Some blog followers might be interested in a recent post “Is Kern Alexander an Economist? (was An Economist Explains the Problem with Choice)” [Hake (2013)]. The abstract reads:
*************************************************
ABSTRACT: In response to my post “Economist Explains the Problem with School Choice” at http://bit.ly/WIdRH5, MathEdCC’s “Haim” at http://bit.ly/UlsV2a, after quoting information from Alexander’s faculty profile http://bit.ly/TBlx14 which indicated that Alexander had no academic degree in economics, stated “KERN ALEXANDER IS NOT AN ECONOMIST.” [My CAPS.]
But according to my online dictionary an economist is “an expert in economics,” and economics is “the branch of knowledge concerned with the production, consumption, and transfer of wealth.” Among Alexander’s books as listed at http://amzn.to/11ikQ0V are: Public School Finance, Education and Economic Growth, and Economic Sanctions. Therefore I think that designating Alexander as an economist, as did Diane Ravitch and myself, is justified.
*************************************************
To access the complete 10 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/YRPjl0.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Links to Articles: http://bit.ly/a6M5y0
Links to Socratic Dialogue Inducing (SDI) Labs: http://bit.ly/9nGd3M
Academia: http://bit.ly/a8ixxm
Blog: http://bit.ly/9yGsXh
GooglePlus: http://bit.ly/KwZ6mE
Twitter: http://bit.ly/juvd52
REFERENCES [URL shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 05 Feb 2013.]
Hake, R.R. 2013. “Is Kern Alexander an Economist? (was An Economist Explains the Problem with Choice)” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/YRPjl0. Post of 05 Feb 2013 13:34:47-0800 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists.
Showing posts with label Economics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Economics. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Monday, November 14, 2011
Can Education Research Be Divorced From Politics and Economics ?
Some blog followers might be interested in “Can Education Research Be Divorced From Politics and Economics ?” [Hake (2011a)]. The abstract reads:
*********************************************
ABSTRACT: In response to my post “Keynes & Hayek (was ‘Re: History of regulation of finance’)” [Hake (2011c)], PhysLrnR’s William Robertson (2011) wrote (paraphrasing):
“I keep misreading the title ‘PhysLrnR’ of this list, because I could have sworn the word physics is there but the words politics and economics clearly are not. Must be another of my silly non-sequiturs.”
I think Robertson's misperception is due more to non-cogito than non-sequitur. According to the statement on the PhysLrnR archive page http://bit.ly/tLtsIG, one of the issues upon which PhysLrnR is intended to focus is “Political Policy and Social Impacts on Physics Education Research and the Teaching of Physics.”
If education research hopes to affect any change in the current educational system IT CANNOT DIVORCE ITSELF FROM POLITICS AND ECONOMICS - witness the baleful effects on teaching and student learning of NCLB and RTT (Race to the Top) in K-12 as discussed in e.g., The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education [Ravitch (2010, 2011)].
*********************************************
To access the complete 15 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/uRSYoQ .
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References
which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
rrhake@earthlink.net
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi
http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com
http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake
“ ‘Basic scientists,’ who define basic as ‘looking to the parts,’ need to learn that putting parts together to understand whole systems is equally basic. The scientist who says that synthesis is ‘applied,’ as if it were an inferior activity, must ask which is intellectually more difficult and ultimately more basic, reductionism or synthesism. Surely both are necessary, but we have had too little synthesis, and our science curricula in schools have failed to fulfill their promise because of this. The scientist who uses his discipline to learn more and more about less and less must connect his specialty to the real world as an entirety. Anyone who sets boundaries to his field of interest is limiting his capacity to grow. An old discipline has already yielded what it can; now knowledge must be arranged in different ways and given different names....”
Howard T. & Elisabeth C. Odum (1981)
REFERENCES [All URL’s shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 14 Nov 2011.]
Odum, H.T. & E.C. Odum. 1981. Energy Basis For Man and Nature. McGraw-Hill. Barnes & Nobel information http://bit.ly/uhZ9lA.
Hake, R.R. 2011a. “Can Education Research Be Divorced From Politics and Economics ?” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/uRSYoQ. Post of 14 Nov 2011 07:58:50-0800-0800 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists.
