Where Economics Went Wrong

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Colander ◽  
Craig Freedman
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Chicago School ◽  
Scientific Basis ◽  
Economic Science ◽  
Essential Difference ◽  
Classical Liberal ◽  
Good Policy ◽  
The University

Milton Friedman once predicted that advances in scientific economics would resolve debates about whether raising the minimum wage is good policy. Decades later, Friedman's prediction has not come true. This book argues that it never will. Why? Because economic policy, when done correctly, is an art and a craft. It is not, and cannot be, a science. The book explains why classical liberal economists understood this essential difference, why modern economists abandoned it, and why now is the time for the profession to return to its classical liberal roots. Carefully distinguishing policy from science and theory, classical liberal economists emphasized values and context, treating economic policy analysis as a moral science where a dialogue of sensibilities and judgments allowed for the same scientific basis to arrive at a variety of policy recommendations. Using the University of Chicago—one of the last bastions of classical liberal economics—as a case study, the book examines how both the MIT and Chicago variants of modern economics eschewed classical liberalism in their attempt to make economic policy analysis a science. By examining the way in which the discipline managed to lose its bearings, the authors delve into such issues as the development of welfare economics in relation to economic science, alternative voices within the Chicago School, and exactly how Friedman got it wrong. Contending that the division between science and prescription needs to be restored, the book makes the case for a more nuanced and self-aware policy analysis by economists.

A case study of organizational culture change in a hospital

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Whitley Walker Vale
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Culture Change ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Organizational Culture Change ◽  
The University ◽  
The Empirical Analysis

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation presents a case study that describes and analyzes the organizational culture change that occurred at a hospital over a period of time (i.e., about 12 years, from 1993 through 2004). Qualitative data from five sources -- questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, observations, and documents -- was analyzed by applying the 'transformation of intentions model' for policy analysis. This dissertation proposes that this sociological model is a theoretical framework that is conceptually applicable to the empirical analysis of organizational culture change. The application of the 'transformation of intentions model' of policy analysis to the analysis of organizational cultural change resulted in a detailed description of the organizational structures and processes that were essential to the organizational culture change at the hospital. The analysis revealed a pattern in the transformation of intentions at the hospital. More specifically, it was revealed that the organizational culture change at the hospital was 'top-down' -- administratively led -- change initiated in response to interorganizational directives -- specifically, policy changes by the healthcare organization that managed the hospital.

A Longitudinal Study of Students Completing Four Years of UCSMP Mathematics

1993 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-158
Author(s):  
Daniel B. Hirschhorn
Keyword(s):  
Chicago School ◽  
Achievement Test ◽  
Opinion Survey ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
The Third ◽  
Age Cohort ◽  
Level I ◽  
Educational Testing Service ◽  
The University

This article reports on the achievement and attitude aspects of a study comparing students who had the first 4 years of the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP) secondary curriculum to two distinct groups of comparable students, an age cohort and a mathematics course level cohort. A case study design with schools in three different sites (one urban, two suburban) was used. Three instruments were given: a Mathematics Level I Achievement Test from the Educational Testing Service, a 30-item Applications Test, and a 25-item Student Opinion Survey. At two of the sites, the UCSMP students outperformed both the age and course level cohorts by substantial amounts on both the achievement and application tests. At the third site, both comparison cohorts outperformed the UCSMP students on the achievement test, but results on the application test were mixed. At all three sites, there was little difference in the attitude items except on items concerning calculator use.

The Nordic and the Continental European Dimensions in Scandinavian Integration: NORDEK as a Case Study

1971 ◽  
Vol 6 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 173-181
Author(s):  
Gunnar P. Nielsson
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
European Integration ◽  
European Economic Community ◽  
Future Prospects ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
European Economic ◽  
European Model ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
The University

This paper was delivered at the University of Aberdeen's conference on ‘Scandinavia and European Integration’ in March, 1971. There are four sections, the first of which is a chronological review of the Nordek case. Secondly, an analysis of the Nordek Draft Treaty provisions shows that the treaty represents the most far-reaching step in regard to the integration of social and economic policy spheres yet considered in Scandinavia. Thirdly, the key factor in explaining the collapse of the Nordek plan is the increasing penetration of European ‘high politics' into Nordic cooperative arrangements. Political stalemate concerning expanded membership of the European Economic Community favored Nordek. That stalemate was broken after de Gaulle's political demise. The changed conditions brought into sharp relief the incompatibility of Finland's neutrality policy with participation in a Nordek which would include such potential EEC members as Denmark and Norway. Finally, future prospects are examined through the construction of four basic choices presented as models. The Greater European model and the Divided Scandinavia model contain the international dimensions of the dilemma presently facing the Scandinavians.

Ashes and Diamonds

2018 ◽  
pp. 51-65
Author(s):  
David Colander ◽  
Craig Freedman
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Economic Policy ◽  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Chicago School ◽  
Scientific Policy ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Classical Liberal ◽  
The Way

This chapter examines the postwar Chicago School. Understanding the transformation that defined the Chicago School, and the way in which that transformation slots into broader changes within the profession, requires an accurate sense of the mood prevailing in the postwar era. Under the sway of the postwar methodological upheaval, economic policy strayed decisively from its Classical Liberal abode in moral philosophy. Instead, it eagerly attempted to forge a more desirable alliance with the newly refurbished and rigor-saturated realm of economic theory. Given the progress of mathematics, quantification, and the increasing application of statistical analysis, theories were now thought to be validated through careful econometric testing. This idea of adhering strictly to a scientific policy approach defined the emerging postwar generation of economists, especially those enrolled within the cadre of young academics. Under this modern dispensation, policy had been transformed into simply another occasion to practically apply precise scientific methods.

