-time, highly productive scholar-teachers in the fields of comparative and regional studies, global environmental politics, international communication, international development, international economic relations, international peace and conflict resolution, international politics, and United States foreign policy.

The International Development Program, founded in 1975, is one of the best established such programs in the US. It is distinguished by its consistent scholarly and applied focus on the interrelated challenges of poverty, inequality and marginalization. The Program includes eight core faculty, offers two Masters degrees, and an undergraduate and doctoral concentration. See our website at http://www.american.edu/sis/id/ for further details on the International Development Program

Director of Research | website

About the Organization
ClimateWorks is a worldwide network of philanthropic and non-governmental organizations whose mission is to support public policies that prevent dangerous climate change and catalyze sustainable global prosperity. Our goal is to inspire the adoption of policies that limit annual global greenhouse gas emissions to 44 billion metric tons by the year 2020 (25% below projections) and to 35 billion metric tons by the year 2030 (50% below projections) in order to ensure that global average temperatures do not increase by more than 2° centigrade—a threshold that most climate scientists describe as a dangerous tipping point. To achieve this objective, ClimateWorks promotes smart government policies that reduce reliance on carbon-intensive energy sources; rapidly deploy clean, efficient energy technologies and low-carbon infrastructure; and reduce the rate of deforestation in the world’s largest, most threatened tropical forests. We prioritize this work in the nations, regions, and economic sectors responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions, thus increasing our chances of success.

The ClimateWorks Network includes thirteen institutions:

• The ClimateWorks Foundation manages the Network, conducts in-depth policy research and economic analyses, raises needed funds, and sets funding priorities based on the most urgent challenges and largest opportunities for reducing emissions.
• 5 Regional Climate Foundations manage grant portfolios in priority regions, focusing on local and regional politics and campaign-style advocacy. They draw on deep, in-country political expertise and understanding of local conditions to lay the groundwork for policy victories.
• 7 Best Practice Networks put world-class knowledge to work in the sectors responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions. The policy analysts, technology experts, and former regulators who staff Best Practice Networks are deeply embedded in the policymaking process and know how to work with decision makers to ensure policy efficacy.

This collection of organizations composes the ClimateWorks Network and works to pursue coordinated strategies and to share information and tools to increase effectiveness.

Director of Research

The ClimateWorks Foundation is seeking a Director of Research to lead its four-person research team. Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Director of Research will design and manage complex research projects, providing leadership and coordination among ClimateWorks staff, Best Practice Networks and Regional Climate Foundations, and external decision-makers. The Director will work on both country-specific projects and those of international scope, and will excel at translating academic and quantitative analyses into business and policy solutions. The successful candidate will demonstrate exceptional communication skills, a natural ability for quantitative analysis, and a proven understanding of energy research and policy. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced professional who has a keen sense of how to focus and translate energy and climate research so that it will affect policy.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities The Director of Research will perform the following and other duties as assigned:

• Design and manage complex research projects, providing leadership and coordination among ClimateWorks staff, Best Practice Networks and Regional Climate Foundations, and external decision-makers.
• Direct the Global Research team through all stages of the research process, including research scoping, methodology development, data analysis, and synthesis.
• Oversee the development of quantitative and analytical reports and research products.
• Assist the CEO in developing the research agenda and creating work plans for research projects.
• Manage the research team and external consultants in preparing polished presentations of the research team’s findings.
• Present the research in articles and talks in forums around the world.
• As needed, provide research and analysis to inform the work of the Foundation’s development, communications, and strategic planning teams.

Qualifications The successful applicant will have the following minimum qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience in research and/or consulting and 3+ years as a research/consulting manager
• Excellent research skills and the ability to balance rigorous quantitative research with practical application
• Understanding of energy modeling; ability to detect patterns and interpret data in the context of large scale energy systems
• Excellent management and interpersonal skills
• Exceptional writing, editing and communications skills
• Solid quantitative skills; experience guiding a team to conduct modeling and other analytical work
• Experience working in service to a broad range of clients and/or stakeholders
• Foreign language skills a plus
• Advanced degree or equivalent (quantitative background preferred; economics, public policy coursework helpful)
• Passion for environmental issues
• Willingness to travel internationally

Compensation and Benefits ClimateWorks Foundation offers an excellent benefits package and a competitive salary that is commensurate with experience. This position will be located in San Francisco, CA.

To Apply To be considered for this position, interested candidates must follow the link below to submit a resume, cover letter, and salary requirements. CEA Recruiting is assisting the ClimateWorks Foundation with its search for a Director of Research. Please direct all applications and inquiries to CEA Recruiting. This position will remain open until filled.

The ClimateWorks Foundation is an equal opportunity employer. CEA Recruiting works with leading environmental nonprofits, foundations, and businesses to recruit top talent and design effective organizational staffing strategies. For more information, visit www.cearecruiting.com.

Editor in Economics, Communications, and Policy Studies

 

M.E. Sharpe Is seeking an economically and technologically literate editor to help us expand our programs in economics, communications, and policy studies. Position requires pro-active, results-oriented acquisitions of niche textbooks, supplements, and handbooks, with responsibility for list building and project development to meet market needs. Publishing experience and familiarity with college curricula essential; journal experience a plus.

 

Send cover letter describing your work approach, along with cv and salary history, to pkolb@mesharpe.com . Only qualified candidates will be contacted.

