Heterodox Economics Newsletter
Issue 95 | February 17, 2010

Web: http://heterodoxnews.com/n/htn95.html
PDF: http://heterodoxnews.com/n/htn95.pdf



From the Editors

Greetings and Happy (lunar) New Year!

It is the season for the ASSA (Denver, USA. January 2011) conference call for papers. In particular we want to highlight AFEE's focus on policy issues, asking for papers on The Policy Relevance of Institutional Economics. While Heterodox economists continue to offer realistic alternatives to the sterile mainstream view, the fight to be heard is ongoing...
 
We want to mention two other conferences of note. First, this October EAEPE's (European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy) conference will focus on the Neoliberal versus European Models of development (an added attraction for oenophiles is the location--Bordeaux, France); second, we are very happy to post the call for papers for "The First Seminar in Post Keynesian and Heterodox Economics" to be held in Bogota, Colombia in August. Buena suerte!

Among other items in this issue, we would like to call your attention to the following. Firstly, Wolfram Elsner is in the making of a new microeconomics textbook, which is 'non-toxic' and heterodox in its nature. Please take a look at the first chapter available on-line. Secondly, let us fully support Steve Keen's walk from Australia’s Parliament House to Australia’s highest mountain, Mt Kosciousko–a distance of 224km (140 miles). You may join his walk along the way, write him on his webpage, or make a donation! Thirdly, those who have planned to attend the ICAPE 2010 Conference, it has been postponed due to conflicting dates with events being planned by some of the member organizations. Lastly, we would be remiss if we did not put a little shout out for Fred Lee's new book, A History of Heterodox Economics: Challenging the Mainstream in the 20th Century.  
 
Regards,
 
Tae-Hee Jo and Ted Schmidt
 
Newsletter Website: http://heterodoxnews.com 
Email: heterodoxnews@gmail.com 
 
Tabe of Contents
  1. Call for Papers
    1. EAEPE 2010 Conference
    2. AFEE at ASSA 2011
    3. URPE at ASSA 2011
    4. International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education
    5. Feminist Economics
    6. First Seminar in Post Keynesian and Heterodox Economics
    7. Book: Alternative Perspectives of a Good Society
    8. Marx and Philosophy Society Seventh Annual Conference
    9. Daniel Singer Prize 2010
    10. Colloque "Agir en situation d'incertitude"
    11. Convocatoria al Congreso AEDA 2010
    12. Economic Governance and the Government-Market Interface: An International Conference
    13. Ecological Economics Reviews
  2. Conferences, Seminars and Lectures
    1. Cambridge Seminar in the History of Economic Analysis
    2. Cambridge Realist Workshop
    3. SOAS Seminar Series on Money and Development
    4. Séminaire Hétérodoxies du CES (Paris I)
    5. CPNSS 20th Anniversary Celebrations
    6. NIESR Employment Seminar Series
    7. Public Debate: Post-Recession Blues: who is being hit the hardest?
    8. The Economics of Climate Regulatory Policy: Current Findings and Lessons from the Past
  3. Job Postings for Heterodox Economists
    1. American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
    2. Occidental College
    3. School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London
    4. Corporate Strategy and Industrial Development (CSID)
  4. Conference Papers, Reports, and Articles
    1. Institute for International Political Economy (IPE) Berlin
    2. Post Keynesian Economics Study Group
    3. GDAE Policy Brief: Industrial Livestock Firms Big NAFTA Winners
    4. Inflación: la política en acción
    5. Sustainable Development and Small Entreprises
    6. Development Viewpoint 46
  5. Heterodox Journals and Newsletters
    1. Challenge, 53(1): Jan./Feb. 2010
    2. European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 17(1): Feb. 2010
    3. History of Political Economy, 42(1): Spring 2010
    4. Economic Systems Research, 21(3)
    5. Local Economy, 25(1)
    6. Pelican Journal of Sustainable Development: Feb. 2010
    7. Lettre de diffusion de l'Association Française d'Economie Politique
    8. eInsight
    9. IDEAs
    10. CCPA
    11. nef e-letter
  6. Heterodox Books and Book Series
    1. A History of Heterodox Economics : Challenging the mainstream in the twentieth century
    2. Radical Economics and Labour: Essays inspired by the IWW Centennial
    3. Theories of Social Capital: Researchers Behaving Badly
    4. Cultural Political Economy
    5. Elgar Companion To Adam Smith
    6. Economists In The Americas
    7. Money, Investment And Consumption: Keynes’s Macroeconomics Rethought
    8. Financial Crises And Recession In The Global Economy
    9. Free Trade Doesn’t Work: What Should Replace it and Why
    10. Unlevel Playing Fields: Understanding Wage Inequality and Discrimination
    11. The Task of the Critic
  7. Heterodox Book Reviews
    1. The Keynes Solution: The Path to Global Economic Prosperity
  8. Heterodox Web Sites and Associates
    1. Blog on “Triple Crises” in Finance, Development, and Environment
    2. The History of Economics Society of Australia (HETSA)
    3. Manifesto of Revolutionary Solutions
    4. Marx and Philosophy Review of Books
    5. IIPPE Environment Working Group
    6. Research on Money and Finance (RMF)
    7. Keen Walk to Kosciuszko: Walking Against Australia's Property Mania
  9. Queries from Heterodox Economists
    1. Microeconomics of Interactive Economies: Evolutionary and Institutional Perspectives
  10. For Your Information
    1. ICAPE 2010 Conference has been postponed
    2. Leontief Prize
    3. Feminist Economics, free to download 12 popular and highly cited articles
    4. A life in politics: New Left Review at 50

Call for Papers

EAEPE 2010 Conference

European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy

Bordeaux, France. 28-30 October 2010

The economic crisis and the renewal of the European model(s)
Revisiting the debate on varieties of capitalism


Call for papers

During the 1990s (the « new economy » era) and the beginning of the 2000s, liberal market economies (LMEs) were usually presented as performing better than coordinated market economies (CMEs) regarding their economic performances (growth rates, productivity, employment, finance, etc.), and this due to their flexibilities despite their negative impacts (income inequalities). In-depth studies of socioeconomic performances contested such a view and highlighted instead the successes of some European countries as well as the limited performances of some LMEs, including the US. Nevertheless, the dominant political view continued to stress the superior efficiency of market-based mechanisms of coordination and, due to the globalization process, concluded that CMEs would have no other choice than to introduce more flexibility in their markets (product, labour, finance, etc.). The 2008 financial crisis challenges such a view as CMEs – including emerging countries – have tended to show greater powers of adaptation to the crisis, in particular by limiting its negative impact on their financial structures and employment. Indeed, an unexpected flexibility has often been revealed and the virtues of regulation have been rediscovered.

Given such a general context, theoretical debates on varieties of capitalism now clearly need to deepen analysis of the diversity of socioeconomic models, especially through confronting the following challenges:

Keynote speakers:

Keywords:

Submission of abstracts:

The abstract should clearly mention:

The submitted abstracts will be refereed by the scientific committee and the coordinators of research areas.

Important deadlines:

Scientific committee :

Claude Dupuy, Jackie Krafft, Yannick Lung, Eva Niesten, Vanessa Oltra, Pasquale Tridico and Andy Smith

Local organizer: GREThA UMR CNRS 5113 – Université de Bordeaux
With the support of :

• European Union (FP7, ICaTSEM and FINNOV projects)
• Conseil Régional d’Aquitaine
• Université Montesquieu-Bordeaux IV, PRES Université de Bordeaux

AFEE at ASSA 2011

Association for Evolutionary Economics

Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado, USA. January 7-9, 2011
 
The Policy Relevance of Institutional Economics
 
AFEE invites proposals for individual papers and complete panels on the topic of The Policy Relevance of Institutional Economics. As the second decade of the 21st century begins, nations across the globe face a multitude of economic, social, and environmental challenges, and the economics profession faces mounting criticism for its inability to address the critical issues of our time. Institutional economics has a long history of contributing to public policy debates, and the theme of 2011 annual meetings will be the relevance of institutional economics for policy analysis and policy-making. All proposals reflecting the tradition and analytical perspective of the Association for Evolutionary Economics will be given serious consideration, but preference will be given to those proposals that address public policy debates and proposals in areas of current concern, including employment, financial markets and banking, health care, education, international trade, economic development, and the environment.
 
The deadline for submission of proposals for papers and sessions is April 12, 2010. Submissions via e-mail are strongly encouraged. When sending your email, clearly identify it as an AFEE paper or panel submission in the subject line. If receipt of your paper or panel proposal has not been acknowledged within two weeks of submission, please contact the Program Chair (japeterson@csufresno.edu). Authors will be informed whether their proposals have been accepted by the end of May 2010.
 
Proposals for panels may contain up to five papers, and must include relevant details of all papers to be presented (see below). Constraints imposed by the Allied Social Science Association severely limit the number of sessions allocated to AFEE. AFEE deeply regrets that it will be necessary to turn down many good proposals.
 
Presentations should be no more than eighteen minutes in length so as to leave time for discussion.  To be considered for publication in the June 2011 Journal of Economic Issues, the text of your paper cannot exceed 2,850 words, plus no more than four pages (total) of double-spaced endnotes and references, tables and figures. The deadline for submission for the June JEI is December 13, 2010.  JEI submission details will be provided to authors whose proposals are accepted for the conference.  All criteria for the submission of papers, including deadlines, will be strictly enforced by the editor.
 
At least one of the authors of any paper must be a member of AFEE.  For membership information please visit www.afee.net or contact ehake@ewu.edu.
 
Proposals for papers or panels must be submitted to the Program Chair by April 12, 2010.  The following information must be submitted for each paper:
a)      Name(s) of author(s)
b)      Professional affiliation(s)
c)      Email address of corresponding author
d)     Mailing address of corresponding author
e)      Title of proposed paper
f)       Abstract of no more than 250 words
g)      Your willingness to serve as a discussant or session chair (specify field)
 
I look forward to hearing from you.
 
Program Chair: Janice Peterson
Department of Economics
California State University, Fresno
5245 North Backer Ave M/S PB20
Fresno, CA 93740
E-mail:  japeterson@csufresno.edu
Phone: 559-278-2673

Download Call for Papers.

