Issue 66: August  5, 2008

In this issue:

Call for Papers

13th Annual International Conference on Economics & Security

Call for Papers for the 13th Annual International Conference on Economics & Security, to be hosted by CITY College, Thessaloniki, Greece - 24th-26th June 2009. Click here for details.

Perspectives on Investment Strategies

Eastern Economics Association
Annual Conference 2009
Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers
New York, New York
February 27 – March 1

Two, possibly three, sessions are being organized for the Eastern Economics Association’s upcoming annual conference. The topic of the sessions will be “Perspectives on Investment Strategies”. Given the wide degree of strategies (value, growth, small/mid/large cap, market driven top down, stock driven bottom up, sector investing, etc.) any approach could be discussed from a theoretical, empirical, or practical viewpoint. Whether it is rational or not to even have an investment strategy could be discussed.
The hope is to have participants from both orthodox and heterodox economic points of view. Given the location of the conference in New York, an effort will be made to also include practitioners from a few of the Wall Street firms. As the session papers will represent divergent points of view on a narrow topic, the expectation is to assemble the papers after the conference and find a publisher for an edited book.
Deadline for Submissions: October 15, 2008
In the submission, please self-identify as to whether your paper represents an orthodox economic, heterodox economic, or professional point of view. Send submissions, including name, affiliation, mailing address, email address, and telephone and fax numbers to:
Prof. D. Marshall Meador
Keith Busse School of Business & Entrepreneurial Leadership
University of Saint Francis
2701 Spring Street
Fort Wayne, IN 46808
Ph: (260) 399-7700 ext. 8314
Fax: (260) 399-8174
Email: dmeador@sf.edu

Missouri Valley Economics Association

Arranged Session on the History of Economic Thought
Missouri Valley Economics Association
45th Annual Meeting
October 23 – 25, 2008
Millennium Hotel
Saint Louis, Missouri

A session focused on the history of economic thought is being developed for the MVEA’s annual conference is being developed. Submission to any category of the JEL Category B (Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology) is acceptable.
Send an abstract of about 200 words or a complete paper. As the MVEA deadline for session proposals is August 18, please submit your abstract/paper no later than August 11, 2008. Authors will be notified prior to the session proposal’s submission to the MVEA.
Send submissions, including name, affiliation, mailing address, email address, and telephone and fax numbers to:
Prof. D. Marshall Meador
Keith Busse School of Business & Entrepreneurial Leadership
University of Saint Francis
2701 Spring Street
Fort Wayne, IN 46808
Ph: (260) 399-7700 ext. 8314
Fax: (260) 399-8174
Email: dmeador@sf.edu

Colloque de SFAX – TUNISIE

Vendredi 13 et samedi 14 mars 2009
Organisé par la FSEG de Sfax (Tunisie) et l’A.D.E.K. (Association pour le Développement des Études Keynésiennes – France)
Appel à communication Le Financement du développement : perspectives post-keynésiennes

The International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education

Inderscience announces publication of a new journal in economic education, The International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education. The IJPEE will publish four issues a year, the first in January 2009 and the remaining issues March June, September and November. The IJPEE welcomes and encourages manuscripts from all members of the heterodox and pluralist community. The Journal will publish on all aspects of pluralism and economics education with special attention, but not limited, to the following topics:
- Defining pluralism
- What is pluralism and how can we incorporate it into the classroom
- The rhetoric of pluralism: communicating within and across disciplines
- Teaching the theory of the firm from a pluralist perspective
- Teaching pluralism in developing countries
- What can pluralists learn from Adam Smith and other classical economists?
- Incorporating pluralism into online courses
- Using pluralism to construct a framework for solving global problems
- Are there limits to extending pluralism?
- Pluralism and the individual
- Pluralism as a central component of honours courses
- Pluralism at the community college
- Encouraging pluralism at the high school level
- Necessary mathematics for pluralism
- Reaching out to other social sciences
- Teaching ecology from a pluralist perspective
- Understanding the financial crisis from a pluralist perspective
- Pluralism and system dynamics

Interested authors should consult the webpage at Inderscience.com for specific requirements. Manuscripts should be e-mailed to:

Jack Reardon
Department of Management and Economics
School of Business
Hamline University
St. Paul, Minnesota 55104
reardon.laurie@yahoo.com