 

President | website

 

The New Economics Institute (NEI) is an independent think-and-do tank dedicated to transforming the economic paradigm now prevailing in the United States. It seeks to forge the policies and practices needed for an economy that puts people and planet first and gives priority to sustaining human and natural communities. Mainstream policy-makers, businesses, and even many reformers are still prisoners of old economic assumptions, which cannot address the twenty-first century challenges of society and environment at home and abroad. 

 

Working under the belief that we live in a world of growing and converging crises, NEI’s work begins with the recognition that current patterns of economic activity are degrading the ecosphere and are fundamentally unsustainable, that our way of life is not providing basic requirements for large segments of humanity, that crippling inequality and poverty are growing here in the United States, and that rising opulence for the few is failing to lead to higher levels of wellbeing for all. New ideas and initiatives are urgently needed, and NEI intends to contribute importantly to this goal, amplifying and framing a growing new economy movement.

 

An outgrowth of the 30-year-old E. F. Schumacher Society, NEI is working in close partnership with the 25-year-old New Economics Foundation in London, which has already found success in creating new economy models, to leverage and expand upon the programs developed in the United Kingdom. Further, NEI’s Board of Directors includes prominent thought leaders in many relevant fields.

 

The new President will join NEI at a critical time in its evolution to promote the mission, build the organization, nurture relationships nationally and internationally, and implement programs that establish NEI as a force driving an understanding, appreciation and acceptance of the principles undergirding a new economy. S/he will bring the characteristics and experiences needed to help NEI achieve an ambitious but essential agenda: to go beyond questioning the current economic model and begin to develop and promote a new one, transforming traditional definitions of progress and exploring areas of priority and policy where transformative change is now essential.

 

TO APPLY: Applications -- including a cover letter describing your interest and qualifications, your resume, salary history and where you learned of the position -- should be sent to: nei-ceo@nonprofitprofessionals.com.

 

Assistant Professor of Economics | Department of Social Science

 

The University of Alaska Southeast, Dept. of Social Science, invites applications for a tenure-track, assistant professor in Economics to begin August 2012. Ph.D. in Economics required. Tripartite position includes teaching (introduction, principles of macroeconomics and microeconomics, theory and methods, advanced topics), evidence of commitment to research (grants, publications), and university and public service. A preference will be given to candidates with demonstrated teaching experience and heterodox or cross-disciplinary training (e.g., environmental or resource economics, gender and economics, public policy).  Some distance delivery teaching responsibilities may be required.

Annual salary is commensurate with experience and dependent on qualifications for a nine-month appointment. Includes medical and retirement benefits. Position is covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

 

Duties include teaching three courses per semester, research, as well as university and public service.
Teaching responsibilities include: introduction to economics, two principles of economics courses (microeconomics, macroeconomics), an upper division (e.g., environmental economics, gender and economics) or graduate course (e.g., public policy); and the social science research methods course every two or three years. Faculty is expected to hold office hours appropriate for the course(s) being taught. Faculty is expected to be proactive in developing and modifying curriculum for various delivery and teaching modalities.

NOTE: Official transcripts are required at time of employment offer. Paper or emailed applications are not accepted.

 

Application InformationContact:

Sue Oliva
Human Resources Services
University of Alaska Southeast
Phone:(907) 796-6273
TDD:(907) 796-6001
Online App. Form: http://www.uakjobs.com

 

En continuation con lo expuesto en Buenos Aires, Especulación y los buffer Stocks en Keynes y Kahn aca y Seminarios sobre Keynes y sus Ideas sobre la Especulación Financiera aca continúa Cristina Marcuzzo, en una entrevista hecha en Australia, en Renegade Economists.

Comienza a partir del minuto 5:35. It starts from the minute 5:35 here

Source: Revista Circus, Aug 12, 2011

The complete list of David Gordon lectures that have been published in RRPE is now available on the website, fyi:

http://www.urpe.org/rrpe/Announcements/DavidGordonLecture/DavidGordonLecture.htm

Journal website: http://www.historicalmaterialism.org/journal

 

Isaac and Tamara Deutscher Memorial-Prize Lecture:

Articles

Intervention

• Marx, Lenin and Pashukanis on Self-Determination: Response to Robert Knox / Bill Bowring

Review Articles

Historical-Critical Dictionary of Marxism

Journal website: http://www.hetsa.org.au/historyeconreview.html

 

Articles

• Hayek, Keynesian Economics and Planning Against Competition: A Caveat? / Andrew Farrant and Edward McPhail
• On Adam Smith's Digression Appended to his Chapter on Bounties in The Wealth of Nations: A Window onto his Approach to Political Economy / M.B. Harvey-Phillips
• Douglas Copland and the Aftershocks of the Premiers' Plan / Alex Millmow
• A Note on Henry George's Concept of Value from Obligation / John Pullen
• Luxury, Crisis and Consumption: Sir James Steuart and the Eighteenth- Century Luxury Debate / Aida Ramos
• Dear Prudence: W.F. Lloyd on Population Growth and the Natural Wage / Michael V. White

• Robert Leeson, ed., David Laidler's Contributions to Economics / William Coleman
• Wolfgang Hafner and Heinz Zimmermann, eds, Vinzenz Bronzin's Option Pricing Models: Exposition and Appraisal /Robert W. Dimand
• Simon Cook, The Intellectual Foundations of Alfred Marshall's Economic Science: A Rounded Globe of Knowledge / Mark Donoghue
• Mark Blaug and Peter Lloyd, eds, Famous Figures and Diagrams in Economics / Peter Groenewegen
• Aspromourgos, Tony, The Science of Wealth. Adam Smith and the Framing of Political Economy / Heinz D. Kurz
• Alessandro Roncaglia, Piero Sraffa, Great Thinkers in Economics Series / Matthew Smith