Hake, R.R. 2011c. “Keynes & Hayek (was ‘'Re: History of regulation of finance’), ” online on the OPEN! Dewey-L archives at http://bit.ly/vkKmaw. Post of 9 Nov 2011 10:23:43-0800 to Dewey-L. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists and are also on my blog “Hake’sEdStuff” at http://bit.ly/uSEuEz with a provision for comments.
*********************************************
ABSTRACT: In response to my post “Keynes & Hayek (was ‘Re: History of regulation of finance’)” [Hake (2011c)], PhysLrnR’s William Robertson (2011) wrote (paraphrasing):
“I keep misreading the title ‘PhysLrnR’ of this list, because I could have sworn the word physics is there but the words politics and economics clearly are not. Must be another of my silly non-sequiturs.”
I think Robertson's misperception is due more to non-cogito than non-sequitur. According to the statement on the PhysLrnR archive page http://bit.ly/tLtsIG, one of the issues upon which PhysLrnR is intended to focus is “Political Policy and Social Impacts on Physics Education Research and the Teaching of Physics.”
If education research hopes to affect any change in the current educational system IT CANNOT DIVORCE ITSELF FROM POLITICS AND ECONOMICS - witness the baleful effects on teaching and student learning of NCLB and RTT (Race to the Top) in K-12 as discussed in e.g., The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education [Ravitch (2010, 2011)].
*********************************************
To access the complete 15 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/uRSYoQ .
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References
which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
rrhake@earthlink.net
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi
http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com
http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake
“ ‘Basic scientists,’ who define basic as ‘looking to the parts,’ need to learn that putting parts together to understand whole systems is equally basic. The scientist who says that synthesis is ‘applied,’ as if it were an inferior activity, must ask which is intellectually more difficult and ultimately more basic, reductionism or synthesism. Surely both are necessary, but we have had too little synthesis, and our science curricula in schools have failed to fulfill their promise because of this. The scientist who uses his discipline to learn more and more about less and less must connect his specialty to the real world as an entirety. Anyone who sets boundaries to his field of interest is limiting his capacity to grow. An old discipline has already yielded what it can; now knowledge must be arranged in different ways and given different names....”
Howard T. & Elisabeth C. Odum (1981)
REFERENCES [All URL’s shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 14 Nov 2011.]
Odum, H.T. & E.C. Odum. 1981. Energy Basis For Man and Nature. McGraw-Hill. Barnes & Nobel information http://bit.ly/uhZ9lA.
Hake, R.R. 2011a. “Can Education Research Be Divorced From Politics and Economics ?” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/uRSYoQ. Post of 14 Nov 2011 07:58:50-0800-0800 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists.
Hake, R.R. 2011c. “Keynes & Hayek (was ‘'Re: History of regulation of finance’), ” online on the OPEN! Dewey-L archives at http://bit.ly/vkKmaw. Post of 9 Nov 2011 10:23:43-0800 to Dewey-L. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists and are also on my blog “Hake’sEdStuff” at http://bit.ly/uSEuEz with a provision for comments.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Re: Castles in the Sky #3
Some blog followers might be interested “Re: Castles in the Sky #3” [Hake (2011a,b)]. The abstract reads:
************************************************
ABSTRACT: In “Re: Castles in the Sky #2” [Hake (2009)] I wrote:
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
H.G. Callaway (2009), in his Dewey-L post “Castles in the Sky” referred to an article reporting that Alan Greenspan had defended his record as Fed Chairman and stated that “speculative excess” is inevitable in long periods of prosperity. Callaway then suggested that “the answer to excessive speculation is empiricism and the introduction of a more scientific attitude. . . . .to control the excesses of philosophical speculation and the related tendency toward, let us say, “castles in the sky.”
But philosophers are not the only ones who build “castles in the sky.” The sky-castle building of traditional economists such as Alan Greenspan and Lawrence Summers, who seem to regard the economic system as divorced from the ecosystem, has been roundly criticized by ecological economists such as Herman Daly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Daly. . . . . .