Association of Christian Economists

Call for Papers
Association of Christian Economists
25th Anniversary Conference
Three Perspectives on Economics and Faith
Thursday, April 16-Saturday, April 18, 2009
Baylor University, Waco, Texas
of Christian
For twenty-five years, the Association of Christian Economists has encouraged Christian scholars to explore and communicate the relationship between their faith and the discipline of economics and to promote interaction and communication among Christian economists.
This anniversary conference will celebrate and continue that tradition.
Three different ways in which faith and economics may inform each other will serve as organizing themes for plenary presentation, concurrent sessions and panel discussions:
1. Faithful Economics: Religious/ethical topics and presuppositions incorporated into mainstream economic analysis and research.
2. Economics of Religion: Application of mainstream techniques of economics to the study of religion and the impact of religion on social capital.
3. Heterodoxy: Critique of and alternatives to mainstream economics. We invite contributed papers for concurrent sessions; in addition to individual papers, full session proposals are encouraged. Submissions from ACE economists, non-member economists, and scholars from related disciples are welcome. Papers on teaching economics also are within the scope of the conference.
Paper proposals must be submitted by October 15, 2008. Submissions should include:
- An abstract of 300-700 words.
- The conference theme (one of the three) to which the paper most clearly relates.
- The mail address and e-mail address of the author(s).
- A short biography of each author (100 to 150 words).
- A short summary of the paper of (100 to 150 words).
Send proposals by e-mail to john_pisciotta@baylor.edu or by mail to: ACE Anniversary
Conference; Department of Economics; One Bear Place #98003; Waco, TX 76798-8003.
See www.baylor.edu/ifl/aceconference  for further details.
Rodney Stark (Baylor University)
Arthur C. Brooks (Syracuse University)
Laurence R. Iannaccone (George Mason University)
John P. Tiemstra (Calvin College)

The Character and Trajectory of the Indian Economic Formation in an Era of Globalisation

LAST CALL FOR CONFERENCE PAPERS – ABSTRACT DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 31st AUGUST 2008

'The Character and Trajectory of the Indian Economic Formation in an Era of Globalisation'

Wednesday 26th November to Friday 28th November 2008 University of Delhi, India

Contact: indian.formation@gmail.com
Web: http://arts.yorku.ca/neoliberalism 
Click here for detailed information.

'Workers' Struggles and Nationalist Movements in the Arab World

We would like to invite you to submit abstracts on 'Workers' Struggles and Nationalist Movements in the Arab World, 1900-present' by 1 September 2008.

We are directing a workshop on this theme at the Tenth Mediterranean Research Meeting which will take place near Florence (Italy) on 25 –28 March 2009.

You will find the abstract below:

Workers' movements present a problematic when considered internationally, as their context has been defined by national liberation in the Middle East and across North Africa. When workers carried out strikes in colonized areas, sustained agitation against the managers of the enterprises that hired them meant indigenous workers' struggles for better wages, safer working conditions, and more secure contracts were seldom simply for their own well-being. Migrant workers' protests also fueled larger national liberation movements by defining inclusive national communities and articulating progressive directions for such communities.

So how do we assess the significance of the strikes that took place outside what have now become postcolonial states? Calling for acknowledgement of the colonial-era split (both in the theoretical realm of law and the practical realm of political institutions) between metropolitan and indigenous workers, and recognizing that the movement's history exceeds both institutional histories of labor unions and political parties, this workshop addresses labor and affiliated issues both in a comparative framework and transnationally.

Since transfers of populations--whether for labor, military service,settlement, or in response to induced environmental disasters--characterized colonialism, many Arabs from colonized parts of West Asia and North Africa worked as émigrés in the various métropoles. We propose to address the link between labor and national liberation bridging across the national histories that have fragmented common aspects of modern Arab experience. Furthermore, we seek to address labor and nation with the inclusiveness of new social movements, since workers developed strategic alliances with other organizations and political interests (whether miners from Algeria, dock workers in Aden, or Palestinian factory workers) to strengthen and broaden collective consciousness across gender and class.

A detailed workshop description (and instructions for submission) is available at:
http://www.iue.it/RSCAS/Research/Mediterranean/mrm2009/desc_pdf/MRM2009_Ds14.pdf


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Conferences, Seminars and Lectures

Political Philosophy & Taxation: An Interdisciplinary Conference

The UCL Centre for Philosophy, Justice and Health, with the financial support of the Aristotelian Society, The Mind Association, and the Society for Applied Philosophy, presents:

Political Philosophy & Taxation: An Interdisciplinary Conference
11-12 September 2008, UCL
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucesswo/tax.htm
http://city.facebook.com/event.php?eid=19895338269&ref=nf

Comunicado de Prensa

Conferencias: Topics in Macroeconomics: A Post Keynesian Interpretation
http://www.fce.unal.edu.co/contenidos/noticias/news.php?id=139
 
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Job Postings for Heterodox Economists

McMaster University

LABOUR STUDIES PROGRAMME
A tenure track joint appointment will be made in Labour Studies and another Social Sciences department related to the candidate=s area of interest, by McMaster University at the Assistant Professor level commencing July 1, 2009. Labour Studies is an interdisciplinary programme, resident in the Faculty of Social Sciences, which includes Anthropology; Economics; Health, Aging & Society; Political Science; Social Work and Sociology. Labour Studies is an interdisciplinary subject area that focuses on all forms of work (paid and unpaid) and links the work experience with gender, racialization, state regulation, labour markets, environment, aging, family life, the community and globalization. Labour Studies offers a full range of undergraduate degrees, an MA in Work & Society and has established educational links with labour and community groups.

