Issue 230 May 14, 2018 web pdf Heterodox Economics Directory
Some weeks ago, the AEA has finished its discussion on a 'code of professional conduct' for economists and published a final version on its website (see here). I think it is fair to say that the outcome is ambitious and raises new challenges and questions for economists.
For one, the code is in favor of a "disinterested assessment of ideas" and the "acknowledgement of limits of expertise". These criteria are noteworthy as they emphasize intellectual versatility and openness as well as modesty, concerns that economists are not really famous for. It is, for instance, easy to show that mainstream researchers typically neglect heterodox contributions or that the top 5 journals enjoy an exceptional status in economics, which imposes additonal constraints on the diversity of ideas and approaches represented in economics (see here and here). Also, in supposedly innocent empirical works the role of conceptual priors in assesing one's measurement - what philosophers would call the "theory-loadenness" of observation - is often underestimated in its impact. Typical examples in economics are the tendency to ask what kind of incentives or preferences could drive some behavior (thereby presupposing utility maximization) or the often found practice to equate the marginal contribution of some factor with its relative share in income (thereby presupposing marginal productivity theory; see also here).
For another, the AEA's code also encourages "equal opportunity and fair treatment for all economists, regardless of age, sex, gender identity and expression, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, health condition, marital status, parental status, genetic information, political affiliation, professional status, or personal connections" and, hence, covers a broad territory of possible reasons for discrimination. Against this backdrop, it would be great to see the code inspiring new research agendas, e.g. on whether being a women or member of a minority-group has a measurable impact on citations received or other measures of scientific visibility (see here or here for related examples).
In sum, I think the code of conduct is a noteworthy initiative by the AEA to increase the standards of the economic conversation and it remains to be seen whether this initiative has any lasting effects on our disciplinary standards.
All the best,
Jakob
© public domain
27-29 September | Helsinki, Finnland
The deadline for sumbmission of papers for the 24th Annual Conference on Alternative Economic Policy in Europe on "10 years into the crisis – What prospects for a popular political economy in Europe?" has been extended to 31 May 2018.
More about the Call for Papers can be found in the previous issue of the HEN.
27-28 September 2018 | Curtin School of Business, Perth, Australia
The conference is being hosted by the University of Western Australia and Curtin University and will be held at Curtin’s City Campus.
Location: City Campus, Curtin School of Business, 78 Murray St, Perth
Conference Registration Fees:
General Information:
Pre-Conference Drinks: 5.30pm to 7.30pm, Wednesday 26 September 2018
Conference Dinner: Evening of Thursday 27 September 2018
Key Note Speaker: Dr Michael White
After Dinner Speaker: Hon Stephen Smith, Former Minister for Foreign Affairs
Further details regarding the program will be available on the website, which is currently being developed. Accommodation options are quite varied as the Campus is located in the City centre.
As always, members of any society for the history of economics (e.g. American, Japanese, European or the various national HET societies within Europe) are most welcome to participate in the annual HETSA Conference. So please consider submitting an abstract to: david.gilchrist@uwa.edu.au
Deadline for Submission of Abstracts: 15 June 2018
18-19 October 2018 | Brasilia, Brazil
We invite submissions that raise (or answer) questions on Marxian Labor Theory of Value and its role in Social Sciences.
Papers should address the following topics:
Papers should comprise no more than 5,000 words (incl. references, allappendices and other material) and should include:
Speakers will be asked to make short 10-15 minute presentations addressing the main topics of their papers.
Registration for accepted communications will be paid at the registration desk.
Papers should be sent to unb.gept@gmail.com
Submission Deadline: 27 July 2018
For more information please click here.
In collaboration with the journals Frontiers in Sociology & Frontiers in Public Health we are bringing together a selected group of international experts to contribute to an open-access article collection on: "Perspectives and Theories of Social Innovation for Ageing Population". For the full description of the project please visit this website.
Guest Editors
Andrzej Klimczuk, Warsaw School of Economics, Warsaw, Poland Łukaz Tomczyk, Pedagogical University of Kraków, Kraków, Poland
About this Research Topic
In recent years we may observe increasing interest in the development of social innovation both regarding theory as well as the practice of responding to social problems and challenges. One of the crucial challenges at the beginning of the 21st century is population ageing. Various new and innovative initiatives, programs, schemes, and projects to respond to negative consequences of this demographic process are emerging around the world. However, social theories related to ageing are still insufficiently combined with these new practices, social movements, organisational models, and institutions. Many scholars are still using notions and tools from classical theories of social gerontology or the sociology of ageing such as disengagement theory, activity theory, and successful and productive ageing. Such theories do not sufficiently explain ageing in the context of, for example, a broad use of the information and communications technologies (ICTs) including robotics and automation, new healthcare and long-term care models, advancements in the development and governance of age-friendly environments, and public engagement of older adults into co-production of services delivered by public, private, non-governmental as well as non-formal entities. In this Research Topic we welcome papers critically evaluating the existing social perspectives and theories in the field of ageing, introducing innovative approaches and comparative studies. We welcome researchers from areas such as sociology, pedagogy, public policy, economics, management, and public health. The contributions can be based on theoretical studies as well as the implementation of social innovation and programs addressed at ageing and older people. Reviews and papers on philosophical and ethical issues are also welcome.
As a contributing author, you will benefit from:
Further Information
The abstract submission deadline is 27 June 2018. The manuscript submission deadline is 24 October 2018.
