Reforming Economics Education

There is a good deal of discussion these days about what is wrong with how economics is taught at the University level. For some examples, see Lars Syll's blog , The Institute for New Economic Thinking, and this recent article in VOX about controversies surrounding Greg Mankiw's Principles of Economics course and text and alternatives to it at Harvard. I've now completed the … Continue reading Reforming Economics Education →

Why Centrist Democrats are Wrong

In a recent column, political commentator and centrist Democrat  Fareed Zakaria  argues that the current round of progressive policy proposals such as The Green New Deal  and Single Payer Health Care  are the wrong ideas for the Democratic Party. The right ideas, according to Zakaria, are the kinds of "wonky proposals" that centrists have advocated over the last … Continue reading Why Centrist Democrats are Wrong →

Who’s afraid of Socialism?

As a recent  article in the  The New Republic  notes, the word "socialism" has become virtually meaningless in American politics.  President Trump throws the word around as a scare tactic ,  Kamala Harris disavows it,  Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Octavio Cortes celebrate it, while others use it as a euphemism for National Health Insurance. It is not surprising … Continue reading Who’s afraid of Socialism? →

Democrats and Foreign Policy: Round 2

The recent    controversy    surrounding   Ilhan Omar   has  got me thinking more about both the Democrats and Republicans on foreign policy.  In reflecting on her comments, I am inclined to agree that her reference to "Benjamins" was at best, an unthinking resort to anti-Semitic tropes.  An     interesting article    in The Atlantic makes the argument that this kind of statement makes the sort of public discussion we need to have about Israel … Continue reading Democrats and Foreign Policy: Round 2 →

The Democrats’ Foreign Policy Problem

If one begins from the premise that the goal is to replace Donald Trump with a Progressive Democrat in 2020, there are  good reasons not to support Tulsi Gabbard in her Presidential bid. Then again, there are also  good reasons not to support Kamala Harris,   or for that matter, any of the erstwhile  centrist alternatives. My point … Continue reading The Democrats’ Foreign Policy Problem →

Evolutionary Political Economy and Philosophy

In this entry I will lay out a short, preliminary sketch of some philosophical problems in Evolutionary Political Economy. The reader may wish to note that this is part of a planned book length project on evolutionary political economy and that the problems I am writing about today are intended to form at least part … Continue reading Evolutionary Political Economy and Philosophy →

Janus: What is all this fuss Abood?

On June 27, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court, by a vote of 5-4, ruled in Janus that a provision of the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act  which allowed public employee Unions to negotiate "fair share fees" violated the First Amendment rights and the right to free Association of public employees (see also Ohio Revised Code 4117 ). … Continue reading Janus: What is all this fuss Abood? →

The Greatest Trick of the Devil

In a recent Article in American Affairs, economist Phillip Mirowski presents an interesting and cogent argument that Neo-liberalism is a well organized, well funded, and quasi-coherent vision of political economy. He argues for the existence of what he terms a Neo-liberal Thought Collective (NTC) which only partially overlaps with Neo-Classical Economics.  In Mirowski's view, the … Continue reading The Greatest Trick of the Devil →