Re: Livingstone stands in London

At 00:15 07/03/00 +, I wrote: >A snap telephone opinion poll for the Guardian tonight reports him to be over 40 % ahead of his nearest rival, Dobson, who has 13%, with the Conservative candidate Norris on 11%. < Whoops! I have already slandered him. It must be my New Labour proclivities!

RE: RE: Regressivity of FICA and EITC phaseout (Re: Richard Rorty and social security

. . . > The problem is if you want to do an earned income tax > credit (or a negative income tax), the more you give, the > more you have to take away, and the higher the implicit > marginal tax rate must be in the take-away zone. > If you want a low marginal rate at the bottom, you must > dispen

RE: Regressivity of FICA and EITC phaseout (Re: Richard Rorty and social security

>On Behalf Of Max B. Sawicky > > [mbs] A concern with marginal tax rates is founded on behavior. > My skepticism rests on the question of behavioral effects. > Certainly a raise that is consumed by the Gov is demoralizing. > Whether someone has the flexibility and inclination to change > their wo

RE: Re: Market failure again

> -Original Message- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Jim Devine > Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2000 4:11 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [PEN-L:16795] Re: Market failure again > > > David McMullen writes: > >I feel very comfortable with the concept [of

Re: Keynesians and Post Keynesians and growth

Louis Proyect wrote: > >Yes: Could someone please explain why Doug and Lou are suddenly being >>nice-nice? >> >>Edwin (Tom) Dickens > >What's difficult to understand? I regard Doug as one of the finest young >(well, nearly young) economists in the US, if not the world. On politics I >trust my

Re: RE: Re: Keynesians and Post Keynesians andgrowth

Max Sawicky wrote: >Doesn't JMK's liquidity trap explain Japan better >than a kinked interest rate curve? > >OTOH, I suppose keynes doesn't explain the japanese >reluctance to spend very well. Anybody know their >'full-employment budget deficit' these days? The IMF says about 6% of GDP; the OEC

RE: Regressivity of FICA and EITC phaseout (Re: Richard Rorty and social security

>On Behalf Of Max Sawicky > I happen not to put much stock in the so-called > marginal implicit tax rate. . . . NN: That's one main thing, but I think you are falling into serious number-crunching wonkery if you don't think it matters to a person that when they get a raise, the government takes

Re: RE: Re: Re: Richard Rorty and social security

Well I thought that you were arguing that earnings tests were OK because the system had survived that long with them. This also counters Michael's point. But if you are not arguing that earnings tests are OK because the system has survived politically with them my analogy is not at all appropriate

RE: Re: Re: Re: Keynesians and Post Keynesians and growth

Yes: Could someone please explain why Doug and Lou are suddenly being nice-nice? Edwin (Tom) Dickens I've modeled this. It follows a sinusoidal pattern with sunspots and orgones as shift parameters. mbs

Re: Re: Re: Re: Keynesians and Post Keynesians and growth

Edwin Dickens wrote: > Yes: Could someone please explain why Doug and Lou are suddenly being > nice-nice? Hey Hey Hey. As when a pitcher is working on a no-hitter -- no one says anything for fear of jinxing him. Carrol

Re: Keynesians and Post Keynesians and growth

Louis, Keynes wrote about this in detail. His idea of a liquidity trap, as he called it, was frequently ridiculed, but most economists admit that lowering interest rates does not have as great an impact as increasing them. Louis Proyect wrote: > I agree that this sort of action can tighten the

Regressivity of FICA and EITC phaseout (Re: Richard Rorty and social security

>On Behalf Of Max Sawicky > I happen not to put much stock in the so-called > marginal implicit tax rate. I don't think people > making $16,500 determine whether they will optimize > by moving to $16,501 or $16,499. The main thing > under the EITC is that, for those eligible, they > have more i

Re: Keynesians and Post Keynesians and growth

I think that everyone on the list is pleased with this level of discourse. > > >Yes: Could someone please explain why Doug and Lou are suddenly being > >nice-nice? > > > >Edwin (Tom) Dickens > > What's difficult to understand? I regard Doug as one of the finest young > (well, nearly young) e

