Heterodox Economics Newsletter
Issue 160
March 03, 2014
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Heterodox Economics Directory
Although I think that the Cambridge Journal of Economics (CJE) is surely a fine outlet for any paper, I have to confess I was a little bit surprised to see the already famous critique on Reinhart and Rogoff's argument regarding the relationship between public debt and growth (the "a public debt-to-GDP ratio of 90% is a red line”-argument) authored by Thomas Herndon, Michael Ash and Robert Pollin being published in the current issue of the CJE. This paper is not only famous, but also interesting and goes far beyond the "Excel-Gate"-aspect mainly featured in the media (you hopefully have seen Tom Herndon's report on his findings at Colbert's...); it's work of considerable scholarly value, since it corrects some past errors. However, my confusion stems from the fact the original papers by Reinhart and Rogoff were published in the NBER-series as well as in the Papers & Proceedings Issue of the American Economic Review (AER). So, why do I find this utterly important paper on the pages of the CJE and not in one of these two outlets?
Driven by intense curiosity I confronted Robert Pollin, the paper's corresponding author, with the question whether the paper has not been submitted to the AER, where the original article of Reinhart and Rogoff has appeared. He told me that "The AER turned down our paper. Their reason was that the original Reinhart/Rogoff paper was published in their Papers and Proceedings issue of the AER, not in their issues in which papers are refereed. They said they have a strict policy of not publishing responses to the papers from their papers and proceedings issue."
I think this episode is exemplary for the academic standards established in current economics. In this case of "rigorous editing" the element of “rigor” is, as in so many other branches of mainstream economic thinking, expressed by “rigorously following conventions”. While “rigor” is often alluded to in economic research seminars, such a kind of conventionalist rigorism trumps critical attitude and hinders the search for true or reliable answers to economic questions. However, while this case is sad as well as amusing, there is no actual news-value here. As we have already been told in 1898: “The standpoint of classical (and current, if I might add) economists […] may not inaptly be called the standpoint of ceremonial adequacy.” (T.B. Veblen)
All the Best!
Jakob
©
public domain
Table of contents
- Call for Papers
- SCEME Seminar in Economic Methodology: "Methodology of Economics and the Natural Environment" (Bristol, 2014)
- 11th International Conference Developments in Economic Theory and Policy: "Finance and the Macroeconomics of Environmental Policies" (Bilbao, 2014)
- Annual Conference in Political Economy of the International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy on The Crisis: Scholarship, Policies, Conflicts and Alternatives (Naples, 2014)
- Annual Workshop on Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents (Tianjin, 2014)
- IIPPE Financialisation Working Group Calls for Papers (Naples, 2014)
- International Conference of the Institute of Social and Economic Studies (IESE): "State, Natural Resources and Conflict: Actors and Dynamics" (Maputo, 2014)
- Japan Society of Political Economy Annual Conference: "Political Economy Now - Challenges to the Orthodoxy" (Osaka, 2014)
- Jean Monnet Centre for Excellence Graduate Conference on “Beyond Core-Periphery? The European Crisis and Influence in World Political Economy” (Manchester, 2014)
- Joint URPE/IAFFE Panels Call for Papers at the ASSA meetings (Boston, 2015)
- Journal of Australian Political Economy: Special Issue on "The Nature of Heterodox Economics, Its Current State and Future Possibilities "
- Polanyi-Hayek Workshop on “Questioning the Utopian Springs of Market Economy” (Sydney, 2014)
- Portuguese Economic Journal meeting: "Banking, fragility and regulation" (Braga, 2014)
- The Group for Study and Research on Labor International Conference on "Labor Theory of Value and Social Sciences" (Brasilia, 2014)
- The Institute for New Economic Thinking Young Scholars Initiative PhD student workshop (Lausanne, 2014)
- The Labor and Employment Relations Association calls for Symposia Proposals at the ASSA meetings (Boston, 2015)
- The Third Midterm Conference of the European Political Sociology Research Network of ESA on Europe’s Global Challenges: Society, Politics, Markets (Copenhagen, 2014)
- Call for Participants
- 15th Trento Summer School: "Intensive Course on Financial Crises"
- LSE Conference: Towards a sustainable financial system (London, 2014)
- Job Postings
- Autonomous University of Social Movements, US
- Cerritos Community College, US
- Hamilton College, US
- Sarah Lawrence College, US
- University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France
- University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
- University of Massachusetts Amherst, US
- Awards
- The 2014 Rhonda Williams Prize: Call for Applications extended
- Journals
- Cambridge Journal of Economics, 38 (2)
- Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 7 (1)
- Capital & Class, 38 (1): Special issue on "Critical political economy and capitalist diversity"
- Historical Materialism, 21 (4)
- Rethinking Marxism, 26 (1)
- The Economic and Labour Relations Review, 25 (1): Symposium on "Work, Workplaces and Industrial Relations"
- Books and Book Series
- Down the Up Escalator: How the 99 Percent Live
- Earth Economics: An Introduction to Demand Management, Long-Run Growth and Global Economic Governance
- Japan’s Great Stagnation: Forging Ahead, Falling Behind
- On the Role of Paradigms in Finance
- Simulating Innovation: Computer-based Tools for Rethinking Innovation
- The Economics Of Austerity
- What Every Economics Student Needs to Know and Doesn't Get in the Usual Principles Text
- Heterodox Graduate Programs, Scholarships and Grants
- Middlesex University: Fully funded research studentships for 2014
- Peter Kenyon Scholarship Second Semester 2014
- PhD funding opportunities at Leeds University Business School
- The Association for Evolutionary Economics invites for the James H. Street Latin American Scholarship 2015
- Three-year PhD scholarship on the politics of international state-building at the Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University (Australia)
- UNU-WIDER PhD Internships
- Newsletters
- Economic Sociology
- Global Development And Environment Institute
- Global Economic Governance Initiative
- UNU WIDER Angle
- World Economics Association
- Calls for Support
- Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute blog calls for contributions
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