Thursday, August 29, 2013

Daniel Little — Poverty and economics

How important should the subject of poverty be within the discipline of economics? Some economists appear to think it is a very small issue compared to the magnificent mathematics of general equilibrium theory. Others believe that economics should fundamentally be about the sources of human well-being and misery, and that understanding poverty is absolutely fundamental for economics. How should we try to sort this out?
Understanding Society — Innovative thinking about social agency and structure in a global world
Poverty and economics
Daniel Little | Chancellor, University of Michigan at Dearborn

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Check this out

Jared Bernstein:

"we need to be willing to think of the government as the employer of last resort, ready to step up direct hiring or subsidized employment programs in slack times.

Much the way the Fed becomes the lender of last resort when credit markets freeze, there is a role for the government to become the employer of last resort when the market persistently fails to create enough jobs."

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/26/wage-stagnation-and-market-outcomes/#more-167419