Linda Nowakowski's Blog

The Conference shapes up...

Linda Nowakowski — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 07:02:35 GMT

These are our submitted papers so far:

Adel Daoud (Sweden)

The Economic Ethic of Material Simplicity: Deflating Human Material Wants

Alex Kauffman (Thailand/US)

In Search of Alternative Food Systems for Healthy Thai Communities

Alex Mavro (Thailand/US)

CSR: The Road to the Sufficiency Economy

Georg Erber (Thailand/Germany)

The Principle of Greatest Happiness in Western Economic Thought and its Relation to Buddhist Economics

Hans Luther Followed up 24 Aug (Thailand/Germany)

Buddhist Economics & Niche Markets - Combining Two Concepts

Joel Magnuson - (USA)

Mindful Ecology and Economy: Integrating Buddhism and Institutionalism into the Community Corporation for Sustainability

Laszlo Zsolnai (Hungary)

Non-violence in Economic Activities

Marja-Leena Heikkilä-Horn (Thailand/Finland)

Pyidawtha – The New Burma U Nu’s Plan On A Welfare Burma

Mate Janos (Hungary)

On The Principles of Promotion of Buddhist Economics

Michel Bauwens (Thailand/Belgium)

From Pre-Modern Immaterial Economics To Trans-Modern Peer To Peer Economics.

Michel Plaisant- Zieneb Ouni, Nirundon Tapachai and Prosper Bernard (Canada)

Ethics for Buddhists and Christian managers: a first step

Mogden Buch-Hansen (Denmark)

The Challenge of Buddhist Economics to Contribute to Sustainable Development

Muhammad Ajmal (Pakistan)

Philosophical principles of Buddhist Economics and their application for Muslim Societies

Peter H. Calkins and Anh-Thu Ngo (Thailand/Canada)

Theravada Macroeconomics

Peter Daniels (Australia)

Climate change and Buddhist economic systems: A scientific, ethical response

Robert Biswas-Diener (USA/UK)

The “What, Why, and How” of Happiness Measurement in Buddhist Economics”

Ruaysoongnern (Thailand)

Development Situation and Constraints of Moral Organic Rice Network in Yasothon

Supawadee Khunthongjan (Thailand)

A Study of the Entrepreneurial Characteristics that Fortify Sufficiency Economy: Case Study of the Enterprises Participating in the Sufficiency Economy Contest Organized by the Office of the Royal Development Projects Board

Tim Kasser (USA)

How Materialistic Vs. Intrinsic Values Tie In With Economic Systems

Wanna Prayukvong (Thailand)

Buddhist Economics Approach to Institutional Entrepreneur: A Case of Business Firm from Thailand.

There will be a few more stragglers.

Plus the Keynote speaker will be Phra Payutto the author of Buddhist Economics: A Middle Way for the Marketplace.

We will be starting off everything with a convening of the Conquiry - a group being built to support educators and participatory development.

There will be a Discussion group led by Aj Sulak Sivaraksa on theory to support practice in Buddhist Economics, another on Practice to Guide the development of Theory, and yet a third on Buddhism in the business place in Thailand.

There will be field trips to The international Forest Monastery, Rachathani Asoke Community and the experimental sufficiency economy community on campus.

The final day we will be doing Asian launches for a new Journal, *Interconnections* and I think for Mark Albion's new book, *More than Money: Questions Every MBA Needs to Answer* and a workshop on Gross National Happiness.

I got an email today from a woman in Laos who has a documentary film that she made on Buddhist Economic Development in Tibet that she would like to air at some point.

All sounds very interesting and very exciting. And it is all keeping me way too busy.

I will be there plus we will have Aj. Apichai, Jeab, Nat, Bill and Boy. Does that make it a gathering?

EDIT for links

Last comment added: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:53:53 PDT

Buddhist Economics

Linda Nowakowski — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:55:37 GMT

I have written a lot that referred to Buddhist Economics but I have never really defined it because I had never really seen a good definition. I have kind of convinced Aj. Apichai that a good definition is needed - in English- so that we know when we read an economics paper if it is really Buddhist Economics.

I saw a paper that I wanted to read that was by a bloke (I can say that 'cause he is from Australia) that I met at the Conference last year in Budapest. His name is Peter Daniels and he is a bloke too! The place I found it on the internet wanted me to pay an arm and a leg for the paper but I wrote to Peter and groveled and begged to see if he had an electronic copy he would share with me. He did and he sent it to me. I am not through the article yet but it is totally awesome.

