Jon D Wisman
Biographic Data
| ID | 702145 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jon D Wisman |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jon D |
| FAMILY NAME | Wisman |
| SIGNATURE | WISMAN J D |
| AFFILIATIONS | American University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7563-3150 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 17 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1978 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Foundations of Real-World Economics: What Every Economics Student Needs to Know, 3rd ed
The Origins and Dynamics of Inequality: Sex, Politics, and Ideology
Whereas President Barack Obama identified inequality as “the defining challenge of our time,” this book claims more: it is the defining issue of all human history. The struggle over inequality has been the underlying force driving human history’s unfolding. Drawing on the dynamics of inequality, this book reinterprets history and society. Beyond according inequality the central role in human history, this book is novel in two other respects. Firs…
Marx, the Predisposition to Reject Markets and Private Property, and Attractive Alternatives to Capitalism
Ever since capitalism came to be recognized as a new economic system, its principal institutions of private property and markets have had vociferous critics, of whom none was more wide-ranging and influential than Karl Marx. Marx claimed that not only were private property and markets critical to creating an ideological patina of freedom behind which, as in slavery and feudalism, a small class extracted from the mass of producers practically all …
The Financial Crisis of 1929 Reexamined: The Role of Soaring Inequality
The financial crisis of 1929 that triggered the Great Depression has been endlessly studied. Still there is little consensus regarding what caused it. This article claims that wage stagnation and exploding inequality fueled three dynamics that set the stage for a financial crisis. First, consumption was constrained by the smaller share of total income accruing to workers, thereby restricting investment opportunities in the real economy. Flush wit…
Degraded Work, Declining Community, Rising Inequality, and the Transformation of the Protestant Ethic inAmerica: 1870-1930
The Protestant ethic has been depicted as declining inAmerica between 1870 and 1930, due to new consumer durables and less rewarding work. This study finds that the Protestant ethic did not so much decline as become transformed. The work ethic remained in force, while frugality weakened. This transformation is traced to three dynamic social forces: degradation in the quality of work due to industrialization, the decline of community with urbaniza…
Legitimating Inequality: Fooling Most of the People All of the Time
Over the three decades leading up to the crisis of 2008, inequality dramatically increased in the United States and Great Britain. What stands out, but is seldom noted, is that this occurred within democracies where the relative losers-the overwhelming majority-could in principle have used the political system to block or reverse rising inequality. Why did they not do so? A glance at history reveals that peoples have only very infrequently contes…
The Moral Imperative and Social Rationality of Government-Guaranteed Employment and Reskilling
Unemployment exacts a high cost to its victims, not only in lost income, but also in terms of quality of life (insecurity, depression, abandoned families, divorce, suicide and poorer health). It also exacts a high cost to society in terms of lost output, foregone tax revenue, depreciating human capital, and increased costs of welfare, crime and health care. Yet modern wealthy societies have, principally for the sake of price stability and to avoi…
Creative Destruction, Economic Insecurity, Stress, and Epidemic Obesity
The percentage of Americans who are obese has doubled since 1980. Most attempts to explain this "obesity epidemic" have been found inadequate, including the "Big Two" (the increased availability of inexpensive food and the decline of physical exertion). This article explores the possibility that the obesity epidemic is substantially due to growing insecurity, stress, and a sense of powerlessness in modern society where high-sugar and high-fat foo…
The Scope and Promising Future of Social Economics1
This essay explores the future potential for Social Economics. Since the beginning of modern economics, the mainstream has been steered by what might be called a material progress vision, whereby the generally unacknowledged pesumption is that economic growth will make the good life possible. Accordingly, such potential components of human welfare as more creative and fulfilling work, greater equality in the distribution of opportunity, wealth an…
Creative destruction and labor's options
New technology, the fall of Eastern European socialism, new international trade agreements, and a resurgence of classical liberalism have greatly augmented the pace of capitalism's creative destruction. The principal benefits of this process have come in the form of new, better, and less-expensive consumer goods. But this process also generates a generalized sense of insecurity that most afflicts labor. Yet, the dominant ideology that has accompa…
Competition, Cooperation, and the Future of Work
(2000). Competition, Cooperation, and the Future of Work. Peace Review: Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 197-203
The Cost of Living: How Market Freedom Erodes the Best Things in Life, by Barry Schwartz
Straightening out the backward-bending supply curve of labour: From overt to covert compulsion and beyond
The inadequancy of the work-leisure choice model of orthodox theory suggests the need to reexamine the nature of work from the vantage points of anthropology and economic history. Such a reexamination challenges the theory of human behaviour upon which the work-leisure model is built. It suggests that work is not necessarily painful. Moreover, it suggests that more attention needs to be given to the potential for institutional changes which encou…
Competition, Technology, Freedom, and the Future of the Workplace
Competition, Technology, Freedom, and the Future of the Workplace
An economic response to the threat of nuclear war
What is Political Economy?