8-11 November, 2018 | London, United Kingdom
There is no escaping the resurgence of far-right racisms, nationalisms, populisms and fascisms across the globe. From Trump's America to right-wing nationalist politics in Europe and Brexit in the UK; from the erosion of social democracy in its Scandinavian bastion to the rising popularity of authoritarian nationalisms in the Middle East; from deepening autocracy in Turkey to the often unchallenged influence of a belligerent Israel; and from the exercise of imperialist global power by financial structures and institutions across the Global South to right-wing nationalist revanchism from India to Russia – the rapid expansion and interlocking of these phenomena suggests that something dramatic is taking place. Yet concrete analyses and political responses from the left are lagging behind the juggernaut of contemporary reaction.
The aftermath of 11 September 2001 consolidated and intensified the colonial marriage of racism, xenophobia and far-right politics. Austerity and the prolonged impact of the 2008 global financial crisis has encouraged right-wing populisms. They have gathered support by blaming the centre for the collapse of traditional politics and castigated its (very limited) reforms in the field of human rights and equality, thereby promoting a nativist backlash against 'minority rights'. The buds of fascism are showing in Germany, Italy and central European countries like Poland and Hungary where fascism had been publicly rejected since the end of the Second World War. International powers fuel war in Syria and destabilise countries such as Libya, whilst refugees from the region provide convenient scapegoats for all social ills. Elsewhere, from Charlottesville to Sofia, violent neo-fascists and neo-Nazis reclaim a street presence and impact that would have been roundly condemned and resisted two decades ago. Now, it finds succour with Trump's patronage and thanks to superficial claims for free speech. Across the globe, the limited gains of reformism have been rolled back and replaced by a renewed immiseration of the working classes and the denigration of women, racialised others, the disabled, non-gender-conforming people, the dispossessed and the different.
Whilst, amongst some, such a state of affairs might encourage melancholia and withdrawal, for others it cries out for a radical left response. There are, however limited, seeds of hope to come from principled resistance to right-wing fascisms, nationalisms and populisms. The left must unify those who are threatened and those who are committed to resisting the right in solidarity, whilst transcending factionalist disagreements or a facile but politically naive and counterproductive left populism. This requires a renewed commitment to concrete analyses that challenge, oppose and dissect the cancerous growth of the contemporary far right: what are the class compositions, cultural resources, psychic structures and gender logics of its various manifestations? How is it anchored in the racism, authoritarianism and imperialism of the early twenty-first century world-order? What do the analyses of fascism, racism, nationalism and right-populism tell us about new articulations of the relationship between ideology, hegemony and political economy? No less important are, of course, the challenges for an effective resistance. What strategies for combatting the far right have proved productive – what can be learnt from countries where it has been kept in the margins? What are the potentials and limitations of militant anti-right politics, antifascisms, left populism, resurgent reformism and other forms of progressive' politics in the present moment?
Drawing on a century of Marxist antifascist and anti-right-wing theory and practice, this year's Historical Materialism conference seeks to elicit discussions about how to confront, challenge, expose and take on the far right. Can classical Marxist theories provide guidance during the present moment? How would they have to be updated and revised in the light of unfolding developments and changed circumstances? How can we rethink the conditions for a radical left strategy that would avoid sectarianism and work towards the mass mobilisation of subaltern classes around an anticapitalist project? Are there new dimensions of fascism, racism, sexism, homophobia and contemporary nationalisms that today require new and different as well as restated responses? What are the scope, limits and key characterising features of this latest articulation of right-wing politics? Are we seeing versions of 'populism' or a more problematic 'dark side of liberal democracy', as some claim?
This is HM 2018's core theme, and we welcome papers on:
At the same time, the conference will include particular streams that will both extend the issues of combatting the new right whilst looking at particular agendas within their politics and theoretical contestations. In addition, as always, HM is open to proposals for panels and papers on any subject within the purview of Marxist and left radical thought and politics, including critical sociology; economics and the critique of politicql economy; cultural, literary and aesthetic theory; political science and theory; history and historiography; philosophy; law; science studies and any other relevant discipline.
Proposals for papers or panels that should be made on the proforma provided here. All queries should be directed to: historicalmaterialism@soas.ac.uk
Please note:
A Note for Paper Proposers
We ask that, as far as humanly possible, you make yourselves available for the whole of the period of the conference, from the Thursday afternoon through to the Sunday evening for two reasons:
Last minute cancellations and no-shows – especially for reasons other than medical or real personal emergencies - are an absolute nightmare for the organisers. We therefore ask you, before you submit an abstract, to make all necessary arrangements with regard to teaching, childcare, travel etc to be sure that you will indeed be able to participate. We encourage submissions from comrades from abroad and can provide paperwork for visa applications where necessary, but we ask that these requests be made as soon as you receive your acceptance notices, not left to the last moment.
We are also very open to preconstituted panels (preferably with no more than 3/4 speakers), including discussions/launches of new books, but we reserve the right to reject certain abstracts in such panels (i.e. these are not "take it or leave it" as a whole) and to reconstitute the panels in different ways where necessary.
We also expect that all participants will behave in an exemplarily comradely manner, including with conference helpers (who do their best in sometimes difficult circumstances). Vigorous and robust debate is to be encouraged but we will not accept sectarian or ad hominem polemics.
Submission Deadline: 1st June 2018
6-9 September, 2018 | Athens, Greece
The 2007-08 global crisis (broadly branded as the Great Recession) is the fourth major global crisis of the capitalist system (after those of the 1870s, 1929 and 1974). Its consequences continue to rock the world economy as it was followed by a period of weak economic performance and, moreover, fears of a new crisis continue to linger on.
