I received this note from real-world economics review / post-autistic economics review. I think it will be of interest to many in Pen-L
> David Barkin > Mexico > > Dear 11,000 subscribers of the real-world economics review, > > A new movement (its manifesto is at the bottom of this > message) is being launched to encourage universities and > schools to use economics textbooks that engage honestly with > the real world. > > Recently several prominent economists, including Hodgson > and Keen, have publicly called for worldwide student protest > to help bring about serious change in academic economics, > especially in teaching. Although the circumstances for this > have never been so favourable, the problem is how to get > protest started up to the point where it becomes > self-sustaining and nationally and internationally > contagious. > > To this end a website www.toxictextbooks.com has been set > up and, more importantly, also a Facebook group > http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=73911783278 named > Toxic Textbooks. The Facebook group is intended to provide > the means by which students and others can organize > themselves and spread the word. > > Three or four minutes, literally, of help from each of you > will give this movement a big kick start. I imagine that > most of you, like myself until a few days ago, have had no > experience with Facebook. But the thinking is: if it worked > for Obama, it might also work for us. > > Most of you are teachers of economics rather than students, > and, true, this Facebook group is more likely to be run on > the contributions of the many students who we hope will join > it. But seeding it and legitimising protest by students is a > very important role. > > Joining Facebook and then the group is dead easy. Click > http://www.facebook.com . Now all you need to give them > is your name, email address and date of birth, which if you > request, as I did, they promise not to reveal. Skip the > optional rest (no photo required), click and you are signed > up – two minutes. > > Now to join Toxic Textbooks, click on "View and edit your > profile". At the very bottom of the screen there should be a > toolbar labelled "Applications". Click on the first icon to > the right, a pair of heads, and this takes you to Groups. In > the "Search for Groups" box at the top of the page type in > Toxic Textbooks and click. A Toxic Textbooks rectangle > should appear with a "Join Group" box on right. Click it, > and then click "join" again and that's it. > > When after having become a member and you get to the Toxic > Textbooks group page, if you could post something, anything, > on the discussion board or on the Wall that would be great. > > If you would encourage a couple of your colleagues or > students to join or if you would place links for the > movement on your website, that would be better still. > > Thank you for your help, > > Edward Fullbrook > > editor > > > Toxic Textbooks > > Toxic textbooks helped cause the economic meltdown > > The current economic meltdown is not the result of natural > causes or human conspiracy, but because society at all > levels became infected with false beliefs regarding the > nature of economic reality. And the primary sources of this > infection are the “neoclassical” or “mainstream” > textbooks long used in introductory economics courses in > universities throughout the world. > > Mass miseducation > > Every year these “mainstream” books serve to > indoctrinate millions of students in a quaint ideology > (perfect rationality of economic agents, market efficiency, > the invisible hand, etc.) cunningly disguised as science. > This mass miseducation deprives society of the moral and > intellectual capacities it needs in order to design and > maintain the support systems required by market economies. > > We need new, non-toxic textbooks > > More economic catastrophes will befall us and our children > if we do not replace these toxic textbooks with non-toxic > ones immediately. If decency and good sense prevail in > academia, then affecting this reform will not be a problem. > But textbook reform will damage many economic faculties and > toxic textbook authors. The former will suffer losses to > their reputations, the latter to their royalties, which in > some cases run to millions of dollars. > > Together, we can overcome these vested interests > > Society can therefore expect well-placed and richly-funded > strategic resistance to doing the right and necessary thing. > The Facebook group Toxic Textbooks > http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=73911783278 and > the website www.toxictextbooks.com exist to help citizens, > especially students, mobilize and organize themselves to > overcome these vested interests. > > Here you will find the manifesto in Spanish. > > > > _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
