Rodgers, William. 1972. Brown-out: The Power Crisis in America (NY: Stein
and Day).
80: Martin G. Glaeser, economics professor at Wisconsin State University,
had written a book called The Outlines of Public Utility Economics, only to
find that the Institute for Land Research and Public Utility Economics at
Northwestern University, which paid part 0f his salary, had been receiving
contributions from many utility corporations. He had thought, as he
testified before the Federal Trade Commission, that only the NELA and a
Milwaukee light company had put up money. Professor Glaeser, in some
indignation, had rejected a suggestion of Dr. Richard T. Ely, director of
the institute, that authorship be shared with a public utility official,
which under the circumstances was a reasonable idea. He fought for his
integrity further by turning down a guaranteed purchase order from the NELA
of as many as 40,000 copies, with proceeds to go to the institute.
Thanks to Peter and Louis for turning me on to this book.
"J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." wrote:
> Andrew's message is a useful reminder that
> especially in economics there has been pretty
> vigorous ideological enforcement most of the time
> in the past, with perhaps the 1930s and 1960s being
> rare windows of opportunity for more radical
> professors to get into established US academia.
> Not only did we have the McCarthyite purge of the
> late 1940s and 1950s, but such restrictions hit earlier.
> The AAUP and the institution of tenure arose largely
> out of fights over the firing of radical economists in the
> early 20th century. And, the University of Wisconsin
> tried to fire the founder of the now thoroughly orthodox
> American Economics Association, Richard Ely, for his
> "socialist" views (support of workmens' comp, etc.), an
> effort triggered by complaints from state legislators. He
> did actually publish a book in 1894 entitled _Socialism
> and Social Reform_. In that case the Board of Regents
> eventually supported him and in its decision came up with
> the phrase now much quoted there about how the search
> for truth involves "sifting and winnowing."
> I understand, however, that there is some kind of
> different atmosphere on campus. Some of it is just a more
> blatant careerism, although that has always been there.
> Some of it is a more blatant kowtowing to external business
> donors, exemplified by the new trend to naming buildings
> after them (when was the last time you saw an academic
> building named after a great thinker or historical figure?).
> Some of it reflects the ongoing expansion of mindless
> administrative bureaucracies.
> Maybe this is one of those dialectical moments, where
> a series of quantitative changes have led to a qualitative change.
> Barkley Rosser
> (still) Professor of Economics
> James Madison University
> Harrisonburg, VA 22807 USA
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> http://cob.jmu.edu/rosserjb
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andrew Hagen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Date: Monday, March 05, 2001 9:57 AM
> Subject: [PEN-L:8653] Re: farewell to academe
>
> >Best of luck to Michael Yates on his new life. The American academy may
> >have grown unpleasant, but we should remember that it has nearly always
> >been that way. The chief difference between 19th Century American
> >university culture and today's is the different thinking styles, not
> >the conclusions. Maybe we should see the crude but growing conservatism
> >amongst professional intellectuals, the never ending surge of
> >Republican journalism, and the emerging ethos of spite and cynicism as
> >Derrida might: attempts at exorcising Marx's ghost. Or, maybe not. In
> >any case, here's a good Gramsci quotation.
> >
> >"When one does not have the initiative in the struggle and the struggle
> >itself is ultimately identified with a series of defeats, mechanical
> >determinism becomes a formidable power of moral resistance, of cohesion
> >and of patient and obstinate perseverance. "I am defeated for the
> >moment but the nature of things is on my side in the long run," etc.
> >Real will is disguised as an act of faith, a sure rationality of
> >history, a primitive and empirical form of impassioned finalism which
> >appear as a substitute for the predestination, providence etc., of the
> >confessional religions. We must insist on the fact that even in such
> >cases there exists in reality a strong active will . . . . We must
> >stress the fact that fatalism has only been a cover by the weak for an
> >active and real will. This is why it is always necessary to show the
> >futility of mechanical determinism, which explicable as a na¡ve
> >philosophy of the masses, becomes a cause of passivity, of imbecile
> >self-sufficiency, when it is made into a reflective and coherent
> >philosophy on the part of the intellectuals."
> >
> >Andrew Hagen
> >[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
> >
--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Chico, CA 95929
530-898-5321
fax 530-898-5901