Keynesians and Post Keynesians and growth

>Yes: Could someone please explain why Doug and Lou are suddenly being >nice-nice? > >Edwin (Tom) Dickens What's difficult to understand? I regard Doug as one of the finest young (well, nearly young) economists in the US, if not the world. On politics I trust my own judgement more than I do hi

Livingstone stands in London

Ken Livingstone has taken the plunge, broken his word, and announced he is standing for the new post of Mayor of London, against the official Labour candidate Frank Dobson. A snap telephone opinion poll for the Guardian tonight reports him to be over 40 % ahead of his nearest rival, Dobson, who h

Re: Re: Re: Keynesians and Post Keynesians and growth

Yes: Could someone please explain why Doug and Lou are suddenly being nice-nice? Edwin (Tom) Dickens Chris Burford wrote: > > At 17:32 06/03/00 -0500, Doug wrote: > >Louis Proyect wrote: > > > >>Actually, I can't think of a more lucid presentation of Keynsian and > >>post-Keynsian economics

Re: Re: Keynesians and Post Keynesians and growth

At 17:32 06/03/00 -0500, Doug wrote: >Louis Proyect wrote: > >>Actually, I can't think of a more lucid presentation of Keynsian and >>post-Keynsian economics than in Doug Henwood's "Wall Street" which covers >>Kenyes, Minsky and others in depth. > >Why thanks. I'm pretty hard on old Maynard, too,

RE: Re: Keynesians and Post Keynesians and growth

Doesn't JMK's liquidity trap explain Japan better than a kinked interest rate curve? OTOH, I suppose keynes doesn't explain the japanese reluctance to spend very well. Anybody know their 'full-employment budget deficit' these days? mbs Students in Principles often learn Paul Sweezy's "kinked

RE: Re: RE: Re: Richard Rorty and social security

Max, this is a very informative post. Quite a few people complain about paying school taxes because they do not have any children in school. Here in Chico, we finally passed a school bond on the fourth try. But it was close to failing again. I worry that the same could happen to Social Securit

Re: Keynesians and Post Keynesians and growth

Students in Principles often learn Paul Sweezy's "kinked demand curve" for analyzing oligopolistic markets. An analogous framework can be useful for thinking about an interest rate investment relation--not as a functional relationship, but as a "rules of thumb" type approach: raising interest rat

Re: RE: Re: Richard Rorty and social security

Max, this is a very informative post. Quite a few people complain about paying school taxes because they do not have any children in school. Here in Chico, we finally passed a school bond on the fourth try. But it was close to failing again. I worry that the same could happen to Social Securit

RE: Re: Richard Rorty and social security

NEWMAN! " . . . during the phaseout of EITC, for those making above $13,000 per year with a couple of kids, they face something like a 35% tax rate from FICA plus EITC phaseout on all additional income, . . . It just so happens that I'm finishing a paper now w/Bob Cherry on expanding the EITC t

Re: BLS Daily Report

I thought that this stuff had been put to rest. Richardson_D wrote: > BLS DAILY REPORT, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1,2000 > > More than three years after concluding that the Consumer Price Index > overstated inflation by 1.1 percentage points a year, a group of prominent > economists says changes made to t

Re: Re: Re: Re: US politics

Jim Devine wrote: >In other words, the low-ball estimates of SS revenues (predicting >bankruptcy) reflect the Clinton administration's political >perspective? They declining growth estimates have a long history. Quoting myself from "Antisocial Insecurity" in LBO #87 (gee, Jim, don't you remem

Re: Keynesians and Post Keynesians and growth

Louis Proyect wrote: >Actually, I can't think of a more lucid presentation of Keynsian and >post-Keynsian economics than in Doug Henwood's "Wall Street" which covers >Kenyes, Minsky and others in depth. Why thanks. I'm pretty hard on old Maynard, too, just in case people think I've gone complet

Re: Richard Rorty and social security

>On Behalf Of Max Sawicky >Fourth, we have an Earned Income > Tax credit, the base for which is the same > as that for the payroll tax, so there is already > an offset to the payroll tax for those with incomes > below $30K or so. > I am glad to see everybody against means-testing. > But consiste

E-commerce majors (fwd)

friend who sent below to me didn't identify source... Michael Hoover > E-tailers aren't the only ones cashing in on the online retail craze > universities are also getting in on the action. More colleges are > offering e-commerce majors in response to growing demand for workers > with a combina