Responsibilities will include undergraduate and graduate teaching, supervision of graduate students, and building links with community and labour groups. The successful candidate will be expected to attract research funds and carry out an independent research programme leading to peer-reviewed publications. Candidates should have an interdisciplinary approach to studies in work issues, labour and society and must have a Ph.D. in a relevant discipline.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be considered first for this position. McMaster University is strongly committed to employment equity within its community, and to recruiting diverse faculty and staff. The University encourages applications from all qualified candidates, including women, members of visible minorities, Aboriginal persons, members of sexual minorities and persons with disabilities. This encouragement is in keeping with Labour Studies’ focus on the ways in which structural forces (e.g. social class, gender, racialization, age, ability, sexuality, culture) affect workers and their workplaces, and with our longstanding commitment to teaching and research that reflects the diversity and concerns of the community. Further information on Labour Studies and the Work and Society MA can be found on the Labour Studies home page at http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/labourstudies/.

Applicants should send a curriculum vitae, a statement of research interests and plans, a statement of teaching philosophy and arrange to have three letters of reference sent to Dr. Donald Wells, Director, Labour Studies Programme, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M4. The application deadline is October 17, 2008. Labour Studies will only contact short listed candidates.

Murphy Institute, CUNY

THREE FACULTY POSITIONS

Positions: Assistant or Associate Professor (Tenure Track) - 2 positions
Distinguished Lecturer - 1 position
Location/Department: Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies/School of Professional Studies

Closing Date: Open until filled with review of resumes to begin July 15, 2008

The Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies is seeking to fill three (3) faculty positions.

The Institute is a collaboration between the University and New York City labor unions, for the purpose of serving the educational, policy and research needs of unions and their members. The Institute is comprised of two centers. The mission of the Center for Worker Education is to: 1) offer undergraduate and graduate programs to working adult students and union members; 2) expand access to working adults in colleges throughout the CUNY system; and 3) partner with labor unions and employers to address training and education needs of union members. The Center for Labor, Community, and Policy Studies conducts research, offers leadership development programs, hosts forums and national conferences, publishes articles, books and a national labor journal to promote debate on issues critical to labor’s future and its policy role.

Candidates hired to these positions will teach undergraduate and/or graduate courses in Labor Studies or Urban Studies, provide service to the labor community, conduct research, and/or help build the organizational and intellectual capacity of the Murphy Institute.

Additionally, candidates filling the Assistant/Associate Professor positions will also develop curricula, and may be granted release-time for administrative responsibilities.

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
Requirements differ for these faculty positions. For complete details on candidate criteria (and posting notice number), go to http://www.workered.org/Home/JobsInternships/tabid/89/Default.aspx 
TO APPLY: Applicants must send a cover letter indicating position applied for, C.V., and the names and telephone numbers of three professional references to:

Address:
Dr. Gregory Mantsios
Director, Murphy Institute, CUNY
25 West 43rd Street, 19th Floor
New York, N.Y. 10036
Attn: [indicate position applying for]

Or via email:
MurphyInstitute@aol.com 
Indicate position applying for in subject line.

Lectureship in Economic Sociology at University of Greenwich

We have a new entry-level lectureship vacancy with a focus on business networks.

Applicants should hold or be near completion a PhD in Economic Sociology or a related discipline and have some ability to undertake social network analysis.

For details please see:
http://www.gre.ac.uk/recruitment/1026g7/job-reference-1026g7



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Heterodox Conference Papers and Reports and Articles

International Joseph A. Schumpeter Society Conference 2008

International Joseph A. Schumpeter Society Conference 2008 Papers given at the conference can be found at
http://schumpeter2008.ie.ufrj.br/index.php

Symposium on Employer of Last Resort

The presentations given at the Symposium on Employer of Last Resort, are now available online. A message from the event coordinator, as well as the final program with links to the presentations are available here. You can also access this information by visiting http://economistsforfullemployment.org/news/new.htm

Electronic Publication Makes Science and Scholarship More Narrow

By James A. Evans
Summary: As journals become available electronically, scientists and scholars have more articles at their fingertips, but they cite fewer, more recent ones. Click here to download the paper.

