Economists for Inclusive Prosperity
From the website of a new group committed to development of policies for inclusive prosperity:
There is considerable ferment in economics that is often not visible to outsiders. At the same time, the sociology of the profession – career incentives, norms, socialization patterns – often mitigates against adequate engagement with the world of policy, especially on the part of younger academic economists…
While prosperity is the traditional concern of economists, the “inclusive” modifier demands both that we consider the interest of all people, not simply the average person, and that we consider prosperity broadly, including non-pecuniary sources of well-being, from health to climate change to political rights.
Passing the buck
A side benefit of moving to decentralized, renewable electricity would be getting out from under these guys:
As California’s deadliest wildfire was consuming the town of Paradise in November, some of the state’s top power company officials and a dozen legislators were at an annual retreat at the Fairmont Kea Lani resort on Maui. In the course of four days, they discussed wildfires — and how much responsibility the utilities deserve for the devastation, if any.
It is an issue of increasing urgency as more fires are traced to equipment owned by California’s investor-owned utilities. The largest, Pacific Gas and Electric, could ultimately have to pay homeowners and others an estimated $30 billion for causing fires over the last two years. The most devastating of those, the Camp Fire, destroyed thousands of homes in Paradise and killed at least 86 people.
Realizing that their potential fire liability is large enough to bankrupt them, the utility companies are spending tens of millions of dollars on lobbying and campaign contributions. Their goal: a California law that would allow them to pass on the cost of wildfires to their customers in the form of higher electricity rates.
Plus update on the saga here.
Workers on boards?
Sue Holmberg of the Roosevelt Institute makes the case for a big change in corporate governance:
American workers are in a crisis that stems, in part, from having no voice in their economic lives. For decades, American corporations have been run exclusively for the benefit of shareholders, and that model has enabled rising inequality, stagnant wages, runaway executive compensation and underinvestment in research and innovation.
Read more here.
Unions & inequality
A picture worth 1,000 words, from the Economic Policy Institute’s top charts of 2018:
See more here.
The hangover from imbibing Homo economicus
More subtle understandings of human behavior have bounced off the teflon coating of Econ 101 with baleful consequences:
What students are taught in their economics classes can perversely turn models and charts that are meant to approximate reality into aspirational ideals for it. Most economics majors are first introduced to Homo economicus as impressionable college freshmen and internalize its values: Studies show, for instance, that taking economics courses can make people actively more selfish.
Read more here.
Economics: a diversity deficit
The economics profession lags behind the country:
Half a century ago, the American Economic Association, a prestigious 133-year-old society dedicated to encouraging the careers and research of economists, set up the Committee on the Status of Minority Groups in the Economics Profession in response to concerns that minorities were underrepresented. These concerns are just as relevant today.
Read more here.
Puppets rap ‘economic man’
Homo economicus? These puppets have a better idea of who we are:
Annals of hypocrisy: Welfare … or social insurance?
Robert Reich dissects the hypocrisy about government “handouts”:
Read/see his comment here.
Our World in Data
Our World in Data presents eye-popping visualizations on an array of topics. Check out, for example, worldwide death rates from air pollution:
See more here.
Promoting Economic Pluralism
An international initiative seeks to “make space for diversity in economics,” among other ways by creating a new accreditation program for pluralist economics masters programs around the world. Check them out here.
