Post-Keynesian Essays from Down Under Volume III: Essays on Ethics, Social Justice and Economics (PDF)

Joseph Halevi was born 1946 in Haifa, then British Palestine. An Alama Mater University of Rome La Sapienza, he began teaching economics at the New School of Social Research in New York and later at Rutgers University. He has a permanent appointment at the University of Sydney. He was Visiting Professor at the University of Connecticut and regularly in France at the Universities of Grenoble, Nice and Amiens. He has authored many books and contributed to the first edition of The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics in 1987 and co-edited Beyond the Steady State with Macmillan in 1992, among others.

G. C. Harcourt was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1931. He was a graduate of the Universities of Melbourne and Cambridge. He has worked mainly at Adelaide (1958 to 1985) and Cambridge (1964 to 1966; 1972 to 1973; 1980; 1982-2010). He is now Visiting Professorial Fellow at UNSW Australia. He has authored or edited 29 books and over 360 articles, notes, chapters in books and reviews. His books include Some Cambridge Controversies in the Theory of Capital (1972), The Structure of Post-Keynesian Economics (2006), (with Prue Kerr) Joan Robinson (2009) and (jointly edited with Peter Kriesler) The Oxford Handbook of Post-Keynesian Economics (2013).

Peter Kriesler currently teaches in the School of Economics at the University of New South Wales. He also organizes the Annual Australian Society of Heterodox Economists Conference, which is now in its fourteenth year. Peter's main publications are in the areas of history of economic thought, heterodox economics, the Australian economy, labour economics, and economic perspectives on human rights.

J. W. Neville is Emeritus Professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. He has published extensively on fiscal policy, macroeconomic policy in general, economics and ethics, and the history of economic thought. He has served on a number of statutory authorities and government enquiries.

'The neo-liberal experiment has failed. The widespread de-regulation of markets has led to financial crisis and mass unemployment. The contributors to this volume are Keynesian economists who for decades have resisted the neo-liberal onslaught. They believe that governments have the ability and duty to ensure full employment and decent pay for all. Their optimism is sorely needed.'

Emeritus Professor Robert Rowthorn, University of Cambridge, UK

'The socioeconomic and political context has been carefully interwoven through these different essays relating to social justice, a widely debated topic in this day and age. It is impressive how the authors have developed Christian thought and the Christian call for social-welfare, prompting the reader to social-awareness and social-consciousness.'

The Most Reverend Dr Philip L Freier, Primate of Australia

'This collection of essays makes an outstanding contribution to the discussion of ethics and economics. It moves economics beyond the limits of the 'scientific' enquiry and the cramped options of dualism to embrace its moral responsibilities. Halevi, Harcourt, Kriesler and Nevile share a sense of humanity, sometimes characteristic of post-Keynesian economists, and identify those human rights which must form part of the objectives of any economic decision. The essays incorporate into their analyses ethical implications of economic goals, their priorities and the policies which serve these; they show that introducing ethical work practices (eg) tends to raise productivity rather than costs. Their approaches are empirical and analytical. The authors are especially well qualified, individually and in combinations, to comment on Australian institutions, within a global economy, and on mainstream as well as post-Keynesian analytical approaches. This invaluable project confirms their presence as significant leaders in developing the ethical ambitions of economics and its policies through a