URPE at ASSA 2011

Union for Radical Political Economics
Denver, USA. January 7-9, 2011. ASSA

URPE invites proposals for individual papers and complete sessions for the URPE at ASSA annual meeting. URPE welcomes proposals on radical political economic theory and applied analysis from a wide variety of theoretical traditions.

The deadline for proposed papers and sessions is May 1, 2010. At that time individual and panel proposals will be checked to be sure everyone is current with their URPE dues or the proposals will be set aside.

Proposals for complete sessions are encouraged and should include the session title, a brief description of each paper, and the names, institutional affiliations, and email addresses of the chair, discussants, and presenters. Proposals for sessions should contain four papers. If you are proposing a complete session, please arrange to have discussants for your papers and a chair for your session.  As the organizer of this session, you are responsible for conveying administrative information to session members, including confirmation that the session has been accepted, the time and location, and deadlines. A registration form must be completed for each paper.

Proposals for individual papers should include the title, the abstract, and the author's name, institutional affiliation, and email. You should also complete the registration form. Individuals whose papers are accepted may also be expected to serve as a discussant for a different paper at the meetings. If you list the areas you prefer to discuss, all attempts will be made to match your preferences. Individual papers that are accepted will be assigned to sessions and each session will have an assigned organizer. It is the organizer's job to convey administrative information to session members, including confirmation that the session has been accepted, the time and location, and deadlines. URPE has no paid ASSA staff, so those presenting papers must share the burden of organizing.

We regret that high quality individual papers may be turned down due to the inability to place them in a session with papers with similar themes. For this reason, we strongly encourage proposals for full sessions. The number of sessions we can accept is limited by ASSA, and we regret that high quality sessions may be turned down as well.

Please note that the date, time, and location of sessions is assigned by ASSA, not URPE. You should receive word from URPE that your paper/session was accepted by mid-June. ASSA will not assign dates and times until much later in the summer.

Please note that anyone who presents a paper (but not the chairs or discussants) must be a member of URPE (except at joint sessions with other groups, in which case they can be a member of the other organization) at the time of submission of the paper or panel proposal. Contact urpe@labornet.org or 413-577-0806 for membership information. We will confirm membership prior to accepting proposals. (Membership form)

We prefer that you submit your application on line on the URPE website www.urpe.org, beginning April 1 (instructions will be available by March 1 on the website). You may also submit a completed copy of the Program Registration Form (below) by snail mail, or provide the same information by email. Only applications received by the May 1 deadline will be considered.

If you have any questions, please contact one of the URPE at ASSA coordinators: Fred Moseley (fmoseley@mtholyoke.edu), Mount Holyoke College. Laurie Nisonoff(lnisonoff@hampshire.edu), Hampshire College
            

International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education

An International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education conversation:

“Contending Perspectives as Pluralism: What Have Our Students Learned?”


Symposium editors:

The International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education invites proposals (title and abstract only) for short papers (maximum 6000 words) that explore the complex chemistry of using a contending perspectives approach to pursue pluralist goals in economics education.

Two decades ago, Chuck Barone (Dickinson College, USA) published an influential paper, “Contending Perspectives: Curricular Reform in Economics.”  Barone detailed the motivation, goals, and structure of his department’s “contending perspectives” course – a required, intermediate-level course in which students are introduced to Radical/Marxian, Old Institutionalist, Austrian, Post Keynesian, and Steady-State paradigms.  While Barone did not use the term pluralism, his liberal arts vision of promoting students’ intellectual and ethical development through exposure to alternative economic theories became a starting point for the development of similar courses in economics departments across the globe.

Taking Barone’s model as a starting point, the aim of this IJPEE symposium is to reflect anew on the educational goals of pluralist economics education (What are they? How do we know when students have achieved them?) and the role of “contending perspectives” in achieving these goals.  We invite submissions that ask questions of the following type:
Proposals must be received by March 15 in order to be considered for this symposium.  Strong preference will be given to concrete cases from teaching practice that address one or more of the above (or related) questions and to theoretical papers that advance discussion of pluralist economics education in the context of the issues outlined above.  Proposals from scholars in developing nations are especially encouraged.

Download Call for Proposals.
 

Feminist Economics

Call for Papers

A Special Issue: Critical and Feminist Perspectives on the Financial and Economic Crises
Guest Editors: Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, James Heintz, and Stephanie Seguino

The 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent global economic recession have prompted significant reflections on the workings (and failures) of the global economic system and  inspired consideration of fundamentally different policy options. In the wake of growing evidence of gendered effects of the crisis, feminist scholars have the potential to provide important insights into appropriate policy responses and systemic reforms.

This special issue, planned for publication in 2013, will illuminate the multiple and gendered dimensions of the global financial crisis of 2008 and ensuing economic recession in economies of both North and South countries. Of particular interest are contributions that will explore the causes of the crisis, its human costs, and needed policy responses.

Contributions may cover diverse topics, including but not limited to:

Deadline for abstracts: 15 April 2010.
Please direct queries and abstracts (500 words maximum) to the Guest Editors: Sakiko Fukuda-Parr (fukudaps@newschool.edu), James Heintz (jheintz@peri.umass.edu), and Stephanie Seguino (sseguino@uvm.edu). After approval of abstracts, final papers will be due 15 September 2010 and should be submitted to Feminist Economics through the submissions website (http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rfec). Questions about these procedures may be sent to feministeconomics@rice.edu, +1.713.348.4083 (phone), or +1.713.348.5495 (fax).

Download Call for Papers.

First Seminar in Post Keynesian and Heterodox Economics

Research Group in Macroeconomics and Economic Policy, MACRÓPOLIS
9 to 13 August, 2010. Bogota, Colombia.

Call for papers:

The Research Group in Macroeconomics and Economic Policy, MACRÓPOLIS, is organizing his First Seminar in Post Keynesian and Heterodox Economics which will be held at the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, in Bogota, from August 9th to 13th, 2010.

We would like to invite undergraduate and graduate students, professors and professionals to present Post-Keynesian and Heterodox papers, both theoretical and empirical, that are related with the following topics:
•    Economic Growth
•    Economic Policy
•    Consumption Theory
•    Monetary Theory
•    Microeconomics
•    Macroeconomics History
•    History of Economic Thought
Submission details
  1. Submission of abstracts: from February 16th to May 14th, 2010.
  2. Submission of accepted papers: until July 16th, 2010.
  3. The papers can be written in English or Spanish.
  4. The papers must be presented in Word or PDF formats, and must have the following characteristics: a maximum extension of 11.000-13.000 words, including notes and references; simple space between lines; 13 points-sized Garamond font; letter-sized paper with 3 cm margins.
  5. The author’s personal information must be included as a symbol footnote stating: author’s name, occupation, academic level and, necessarily, his/her e-mail.
  6. No more than two (2) papers allowed per author.
  7. The abstracts and accepted papers should be sent to: macropolis@gmail.com
  8. Other details

The event will include the participation of Professor Fernando Carvalho, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Professor Malcolm Sawyer, University of Leeds (England); and Professor Marc Lavoie, University of Ottawa (Canada). They will give a number of lectures during the days of the event.

Steering Committee

Download Call for Papers (in both English and Spanish)

Book: Alternative Perspectives of a Good Society

Call for Papers for a book proposal with the theme:

“Alternative Perspectives of a Good Society”

Editor: John Marangos

After the successful joint session of AFEE/ASE with the theme “Alternative Perspectives of a Good Society” at the ASSA meeting in Atlanta, there appears to be a need for a collection of papers to be published (with interest from Palgrave for possible inclusion in the Perspectives from Social Economics series) questioning the dominant paradigm, not only in economics, but in the society at large. The book proposal would consist of a collection of papers recruited from the joint AFEE/ASE session at the ASSA meeting and from this Call for Papers. The papers should examine and explicitly deal with issues from alternative perspectives that have been ignored by the dominant socio-economic theory and practice. The papers should examine and question the prevailing consensus and as such illustrate alternative processes to the ongoing transformation of society for the benefit of the people. The methodology adopted should be holistic, historical, dynamic and comparative in nature. Researchers should aim to use alternative perspectives in ways that go beyond traditional socio-economic theories. The focus may be, but not restricted to, alternative economic processes and policy proposals, alternative politics and institutions, the role of ideology and culture, alternative perspective of ethics, and gender issues.
Those interested should submit an extended abstract of 300-350 words by 31 March 2010 as a word attachment. For queries and submissions contact:

John Marangos, Department of Economics
University of Crete, Rethymno, 74100, Crete, Greece
Ph: (+30) 28310-77426, Fax: (+30) 28310-77406
email: marangos@econ.soc.uoc.gr

Download Call for Papers.
 

Marx and Philosophy Society Seventh Annual Conference

Call for graduate panel papers

Saturday 5 June 2010, Institute of Education, University of London

'Abstraction, Universality and Money'

Main speakers:
The Marx and Philosophy Society aims to encourage scholarly engagement with, and creative development of, the philosophical and foundational aspects of Marx's work. The society welcomes contributions from any philosophical or political position.

Papers on any topic consonant with the general aims of the Society (not necessarily on the specific conference theme) are invited from postgraduate students for a panel at the conference. Papers should be planned to last for approximately 20 minutes. Please submit abstracts of up to 300 words by 5th March 2010 to David Marjoribanks at dm275@kent.ac.uk

For more information, visit http://www.marxandphilosophy.org.uk/society.

Daniel Singer Prize 2010

Call for Essays

The Daniel Singer Millennium Prize Foundation congratulates Salvador Aguilar Solé, author of Socialism in the 21st Century World:  What to Learn from Failed Past Experiences, which won the 2009 Singer Prize. The $2,500 annual prize is a tribute to the outstanding writer, lecturer and thinker, who died in December 2000.  

The Singer Foundation invites submissions to its 2010 competition.  The prize will be awarded for an original essay of not more than 5,000 words, which explores the question:  

“Given the devastating effects of the present crisis on working people, what proposals for radical reform can be raised which are both practical to the vast majority while moving us towards the goal of socialism”

Essays may be submitted in English, Spanish or French.
The essays will be judged by an international panel of distinguished scholars and activists, and the winner will be announced in December 2010.
Essays can be sent either by post or e-mail to:  The Daniel Singer Millennium Prize Foundation, PO Box 2371, El Cerrito, CA 94530 USA; danielsingerfdn@gmail.com.  Submissions must be received by July 31, 2010.