Keynesian economics and Economists’ views on the state
The methodology of W. Arthur Lewis's development economics: Economics as pedagogy
From Capital-Labor Strife to Community
In this note I should like briefly to treat two important issues for an adequate analysis of the prospects for solidarity and community which were virtually ignored in the course of the conference. These two issues are identification of the principal impediment(s) blocking the evolution of greater solidarity and community, and identification of those social forces which are, or have the potential for carrying us toward the desired goals
The Sociology of Knowledge as a Tool for Research Into the History of Economic Thought
Hill and Rouse's formulation of Mannheim's framework for the sociology of knowledge as a means of examining the history of economic thought is rejected although it is held that they render an important service to economics by arguing the need for employment of the sociology of knowledge as a research tool. They have not appropriated Mannheim's categories authentically and they apply them in an overly simplified and undialectical manner. Even Mann…
Rereading Marx For The Non-Marxist Economist: On The Scope And Method Of Scientific Economics ∗
It is widely recognized that Marx was prescient in identifying and addressing theoretically a number of economic issues (e.g., concen? tration, the business cycle, poverty amid plenty, technological un? employment, the persistence of unemployment) which were only at a later date given theoretical legitimacy when taken up by economists more sympathetic to both capitalism and the orthodox academy. Yet surprisingly, orthodox economists have all but …
The Naturalistic Turn of Orthodox Economics: A Study of Methodological Misunderstanding ∗
Orthodox economics, with its highly formalized theory and mas? sive quantifiable empirical data base, has long prided itself in being the most scientific of the social sciences. To qualify as scientific has been understood to mean a strict adherence to the methodological canons and goals of the natural sciences. That economics should seek to emulate the natural sciences is understandable. There are
Legitimating Inequality: Fooling Most of the People All of the Time
Over the three decades leading up to the crisis of 2008, inequality dramatically increased in the United States and Great Britain. What stands out, but is seldom noted, is that this occurred within democracies where the relative losers-the overwhelming majority-could in principle have used the political system to block or reverse rising inequality. Why did they not do so? A glance at history reveals that peoples have only very infrequently contes…
Creative Destruction, Economic Insecurity, Stress, and Epidemic Obesity
The percentage of Americans who are obese has doubled since 1980. Most attempts to explain this "obesity epidemic" have been found inadequate, including the "Big Two" (the increased availability of inexpensive food and the decline of physical exertion). This article explores the possibility that the obesity epidemic is substantially due to growing insecurity, stress, and a sense of powerlessness in modern society where high-sugar and high-fat foo…
Straightening out the backward-bending supply curve of labour: From overt to covert compulsion and beyond
The inadequancy of the work-leisure choice model of orthodox theory suggests the need to reexamine the nature of work from the vantage points of anthropology and economic history. Such a reexamination challenges the theory of human behaviour upon which the work-leisure model is built. It suggests that work is not necessarily painful. Moreover, it suggests that more attention needs to be given to the potential for institutional changes which encou…
The Naturalistic Turn of Orthodox Economics: A Study of Methodological Misunderstanding ∗
Orthodox economics, with its highly formalized theory and mas? sive quantifiable empirical data base, has long prided itself in being the most scientific of the social sciences. To qualify as scientific has been understood to mean a strict adherence to the methodological canons and goals of the natural sciences. That economics should seek to emulate the natural sciences is understandable. There are
