Category Archives: BITS & BRIEFS

The Probable Implications of the Coronavirus Crisis — David Harvey, William Davies, Ivan Krastev

Posted on March 27, 2020 by

> David Harvey: “Forty years of neoliberalism… had left the public totally exposed and ill-prepared to face a public health crisis of this sort… In many parts of the supposed “civilized” world, local governments and state authorities, which invariably form … Continue reading →

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The Probable Implications of the Coronavirus Crisis — Adam Tooze, Judith Butler, Radhika Desai

Posted on March 24, 2020 by

> Radhika Desai: “The present pandemic is certain to be different not because it is more lethal than previous ones (it is not), nor because it is causing havoc in financial markets (as most crises of neoliberal era have), but … Continue reading →

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The Probable Implications of the Coronavirus Crisis — Slavoj Zizek, Branko Milanovic, David Grossman

Posted on March 20, 2020 by

> Branko Milanovic: “In the current crisis, people who have not become fully specialized enjoy an advantage… Everything that used to be an advantage in a heavily specialized economy now becomes a disadvantage, and the reverse.”[…] “The human toll of … Continue reading →

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B&B: Hannah Arendt // Research for profit // Neoliberalism and family values // Lessons of 1968 // Sociology of consumption // Index funds and inequality // Alienation and work

Posted on February 8, 2020 by

This time, especially worth reading and sharing pieces: > Hannah Arendt: “Revolutions always appear to succeed with amazing ease in their initial stages, and the reason is that those who supposedly “make” revolutions do not “seize power” but rather pick … Continue reading →

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B&B: Amartya Sen // Tulipmania // Sadie Alexander // Surveillance and Authoritarianism // The Mafia and weak state // New Working Class // ‘Smart’ city serves business

Posted on January 10, 2020 by

This time, especially worth reading and sharing articles: > There are two types of critiques of capitalism – moral and material. Amartya Sen combines the two effectively, demonstrating that the separation of our moral lives from our material concerns are … Continue reading →

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B&B: Not The Nobel Prize winner // Malls and escapism // Capital and corporation // Keynesianism // Slavery and US universities // Middle class // Sex, lies and financial crises

Posted on November 9, 2019 by

> Congratulations to Mariana Mazzucato for winning the Promoting Economic Pluralism’s Not The Nobel Prize “for reimagining the role of the state and value in economics”. Influenced by Joseph Schumpeter and Karl Polanyi, Professor Mazzucato (University College London) is an author of widely discussed – publicly and … Continue reading →

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B&B: Best books in political economy // Raising elite // Missing from economics: women // Philanthropy’s interests // Living now in the pre-industrial age // Black businesses and the Civil Rights Movement

Posted on August 31, 2019 by

This time, especially worth reading and sharing articles: > Mark Blyth chooses and discusses the best 5 books on how Political Economy works >> The Passions and the Interests by Albert Hirschman, Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy by Barrington Moore, The Great … Continue reading →

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B&B: Sins of economics // Appropriating the planet // Living in precarity // You are financier // Historians and economists // Labor and serendipity // Neoliberalism uses imperialism

Posted on August 13, 2019 by

This time, especially worth reading and sharing articles: > The Seven Sins of Economics: 1) Alice in the wonderland of assumptions, 2) Abuse of modelling, 3) Intellectual capture, 4) The science obsession, 5) The textbook and Econ 101, 6) Ignoring … Continue reading →

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B&B: Neoliberalism as creative destruction // Surveillance business // History of capitalism and counter-genealogy of race // Workplace is the hub of political power // GDP is irrelevant

Posted on July 15, 2019 by

This time, especially worth reading  and sharing articles: > Neoliberal capitalism is a “form of creative destruction. For everyone whose life was being regenerated or rejuvenated… there was someone, as well, whose life was being destroyed”, asserts Akash Kapur in … Continue reading →

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B&B: Tech companies love dogs not unions // How US conservative elite persists // Male-dominated central banks // India’s demonetisation // The making of Tourist Capitalism

Posted on November 15, 2018 by

> Tech companies have promoted their self-image as the antithesis of old “evil” corporations by opening their offices to dogs, but not to unions — by Jonny Bunning > “Big Money Rules” – Diane Ravitch reviews three must-read books on … Continue reading →

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B&B: Herbert Marcuse // The Adjunct Crisis // Against Capitalist Orthodoxy // Gender and finance // History of taxing the rich // (Im)mobility in the rural America // Inventing Thanksgiving

Posted on September 7, 2018 by

This time, especially worth reading  and sharing articles: > Herbert Marcuse on how the Frankfurt School reevaluated Marxism following the failure of crises to destroy capitalism, the philosophical roots of the student rebellions of the 1960s, and more — in … Continue reading →

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B&B: Gendered economics // Social drinking // Competition amok // Neoliberal beliefs vs. neoliberal reality // Do protests work? // Business’ counter-mobilization // Pro-poor market

Posted on August 16, 2018 by

This time, especially worth reading  and sharing articles: > Women economists are forced to conform to research interests and publishing habits of male economists. Gender discrimination in economics has various facets — by Giulia Zacchia > Social drinking: How one hundred years … Continue reading →

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B&B: Populism // Rostow’s economics and Vietnam War // Informal economy grows // Universities’ privatization failures // Deficit hawks deceive you // Inequality // One-sided economists

Posted on July 21, 2018 by

> What is Populism? Its defining feature is not anti-elitism but anti-pluralism; it’s based on a fiction but it is not fictional politics — by Jan-Werner Müller > A standard format of budget reporting is deceptive, but it works for the deficit … Continue reading →

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B&B: Economics Nobel fools you // Moral limits, market, and science // Standardization of consumption // Capitalism cannot reform itself // Racial wealth gap // On the origin of cooperation

Posted on July 5, 2018 by

> Glorifying economists, Nobel Prize aims to create the impression that economics is about discovering timeless truths. Don’t let them fool you — urges Joris Luyendijk > Religious traditions toward capitalism impact scientists’ attitudes toward the commercialization of science — by Jared L. Peifer … Continue reading →

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B&B: Geographies of tax evasion // Artifices of the Chicago School // Socialism in the US // Profit and Gift in the Digital Economy // German corporate entrepreneurs // Mortgage fraud

Posted on May 31, 2018 by

> What do we know about the geographies of tax evasion and tax havens? The essence and details – by Manuel B. Aalbers > The artifices of the Chicago School of economics, the limits of  neoliberalism,  and moving beyond the laws of the market … Continue reading →

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