I think education in Dewey's inquiry mode plus e.g., Daly & Townsend’s (1992) Valuing The Earth: Economics, Ecology, Ethics, and Tim Jackson’s (2009) Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet might help.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Regarding my dissemination of “Re: Castles in the Sky #2,” H.G. Callaway (2011) complained (paraphrasing):
“As for Mr. Hake, ‘me thinks he doth protest too much!’ Search Google for ‘Castles in the Sky’ (perhaps adding my name) to see what Hake did with my theme ‘Castles in the Sky.’ If you can make heads or tails of this flurry of postings, then I would like to see the supposed virtue of the exercise explained.”
Among the virtues of my “flurry of postings” is that the under-appreciated work of ecological economist Herman Daly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Daly was brought to the attention of:
a. thousands of discussion-list subscribers,
b. the agriculture community by epidemiologist John Gay (2011) at http://bit.ly/vmeVZd - see under Gay’s heading “People,”
c. polymath Kirby Urner (2009) whose eclectic response can be accessed at http://bit.ly/voDUTa (scroll down).
************************************************
To access the complete 14 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/sdDsRA.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References
which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
rrhake@earthlink.net
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi
http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com
http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake
“Nowadays, error in economics must be maintained by complicated mathematics rather than easy logic. Personally, I do not see a brave army of heretics yet emerging from the economics departments across our nation. The curriculum is designed to spot potential heretics early and flunk them out. RENEWAL IS MORE LIKELY TO COME FROM OUTSIDE CHALLENGES TO THE DISCIPLINE. . . . . [[My CAPS.]. . . . Is it reasonable to hope for help from the physical sciences and the humanities? Is it part of the role of each discipline to challenge other disciplines? In the name of truth, beauty, and righteousness, can scientists, humanists, and citizens ask economists if maybe the system is sufficiently imperfect that people really do need to be good? It would be folly to pretend that people are so good that any system will work but is it not also folly to believe that the system can be so perfect that it will really transform private evil into public good? Maybe economics should return to its origins as a part of moral philosophy.”
Herman Daly (2009)
REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 11 Nov 2011.]
Daly, H.E. 2009. “Incorporating Values in a Bottom-Line Ecological Economy,” Bulletin of Science, Technology, & Society 29(5): 349-357; an abstract is online at http://bit.ly/uFlmmi.
Hake, R.R. 2011a. “Re: Castles in the Sky #3” online on the OPEN! Dewey-L archives at http://bit.ly/sdDsRA. Post of 11 Nov 2011 14:25:28-0800 to Dewey-L. The abstract and link to the complete (corrected – see below) post are being transmitted to several discussion lists.
Hake, R.R. 2011b. “Re: Castles in the Sky #3 – ERRATUM” online on the OPEN! Dewey-L archives at http://bit.ly/uyJQA1. Post of 11 Nov 2011 15:06:47-0800 to Dewey-L.
************************************************
ABSTRACT: In “Re: Castles in the Sky #2” [Hake (2009)] I wrote:
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
H.G. Callaway (2009), in his Dewey-L post “Castles in the Sky” referred to an article reporting that Alan Greenspan had defended his record as Fed Chairman and stated that “speculative excess” is inevitable in long periods of prosperity. Callaway then suggested that “the answer to excessive speculation is empiricism and the introduction of a more scientific attitude. . . . .to control the excesses of philosophical speculation and the related tendency toward, let us say, “castles in the sky.”
But philosophers are not the only ones who build “castles in the sky.” The sky-castle building of traditional economists such as Alan Greenspan and Lawrence Summers, who seem to regard the economic system as divorced from the ecosystem, has been roundly criticized by ecological economists such as Herman Daly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Daly. . . . . .
I think education in Dewey's inquiry mode plus e.g., Daly & Townsend’s (1992) Valuing The Earth: Economics, Ecology, Ethics, and Tim Jackson’s (2009) Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet might help.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Regarding my dissemination of “Re: Castles in the Sky #2,” H.G. Callaway (2011) complained (paraphrasing):
“As for Mr. Hake, ‘me thinks he doth protest too much!’ Search Google for ‘Castles in the Sky’ (perhaps adding my name) to see what Hake did with my theme ‘Castles in the Sky.’ If you can make heads or tails of this flurry of postings, then I would like to see the supposed virtue of the exercise explained.”
