Heterodox Economics Newsletter

Issue 158 January 20, 2014 web pdf Heterodox Economics Directory

In the last few weeks I found myself asking whether Thomas Piketty's upcoming book on "Capital in the 21st century" might be some kind of a game-changer in economic thinking. The main reasons for this are threefold: First, the book is really an opus magnum trying to derive "fundamental laws" of capitalism, which strongly relate to economic inequality. Personally, I find that such a theoretical revival, connecting the inherent distributional tendencies of capitalism with the question of social development was long overdue. Second, the "fundamental laws" suggested by the book are completely different from what we commonly hear in mainstream economics which makes my third point even more important: There are good signs that this contribution will not be completely ignored by mainstream economic discourse. A first evidence for this allegation is provided by the Book Review prepared by Branko Milanovic and to be published in the Journal of Economic Literature - you can download a first draft of the review here. It also serves as a nice introductory overview on the subjects addressed and hypotheses proposed by Piketty.

When there is light, there is also shadow. In this vein, I have to inform you of the passing-away of the eminent heterodox economist and monetary theorist Augusto Graziani, who died on January 5, 2014. In this context I want to point you to Steve Keen, who shares some of his remembrances on Graziani, as well as to a recent article on his work published in the Review of Keynesian Economics. Additionally, the Italian Association for the History of Political Economy will include sessions honoring Augusto Graziani in its annual conference in Bergamo, Italy (26-28 June 2014).

Finally, this issue of the Newsletter has a focus on new journal issues (which obviously collude at the beginning of the year) and calls for papers. However, I also want to point you to our Scholarship-Section, which contains a series of interesting offers, as well as to Tae-Hee's fabolous report on the Heterodox Economics booth at the ASSA in Philadelphia.

All the Best.
Jakob

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