Jamie Peck
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199580576
- eISBN:
- 9780191595240
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199580576.003.0003
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy
This chapter presents a critical analysis of the rise and reconstruction of the Chicago School of Economics. The Chicago School is widely credited, by friends and foes alike, as a cradle of the ...
More
This chapter presents a critical analysis of the rise and reconstruction of the Chicago School of Economics. The Chicago School is widely credited, by friends and foes alike, as a cradle of the neoliberal movement. It positions ‘Chicago’ within the ideational and ideological networks of the neoliberal project, tracing its various connections to centers of political power and economic expertise. The ambivalent relationship between the Chicago School and the city that supplied its name is shown to find an echo in the character of neoliberalism as a fickle and ostensibly ‘disembedded’ political project, which seeks to foster placeless and ‘portable’ policy rationalities. Even if Chicago was not the singular birthplace of neoliberalism, the distinctive contributions of Milton Friedman and his colleagues at the University of Chicago shaped one of the most vibrant strains of free-market theory.Less
This chapter presents a critical analysis of the rise and reconstruction of the Chicago School of Economics. The Chicago School is widely credited, by friends and foes alike, as a cradle of the neoliberal movement. It positions ‘Chicago’ within the ideational and ideological networks of the neoliberal project, tracing its various connections to centers of political power and economic expertise. The ambivalent relationship between the Chicago School and the city that supplied its name is shown to find an echo in the character of neoliberalism as a fickle and ostensibly ‘disembedded’ political project, which seeks to foster placeless and ‘portable’ policy rationalities. Even if Chicago was not the singular birthplace of neoliberalism, the distinctive contributions of Milton Friedman and his colleagues at the University of Chicago shaped one of the most vibrant strains of free-market theory.
Jamie Peck
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199580576
- eISBN:
- 9780191595240
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199580576.003.0002
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy
This chapter presents a genealogy of neoliberalism as a free-market ideational program, from the early decades of the 20th century through to its consummation with state power in the 1970s. ...
More
This chapter presents a genealogy of neoliberalism as a free-market ideational program, from the early decades of the 20th century through to its consummation with state power in the 1970s. Neoliberalism was born as a contradictory and contested project, specifically through a series of situated, sympathetic critiques of 19th-century laissez-faire. These were played out, most explicitly, through the work of the Mont Pelerin Society and its associated networks, though these have often been spaces of debate and contestation. In this sense, neoliberalism has always been an open-ended, plural, and adaptable project. At the heart of this lies its contradictory embrace of liberty and order — what can be seen as its ‘Chicago School’ and ‘Ordoliberal’ faces of neoliberalism, respectively. Highlighting the constructed nature of neoliberalism's ideational project, the chapter exposes some of the ‘hidden hands’ that shaped this purposive critique of, and alternative to, Keynesianism.Less
This chapter presents a genealogy of neoliberalism as a free-market ideational program, from the early decades of the 20th century through to its consummation with state power in the 1970s. Neoliberalism was born as a contradictory and contested project, specifically through a series of situated, sympathetic critiques of 19th-century laissez-faire. These were played out, most explicitly, through the work of the Mont Pelerin Society and its associated networks, though these have often been spaces of debate and contestation. In this sense, neoliberalism has always been an open-ended, plural, and adaptable project. At the heart of this lies its contradictory embrace of liberty and order — what can be seen as its ‘Chicago School’ and ‘Ordoliberal’ faces of neoliberalism, respectively. Highlighting the constructed nature of neoliberalism's ideational project, the chapter exposes some of the ‘hidden hands’ that shaped this purposive critique of, and alternative to, Keynesianism.
Robert Pitofsky
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195372823
- eISBN:
- 9780199871773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372823.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Behavioural Economics
This chapter presents four papers from some of the most eminent people in the antitrust field. It analyzes “barriers to entry” from a practical rather than theoretical point of view, and concludes ...