Promise of Export Agriculture Overstated for Latin America: New Report

Few winners under Doha, gains for Brazil and Argentina unlikely to last
Agricultural trade liberalization has provided some countries in Latin America with unprecedented export opportunities, but the export boom has not generated sustainable development, say Mamerto Pérez, Sergio Schlesinger, and Timothy A. Wise, authors of the new report “The Promise and Perils of Agricultural Trade Liberalization: Lessons from the Americas,” released by the Global Development and Environment Institute (GDAE) of Tufts University and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA).
“Most countries aren’t ready to compete in global commodities markets,” says Timothy A. Wise of Tufts University, “and even countries like Brazil and Argentina may see only short-term gains for a few but long-term harm to many.”
The report is based on seven country-studies examining both the promise of export agriculture – specifically the South American soybean boom – and the perils of trade liberalization for small-scale farmers in Latin America, with case studies from Mexico, El Salvador, Bolivia, and Brazil.
“Latin America does not need more liberalization under Doha,” says Wise, “it needs less. The region needs policy space for development, so governments can help farmers grow food more productively.”
Among the report’s main findings:
- South America’s soybean industries are winners from global trade liberalization, but few of the benefits go to rural communities. Based on high-input, industrialized monoculture farming, employment and wages have both declined despite dramatic increases in production.
- Soy expansion offers short-term gain but promises lasting ecological harm from expansion onto sensitive lands, squandering the region’s rich natural assets. The agro-fuel boom only deepens this problem.
- Only a few developing countries – Argentina and Brazil, most notably – capture a large share of the projected benefits. The poorest countries, and the small-scale farmers within those countries, are the least likely to gain from global market opportunities.
- Rich-country reforms reduce production and increase farm prices only negligibly, with the exception of a few crops (e.g., cotton, rice). In the long run, prices will return to pre-reform levels as supply catches up to demand.
- With appropriate government investment – in productivity not just anti-poverty programs – small-scale farmers can increase production. This will help meet critical domestic food needs while reducing poverty.
The 32-page report was jointly published by GDAE and the Washington Office on Latin America. The report and a three-page executive summary are available for download.

Download Summary: http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/Pubs/rp/AgricWGReportJuly08Summary.pdf
Download full report: http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/Pubs/rp/AgricWGReportJuly08.pdf
Further information on project: http://ase.tufts.edu/gdae/WorkingGroupAgric.htm
For more on GDAE's Globalization and Sustainable Development Program:
http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/policy_research/globalization.html

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Heterodox Journals and Newsletters

On The Horizon

Forthcoming Special Issue
Publishing, Refereeing, Rankings, and the Future of Heterodox Economics edited by Wolfram Elsner and Frederic S.Lee
Click here for detailed information.

Revista de Economía Institucional

Issue No. 18 of the Revista de Economía Institucional can be found at
http://www.economiainstitucional.com/eng/

History of Economics Review No. 47, Winter 2008

Contents:

ARTICLES

- Schumpeter and Steindl on Growth and the Transformation to Maturity in Capitalism
Harry Bloch and John Finch

- Poetry, Faith and Chivalry: Alfred Marshall’s Response to Modern Socialism
Simon Cook

- A Letter From Keynes to Harlan McCracken dated 31st August 1933: Why the Standard Story on the Origins of the General Theory Needs to be Rewritten
Steven Kates

- Crank or Proto-Monetarist?: J.K. Gifford and the Cost-Push Inflation Fallacy
J.E King and Alex Millmow

- History of Economic Thought at the University of Western Australia: 1953 compared to 2003
Michael McLure

- A Restatement of Walras’ Theories of Capitalisation and Money
Aldo Montesano

COMMUNICATIONS AND NOTES FROM THE ARCHIVES

- The History Wars of Economics: The Classification Struggle in the History of Economic Thought
Steven Kates and Alex Millmow

REVIEW ARTICLES

- On Paul Krugman on Maynard Keynes’ General Theory
Geoff Harcourt

- Keynes vs the Keynesians: Keynes Rediscovered
Colin Rogers

- Money and Inflation in a Macroeconomic Model with Indexed Bonds
Ernst Juerg Weber

BOOK REVIEWS

- Robert B. Ekelund and Robert F. Hébert, A History of Economic Theory and Method
William Coleman

- Bert Mosselmans, William Stanley Jevons and the Cutting Edge of Economics
Simon Cook

- J.E. King (ed.), A Biographical Dictionary of Australian and New Zealand Economists
Craufurd Goodwin

- J.T. Knoedler et al., Thorstein Veblen and the Revival of Free Market Capitalism
J.E. King

- Vilfredo Pareto, Considerations on the Fundamental Principles of Pure Political Economy
Michael McLure

- Geoffrey Poitras (ed.), Pioneers of Financial Economics. Volume 1. Contributions Prior to Irving Fisher
Gregory C.G. Moore

New Labor Forum

Leading Labor Journal’s Summer Issue Focuses on Labor in the Shifting Political Environment

New Labor Forum, a national labor journal owned and edited by the Murphy Institute's Center for Worker Education and Labor Studies, at the City University of New York, announces the release of its Summer 2008 issue that examines the interplay between low-wage workers (particularly women) and the labor movement, amidst the backdrop of an anticipated shift in the political climate.