Download Call for Essays: [Short] [Detailed]

Colloque "Agir en situation d'incertitude"

Un colloque "Agir en situation d'incertitude" est organisé par l'INRA, le CIRAD et Paris Sud. Il est prévu en novembre 2010. Les objectifs du colloque et l'appel à communications figurent  sur son site: <http://www.agir-incertitude2010.fr/> L'orientation générale de ce colloque porte sur les questions agricoles et alimentaires mais toute réflexion sur l'incertitude est la bienvenue.

Bien cordialement,
Gérard Azoulay (Membre de l'ADEK)

Conference information and Call for Papers can be found here: http://www.agir-incertitude2010.fr/

Convocatoria al Congreso AEDA 2010

Primer llamado

“Lineamientos para un cambio estructural de la economía argentina. Desafíos del bicentenario”
("Guidelines for a structural change in Argentina's economy. Challenges of the bicentennial ")
 
Buenos Aires 20 y 21 de septiembre 2010
 
Primera circular

CONVOCATORIA
El bicentenario, como toda fecha emblemática, nos coloca frente a la necesidad de hacer un balance tanto de los logros  como de los desafíos para construir un mejor país para todos. Luego de tres décadas de políticas que generaron desintegración de la industria, desmantelamiento del Estado, exclusión y pobreza, en los últimos años comenzó a revertirse esta tendencia regresiva. No obstante, la transformación de la matriz productiva y distributiva es un proceso de mediano plazo. Este requiere nutrirse de propuestas concretas de política económica que sean resultado de un profundo conocimiento de la estructura económica argentina, sus debilidades y sus fortalezas.

Es por ello que, en esta ocasión, los invitamos a presentar trabajos que renueven el análisis de la economía argentina del siglo XXI como así también contribuyan con recomendaciones para perfeccionar instrumentos y crear nuevas políticas. Una vez más, serán igualmente bienvenidas aquellas contribuciones de carácter teórico, así como  relativas a otros países de América Latina u otras etapas históricas que contribuyan al debate.  

Se programarán sesiones simultáneas sobre los siguientes ejes temáticos: macroeconomía para el desarrollo; estructura productiva, integración regional e inserción internacional; mercado de trabajo, crecimiento y distribución del ingreso; el Estado y sus finanzas; innovación tecnológica y dinámica empresarial; avances y retrocesos en América Latina.

A su vez, se realizarán paneles de debates, integrados por destacados especialistas de nuestro país y el extranjero, sobre los temas más salientes de la coyuntura política y económica.

FECHAS CLAVE:
Envíos de resúmenes: 1 de Mayo
Difusión resultados selección de trabajos: 1 de Junio
Recepción de trabajos (versión final): 15 de Agosto

Los resúmenes deben ser enviados a correoaeda@gmail.com.
Download Call for Papers.

Economic Governance and the Government-Market Interface: An International Conference

Call for Papers

Economic Governance Research Group, University of Greenwich, London
ecg47@gre.ac.uk

Economic governance institutions are defined as rules, norms, regulations, legislation, and formal and informal ‘ways of doing things’, etc. that affect the cost/incentive structures faced by public and private economic agents. In this conference, we aim to bring together researchers who examine the economic implications of the economic governance institutions that regulate the interaction between governments and markets.

We aim to contribute to the debate by: (i) examining the extent to which economic policies and/or business decisions may be endogenous choices shaped by existing economic governance institutions; (ii) discussing the extent to which micro- or macro-economic outcomes may be affected by existing institutions; and (iii) exploring the scope for or barriers to institutional change as an avenue for resolving collective action problems that may be conducive to sub-optimal policy choices and/or economic outcomes.

Stated differently, we aim to insert economic governance institutions as an additional explanatory variable into our economic analysis of fundamental problems such as credible commitments, contracting, moral hazard, conflict resolution, collusion, rent seeking, capture, power and/or information asymmetries, etc.

We would like to invite paper proposals in the following areas.
1. Economic governance and macroeconomic policy
2. Economic governance, risk and regulation
3. Economic governance and public-private contracting
4. Economic governance and international public goods

Proposals should include: Paper title; 300-word abstract; 4-5 Key Words; Name and contact details of author

Deadline for proposal submission : 15 March 2010
Deadline for selection feedback  : 22 March 2010
Conference date   : 4 June 2010

Conference organisers aim to publish the conference papers as a journal special issue or as an edited book in 2011/12. You will be reimbursed for economy-class return tickets and two-night accommodation in historic Greenwich Village, London.

For proposal submission and all correspondence, please contact: ecg47@gre.ac.uk
We look forward to receiving your proposals and seeing you at the conference.

Mehmet Ugur
Jean Monnet Reader in Political Economy
University of Greenwich Business School
ecg47@gre.ac.uk
Download Call for Papers.

Ecological Economics Reviews

Call for Papers

The U.S. Society for Ecological Economics is proud to announce the publication of the inaugural volume of Ecological Economics Reviews, part of the annals of the NY Academy of Sciences. The volume contains authors such as Rudolf de Groot, Richard Cowling, Bruce Hannon, R. Kerry Turner, Peter Nijkamp, Peter Söderbaum, Barry D. Solomon, Pushpam Kumar, and many others. You can find the complete volume at:
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122401764/grouphome/home.html

We are now looking for contributions to the second volume. The deadline for contributions is May 3rd. Author guidelines and the first volume announcement are attached.

Ida Kubiszewski
Managing Editor
Ecological Economics Reviews
http://www.nyas.org/ecoeco

[Top]

Conferences, Seminars and Lectures

Cambridge Seminar in the History of Economic Analysis

At Clare Hall. 25 February 2010, 8.15 p.m.

The second meeting of Lent Term is on Thursday 25 February, 8:15 p.m. in the College meeting room.

Nahid Aslanbeigui (Monmouth College and Clare Hall) will speak on

Hostage to Fortune: Edward Chamberlin and the Reception of The Theory of Monopolistic Competition

In February 1933, Edward Chamberlin published The Theory of Monopolistic Competition, at which point it seemed that he would be able to claim exclusive priority for a research program that reconfigured the theory of value on new foundations. This prospect changed dramatically in spring 1933, when Joan Robinson published The Economics of Imperfect Competition. A consensus quickly developed that the two books shared the same substance, method, and even origin. Beginning in the mid-1930s, Chamberlin developed tactics designed to gain control of the reception of his research program by imposing on the books a reading that established fundamental differences between imperfect and monopolistic competition and proved that the latter was theoretically much more promising than the former. This was a project to which he devoted his post-Monopolistic Competition career of more than twenty-five years. This paper analyzes Chamberlin’s principal tactics. (1) He organized a roundtable on monopolistic and imperfect competition for the American Economic Association in December 1936, taking elaborate measures to reverse the disciplinary consensus. (2) He made a habit of combing the literature on economic theory for interpretations of Monopolistic Competition that he regarded as erroneous and contacted the offending authors to correct their views. (3) He used his former Harvard doctoral students as surrogates who would advocate his position in their publications. (4) Finally, he published critiques of Robinson, attempting to engage her in controversy over the respective merits of their theories.

Presentation is followed by drinks and discussion and everyone is invited to stay and meet the speaker.

The Convenors

Further information about the seminar series can be found visiting the seminar website at http://sites.google.com/site/camhistseminar/Home.

Cambridge Realist Workshop

Monday February 22,
Speaker: Ron Martin (Cambridge)
Topic: "Rethinking Path Dependence: Beyond Lock-in to Evolution".

Monday March 08
Speaker: Adel Daoud (Gothenburg University)
Topic: What is the Scarcity

Please note once more that this year the location of the Realist  Workshop has changed. We no longer meet at CRASSH.  Instead we meet in Clare College, which is in Trinity Lane. More specifically we meet in the Latimer room, which is in the Old Court. For a 3-Dmap see:
http://www.clare.cam.ac.uk/livingincollege/3-DMap.htm

As always  the seminars will start at 8pm, but drinks will be available from 7:30 pm.

SOAS Seminar Series on Money and Development

22 Feb
Ioana Negru (Anglia Ruskin University)
Room 116  5.00 pm
"Economist Heal Thyself? Reflections  on the dismal science in the wake of the crisis"

1 Mar
Ronen Palan (University of Birmingham)
Room V327 (Vernon Square)  5.00 pm
"The British Imperial Nexus and the Contemporary International Financial System"

8 Mar
Massimiliano La Marca (Unctad)
Room 116     5.00 p.m.
"Capital Flow, Paradox? Growth, distribution and external imbalances in emerging economies"

Chair: Jan Toporowski (jt29@soas.ac.uk)

ALL WELCOME

Department of Economics
School of Oriental and African Studies
Russell Square Thornhaugh Street
London WC1H 0XG
http://www.iippe.org

Download Poster.

Séminaire Hétérodoxies du CES (Paris I)

Bonjour,
Je vous rappelle le calendrier pour le semestre des prochaines séances du séminaire Hétérodoxies du CES (Paris I)

Le mardi à 16h aux dates suivantes :

23 février 2010
Sandrine ROUSSEAU (CLERSE, Lille 1) et Maël ROLLAND (CEMI-EHESS), « L’environnement comme facteur de crise : une relecture de la crise du fordisme et de la crise actuelle »

9 mars 2010
Amitava DUTT (University of Notre Dame),  « Distributional Dynamics in Post-Keynesian Growth Models »

13 avril 2010
séance sur A. Gorz avec deux communications avec
Richard SOBEL (CLERSE, Lille 1), « La philosophie du travail de Gorz est-elle marxienne ? », et
 Carlo VERCELLONE (CES, Paris 1), « L’analyse gorzienne de l'évolution du capitalisme »

11 mai 2010
Jean-Jacques GISLAIN (CRISES – Québec ; PHARE – Paris I)
« Pourquoi l'économie est-elle nécessairement instituée ? Une réponse commonsienne »

8 juin 2010
Isaac JOHSUA (Paris IX) « Une analyse marxiste de la crise »

Lieu : Maison des Sciences Economiques, Salle des Conférences (6e étage)
106 Boulevard de l’Hôpital, 75 013 PARIS (Métro Campo Formio),

Les communications sont disponibles sur le site au plus tard 15 jours avant le séminaire : http://matisse.univ-paris1.fr/heterodoxies

Ci-joint l'affichette - calendrier (click the link to download the poster)

Edwin le Heron
Sciences Po Bordeaux
11 Allée Ausone
33607 Pessac Cedex - France
e.le.heron@sciencespobordeaux.fr

CPNSS 20th Anniversary Celebrations

The Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year.  To mark this occasion we are holding some celebratory events. Please find attached your personal invitation to our first event, a Show Case Seminar, on Friday 12 March 2010 and subsequent events in May and June.

The Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science (CPNSS) was founded in 1990.  The aim was to bring together research in the philosophy of science that was germane to issues of major social importance.  After twenty years the Centre is as active as ever, with several new research initiatives under way.  Activities include several major externally funded research projects, research by individuals, mixed groups of visitors and LSE faculty members, the hosting of conferences and acting as a home for long-running seminars.  The Centre provides a lively and intellectually vibrant base for our students, researchers and visitors, allowing unique opportunities for the sharing of knowledge and ideas.

Please note that space to the Show Case Seminar is limited, so if you would like to attend please RSVP as soon as possible to: philcent@lse.ac.uk

We very much hope you will be able to join us in celebrating our anniversary.
 
Rom Harré Diretor | Roman Frigg Deputy Director
Centre for Philosophy of Natural & Social Science
LSE
Houghton Street
London
WC2A 2AE
Tel:  +44 (0)20 7955 7573
Fax: +44 (0)20 7955 6869
www.lse.ac.uk/cpnss/20th Anniversary

Download Invitation to the event.

NIESR Employment Seminar Series

National Institute of Economic and Social Research

Seminar 5:
If you would like to attend the event or to receive further information, please notify Pat Shaw by email: p.shaw@niesr.ac.uk or phone: 020 7654 1905.
http://www.niesr.ac.uk/event/event.php

Public Debate: Post-Recession Blues: who is being hit the hardest?

Thursday 18th of March, 12:00 – 15:00 pm at NIESR, 2 Dean Trench Street, London, SW1P 3HE

We are delighted to invite you to our second ‘Question Time’ style debate. Our theme this year is concerned with the impact of the economic crisis on individuals, communities and the labour market. Should the needs of young people be given priority? Is the expansion of university and college places and apprenticeships the answer? How can we respond to the inter-generational effects of ‘worklessness’ and avoid potentially damaging consequences for social cohesion and the well-being of society? What is the role for learning and skills in the new socio-economic and policy climate?

This event is part of the ESRC’s Festival of Social Science being held during the National Science & Engineering week. The panel includes well-known commentators from public life and members of the ESRC-funded LLAKES Research Centre:

Claire Fox (Chair), Director of the Institute of Ideas; Professor Danny Dorling, Professor of Human Geography, University of Sheffield; Adam Lent, Head of the Economic and Social Affairs Department at the TUC; Anna Fazackerley, Head of Education and Arts and Culture, Policy Exchange; Geoff Mason, Senior Research Fellow at NIESR; and David Willetts, Shadow Minister for Universities and Skills.

We aim to present a diverse range of views in order to stimulate fresh ideas for policymaking and research. Thus we welcome your active participation through questions to the panel. Please e-mail us your questions in advance or bring them along on the day.

For reservations or if you require any further details please contact Magdalini Kolokitha at:
Email: m.kolokitha@ioe.ac.uk; Tel: 020 73315112.
Best Wishes,

Lorna Unwin Professor of Vocational Education
Deputy Director of LLAKES
Institute of Education, University of London

Professor Andy Green
Professor of Comparative Social Science
Director of LLAKES
Institute of Education, University of London

Download Invitation.

The Economics of Climate Regulatory Policy: Current Findings and Lessons from the Past


Join us for a Webinar on March 4
Register Now

Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/774005050

FREE WEBINAR
March 4, 2009, 3:00 – 4:30 Eastern Time

Climate change policies all involve some form of regulatory change or intervention in the marketplace. Such interventions are often feared because they are new and different. Moreover, new regulations are frequently challenged on the basis of their apparent costs, especially by those representing the industries, activities, or markets to be regulated.  

The discussion of impacts, including monetary costs and benefits, is often complex and may be difficult for non-economists to follow. The object of this webinar is to present the evidence on the costs of reducing carbon emissions in the US and the types of benefits such regulations could generate in clear, easy-to-understand, terms.

This free webinar is the first in a planned year-long series of joint offerings on aspects of the economics of climate change sponsored by The E.P. Systems Group, Inc. and the Center for Climate Strategies. It will address:
 
A 30 minute Question and Answer period will follow the presentations. Presenters include:
The session will be moderated by Peter Meyer, President and Chief Economist, The E.P. Systems Group, Inc.

Questions:  pbm#@*TheEPSystemsGroup.com  (remove the # and * symbols to e-mail)

Title: The Economics of Climate Regulatory Policy: Current Findings and Lessons from the Past
Date: Thursday, March 4, 2010
Time: 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM EST

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

[Top]

Job Postings for Heterodox Economists

American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)

Energy Efficiency Economist

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), a leading national nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C., seeks to hire a qualified economist who can assist with research efforts to explore the contribution of energy efficiency investments as a means of enhancing economic prosperity.  ACEEE is dedicated to advancing and deploying energy efficiency technologies, policies, and programs as a means of promoting economic prosperity, energy security, and environmental protection.

Position Description:
This new research position will report to ACEEE’s director of Economic and Social Analysis Program and will be responsible for research in a variety of areas including:

The position is full time and is based out of ACEEE’s office in downtown Washington, DC.

Required Skills/Qualifications:
  1. The minimum requirement for this position is a Master’s degree from an accredited college or university in an economics-related field.
  2. The candidate should have experience with benefit-cost analysis, input-output analysis (including net job creation/retention analyses), and multivariate or econometric analysis.  Also helpful would be a working familiarity with multi-objective assessment techniques such as goal programming, the use of Bayesian probabilities or Monte Carlo simulations, and a thorough familiarity of with Excel (including the use of functions, macros and/or visual basic programming).
  3. Three years experience in energy and/or environmental field, including experience working on energy efficiency and related issues.
  4. Membership in a professional organization such as The International Society for Ecological Economics, the Association for Institutional Thought, Economists for Equity and the Environment, or the International Association of Energy Economics considered a plus.
  5. Ability to apply critical thinking, independent judgment, and initiative with excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.
  6. Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively as well as independently.
  7. Zest for the challenge of working as part of a dynamic and growing organization.


Download the ACEEE Job Opening.

Occidental College

Urban & Environmental Policy Program

Position: one-year full time Assistant Professor
Application Deadline: April 1, 2010

Occidental College invites applications for a one-year full time position at the Assistant Professor level for our Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 semesters in the Urban and Environmental Policy (UEP) Program.  

For this position, we are seeking someone with expertise and teaching interests in the following areas:
a. Environmental justice and the history of the environmental and environmental justice movements;
b. Community-based research methods in planning and policy analysis
c. Community development and community economic development with a focus on community organizing and leadership development.  
We are particularly eager to find candidates who also have an interest in the link between these issues and equity issues.

Our new colleague would be expected to teach five courses over two semesters,  including UEP 101 (Environment and Society), our introductory-level course and at least two of the three courses listed above (history of environmental and environmental justice movements, community-based research methods, and community economic development).  We would also be interested in candidate who is able to make linkages with our other courses, including (a) local and global public health;  (b) food politics and policy;  (c) urban policy and politics;  and (d) our community organizing and internship course.

UEP is an interdisciplinary major that involves faculty in politics, sociology, economics, history, biology, geology, and other disciplines. We will consider candidates with training in a variety of disciplines, including urban planning, political science, sociology, environmental studies, public policy, economics, history, and law. Candidates with practical political/community/planning and organizing experience are strongly encouraged to apply. We encourage candidates who are familiar with Los Angeles and the community, environmental, labor, nonprofit, and faith-based organizations in the region.

Candidates should be immersed in the pedagogy of community based learning and able to expand the College's efforts to promote internships, community based learning in classes, and partnerships with public, private, and non profit organizations in Los Angeles, California, and Washington, D.C. The UEP program is closely linked with the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute, through which students, faculty and staff engage in applied research and community engagement. (http://www.uepi.oxy.edu)

Applicants should submit a letter of interest demonstrating a commitment to academic excellence in a diverse liberal arts environment, and including a statement of teaching philosophy, areas of teaching interest, examples of relevant coursework; a curriculum vitae; samples of scholarly or creative work; and two letters of  recommendation to:

Professor Peter Dreier
Urban & Environmental Policy Program
Occidental College
1600 Campus Road (M-1)
Los Angeles, CA. 90041

All materials are due by April 1, 2010. Please note in your resume that you are interested in the 1-year appointment. (We will also have 3-year position available beginning in Fall 2011, which we will begin recruiting for at the end of 2010).

Occidental College is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. The College is committed to academic excellence in a diverse community and supporting interdisciplinary and multicultural academic programs that provide a gifted and diverse group of students with an educational experience that prepares them for leadership in a pluralistic world. Women and people of color are strongly encouraged to apply.

School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London

The Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy invites applications for the post of Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in the area of International Corporate and/or Political Management tenable from July 2010.

The successful applicant will have a proven research and publication record in a relevant discipline, as well as a proven ability to teach postgraduate courses, including the supervision of dissertations, in international corporate and/or political management, or closely related areas. As part of the team developing a new MA in Globalization and Corporate Development, the successful applicant will take responsibility for the development, teaching and convening of a new one-year course in International Project and Public Policy Management. This course will equip graduate students with the knowledge, understanding, skills and aptitudes necessary to proceed to careers in cross-cultural and international professional contexts relating to the political and economic management and regulation of multinational enterprises, whether from within the corporate sector or from the vantage point of public policy management.

In addition to a strong research profile, a demonstrated interest in bridging theory with practice and policy development will be highly valued, as will prior experience as a practitioner in the management and regulation of international corporations and/or in policy advocacy relating to this area, with a governmental, civil society or business organisation. Commitment to innovative teaching methods for professionals, and a demonstrated capacity to work in a multidisciplinary team with a wide range of international partners is essential.

The post has associate status with the department corresponding to the successful applicant’s core research discipline.
USS pension scheme is available.