The Great Recession came after several decades of neoliberal restructuring that enhanced capital’s profits at the expense of labour, increased inequalities and augmented poverty. However, despite all these the crisis erupted and shattered all the official projections about a bright and smooth path of capital accumulation. Moreover, it shattered the dogmas of economic Orthodoxy about the Great Moderation; that is their belief that the neoliberal structural and institutional changes in the developed economies during the last decades of the 20th century have reduced permanently the volatility of economic fluctuations. Thus, the Great Recession not only disrupted the tranquility of capitalist reproduction but also discredited the prevailing Orthodoxy in economic theory. The latter has become increasingly dogmatic during the years of neoliberal restructuring by resorting to ultra-conservative perspectives based on extremely technical and at the same time utterly unrealistic economic models.
Usually, in such circumstances when there is a great crisis that discredits the prevailing economic theory, there is a change of scientific paradigm. This has happened, to a great extent, in all previous major global crises. Notwithstanding, it appears that this time this is not the case. After the initial shock and the implementation of hasty policy measures in order to contain the crisis, economic Orthodoxy remained at the helm. Particularly in the academia it became even more dogmatic and less tolerant to any dissenting and Heterodox voice.
The focus of the main theme of ICOPEC 2018 is exactly on this riddle. How a very problematic theory continues to survive and dominate both the policy and the academic scene. What are the processes in the economy and the society that sustain its dominance? Is the resolution of the Great Recession final or it entails more upheavals in the near future? What is the condition of the economic Orthodoxy (particularly under its current form of the New Macroeconomic Consensus, that is the hybrid of mild neoliberalism with conservative New Keynesianism)? What is the condition of contemporary economic Heterodoxy? Is it a unified current or it encompass diverse and possibly contradictory perspectives? What is the current state of affairs in Political Economy? Last, but not the least, how all these affect the lives and the well-being of the great labouring majority of contemporary societies?
Of course, apart from its main theme, the ICOPEC 2018 invites all contributions that enrich the perspective of Political Economy and expand the ground for further discussion. Indicatively, proposed papers can touch upon the following issues (for a more detailed list visit ICOPEC 2018):
Submission Deadline: 1 July 2018
Further infromation on the conference can be found here.
Members of the Greek Association of Political Economy and Greek participants in general should register through the Association (contact e-mail) as special provisions and rates pertain. Relevant details can be found at the Greek Association of Political Economy website.
Special Issue on the Institutional Analysis of Gift
Since Mauss’s well-known Essai sur le don first appeared in 1925, gifts and gift exchange have often been studied and theorized within the field of anthropology. Important contributions include those of Levi-Strauss (1969[1949]), Bourdieu (1979, 1997), Gregory (1982), Strathern (1988), Polanyi (1957), Gouldner (1973) and Sahlins (1972).
Norms, routines and rules are examples of institutions, which have varying degrees of influence on economic and social practice. They also change and evolve historically. The gift is an example of a practice underpinned by institutions that served historically, for instance, to reduce uncertainty in social interactions (Sahlins, 1972). Nevertheless, Institutional Economics literature has rarely focused on the nexus between gift and institutions in modern societies.
Conventionally, in all social sciences, gift-giving actions have been embodied in a social exchange theory. This raises, at the outset, a fundamental question: what is it to give? Or what is a gift? Mainstream economics offers a perspective on the gift, which is constructed around exchange, axioms of self-interest, instrumental rationality and utility-maximisation that predominate within conventional forms of economic analysis. As Hodgson (1988: 161) points out: “The utilitarian model of ‘rational economic man’ cannot capture the nature and function of the commitment to moral values, nor the complexities of the ‘gift’ relationships that is typical in this sphere”.
Institutional economics literature has traditionally neglected the analysis of gift with the exception of Hodgson (1988) who argues a) that commodity exchange contains elements of gift and always relies to some extent on trust and b) that both contractual and non-contractual elements such as gift are important in a developed system of exchange and its analysis.
Another exception is Boulding’s Grants Economics (1973), where a particular communication based way of dealing with reciprocity in gift relationships is proposed. Boulding writes: “One of the most important aspects of the grants economy is the role it plays in the building up of integrative structures and communities – that is, groups of people who have some feelings of identification and benevolence toward each other” (p. 27).
This special issue is attempting to fill the gap Institutional Economics literature left in the analysis of the gift to move beyond utilitarian approaches to gift and ‘exchangism’ and to investigate aspects of institutionalism in relation to gift and gift-giving actions. The call is open to both theoretical and empirical approaches to the institutional economics of gift. Also, the call is open to contributions from any discipline. We invite contributions addressing one or a number of the following questions:
Please submit your abstracts of 200 words by 30 June 2018 to Ioana Negru (please include also correspondence email and affiliation). The abstracts will be scrutinized by the Guest Editors of this special issue, namely Stefan Kesting, Ioana Negru and Paolo Silvestri. The authors will be notified by 15 of July 2018 regarding the acceptance or rejection of abstracts. We expect the final papers to be submitted no later than 31 of December 2018. Please note that the acceptance of abstracts does not necessarily imply the acceptance of the paper for the special issue.
Submission Deadline: 30 June 2018
Organized by the Forum for the History of the Human Sciences in honor of historian John C. Burnham (1929-2017), this special issue will bring together historical studies that analyze how the social and behavioral sciences have attended to the meanings and conditions of living well and human flourishing. We are interested in accounts that consider what these sciences, as well as popular works that draw on them, have said about living well, in its spiritual, psychological, cultural, social, economic, and/or political dimensions.