Keynesians and Post Keynesians and growth

> It looks to me like interest rates are important vis a vis the business >cycle witness Volker's rate hike in the early 80's which had profound >effects on the U.S. and world economy > >Sam Pawlett I agree that this sort of action can tighten the money supply and create a recession. But I am ref

Re: Keynesians and Post Keynesians and growth

Louis Proyect wrote: > In dismissing Hilferding's "Finance Capital", you state that among > some of the more erroneous conclusions found there is that interest rates > can impact the business cycle. In fairness to Hilferding, he wrote that book when he was 27 years old. He was executed by the

RE: Re: Richard Rorty and social security

A basic feature about Social Security that seems to be under-appreciated is that it is already 'means-tested' to a degree. It's not an either/ or proposition. First of all, the benefit formula is redistributive, which is the same thing for practical purposes as 'means-tested.' It just happens t

BLS Daily Report

BLS DAILY REPORT, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1,2000 More than three years after concluding that the Consumer Price Index overstated inflation by 1.1 percentage points a year, a group of prominent economists says changes made to the index since then have narrowed the overstatement to about 0.8 of a percenta

BLS Daily Report

BLS DAILY REPORT, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2000 RELEASED TODAY: The unemployment rates in all four regions and 31 states posted small declines in January. The national jobless rate was essentially unchanged at 4.0 percent. Nonfarm employment increased in 29 states and the District of Columbia. ...

intelligent mainstream economic commentators?

I was wondering if anyone could give insight into the mindset of relatively intelligent mainstream or liberal political and economic commentators; are Kuttner and Reich, for example, aware of and sympathetic to heterodox work? Same questions regarding any others you can think of. Whom would PEN l

Keynesians and Post Keynesians and growth

Correction: >Speaking of "Wall Street", I wonder if Doug can correct an impression that >I have. In dismissing Hilferding's "Finance Capital", you state that among >some of the more erroneous conclusions found there is that interest rates >can NOT impact the business cycle. This obviously is in l

Keynesians and Post Keynesians and growth

Actually, I can't think of a more lucid presentation of Keynsian and post-Keynsian economics than in Doug Henwood's "Wall Street" which covers Kenyes, Minsky and others in depth. Speaking of "Wall Street", I wonder if Doug can correct an impression that I have. In dismissing Hilferding's "Finance

RE: Re: Re: Richard Rorty and social security

>On Behalf Of Michael Perelman > I sympathize with much of the rest that you wrote, except for > your defense of > the Democrats. I will not go into that space because we have > already rehashed > much of that discussion. Boy, the one time I condemn the Democratic "capitulation" to the Right a

RE: Re: Re: Richard Rorty and social security

>On Behalf Of Ken Hanly > > So how long did the US survive with slavery, with no voting > rights for blacks or > women. > Is that an argument for slavery, etc.? Ken, this is just a bizarre analogy. Michael argues that earnings tests endanger SS's political survivability; I point out that it has

Keynesians and Post Keynesians and growth

Keynesians and Post Keynesians are basically optimistic with regard to growth (with respect to environmental matters.  Capitalist growth absent government stimulus is another matter).There are some interesting possible points of contact between (some aspects ofsome types of) PK economics and

Re: Re: Richard Rorty and social security

So how long did the US survive with slavery, with no voting rights for blacks or women. Is that an argument for slavery, etc.? Nathan wrote: > > Social Security survived for sixty-five years with the earnings test, so it > is more likely part of the reason for its resiliency not a hindrance as

Re: Re: Re: US politics

I was wondering if you could give any insight into the mindset of Reich and other relatively intelligent mainstream or liberal political and economic commentators; is Reich for example, any more insightful in private than in public and is he aware of heterodox work? Same questions regarding Kuttn

Re: Re: Richard Rorty and social security

Nathan Newman wrote: > Michael, I think you and Louis have the politics of this one exactly > backwards. Preserving the earnings test is not just about redistribution, > it's about maintaining Social Security as a pension system, not an > investment vehicle. The problem is that the logic of the