Industrial and Corporate Change, 20(4): August 2011

Journal website: http://www.oxfordjournals.org/page/3924/5 

Articles

• Jongwook Kim / Alliance governance and technological performance: some evidence from biotechnology alliances
• Giulio Bottazzi and Angelo Secchi / A new class of asymmetric exponential power densities with applications to economics and finance
• Rik Wenting and Koen Frenken / Firm entry and institutional lock-in: an organizational ecology analysis of the global fashion design industry
• Alex Coad / Appropriate business strategy for leaders and laggards
• Olof Ejermo and Astrid Kander / Swedish business research productivity
• Mark Dodgson / Exploring new combinations in innovation and entrepreneurship: social networks, Schumpeter, and the case of Josiah Wedgwood (1730–1795)
• Dodo zu Knyphausen-Aufseß, Michael Mirow, and Lars Schweizer / The role of financial analysts in the strategy formation process of business firms
• Fabian Muniesa, Dominique Chabert, Marceline Ducrocq-Grondin, and Susan V. Scott / Back-office intricacy: the description of financial objects in an investment bank

Notes and Comments

• Nathan Rosenberg / Was Schumpeter a Marxist?
• Louis Galambos / A comment on Nathan Rosenberg s question: "Was Schumpeter a Marxist?"
• William Lazonick / Comment on Nathan Rosenberg, "Was Schumpeter a Marxist?"

Journal of Economic Issues, 45(2): June 2012

Journal website: http://www.mesharpe.com/mall/results1.asp?acr=jei

• The 2011 Veblen-Commons Award Recipients: Geoffrey Harcourt and Jan Kregel / Robert E. Prasch
• On Topical Themes in Veblen and Commons's Contributions / G. C. Harcourt
• Evolution Versus Equilibrium / Jan Kregel
• Capitalism, Freedom and Democracy Reprised; Or, Why Is the Liberalization of Capital Associated with the Increased Repression of Individuals? / Robert E. Prasch
• The Political Economy of Institutional Change and Economic Development in Latin American Economies / Carlos Aguiar de Medeiros
• Institutional Structures and Policies in an Environment of Increasingly Scarce and Expensive Resources: A Fixed Cost Perspective / Jing Chen, James K. Galbraith
• Policy Conflicts: Market-Oriented Reform in Health Care / Wilfred Dolfsma, Robert McMaster
• Uncertainty and Pension Systems Reforms / Jesus Ferreiro, Felipe Serrano
• Policies to Reduce Child Poverty: Child Allowances Versus Tax Exemptions for Children / Steven Pressman
• A Double Squeeze on the Middle Class / Robert H. Scott, III, Steven Pressman
• Persistent Racial Disparity, Wealth and the Economic Surplus as the Fund for Reparations in the United States / Kellin Chandler Stanfield
• An Analysis of Bank Overdraft Fees: Pricing, Market Structure and Regulation / Leslie Parrish, Josh Frank
• Banking Ethics and the Goldman Rule / John P. Watkins
• Too Important to Fail: A Reconsideration of the Lender of Last Resort Function / David A. Zalewski
• United States Business Cycles from 1971 through 2010: A Post Keynesian Explanation / John T. Harvey
• Markets and Rules: The Case of the Global Credit Crunch / Antoon Spithoven, Piet Keizer
• The Case for Labor Demand Targeting / Pavlina R. Tcherneva
• The Futility of the Neoliberal Policy of Deliberate Market Construction and the Promise of an Institutionalist Alternative: The Case of Russia's Authoritarian Transition / Anna Klimina
• International Financial Institutions and Democracy in Africa: The Case for Political Conditionality and Economic Unconditionality / Berhanu Nega, Geoffrey Schneider
• The Development Trajectory of the Argentine Economy Since 1976: An Ayresian Perspective / Henning Schwardt
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission: The Return of Substantive Due Process? / Glen Atkinson, Stephen P. Paschall
• GDP as a Measure of Progress and Human Development: A Process of Conceptual Evolution / Richard L. Brinkman, June E. Brinkman
• Path Dependence and QWERTY's Lock-In: Toward a Veblenian Interpretation / John Hall, Iciar Dominguez Lacasa, Jutta Guenther
• Usefulness to Original Institutional Economics (OIE) of Normative Criteria Theory in the Frameworks of Elinor Ostrom's Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) and Paul A. Sabatier's Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) / F. Gregory Hayden
• On the Evolution of U.S. Trade Agreements: Evidence from Taussig's Tariff Commission / Stephen Meardon
• Defense and Commercial Trade Offsets: Impacts on the U.S. Industrial Base Raise Economic and National Security Concerns / Carol Dawn Petersen
• Street Widths, International Ports of Entry and Border Region Housing Values / Thomas M. Fullerton, Jr., Emmanuel Villalobos
• Oil and Gas Production and Economic Growth in New Mexico / James Peach, C. Meghan Starbuck

Journal of Institutional Economics, 7(3): September 2011

Special Issue on the Evolution of Institutions
Journal website:http://journals.cambridge.org/JOI

Introduction

• Introduction to the Special Issue on the Evolution of Institutions / Mark Blyth, Geoffrey M. Hodgson, Orion Lewis, Sven Steinmo

Research Articles

• Crafting analytical tools to study institutional change / Elinor Ostrom, Xavier Basurto
• Constraints on the evolution of social institutions and their implications for information flow / R. I. M. Dunbar
• Interlocking complementarities and institutional change / Ugo Pagano
• Evolution as computation: integrating self-organization with generalized Darwinism / Eric D. Beinhocker
• Conceptual issues in institutional economics: clarifying the fluidity of rules / Jamie Morgan, Wendy Olsen
• Southeastern institutional change and biological variation: evidence from the 19th century Tennessee State Prison / Scott Alan Carson

Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, 33(4): Summer 2011

Journal website: http://mesharpe.metapress.com/link.asp?id=M463UK3129P5

• Behavioral finance and Post Keynesian-institutionalist theories of financial markets / J. Patrick Raines, Charles G. Leathers
• The potential contributions of behavioral finance to Post Keynesian and institutionalist finance theories / Matthew V. Fung
• Global imbalances and modern capitalism: a structural approach to understanding the present economic crisis / Keith Cowling, Stephen P. Dunn, Philip R. Tomlinson
• The cost of job loss and the great recession / Aaron Pacitti
• The influence of trade union bargaining power on EU processing trade / Ricardo Bustillo, Carlos Rodriguez
• Savings and investments-an old debate in times of trouble / Johann Graf Lambsdorff
• In Memoriam: Louise Davidson (January 22, 1931-April 8, 2011)

Mother Pelican: A Journal of Sustainable Human Development: August 2011

Theme: Confluence of Gender Equality and Clean Energy
Journal website: http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisustv07n08page1.html

The outline for this issue is as follows:

• Page 1. Editorial Opinion ~ On the Confluence of Gender Equality and Clean Energy
• Page 2. The Millennium Assessment of Human Behavior, by Eugene A. Rosa, Donald Kennedy, Paul Ehrlich, Tom R. Burns, Ilan Kelman, Atle Midttun, and Nina Witoszek
• Page 3. Substantive Signification of Sustainability, by Arup Kanti Konar and Jayanta Chakrabortty
• Page 4. A sustainable development indicator for NGOs and international organisations, by David Lempert and Hue Nhu Nguyen
• Page 5. Land Value Taxation — Panacea or Placebo, by Alanna Hartzok
• Page 6. Simulating Energy Transitions, by Emile Chappin
• Page 7. Increased Climatic Stress on High-Andean Ecosystems in the Cordillera Central of Colombia, by Daniel Ruiz Carrascal, María del Pilar Arroyave Maya, María Elena Gutiérrez Lagoueyte, and Paula Andrea Zapata Jaramillo
• Page 8. Gender equality between aspirations and realities, by Ioan Voicu
• Page 9. Gender Equity in Islam - Part 3: The Social Aspect, by Jamal Badawi

This issue also includes the following supplements:

• Supplement 1: Advances in Sustainable Development
• Supplement 2: Directory of Sustainable Development Resources
• Supplement 3: Strategies for the Transition to Clean Energy
• Supplement 4: Tactics for the Transition to Clean Energy
• Supplement 5: Status of Gender Equality in Society
• Supplement 6: Status of Gender Equality in Religion

Œconomia – History /Methodology/Philosophy, 1(2): June 2011

Journal website: http://www.weboeconomia.org/

• Robert Nadeau / À la mémoire de Gilles Dostaler (23 novembre 1946 – 26 février 2011) : un témoignage

Contributions à l’histoire de l’utilitarisme

• Rozenn Martinoia / « Une triste fin pour un si grand travail » ? La révision de l’utilitarisme par Henry Sidgwick
• Jean-Jacques Gislain / Le garantisme de la morale utilitaire supérieure : Holbach et l’éthocratie

Choix rationnel, préférences et contrat social | Rational Choice, Preferences and Social Contract

• Emmanuel Picavet / Arguments de choix rationnel et contractualisme : les cas symétriques de Rousseau et de Pareto
• Gaël Giraud, Cécile Renouard / Is the Veil of Ignorance Transparent?

Varia

• Jean-Pascal Simonin /  Un économiste hétérodoxe, théoricien des crises : Louis Amable Petit (1819-1871)
• Alain Desrosières / Les origines statisticiennes de l’économie des conventions. Réflexivité et expertise

Revue des livres | Book Review
Comptes rendus | Reviews

• Nicola Giocoli / Robert Leonard, Von Neumann, Morgenstern and the Creation of Game Theory
• Clément Dherbécourt / George A. Akerlof et Rachel E. Kranton, Identity Economics. How our Identities Shape our Work, Wages, and Well-Being
• Jean-Daniel Boyer / Jan Horst Keppler, L’Économie des passions selon Adam Smith, les noms du père d’Adam
• Jimena Hurtado / Jon Elster, Alexis de Tocqueville. The First Social Scientist
• Gilles Jacoud / Yves Leclercq, La Banque supérieure. La Banque de France de 1800 à 1914

Revista de Economía Critica, 11: 2011

Journal website: http://revistaeconomiacritica.org/n11

• Los problemas de la sobreacumulación en china / Mylène Gaulard

Semimonográfico: Dimensión Financiera De La Crisis

• Contexto y dimensión financiera de la crisis / Ángel Martínez González-Tablas
• ¿Qué fue de los mercados financieros eficientes? La economía, los economistas y el origen de la crisis / Luís Fernando Lobejón
• Crisis financiera y regulación de la solvencia bancaria: una reflexión crítica sobre los Acuerdos de Basilea / José Miguel Rodríguez Fernández
• Derivados / Ángel Vilariño Sanz
• Crisis en la Zona Euro: Perspectiva de un impago en la periferia y la salida de la moneda única común / C. Lapavitsas, A. Kaltenbrunner, G. Labrinidis, D. Lindo, J. Meadway, J. Michell, J.P. Painceira, E. Pires, J. Powell, A. Stenfors, N. Teles