More
This chapter presents four papers from some of the most eminent people in the antitrust field. It analyzes “barriers to entry” from a practical rather than theoretical point of view, and concludes that conservatives seem to be generous in allowing entrenched dominant firms to rely on a variety of coercion and intimidation tactics. It notes a wide-spread sense of “something gone wrong” with today's antitrust enforcement, in particular a growing sense of too much emphasis on over-simplified economic models. The chapter then provides a full and fair historic review of Warren Court excesses, and the Chicago School's remarkable influence in reversing some trends that most would ridicule today. It gives examples of areas where the Chicago School has not prevailed because of unrealistic economic approaches. It then emphasizes the complexity of evaluating the successes and failures of the Chicago School, noting examples of each kind of outcome. Finally, the chapter notes that many changes over the last half century, for better or worse, are the result of a variety of influences—not just fashions of economic analysis. It concludes that there are significant areas where extreme applications of conservative economic thought have “overshot the mark” and expresses concern that any such academic influences may lead to under-enforcement.Less
This chapter presents four papers from some of the most eminent people in the antitrust field. It analyzes “barriers to entry” from a practical rather than theoretical point of view, and concludes that conservatives seem to be generous in allowing entrenched dominant firms to rely on a variety of coercion and intimidation tactics. It notes a wide-spread sense of “something gone wrong” with today's antitrust enforcement, in particular a growing sense of too much emphasis on over-simplified economic models. The chapter then provides a full and fair historic review of Warren Court excesses, and the Chicago School's remarkable influence in reversing some trends that most would ridicule today. It gives examples of areas where the Chicago School has not prevailed because of unrealistic economic approaches. It then emphasizes the complexity of evaluating the successes and failures of the Chicago School, noting examples of each kind of outcome. Finally, the chapter notes that many changes over the last half century, for better or worse, are the result of a variety of influences—not just fashions of economic analysis. It concludes that there are significant areas where extreme applications of conservative economic thought have “overshot the mark” and expresses concern that any such academic influences may lead to under-enforcement.
John W. Boyer
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226242514
- eISBN:
- 9780226242651
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226242651.003.0007
- Subject:
- Education, History of Education
This chapter highlights major themes of the previous chapters up to the current day. It explores the work of Hanna Gray in rebuilding university finances and fundraising in the 1980s and in ...
More
This chapter highlights major themes of the previous chapters up to the current day. It explores the work of Hanna Gray in rebuilding university finances and fundraising in the 1980s and in sustaining the intellectual luster of the faculty. It also chronicles the very controversial reforms initiated by Hugo Sonnenschein to expand the College, a process that university leaders then accelerated after 2000, making the College today the largest single unit of the University of Chicago. The chapter explores the history of the Law School and Business School as examples of the emergence of a special kind of interdisciplinary professional research culture in the professional schools at Chicago that came to characterize Chicago after the 1950s. The chapter also explores the next stages of Chicago’s relationship with its neighbourhood and the city more broadly, using the history of the Charter School project and the Urban Education Institute as examples of new forms of university-civic engagement. Finally, the chapter concludes with a discussion on the contemporary value culture of the University, as exemplified in two major interventions of the 1950s and 1960s—the Kalven Report and the Redfield-Singer civilizations project.Less
This chapter highlights major themes of the previous chapters up to the current day. It explores the work of Hanna Gray in rebuilding university finances and fundraising in the 1980s and in sustaining the intellectual luster of the faculty. It also chronicles the very controversial reforms initiated by Hugo Sonnenschein to expand the College, a process that university leaders then accelerated after 2000, making the College today the largest single unit of the University of Chicago. The chapter explores the history of the Law School and Business School as examples of the emergence of a special kind of interdisciplinary professional research culture in the professional schools at Chicago that came to characterize Chicago after the 1950s. The chapter also explores the next stages of Chicago’s relationship with its neighbourhood and the city more broadly, using the history of the Charter School project and the Urban Education Institute as examples of new forms of university-civic engagement. Finally, the chapter concludes with a discussion on the contemporary value culture of the University, as exemplified in two major interventions of the 1950s and 1960s—the Kalven Report and the Redfield-Singer civilizations project.
