Journal of Economic Issues articles from March 2007

Journal of Economic Issues archives from March 2007

Principles of institutional-evolutionary political economy--converging themes from the schools of heterodoxy.(Report)
March 1, 2007... Over the past forty years there has been a considerable revival of heterodox political economy throughout the world. Heterodoxy has experienced a renewal in the form of several schools of thought. (1) Institutionalists and evolutionary...

Economic restructuring in Iraq: intended and unintended consequences.(Essay)
March 1, 2007... With Iraq on the verge of civil meltdown, it is tempting to view a discussion of its economy as academic, secondary to the more pressing issues of impending civil war and chronic insecurity. Yet, this essay seeks to do precisely that: shift the...

Thailand's financial crisis: its causes, consequences, and implications.(Report)
March 1, 2007... The Asian financial crisis began in Thailand in 1997 and then spread throughout Asia and around the world. Before the crisis passed, Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, Brazil, and Russia accepted large loans from the International Monetary Fund...

Industrial policy and economic development: Korea's experience.
March 1, 2007... The Korean economy has recorded rapid economic growth rates for the past four decades with the exception of the economic crisis in the late 1990s. As a result, per capita gross national product (GNP) increased from less than US$100 in 1960 to...

Macroeconomic stabilization through an employer of last resort.(Report)
March 1, 2007... The employer of last resort (ELR) policy proposal, also referred to as the job guarantee or public sector employment, is promoted by its supporters as an alternative to unemployment as the primary means of currency stability (see Forstater...

Turning economics into an evolutionary science: Veblen, the selection metaphor, and analogical thinking.(Report)
March 1, 2007... But by scientifically colloquial usage we have come to speak of pre-Darwinian and post-Darwinian science, and to appreciate that there is a significant difference in the point of view between the scientific era which preceded...

How can institutional economics be an evolutionary science?(Report)
March 1, 2007... The idea that Institutional Economics can and should be an evolutionary science based on biological models of evolution has a long pedigree among Original Institutional Economists, starting of course with Thorstein Veblen (1898). (1) Among...

The decline of the middle class: an international perspective.(Report)
March 1, 2007... A large and vibrant middle class is important to every nation. It contributes to economic growth, as well as to social and political stability. The middle class helps mitigate class warfare. Marx (1948) believed that economic history was a...

The bubble machine: relative capital valuation, distributive shares and capital gains.(Essay)
March 1, 2007... In recent years there has been no subject with more tentacles into diverse economic phenomena than the large capital gains recorded over the last two decades in stocks, and more recently, housing. Capital gains have implications for...

Norm-based behavior and corporate malpractice.(Report)
March 1, 2007... Jeffrey Skilling held high-level posts in Enron until a few months before it filed for bankruptcy at the end of 2001. When he was a master's degree student at Harvard, one of his professors asked him what he would do if he knew the company he...

Heterodox theoretical convergence: possibility or pipe dream?(Notes and Communications)(Report)
March 1, 2007... A substantial number of papers presented at the 2006 AFEE meetings and published in the Journal of Economic Issues (JEI) in June 2006--10 out of 30--recognized the continuing proliferation of heterodox schools in our discipline. Most of these...

A response to Christian Cordes and Clifford Poirot.(Notes and Communications)
March 1, 2007... I wish to thank both Christian Cordes (2005; 2006; 2007) and Clifford Poirot (2007) for their thoughtful contributions to an ongoing debate. (1) Work in this area is deepening our understanding of the processes of social and economic evolution...

Can a generalized Darwinism be criticized? A rejoinder to Geoffrey Hodgson.(Notes and Communications)(Report)
March 1, 2007... I very much appreciate Geoffrey Hodgson's reply to my article for I think that the debate on the role of biological concepts in economics in general is an important one, especially so for the field of evolutionary economics. There still is a...

Winners and Losers in Globalization.(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Winners and Losers in Globalization, by Guillermo de la Dehesa. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. 2006. Cloth, ISBN: 1405133621, $29.95. 235 pages. Very few economic topics in recent times have aroused such intense passions as the economic...

Cultures Merging: A Historical and Economic Critique of Culture.(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Cultures Merging: A Historical and Economic Critique of Culture, by Eric L. Jones. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2006. Cloth: ISBN 0 691 11737 3, $29.95. Pp. xvii + 297. This interesting and frustrating book by an...

Henry George's Legacy in Economic Thought.(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Henry George's Legacy in Economic Thought, edited by John Laurent. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. 2005. Hardcover, ISBN 1843768852, $110.00, 271 pages. Followers of Henry George generally welcome any new work on the mostly forgotten...

International Migration and Economic Development: Lessons from Low-Income Countries.(Book review)
March 1, 2007... International Migration and Economic Development: Lessons from Low-Income Countries, by Robert E.B. Lucas. Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar. 2005. Cloth, ISBN: 1845423836, $108.00. 360 pages. The migration of humans...

Veblen in Plain English: A Complete Introduction to Thorstein Veblen's Economics.(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Veblen in Plain English: A Complete Introduction to Thorstein Veblen's Economics, by Ken McCormick. Youngstown, NY: Cambria Press. 2006. Paper: ISBN 0 977 3567 6 0, $24.95. 144 pages. Once in a great while one is asked to review a book that...

The Limits of Market Organization.(Book review)
March 1, 2007... The Limits of Market Organization, edited by Richard R. Nelson. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. 2005. Hardcover: ISBN 0 87154 626 4, $45.00. 386 pages. In the introduction, the editor Richard R. Nelson appropriately uses the analogy of...

Is War Necessary for Economic Growth: Military Procurement and Technology Development.(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Is War Necessary for Economic Growth: Military Procurement and Technology Development by Vernon Ruttan. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. pp. 219. ISBN 978-0-19-518804-2. $45 cloth. In this relatively short book Vernon Ruttan argues...

The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time.(Book review)
March 1, 2007... The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, by Jeffrey D. Sachs. New York: Penguin Books. 2005. Paper: ISBN 0143036580, $16.00. 397 pages. In The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, Jeffrey D. Sachs asserts...

Ethics and the Pharmaceutical Industry.(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Ethics and the Pharmaceutical Industry, edited by Michael A. Santoro and Thomas M. Gorrie. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2005. Hardback: ISBN-13: 978 0 521 85496 2, $40.00. 526 pages. The concept of "business ethics" is often...

Safeguarding Financial Stability: Theory and Practice.(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Safeguarding Financial Stability: Theory and Practice, by Garry J. Schinasi. Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund. 2006. Paper: ISBN 1 58906 440 2, $28.00. 311 pages. In this book, the author presents a broad framework to promote...

The Moral Economy of Class: Class and Attitudes in Comparative Perspective.(Book review)
March 1, 2007... The Moral Economy of Class: Class and Attitudes in Comparative Perspective, by Stefan Svallfors. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2006. Cloth ISBN 0804752850. $45.00. Pp. xvii, 226. Are social attitudes affected by a...