Neoclassical economists are rich people's useful idiots. (LVTFan's Blog)

Pages I refer to often

Income Distribution in the US
How is our income distributed? Well, it is pretty concentrated. How concentrated? Take a look.
Progress and Poverty, by Henry George
Here are links to online editions of George's landmark book, Progress & Poverty, including audio and a number of abridgments -- the shortest is 30 words! I commend this book to your attention, if you are concerned about economic justice, poverty, sprawl, energy use, pollution, wages, housing affordability. Its observations will change how you approach all these problems. A mind-opening experience!
Wealth Concentration Tables from 2004 SCF: Bottom 90%, Next 9% and Top 1%
Aggregated data by net worth quantile, for various kinds of wealth. With calculations you won't find anywhere else!
Wealth Concentration Tables from 2004 SCF: 50-40-5-4-1
These tables show how concentrated the ownership of various kinds of assets are. With calculations you won't find anywhere else! This version is less aggregated: Bottom 50%, Next 40%, Next 5%, Next 4% and Top 1%.

Books I Value

Henry George: Progress and Poverty: An inquiry into the cause of industrial depressions and of increase of want with increase of wealth ... The Remedy
This is perhaps the most important book ever written on the subjects of poverty, political economy, how we might live together in a society dedicated to the ideals Americans claim to believe are self-evident. It will provide you new lenses through which to view many of our most serious problems and how we might go about solving them: poverty, sprawl, long commutes, despoilation of the environment, housing affordability, wealth concentration, income concentration, concentration of power, low wages, etc. Read it online, or in hardcopy.
Bob Drake's abridgement of Henry George's original: Progress and Poverty: Why There Are Recessions and Poverty Amid Plenty -- And What To Do About It!
This is a very readable thought-by-thought updating of Henry George's longer book, written in the language of a newsweekly. A fine way to get to know Henry George's ideas. Available online at progressandpoverty.org and http://www.henrygeorge.org/pcontents.htm

Where Else Might You Look?

Wealth and Want
The URL comes from the subtitle to Progress & Poverty -- and the goal is widely shared prosperity in the 21st century. How do we get there from here? A roadmap and a reference source.
Reforming the Property Tax for the Common Good
I'm a tax reform activist who seeks to promote fairness and reduce poverty. Let's start with the enabling legislation and state requirements for the property tax. There are opportunities for great good!
A blog about Stamford, Connecticut, and its opportunities for progress and prosperity for all
Bringing it home to one medium-sized city's day to day issues and opportunities
LVTFan's blog: Connecting the dots between our most serious problems and what I've come to believe is the solution we need to embrace.
I'm a tax reform activist who seeks to promote fairness and reduce poverty in America. Land Value Taxation seems to me to be our very best hope for these goals, and for reducing urban sprawl and its concomitants.

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Neoclassical economists are rich people's useful idiots.

I found a quote I particularly like in a blog comment at http://neweconomicperspectives.blogspot.com/2009/12/michael-hudson-responds-to-paul-krugman.html

"neoclassical economists are rich people's useful idiots."

Another commenter there added this:

Dr Mason Gaffney's The Corruption of Economics is useful reading in this general vein of the co-opting of modern economics.

The University of Chicago was founded with Rockefeller support. He who pays the piper calls the tune.

I think the root of a lot of our current economic problems can be found here. Our prominent economists learned their economics from neoclassical textbooks and instructors and full professors who learned their economics from neoclassicals. I suspect, too, that it is very difficult to teach what one doesn't know. It is difficult to get tenure from neoclassical departments if you aren't hewing the line.

I commend to your attention Mason Gaffney's newest book: After the Crash: Designing a Depression-Free Economy. Unless, of course, you like booms and busts. You can order it at http://www.schalkenbach.org/ or from Wiley.com.

Posted on December 31, 2009 at 04:30 PM in absentee ownership, boom-bust cycles, classical economists, cui bono?, economic justice, economic rent, ending poverty, FIRE sector, free lunch, government's role, income concentration, landed gentry, landlordism, little people pay taxes, one solution for many problems, poverty machine, wealth distribution or concentration | Permalink