To download these articles or to find out more about New Labor Forum –
Visit the journal at: www.informaworld.com/1095-7960

Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales

Adjuntamos un fichero con el sumario de Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales Vol. 26, num. 1, 2008, “Globalización y sindicalismo”, coordinado por Fausto Miguelez, que se publicará próximamente.
Así mismo le recordamos los títulos de los últimos números:
Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales, Vol. 25, núm. 2, 2007, “La transformación del derecho del trabajo”
Fernando Valdés Dal-Ré y Jesús Lahera Forteza (Coordinadores)

Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales, Vol. 25, núm. 1, 2007, “Diez años después de la ley de prevención de riesgos laborales”
Montserrat García Gómez (Coordinadora)

El contenido de todos los números de Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales, salvo los dos últimos, puede consultarse directamente en el Portal de revistas Científicas de la UCM en la página: http://www.ucm.es/BUCM/revistasBUC/portal/modulos.php?name=Revistas2&id=CRLA&col=1

The Economics of Peace and Security Journal

Volume 3 Issue 2 containing a Symposium: Palestine - an economy in conflict is now available to subscribers. Non-subscribers can access the abstracts and contents pages.
See http://www.epsjournal.org.uk/Vol3/No2/issue.php  for details

Forum for Social Economics

Volume 37 Number 2 of Forum for Social Economics is now available at Springerlink

In this issue:

- Robert Heilbroner and the Growing Concern with Poverty in the US
Steven Pressman

- Economics, Sociology, History: Notes on Their Loss of Unity, Their Need for Re-integration and the Current Relevance of the Controversy between Carl Menger and Gustav Schmoller
Dieter Bögenhold

- An Economic Definition of the Middle Class
Joseph G. Eisenhauer

- Comparative Institutional Advantage and the Appropriate Development Model for Sub-Saharan Africa
Geoffrey E. Schneider

- A Critique of ‘Neoliberal Autonomy’: The Rhetoric of Ownership Society
Rojhat B. Avsar

- Advances in Inequality Measurement and Usefulness of Statistical Inference
Sourushe Zandvakili

- Revisiting the Relevance of International Trade Theory
Mark A. Lutz

Challenge

Volume 51 Number 4 / July-August 2008 of Challenge is now available at http://mesharpe.metapress.com.

This issue contains:

- Letter from the Editor
Jeff Madrick

- The Future of Inflation Targeting
Adam Posen

- The First-World Debt Crisis of 2007-2010 in Global Perspective
Robert Wade

- What Can We Really Learn from Growth Regressions?
Francisco Rodríguez

- The State as Strategic Manager?
Dan Breznitz, Carsten Zimmermann

- A New Dream of Europe? Invest in People!
Günther Schmid

- Crude Oil Prices: "Market Fundamentals" or Speculation?
Paul Davidson

- Reviews: Trade Theory Dissidents
William Milberg  

Heterodox Books and Book Series

Economics for Everyone: A Short Guide to the Economics of Capitalism

Pluto Press, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and Fernwood Books have jointly published Economics for Everyone: A Short Guide to the Economics of Capitalism (ISBN 9780745327501, $24.95), by Jim Stanford. Jim is one of Canada's best-known economists: he works for the Canadian Auto Workers, and writes a regular economics column for the Globe and Mail.
This book fills a unique void in economics. It's a textbook for activists. It provides a comprehensive description (and critique) of free-market economics. But it's fully understandable to average, non-specialist readers. Like trade union members. Activists. Neighbours.
Economics for Everyone is punchy and readable, with short, bite-sized chapters, and illustrated with cartoons and flow charts by renowned political cartoonist Tony Biddle. Best of all, it is completely free of technical jargon and mathematics.
When they've finished it, readers will understand the basic features and relationships of modern-day capitalism. They'll see where working people fit into the big economic picture – and the points of opportunity where we can try to build a better, fairer system.
Most important, Economics for Everyone is backed by a comprehensive set of web-based instructional materials (to be posted here in Summer 2008) – including a course outline, lecture notes, student exercises, and a glossary, all available for free on the web. This book can thus be part of a broader, ready-made popular economics course for unionists, activists, and just plain regular concerned individuals.
www.economicsforeveryone.com

Hating the Job

New book tracks worker discontent
EPI senior writer David Kusnet has released a new book tracking the growing unhappiness of skilled workers in an age of extreme cost-cutting for short-term profits. Its title, Love the Work, Hate the Job (Wiley 2008), sums up the premise well. When pollsters ask people about both job satisfaction and work satisfaction, they find that a majority love their careers but not their working conditions. To illustrate why, Kusnet followed the workers at four companies in the Seattle area--Microsoft, Boeing, Kaiser Aluminum, and Northwest Hospital--in the turning-point year of 2000. He tells the stories of skilled and dedicated workers battling not so much for better pay and benefits as for respect and a say in the future of the business. A former speechwriter for Bill Clinton and co-author of the 2006 EPI book Talking Past Each Other, Kusnet will discuss the book and sign copies at EPI on Thursday July 31 at 3:30 p.m. Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne will moderate the discussion, which will also feature Paul Almeida, president of the Department for Professional Employees of the AFL-CIO and a leader of the Boeing engineers' strike in 2000. RSVPs are now being accepted for this event.
Health care disparities a matter of life and death
Although life expectancy has grown for all Americans in recent decades, the gains have been increasingly uneven and dependant on income, as EPI economist Elise Gould shows in this week's Economic Snapshot. In 1980, those with the highest socio-economic status had a life expectancy 2.8 years higher than those with the lowest status (75.8 versus 73.0 years, respectively). By 2000, that gap had grown: those in the top tenth had attained a life expectancy of 79.2 years-4.5 years more than those in the bottom tenth. Disparities in life expectancy also increased between the top and the middle tenth, and between the middle and the bottom.
Jared Bernstein: Keeping the blogosphere on track
EPI senior economist Jared Bernstein continues his prolific blogging, including pieces on the near-disasters at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (CNBC Guest Blog), the need for labor law reform (TPM Café), and the state of political economics (Huffington Post)--all in one week. Also note that Bernstein will address the Joint Economic Committee on July 23 on the serious impact of rising household costs and stagnant wages in a slumping economy.