Marx, the Predisposition to Reject Markets and Private Property, and Attractive Alternatives to Capitalism
Ever since capitalism came to be recognized as a new economic system, its principal institutions of private property and markets have had vociferous critics, of whom none was more wide-ranging and influential than Karl Marx. Marx claimed that not only were private property and markets critical to creating an ideological patina of freedom behind which, as in slavery and feudalism, a small class extracted from the mass of producers practically all …
Degraded Work, Declining Community, Rising Inequality, and the Transformation of the Protestant Ethic inAmerica: 1870-1930
The Protestant ethic has been depicted as declining inAmerica between 1870 and 1930, due to new consumer durables and less rewarding work. This study finds that the Protestant ethic did not so much decline as become transformed. The work ethic remained in force, while frugality weakened. This transformation is traced to three dynamic social forces: degradation in the quality of work due to industrialization, the decline of community with urbaniza…
The Scope and Promising Future of Social Economics1
This essay explores the future potential for Social Economics. Since the beginning of modern economics, the mainstream has been steered by what might be called a material progress vision, whereby the generally unacknowledged pesumption is that economic growth will make the good life possible. Accordingly, such potential components of human welfare as more creative and fulfilling work, greater equality in the distribution of opportunity, wealth an…
Competition, Cooperation, and the Future of Work
(2000). Competition, Cooperation, and the Future of Work. Peace Review: Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 197-203
The Naturalistic Turn of Orthodox Economics: A Study of Methodological Misunderstanding ∗
Orthodox economics, with its highly formalized theory and mas? sive quantifiable empirical data base, has long prided itself in being the most scientific of the social sciences. To qualify as scientific has been understood to mean a strict adherence to the methodological canons and goals of the natural sciences. That economics should seek to emulate the natural sciences is understandable. There are
Rereading Marx For The Non-Marxist Economist: On The Scope And Method Of Scientific Economics ∗
It is widely recognized that Marx was prescient in identifying and addressing theoretically a number of economic issues (e.g., concen? tration, the business cycle, poverty amid plenty, technological un? employment, the persistence of unemployment) which were only at a later date given theoretical legitimacy when taken up by economists more sympathetic to both capitalism and the orthodox academy. Yet surprisingly, orthodox economists have all but …
The Sociology of Knowledge as a Tool for Research Into the History of Economic Thought
Hill and Rouse's formulation of Mannheim's framework for the sociology of knowledge as a means of examining the history of economic thought is rejected although it is held that they render an important service to economics by arguing the need for employment of the sociology of knowledge as a research tool. They have not appropriated Mannheim's categories authentically and they apply them in an overly simplified and undialectical manner. Even Mann…
From Capital-Labor Strife to Community
In this note I should like briefly to treat two important issues for an adequate analysis of the prospects for solidarity and community which were virtually ignored in the course of the conference. These two issues are identification of the principal impediment(s) blocking the evolution of greater solidarity and community, and identification of those social forces which are, or have the potential for carrying us toward the desired goals
What is Political Economy?