Richard Rorty and social security

Ken: >While I agree with Louis' critique of Rorty I don't see any evidence given that >the AFL-CIO supports Rorty's position. Rorty's logic would lead to means >testing but in itself I don't see how it implies anything one way or the other >about privatisation. Does the AFL-CIO support privatisati

Re: Re: RE: Richard Rorty and social security

>Max, the tone of your note is overly contentious. Try not to call somebody >uninformed even if you think your information is better than that of the other >person. Misinformed is probably worse. I would rather be called "misinformed" than "uninformed"--"misinformed" at least implies that I ha

Re: Richard Rorty and social security

While I agree with Louis' critique of Rorty I don't see any evidence given that the AFL-CIO supports Rorty's position. Rorty's logic would lead to means testing but in itself I don't see how it implies anything one way or the other about privatisation. Does the AFL-CIO support privatisation? T

Re: Re: Re: US politics

I don't know anything about Kellison, but Marilyn Moon is the author of various Urban Institute monographs--typically, at the 51st percentile (moving right to left) of U.S political opinion. Joel Blau Doug Henwood wrote: > Jim Devine wrote: > > >on the subject of SS, is it true that Reagan and

Re: Richard Rorty and social security

>On Behalf Of Michael Perelman > > The problem that Louis seems to be noting is that a move is afoot to make > social security means tested which converts it to a welfare > program. Rorty > doesn't realize that once a program becomes a program for the > needy, that it is > doomed. Michael, I th

Re: Re: US politics

>>> Doug Henwood <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 03/06/00 12:33PM >>> I heard from a semireliable source that Reagan spends his days raking leaves around the pool. An aide spreads out the leaves, Reagan makes a circuit around the pool, the aide gathers up the leaves, and re-spreads them, Ron re-rakes

Re: Re: Re: US politics

I wrote: >>on the subject of SS, is it true that Reagan and Bush the Father (and >>Clinton?) packed the SS trustees with anti-SS types? Is that where the >>unrealistic predictions of the SS system's demise come from? Doug writes: >Quoting from the 1999 SS Trustees report >

Re: Re: Re: US politics

Marilyn Moon is a fairly progressive economist who specializes on poverty. I have not seen any of her recent writings, so maybe she caught the neo-liberal contagion. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Reed, Jr.

Add to the required reading list:   Adolph Reed, Jr. (ed.), 1999, _Without Justice for All: The New Liberalism and Our Retreat from Racial Equality_, Westview Press.   Especially (having not yet finished, thus "so far") the contributions of Stephen Steinberg on occupational apartheid in the

Re: Revenge of the Resub

>>> Chris Burford <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 03/06/00 03:32AM >>But he should be warned >that Michael Perelman has instigated a draconian code of civilised discourse, violations of which may lead to a warning or suspension. ** CB: Were the Draconians or the Vandals or the Philistines

Re: Re: US politics

Jim Devine wrote: >on the subject of SS, is it true that Reagan and Bush the Father >(and Clinton?) packed the SS trustees with anti-SS types? Is that >where the unrealistic predictions of the SS system's demise come >from? Quoting from the 1999 SS Trustees report

Re: US politics

Louis wrote: >... In essence, the proposed legislation has to be seen in the >context of the overall attack on Social Security. It has been a pet >hobbyhorse of the Republicans and the corporate elite for many years. I'm not going to talk about social security, but I think that the phrase "the R

Richard Rorty and social security

>I guess I sort of split the difference with Lou & Max on this. It's >nice, as Max said, to see someone talking about inequality on the >op-ed page of the NYT; it's virtually disappeared as a political >issue (probably because liberals were happy to condemn it when they >could blame it on Reag

Re: tired boom

Louis Proyect wrote, . . . the retirement of the enormous baby boom generation starting in slightly more than a decade. . . I have an announcement to make. Two years ago, my friend Charles died of cancer at the age of 51. My 48-year old cousin drove out of town and took an overdose after several

Re: Richard Rorty and social security

I guess I sort of split the difference with Lou & Max on this. It's nice, as Max said, to see someone talking about inequality on the op-ed page of the NYT; it's virtually disappeared as a political issue (probably because liberals were happy to condemn it when they could blame it on Reagan an

