----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- CALL FOR PAPER The "New" Political Economies In 1651, 350 years ago, a French writer named Montchretien wrote a book on the subject of "political economy." This expression stuck and important multi-volume treatises on political economy appeared during the following centuries. In 1890, Alfred Marshall entitled his masterwork simply Principles of Economics, reflecting a trend at Cambridge University to remove politics from economics. But this trend was not just at Cambridge. During the 1920s the German society known as the Verein fur Sozialpolitik heard from such economists as Max Weber and Ludwig von Mises who argued for "value-free" social sciences. the American Journal of Economics and Sociology is now planning an entire gala issue on the connections between politics, political science, government and economic theory. You are invited to participate. It is clear that, throughout the centuries, economists have understood the influence that institutions, customs, and varying legal rules have on incentives and the role they play in giving shape to different market outcomes. Indeed, economists giving "policy advice" have served as advisers to statesmen, legislators, and dictators. This is still a common practice. Professional economists claim a privileged status for their craft. But do they really stand outside the legislative process with a talent for seeing things "objectively"? After World War II, the governments of the developed nations were assigned the difficult task of "stabilizing" the business economy. In recent years, economists have come to appreciate that macro-policymaking, whether in J. M. Keynes' time or our own time, is mostly a "sequence of decisions" made over time. Private citizens often understand more than they are told. The decisions that governments undertake to follow may be "consistent" or "inconsistent" and the broader public form decisions based on one set of expectations or another. The difference this makes to macroeconomic policy and performance is now a burgeoning area of research which also links economists to political scientists in some important ways (see Allen Drazen 2000, Political Economy in Macroeconomy, Princeton University Press). Some social scientists have provided deep insights into ordinary political methods and institutions by modeling collective action as the outcome of rational choice. The Public Choice school has developed tools and conceptual distinctions that allow its practitioners to propose modifications for the rules and devices within which modern democratic orders operate and function. In a recent work, Mancur Olson applies the insights of the Public Choice approach to both communist and capitalist dictatorships with obvious implications for the future of East-West political relations (see M. Olson 2000, Power and Prosperity,. Basic Books). But does all this about the "new" political economy really add up to anything new or has it been Montchretien's "political economy" all the time in various disguises? The Winter 2001 - 2002 issue of The American Journal of Economics and Sociology will offer a selection of papers on the "New" Political Economies from a variety of perspectives on the connection(s) between economics and politics. For those wishing to participate--and all faculties are invited--please send your proposals in the form of 200-250 world abstract to the editor by April 15, 2001. The target date for delivering the papers is July 15, 2001. Please contact the editor: Professor Laurence S. Moss / Babson College/ Babson Park, 02457 USA. 617 728 4949 or [log in to unmask] for additional information. ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]