David Colander and Craig Freedman
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691179209
- eISBN:
- 9780691184050
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691179209.003.0005
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This chapter begins by differentiating between the views of economic theory of the interwar Chicago Economics Department and the postwar Chicago School. The interwar department was highly skeptical ...
More
This chapter begins by differentiating between the views of economic theory of the interwar Chicago Economics Department and the postwar Chicago School. The interwar department was highly skeptical of the direct relevance of all theory for policy. In contrast, the succeeding Chicago School lost much of that skepticism. Indeed, in the tumultuous postwar period, the older Chicago tradition mutated into a distinctive and formidable strategic approach, one nurtured under the critical eyes of Milton Friedman, George Stigler, and Aaron Director. Their meticulously hewn fabrication would eventually engulf and define the department. In a series of ever more distinguishable departures, this postwar generation of Chicago nurtured economists found themselves breaking with the older tradition that had defined the department during its more formative years.Less
This chapter begins by differentiating between the views of economic theory of the interwar Chicago Economics Department and the postwar Chicago School. The interwar department was highly skeptical of the direct relevance of all theory for policy. In contrast, the succeeding Chicago School lost much of that skepticism. Indeed, in the tumultuous postwar period, the older Chicago tradition mutated into a distinctive and formidable strategic approach, one nurtured under the critical eyes of Milton Friedman, George Stigler, and Aaron Director. Their meticulously hewn fabrication would eventually engulf and define the department. In a series of ever more distinguishable departures, this postwar generation of Chicago nurtured economists found themselves breaking with the older tradition that had defined the department during its more formative years.
Thomas E. Kauper
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195372823
- eISBN:
- 9780199871773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372823.003.0005
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Behavioural Economics
This paper begins by noting a widespread unease, indeed a sense of “something gone wrong”—with today's antitrust enforcement. In particular, it notes a growing sense of too much emphasis on ...
More
This paper begins by noting a widespread unease, indeed a sense of “something gone wrong”—with today's antitrust enforcement. In particular, it notes a growing sense of too much emphasis on oversimplified and unrealistic economic models and too little emphasis on actual market effects. In an effort to understand Chicago School influence, the paper looks back to the 1950s and 1960s and describes the inviting target offered by excessive antitrust enforcement during those decades, citing many Supreme Court decisions ridiculed by almost all today. The Chicago School succeeded in part because of the nature of its opponent. Despite Chicago's undoubted, and generally constructive influence, it has not always achieved its sought-after outcomes. State-engineered exemptions from the federal antitrust laws (the “State Action Doctrine”) have grown in a way contrary to a primary reliance on the free market; there is no sign of Chicago influence in the federal legislative arena, and there is a growing concern about Chicago's oversimplified and unrealistic economic models that seem to ignore actual market facts.Less
This paper begins by noting a widespread unease, indeed a sense of “something gone wrong”—with today's antitrust enforcement. In particular, it notes a growing sense of too much emphasis on oversimplified and unrealistic economic models and too little emphasis on actual market effects. In an effort to understand Chicago School influence, the paper looks back to the 1950s and 1960s and describes the inviting target offered by excessive antitrust enforcement during those decades, citing many Supreme Court decisions ridiculed by almost all today. The Chicago School succeeded in part because of the nature of its opponent. Despite Chicago's undoubted, and generally constructive influence, it has not always achieved its sought-after outcomes. State-engineered exemptions from the federal antitrust laws (the “State Action Doctrine”) have grown in a way contrary to a primary reliance on the free market; there is no sign of Chicago influence in the federal legislative arena, and there is a growing concern about Chicago's oversimplified and unrealistic economic models that seem to ignore actual market facts.
J. Morgan Grove, Mary L. Cadenasso, Steward T. A. Pickett, Gary E. Machlis, and William R. Burch
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780300101133
- eISBN:
- 9780300217865
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300101133.003.0002
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Nature
This chapter discusses the historical connections between biophysical ecology and sociological approaches to urban ecology. This historical narrative lays the foundation for linking the study of ...