We welcome article-length submissions that explore the development, implementation, and critique of social and behavioral science research and theoretical frameworks in this area. In addition, we are interested in studies that consider the uptake of such work in the broader society, at the level of ideas, social practices, popular culture, and/or public policy. We welcome manuscripts that engage with the topics, geographical areas, and theoretical approaches that Burnham used himself. But we are equally interested in manuscripts that advance other lines of analysis.
Possible topics of historical investigation include:
Send manuscript submissions of approximately 10,000, including notes and references to guest editors Mark Solovey and Debbie Weinstein. The guest editors also welcome preliminary inquiries about the appropriateness of particular subject matters and lines of analysis. All submissions should follow the format outlined in the journal’s Author Guidelines. Submissions selected by the guest editors will be peer-reviewed per the standard procedures of the journal.
Submission Deadline: 1st November 2018
4-6 January, 2019 | Atlanta, USA
The National Economic Association (NEA) is planning a Session on the topic "What are the income and transfer effects of Chinese investment, trade and other economic practices in Africa?" Papers will produce models for estimating the transfers and accumulation of excess returns and profits, by various means.
Papers might examine such questions as:
For further questions please contact Richard America.
12-16 September, 2018 | Poznan, Poland
The School is intended for PhD Students and early-career researchers interested in heterodox approaches to studying complex economic phenomena. We provide an international learning environment for those interested in deepening their knowledge in heterodox economics or considering applying it to their own research area. Over five days, participants will have an opportunity of attending lectures, presenting their findings and ideas, as well as discussing them with highly competent faculty. They will also take part in workshops and seminars that will improve their analytical skills.
Confirmed speakers
The School is organized by the Poznań University of Economics and Business in cooperation with Wydawnictwo Ekonomiczne “Heterodox". The event is supported by the European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy, the Review of Political Economy and the Forum for Social Economics.
For more information, please contact the Organizing Committee or visit this link.
Application Deadline: 31 May 2018
14-15 June, 2018 | Fribourg, Switzerland
The first annual symposium of the Association to Renew Research and Education in Economics and Finance (AREF) will take place on 14 - 15 June 2018 at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). The theme of the symposium is "Studying Economics and Finance differently" and it is aimed at students, researchers and professors, as well as to anyone else interested. Ten years after the onset of the financial crisis, the improvement of the global economic climate is creating an atmosphere of renewal that is prompting some to turn the page on the crisis, while others predict that the worst is yet to come. Beyond the forecasts, we may be at a turning point that could be favourable to step back and take time for a multidisciplinary and critical reflection on the reforms since the crisis, the stakes of current evolutions et and the range of avenues for the future. The symposium is organised around 4 axes and the participants are invited to share their analyses and concerns according to the themes addressed.
Covered topics:
Participation modalities
Participants are invited to confirm their attendance at the following address: perret@obsfin.ch
Speakers are invited to send a brief summary of their presentation 1 week before the symposium
Application Deadline: 29 May 2018
Further information as well as the provisional programme can be found here.
2-3 June, 2018 | Tokyo, Japan
The conference will take place at The Graduate School of Economics, The University of Tokyo, Hongo Campus, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan. 113-0033
The programme of this year's conference can be found here.
Registration fee: 0 Yen (JPY) for JSHET members, 1,000 Yen (JPY) for non-JSHET-members.
Conference dinner fee: 6000 Yen for those with full time job, 5500 Yen for those without full time job. These are the prices for those who reserve a dinner by 20th May. Please register your participation and book dinner via the following online-registration form.
For more information please visit this link.
Presentations from the 27th Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference, “Financial Stability in a World of Rising Rates and the Repeal of Dodd-Frank,” are now available online.
Topics discussed during the two-day event include our recently issued employer of last resort study, the reform of financial regulation and monetary policy, the effect of “America first” on trade and globalization, and the tracking of financial fragility in the economy.
Job title: Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics
The Economics Program at Bard College invites applications for a one year full-time, visiting assistant professor position in economics starting in Fall 2018. We are interested in candidates whose work complements the department’s existing pluralistic orientation. Preference will be given to candidates who can teach Economic History (American or European) and/or International Macro/Trade.
The successful candidate will teach in the core curriculum areas as well as in the areas of his or her specialty. We welcome candidates who are broadly trained and interested in economic policy. The successful candidate will have an active research agenda and a commitment to undergraduate teaching in the liberal arts tradition
Located 90 miles north of New York City in the Hudson Valley region, Bard is a highly selective liberal arts college with a commitment to innovative teaching, interdisciplinary curricular programs and the integration of research and teaching. The Bard campus is the home of the Levy Economics Institute, which hosts conferences and seminars, runs an innovative master’s program and publishes research on matters of economic policy and offers opportunities to faculty and students not typically available at an undergraduate college. For further information, see the program website.
Applicants should send a cover letter, curriculum vitae, three letters of recommendation, examples of published research and/or working papers, a statement of research interests, a statement of teaching philosophy and a summary of teaching evaluations. Bard College is an equal opportunity employer. Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply. AA/EOE.
Please send all materials by electronic submission to hr@bard.edu and tchernev@bard.edu. Paper applications are not accepted. Review of applications will begin immediately and continueuntil position is filled.
Professorship in Macroeconomics
TU Chemnitz is looking for a W3-Professor in "Economics - Microeconomics" to do research and teach a variety Value and Price theory to students in their bachelor's or their master's studies. Thereby, special focus should be given to the university's core topics "People and Technology" and "Economics of Labour".