Notas Sobre La Crisis

• Crisis y modelos nacionales de empleo: la experiencia de diez países europeos en la crisis / Albert Recio y Joseph Banyuls

Intervenciones Breves

• Hacia una economía sostenible: dilemas del ecologismo actual / Joan Martínez Alier
• La economía del cuidado: planteamiento actual y desafíos pendientes / Cristina Carrasco Bengoa
• Semblanza en recuerdo a Ramón Fernández Durán / Miren Etxezarreta

Recensiones de Libros

• King, J. E. (2002), Una historia de la economía poskeynesiana desde 1936, Akal, Madrid, 2009 / A. Barceló
• R. Muñoz del Bustillo y Fernando Esteve (Ed), Economía contracorriente. Antología de David Anisi, Los libros de la Catarata/CIP ecosocial, Madrid, 2010  / Jordi Roca Jusmet
• Jack Reardon (Ed.), The handbook of Pluralist economics education. Routledge, London-New York, 2009 / Francesc La Roca
• John Bellamy Foster y Fred Magdoff, La Gran Crisis Financiera. Causas y Consecuencias. Fondo de Cultura Económica, Madrid, 2009 / Bibiana Medialdea
• Guillermo Velázquez, Geografía y Bienestar, Eudeba, Buenos Aires, 2008 / Valentina Viego
• Silvia Federici, Calibán y la bruja, mujeres, cuerpo y acumulación originaria, Traficantes de Sueños, Madrid 2010 / Amparo Moreno Sardà
• José Manuel Naredo y Antonio Montiel Marquez, El modelo inmobiliario Español y su culminación en el caso valenciano, lcaria Antrazyt, Barcelona 2011 / Albert Recio
• Anna Bosch, Mujeres que alimentan la vida. Selección de textos (1996-2008), Icaria Antrazyt, Barcelona, 2010 / Enric Tello
• Juan Francisco Martín Seco, ¿Para qué servimos los economistas?, Los libros de la Catarata, Madrid, 2010 / Aurèlia Mañé Estrada

Science & Society, 75(2): April 2011

Journal website: http://scienceandsociety.com/

Editorial Perspectives: There Is a Revolutionary Alternative (TIARA)

ARTICLES

• Bringing in the Black Working Class: The Black Urban Regime Strategy / John Arena
• Monopoly and Crisis in the Era of the “Giant Corporation”: Neo-Marxist versus Radical Institutionalist Approaches / Devin Penner
• “Measure Them Right”: Lorraine Hansberry and the Struggle for Peace / Robbie Lieberman
• The Limits of an Egalitarian Ethos: G. A. Cohen’s Critique of Rawlsian Liberalism / Justin P. Holt

REVIEW ARTICLE

• MEGA2 and the New Marx Scholarship / Arthur Diquattro   
  

BOOK REVIEWS

• Dimitris Milonakis and Ben Fine, From Political Economy to Economics: Method, the Social and the Historical in the Evolution of Economic Theory / Alex Callinicos
• David A. Spencer, The Political Economy of Work / Sean Sayers
• Erika Schwarz, Juden im Zeugenstand: Die Spur des Hans Globke
• im Gedächtnis von Überlebenden der Schoa / Renate Bridenthal
• Marcel van der Linden, Workers of the World: Essays Toward a Global Labor History / William A. Pelz
• Brian Hanley and Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party / Kevin Rafter
• Patricia Fara, Science: A Four Thousand Year History / George C. Caffentzis and Silvia Federici    
• Jeffrey B. Perry, Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883–1918 / Margaret Stevens

 

IDEAs, July 2011

Website: www.networkideas.org  or www.ideaswebsite.org

Re-regulating Finance

• New Issue Newsletter on EU Financial Reform
• Monetary Union Stability: The need for a government banker and the case for a European public finance authority by Thomas I. Palley

News Analysis

• The Crisis in Europe by C.P. Chandrasekhar
• Raising a Stink by Jayati Ghosh
• The Scariest Thing about the World Economy  by Jayati Ghosh
• The European Upside Down World: Why the nth European agreement is a step back  by Sergio Cesaratto
• How Not to Stress EU Banks and Their Supervisors  by Mario Tonveronachi
• Global Oil Prices  by Jayati Ghosh
• Revisiting Financial Regulation  by C.P. Chadrasekhar
• Changing Guard at the IMF? by Jayati Ghosh

Books

• Strategies against Poverty: Designs from the North and alternatives from the South. Edited by Alicia Puyana Mutis and Samwel Ong´wen Okuro

August 2011

July 2011

 

 

By John Marsh

July 2011 by Monthly Review Press.  Paperback, 328 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1-58367-243-3 | website
  

In Class Dismissed, John Marsh debunks a myth cherished by journalists, politicians, and economists: that growing poverty and inequality in the United States can be solved through education. Using sophisticated analysis combined with personal experience in the classroom, Marsh not only shows that education has little impact on poverty and inequality, but that our mistaken beliefs actively shape the way we structure our schools and what we teach in them.

Rather than focus attention on the hierarchy of jobs and power—where most jobs require relatively little education, and the poor enjoy very little political power—money is funneled into educational endeavors that ultimately do nothing to challenge established social structures, and in fact reinforce them. And when educational programs prove ineffective at reducing inequality, the ones whom these programs were intended to help end up blaming themselves. Marsh’s struggle to grasp the connection between education, poverty, and inequality is both powerful and poignant.