Prospective candidates seeking further information about SOAS and the CISD may contact the CISD Director, Dr. Dan Plesch (dp27@soas.ac.uk). An application form and further particulars can be downloaded from www.soas.ac.uk/jobs.
This is an ad for a new interdisciplinary lecturer/senior lecturer position at SOAS, and anyone interested is welcome to contact either Stephanie Blankenburg (sb123@soas.ac.uk) or the Director of SOAS's Centre for International Studies &B Diplomacy, Dan Plesch (dp27@soas.ac.uk) for further information.
 
Download the SOAS Position Announcement: [Short][Detailed]

Corporate Strategy and Industrial Development (CSID)

Advert for Senior Researcher

Job Description
This position is full-time on a one year contract with the possibility of renewal. Responsibilities will be roughly divided between i) Research, research management and mentoring  and  ii) assisting with the administration and teaching of short courses, as well as Masters and Honours level courses.
Research
CSID is based in the School for Economic and Business Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg South Africa. CSID has established itself as a leading research programme in South Africa in its areas of specialisation. We have established links and research partnerships with major role-players in government and the private sector.
Our main research themes are:
•    Industrial development, and industrial policy
•    Economic structure, competition policy and regulation
•    Macroeconomic environment affecting  industrial development
•    Local and regional economic development
•    Global financialization and corporate change
CSID aims to provide high level, academic research for industrial and economic policy makers in South Africa. We are currently involved in a number of industrial policy research projects with National and Provincial Government.

Teaching and Training
In addition, we are committed to the development of young African researchers. To this end we employ a number of junior researchers who are studying towards their Masters, providing them with hands on research experience and mentoring. CSID is also involved in curriculum development and teaching for specialist courses in industrial and economic development.
The position of senior researcher will involve:
•    Active participation in our existing research projects.
•    Interaction with policy makers and industry stakeholders.
•    The development of future research projects and input into the direction of research.
•    The management and development of junior researchers.
The position may also involve some teaching in the Economics division of the School of Economic and Business Science dependent on experience.

Required Qualifications
The successful applicant must hold a PhD in Economics or related field or be close to completion. Candidates without a PhD will be considered if they have a minimum of 4 years experience in economic related research. Quantitative skills are desirable.

Please send your CV and a cover letter to Sajida.Durwan@wits.ac.za
Download Job Ad.

[Top]

Conference Papers, Reports, and Articles

Institute for International Political Economy (IPE) Berlin

Working Paper Series:

Post Keynesian Economics Study Group

NEXT CAMBRIDGE DOWNLOADS AVAILABLE

LSE DEBATE

GDAE Policy Brief: Industrial Livestock Firms Big NAFTA Winners

Hogging the Gains from Trade: The Real Winners from U.S. Trade and Agricultural Policies
By Timothy A. Wise and Betsy Rakocy. GDAE Policy Brief 10-01, January 2010
 
In this policy brief, Timothy A. Wise and Betsy Rakocy summarize the ways in which multinational livestock firms have benefited from both trade and agricultural policies.  The researchers highlight the U.S. multinational pork giant Smithfield, because Smithfield is the world’s largest pork producer, it has been expanding its operations in both the United States and Mexico, and it has been implicated in significant violations of U.S. labor law.  As they show:
 


“Hogging the Gains from Trade” is the latest in a series of publications from GDAE’s Feeding the Factory Farm Project, which documents the “implicit subsidies” to agribusiness from U.S. agricultural policies.
 
Download "Hogging the Gains from Trade"
Read more on the Feeding the Factory Farm Project
Read more on GDAE’s Globalization and Sustainable Development Program
Follow us on Facebook

 

Inflación: la política en acción

"Inflation: Politics in Action"

By Por Alejandro Fiorito and Fabian Amico

''La economía convencional postula causalidades que carecen de coherencia teórica y por ende enfrenta una miríada de casos empíricos que persistentemente no logra explicar. La inflación no escapa a ello, con el agravante de sus inmediatas consecuencias políticas. La explicación convencional de la inflación parte de un supuesto inadvertido pero crucial: la economía se encuentra en (o tiende al) pleno empleo de factores. Así, cualquier impulso de demanda (como el gasto público) produce un exceso de demanda y desata un aumento de precios.''

Read more at Revista Circus bolg: http://grupolujan-circus.blogspot.com/2010/02/inflacion-la-politica-en-accion.html

Sustainable Development and Small Entreprises

by by Leïla Temri (ERFI, University of Montpellier 1 and RNI). Research Network of Innovation

The editorial for February is vailable here: http://rrien.univ-littoral.fr/?p=117

Development Viewpoint 46

The Centre for Development Policy and Research is pleased to announce the publication of Development Viewpoint #46, “The 2007-2008 World Food Crisis: Focusing on the Structural Causes”. The authors, Deborah Johnston, Department of Economics, and Hannah Bargawi, CDPR, SOAS, summarise the major points on the food crisis made by contributors to the January 2010 Symposium issue of the Journal of Agrarian Change. The major strength of these contributions is their focus on the underlying structural weaknesses of the world food system and their recommendations for sweeping changes in its power relations, which are defined by the dominance of corporate food empires.
Click here to download: http://www.soas.ac.uk/cdpr/publications/dv/file56889.pdf

CDPR’s other thought-provoking, diversified Development Viewpoints are available on http://www.soas.ac.uk/cdpr/publications/dv/
 
The Centre for Development Policy and Research draws on the broad range of development expertise at the School of Oriental and African Studies to engage in innovative policy-oriented research and training on crucial development issues.

[Top]

Heterodox Journals and Newsletters

Challenge, 53(1): Jan./Feb. 2010

Journal website: http://mesharpe.metapress.com/app/home/journal.asp?referrer=parent&backto=browsepublicationsresults,3,41

European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 17(1): Feb. 2010

Journal website: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=t713698194

Articles
Book reviews

History of Political Economy, 42(1): Spring 2010

Journal website: http://hope.dukejournals.org
Articles  
Book Reviews 

Economic Systems Research, 21(3)

Journal website: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713421471~link=cover

Editorial    

Papers    

Local Economy, 25(1)

Journal Website : http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=issue&issn=0269-0942&volume=25&issue=1&uno_jumptype=alert&uno_alerttype=new_issue_alert,email

Viewpoint
Features
In Perspectives

Pelican Journal of Sustainable Development: Feb. 2010

Articles are available at http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisustv06n02page1.html

Book review
By Erik Assadourian & Staff, Worldwatch Institute, 2010
Invited articles:
by Richard Steiner, University of Alaska-Anchorage, USA
by Zilka Spahic-Šiljak, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
by Mark Jacobson & Mark Delucchi, Stanford University, USA

Lettre de diffusion de l'Association Française d'Economie Politique

http://www.assoeconomiepolitique.org/

Pour ce faire, inscrivez-vous en bas à droite de la page d'accueil dans l'espace adhérents : indiquez votre nom et votre adresse email, votre identifiant personnel vous parviendra rapidement, par courrier électronique.
RAPPELS :
Groupes de travail :
Premières réunions :
Coordination : Nicolas Postel (nicolas.postel@univ-lille1.fr) et Edwin Le Héron (e.le.heron@sciencespobordeaux.fr)
Coordination : Bruno Tinel (bruno.tinel@univ-paris1.fr) et Edwin Le Héron (e.le.heron@sciencespobordeaux.fr)
Coordination : Thomas Lamarche (thomas.lamarche@univ-paris-diderot.fr)
Coordination : Gilles Raveaud (gillesraveaud@gmail.com) et Fabrice Tricou
Coordination : Richard Sobel (richard.sobel@univ-lille1.fr)

Une première synthèse des travaux des commissions aura lieu le 17 juin de 14h à 17h à la Maison des Sciences Economiques en salle 114.

Merci de bien penser à envoyer votre chèque d’adhésion (si ce n’est déjà fait !), le formulaire à imprimer se trouve sur cette page : http://www.assoeconomiepolitique.org/spip.php?article4

eInsight

Volterra webiste: http://www.volterra.co.uk

In this issue:
After the deepest recession since the Second World War, the UK economy has returned to growth, although the figures are not yet indicative of a strong recovery...
The latest retail sales figures from the Office of National Statistics show growth of 2.1 per cent for December 2009 compared to the previous year...
The consumer price index increase to 2.9 per cent has caused a raft of speculation about imminent increases in the base rate, with accompanying worries about mortgage interest rates rising...
For the first time in a year the number of mortgages approved each month in the United Kingdom has fallen...
 In the lead up to and during this recession the devaluation of sterling has had significant beneficial effects for the UK’s balance of trade...
Read more here.

IDEAs

What's New on IDEAs (January 1, 2010 to January 31, 2010)
Website : www.networkideas.org | www.ideaswebsite.org

1. Featured Themes : http://www.networkideas.org/feathm/feathm.htm
Re-regulating Finance
The Global Financial Crisis
2. IDEAs Activities : http://www.networkideas.org/ideasact/IDE_act.htm
3. Featured Articles : http://www.networkideas.org/featart/featart.htm
4. News Analysis : http://www.networkideas.org/news/news.htm
5. Books : http://www.networkideas.org/book/book.htm
6. Events & Announcements : http://www.networkideas.org/events/events.htm

CCPA

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives:http://www.policyalternatives.ca

CCPA report
The Winter 2010 issue of Our Schools/Our Selves

If you're going to be in Toronto on Feb. 25th, don't miss an exciting evening with Naomi Klein and friends. The CCPA is presenting the inaugural David Lewis Lecture where Naomi will speak on the issue of climate debt. Click here for more details and to purchase tickets.

nef e-letter

In this nef e-letter:
Read the e-letter, Feb. 2010.

[Top]

Heterodox Books and Book Series

A History of Heterodox Economics : Challenging the mainstream in the twentieth century

By Frederic Lee, University of Missouri-Kansas City, USA.
Routledge, 2009. Hardback: 978-0-415-77714-8 . 308 pp.  £80.00  NOW  £64.00  $130.00 NOW $104.00

Economics is a contested academic discipline between neoclassical economics and a collection of alternative approaches, such as Marxism-radical economics, Institutional economics, Post Keynesian economics, and others, that can collectively be called heterodox economics. Because of the dominance of neoclassical economics, the existence of the alternative approaches is generally not known. This book is concerned with the community history of heterodox economics, seen primarily through the eyes of Marxian-radical economics and Post Keynesian economics.
    Throughout the 20th century neoclassical economists in conjunction with state and university power have attacked heterodox economists and tried to cleanse them from the academy. Professor Lee, his groundbreaking new title discusses issues including the contested landscape of American economics in the 1970s, the emergence and establishment of Post Keynesian economics in the US and the development of heterodox economics in Britain from 1970 to 1996.