I want to share a table in the paper:

CharacteristicMainstream (neoclassical economics)Buddhist economics
Main ActorIndividual as producer or consumer (rational economic man)Individual on the path to enlightenment; (but inextricably tied to the social and natural environmental spheres)
Main motive for economic actionMaterial accumulation for satisfaction of endless wants for oneself or close social unit; typically solitary, asocial material gainsProvide and maintain basic material needs for higher order spiritual fulfillment; social need fulfillment; collective goals (personal happiness part of "other-regarding" goals)
Ultimate goalMaximum individual profit or utility from income maximization, consumption capability and service from material accumulation (enhanced by relative reductions in resource use and costs)Nirvana; liberation from material world attachment as the source of suffering (Samsara). In economic life, to maximize well-being with minimum levels of consumption.
Process of achieving ideal outcomeFree market mechanism, competition Awareness, wisdom; Dharma teaching to adopt in all action
Ideal political systemCapitalist market economyUncertain; some compatibilities with social market models. Collective principles important; key behavioral and goal-setting role for informal institutions such as social norms, mores and habits.
View of nature,; material realityPermanent; unlimited; subject to universal laws; collection of mainly free, productive resources; substitutable with human produced capital. Reduce exploitation usually has negative human welfare effects.Illusory but important context (behavior in determines progress in next stage); universal natural order. Reverence for all life. Nonrenewable resource use as violence. Minimum exploitation/intervention brings greater happiness.
Explanation of the most important universal phenomenaRationalityRationality
Time-space relationsEuclidean; equilibrium forcesImpermanence; cyclical and recursive
Underlying ethical basisIgnores analysis under claimed positive, value-free approach (legal resolution); in reality, market competition and acceptance of most means of profiting from exchange; maximum material accumulation = maximum happiness. Tolerance through pluralism and individual amoralityStrong ethical basis permeating all activity; morality based on the wisdom of the four Nobel truths
Desirable individual virtuesSelf-interest, hard work, entrepreneurship; charity if successfulCompassion, kindness
PeaceAssumed unaffected by competitive interaction, loss and waste and conflict over scarce resources; enhanced by resulting wealthA major goal based on compassion, empathy, trust, self-sufficiency; reverence for life above individual material fulfillment
Individual-society relationsLiberalism, freedom, individual competitionFreedom for enlightenment; collective concern; harmony; peace
Economic approachneoclassical economicsHumanistic; shared features with institutional, post-Keynesian, ecological economics
System-wide measurement of 'economic' progressGDP (per person)Spiritual progress toward Nirvana; true happiness indicators; minimum natural environment demands; absence of poverty; low unemployment; high satisfaction with work; Gross National Happiness
Material consumption implicationsMaximum material consumption based on constant marginal utility from total material consumption; higher levels always increase QOL and happinessModeration, basic consumption only; existence of optimal levels of consumption beyond which true welfare will fall; craving and attachment to wealth and material accumulation as major sources of suffering
Ideal determinant of the composition or structure of consumption or outputConsumer sovereigntySocietal assessment of karmic impact (on the three interconnected spheres (individual, society, nature)); avoid pleasure desire content (tanha); non-material pursuits important; low intervention
Logic for natural resource useCost minimization in relation to total output (that is, relative minimization only); marginal productivity or contribution to the value of output explains resource employment re other factor of production in short-trm but technology change and other measures for cost minimization in the long-term. Free market operationMinimum intervention and non-violence; hence minimum impact and absolute use for source input and waste sink functions
LaborTo the producer, a factor of production employed and paid according to its marginal product; producer will accept monopsonistic advantages that drive down the cost of labor; labor treated as another factor of production (regardless of psychic or social impacts) in order to remain competitive and maximizing profit; to the worker, the opposite of leisure; a necessary evil for earning income for consumption; would prefer income with no workWork as an end in itself and source of benefits to the supplier; a cooperative, creative process
Technology; appropriate technoeconomic paradigmCapital-intensive; complexIntermediate technology; self-sufficiency; simplicity; green techno-economic paradigm (pervasive socio-economic and related material and energy-saving technologies) -- high communication and service provision and low environmental inputs
sources: Adapted and extended from Alexandrin (1993), Mendis (1994), Payutto (1993, 1994), Schumacher (1973) and Zazek (1993, 2003).

(Source of the above: Daniels, Peter. 2005. Economic systems and the Buddhist world view: the 21st century nexus. The Journal of Socio-Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 245-268, March.)

EDIT: added the missing rows.

Last comment added: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:56:12 PDT

Whirlwind

Linda Nowakowski — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 07:16:41 GMT

I am off on a whirlwind trip to Bangkok. I have to go into the office this morning to grade the huge stack of homework books on my desk. Then this afternoon I will head to the train station to take an overnight train (12 hours almost) to Bangkok. I will get in just in time to visit a friend and take a shower before I have to go to a 3 hour seminar on teaching and assessing Business English.

I will have a few hours to spend with Jeab (that's her in the picture!) and then onto a bus for the overnight trip home. (The train and plane were full) Monday I have 3 hours of lecture...yuck.