Among the virtues of my “flurry of postings” is that the under-appreciated work of ecological economist Herman Daly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Daly was brought to the attention of:
a. thousands of discussion-list subscribers,
b. the agriculture community by epidemiologist John Gay (2011) at http://bit.ly/vmeVZd - see under Gay’s heading “People,”
c. polymath Kirby Urner (2009) whose eclectic response can be accessed at http://bit.ly/voDUTa (scroll down).
************************************************
To access the complete 14 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/sdDsRA.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References
which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
rrhake@earthlink.net
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi
http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com
http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake
“Nowadays, error in economics must be maintained by complicated mathematics rather than easy logic. Personally, I do not see a brave army of heretics yet emerging from the economics departments across our nation. The curriculum is designed to spot potential heretics early and flunk them out. RENEWAL IS MORE LIKELY TO COME FROM OUTSIDE CHALLENGES TO THE DISCIPLINE. . . . . [[My CAPS.]. . . . Is it reasonable to hope for help from the physical sciences and the humanities? Is it part of the role of each discipline to challenge other disciplines? In the name of truth, beauty, and righteousness, can scientists, humanists, and citizens ask economists if maybe the system is sufficiently imperfect that people really do need to be good? It would be folly to pretend that people are so good that any system will work but is it not also folly to believe that the system can be so perfect that it will really transform private evil into public good? Maybe economics should return to its origins as a part of moral philosophy.”
Herman Daly (2009)
REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 11 Nov 2011.]
Daly, H.E. 2009. “Incorporating Values in a Bottom-Line Ecological Economy,” Bulletin of Science, Technology, & Society 29(5): 349-357; an abstract is online at http://bit.ly/uFlmmi.
Hake, R.R. 2011a. “Re: Castles in the Sky #3” online on the OPEN! Dewey-L archives at http://bit.ly/sdDsRA. Post of 11 Nov 2011 14:25:28-0800 to Dewey-L. The abstract and link to the complete (corrected – see below) post are being transmitted to several discussion lists.
Hake, R.R. 2011b. “Re: Castles in the Sky #3 – ERRATUM” online on the OPEN! Dewey-L archives at http://bit.ly/uyJQA1. Post of 11 Nov 2011 15:06:47-0800 to Dewey-L.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Keynes & Hayek (was “Re: History of regulation of finance”)
Some blog followers might be interested “Keynes & Hayek (was ‘Re: History of regulation of finance’)” [Hake (2011)]. The abstract reads:
*************************************************
ABSTRACT: In my Dewey-L post “Re: History of regulation of finance” [Hake (2011c)], I responded to Celinda Scott’s (2011a) comments regarding Nicholas Wapshott's (2011) book Keynes Hayek: The Clash That Defined Modern Economics, and attempted to inject some humor into Dewey-L by pointing to the rap parody video “The Fight of the Century” at http://bit.ly/uWBBP2 .
In response, philosopher H.G. Callaway (2011d) criticized my post for diverting the discussion away from the Dodd-Frank act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd_Frank_Act which he thinks should be the centerpiece of serious discussion on the Callaway-initiated thread “Re: History of regulation of finance.”
Callaway’s complaint could probably have been avoided if I had had the good sense to simply title my post “Keynes & Hayek (was ‘Re: History of regulation of finance’).” Then more Dewey-L discussion might have turned towards consideration of the clash of Keynes and Hayek that, according to Wapshott, “defined modern economics.”
Of course, modern economics has had a crucial impact on social conditions and education - see e.g., Hake (2011a,b) - matters of concern to Dewey and therefore properly within the province of Dewey-L, perhaps even more so than the Dodd-Frank act.
On a related matter, I completely disagree with Callaway’s (2011d) assertion that “Re: Castles in the Sky #2” [Hake (2009)] at http://bit.ly/rBPxls was “loaded with doubtful comments and links” and “made little or no sense.” That post concerned the sky-castle building of traditional economists such as Alan Greenspan and Lawrence Summers, who seem to regard the economic system as divorced from the ecosystem, a standpoint roundly criticized by ecological economists such as Herman Daly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Daly.
