from Peter Radford What are we to say of a discipline that steadfastly ignores reality in its pursuit of ever more formality in its methods? Wow. Steve Levitt has really shaken me. I come not to mock, but to follow up … Stand up and take a bow Ben Moll!  You daring soul. Clearly I ..read more

from Junaid Jahangir and current issue of RWER [Ha-Joon] Chang’s latest book Edible Economics (2022) crystallizes the narrative that he has developed through his popular books over the years. . . . I have reviewed the salient ideas as follows in a bid to draw out lessons I could share with my ECON 101 students ..read more

from Lars Syll Unlike anthropologists … economists simply invent the primitive societies we study, a practice which frees us from limiting ourselves to societies which can be physically visited as sparing us the discomforts of long stays among savages. This method of society-invention is the source of the utopian character of economics; and of the ..read more

from a comment by Ikonoclast “A truth is permitted only a brief victory celebration between the two long periods where it is first condemned as paradoxical and later disparaged as trivial.” – Arthur Schopenhauer. As they break new ground, the Capital as Power theoreticians will encounter the “Schopenhauer Effect” over and over. When you point ..read more

from Blair Fix and current issue of RWER Speaking of competition and losers, Ronald Reagan set the tone of the neoliberal era when, in 1981, he fired 11,000 striking air-traffic controllers (Houlihan, 2021). The message? Workers were losers who would be subjected to the discipline of competition. Reagan called it ‘morning in America’. But really, it was ..read more

from Giandomenico Scarpelli and current issue of RWER As documented in the previous paragraph, in recent years it finally seems that most orthodox economists have become more aware of the catastrophic outcomes of climatic disturbances; but at this point the traditional policy they recommend could be insufficient to meet the goals set at international level ..read more

from Asad Zaman Introduction At first glance, it appears that industrialization, with its rampant overproduction and overconsumption, stands as the primary antagonist in our climate crisis narrative. However, this surface-level perception overlooks a more profound shift that lies beneath: an epistemological revolution birthed in the European Enlightenment. This era marked a pivotal transition in our ..read more

from Dean Baker David Wallace-Wells had a column discussing the trip by Javier Milei, Argentina’s new president, to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. The WEF is an annual gathering of many of the world’s richest people, where they also invite politicians, academics, and others who they think may amuse them. According to Wallace-Wells, Mr ..read more

from Lars Syll The simple question that was raised during a recent conference … was to what extent has — or should — the teaching of economics be modified … The simple answer is that the economics profession is unlikely to change. Why would economists be willing to give up much of their human capital ..read more

Summary: parking places are a woefully inefficient use of space. And ugly. Cars are a woefully inefficient use of machinery. Using them, in combination with bi-directional charging of cars, to produce solar can amend this. Doing this the right way, parking places can be beautified, costs will go down and life will be more pleasant ..read more