Sometimes all of my life feels like it is caught up in a whirlwind that I can't get out of! But, so far I am not dizzy.

Last comment added: Sun, 03 Aug 2008 06:13:51 PDT

Book recommendations?

Linda Nowakowski — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:10:32 GMT

I am about to go on a spending spree and inject my $300 tax rebate on books.

I would really appreciate your suggestions.

The Corporate Sufi: Azim Jamal ($12)

Sayings of the Buddha: William Wray ($8.25 $3.99)

Progress and Poverty - edited and abridged for modern readers by Bob Drake: Henry George ($12.95)

Justice and the Social Contract: Essays on Rawlsian Political Philosophy: Samuel Freeman ($58.80 computer searchable)

A theory of Justice: Original Edition: John Rawls ($22.95)

AS and A Level Sociology Through Diagrams: Tony Lawson ($7.74 $3.99)

Economics and Reality (Economics As Social Theory): Tony Lawson ($56.50)

Islam and Mammon: The Economic Predicaments of Islamism: Timur Kuran ($23.95)

Economics in Christian Perspective: Theory, Policy and Life Choices: Victor V. Claar ($14.96)

Creating the Commonwealth: The Economic Culture of Puritan New England (Hardcover): Stephen Innes ($25)

With All Your Possessions: Jewish Ethics and Economic Life (Hardcover): Meir Tamari ($35. $3.99)

Teaching the Ethical Foundations of Economics: Martin Calkins (34.95)

Economic Parables: The Monetary Teachings of Jesus Christ: David Cowan ($10.19)

On Ethics and Economics: Amartya Sen ($26.96)

Challenge of Humanistic Economics: Mark A. Lutz ($4.95)

The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times And Ideas Of The Great Economic Thinkers: Robert L. Heilbroner ($12.24)

Humanist Manifesto 2000: A Call for New Planetary Humanism: Paul Kurtz ($10.20)

Total = ..... $389.55

That pretty much eats up that $300 check from George and provides an addition REAL economics stimulus.

WISH LIST:

Handbook of Social Choice and Welfare Volume 1 (Handbooks in Economics) by Kenneth J. Arrow, A.K. Sen, and K. Suzumura ($140.00)

A History of Indian Economic Thought: Ajit K Dasgupta ($170)

EDIT: formatting. I am an idiot.

EDIT: Adding books

Last comment added: Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:11:21 PDT

Development, globalization, culture and well-being

Linda Nowakowski — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:25:01 GMT

Development is a concern to each of us here, of that I am sure

Globalization is something that is happening, promoted by those in the developed world particularly the Big Three: The IMF, WTO and the World Bank. Maybe it is is self propelling by now.

Culture is (in many places) becoming an artifact to be found at the feet of globalization as the world becomes homogenized.

Well-being --- maybe the one thing that all of us are seeking but haven't a clue as to how to identify it or certainly can't agree on what it is.

The one thing that all of these have in common is economics, like it or not.

Let the discussion begin.

Last comment added: Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:50:43 PDT

Joy

Linda Nowakowski — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:31:26 GMT

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French joie, from Latin gaudia, plural of gaudium, from gaudēre to rejoice; probably akin to Greek gēthein to rejoice

Date: 13th century

1 a: the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires : delight b: the expression or exhibition of such emotion : gaiety

2: a state of happiness or felicity : bliss

3: a source or cause of delight

Function: verb

Date: 14th century

intransitive verb

: to experience great pleasure or delight : rejoice

transitive verb

1 archaic : gladden

2 archaic : enjoy

Last comment added: Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:15:34 PDT

Association for Heterodox Economics 10th Anniversary Conference

Linda Nowakowski — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:30:19 GMT

I have no idea why the latter part of this entry is bolded. If anyone can see, please tell me so I can fix it.

This is the schedule for the Conference in Cambridge that I am attending next week. If there are sessions that interest you and you want a report or further information, please say so and I will see if I can't get it for you.

Association for Heterodox Economics 10th Anniversary Conference
Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, Thursday 3rd-Sunday 6th July, 2008

Programme of Events

Thursday 3rd July

Time:Event:Venue:15.00-16.30AHE Conference: Business Meeting & Planning SessionDav01416.30-17.00Tea/CoffeeRecital Room 17.00-18.30Ruskin Annual Lecture: Nicholas Garnham on The Economics of Culture. Chair: Alan Freeman. Welcome from Martin Reynolds, Dean of AIBSMumford Theatre Theatre19.00-20.30AHE Reception (Wine and canapés); Speakers: Paul Downward and Wendy Olsen; Bronwen-Rees and the presentation of InterconnectionsRuskin Gallery