*************************************************
To access the complete 15 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/vkKmaw.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References
which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
rrhake@earthlink.net
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi
http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com
http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake
“Conflict is the gadfly of thought. It stirs us to observation and memory. It instigates to invention. It shocks us out of sheep-like passivity, and sets us at noting and contriving. Not that it always effects this result; but that conflict is a sine qua non of reflection and ingenuity.”
John Dewey, Morals Are Human, Dewey: Middle Works, Vol.14, p. 207
REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 09 Nov 2011.]
Hake, R.R. 2011. “Keynes & Hayek (was ‘Re: History of regulation of finance’), ” online on the OPEN! Dewey-L archives at http://bit.ly/vkKmaw. Post of 9 Nov 2011 10:23:43-0800 to Dewey-L. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists.
*************************************************
ABSTRACT: In my Dewey-L post “Re: History of regulation of finance” [Hake (2011c)], I responded to Celinda Scott’s (2011a) comments regarding Nicholas Wapshott's (2011)
In response, philosopher H.G. Callaway (2011d) criticized my post for diverting the discussion away from the Dodd-Frank act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd_Frank_Act which he thinks should be the centerpiece of serious discussion on the Callaway-initiated thread “Re: History of regulation of finance.”
Callaway’s complaint could probably have been avoided if I had had the good sense to simply title my post “Keynes & Hayek (was ‘Re: History of regulation of finance’).” Then more Dewey-L discussion might have turned towards consideration of the clash of Keynes and Hayek that, according to Wapshott, “defined modern economics.”
Of course, modern economics has had a crucial impact on social conditions and education - see e.g., Hake (2011a,b) - matters of concern to Dewey and therefore properly within the province of Dewey-L, perhaps even more so than the Dodd-Frank act.
On a related matter, I completely disagree with Callaway’s (2011d) assertion that “Re: Castles in the Sky #2” [Hake (2009)] at http://bit.ly/rBPxls was “loaded with doubtful comments and links” and “made little or no sense.” That post concerned the sky-castle building of traditional economists such as Alan Greenspan and Lawrence Summers, who seem to regard the economic system as divorced from the ecosystem, a standpoint roundly criticized by ecological economists such as Herman Daly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Daly.
*************************************************
To access the complete 15 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/vkKmaw.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References
which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
rrhake@earthlink.net
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi
http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com
http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake
“Conflict is the gadfly of thought. It stirs us to observation and memory. It instigates to invention. It shocks us out of sheep-like passivity, and sets us at noting and contriving. Not that it always effects this result; but that conflict is a sine qua non of reflection and ingenuity.”
John Dewey, Morals Are Human, Dewey: Middle Works, Vol.14, p. 207
REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 09 Nov 2011.]
Hake, R.R. 2011. “Keynes & Hayek (was ‘Re: History of regulation of finance’), ” online on the OPEN! Dewey-L archives at http://bit.ly/vkKmaw. Post of 9 Nov 2011 10:23:43-0800 to Dewey-L. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Over Two-Hundred Annotated References on Systems Thinking
Some blog followers may be interested a compilation [Hake (2009)] of the above title. The abstract reads:
ABSTRACT: This 1.7 MB compilation of over 200 annotated references andover 300 hot-linked URL’s provides a window into the vast literature on “Systems Thinking.”
Systems Thinking is characterized by the consideration of natural, scientific, engineered, human, or conceptual entities as systems in which the component parts interact with one another and with other systems so as to produce emergent properties which cannot be understood through analysis of the single parts of the system.
Examples are provided by twelve quotes of systems thinkers.
References are given in alphabetical order with superscripts that indicate their origin in the following categories: Ecology, Economics, Education, Engineering, Evaluation, General, and Physics.
To access the complete compilation please click on http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake/200RefsSystems2c.pdf (1.78 MB).
REFERENCES
Hake, R.R. 2009. "Over Two-Hundred Annotated References on Systems Thinking," online at http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake/200RefsSystems2c.pdf (1.7 MB) and as reference #58 at http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake/.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
