There’s work, but no jobs. What’s wrong here?

As we look at high unemployment figures in Northern Africa, or in Spain or in the United States, it should make us wonder what is going on when there is so much work to be done.

The Politics of Voice vs. The Politics of Noise

Can you tell the difference between the sound of a voice and the sound of noise?

Money as a Common Currency

When the European countries agreed to move from national currencies to a “common currency,” one can assume that they thought of money primarily as a means of exchange, as a currency.  If we want to talk (trade) with each other, why not use the same language (money)?  Not a bad idea.  Today it appears that they have failed to protect the “common” nature of money.

Economic Justice

“Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought.”

John Rawls begins his seminal work, A Theory of Justice, with this thought-provoking sentence.  It’s a great sentence for thinking about the economy, since the economy is a social institution and economics is a system of thought.  In fact, it may be that the first barriers to economic justice are the falsehoods of much of current economic thought.

Universities and Sports

What do we want from our educational institutions?

1. Democratic citizens
2. Creative scientists
3. Innovative entrepreneurs
4. Entertainment

The answer appears to be 4.