Friday 4th July

Time:Event:Venue:09.00-10.30Panel Session 1Multiple locations 10.30-11.00CoffeeRecital Room11.00-12.30Plenary: Sustainable Development: Ali Douai, Joan Martinez-Alier, Inge Ropke, Miriam Kennet.Mumford Theatre Theatre12.30-13.30LunchRecital Room13.30-15.00Panel Session 2Multiple locations15.00-15.30Tea/CoffeeRecital Room15.30-17.00Panel Session 3Multiple locations18.30-20.00Prize-giving reception: Short welcome by Ioana Negru and Alan Freeman; Book launch by William Mitchell and Joan MuyskenDowning College

Saturday 5th July

Time:Event:Venue:09.00-10.30Panel Session 4Multiple locations10.30-11.00CoffeeRefectory11.00-12.30Plenary: Pluralism and Heterodoxy - Speaker: Tony Lawson, Chair: Andrew MearmanMumford Theatre 12.30-13.30LunchRefectory13.30-15.00 Panel Session 5Multiple locations 15.00-15.30Tea/CoffeeRefectory15.30-17.00 Reflections on the Past and Current State of Heterodoxy: Victoria Chick; Geoff Harcourt, Ha-Joon Chang, Gary Mongiovi, Alan Freeman Dav014 01619.00-21.00CONFERENCE DINNER: Speaker: Geoff HarcourtDowning College

Sunday 6th July

Time:Event:Venue:09.30-11.00Panel Session 6Multiple locations 11.00-11.30CoffeeRefectory11.30-13.00 Panel Session 7Multiple locations 13.00-14.00LunchRefectory14.00-15.30 Plenary Session: Reflections on the Economic Crisis: Giuseppe Fontana, Jan Toporowski, John Grahl, Victoria ChickMumford Theatre

Association for Heterodox Economics, 10th Anniversary Conference
Anglia Ruskin University, 3rd-6th July, 2008

AHE CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Friday 4th July Panel Session 1 9.00am-10.30am

Panel A: Financial Markets Venue: Hel 251

Financial developments and Post-Keynesian economic growth: advancing theoretical and empirical grounds, Taha Chaiechi;

The political economy of meritocracy: A Post-Kaleckian, Post-Olsonian approach to unemployment and income inequality in modern varieties of capitalism, Arne Heise;

Pedagogical Lessons from the Financial Crisis: The need for Pluralism, Maria Alejandra Caporale Madi and Jack Reardon

Chair: Stuart Wall

Panel B: Welfare and Rationality Venue: Hel 252

Redistributive impact of public policies in Turkey, Özlem Albayrak;

A reformulation of the foundations of welfare economics, Randall G. Holcombe;

Inheritance and the intention to bequeath: an examination of different aspects of intergenerational wealth transfers, Martin Schürz.

Chair: Ioana Negru

Panel C: Ecological Economics I Venue: Hel 251

Growth dynamics, social inequalities and environmental quality: an empirical analysis applied to developing and transition countries, Matthieu Clément and André Meunié;

Whither sustainable development? A Post-Keynesian perspective, Eric Berr;

The relations between ecological economics and political ecology, Joan Martinez-Alier.

Chair: Ali Douai

Panel D: Marxian Economics and Money Venue: Hel 118

Marx, subjugated banking and an emerging corporate monetary system, Simon Mouatt;

Money, credit and state: Post-Keynesian theory of credit money and chartalism, Atsushi Naito.

Chair: Brian Roper Discussant: Michael J. Murray

Panel E: Economic History and Adam Smith Venue: Hel 106/107

Systemic decline in British shipping 1870-1960, Greg Clydesdale;

“I have little faith in political arithmetic”, Hugh Goodacre;

Variations on a theme by Adam Smith: Culture, creativity and innovation in the internet age, Alan Freeman.

Chair: Alan Shipman

Friday 4th July Panel Session 2 13.30pm-15.00pm

Panel A: Ecological and Environmental Issues Venue: Hel 110/111

Environmental policy in Turkey: an Institutionalist critique, Selin Efşan Nas, Eyüp Özveren and Emre Özçelik;

The insurance value of biodiversity: effects of genetic diversity versus high-productivity crops on long-term agricultural performance, Sylvie Geisendorf;

Migration and ecological consequences, V. P. Raghavan.

Limitations in Orthodox Economic Analysis of Urban Reality, Shann Turnbull

Chair: Joel Magnuson

Panel B: Teaching Heterodox Economics Venue: Hel 251

Explaining Mainstream Economics’ insistence on mathematics, Vinca Bigo;

Comparative versus competitive advantage: how the Mainstream got that way, Alan Shipman;

Mainstream Economics: searching where the light is, Rogier de Langhe.