Please find the full posting here (only in German).
Application deadline: 11.06.2018
Articles:
Sheila Dow, Robert McMaster, Andrew Cumbers: Sine praejudicio? Economics and the 2014 Scottish independence referendum
Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira, Fernando Rugitsky: Industrial policy and exchange rate scepticism
Paulo Gala, Jhean Camargo, Elton Freitas: The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) was right: scale-free complex networks and core-periphery patterns in world trade
Lennart Erixon: Progressive supply-side economics: an explanation and update of the Rehn-Meidner model
Soon Ryoo: Top income shares and aggregate wealth-income ratio in a two-class corporate economy
Federica Rossi: The drivers of efficient knowledge transfer performance: evidence from British universities
Francis Green, Samantha Parsons, Alice Sullivan, Richard Wiggins: Dreaming big? Self-valuations, aspirations, networks and the private-school earnings premium
Florentin Glötzl, Armon Rezai: A sectoral net lending perspective on Europe
Jinxian Wang, Koen Caminada, Kees Goudswaard, Chen Wang: Income polarization in European countries and Europe wide, 2004–2012
Saverio M Fratini: Sraffa on the degeneration of the notion of cost
Comment and Rejoinder
Geoffrey Ingham: A critique of Lawson’s ‘Social positioning and the nature of money’
Tony Lawson: The Constitution and Nature of Money
Sebastian Thieme: Spiethoff’s Economic Styles: a Pluralistic Approach?
Ramzi Mabsout: The Backward Induction Controversy as a Metaphorical Problem
Daniel Linotte: Reassessing Marshall’s Producers’ Surplus: a Case for Protectionism
Arturo Hermann: The Decline of the ‘Original Institutional Economics’ in the Post-World War II Period and the Perspectives of Today
Anne Mayhew: Comments on Arturo Hermann’s paper, ‘The Decline of the “Original Institutional Economics”’
Ann H. Kelly and Linsey McGoey: Facts, power and global evidence: a new empire of truth
Kevin P. Donovan: The rise of the randomistas: on the experimental turn in international aid
Véra Ehrenstein and Daniel Neyland: On scale work: evidential practices and global health interventions
David Reubi: Epidemiological accountability: philanthropists, global health and the audit of saving lives
Linsey McGoey and Darren Thiel: Charismatic violence and the sanctification of the super-rich
Ann H. Kelly: Ebola vaccines, evidentiary charisma and the rise of global health emergency research
Véra Ehrenstein: Carbon sink geopolitics
Forum
Eckhard Hein: Interview with Marc Lavoie
Trevor Evans: The economic expansion in the US since 2009 and Donald Trump's ambitions to ‘drain the swamp’
Thomas I. Palley: Monetary policy and the punch bowl: the case for quantitative policy and wage growth targeting
Articles
Christian A. Belabed: Income distribution, the Great Depression, and the relative income hypothesis
Ricardo Ramalhete Moreira: Alternative economic policy under a regime with inflation targeting, primary surpluses and a floating exchange rate: an analysis for developing economies
Andrew B. Trigg and Ricardo Azevedo Araujo: A multi-sectoral approach to the Harrod foreign trade multiplier
George F. DeMartino: Editor’s Introduction, FSE Papers and Proceedings
Symposium: The Democratic Crisis and the Responsibility of Economics
James K. Galbraith: Pecuniary Valuation in the Age of Trump
Constance André-Aigret & Robert W. Dimand: Populism versus Economic Expertise: J. Laurence Laughlin Debates William (Coin) Harvey
Zoe Sherman: Commodified Attention, Commodified Speech, and the Rejection of Expertise
Stephan Pühringer & Walter O. Ötsch: Neoliberalism and Right-wing Populism: Conceptual Analogies
Asimina Christoforou & Fikret Adaman: Democratisation of Economic Research and Policy by Building a Knowledge Commons: Inspiration from Cooperatives
Talks
Julie A. Nelson: The Complicity of Economics
Richard D. Wolff: Democracy and the (Ir)responsibility of Economics
Further Selected papers in Social Economics
Melanie G. Long: Pushed into the Red? Female-headed Households and the Pre-crisis Credit Expansion
Christian E. Weller & Angela Hanks: The Widening Racial Wealth Gap in the United States after the Great Recession
Richard McIntyre: The Development of Social Economy in France Since 1945
Chata Male & Quentin Wodon: Girls’ Education and Child Marriage in West and Central Africa: Trends, Impacts, Costs, and Solutions
Paolo Savona: Sulla produttività in generale e sulla produttività in Italia
Giuseppe Garofalo, Giulio Guarini:Reti d’impresa ambientali e sviluppo eco-sostenibile a livello regionale
Gaetano Perone: I costi della criminalità organizzata nel settore agroalimentare italiano
Andrea Bendinelli, Angela Martini: Efficacia della scuola paritaria e della scuola statale in Italia: un confronto alla luce dei dati delle prove Invalsi 2016
Special issue: Symposium on Bruce Caldwell’s Beyond Positivism After 35 Years
Scott Scheall: Introduction to a Symposium on Bruce Caldwell’s Beyond Positivism after 35 Years
Kevin D. Hoover: A Countercultural Methodology: Caldwell’s Beyond Positivism at Thirty-Five
Tony Lawson: Beyond Deductivism
Peter Boettke, Solomon Stein, Virgil Henry Storr: Why Methodology Matters: Reflections on Bruce Caldwell’s Beyond Positivism
Bruce Caldwell: Reflecting on Beyond Positivism at Thirty-Five
Essays
Luis Mireles-Flores: Recent Trends in Economic Methodology: A Literature Review
Alain Marciano: Why Is “Stigler’s Coase Theorem” Stiglerian? A Methodological Explanation
From the Vault
Luca Fiorito: John M. Clark and Frank H. Knight on the Adding-Up Theorem, Overhead Costs, and More
Jan Kregel: What we could have learned from the New Deal in dealing with the recent global recession
Jean-Philippe Berrou and Claire Gondard-Delcroix: Dynamics of social networks of urban informal entrepreneurs in an African economy
Stefano Fiori: Formal and informal norms: their relationships in society and in the economic sphere
Rosalia Castellano, Gennaro Punzo and Antonella Rocca: The generational perspective of gender gap in wages and education in southern Europe
Alisha A. Kim and Jonas B. Bunte: Demand for different types of public goods: evidence from Nigeria
Original Articles
Michele Bee: Wealth and sensibility. The historical outcome of better living conditions for all according to Adam Smith
Philippe Légé: History, utility and liberty: John Stuart Mill's critical examination of Auguste Comte
Beate Sauer, Friedrich L. Sell: Lost in translation – a revival of Wolfgang Stützel's Balances Mechanics
Saverio M. Fratini: Is Marx's absolute rent due to a monopoly price?
