tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5889026769761133073.post8401980567753850302..comments2023-12-22T08:42:36.132+00:00Comments on Gaian Economics: Economics Students on the MoveMollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12845612174674783187noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5889026769761133073.post-53867667362292407702011-11-04T17:10:10.801+00:002011-11-04T17:10:10.801+00:00William Lazonick from Cambridge, Mass. comments as...William Lazonick from Cambridge, Mass. comments as follows:<br /><br />It is great to see that some Harvard students are recognizing the connection between what is taught in Ec 10 and the “free-market” view of the world that has brought us the financial crisis, obscene income inequality, and an ongoing loss of good middle-class jobs. A local history lesson may be illuminating here. About 30 years ago, when I was an associate professor of economics at Harvard, my colleague Steve Marglin managed to have a series of three lectures on alternative approaches to economics integrated into the Ec 10 curriculum. I delivered one of the lectures each year. Then Larry Lindsey, an assistant professor who would later be a Federal Reserve Board Governor and leading economics adviser to George W. Bush, took over the direction of Ec 10, and immediately, but unsuccessfully, tried to eliminate the alternative perspective. Finally, however, in 1984, Professor Martin Feldstein returned from his stint as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under Ronald Reagan, and, as the new head of Ec 10, got the job done. One point of view would prevail, and the rest, as they say, is history.Mollyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12845612174674783187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5889026769761133073.post-40387609519776122282011-11-04T13:34:22.292+00:002011-11-04T13:34:22.292+00:00>Mankiw is a populist, using his own blog to bl...>Mankiw is a populist, using his own blog to blandly reassure about the existing economic model, blithely ignoring its destructive impacts and its lack of connection with reality.<br /><br />I don't think that's populism. Seems like just propaganda. Populism would be to take the popular critique seriously into account.<br /><br />There is nothing inherently bad (nor good) about populism - isn't it merely the opposite of elitism (which can also be good or bad, depending on context)? Occupy Wall Street, too, is definitely a "populist" movement.jormanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5889026769761133073.post-82706397786418947612011-11-03T12:41:17.350+00:002011-11-03T12:41:17.350+00:00Brilliaaaant!!! - to think this could be the start...Brilliaaaant!!! - to think this could be the start to wholescale reform of economics teaching, but it'll take a decade or two before these students can make their mark in the real World.<br /><br />I expect fierce inter-generational debates in economics which hopefully will enlighten the rest of the population too.Adrian Skillinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05170773452198466162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5889026769761133073.post-84732579786516379352011-11-03T09:13:52.355+00:002011-11-03T09:13:52.355+00:00Molly,
Thank you for posting the most inspiring s...Molly,<br /><br />Thank you for posting the most inspiring story I have read all week. Made me think of Adbusters Toxic Textbooks campaign - http://toxictextbooks.com/<br /><br />May the actions of students continue to have ripple effects throughout the world.<br /><br />Donnie Maclurcan<br />www.postgrowth.orgDonnie Maclurcanhttp://postgrowth.orgnoreply@blogger.com