Reviews

Table of Contents
1. Introduction
Part I: Heterodox Economics in the United States
2. The Contested Landscape and Dominance in American Economics In the 20th Century
3. Heresy, Blasphemy, and Radical Economics in Post-War America, 1945 – 1970
4. The Contested Landscape of American Economics circa 1965 – 1980
5. The History of Post Keynesian Economics in America, 1971 – 1995
Part II Heterodox Economics in the United Kingdom
6. The Contested Landscape of British Economics, 1900 – 1970
7. Heterodox Economics in Britain, 1970 – 1996
8. Research Assessment Exercise and its Impact on Heterodox Economics, 1989 – 1996
9. Research Assessment Exercise, the State, and the Dominance of Mainstream Economics in British Universities, 2000 – 2003
Part III Heterodox Economics at the Beginning of the 21st Century
10. The Emergence of Heterodox Economics, 1990 - 2006
11. Ranking Heterodox Economic Journals and Departments: Suggested Methodologies

For more information, visit: http://www.routledge.com/9780415777148
Download the book flyer.

Radical Economics and Labour: Essays inspired by the IWW Centennial

Edited by Frederic Lee and Jon Bekken
Routledge, 2009 | Hardback: 978-0-415-77723-0. 208 pp.£75.00 NOW £60.00 $120.00 NOW $96.00

To celebrate the centenary of the most radical union in North America - The Industrial Workers of the World - this collection examines radical economics and the labor movement in the 20th Century. The union advocates direct action to raise wages and increase job control, and it envisions the eventual abolition of capitalism and the wage system through the general strike.
The contributors to this volume speak both to economists and to those in the labor movement, and point to fruitful ways in which these radical heterodox traditions have engaged and continue to engage each other and with the labor movement. In view of the current crisis of organized labor and the beleaguered state of the working class—phenomena which are global in scope—the book is both timely and important. Representing a significant contribution to the non-mainstream literature on labor economics, the book reactivates a marginalized analytical tradition which can shed a great deal of light on the origins and evolution of the difficulties confronting workers throughout the world.
This volume will be of most interest to students and scholars of heterodox economics, those involved with or researching The Industrial Workers of the World, as well as anyone interested in the more radical side of unions, anarchism and labor organizations in an economic context.

Table of Contents
Introduction: Radical Economics and the Labor Movement / Frederic S. Lee and Jon Bekken
  1. Senex’s Letters on Associated Labour and the Pioneer, 1834: A Syndicalist Political Economy in the Making / Noel Thompson
  2. Peter Kropotkin’s Anarchist Economics for a New Society / Jon Bekken
  3. Some Notes on Anarchist Economic Thought / Mathew Forstater
  4. The Economics of the Industrial Workers of the World: Job Control and Revolution / Frederic S. Lee
  5. Economic Science and the Left: Thoughts on Sraffa’s Equations and the Efficacy of Organized Labor / Tony Aspromourgos
  6. John Kenneth Galbraith’s New Industrial State 40 Years Later: A Radical Perspective / Spencer Pack
  7. A Radical Critique and Alternative to U.S. Industrial Relations Theory and Practice / Richard McIntyre and Michael Hillard
  8. Labor during Transition: A Radical Institutional Approach / John Marangos
  9. Offshore Production and Global Labor Arbitrage: A New Era of Capitalism? / Claude Pottier
  10. Financialization, Employability and their Impacts on the Bank Workers’ Union Movement in Brazil (1994-2004) / Maria Alejandra Caporale Madi, José Ricardo Barbosa Gonçalves and José Dari Krein

For more information, visit: http://www.routledge.com/9780415777230
Download the book flyer.

Theories of Social Capital: Researchers Behaving Badly

By Ben Fine
Pluto Press. PB / £ 27.50 / 9780745329963 / 230mm x 150mm / 288 pp. Released March 15th 2010

Ben Fine is the world’s most thorough and indefatigible critic of the abuse of the concept of capital that follows from adding “social” to it. ... Here he ... explore[s] the reasons behind the chaos this causes and the consequences of the penetration of notions of profit into every nook and cranny of our lives. A must-read for all irritated and irritable thinkers in social science. -- Barbara Harriss-White, Oxford University

Tracing the evolution of social capital since his highly acclaimed contribution of 2001 (Social Capital Versus Social Theory), Ben Fine consolidates his position as the world’s leading critic of the concept.

Fine forcibly demonstrates how social capital has expanded across the social sciences only by degrading the different disciplines and topics that it touches: a McDonaldisation of social theory. The rise and fall of social capital at the World Bank is critically explained as is social capital’s growing presence in disciplines, such as management studies, and its relative absence in others, such as social history.

Writing with a sharp critical edge, Fine not only deconstructs the roller-coaster presence of social capital across the social sciences but also draws out lessons on how (and how not) to do research.

Ben Fine is Professor of Economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He most recently co-authored, From Economics Imperialism to Freakonomics: The Shifting Boundaries Between Economics and Other Social Sciences (2009) and serves on the Social Science Research Com mittee of the UK’s Food Standards Agency.

For further information, to request a review copy or to speak to the author please contact Jon Wheatley at jonw@plutobooks.com or on 0208 374 6424

345 ARCHWAY ROAD, LONDON, N6 5AA
TEL: 0208 3482724 FAX: 0208 348 9133 www.plutobooks.com

Cultural Political Economy

Edited by Jacqueline Best, Matthew Paterson
Routledge. 2009 | Paperback: 978-0-415-48932-4, $41.95 | Hardback: 978-0-415-48931-7, $130.00

The global political economy is inescapably cultural. Whether we talk about the economic dimensions of the "war on terror", the sub-prime crisis and its aftermath, or the ways in which new information technology has altered practices of production and consumption, it has become increasingly clear that these processes cannot be fully captured by the hyper-rational analysis of economists or the slogans of class conflict. This book argues that culture is a concept that can be used to develop more subtle and fruitful analyses of the dynamics and problems of the global political economy.

Rediscovering the unacknowledged role of culture in the writings of classical political economists, the contributors to this volume reveal its central place in the historical evolution of post-war capitalism, exploring its continued role in contemporary economic processes that range from the commercialization of security practices to the development of ethical tourism. The book shows that culture plays a role in both constituting different forms of economic life and in shaping the diverse ways that capitalism has developed historically – from its earliest moments to its most recent challenges.

Providing valuable insights to a wide range of disciplines, this volume will be of vital interest to students and scholars of International Political Economy, Cultural and Economic Geography and Sociology, and International Relations.

Table of Contents
Introduction: Understanding Cultural Political Economy Jacqueline Best and Matthew Paterson Part 1: Interrogating the Classics 1. Undressing the Wound of Wealth: Political Economy as a Cultural Project David L. Blaney and Naeem Inayatullah 2. Works, Products, and the Division of Labour: Notes for a Cultural and Political Economic Critique Matt Davies Part 2: The Cultural Constitution of Economic History 3. ‘To the Ends of the Earth’: Culture, Visuality and the Embedded Economy Rob Aitken 4. The Culture of Money Doctoring: American Financial Advising in Latin America During the 1940s Eric Helleiner Part 3: Culture as Concealing Political Economic Practices 5. Anti-Political Economy: Cartographies of ‘Illegal Immigration’ and The Displacement of the Economy William Walters 6. Joyless Cosmopolitans: The Moral Economy of Ethical Tourism Debbie Lisle Part 4: Cultural Futures of Political Economy 7. Cultural Political Economies of the War on Teror Louise Amoore and Marieke de Goede 8. Cybernetic Capitalism and the Global Information Society: From the Global Panopticon to a ‘Brand’ New World Maxime Ouellet 9. A Perfect Innovation Engine: The Rise of the Talent World Nigel Thrift Part 5: Conclusions/Provocations Conclusion: Cultural, Political, Economy R.B.J. Walker

Read more about the book at the publisher website.

Elgar Companion To Adam Smith

By Jeffrey T. Young, A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Economics, St Lawrence University, Canton, New York, US. February 2010. 400 pp. Hardback 978 1 84542 019 2. $215.00, on-line discount $193.50.

This Companion of nineteen essays, accompanied by the editor’s lively introduction, investigates aspects of the philosophical foundations of Adam Smith’s thought as well as his economic analysis and approach to policy. The authors view Adam Smith’s work as an interconnected system of thought, which incorporates both moral philosophy and economics. Adam Smith’s earlier work in moral philosophy The Theory of Moral Sentiments receives significant consideration. The authors offer important connections and insights into the sort of economics Adam Smith is more widely known for in his Wealth of Nations.

Contributors: V. Brown, J.M. Buchanan, S.C. Dow, J. Evensky, P. Groenewegen, S. Hollander, G. Hueckel, D.M. Levy, B. Long, D. McCloskey, S.G. Medema, L. Montes, M.P. Paganelli, S.J. Peart, S. Rashid, W.J. Samuels, A.S. Skinner, G. Vivenza, A. Witztum, Y.J. Yoon, J.T. Young

For the detail: http://www.e-elgar.com/Bookentry_main.lasso?id=3586&currency=US

Economists In The Americas

By Verónica Montecinos, Professor of Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University, US and John Markoff, Distinguished University Professor of Sociology, History and Political Science, University of Pittsburgh, US. February 2010. 368 pp. Hardback 978 1 84542 043 7.  c$150.00, on-line discount c$135.00. This book is also available as an ebook 978 1 84980 346 5

Probably no region’s economists have had greater public visibility or greater impact on regional and national public policy than Latin America’s. Economists in the Americas joins a small but important comparative literature on economics as a profession and is the first comparative treatment of the Americas. This edited collection is also the first study to examine professional economists in the United States and Latin America.