Chair: Jeffrey David Turk

Panel C: Globalisation and Economic Cycles Venue: Hel 115

Globalisation and the upward long wave, Bill Jefferies;

Long cycles, long waves and expansionary phases, Keith Hassell.

Chair: Alan Griffiths Discussant: Arturo Hermann

Panel D: Consumption Theory Venue: Hel 252

(Quasi) scarcity and global hunger: a sociological critique of the scarcity postulate with an effort to synthesis, Adel Daoud;

Context and choice: a pluralistic approach to consumer behaviour, Peter E. Earl and Tim Wakeley;

An evolutionary perspective on the economics of energy consumption: the crucial role of habits, Kevin Maréchal.

Chair: Josef Baum

Panel E: Marxian Economics I Venue: Hel 118

Pasinetti, Marx and simple commodity production, Andrew B. Trigg;

Valuation in the presence of stocks of commodities: exploring the temporal single system interpretation of Marx, Nick Potts;

Dependency theory: How valid is it today? Amit Jyoti Sen.

Chair: Julian Wells

Panel F: Russian Roundtable I: Economic Problems and the Energy-Ecological Shift of the 21st Century Venue: Hel 106/107

Presentation of the Part IV of a global forecast up to 2050s: “The Energy-Ecological Future of Civilizations”, Yakovets, YU V;

Shaping national policies at the time of global technological change, Glazyev, S.Yu;

The technological shift at the start of the 21st Century, Badalian L.

Chair: Victor Krivotorov

Friday 4th July Panel Session 3 15.30pm-17.00pm

Panel A: Green Economics and Ethics Venue: Hel 110/111

Will climate change enforce global justice – the turning point for the North-South divide, Josef Baum;

Mindful Ecology and Economy, Joel C. Magnuson;

The political economy of the human right to water, Manuel Couret Branco and Pedro Damião Henriques.

Chair: Bronwen-Ann Rees

Panel B: Philosophical Debates I Venue: Hel 115

Socialism, knowledge and the instrumental valuation principle, Andrew Cumbers and Robert McMaster;

Traction in the world: economics and narrative interviews, Jeffrey David Turk.

Capital Accumulation in less developed countries, Prabirjit Sarkar.

Chair: Bill Jefferies

Panel C: Book Discussion: Full Employment Abandoned: Shifting Sands and Policy Failures, William Mitchell and Joan Muysken Venue: Hel 251

The abandonment of full employment: why sovereign governments have a choice, William Mitchell and Joan Muysken;

Relevance of the book for economic policies in the integrated EMU with a common currency, Philip Arestis;

Relevance of book for understanding ‘innocent frauds’ in modern policy making and how full employment and price stability can be achieved, Warren Mossler.

Chair: Mark Hayes

Panel D: Marxian Economics II Venue: Hel 106/107

An instrumental approach to political economics, M. J. Murray;

Cosmopolitan social democracy: a Marxist critique, Brian S. Roper.

Chair: Simon Mouatt Discussant: Gary Mongiovi

Panel E: Ecological Economics II Venue: Hel 118

An inquiry on power and ecological economics, Bengi Akbulut and Ceren Ilkay Soylu;

Are we ready to understand individuals and organizations as political actors? Peter Söderbaum;

The ontology of environmental values: the contribution of historical institutionalism to (socio-) ecological economics, Ali Douai and Matthieu Montalban.

Chair: Martha A. Starr

Saturday 5th July Panel Session 4 9.00am-10.30pm

Panel A: Ethics in Economics Venue: Hel 118

Towards an understanding of organizational transformation through ethical enquiry, Bronwen Rees and John Wilson;

Cohen’s interpretation of Rawls’ theory of justice: an integration of mainstream in welfare economics, Tarrit Fabien;

Philosophy of measurement of inequality: plural approaches in economics, David Vázquez-Guzmán.

Chair: Martin Schürz

Panel B: Philosophical Debates II Venue: Hel 251

John Dewey’s theory of democracy and its links with the heterodox approach to economics, Arturo Hermann;

Process philosophy and the critique of critical realism, James Juniper;

The Althusserian challenge in retrospect and prospect, Erik Olsen.

Chair: Tony Lawson

Panel C: Finance and Methodology Venue: Hel 106/107

Aspiration paradox in micro-finance: a difficulty and an opportunity, Wendy Olsen;

The state of economic heterodoxy in research on the financial sector fragility and bank failures in Africa, Radha Upadhyaya;

From credit crunch to depression, Brian Grogan.

Chair: Maria Alejandra Caporale Madi

Panel D: Institutionalism Venue: Hel 252

Economics and historical specificity: a study in comparative analytics, Valentin Cojanu;

Are conventions solutions? Contrasting visions of the relationship between convention and uncertainty, John Latsis.

Flexicurity capitalism, Peter Flaschel and Sigrid Luchtenberg.

