I have tremendous respect for Michael Yates --- but I totally disagree --- think of all the undergraduates and graduate students who found a home and learned a helluva lot ---
It was a U Mass faculty member (forget who) who made the case for Bernie Sanders' program --- I know it ain't left enough for some (most?) of us --- but considering the US political system, having a program like that JUSTIFIED by solid empirical research is useful not harmful. Paul Sweezy worked for the TNEC (Temporary Nattional Economic Committee) during the New Deal --- Harry Magdoff designed the Survey of Current Business when he worked for the Department of Commerce --- didn't make them any less Marxist ... Of course I'm somewhat biased having "leaned on" the people at U Mass and elsewhere in the Pioneer Valley of W. Mass for support as I tried to make my own way in a decidedly non-radical department in a decidedly non-elite institution --- and I'm sure I'm rather typical of people who worked in the economics field during the 1970s and 80s and took great comfort in the existence of radical faculty --- just as in the 1950s and early 1960s Paul Baran was a beacon of hope and opportunity for lots of leftists .... Nevertheless, I think the years of "leftist" economists at U. Mass was much more positive than Michael believes --- It was U Mass economists and graduate students who started the Center for Popular Economics which ran very valuable workshops for activists many summers (I taught in a couple myself and can testify to the value it was for the participants) --- I could go on and on about the useful writing that many of the U Mass folks did --- I myself found UNDERSTANDING CAPITALISM by Bowles and Edwards (later, Bowles, Edwards and Roosevelt, and now I think Mehrene Larudee is a co-author) a wonderful way of introducing radical economics to principles of economics students --- One valuable class based time series created by a couple of U Mass folks was THE COST OF LOSING YOUR JOB which was a very valuable way of introducing class struggle at the point of production .... etc CHACUN A SON GOUT! --- we'll have to agree to disagree ... On Sun, Jul 4, 2021 at 1:00 PM Michael Yates <[email protected]> wrote: > I thought it was great when UMass-Amherst hired radical economists. Now, > however, the whole thing seems much less impressive. We drove Herb Gintis > off the Pen-l list decades ago, because he had already moved so far to the > right. Sam Bowles never moved that far right, but he certainly wouldn't be > considered a Marxist today. And look at the foolishness Robert Pollin has > been putting out about growth and the Green New Deal. James Crotty? Not > much there now either. One thing that struck me (I taught in Labor Studies > at UMass for many years, in a special program for union staff and members) > is that these economists had virtually no working-class roots. I remember > David Houston joking about how all of these "star" radical economists spent > an inordinate amount of time at URPE conferences talking with one another > about their upper-class acquaintances. They for the most part had nothing > at all in common with me. Harry and Paul at MR were not much impressed with > them. > _._,_._,_ > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#9688): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/9688 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/83981848/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
