Comments on: Brad at his best

By: Vee

Vee — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 05:43:24 +0000

He missed the evils of “economies of scale” and I do not know these words: Beveridgism or Myrdahlism.

By: Tony T.

Tony T. — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 02:16:10 +0000

Three important economic questions:

1: Is “psychologically unsustainable” the same thing as “psychologically unstable”?

2a & 2b: Is there really any coffee in his mug, or is that a Letterman-like prop?

3: What’s DeLong take on the wool nexus? You know, the connection between pictures of sheep on wooly jumpers.

By: Roger

Roger — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:52:23 +0000

IANAE and I’ve avoided knowing too much about Marx because … you know … but I am intrigued by his characterisation of capitalism as reducing people to mere wage-slaves. I work with unemployed people and I talk to them about not setting their sights simply on “a job any job”, which is what quite a few of them would be satisfied with (or could hope for). I encourage them rather to identify what work would be satisfying and fulfilling for them as human beings and to set their sights on that. Human beings are, after all, more than just economic units. But mostly it’s too much to ask, because whatever they might want, the government (any government) requires these economic units to seek “a job any job” and to accept “a job any job” if it is offered, whether that would satisfy or fulfill them or not. For most there seems no way out, so perhaps Marx was right. As an economist …