Kenji Mori: New aspects of Marx's economic theory in MEGA: Marx's original six-sector model
Romain Plassard: The origins, development, and fate of Clower's “stock-flow” general-equilibrium programme
Roberto Romani: On science and reform: the parable of the new economics, 1960s–1970s
Jochen Schumann: Heinrich von Storch's innovative contributions to economics
Articles
Leanne J. Ussher, Armin Haas, Klaus Töpfer, Carlo C. Jaeger: Keynes and the international monetary system: Time for a tabular standard?
Jean-Sébastien Lenfant: Probabilising the consumer: Georgescu-Roegen, Marschak and Quandt on the modelling of the consumer in the 1950s
Ludovic Ragni: Applying mathematics to economics according to Cournot and Walras
Pedro Teixeira: Conquering or mapping? Textbooks and the dissemination of human capital theory in applied economics
Katia Caldari: Alfred Marshall and François Perroux: the neglected liaison
Hailiang Gu: The Chinese Wisdom of Contemporary Political Economics
David Laibman: Money and Totality: Another Round of Debate on Value Formation and Transformation
Juan Pablo Mateo Tomé: Marx's Law of the Profit Rate and the Reproduction of Capitalism: Neither Determinism Nor Overdetermination
Hardy Hanappi: Capital after Capitalism: The Evolution of the Concept of Capital in the Light of Long-Run Sustainable Reproduction of the Species
Taner Akpınar and Servet Akyol: Political Economy of Transforming Social Security Policy in Turkey
Sven-Eric Liedman | 2018, Versobooks
In this essential new biography—the first to give equal weight to both the work and life of Karl Marx—Sven-Eric Liedman expertly navigates the imposing, complex personality of his subject through the turbulent passages of global history. A World to Win follows Marx through childhood and student days, a difficult and sometimes tragic family life, his far-sighted journalism, and his enduring friendship and intellectual partnership with Friedrich Engels.
Building on the work of previous biographers, Liedman employs a commanding knowledge of the nineteenth century to create a definitive portrait of Marx and his vast contribution to the way the world understands itself. He shines a light on Marx’s influences, explains his political and intellectual interventions, and builds on the legacy of his thought. Liedman shows how Marx’s masterpiece, Capital, illuminates the essential logic of a system that drives dizzying wealth, grinding poverty, and awesome technological innovation to this day.
Compulsively readable and meticulously researched, A World to Win demonstrates that, two centuries after Marx’s birth, his work remains the bedrock for any true understanding of our political and economic condition.
A link to the book can be found here.
by Douglas A. Irwin | 2017, The University of Chicago Press
Douglas A. Irwin’s Clashing over Commerce is the most authoritative and comprehensive history of US trade policy to date, offering a clear picture of the various economic and political forces that have shaped it. From the start, trade policy divided the nation—first when Thomas Jefferson declared an embargo on all foreign trade and then when South Carolina threatened to secede from the Union over excessive taxes on imports. The Civil War saw a shift toward protectionism, which then came under constant political attack. Then, controversy over the Smoot-Hawley tariff during the Great Depression led to a policy shift toward freer trade, involving trade agreements that eventually produced the World Trade Organization. Irwin makes sense of this turbulent history by showing how different economic interests tend to be grouped geographically, meaning that every proposed policy change found ready champions and opponents in Congress.
As the Trump administration considers making major changes to US trade policy, Irwin’s sweeping historical perspective helps illuminate the current debate. Deeply researched and rich with insight and detail, Clashing over Commerce provides valuable and enduring insights into US trade policy past and present.
Please find the link to the book here.
François Chesnais | 2018, Haymarketbooks
Across the world, economic recovery, growth and investment are – at best – slow. At the same time, shares, derivatives and other financial instruments are traded in vast quantities with unprecedented rapidity. In accounting for this divergence between the apparent fortunes of the underlying ‘real’ economy and the world of finance, both mainstream and Marxist economists have offered varying answers.
Finance Capital Today enters this debate, providing a rich new analysis of the specific features of contemporary capitalism. Utilising Marx’s theory of interest-bearing and fictitious capital and highlighting the increasing concentration and centralisation of capital within a truly global system, Chesnais argues against those who attribute the current sluggish state of the world economy exclusively to a ‘crisis of financialisation’ or ‘financialised capitalism’. Instead, we are faced with a crisis of capitalism tout court, in which large amounts of capital are looking for profitable investment in a setting of underlying overproduction and low profits. The outcome will be low global growth, repeated financial shocks and the growing interconnection between the environmental and economic crises.