More
This chapter discusses the historical connections between biophysical ecology and sociological approaches to urban ecology. This historical narrative lays the foundation for linking the study of spatial heterogeneity in the social and economic sciences with the contemporary understanding of spatial heterogeneity in biophysical ecology that is discussed in the next chapter. To provide context to these historical connections, the chapter first gives an overview of contemporary ecology and its subdisciplines. It then describes the Chicago School of urban ecology and some of its critiques. It locates the Chicago School in the context of four dominant biological perspectives that social scientists have used for the study of cities, before concluding this historical narrative in terms of spatial and organizational complexity issues for the study of urban ecological systems.Less
This chapter discusses the historical connections between biophysical ecology and sociological approaches to urban ecology. This historical narrative lays the foundation for linking the study of spatial heterogeneity in the social and economic sciences with the contemporary understanding of spatial heterogeneity in biophysical ecology that is discussed in the next chapter. To provide context to these historical connections, the chapter first gives an overview of contemporary ecology and its subdisciplines. It then describes the Chicago School of urban ecology and some of its critiques. It locates the Chicago School in the context of four dominant biological perspectives that social scientists have used for the study of cities, before concluding this historical narrative in terms of spatial and organizational complexity issues for the study of urban ecological systems.
Herbert Hovenkamp
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195372823
- eISBN:
- 9780199871773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372823.003.0009
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Behavioural Economics
This paper begins with a wide-ranging comparison of “Chicago School” analysis with the earlier and more liberal “Harvard School” approaches, concluding that each had major influences in various areas ...
More
This paper begins with a wide-ranging comparison of “Chicago School” analysis with the earlier and more liberal “Harvard School” approaches, concluding that each had major influences in various areas of antitrust. It argues that terms of influence, the balance in the case law rather than the scholarship is in favor of the Harvard School. If the more conservative approach has had an influence, it is in “chastening” and thereby moderating Harvard School preference for vigorous enforcement. The paper turns to the question whether there can be a “general theory” of monopolization, an obsessive recent concern of conservative antitrust officials. It concludes that all proposed tests, while often containing useful insights in specific areas of law, fall short of the goal of a successful “general theory” because they fail to address particular undesirable forms of exclusion and are often underdeterrent. Finally, the paper explores two problem areas most controversial in courts today: (1) misuse of government processes, particularly in the form of fraud on the Patent Office; and (2) exclusionary discounting or discounts designed to drive out of the market, or discipline, rivals.Less
This paper begins with a wide-ranging comparison of “Chicago School” analysis with the earlier and more liberal “Harvard School” approaches, concluding that each had major influences in various areas of antitrust. It argues that terms of influence, the balance in the case law rather than the scholarship is in favor of the Harvard School. If the more conservative approach has had an influence, it is in “chastening” and thereby moderating Harvard School preference for vigorous enforcement. The paper turns to the question whether there can be a “general theory” of monopolization, an obsessive recent concern of conservative antitrust officials. It concludes that all proposed tests, while often containing useful insights in specific areas of law, fall short of the goal of a successful “general theory” because they fail to address particular undesirable forms of exclusion and are often underdeterrent. Finally, the paper explores two problem areas most controversial in courts today: (1) misuse of government processes, particularly in the form of fraud on the Patent Office; and (2) exclusionary discounting or discounts designed to drive out of the market, or discipline, rivals.
Christian Wedemeyer and Wendy Doniger (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195394337
- eISBN:
- 9780199777358
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195394337.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This book brings together an international group of leading scholars of religion to reflect in concert on the lives, works, and legacies of two of the twentieth century’s most influential historians ...
