Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Galbraith On Sociology Of Economics

I thought this short comment was interesting:
Figure 1: James Galbraith on Sociology of Economics
Provenance is, of course, no guarantee of the quality of art. But one thing that strikes me about dissenters and non-mainstream economists is that many have doctorates in economics from elite schools (e.g., Harvard, Yale, Cambridge), have taught at such elite schools, or might even be professors at such places. Is there any other discipline in which members treated as on the fringe have so many with such credentials?

4 comments:

Mathew Toll said...

Have you heard much about the econ department in Western Sydney (Bill Lucarelli and Steven Keen spring to mind) and the Political Economy department at the University of Sydney? The latter department is dominated by neo-Marxian and post-Keynesian political economists. How do you see these kinds of departments and how they ‘mainstream’ neoclassical economics?

Mathew Toll said...

i.e. do you think they have an impact at all?

Robert Vienneau said...

I've read both Bill Lucarelli and Steve Keen - probably more of Keen. But I cannot comment on Australia economics.

Departments I find of interest in the US include the New School, UMass Amherst, Notre Dame, UMKC, and Utah. I think somebody like James Galbraith may be listened to in the political sphere, but unjusty ignored in many citations.

Matias Vernengo said...

Overall we are pretty marginal. The reason for the degrees and the teaching is that your thinking about an older generation (e.g. Lance Taylor studied at Harvard, and taught at MIT before going to the New School). Increasingly heterodox economists come from heterodox departments, I think.