On Tue, 9 Jun 1998, James Devine wrote: > I would love to help cowrite a textbook! Of course, I'd have to drop out of > pen-l... > > >2. What subjects (and why) do pen-lers think such a book ought to cover > and how should such a book be organized. In other words, how do you > envision your "dream" intro text? I'd be interested in responses. ...< > > My dream text would start with Bowles & Edwards' UNDERSTANDING CAPITALISM > as its base. It needs to be updated and corrected. The macro is poorly > presented and inadequate. I would add more stuff on gender and race. B&E's > tendency toward excessive mathematics in their presentations is to be > avoided. However, I like the fact that their book is not encyclopedic (lots > o' facts). I like Jim Devine's idea of writing a text like Understanding Capitalism but with more and better macro, and more on race and gender. To this I would add material on alternatives, including participatory socialism, and more on the meaning of global capitalism for the North and South including some material on neoliberalism, debt and alternative strategies for development. Finally, I would add a chapter or section on environment and sustainability. Such a book still would be less than an encyclopedia although it would have more history than neoclassical texts. This would be a very useful book that could stand alone here at Evergreen, and in other schools could be used in addition to a mainstream text. The value of such a book would be that it can be used as both a critique of capitalism and of neoclassical economics, as well as provide a powerful analysis of those who want to really understand capitalism in order to change it. It would be worth cutting back on PENL to do it. This past quarter, I used a manuscript by Robin Hahnel, ABC's of Political Economy that was very well received by the 45 students in the class. So far, he hasn't found a publisher. There is a strong need for a book such as the above. I would be willing to read a manuscript and make comments but not at this time do more than that. JUST DO IT! Peter Bohmer