More
This book brings together an international group of leading scholars of religion to reflect in concert on the lives, works, and legacies of two of the twentieth century’s most influential historians of religions: Joachim Wach and Mircea Eliade. Both men taught at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and the “Chicago School” they are thought to have forged has had enormous impact on the way religion has been studied and written about ever since. While the extent of their influence is beyond question, the scholarly world has been deeply divided not only about the value of their work but also about its proper interpretation. In particular, scholars have been at odds over whether or to what extent the circumstances of their lives bear a significant relationship to their intellectual output. As this volume make clear, their perspectives on religion and their ways of articulating their understanding cannot be properly understood without reference to the circumstances of their lives, the political and cultural movements that dominated their early years in Germany and Romania, and their own idiosyncratic scholarly and personal agendas. The chapters in this volume—the proceedings of a 2006 conference marking the fiftieth anniversary of Wach’s death (2005) and the hundredth anniversary of Eliade’s birth (2007)—shed new light on a growing body of work on these two figures, the controversies they have generated, and their legacies in the scholarly study of religion.Less
This book brings together an international group of leading scholars of religion to reflect in concert on the lives, works, and legacies of two of the twentieth century’s most influential historians of religions: Joachim Wach and Mircea Eliade. Both men taught at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and the “Chicago School” they are thought to have forged has had enormous impact on the way religion has been studied and written about ever since. While the extent of their influence is beyond question, the scholarly world has been deeply divided not only about the value of their work but also about its proper interpretation. In particular, scholars have been at odds over whether or to what extent the circumstances of their lives bear a significant relationship to their intellectual output. As this volume make clear, their perspectives on religion and their ways of articulating their understanding cannot be properly understood without reference to the circumstances of their lives, the political and cultural movements that dominated their early years in Germany and Romania, and their own idiosyncratic scholarly and personal agendas. The chapters in this volume—the proceedings of a 2006 conference marking the fiftieth anniversary of Wach’s death (2005) and the hundredth anniversary of Eliade’s birth (2007)—shed new light on a growing body of work on these two figures, the controversies they have generated, and their legacies in the scholarly study of religion.
Jamie Peck
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199580576
- eISBN:
- 9780191595240
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199580576.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy
Amongst intellectuals and activists, neoliberalism has become a potent signifier for the kind of free-market thinking that has dominated politics for the past three decades. Forever associated with ...
More
Amongst intellectuals and activists, neoliberalism has become a potent signifier for the kind of free-market thinking that has dominated politics for the past three decades. Forever associated with the conviction politics of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, the free-market project has since become synonymous with the ‘Washington Consensus’ on international development policy and the phenomenon of corporate globalization, where it has come to mean privatization, deregulation, and the opening up of new markets. But beyond its utility as a protest slogan as a shorthand signifier for the political-economic Zeitgeist, what do we know about where neoliberalism came from and how it spread? Who are the neoliberals, and why do they studiously avoid the label? This book presents a radical critique of the free-market project, from its origins in the first half of the 20th century through to its near-death experience in the recent global economic crisis, from the utopian dreams of Friedrich von Hayek, through the dogmatic theories of Milton Friedman and the Chicago School, to the hope and hubris of Obamanomics. The book traces how neoliberalism went from crank science to common sense in the period between the Great Depression and the age of Obama. It is an exploration of the antisocial life of the free-market project, examined in its cradles of invention and in its zones of extension and contestation. In the process, the book elaborates (and puts to work) an understanding of neoliberalism as an adaptive, unevenly developed regulatory project.Less
Amongst intellectuals and activists, neoliberalism has become a potent signifier for the kind of free-market thinking that has dominated politics for the past three decades. Forever associated with the conviction politics of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, the free-market project has since become synonymous with the ‘Washington Consensus’ on international development policy and the phenomenon of corporate globalization, where it has come to mean privatization, deregulation, and the opening up of new markets. But beyond its utility as a protest slogan as a shorthand signifier for the political-economic Zeitgeist, what do we know about where neoliberalism came from and how it spread? Who are the neoliberals, and why do they studiously avoid the label? This book presents a radical critique of the free-market project, from its origins in the first half of the 20th century through to its near-death experience in the recent global economic crisis, from the utopian dreams of Friedrich von Hayek, through the dogmatic theories of Milton Friedman and the Chicago School, to the hope and hubris of Obamanomics. The book traces how neoliberalism went from crank science to common sense in the period between the Great Depression and the age of Obama. It is an exploration of the antisocial life of the free-market project, examined in its cradles of invention and in its zones of extension and contestation. In the process, the book elaborates (and puts to work) an understanding of neoliberalism as an adaptive, unevenly developed regulatory project.