A link to the book can be found here.
Frederic S. Lee and Bruce Cronin | 2018, Edward Elgar
Despite the important critiques of the mainstream offered by heterodox economics, the dominant method remains econometrics. This major new Handbook provides an invaluable introduction to a range of alternative research methods better suited for analysing the social data prominent in heterodox research projects, including survey, historical, ethnographic, experimental, and mixed approaches, together with factor, cluster, complex, and social network analytics. Introductions to each method are complemented by descriptions of applications in practice.
A link to the book can be found here.
Brett Frischmann and Evan Selinger | 2018, Cambridge University Press
In this wide-reaching, interdisciplinary book, Brett Frischmann and Evan Selinger examine what’s happening to our lives as society embraces big data, predictive analytics, and smart environments. They explain how the goal of designing programmable worlds goes hand in hand with engineering predictable and programmable people. Detailing new frameworks, provocative case studies, and mind-blowing thought experiments, Frischmann and Selinger reveal hidden connections between fitness trackers, electronic contracts, social media platforms, robotic companions, fake news, autonomous cars, and more. This powerful analysis should be read by anyone interested in understanding exactly how digital networked technology is shaping the future of our society, and what we can do now to build something better.
A link to the book can be found here.
Andrea Komlosy | 2018, Versobooks
Tracing the complexity and contradictory nature of work throughout history. Say the word “work,” and most people think of some form of gainful employment. Yet this limited definition has never corresponded to the historical experience of most people—whether in colonies, developingcountries, or the industrialized world. That gap between common assumptions and reality grows even more pronounced in the case of women and other groups excluded from the labour market.
In this important intervention, Andrea Komlosy demonstrates that popular understandings of work have varied radically in different ages and countries. Looking at labour history around the globe from the thirteenth to the twenty-first centuries, Komlosy sheds light on both discursive concepts as well as the concrete coexistence of multiple forms of labour—paid and unpaid, free and unfree. From the economic structures and ideological mystifications surrounding work in the Middle Ages, all the way to European colonialism and the industrial revolution, Komlosy’s narrative adopts a distinctly global and feminist approach, revealing the hidden forms of unpaid and hyper-exploited labour which often go ignored, yet are key to the functioning of the capitalist world-system.
Work: The Last 1,000 Years will open readers’ eyes to an issue much thornier and more complex than most people imagine, one which will be around as long as basic human needs and desires exist.
A link to the book can be found here.
PhD in Professional and Corporate Networks
Copenhagen Business School, Department of Organization invites applications for a vacant PhD scholarship within the field of organization studies, specializing in professional and corporate networks. In announcing a PhD scholarship in 'Professional and Corporate Networks', the department wishes to strengthen interdisciplinary research in organizational and managerial processes and consequences. We are interested in projects that relate to and develop the department’s research profile. Examples of research themes that a scholarship might cover:
Department of Organization (IOA) pursues a problem-oriented, business in society approach to understanding and intervening in organizations and organizational life. Our research is driven by an interest in organization as a practical, situated, contested and changing matter. Our approach is interdisciplinary and combines social-scientific traditions such as organization theory, sociology, anthropology, political science, political economy, and social psychology in the analysis of organizing processes and their outcomes. Methodologically, we value qualitative research methods highly and often adopt case study and fieldwork methodology. The teaching responsibilities associated with the scholarship comprise undergraduate teaching and supervision in subjects such as organization theory, organizational analysis and qualitative methodology, and social science methods. The Department will give priority to applicants with high grades from their universities. The three-year PhD program at CBS allows you to conduct research under the supervision of CBS professors, supported by research training courses. The program is highly international, and you are expected to participate in international research conferences and to spend time abroad as a visiting PhD student.
See the CBS homepage for more information about the PhD program. It is also required that the applicant shows an interest in joining the Department’s research environment. Copenhagen Business School has a broad commitment to the excellence, distinctiveness and relevance of its teaching and research programmes. Candidates who wish to join us should demonstrate enthusiasm for working in an organisation of this type (highlighting, for example, relevant business, educational and dissemination activities) For further information please contact: Head of Department Signe Vikkelsø, tel.: +45 3815 2827, e-mail: ssv.ioa@cbs.dk. Information about the department may be found here. Appointment and salary will be in accordance with the Ministry of Finance’s agreement with the Central Academic Organisation.
General information
A PhD scholarship runs for a period of 3 years, and includes teaching obligations equivalent of ½ year’s work (840 work hours). The scholarships are fully salaried positions, according to the national Danish collective agreement. The scholarship includes the tuition fees, office space, travel grants plus a salary, currently starting with per month app. DKK 23.770 (app. 3,160 euro) up to DKK 28.964 (app. 3,860 euro) depending on seniority, plus a pension contribution totalling 17,1 % of 85 per cent of the base salary. The salary level and appointment is determined by the Ministry of Finance’s collective agreement with the Central Academic Organisation. The PhD student will be enrolled at the PhD School in Organisation and Management Studies To be considered, the candidate should have a basic training at the Masters level (similar to the 3 + 2 Bologna process). An educational background in the social sciences is necessary. The applicant must have successfully completed the Masters degree before commencing PhD at CBS. The applicants must be fluent in English.