Chair: Jack Reardon Discussant: Ceren Soylu

Panel E: Ecological Economics III Venue: Hel 110/111

Debated universes and environmental conventions, Valérie Boisvert and Franck-Dominique Vivien;

Environmental conventions: the case of agriculture, Clarisse Cazals;

“Toward partial reorientation of Land Management for Sustainability in view of material circulation”, Sylvie Ferrari, Kozo Mayumi and Atsushi Tsuchida.

Chair: Miriam Kennet

Saturday 5th July Panel Session 5 13.30pm-15.00pm

Panel A: Pluralism in Economics Venue: Hel 251

Economics and the real world: students’ perceptions of economics and the role of heterodoxy in changing them, Andrew Mearman, Tim Wakeley and Gamila Shoib;

Pluralism and green economics, Ioana Negru;

Withering pluralism in Germany: Heterodox economics after five years of the post-autistic movement in Germany, Thomas Dürmeier.

Chair: Rogier DeLanghe

Panel B: Finance and Inflation in Latin America Venue: Hel 106/107

The present Argentine inflation. The need of an heterodox vision to analyze its causes and specificities, Juilo Eduardo Fabris, Pablo Julio Lopez and José Villadeamigo;

The Bank of Brazil: the path since the mid-90s, Rogerio Andrade and Simone Deos;

A macroeconomic analysis of inflation and stagflation in less developed economies, Hamid Nazeman.

Chair: Arne Heise

Panel C: Markets and Firms Venue: Hel 110/111

On companies’ microeconomic objectives; profit rate versus pure profit, Louis de Mesnard;

Markets, prices and market power, Thomas Lines.

Chair: Carmen Costea Discussant: Steve Keen

Panel D: Marxian and Sraffian Approaches Venue: Hel 118

Towards a generalized Marxian approach: a synthesis of heterodox economic approaches, Takashi Satoh;

The capital controversy in historical perspective, Gary Mongiovi.

Chair: Steven Pressman Discussant: Simon Mouatt

Panel E: Ecological Economics IV Venue: Hel 252

The social construction of normal standards in consumption, Inge Ropke;

Global warming and high consumption: habits, needs and social values, Martha A. Starr;

The environmental impacts of changing consumption patterns: evidence from Turkey, Bëgum Ozkaynak, Fikret Adaman and Unal Zenginobuz.

Chair: Sylvie Ferrari

Sunday 6th July Panel Session 6 9.30am-11.00am

Panel A: Russian Roundtable II: Economic Problems and the Energy-Ecological Shift of the 21st Century Venue: Hel 252

Return to the Classical paradigm: the theory of Coenoses: Malthusianism with a Schumpeterian twist, Krivotorov V.;

Sustainable global development and the principle of self-organization of complex systems, Chistilin, D.;

Technology and psychology: a mechanism of anthropogenic crises, Nazaretyan, A.

Chair: Lucy Badalian

Panel B: Challenges to Neoclassical Economics Venue: Hel 110/111

Anti-empiricism in economics: the case of Neoclassical axiomatism, Tamás Dusek;

Pluralism about rationality in economics: theories as tools, C. Tyler Des Roches and Thomas Wells.

Neoclassical Economics: determinism, choice and agency, Fran Smith.

Chair: João Rodrigues

Panel C: Theory of the Firm Venue: Hel 106/107

Marshall’s theory should be discarded, Steve Keen and Carmen Costea;

Prices and price strategies, James Case;

Mexican multinational firm expansion: A heterodox microeconomic analysis, Gustavo Vargas.

Chair: Colin Richardson

Panel D: Post-Keynesian Economics Venue: Hel 118

A critique of Post-Keynesian economics applied to the political economy of the Euro zone, Riccardo Bellofiore and Joseph Halevi;

A Post-Keynesian approach to microeconomic policy, Steven Pressman;

Chair: Andrew Trigg Discussant: Giuseppe Fontana

Panel E: Doctoral Students’ Contributions (poster session) Venue: Hel 115

Contributors: Shira D. Jones, Alicia Giron, Vanessa da Costa Val Munhoz.

Chair: David Vázquez-Guzmán

Sunday 6th July, 11.30- 13.00 pm Panel Session 2

Panel A: Austrian Economics and Markets Venue: Hel 118

Drawing the line: Mises, Hayek and the antinomies of neoliberalism, João Rodrigues;

Computer grids and the catallaxy paradigm, Colin Richardson;

Chair: Randall Holcombe Discussant: Andy Denis

Panel B: Book Session: “Mindful Economics: Understanding American Capitalism, Its Consequences and Alternatives” by Joel Magnuson Venue: Hel 252

Contributors: Joel Magnuson, Alan Griffiths, Bronwen Rees.