Robert Pitofsky (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195372823
- eISBN:
- 9780199871773
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372823.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Behavioural Economics
This book came about due to the growing concern that antitrust, a system of regulation that for over a century has had wide professional and public support, is under attack. The recent trend appears ...
More
This book came about due to the growing concern that antitrust, a system of regulation that for over a century has had wide professional and public support, is under attack. The recent trend appears to be toward more limited interpretation of doctrine (especially in the Supreme Court) and less aggressive federal enforcement. Part of the reason for the decline in enforcement is that for almost fifty years extremely conservative economic analysis (sometimes referred to as “Chicago School”) has dominated scholarship in the area. With the exceptionally liberal “Warren Court” as their target, two brilliant academics, Richard Posner and Robert Bork, led a small army of academics in devastating criticism of the output of the Warren Court. Those in favor of the Chicago School's limited and strictly economic approach were handed an enormous political boost when President Ronald Reagan announced that “government was the problem and not the solution.” Contributing towards this collection of chapters are Republicans and Democrats, lawyers and scholars left of center and right of center, one-time antitrust enforcers, and private sector representatives. Virtually all share the view that antitrust is better today, more rigorous, more reasonable, more sophisticated in terms of economics, than it was forty or fifty years ago. But virtually all also confess to a sense of unease about the current direction of antitrust interpretation and enforcement. Specific concerns include current preferences for economic models over facts, the tendency to assume that the free market will cure all market imperfections, the belief that only efficiency matters, and outright mistakes in matters of doctrine.Less
This book came about due to the growing concern that antitrust, a system of regulation that for over a century has had wide professional and public support, is under attack. The recent trend appears to be toward more limited interpretation of doctrine (especially in the Supreme Court) and less aggressive federal enforcement. Part of the reason for the decline in enforcement is that for almost fifty years extremely conservative economic analysis (sometimes referred to as “Chicago School”) has dominated scholarship in the area. With the exceptionally liberal “Warren Court” as their target, two brilliant academics, Richard Posner and Robert Bork, led a small army of academics in devastating criticism of the output of the Warren Court. Those in favor of the Chicago School's limited and strictly economic approach were handed an enormous political boost when President Ronald Reagan announced that “government was the problem and not the solution.” Contributing towards this collection of chapters are Republicans and Democrats, lawyers and scholars left of center and right of center, one-time antitrust enforcers, and private sector representatives. Virtually all share the view that antitrust is better today, more rigorous, more reasonable, more sophisticated in terms of economics, than it was forty or fifty years ago. But virtually all also confess to a sense of unease about the current direction of antitrust interpretation and enforcement. Specific concerns include current preferences for economic models over facts, the tendency to assume that the free market will cure all market imperfections, the belief that only efficiency matters, and outright mistakes in matters of doctrine.
Elizabeth Todd-Breland
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781469646589
- eISBN:
- 9781469647173
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469646589.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter analyzes the racial politics of Mayor Harold Washington’s election, his education summit, and the supporters and critics of the 1988 Chicago School Reform Act. Harold Washington’s ...