Karl Marx’s Grundrisse

Foundations of the critique of political economy 150 years later
Edited by Marcello Musto
http://www.routledgeeconomics.com/books/Karl-Marxs-Grundrisse-isbn9780415437493
Written between 1857 and 1858, the Grundrisse is the first draft of Marx’s critique of political economy and, thus, also the initial preparatory work on Capital. Despite its editorial vicissitudes and late publication, Grundrisse contains numerous reflections on matters that Marx did not develop elsewhere in his oeuvre and is therefore extremely important for an overall interpretation of his thought.

In this collection, various international experts in the field, analysing the Grundrisse on the 150th anniversary of its composition, present a Marx in many ways radically different from the one who figures in the dominant currents of twentieth-century Marxism. The book demonstrates the relevance of the Grundrisse to an understanding of Capital and of Marx’s theoretical project as a whole, which, as is well known, remained uncompleted. It also highlights the continuing explanatory power of Marxian categories for contemporary society and its present contradictions.

With contributions from such scholars as Eric Hobsbawm and Terrell Carver, and covering subject areas such as political economy, philosophy and Marxism, this book is likely to become required reading for serious scholars of Marx across the world.
Reviews
"This volume promises to be required reading for all serious students of Marx" Simon Clarke (University of Warwick, UK)
Table of Contents
1. Prologue, 2. Foreword, Eric Hobsbawn, Part I. Grundrisse: Critical Interpretations, 3. History, Production and Method in the 1857 'Introduction' to the Grundrisse, Marcello Musto, 4. The Concept of Value in Modern Economy. On the Relationship between Money and Capital in ‘Grundrisse’, Joachim Bischoff – Christoph Lieber, 5. Marx Conception of Alienation in ‘Grundrisse’, Terrell Carver, 6. The Discovery of the Category of Surplus value, Enrique Dussel,7. Historical Materialism in ‘Forms which precede Capitalist Production’, Ellen Meiksins Wood, 8. Marx’s ‘Grundrisse’ and the Ecological Contradictions of Capitalism, John Bellamy Foster, 9. Emancipated Individuals in an Emancipated Society. Marx’s Sketch of Post-Capitalist Society in the ‘Grundrisse’, Iring Fetscher, 10. Rethinking ‘Capital’ in Light of the ‘Grundrisse’, Moishe Postone, Part II. Marx at the time of Grundrisse, 11. Marx’s life at the time of the ‘Grundrisse’. Biographical notes on 1857-8, Marcello Musto, 12. The First World Economic Crisis: Marx as an Economic Journalist, Michael R. Krätke, 13. Marx’s ‘Books of Crisis’ of 1857-8, Michael R. Krätke, Part III.Dissemination and reception of Grundrisse in the world, 14. Dissemination and Reception of the ‘Grundrisse’ in the world. Introduction, Marcello Musto, 15. Germany – Austria – Switzerland, Ernst Theodor Mohl, 16. Russia – Soviet Union, Lyudmila L. Vasina, 17. Japan, Hiroshi Uchida, 18. China, Zhongpu Zhang, 19. France, André Tosel, 20. Italy, Mario Tronti 21. Cuba – Argentina – Spain – Mexico, Pedro Ribas – Rafael Pla, 22. Czechoslovakia, Stanislav Hubík, 23. Hungary, Ferenc L. Lendvai, 24. Romania, Gheorghe Stoica, 25. USA – Britain – Australia – Canada, Christopher J. Arthur, 26. Denmark, Birger Linde, 27. Yugoslavia, Lino Veljak 28. Iran, Kamran Nayeri, 29. Poland,Holger Politt, 30. Finland, Vesa Oittinen, 31. Greece, John Milios, 32. Turkey, E. Ahmet Tonak, 33. South Korea, Hogyun Kim, 34. Brazil – Portugal, José Paulo Netto
About the Author(s)
Marcello Musto is a Researcher at the University of Naples ‘L’Orientale’, in Naples, Italy.