Contributors: M.J. Álvarez-Rivadulla, S. Babb, G. Biglaiser, L.B. Flórez Enciso, M. Fourcade, A. Garcé, M.R. Loureiro, J. Markoff, V. Montecinos
For more info : http://www.e-elgar.com/Bookentry_main.lasso?id=3614&currency=US

Money, Investment And Consumption: Keynes’s Macroeconomics Rethought

By O.F. Hamouda, Associate Professor of Economics, York University, Canada
February 2010. 264 pp. Hardback 978 1 84542 979 9. $115.00, on-line discount $103.50.This book is also available as an ebook 978 1 84980 333 5

Contrary to the commonly perpetuated belief that Keynes’s theory is appropriate only to economic depressions, the author of this provocative book maintains that Keynes provided a complete set of macroeconomic relations and the ingredients of a new theoretical model, much more reflective of and analytically appropriate to the 21st century than those on which current macroeconomics is based.
For more info : http://www.e-elgar.com/Bookentry_main.lasso?id=12535&currency=US

Financial Crises And Recession In The Global Economy

By Roy E. Allen, Professor of Economics, School of Economics and Business Administration, Saint Mary’s College of California, US. Third edition. February 2010. 192 pp.Hardback 978 1 84720 508 7. $110.00, on-line discount $99.00. Paperback 978 1 84844 830 8. $35.00, on-line discount $28.00    

Contents: Preface Introduction 1. Financial Globalization Since the 1970s 2. Financial Instabilities and Trends in the 1980s 3. Financial Instabilities and Trends in the 1990s 4. The Current Crisis: Common Patterns and New Thinking 5. Toward a New Political Economy of Financial Crisis References Index
For more info : http://www.e-elgar.com/Bookentry_main.lasso?id=12876&currency=US

Free Trade Doesn’t Work: What Should Replace it and Why

I’d like to offer you my new book Free Trade Doesn’t Work: What Should Replace it and Why at a special URPE discount.

This discount is, in fact, sale at cost; I make no margin. The book’s cover and Amazon price is $24.95; you can get it for $13.45 if you go here: https://www.createspace.com/3427726 and enter discount code V4968GHW during the checkout process.

See www.freetradedoesntwork.com for details on the book.
Best Regards,

Ian Fletcher

Unlevel Playing Fields: Understanding Wage Inequality and Discrimination

by Randy Albelda, Robert Drago, Steven Shulman
Dollars & Sense, 3rd. January 2010 . ISBN: 978-1-878585-95-0. 193 pp. $34.95

Unlevel Playing Fields provides an exceptionally accessible, one-volume introduction to wage inequality and job discrimination in the U.S. labor market. This engaging textbook presents two important, contrasting economic theories—neoclassical and political economy—and shows how each theory explains labor market inequalities. The authors also offer bold policy proposals to rectify inequality.

The third edition has been thoroughly updated, and now includes more than 50 years of employment trends and data.

"Unlevel Playing Fields is an excellent, accessible theoretical survey of the economic analysis of race and gender for students with a wide range of backgrounds in economics, including those with no exposure to economics at all. I recommend it very highly."—Mary King, Portland State University

"I use this book as part of a course on poverty and discrimination. The students love it. Many have said it is the best economics book they have ever read."—Doug Orr, Assistant Professor of Economics, Eastern Washington University

"Unlevel Playing Fields is a great text for introductory-level students. It offers a sophisticated explanation of neoclassical and political economy approaches to labor markets in a clear and compelling manner. The book is very successful in giving students the necessary analytical tools for grappling with important debates about racial and gender wage gaps, labor market discrimination, and affirmative action policies."—Carole Biewener, Simmons College

About the authors:

View the Table of Contents : http://dollarsandsense.org/bookstore/unlevel_toc.html
Order an exam copy of Unlevel Playing Fields : http://dollarsandsense.org/examcopies.html
Browse  the Dollars & Sense catalog : http://dollarsandsense.org/bookstore.html

The Task of the Critic

By Terry Eagleton and Matthew Beaumont
ISBN 978 1 84467 339 1 / Paperback $29.95 / £17.99

A literary theorist, novelist and playwright, Terry Eagleton is also a committed socialist who operates unconstrained by the contemporary zeitgeist. In this comprehensive volume of interviews conducted by Matthew Beaumont over the course of nine months, Eagleton looks back upon his life and the development of his thought and politics, contextualizing his work in relation to the biographical, political, and intellectual forces that have shaped him. Chronological in its approach, The Task of the Critic details Eagleton’s encounters with some of the most important theoreticians of the last century, including Williams, Wittgenstein, Lukács, Goldmann, Althusser, Benjamin, Brecht, Adorno, Lacan, Jameson and Žižek, and it
explores his personal and political responses to some of the most important historical events for the left in the last fifty years.

Beginning with a discussion of the working-class Irish Catholic community from which Eagleton emerged, his education at Cambridge, and his role in the heretical culture of the Catholic left in the 1960s, Beaumont then structures the dialogue in relation to Eagleton’s most important publications, from The New Left Church to Trouble with Strangers, and including his creative writing.

Viewed through the lens of one powerfully probing mind frequently at odds with the British academic establishment, the development oftheory on the Anglophone left in the latter half of the twentieth century takes on a new cohesiveness, revealing Eagleton’s unwavering allegiance to his ideals across time.

Lively and insightful, these interviews will appeal not only to those with an interest in Eagleton himself, but to all those interested in the evolution of radical politics, modernism, cultural theory, the history of ideas, sociology, semantic inquiry and the state of Marxist theory.

Buy the book US: http://www.amazon.com/Task-Critic-Terry-Eagleton-Dialogue/dp/1844673391/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265320613&sr=8-1

Buy the book UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Task-Critic-Terry-Eagleton-Dialogue/dp/1844673391/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265320664&sr=8-1

[Top]

Heterodox Book Reviews

The Keynes Solution: The Path to Global Economic Prosperity

Paul Davidson's The Keynes Solution: The Path to Global Economic Prosperity. Palgrave Macmillan, September 2009. ISBN: 978-0-230-61920-3, ISBN10: 0-230-61920-7, 208 pages.

Reviewed by James Pressley, "Keynes Has Answer to China’s $2.4 Trillion Problem: Book Review", Bloomberg.com. Feb. 16, 2010.

Heterodox Web Sites and Associates

Blog on “Triple Crises” in Finance, Development, and Environment

TripleCrisisBlog to bring global perspectives to policy debate
 
On February 1, new voices joined the policy debate on the global crises in finance, development, and the environment. The “TripleCrisisBlog,” with an initial roster of economic analysts from nine countries, was launched by the Global Development and Environment Institute (GDAE) at Tufts University (USA), India’s Economic Research Foundation (ERF), and the Heinrich Boell Foundation-U.S. The initiative is chaired by GDAE’s Kevin P. Gallagher and ERF’s Jayati Ghosh.
 
“Crises are not new to the world economy, nor to developing countries,” Gallagher and Ghosh write in their introductory post. “Indeed, our current predicament is a convergence of at least three crises: in global finance, development, and environment.  These areas are seemingly disparate but actually interact with each other in forceful ways to reflect major structural imbalances between finance and the real economy; between the higher income and developing economies; between the human economic system and the earth’s ecosystems.  This blog seeks to contribute to a more open and global dialogue around these three crises: about how they interact, and how they can collectively be solved.”
 
The TripleCrisisBlog starts with an unprecedented diversity of analysts from the global North and South. In addition to Gallagher and Ghosh, the roster includes: Jeff Madrick, Sanjay Reddy, Mehdi Shefaeddin, Charles Abugre, Martin Khor, Alejandro Nadal, Matias Vernengo, Adil Najam, CP Chandrasekhar, Jim Boyce, Ilene Graebel, Gerhard Schick, Timothy A. Wise, Lyuba Zarsky, and Frank Ackerman. Ghosh and Gallagher will co-chair the project, with Wise serving as "managing editor."
 
“While there are a number of commendable blogs on various aspects of these three crises,” note Gallagher and Ghosh, “this blog will examine all three crises and from a global perspective not often found in mainstream media outlets.”
 
Visit the TripleCrisisBlog.
Read more on GDAE’s Globalization and Sustainable Development Program.
Follow GDAE's Globalization Program on Facebook.
Get notified of new posts on Twitter, Facebook, or RSS.

The History of Economics Society of Australia (HETSA)

Colleagues,

It is with great pleasure that I inform you that the History of Economic Thought Society of Australia (HETSA) website is now open. We join therefore the American (HES), European (ESHET), and Japanese HET communities in having our own exclusive website.

The HETSA website  can be reached at http://hetsa.org.au

The web site has a number of stunning attractions. All 50 issues of theHistory of Economics Review, bar the very first issue, can be accessed from the electronic archive FREE. As a gift to HET scholars around the world we are also allowing access to the the last two issues of the HER. Usually the last few issues of the HER are only accessible to members of HETSA and this privilege will be restored after a period of time. In the announcement page you can find details of the forthcoming 23rd HETSA conference to be held at the University of Sydney in July. You can also find details on the joining Hetsa on the web site which is a very modest $50 US dollars. This entitles member to recieving the next two issues of the HER and concessional conference registration fees.

Please put this new HETSA website down as one of your favourites!
Alex Millmow

Manifesto of Revolutionary Solutions

A World to Win (www.aworldtowin.net ) has published a draft Manifesto of Revolutionary Solutions for consultation. The Manifesto is divided into six sections: the state and democracy; global economy; ecology and environment; culture and sport; organisation proposals and international. It can be read online and also downloaded as a pdf. There is a form on each section for comments, proposals and ideas. Consultation finishes on Monday, March 22. A revised draft will form the basis of a conference on May 22.

Marx and Philosophy Review of Books

Announcing the launch of a new online review of books covering Marxism and philosophy
For reviews and to subscribe go to marxandphilosophy.org.uk/reviewofbooks.

IIPPE Environment Working Group

The Environment Working Group is now being set up. Its chief aim is to foster the development of political economy approaches to environmental issues, including approaches termed "political ecology". It aims to work across traditional disciplinary divides (such as economics, sociology, human geography, ecology and biology), as a superior alternative to the encroachment of mainstream economics onto the terrain of environmental studies.

It is expected that the September 2010 conference will serve as a focus for the initial activities of the new Working Group - organising a themed session or two. Initial thoughts from those who expressed an interest in the WG in Ankara in September 2009 are to focus on water and climate change; but broader themes of environmental issues and sustainable development issues have also been suggested. This will be the subject of discussion via the Working Group's discussion group, which can accessed at http://bit.ly/ewg-group. A working timetable is to agree the theme(s) of the Conference session(s) by the end of February, an outline of the contents of the session(s) by mid-March, and submit summaries of the papers to the conference organisers by the end of March, with full papers due for circulation by the end of June. To join this Working Group, please visit http://bit.ly/ewg-group and/or contact Robin de la Motte at ewg@robindelamotte.com.