Walter Mosley

Just picked up Walter Mosley's _Workin' on the Chain Gang: Shaking off the Dead Hand of History_ (Library of Contemporary Thought, Ballantine Books, 2000). Mosley is the author of the Easy Rawlins Mystery series and other fiction. The worthy quotable material in this is much more than I can offe

Re: Richard Rorty and social security

Louis: But it is not anti-entitlement rhetoric. It is rhetoric against a particular threshold for mandating taxes against the more affluent elderly, which, as Max said, in the context of a screed against growing income inequality, is an entirely different matter. To pursue the logic of your posit

Re: Limits to growth and measures of value

At 10:45 AM 3/6/00 +0200, you wrote: >Can someone please explain to me hwta is the perspective of >Post-Keynesian and Keynesian on limits to economic growth (i.e is it >optimistic or pessimistic) and why? Also how do these perspectives >express value? I doubt that the Post Keynesians (note the la

Re: RE: Richard Rorty and social security

Max, the tone of your note is overly contentious. Try not to call somebody uninformed even if you think your information is better than that of the other person. Misinformed is probably worse. Max Sawicky wrote: > This uninformed post can best be understood as > a futile effort to deny that no

[Fwd: price of RRPE]

I'm passing along this note from Fred Lee. I agree with him about the subscription. I'm not sure why the journal has been turned over to Elsevier, but the publisher is the worst pirate in a very better crew. As a general principle, as library chairman for my department, I try to avoid subscribi

Richard Rorty and social security

I absolutely agree with this in the sense that we are dealing with a "broken line." In essence, the proposed legislation has to be seen in the context of the overall attack on Social Security. It has been a pet hobbyhorse of the Republicans and the corporate elite for many years. So when Clinton--

Richard Rorty and social security

>[mbs] Evidentally LP hasn't heard of the AFL's campaign >on behalf of the strawberry workers in CA. One might >criticize the manner in which this campaign was >prosecuted, but "virtually no movement" is not >a remotely accurate characterization of what was >attempted. When the UFW organized gra

Re: Richard Rorty and social security

I think it would be more accurate to say that the political implications of Rorty's column are up for grabs. Under the best circumstances, universal social programs--and Social Security is about as close to a universal social program as we have in this country--should have their benefits taxed dif

RE: Richard Rorty and social security

This uninformed post can best be understood as a futile effort to deny that non-revolutionaries have a serious interest in reducing inequality and supporting the working class. There must be a lot of grounds for criticizing Rorty, but none of them are found in this post. LP: . . . there has been

BLS Daily Report

BLS DAILY REPORT, FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2000 RELEASED TODAY: The unemployment rate was little changed in February at 4.1 percent. Payroll employment edged up by 43,000, following a large increase in January (384,000). Average hourly earnings increased by 4 cents over the month and by 3.6 percent o

Re: Richard Rorty and social security

The problem that Louis seems to be noting is that a move is afoot to make social security means tested which converts it to a welfare program. Rorty doesn't realize that once a program becomes a program for the needy, that it is doomed. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State U

Richard Rorty and social security

In October 1996, academic pragmatist superstar Richard Rorty (along with Cornel West and Betty Friedan) shared the platform with AFL-CIO head John Sweeny at a teach-in held at Columbia University which was attended by several thousand students, unionists and assorted activists. Many of us, includi

Limits to growth and measures of value

Can someone please explain to me hwta is the perspective of Post-Keynesian and Keynesian on limits to economic growth (i.e is it optimistic or pessimistic) and why? Also how do these perspectives express value? Also, what year did the Keynesian and Post-Keynesian thinking start and end? Regards Ja

Re: Revenge of the Resub

10:35 04/03/00 >> Mention of Jones should be banned from PEN-L until he >> sends me my lagavullin. And this is entirely altruistic >> on my part, since I don't drink. >> >> mbs >Just for this I'm gonna resub to to Pen-L and Lbo and I'll find a butt of >virtual Malmsey to drown MBS in. Sorry, M

Putin's Third Way Make-Over

Putin's first interview with a foreign journalist since he became acting president was clearly carefully set up with David Frost, and timed just before the Presidential elections later this month. It aimed to explain Russia's war in Chechnya in a favourable light and reopen cooperation rather tha