America, the True Origins of the Financial Crisis and the Future of the World Economy
By Yanis Varoufakis
August 2011 by by Zed Books. ISBN 9781780320144 (pb) | website

In this remarkable and provocative book, Yanis Varoufakis explodes the myth that financialisation, ineffectual regulation of banks, greed and globalisation were the root causes of the global economic crisis. Rather, they are symptoms of a much deeper malaise which can be traced all the way back to the Great Crash of 1929, then on through to the 1970s: the time when a 'Global Minotaur' was born. Just as the Athenians maintained a steady flow of tributes to the Cretan beast, so the 'rest of the world' began sending incredible amounts of capital to America and Wall Street. Thus, the Global Minotaur became the 'engine' that pulled the world economy from the early 1980s to 2008.

For more information or to request a review copy please contact Ruvani de Silva on 020 7837 8466 or ruvani.de_silva@zedbooks.net.

By Yanis Varoufakis, Joseph Halevi and Nicholas Theocarakis
June 1, 2011 by Routledge. 536 pages. ISBN 978-0-415-42888-0 | website

 

This dynamic new book delves into every major economic theory and maps out meticulously the trajectory that global capitalism followed from post-war almost centrally planned stability, to designed disintegration in the 1970s, to an intentional magnification of unsustainable imbalances in the 1980s and, finally, to the most spectacular privatisation of money in the 1990s and beyond. Modern Political Economics is essential reading for Economics students and anyone seeking a better understanding of the 2008 economic crash.

 

By David McNally

Brill 2011. 296 pages. Series: Historical Materialsim | webiste

 

Monsters of the Market investigates the rise of capitalism through the prism of the body-panics it arouses. Drawing on folklore, literature and popular culture, the book links tales of monstrosity from early-modern England, including Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, to a spate of recent vampire- and zombie-fables from sub-Saharan Africa, and it connects these to Marx’s persistent use of monster-metaphors in his descriptions of capitalism. Reading across these tales of the grotesque, Monsters of the Market offers a novel account of the cultural and corporeal economy of a global market-system. The book thus makes original contributions to political economy, cultural theory, commodification-studies and ‘body-theory’

By Frederic Jameson 

June 2011 by Verso Books. 176 pages. ISBN: 9781844674541 (hb)| website

Representing Capital, Fredric Jameson’s first book-length engagement with Marx’s magnum opus, is a unique work of scholarship that records the progression of Marx’s thought as if it were a musical score. The textual landscape that emerges is the setting for paradoxes and contradictions that struggle toward resolution, giving rise to new antinomies and a new forward movement. These immense segments overlap each other to combine and develop on new levels in the same way that capital itself does, stumbling against obstacles that it overcomes by progressive expansions, which are in themselves so many leaps into the unknown.

Marx’s fundamental concepts are not presented philosophically, or in social-scientific terms, but rather as a series of figures produced by the development of the text. Jameson grasps Marx’s work as a representational problem and an experiment in constructing the figure or model of the inexpressible phenomenon that is capital.

 

Edited by Klaus Busch, Manfred Flore, Heribert Kohl and Heiko Schlatermund
June 2011 by Merlin Press. 332 pages, paperback | website

The current financial and economic crisis creates serious problems for the member states of the European Union. The effects of the crisis can be seen in rising unemployment, falling wages and drastic cuts made by national governments.  The picture is the same in virtually all countries: the poorest members of society are hit hardest, while those who caused the crisis are spared!

 

There are a limited number of review copies.  Send requests to: tz@merlinpress.co.uk
 

What Every Environmentalist Needs To Know about Capitalism

A Citizen's Guide to Capitalism and the Environment
By Fred Magdoff and John Bellamy Foster

August 2011 by Monthly Review Press. ISBN-13: 978-1-58367-241-9 (pb), 187 pp. | website

This short, readable book is a sharply argued manifesto for those environmentalists who reject schemes of “green capitalism” or piecemeal reform. Environmental and economic scholars Magdoff and Foster contend that the struggle to reverse ecological degradation requires a firm grasp of economic reality. Going further, they argue that efforts to reform capitalism along environmental lines or rely solely on new technology to avert catastrophe misses the point. The main cause of the looming environmental disaster is the driving logic of the system itself, and those in power—no matter how “green”—are incapable of making the changes that are necessary.

13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown

By Simon Johnson and James Kwak, Pantheon Books, New York, 2010. ISBN 978-0-307-37905; 304 pages.
Reviewed for Heterodox Economcis Newsletter by Avraham Izhar Baranes, Denison University
Read the review here.

Green Economics: Confronting the Ecological Crisis

By Robin Hahnel, M.E. Sharpe, 2011; ISBN: 978-0-7656-2796-4, 258 pages.
Reviewed for Heterodox Economics Newsletter by Scott L.B. McConnell, University of Missouri–Kansas City.
Read the review here.

International Handbook on the Economics of Corruption

Edited by Susan Rose-Ackerman, Edward Elgar, 2007; ISBN: 978-1847207456; 656 pages.
Reviewed for Heterodox Economics Newsletter by Sara Hsu, SUNY New Paltz
Read the review here.

Corruption, Development and Institutional Design

Edited by János Kornai, László Mátyás and Gérard Roland, Palgrave MacMillan, 2009; ISBN: 978-0230546998; 296 pages.
Reviewed for Heterodox Economics Newsletter by Sara Hsu, SUNY New Paltz
Read the review here.