More
This chapter analyzes the racial politics of Mayor Harold Washington’s election, his education summit, and the supporters and critics of the 1988 Chicago School Reform Act. Harold Washington’s election as the first Black mayor of Chicago in 1983 was heralded by many as the ultimate attainment of Black Power and the success of the local Black Freedom Movement. His electoral victory was grounded in years of grassroots struggle by Black organizers fighting for integration, community control, and Black empowerment. While historians have largely considered the 1980s as a product of the political triumph of conservatism and the “Reagan revolution,” in Chicago a Black-led, urban, antimachine, progressive coalitional politics led to Washington’s electoral victory. The disparate programmatic and ideological camps detailed in previous chapters (desegregation activists, community control organizers, founders of independent Black institutions, Black educators) staked claims in Mayor Washington and his political organization. The politics of Washington’s education reform summits, however, exposed the fractures within this political coalition. The interracial and intraracial struggles over school reform in Chicago during the 1980s reveal the tensions between a politics of racial representation and a politics of progressive transformation and prefigure the increased privatization of public education in the decades that followed.Less
This chapter analyzes the racial politics of Mayor Harold Washington’s election, his education summit, and the supporters and critics of the 1988 Chicago School Reform Act. Harold Washington’s election as the first Black mayor of Chicago in 1983 was heralded by many as the ultimate attainment of Black Power and the success of the local Black Freedom Movement. His electoral victory was grounded in years of grassroots struggle by Black organizers fighting for integration, community control, and Black empowerment. While historians have largely considered the 1980s as a product of the political triumph of conservatism and the “Reagan revolution,” in Chicago a Black-led, urban, antimachine, progressive coalitional politics led to Washington’s electoral victory. The disparate programmatic and ideological camps detailed in previous chapters (desegregation activists, community control organizers, founders of independent Black institutions, Black educators) staked claims in Mayor Washington and his political organization. The politics of Washington’s education reform summits, however, exposed the fractures within this political coalition. The interracial and intraracial struggles over school reform in Chicago during the 1980s reveal the tensions between a politics of racial representation and a politics of progressive transformation and prefigure the increased privatization of public education in the decades that followed.
Richard Schmalensee
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195372823
- eISBN:
- 9780199871773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372823.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Behavioural Economics
This paper argues that the victories and even the losses of the Chicago School as constructive, because the losses stimulated more rigorous thinking. It revisits the theoretical battles of the 1950s ...
More
This paper argues that the victories and even the losses of the Chicago School as constructive, because the losses stimulated more rigorous thinking. It revisits the theoretical battles of the 1950s and 1960s, and demonstrates how conservative economic analysis called a halt to some questionable initiatives such as deconcentration of major industries as a result of “no-fault” monopoly enforcement, preference for small businesses for the sake of their smallness, and disregard of the value of efficiencies in various transactions, even holding efficiencies against the legality of a transaction.Less
This paper argues that the victories and even the losses of the Chicago School as constructive, because the losses stimulated more rigorous thinking. It revisits the theoretical battles of the 1950s and 1960s, and demonstrates how conservative economic analysis called a halt to some questionable initiatives such as deconcentration of major industries as a result of “no-fault” monopoly enforcement, preference for small businesses for the sake of their smallness, and disregard of the value of efficiencies in various transactions, even holding efficiencies against the legality of a transaction.
Lisa Rose Mar
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199733132
- eISBN:
- 9780199866533
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199733132.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, World Medieval History
In 1924, Robert Park, a sociologist from the University of Chicago, directed a study that asked: Were Asians more like blacks or whites? To find the answer, Anglo American researchers interviewed ...
More
In 1924, Robert Park, a sociologist from the University of Chicago, directed a study that asked: Were Asians more like blacks or whites? To find the answer, Anglo American researchers interviewed Chinese from British Columbia to California, starting with Vancouver, Canada. West Coast Chinese felt that Park’s answer could not be left to chance, so they mobilized the Chinese community to steer the researchers in a specific direction. Brokers hoped to win white scholars’ sympathy as well as to turn the power of social science against anti-Chinese policies. Chinese regarded the study as a battle of wits, a battle that the researchers did not know they were fighting. This meeting would help shape a pivotal set of ideas about immigration and race that would become known as the Chicago School of Sociology.Less
In 1924, Robert Park, a sociologist from the University of Chicago, directed a study that asked: Were Asians more like blacks or whites? To find the answer, Anglo American researchers interviewed Chinese from British Columbia to California, starting with Vancouver, Canada. West Coast Chinese felt that Park’s answer could not be left to chance, so they mobilized the Chinese community to steer the researchers in a specific direction. Brokers hoped to win white scholars’ sympathy as well as to turn the power of social science against anti-Chinese policies. Chinese regarded the study as a battle of wits, a battle that the researchers did not know they were fighting. This meeting would help shape a pivotal set of ideas about immigration and race that would become known as the Chicago School of Sociology.