The application must include
Recruitment procedure
The Recruitment Committee expects to shortlist at least five applicants to be assessed by the Assessment Committee. All applicants will be notified of their status in the recruitment process shortly after the application deadline. Applicants selected for assessment will be notified about the composition of the Assessment Committee and later in the process about the result of the assessment. Once the recruitment process is completed each applicant will be notified of the outcome of their application. Please find guidelines and further information on scholarships and the Doctoral Programme here.
Application must be sent via the electronic recruitment system, using the link below. Copenhagen Business School must receive all application material, including all appendices (see items above), by the application deadline. Details about Copenhagen Business School and the department are available here.The envisaged starting date of the position is September/October 1, 2018.
Admission Deadline: May 30, 2018.
Lars Syll: Game Theory—A Severe Case of ‘as-if’ Model Platonism
David Ruccio: Utopia and Macroeconomics
Habtamu Girma Demiessie: A Better Way for Development Theory and Practice
Stuart Birks: On Kurien’s new book, Economics of Real-Life
Malgorzata Dereniowska interviews Peter Söderbaum: Economics Education and Pedagogy
The current Editors of The Journal of Economic Methodology, John B. Davis and D. Wade Hands, will be stepping down next year. The new Editor or Editorial Team is expected to take office in January 2020, with responsibility for issues from March 2020 onward.
The International Network for Economic Method has established a search committee to recommend a new Editor (or Editorial Team) to the Board of Directors when they meet at the INEM 2019 conference. The Committee is comprised of Marcel Boumans (chair), Dan Hausman and Margaret Schabas.
The Search Committee invites inquiries and expressions of interest from individuals or teams, and is open to various different arrangements, including a single Editor, an Editor with Assistant Editors, or two or more joint Editors. The term of the Editor is six years, with the expectation of renewal for another six-year term on the mutual agreement of the Editor(s) and the Board of Directors.
At this time, the Search Committee encourages, by September 1, 2018, informal nominations or expressions of interest.
We will follow up with a shortlist and encourage formal submissions by October 1, 2018. These would include a full CV, a statement to motivate editorial strengths and vision to be brought to the office, and a clear expression of institutional support, such as funds for an editorial assistant, travel to other conferences, or course releases. Because the journal operates entirely on-line, these resources are optional but advisable.
Communications should be sent to Marcel Boumans.
The Journal of Economic Methodology is a peer-reviewed research journal in economic methodology and philosophy of economics as well as cognate areas of inquiry related to these fields. The Journal distinguishes between methodology (which concerns the relationship between economics and broad questions about scientific knowledge) and methods (which involve particular techniques relevant to practitioners in a specific field of economics) and reserves the pages of the Journal for authors and readers with broader epistemic interests.
The scope of The Journal of Economic Methodology covers economic methodology and philosophy of economics, but within this scope it encourages diversity in approach and in topic. The Journal considers research from a number of different perspectives, including historical and sociological, and publishes work from any area of economic inquiry as long as it contains a significant epistemological or methodological component. The Journal carries articles on traditional topics within economic methodology and philosophy of economics but also encompasses various subjects from the philosophy of natural or social science to areas of philosophical inquiry such as ethics, as long as they have a direct bearing on debates within the two primary fields of inquiry.
The aim is to publish significant research in these fields and to stimulate, as well as serve as a forum for, substantive discussion of recent developments. Peer-reviewed research articles constitute the core of the Journal, although some issues contain symposia on topics of particular interest. Some symposia fill an entire issue, but there are mini-symposia made up of regular submissions. Some symposia are organized by guest editors and some are organized by members of the editorial team. The Journal has a Book Review Editor and a regular book review section. In addition to reviews of books on economic methodology and related topics, the Journal also publishes book review symposia on titles of particular importance to the field.
Submission deadline for nominations (or expression of interest): 1st September 2018
For more information about the journal, please see www.tandfonline.com/rjec.
Documents obtained by alumni and students through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reveal that private donors have considerable influence over George Mason University’s law school, economics department, and the Mercatus Center.
“Emails responsive to my request demonstrate that the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy is influencing faculty and student selection, recommending and establishing legal programs, and redirecting large amounts of scholarship revenues at the law school,” said Allison Pienta, a GMU Law graduate who made a FOIA requests to obtain a portion of these documents. “For a public law school, that’s simply unacceptable.”
Additional documents released to Samantha Parsons, another alumna of the university, reveal that donors were given shared decision-making power over faculty hires within the economics department and were able to recommend whether or not those faculty were retained or removed from their sponsored professorships. It appears that several current GMU economics faculty were hired under these unorthodox selection and review processes involving Mercatus staff, the Koch Foundation and/or other donors, and other GMU faculty. The agreements also suggest Mercatus had oversight over faculty and student research, including doctoral dissertations.
According to Bethany Letiecq, President of the American Association of University Professors at GMU, these documents confirm what many faculty and students have suspected for years. “Private donors have been provided influence over faculty affairs at our public university. This is a violation of the public trust--and a violation of the university system as a whole.” Letiecq said.
Faculty and students at George Mason University have been raising concerns about donor influence, particularly influence of the Charles Koch Foundation, since 2011. The Charles Koch Foundation has donated almost $200 million to over 400 universities since 2005-- George Mason University has received over 50% of those total donations.
“Charles Koch admits that universities are the most important thread in his web of political influence,” said Samantha Parsons, who filed the FOIA request that produced the responsive economics department and Mercatus documents. “These documents show just how far the Koch network will go to make sure their university investments serve them - even if that means breaking the rules."
All responsive documents can be found on UnKoch My Campus' website.