1) I, for one, deeply regret the loss of JEP. I don't think anyone can really maintain that the new version is more socially useful, especially compared to the way JEP was before the 'great turnover', when the AEA itself was less monolithic. It seems that within the AEA, there is now a ruling dynamic that is far more concerned with promoting their ideology than with serving the public.
2) Latest AEA/AER publication (San Diego Proceedings) has a choice article: "Does Competition Destroy Ethical Behavior?" by Andrei Shleiffer. Opening sentence: "This paper shows that conduct described as unethical and blamed on 'greed' is sometimes a consequence of market competition." This builds on the author's article entitled "Corruption" in last year's QJE. I am sorry to kick someone when they are down, and also to criticize someone not on the list but...
3) The two issues are part of a larger problem - AEA's role (or lack of role) in promoting ethics and a sense of public responsibility in the profession. I was struck by this at the San Diego ASSA and commented on it to the list at the time. AEA, and the economics profession in general, lags considerably behind other fields on this point.
Paul At 08:55 AM 7/31/2004 -0700, you wrote:
Shleifer is the editor; DeLong is gone. So the journal has become more technical, less topical. Its beauty, especially under Stiglitz, was that it could keep non-specialists informed about different fields and truly offer different, even dissident, perspectives.
On Sat, Jul 31, 2004 at 08:47:51AM -0700, Devine, James wrote: > [was RE: [PEN-L] Deeper Problems for Shleifer] > > Michael writes: >Does anybody niotice the rapid decline in the Journal of Economic > Perspectives? A right winger will take over the Journal of Economc > Literature. < > > I haven't been paying attention. Why do you think that the JEP is in decline? why do you think it went into that tailspin? who is the editor? is it still Brad deLong? > > who's taking over the JEL? replacing whom? > > jim d > >
-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