Economic Policy Becomes a Science

2018 ◽  
pp. 82-101
Author(s):  
David Colander ◽  
Craig Freedman
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Economic Policy ◽  
Optimal Policy ◽  
Welfare Economics ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Economic Science ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Classical Liberal ◽  
Policy Problems ◽  
Shed Light

This chapter explores Chicago's interaction with the mainstream of economics that conditioned its emergence. The catalyst to the postwar change was the mainstream adoption of welfare economics, which drew policy implications directly from economic theory. Composing a new approach, it directly specified what the “optimal” policy should be. This measure of decisiveness was in stark contrast to Classical Liberal methodology. For a Classical Liberal economist, policy did not follow directly from scientific economic theory. Instead, economic science and theory provided a useful tool that shed light on policy problems, but, on its own, had no immediate policy implications. These consequences could only be determined once one considered all the issues, not just a subset covered by economic theory. As a result, policy had to be deliberately separated from science.

Thai Buddhist Meditation Practice Tradition and a Case Study

2020 ◽  
pp. 12-15
Author(s):  
Somboon Watana, Ph.D.
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Practice Research ◽  
Meditation Practice ◽  
Master Teachers ◽  
Buddhist Meditation ◽  
Good Deed ◽  
University Level ◽  
The University ◽  
The Buddha

Thai Buddhist meditation practice tradition has its long history since the Sukhothai Kingdom about 18th B.E., until the present day at 26th B.E. in the Kingdom of Thailand. In history there were many well-known Buddhist meditation master teachers, i.e., SomdejPhraBhudhajaraya (To Bhramarangsi), Phraajarn Mun Puritatto, Luang Phor Sodh Chantasalo, PhramahaChodok Yanasitthi, and Buddhadasabhikkhu, etc. Buddhist meditation practice is generally regarded by Thai Buddhists to be a higher state of doing a good deed than doing a good deed by offering things to Buddhist monks even to the Buddha. Thai Buddhists believe that practicing Buddhist meditation can help them to have mindfulness, peacefulness in their own lives and to finally obtain Nibbana that is the ultimate goal of Buddhism. The present article aims to briefly review history, and movement of Thai Buddhist Meditation Practice Tradition and to take a case study of students’ Buddhist meditation practice research at the university level as an example of the movement of Buddhist meditation practice tradition in Thailand in the present.

Teaching Computer Based Historical Data Analysis

1994 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Anderson ◽  
Robert J. Morris
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Social History ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Historical Data Analysis ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
The University

A case study ofa third year course in the Department of Economic and Social History in the University of Edinburgh isusedto considerandhighlightaspects of good practice in the teaching of computer-assisted historical data analysis.

‘A Routh O’ Auld Nick-Nackets’ – the antiquarian collection of John Rae

2015 ◽  
Vol 36-37 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-183
Author(s):  
Paul Taylor
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Moral Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Representative Case ◽  
National Museums ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The University

John Rae, a Scottish antiquarian collector and spirit merchant, played a highly prominent role in the local natural history societies and exhibitions of nineteenth-century Aberdeen. While he modestly described his collection of archaeological lithics and other artefacts, principally drawn from Aberdeenshire but including some items from as far afield as the United States, as a mere ‘routh o’ auld nick-nackets' (abundance of old knick-knacks), a contemporary singled it out as ‘the best known in private hands' (Daily Free Press 4/5/91). After Rae's death, Glasgow Museums, National Museums Scotland, the University of Aberdeen Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, as well as numerous individual private collectors, purchased items from the collection. Making use of historical and archive materials to explore the individual biography of Rae and his collection, this article examines how Rae's collecting and other antiquarian activities represent and mirror wider developments in both the ‘amateur’ antiquarianism carried out by Rae and his fellow collectors for reasons of self-improvement and moral education, and the ‘professional’ antiquarianism of the museums which purchased his artefacts. Considered in its wider nineteenth-century context, this is a representative case study of the early development of archaeology in the wider intellectual, scientific and social context of the era.

Disruptive innovation and operationalization in local and sustainable food systems: Examining the University of Toronto-Local Food Plus partnership

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-139
Author(s):  
Lori Stahlbrand
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Food System ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Disruptive Innovation ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
The University

This paper traces the partnership between the University of Toronto and the non-profit Local Food Plus (LFP) to bring local sustainable food to its St. George campus. At its launch, the partnership represented the largest purchase of local sustainable food at a Canadian university, as well as LFP’s first foray into supporting institutional procurement of local sustainable food. LFP was founded in 2005 with a vision to foster sustainable local food economies. To this end, LFP developed a certification system and a marketing program that matched certified farmers and processors to buyers. LFP emphasized large-scale purchases by public institutions. Using information from in-depth semi-structured key informant interviews, this paper argues that the LFP project was a disruptive innovation that posed a challenge to many dimensions of the established food system. The LFP case study reveals structural obstacles to operationalizing a local and sustainable food system. These include a lack of mid-sized infrastructure serving local farmers, the domination of a rebate system of purchasing controlled by an oligopolistic foodservice sector, and embedded government support of export agriculture. This case study is an example of praxis, as the author was the founder of LFP, as well as an academic researcher and analyst.

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