Research on Money and Finance (RMF)

Research on Money and Finance (RMF) is a network of political economists with a focus on the rise of financialisation and the resulting intensification of crises. RMF aims to generate analytical work on the development of the contemporary monetary and the financial system.
 
RMF is pleased to announce the launch of its new website!  www.researchonmoneyandfinance.org
 
The website contains details, including audio recordings, of the conference organised by RMF in November 2009 when an international group of progressive scholars from a diverse disciplinary background assembled to discuss the outcomes of the current global financial crisis. Participants in the conference, entitled "One Year on from the Panic of 2008: Whither Financialised Capitalism?", included Gérard Duménil, Gary Dymski, Costas Lapavitsas, Malcolm Sawyer, Jan Toporowski, Paulo L dos Santos, Engelbert Stockhammer, Trevor Evans, Claude Serfati, Karel Williams, Andrew Leyshon and Shaun French, and Robin Blackburn. Streaming audio and MP3 downloads of the conference are available, as well as a selection of the conference papers, at http://www.researchonmoneyandfinance.org/events/.
 
The site also contains the RMF discussion paper series, which has recently been updated with a contribution from Annina Kaltenbrunner & Juan Pablo Painceira on the effects of the financial crisis in Brazil. RMF discussion papers can be found at http://www.researchonmoneyandfinance.org/discussion-papers/. RMF invites further discussion papers that may be in political economy, heterodox economics, and economic sociology. We welcome theoretical and empirical analysis without preference for particular topics. Our aim is to accumulate a body of work that provides insight into the development of contemporary capitalism.

Keen Walk to Kosciuszko: Walking Against Australia's Property Mania

"As most Australian readers would know, I recently lost half of a bet over Australian house prices when the Government’s “First Home Owners Boost”–which I prefer to call the First Home Vendors Boost–reignited Australia’s house price bubble.

As a result, I’m walking from Australia’s Parliament House to Australia’s highest mountain, Mt Kosciousko–a distance of 224km (140 miles). The walk will start at 2pm on Thursday April 15 from the entrance to Parliament House and–my legs willing–finish 8 days later on the summit of Mt Kosciousko (which is 2228 metres–or about 7000 feet–above sea level).

I have started a new blog www.keenwalk.com.au to support the walk, which I will use to draw attention to the absurdity of basing economic policy on making housing less affordable.'' (from Real World Economics Review Blog)

Read more about Keen's new blog or visit his blog, http://KeenWalk.com.au.

Queries from Heterodox Economists

Microeconomics of Interactive Economies: Evolutionary and Institutional Perspectives

Dear HENfolks,
 
Everybody is talking and inquiring about new 'non-toxic' textbooks these days. there has been a website on 'non-toxic' texts set up recently. also, there has been advertized a similar new website--TRUE (teaching resources in UG heterodox econ)--lastly.
 
Well, here is one, or another one--in the making, a new microeconomics textbook.
 
It was contracted many years ago already, is 70% ready and will appear in 2011. Some 200 pages are downloadable from my website (http://iiso-web.FB7.uni-bremen.de, click 'textbook' at the bottom left) currently. But the downloadable parts will be extended soon. I have been teaching it together with my assistants in principles and introcductory micro courses, but also in graduate micro.
 
Please see attached the structure and table of contents. If you are interested you are invited to download it and--of course--comment on it:

Microeconomics of Interactive Economies: Evolutionary and Institutional Perspectives
- A 'Non-Toxic' Introductory and Intermediate Textbook -
 
• Interdependencies & Complexity
• Uncertainty, Search & Learning
• Interaction & Cumulative Process
• Evolutionary Process & General Equilibrium
• Coordination & Cooperation
• Institutions & Routines, Clusters & Networks
• Globalization, Localization & ‘Meso’-Platforms
• Information, Innovation & Open Source
• Firm Size & Power, Oligopoly & Monopolistic Competition
• Interactive Public Policy
 
Wolfram Elsner
in Collaboration with
Matthias Greiff, Torsten Heinrich, and Henning Schwardt
University of Bremen, Germany
2010
 
We are looking forward to receiving any comment from you!
 
Kind regards.
Wolfram Elsner.
 
Dr Wolfram Elsner
Prof of Econ
Univ Bremen
Econ & Business Studies
iino Institute of Institutional & Innov Econ

Adjunct Prof
Univ of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC)
Doctoral Faculty, Dept of Econ

Email: welsner@uni-bremen.de
[Top]

For Your Information

ICAPE 2010 Conference has been postponed

"In the process of organizing this conference it has come to our attention that the proposed ICAPE 2010 conference conflicts with events being planned by some of the member organizations.  Since ICAPE is an umbrella organization that aims to work with the member organizations to promote greater pluralism in economics, it is important that our activities should not conflict with the activities of the member organizations. So we have decided to postpone the 2010 conference until a future date, which has yet to be determined.  We expect to announce the new conference date in the near future.... We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused and hope that you will continue to participate in ICAPE activities in the future."
 
Sincerely,
Frederic Lee
ICAPE Executive Director
and
Erik Olsen
ICAPE Secretary/Treasurer

Leontief Prize

Tufts Institute to Award Annual Economics Prize to Bina Agarwal and Daniel Kahneman March 29

Leontief Prize Lectures on “Development and Well-Being in Times of Crisis”
February 12, 2010

Tufts University’s Global Development And Environment Institute will award its Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought to Bina Agarwal of Delhi University in India and Daniel Kahneman of Princeton University.  The award ceremony will take place March 29 at 5:00 pm at Tufts University and will feature lectures by the prize winners on the topic, “Development and Well-Being in Times of Crisis."

The Global Development And Environment Institute (GDAE), which is jointly affiliated with Tufts’ Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, inaugurated its economics award in 2000 in memory of Nobel Prize-winning economist and Institute advisory board member Wassily Leontief, who had passed away the previous year.  The Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought recognizes economists whose work, like that of the institute and Leontief himself, combines theoretical and empirical research that promotes a more comprehensive understanding of social and environmental processes.  The inaugural prizes were awarded in 2000 to John Kenneth Galbraith and Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen.

Bina Agarwal’s contributions to broadening the frontiers of economic thought have been both theoretical and empirical, always with a focus on the lives of the most disadvantaged. An economist with a keen interest in interdisciplinary and inter-country explorations, Dr. Agarwal’s publications include eight books and numerous professional papers on a range of subjects: land, livelihoods and property rights; environment and development; the political economy of gender; poverty and inequality; law; and agriculture and technological change. Her book: A Field of One's Own: Gender and Land Rights in South Asia (Cambridge University Press, 1994) was awarded the A.K. Coomaraswamy Book Prize 1996; the Edgar Graham Book Prize 1996; and the K. H. Batheja Award 1995-96. She is a Professor of Economics at the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi University. She counts among her many accomplishments helping found the Indian Society for Ecological Economics. Dr. Agarwal currently serves on the U.N. Committee for Development Policy and the Prime Minister’s National Council for Land Reforms.

“Bina Agarwal embodies the kind of theoretically rigorous, empirically grounded, and policy-oriented economics that the Leontief Prize was created to recognize,” said GDAE Co-Director Neva Goodwin. “Her contributions to both scholarship and policy on economic development, the environment, well-being, and gender have been an inspiration to GDAE for many years.”

Daniel Kahneman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2002 for his groundbreaking work in the field of behavioral economics. Dr. Kahneman is a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.  He is also Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs Emeritus at the Woodrow Wilson School, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Psychology Emeritus at Princeton University, and a fellow of the Center for Rationality at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
 
“Our Institute’s work has been much influenced, and has greatly benefited, by the ways in which Dr. Kahneman has expanded the frontiers and crossed the boundaries between economics and other disciplines,” said GDAE Co-Director Neva Goodwin. “As we watch the current economic crisis unfold, we look forward to finding ways for the field of economics to increasingly incorporate the realistic complexity Dr. Kahneman has added to the economic understanding of human motivations and rationality.”
 
 The Global Development And Environment Institute was founded in 1993 with the goal of promoting a better understanding of how societies can pursue their economic and community goals in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner.  The Institute develops textbooks and course materials that incorporate a broad understanding of social, financial and environmental sustainability.  The Institute also carries out policy-relevant research on globalization, climate change, and the role of the market in environmental policy.
 
In addition to Amartya Sen and John Kenneth Galbraith, GDAE has awarded the Leontief Prize to Paul Streeten, Herman Daly, Alice Amsden, Dani Rodrik, Nancy Folbre, Robert Frank, Richard Nelson, Ha-Joon Chang, Samuel Bowles, Juliet Schor, Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Stephen DeCanio, José Antonio Ocampo, and Robert Wade.

The awards ceremony and Leontief Prize lectures will take place on Tufts University’s Medford Campus, in the Coolidge Room of Ballou Hall, at 5:00 pm on March 29.
 
For further information, please contact:
Lauren Denizard, Lauren.Denizard@tufts.edu. 617-627-3530

Feminist Economics, free to download 12 popular and highly cited articles

The Editors of Feminist Economics have selected a range of articles for you to view free during 2010. The articles have been selected as they represent the diverse opinion of the journal which publishes high quality contributions from a broad spectrum of intellectual traditions in economics. The articles included can be viewed here. Further information about Feminist Economics can be found at the journal homepage.

A life in politics: New Left Review at 50

'Can a left intellectual project hope to thrive in the absence of a political movement? That remains to be seen'

by Stefan Collini. The Guardian, Saturday 13 February 2010

''It is hard not to be intimidated by New Left Review. At times, the journal can seem like an elaborate contrivance for making us feel inadequate. One's relation to it conjugates as an irregular verb: I wish I knew more about industrialisation in China; you ought to have a better grasp of Brenner's analysis of global turbulence; he, she, or it needs to understand the significance of community-based activism in Latin America. For many Guardian readers (and others), the journal functions like a kind of older brother whom we look up to – more serious, better informed, better travelled, stronger, irreplaceable. Well, maybe a tiny bit solemn at times (we could draw lots for who gets the job of telling Perry Anderson to lighten up), and perhaps when we were out of touch for longish stretches, life seemed a bit easier. But then we meet up and it's a case of respect at first sight, all over again.''

Read the article here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/13/new-left-review-stefan-collini

[Top]