Routledge Studies in European Economy Series

Economic Policy Proposals for Germany and Europe
Edited by Ronald Schettkat and Jochem Langkau
This book offers a fresh, innovative analysis of contemporary German economic policy, containing essays from non-Germanic, internationally distinguished economists from around the world, arguing for a more expansionary macroeconomic policy.
March 2008: 234x156: 192pp
Hb: 978-0-415-46084-2: £75.00
For further information about this title please click here

Competitiveness of New Europe
Papers from the Second Lancut Economic Forum
Edited by Jan Winiecki
Edited by a leading scholar in transition economics, this book examines the nations that make up the so-called 'New-Europe' to look at the economic competitiveness in comparison with each other and the rest of Europe.
August 2008: 234x156: 208pp
Hb: 978-0-415-45462-9: £75.00
For further information about this title please click here

The Impact of European Integration on Regional Structural Change and Cohesion
Edited by Christiane Krieger-Boden, Edgar Morgenroth and George Petrakos
Edited by three European editors and spanning across Europe, this excellent study focuses on the effects of the European integration process on the inter-regional division of labour in both western and Eastern European countries.
April 2008: 234x156: 336pp
Hb: 978-0-415-40024-4: £65.00
For further information about this title please click here

New for 2009
Beyond Market Access for Economic Development
Edited by Gerrit Faber and Jan Orbie
Starting from the observation that the establishment of free trade as such will substantially impact upon economic development, the different contributions focus on the potential contribution of non-traditional aspects of EPAs.
April 2009: 234x156: 288pp
Hb: 978-0-415-48260-8: £75.00
For further information about this title please click here

Deregulation and the Airline Business in Europe
Sean Barrett
Written by a longstanding expert in the field, this book examines the deregulation of the airline industry and the rise of low cost airlines, specifically the success of Ryanair as a key case study.
February 2009: 234x156: 288pp
Hb: 978-0-415-44722-5: £70.00
For further information about this title please click here

The Political Economy of the European Social Model
Philip B. Whyman, Mark Baimbridge and Andrew Mullen
This book seeks to analyse the development of the EU arguing that the the principle of free movement of capital, goods, services and people is fundamentally at odds with the creation of an interventionist regime.
November 2009: 234x156: 288pp
Hb: 978-0-415-47629-4: £70.00
For further information about this title please click here

Young Workers in the Global Economy

YOUNG WORKERS IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY: JOB CHALLENGES IN NORTH AMERICA, EUROPE AND JAPAN, ed. by Gregory DeFreitas (published by Edward Elgar)

Our international group of economists and sociologists tried to provide non-technical introductions to the tough challenges now facing youth in the US and other advanced economies and to important differences in the ways that other countries have coped with them. In doing so, we also suggest a number of promising policies and strategies to improve young people’s economic futures. And we think that the book adds something of interest on a host of controversial topics, including: youth unemployment, earnings mobility, racial/ethnic and gender inequalities, training quality and access, job hazards, health insurance coverage, immigration, minimum wage laws, union organizing, and global economic competition.

If it sounds interesting to you, please order copies for your university library and consider it for your classes. More info is available on the publisher’s website:
http://www.e-elgar.com/bookentry_mainUS.lasso?id=12832

Chicago Fundamentalism

Ideology and Methodology in Economics by Craig F Freedman (Macquarie University, Australia)

472pp Pub. date: Aug 2008
ISBN 978-981-281-199-8
981-281-199-0 US$88 / £48
http://www.worldscibooks.com/economics/6809.html 

Cold-war ideology infected the development of economics in ways its practitioners were often not fully aware. The Chicago counter-revolution against the dominant post-war triumph of Keynesian analysis had an essential subtext, a perceived struggle between freedom and collective slavery. Ideological objectives subsequently influenced methodological concerns, pushing economists to adopt the zero-sum tactics of the courtroom rather than the mutually beneficial manners of the senior common room. In these ideologically charged times, economists stopped reading opposing views carefully, seeking instead to dismiss, out of hand, uncongenial ideas.

In this collection of previously published and new material, Craig Freedman examines the problem of ideology through the reflection cast by the architects of the Chicago counter-revolution, George Stigler and Milton Friedman. The second half of the volume demonstrates the legacy of these ideological fires, namely a profession where the methodology of careless reading and zero-sum exchanges have persisted and come to dominate.

Contents:

Resurrecting the Chicago Revolution: The Cold War and the Economics Profession:

George Stigler:
Power Without Glory - George Stigler's Market Leviathan Countervailing Egos - Stigler versus Galbraith Do Great Economists Make Great Teachers? - George Stigler as a Dissertation Supervisor

Milton Friedman:
Entre Nous - A Review of the Friedman-Stigler Correspondence Not for Love nor Money: Milton Friedman's Counter- Revolution

Method or Madness - Why Methodology Matters:
Why Economists Can't Read
Animal Spirits in His Soup: A Look at the Methodology and Rhetoric of The General Theory Court Jesters, House Gadflies and Economic Critics and other papers

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Heterodox Book Reviews

Hedonic Man

The new economics and the pursuit of happiness.
Alan Wolfe, The New Republic
Click here to download the review.