Marx and Philosophy Review of Books

• Levant on Ilyenkov’s The Ideal in Human Activity
• Sutton on Badiou on Wagner
• Ainley on Marx and Education
• Marshall on Löwy on Combined and Uneven Development
• Arfken on Critical Companion to Contemporary Marxism
• Carelton on Hobsbawm’s How to Change the World

All at www.marxandphilosophy.org.uk/reviewofbooks/. To receive notification of comments and of new reviews when they appear, join the Marx and Philosophy Society email list: http://lists.topica.com/lists/mpslist

Institute for New Economic Thinking: Fall 2011 Grants Cycle

Joint PhD program on “Economic Development: Analyses, Policies, and Theories”, University of Macerata and University of Camerino, Italy

Our aim is to enable scholars to understand the economic reality they live in so that they may not only operate in academia but also actively participate in the more general context of economic activities. We intend to pursue this goal by laying particular emphasis on theoretical perspectives that are critical of the presently dominant one.

Further information is available at:
http://www.unicam.it/laureati/dottorato/call.asp and
http://www.unimc.it/sda/bando/call

Launch Meeting Report
The African Association for Promoting Political Economy (AAPPE) was launched on the 13th of July, 2011, in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) during the conference « Dynamiques de croissance au sein de l’UEMOA » (12-14 of July 2011), organised by the West African Economic and Monetary Union, WAEMU. The conference gathered together over one hundred Africanist researchers and offered an unprecedented opportunity for taking this initiative. In the first instance, administrative support will be provided by the « Economic Analysis and Research » wing of the Strategic Planning Unit of the WAEMU Commission, although it remains entirely independent of the latter.

 

AAPPE aims at the construction, consolidation, renewal and promotion of economic analyses by virtue of pluralistic methodological and theoretical foundations, being open across different schools of economic thought and to inter-disciplinary collaboration with other social and human sciences. It seeks to recapture the spirit of the traditional project of classical political economy in straddling what are now the separate disciplines constituting social science. Such an intellectual endeavour has today largely been thwarted by the unduly narrow, technical focus of mainstream economics, and its corresponding pretensions of emulating the natural sciences. This has rendered it generally unsuitable for providing the relevant discourse and knowledge required for the understanding of capitalist and developing economies, especially those of Africa. More specifically, after thirty years of structural adjustment, it is imperative to re-establish more critical and constructive approaches to the economic and social progress of the African continent.

 

Contact to register interest in AAPPE: Kako NUBUKPOChef du Pôle « Analyse Economique et Recherche » de la Commission de l’UEMOA. e-mail: knubukpo@uemoa.int

Address: http://www.commonssense.it/s1/

 

The Commons Sense Forum is a project of the International University College of Turin (IUC), a leading centre for the interdisciplinary and critical study of law, economics and finance. The IUC is exploring the framework of the “Commons,” communally-held tangible and intangible resources (i.e. public water, forests, the atmosphere – but also shared culture, ideas, information, and traditions), as an alternative to the gridlocked public v. private and state controlled v. free market debate.

 

Address: http://www.economonitor.com/lrwray/

 
The latest from Wray's Blog:

Address: http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/

European crisis, Greek crisis, politics and economics and more.

 

 I recently finished by doctoral work on the Effect of Fair Trade on indigenous women and am interested in continuing to work academically in Fair Trade and Solidarity Economy. I've presented in Mexico and (soon) Canada.

I am interested in contacting academics who are working in similar areas or who are interested in my providing presentations or projects in that area.
My location is in (southern) Vermont. I can skype, and have power point presentations I can offer.

Thanks!

Tamara Stenn
Keene State College
Adjunct Professor: Integrative Studies, Economics, Management, Fair Trade
Doctoral Candidate
SCI 183, Mailstop 2001
Keene, NH 03435-1301
Cell: 802-579-3386
tstenn@keene.edu

The ESA released a survey this week [4th week of July] that found that a majority of Australian economists think that the economics curriculum needs to be changed. Specifically, 76 per cent of Australian Economists agreed with the proposition that Australian undergraduate economics degree programs should contain more subjects that place economics in a broader context; subjects such as economic history, history of economic thought and political economy. Furthermore, 58 per cent of Australian Economists agreed with the proposition that Australian undergraduate economics degree programs should contain more behavioural economics and experimental economics.

The report can be found here. 

Dear Colleague,  We've made all articles published in Cambridge Journals in 2009 and 2010 free to access for 6 weeks, from 15th July until 30th August 2011.  No need to register

For further information please click here.

 

More than 1,000 people attended the BBC Radio 4 debate Keynes v Hayek hosted by the London School of Economics and Political Science on Tuesday 26 July. The theatre was packed with over 460 people, and more than 450 people were accommodated in other theatres where the debate was being streamed live.

Keynes and Hayek, two of the great economic thinkers of the 20th century, had sharply contrasting views on how to handle financial crises and ensure economic recovery. While Keynes advocated state spending, Hayek believed in tight debt controls. The event saw modern day followers of Keynes, Lord Skidelsky, Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick, and Duncan Weldon, former Bank of England economist, debating with modern day followers of Hayek, George Selgin, Professor of Economics at the University of Georgia, and Jamie Whyte, Head of Research and Publication at Oliver Wyman & Company. The debate was chaired by Paul Mason, Economics Editor of Newsnight, BBC 2.

For those who missed out, there is still a chance to listen to the debate as it will be transmitted on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday 3 August at 8pm, Saturday 6 August at 10.15pm, and at 9am on Wednesday 24th August.

To listen to the audio trail for the programme, please go to http://audioboo.fm/boos/427354-bbc-radio-4-keynes-vs-hayek-2011|. To listen to the unedited LSE podcast, please visit Keynes v Hayek|.