Chair: Valentin Cojanu

Panel C: Ecological Economics VI: Final Roundtable Venue: Hel 251

Contributors: Joan Martinez-Alier, Miriam Kennet, Begüm Özkaynak, Martha A. Starr, Franck-Dominique Vivien, Peter Söderbaum, Ali Douai

Chair: Andrew Mearman

Panel D: Book Session: ‘Reclaiming Marx’s “Capital”: A Refutation of the Myth of Inconsistency’ by A. Kliman Venue: Hel. 110/111

Contributors: Andrew Kliman, Ioana Negru, Alan Freeman, Andrew Trigg

Chair: Erik Olsen

Panel E: Teaching Heterodox Economics II Venue: Hel 106/107

Why do mainstream economists lie to students? Michael Joffe;

Minds and Markets: Challenges to heterodox teaching in contemporary Brazil, Maria Alejandra Caporale Madi and Ricardo Gonçalves.

Chair: Jeffrey D. Turk Discussant: Alan Shipman

Last comment added: Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:43:50 PDT

Mindfulness

Linda Nowakowski — Sun, 25 May 2008 19:05:09 GMT

DISCLAIMER This is rambling. This is thinking. Call it (at this point) individual brainstorming. I have posted this here because I want to work with each of you and share these ideas to build an organized vision and maybe lead to an insight in a positive forward direction. I speak of Buddhism not being a Buddhist but admiring much of what I see. I am not an expert.

I believe deep in my heart that every person on the globe wants to move their life forward toward something better.

The problem is figuring out the direction. We wander. We look around us to see what others are doing and kind of figure the direction most people is going is the right direction.

Some of us travel that path and find that it really isn't going anywhere that we want to go and screw up enough courage to try to swim upstream.

I guess I feel like I have always been swimming upstream. I mean I gave my first doom and gloom speech on the environment to a large church group in 1966. (About the same time I was protesting the war in Vietnam.)

I got into this mode of thinking by the constant comments when I speak about Sufficiency Economy here in Thailand (remember, this is a philosophy developed by the King of Thailand) that I must be crazy. How could I get into the Sufficiency Economy thing when I am an American?

People in Thailand and much of the rest of the world, believe that the west (most visibly and audibly America) has the answers to happiness and well being. They don't have a clue. But why should I be surprised that Thais and Africans don't understand that the western goal of mindless consumerism and endless accumulation is not the answer when those who are living in the middle of that and know that it is not really the answer keep chasing it?

When I came to first learn about Buddhist Economics, it grabbed me. Most simply stated it is economics where ethics matter. Where people are central. Where having a job is more than making money; it is honing a skill and having pride in your work and knowing that you are contributing to society with your work. It is an economics where the focus is not on the accumulation of wealth but rather a measure of how you distribute your wealth.

One of the biggest problems with it is that it is still, in many ways, a regional, cultural concept that is fully shrouded in Buddhism. That is not to say that there is anything wrong with that. It is to say that it is my belief that as long as it wears that outer layer, not many people will look at the beauty inside it. I have more than once joked with Aj. Apichai that I thought I was called to take the Buddhism out of Buddhist Economics. I am just not sure how to do that so that it can speak to millions of people in the west who I believe are searching for the answers it points to.

The hub in Buddhist Economics is the Buddhist concept of relieving suffering. Relieving suffering for oneself and for all those around us. The goals of the Buddhist Philosophy are to examine (in your own life) the causes of suffering. The central cause of suffering is identified as attachment. Attachment to things and people and ideas - attachment to anything - limits our satisfaction.

Buddhism seems to be focused on awareness: self awareness, awareness of others and awareness of our actions and their effects....looking for causes.

Mindfulness.

It is a term that was focused into my vision last year when I went to the conference in Budapest. There was another conference participant, Joel Magnuson who is from Portland. He is an economist who teaches at Portland State University and Portland Community College. He has written a great textbook "Mindful Economics".


mindfulness

thinking about what you are doing

thinking about why you are doing it

thinking about what the effects of doing it are going to be

Mindfulness.... It makes me think of all the times I would get in hot water with my mother and would land up saying "... but I didn't think it would matter" or "I didn't think you would care" and she would come back with "That is precisely the point: you didn't think." She used that phrase often. I hope she knows that now I at least try to think.

Your turn...

Last comment added: Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:48:05 PDT

Loving Kindness

Linda Nowakowski — Sun, 18 May 2008 20:24:07 GMT

Tomorrow is Visaka Bucha Day.

THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT holy days of the year for Thai Buddhists all include the word "Bucha", which means to pay homage. Asahara Bucha commemorates the day the Lord Buddha preached his first sermon. Makha Bucha marks both the occasion when 1,350 of the Buddha's disciples gathered without prior notice and listened to the Buddha elaborate some of his most important teachings in a sermon, as well as the day he foresaw his own death and attainment of Nibbana (Nirvana). But the most auspicious of the three is Visakha Bucha, which simultaneously commemorates three important anniversaries in the life of Siddharta Gautama, the Lord Buddha: his birth, his enlightenment, and his death.