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The HEN-IRE-FPH Project

HEN-IRE-FPH project for Developing Heterodox Economics Through Debate and Dialogue on the Economy

The Heterodox Economics Newsletter, The International Initiative for Rethinking the Economy (IRE), and the Charles Leopold Mayer Foundation for the Progress of Humankind (FPH) ( www.fph.ch ) have undertaken a joint project to promote the development of heterodox economics. It involves publishing in the Newsletter reviews, analytical summaries, or commentary of articles, books, book chapters, theses, dissertations, government reports, etc. that relate to the following themes: diversity of economic approaches, regulation of goods and services, currency and finance, and trade regimes. These themes relate to heterodox economics and to the open and pluralistic intellectual debates in economics. It is hoped that the reviews will contribute to strengthening the community of heterodox economists, and to the development of heterodox economic theory through the dissemination of ideas/arguments. The final aim of this project is to help heterodox economists come up with new proposals, both theoretical and applied. The reviews will be published in the Newsletter and will also be put on the IRE website http://www.institut-gouvernance.org/spip.php?rubrique142.  For further information about the project, material available for reviewing, and about reviewing the material click here. Anyone interested in contributing to and reviewing material for the HEN-IRE-FPH project should contact Fred Lee, Editor of the Newsletter by email ( leefs@umkc.edu ). I am particularly interested in getting recommendations of material that should be reviewed. 

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Heterodox Graduate Program and PhD Scholarships

Keele University

The Institute for Public Policy and Management at Keele University, in collaboration with Brittania Building Society, is advertising a research studentship for doctoral study at the intersection of marketing and organisation / institutional theory.
This full-time CASE studentship is for 3 years from 1st October 2008 (start date negotiable) and carries an enhanced stipend of £14,940 and generous support for advanced training.
Applicants should have completed a research training course at Masters Level recognised by the ESRC, or have an equivalent qualification or experience. Applicants must also have established UK residency.
Full application packs are available at the Institute's website at: http://www.keele.ac.uk/research/ppm/ 
The deadline for applications is Monday 1st September 2008.
For an informal discussion about the studentship, please contact Professor Matthias Klaes ( m.klaes@keele.ac.uk ) or Professor Rolland Munro (r.munro@mngt.keele.ac.uk  or 01782 583 428) or Dr Liz Parsons (e.parsons@mngt.keele.ac.uk  or 01782 583 426). For administrative enquiries, please contact Tracey Wood (t.wood@ippm.keele.ac.uk  or 01782 584 577).

University of Macerata

The "Dipartimento di Studi sullo sviluppo economico" ( http://zope.unimc.it/dsse ) and the "Scuola di Dottorato" of the University of Macerata ( http://www.unimc.it/ ) invites applications from students wishing to undertake a three-year programme leading to a doctoral degree in the field of the "European Tradition in Economic Thought".
- Applications can be downloaded from: http://celfi.unimc.it/sda/  ---> Bandi di Concorso e Graduatorie.
- Applications should reach the University of Macerata before the deadline (September, 5, 2008). 

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Queries from Heterodox Economists

Linda Kaucher

I have received a request for information from a colleague - Linda Kaucher of the LSE. If anyone is teaching a critical view of the neoliberal international trade agenda, or knows where such a course is being taught, could they get in touch with Linda at L.L.Kaucher@lse.ac.uk . 

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For Your Information

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Here is an interesting short film that is related to the book titled "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism" by Naomi Klein. http://www.naomiklein.org/main

The Evolution of Economic Rationality: Do Monkeys Understand Money?

By Roy F. Baumeister on July 15, 2008 in Cultural Animal
Click here to download the paper.

Gone, and Being Forgotten

Why are some of the greatest thinkers being expelled from their disciplines?
By RUSSELL JACOBY
Click here to download the paper.

Post-Keynesian Growth and Income Distribution Tour

ADEK Productions present the Post-Keynesian Growth and Income Distribution Tour.

Neuroeconomics

The July 26th issue of The Economist has in interesting article on Neuroeconomics which you can read at http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11785391.

'Political' Views and Economists

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/07/25/pc
http://www.bepress.com/forum/vol6/iss2/art8/?sending=10251 
http://www.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1248&context=forum 

Unequal America

http://www.truthout.org/article/unequal-america
Elizabeth Gudrais reports for Harvard Magazine: "When Majid Ezzati thinks about declining life expectancy, he says, 'I think of an epidemic like HIV, or I think of the collapse of a social system, like in the former Soviet Union.' But such a decline is happening right now in some parts of the United States. Between 1983 and 1999, men's life expectancy decreased in more than 50 U.S. counties, according to a recent study by Ezzati, associate professor of international health at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), and colleagues.... The United States no longer boasts anywhere near the world's longest life expectancy. It doesn't even make the top 40. In this and many other ways, the richest nation on earth is not the healthiest. Ezzati's finding is unsettling on its face, but scholars find further cause for concern in the pattern of health disparities. Poor health is not distributed evenly across the population, but concentrated among the disadvantaged."

Figure It Out by Matthew Reisz

While wrestling, crime, sex and tulipmania spice up popular books on economics, the academic discipline often remains impenetrable. Matthew Reisz considers the costs and benefits of complexity
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=402499&c=2

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