At 15:17 11/11/98 -0500, you wrote: >Ajit, > I apologize (to Newitz?) if I came across as >sarcastic. I am well aware that there are lots of people >who have suffered, yourself included. Even those on tenure >track often go through all kinds of unpleasant garbage, >quivering on floors and admissions to mental wards (no >shit), when they actually go up for tenure, even those who >get it. I grant that after one gets it, life can become a >lot easier. > I am also very aware that scholarly radicals have a >much harder time on the job market than do boring poop >mediocrities. I am personally aware of this, in that more >than one person has claimed that, given my personal >research record, I "should" be at a "more prestigious >school." Well, I'm not; but I grant that I have not the >unpleasant experiences in the job market that you have had. > However, none of this undoes my arguments against >Newitz's arguments. Would eliminating tenure make life >easier for radicals or heterodox scholars on the job >market? I seriously doubt it and suggest that it might >well make it worse. Indeed, it is not clear that Newitz >actually called for the elimination of tenure, although she >certainly exhibited massive envy (understandable) of those >who have it, however radical they might be. > What did seem to be her practical bottom line was that >English grad students should be taught skills allowing them >to get non-academic jobs. That may well be, but I see no >relevance of that to economists. Hence, I did not see the >relevance of Lou's posting of this article to this list. >Barkley Rosser __________ Thanks Barkley! I agree with verything you say. Though the interest Lou P's post generated gives it an implicit justification. Cheers, ajit sinha
