Against the odds, a new generation drives pluralist economics forward, creative, connected, and unstoppable.
One can say many things about people trying to push pluralist or heterodox economics, but surely not that they are taking the easy route on the academic job market ;-). Especially against the backdrop of the often lamented and rightly criticized closure towards heterodox perspectives found in traditional econ departments, it is truly heartwarming to see that heterodox economists cannot be stopped in being active, creative and eager to contribute.
Heterodox Economics Newsletter
Der Heterodox Economics Newsletter wird herausgegeben von Jakob Kapeller und erscheint im dreiwöchentlichen Rhythmus mit Neuigkeiten aus der wissenschaftlichen Community multiparadigmatischer ökonomischer Ansätze. Der Newsletter richtet sich an einen Kreis von mehr als 7.000 Empfänger*innen und zählt schon weit mehr als 250 Ausgaben.
Some evidence for this claim is provided by the many inspiring and well-thought-out initiatives from young scholars – the next generation of heterodox and pluralist scholars – accumulating in this issue of the Newsletter. Among such initiatives are the 7th Pluralumn Workshop, the Rethinking Economics conference the 90th birthday of the General Theory, the EAEPE pre-conference workshop and summer school, a workshop on merits and perils of interdisciplinary research and efforts of „author collectives“ to a get a better grasp on growth-dependence as an analytical concept or provide novel approaches towards crafting introductory textbooks and lectures.*
It is impressive what this ’next’ generation manages to contribute to the development of the field and, indeed, such efforts create the impression that heterodox economics will – against some odds – find itself to be a flourishing and inspiring field of research (as well as a beacon for hope in political terms) also in the future.
While looking straight ahead into the future under these premises is truly motivating for me, it is always recommended to confront tunnel vision in early stages ;-) Hence, my suggestion is to complement this gaze into a bright future with having a look what happens sideways, i.e., to the left and right of our main paths. In my role as an editor of the Newsletter I have, for instance, subscribed to some Newsletters on Economic History in the course of the last year to get a better understanding of economic historians interests and approaches overlaps with those of heterodox economists. And indeed, I found some traces and try to now regularly include them in the Newsletter to broaden the vista and to facilitate the creation of new ties and networks. One such example found below is a workshop on „Patterns of Global Economic Integration and Disintegration“, which, in my humble view, resonates with key heterodox intuitions.
Similarly, it happens sometimes, that sensible and interesting contributions are published in mainstream economics journals. Recent examples include this paper on alternative estimates for the macroeconomic costs of climate change (in the QJE), an article of the economics of W.E.B du Bois as well this topically interesting recent issue in the Journal of Economic Literature as well as this undercover report on fraud and corruption in the headquarters of large academic publishers, which all could be of interest to heterodox economists in one way or the other.
All the best,
