Monthly Archives: June 2016

Growth fetish and taking nature out of economics

Posted on June 28, 2016 by

“Anglo-American economists (after about 1880) took nature out of economics. The growth fetish, while on balance quite useful in a world of empty land, shoals of undisturbed fish, vast forests, and a robust ozone shield, helped create a more crowded … Continue reading →

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BITS & BRIEFS: Sociology of Gold // Labor and “Sharing Economy” // Commodification of Higher Education // Suburban Capitalism

Posted on June 21, 2016 by

Sociology of Gold: A poor form of  money and conspicuous consumption. An instructive video (11 mins) featuring Prof. Nigel Dodd  Restructuring of Labor: “Sharing Economy” makes it harder than ever to untangle capitalism from our daily lives – by Prof. Ursula Huws The Commodification … Continue reading →

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Genealogy of Capitalism and Sacred Economics in Victorian Britain

Posted on June 20, 2016 by

“Labour is Life: from the inmost heart of the Worker rises his god-­given Force, the sacred celestial Life-­essence breathed into him by Almighty God…”                                                      … Continue reading →

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Economist the Creator

Posted on June 14, 2016 by

A (too realistic) joke goes like this: A surgeon, an architect and an economist discussed whose job would be the oldest. The surgeon said it would be his job, because Eve was made of a rib from Adam. That was … Continue reading →

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The European corporate elite on trial: the foundation of the Eurozone and the navigation of its crisis

Posted on June 11, 2016 by

“Europe’s industrial bosses oscillate between fear, anger and disbelief…. Company bosses long to yell “You’re fired!” at any number of European politicians… But a majority of Europe’s businesspeople definitely wants politicians to do more to hold the euro zone together.” (The … Continue reading →

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BITS & BRIEFS: Surveillance consumerism // Privatization of hope // FDR, public spending and money creation // I think therefore I am

Posted on June 10, 2016 by

I think today’s collection of Bits & Briefs is really worth reading. I call it “Surveillance consumerism”: What do consumers want? Learn their lives through their selfies and make them pay The Privatization of Hope: the rejection of even a … Continue reading →

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Statisticism: the erroneous notion that computing is doing research

Posted on June 5, 2016 by

Notes on Social Measurement: Historical and Critical is a major and insightful book by a distinguished American sociologist Otis Dudley Duncan (1921-2004) published in 1984. Duncan has introduced many statistical techniques to sociology, and studied mainly intergenerational occupational mobility. In a paper “Otis Dudley Duncan, quantitative sociologist … Continue reading →

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Why is there no labor party in the United States? Look at Canada to find out

Posted on June 2, 2016 by

In 1906, a German distinguished (somewhat neglected) economist and sociologist Werner Sombart published Why is there no Socialism in the United States? – a book which will become a famous work on American exceptionalism to this day (along with a pioneering and penetrative  Democracy in America, by Alexis de … Continue reading →

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