This time last year I was in Bangkok. I had gone to spend Vesaka Bucha Day with Thich Nhut Hanh. So much has changed since then. But not really. What does that mean?

My life goes up and down. All the time. Sometimes it goes rather calmly. Other times it takes huge dips. I guess in some ways I am lucky that there are not swings from those lows to unmaintainable heights. None the less, I try to lear

I have found that meditation is distinctly helpful. Meditation is not a technique that is restricted to Buddhism. My fist experience with it was in the Christian tradition where I am most comfortable. Meditation here is just a much more acceptable tool.

The week that I spent in Bangkok this time last year was a week of reflection. I was by myself most of the time. And each day I had an incredible teacher guiding me to look at the content of each moment. Not spending time looking at yourself and your problems is refreshing. Just looking at how you breathe and considering the complexity of that task and the miracle that it happens without you. The operation that keeps you alive does not need your conscious participation. Breathing continues whether you are good or bad, lazy or busy, happy or angry. It doesn't judge. It just does what it is supposed to do.

Today I was talking with a friend of mine who was struggling with some bad times in his life. He is fasting with me for the IAct Fast for Darfur. He was having a hard time and was blaming his bad mood on not eating. It was so clear to me that his bad mood had nothing to do with not eating. I dug out the link to the TED presentation by Mathieu Ricard that I had dug out for John P. earlier in the week in another thread. In getting it for him, I found another video link to a talk that Mathieu Ricard gave at Google. And there I found a link to a talk also given at Google by Jon Kabat-Zinn. (This is an outside link to the video below) That is how I have spent the last 3 hours of my day.

What a refreshing time. In the Ricard Google talk, he presents some evidence on meditation actually being reversely related to depression. I really should have known that deep inside me. Maybe I did.

The second point I am focusing on right now is Kabat-Zinn's presentation of meditation and being gentle with yourself. Not judging but just being aware. Knowing that the real problems come when we keep our focus on I, me, mine rather than just being aware.

My greatest successes with meditation have been with the control / coping with chronic pain. I have lived with chronic pain most of the last 15-20 years. I have had severe arthritis in my hips. I have severe bone spurs in both of my heels that go into the Achilles tendons. Then there is a torn ligament in my right knee and a torn rotator cuff in my right shoulder. It has been of immeasurable value to me to realize that the pain is a pain of my body, not a pain to me. This has allowed me to release the pain so that it does not (usually) influence my attitude. That makes an incredible change in my life. All of these things though create a spiral of deterioration. favoring my right knee puts undue stress on my hips, all of them limit my mobility and my exercise which makes keeping weight off nearly impossible which increases the stress on the knee and continues.

This downward spiral is not unlike the downward spiral of depression. And the time today reminded me that like physical pain, the pain of the depression is most acute when I focus on the me. When I can remember that the depression is not me, that the depression is a physical response to stimuli that are usually a function of focusing on "ME" and why is everyone so cruel, and why can't someone help me, and yada yada yada... When I can turn the focus out and work toward loving kindness, I cope and I smile and I forget the pain of the body and the mind.

This video is 72 minutes so be forewarned. But I believe I can promise you that the last 3 minutes make it worth listening to the talk in its entirety. (an aside - can you imagine working at a place that has these kinds of lectures as part of the work day? I kind of do! :-) . )

EDIT - fixed the link location

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4th of July in England

Linda Nowakowski — Wed, 14 May 2008 12:49:22 GMT

It has been confirmed that I will be going to a conference in England (The 10th Anniversary conference of the Association of Heterodox Economics) at The Ashcroft Business School of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England. The conference looks exciting and it is precisely what I teach and where my research is centered.

That is not the most thrilling part of the trip.

Some one special lives in Cambridgeshire. This person lives in Buckden, St Neots, Cambridgeshire. He is one of my heros.

I am going to get to meet David Bale! After working on several projects with David on omidyar.net and here, I am so overwhelmed!

In addition to the conference I am going to get to travel to visit St. Andrew's University in Scotland to help establish Ubon Ratchathani University as a node of the Center for Social ad Environmental Accounting Research. (CSEAR) (Is this what they are talking about when they talk about creative accounting?)

A bit more than a week away from Thailand in an English speaking country where I can find cheese and bread. Wait....having met a few folks from Scotland, I am not sure they qualify as English speaking!

OK...so much for having all of my lectures and everything prepared. Now I have to shuffle things around to take off a week!

The sun has come out from behind the clouds.

Last comment added: Tue, 27 May 2008 04:38:14 PDT