Keynesian economics and Economists’ views on the state
The methodology of W. Arthur Lewis's development economics: Economics as pedagogy
Competition, Technology, Freedom, and the Future of the Workplace
Competition, Technology, Freedom, and the Future of the Workplace
An economic response to the threat of nuclear war
Straightening out the backward-bending supply curve of labour: From overt to covert compulsion and beyond
The inadequancy of the work-leisure choice model of orthodox theory suggests the need to reexamine the nature of work from the vantage points of anthropology and economic history. Such a reexamination challenges the theory of human behaviour upon which the work-leisure model is built. It suggests that work is not necessarily painful. Moreover, it suggests that more attention needs to be given to the potential for institutional changes which encou…
The Cost of Living: How Market Freedom Erodes the Best Things in Life, by Barry Schwartz
Competition, Cooperation, and the Future of Work
(2000). Competition, Cooperation, and the Future of Work. Peace Review: Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 197-203
Creative destruction and labor's options
New technology, the fall of Eastern European socialism, new international trade agreements, and a resurgence of classical liberalism have greatly augmented the pace of capitalism's creative destruction. The principal benefits of this process have come in the form of new, better, and less-expensive consumer goods. But this process also generates a generalized sense of insecurity that most afflicts labor. Yet, the dominant ideology that has accompa…
The Scope and Promising Future of Social Economics1
This essay explores the future potential for Social Economics. Since the beginning of modern economics, the mainstream has been steered by what might be called a material progress vision, whereby the generally unacknowledged pesumption is that economic growth will make the good life possible. Accordingly, such potential components of human welfare as more creative and fulfilling work, greater equality in the distribution of opportunity, wealth an…
The Moral Imperative and Social Rationality of Government-Guaranteed Employment and Reskilling
Unemployment exacts a high cost to its victims, not only in lost income, but also in terms of quality of life (insecurity, depression, abandoned families, divorce, suicide and poorer health). It also exacts a high cost to society in terms of lost output, foregone tax revenue, depreciating human capital, and increased costs of welfare, crime and health care. Yet modern wealthy societies have, principally for the sake of price stability and to avoi…
Creative Destruction, Economic Insecurity, Stress, and Epidemic Obesity
The percentage of Americans who are obese has doubled since 1980. Most attempts to explain this "obesity epidemic" have been found inadequate, including the "Big Two" (the increased availability of inexpensive food and the decline of physical exertion). This article explores the possibility that the obesity epidemic is substantially due to growing insecurity, stress, and a sense of powerlessness in modern society where high-sugar and high-fat foo…
Legitimating Inequality: Fooling Most of the People All of the Time
Over the three decades leading up to the crisis of 2008, inequality dramatically increased in the United States and Great Britain. What stands out, but is seldom noted, is that this occurred within democracies where the relative losers-the overwhelming majority-could in principle have used the political system to block or reverse rising inequality. Why did they not do so? A glance at history reveals that peoples have only very infrequently contes…
Degraded Work, Declining Community, Rising Inequality, and the Transformation of the Protestant Ethic inAmerica: 1870-1930
The Protestant ethic has been depicted as declining inAmerica between 1870 and 1930, due to new consumer durables and less rewarding work. This study finds that the Protestant ethic did not so much decline as become transformed. The work ethic remained in force, while frugality weakened. This transformation is traced to three dynamic social forces: degradation in the quality of work due to industrialization, the decline of community with urbaniza…
The Financial Crisis of 1929 Reexamined: The Role of Soaring Inequality
The financial crisis of 1929 that triggered the Great Depression has been endlessly studied. Still there is little consensus regarding what caused it. This article claims that wage stagnation and exploding inequality fueled three dynamics that set the stage for a financial crisis. First, consumption was constrained by the smaller share of total income accruing to workers, thereby restricting investment opportunities in the real economy. Flush wit…
Marx, the Predisposition to Reject Markets and Private Property, and Attractive Alternatives to Capitalism
Ever since capitalism came to be recognized as a new economic system, its principal institutions of private property and markets have had vociferous critics, of whom none was more wide-ranging and influential than Karl Marx. Marx claimed that not only were private property and markets critical to creating an ideological patina of freedom behind which, as in slavery and feudalism, a small class extracted from the mass of producers practically all …
The Origins and Dynamics of Inequality: Sex, Politics, and Ideology
Whereas President Barack Obama identified inequality as “the defining challenge of our time,” this book claims more: it is the defining issue of all human history. The struggle over inequality has been the underlying force driving human history’s unfolding. Drawing on the dynamics of inequality, this book reinterprets history and society. Beyond according inequality the central role in human history, this book is novel in two other respects. Firs…
Foundations of Real-World Economics: What Every Economics Student Needs to Know, 3rd ed
Economics (20 works) · Political science (16 works) · Law (12 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Economic Theory and Institutions (8 works) · Positive economics (8 works) · Market economy (7 works) · Neoclassical economics (7 works) · Political economy (7 works) · Politics (6 works)