Dear Colleagues,

I’m sure most of you are well aware of the devastating impact that excessive speculation on the food commodities futures market has had on global food prices for the last several years. As of the most recent FAO index, food prices are nearly 50 percent higher now than they were a year ago. We experienced a similar food price spike in 2008. According to a United Nations study, that food price spike pushed approximately 130 million people in the developing world into malnutrition. The letter pasted below should be self-explanatory. I hope you will join me in endorsing it. Please send your endorsement to Tom Pursey (t.pursey@wdm.org.uk) of the World Development Movement staff, who is co-ordinating this letter. Could you please also make clear your title, full name and institution in your response?

 

Thanks for your attention on this,

Bob Pollin

 

Letter

The Canadian Auto Workers union has released a 20-minute video featuring an illustrated lecture from CAW economist Jim Stanford about the flawed economics of yet another proposed free trade deal – this one between Canada and the EU free trade agreement (a.k.a. the “Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement,” or CETA).

 

This link takes you to the film, which can be downloaded for free: http://www.caw.ca/en/10438.htm

 

The lecture basically covers the same terrain as a study by Stanford published last October by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, called Out of Equilibrium. That study considered the likely economic and employment effects of the proposed deal, without the benefit of the usual unrealistic modeling assumptions that the market-worshiping hired guns used in the official economic study for the EU and Canadian governments back in 2008.Here’s a link to the full CCPA study:

http://www.policyalternatives.ca/newsroom/news-releases/canada-eu-free-trade-deal-could-cost-150000-canadian-jobs-study

 

As with other free trade agreements, the participating governments have commissioned a general equilibrium study to “confirm” the economic benefits of free trade. In this case, the government’s own study confirms that Canada’s bilateral trade deficit with Europe will widen. Yet with usual Walrasian magic they turn that dirty water into fine wine: predicting GDP gains of $12 billion over several years (even that’s pretty miniscule, impossible to detect in conventional economic data). How do they do it? Thanks to the usual assumptions like balanced aggregate trade, full employment, uniform factor pricing, and the infamous “representative household” (where the economists assume that all Canadians essentially live in one big happy family, and hence get to equally share in all national income of all types).The CAW video attempts to dissect these wild and crazy assumptions in layperson’s terms, and provide counter-arguments to assist grass-roots campaigners in their efforts to stop this and other FTAs. It generates alternative estimates of the effects of this deal, once the Walrasian assumptions are abandoned. While the video is most directly applicable to the Canada-EU case, its critique of the methodology and findings of neoclassical CGE models of trade agreements has wider relevance.The video is illustrated with entertaining animations from lefty cartoonist Mike Constable.

 

Routledge would like to offer you free access to: The Routledge Political Economy Collection.

This collection brings together a variety of resources from a number of Routledge publications which focus on cutting edge research in accounting. It includes:a selection of journal articles sample extracts from a range of recently published books. You can view and access these resources here- simply click on the titles of articles or books and follow the links!

The WEA is now two months old. So I thought I should give you a brief report on how things stand. Membership is now over 6,000. Donations total nearly £13,000. The Journals Seven of the ten co-editorships of the WEA ’s two new journals have been filled. These are as follows.

 

Economic Thought

 

World Economics Journal

 

We have chosen and are in the process of purchasing an online journal software system for the WEA ’s three journals. It should be up and running by late August. When it is, you will be notified so that you can submit papers. We will also at that time be looking for volunteers to perform various tasks involved in the production of the journals. Meanwhile the editors of the World Economic Journal have already begun work at putting together the first issue. My WEA work commitments have delayed the publication of issue no. 57 of the real-world economics review, but it should be out soon.

 

Editorial Boards have been formed for the three journals and are listed here for the WEJ, here for ET, and here for the RWER.

 

Online Conferences: Volunteers needed

This link to our Guidelines for Conferencesexplains the anticipated conference setup. The Guidelines are open to amendment. We are currently investigating online conference software. It is likely that we will opt for a system that is a module of our journal software. In any case we need:

 

Executive Committee Progress with establishing the World Economics Association reached the point where it needed a top layer of formal structure in addition to its legal status as a Community Interest Company (CIC) under UK law. A formal constitution with procedures for electing officers and Executive Committee members is being prepared, but things are not yet far enough advanced for its adoption and enactment. Therefore we have recruited an interim Executive Committee. Its members are currently as follows.

 

Your ideas for the development of the WEA are welcome. I and my co-organizers Peter Radford, Norbert Häring , Grazia Ietto-Gillies, Vicki Harris and Valerie Radford, who have worked hard for many months, thank you for your support. We hope that you will continue to spread the word among your colleagues and encourage them to join the World Economics Association. Six thousand members is an excellent beginning.

Edward Fullbrook

Dear colleagues,

I want to let you know about the Work Forum, a new initiative that I'm involved with.

The Work Forum will be a small publishing company aimed at spreading awareness of policies promoting full employment. The company will be run on a non-profit basis by volunteers. Print-on-demand technology will be used to keep costs to a minimum. The target audience will be people interested in employment policy, not necessarily experts. We are particularly enthusiastic about the ideas and policy prescriptions of post-Keynesian economists, and in ways of disseminating these ideas to a broader audience.

We are looking for people to help with this effort, both writers and potential editorial board members - and would also welcome suggestions for specific topics for publication. We would also appreciate any assistance in the running of the venture and in publicising our work when things are up-and-running (we're currently working on a web site).

Please get in touch if you might be interested in being involved, or if you have any questions. I would be more than happy to provide more information.

Best regards,

Tanweer Ali
tanweer.ali@esc.edu