David Colander and Craig Freedman
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691179209
- eISBN:
- 9780691184050
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691179209.003.0003
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This chapter traces the beginning of economics at the University of Chicago to study the development of a Chicago tradition. The Chicago tradition begins with James Laughlin, the first chair and ...
More
This chapter traces the beginning of economics at the University of Chicago to study the development of a Chicago tradition. The Chicago tradition begins with James Laughlin, the first chair and founder of the department in 1892. He put his stamp on Chicago economics in ways that would serve to nurture future generations but would also prove to be regrettable. Laughlin, during his sometimes-controversial career, placed himself well within the boundaries defining Classical Liberalism. He helped create the persistent, but at times quite misleading, appearance that identified the Chicago department as a virulent breeding ground of ultra-conservative thought, tarred by a predilection for ideologically tinged policy prescriptions. The chapter then looks at the Chicago School of Economics.Less
This chapter traces the beginning of economics at the University of Chicago to study the development of a Chicago tradition. The Chicago tradition begins with James Laughlin, the first chair and founder of the department in 1892. He put his stamp on Chicago economics in ways that would serve to nurture future generations but would also prove to be regrettable. Laughlin, during his sometimes-controversial career, placed himself well within the boundaries defining Classical Liberalism. He helped create the persistent, but at times quite misleading, appearance that identified the Chicago department as a virulent breeding ground of ultra-conservative thought, tarred by a predilection for ideologically tinged policy prescriptions. The chapter then looks at the Chicago School of Economics.
David Colander and Craig Freedman
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691179209
- eISBN:
- 9780691184050
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691179209.003.0004
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This chapter examines the postwar Chicago School. Understanding the transformation that defined the Chicago School, and the way in which that transformation slots into broader changes within the ...
More
This chapter examines the postwar Chicago School. Understanding the transformation that defined the Chicago School, and the way in which that transformation slots into broader changes within the profession, requires an accurate sense of the mood prevailing in the postwar era. Under the sway of the postwar methodological upheaval, economic policy strayed decisively from its Classical Liberal abode in moral philosophy. Instead, it eagerly attempted to forge a more desirable alliance with the newly refurbished and rigor-saturated realm of economic theory. Given the progress of mathematics, quantification, and the increasing application of statistical analysis, theories were now thought to be validated through careful econometric testing. This idea of adhering strictly to a scientific policy approach defined the emerging postwar generation of economists, especially those enrolled within the cadre of young academics. Under this modern dispensation, policy had been transformed into simply another occasion to practically apply precise scientific methods.Less
This chapter examines the postwar Chicago School. Understanding the transformation that defined the Chicago School, and the way in which that transformation slots into broader changes within the profession, requires an accurate sense of the mood prevailing in the postwar era. Under the sway of the postwar methodological upheaval, economic policy strayed decisively from its Classical Liberal abode in moral philosophy. Instead, it eagerly attempted to forge a more desirable alliance with the newly refurbished and rigor-saturated realm of economic theory. Given the progress of mathematics, quantification, and the increasing application of statistical analysis, theories were now thought to be validated through careful econometric testing. This idea of adhering strictly to a scientific policy approach defined the emerging postwar generation of economists, especially those enrolled within the cadre of young academics. Under this modern dispensation, policy had been transformed into simply another occasion to practically apply precise scientific methods.
Lisa Rose Mar
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199733132
- eISBN:
- 9780199866533
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199733132.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, World Medieval History
This work traces several generations of Chinese “brokers,” ethnic leaders who acted as intermediaries between the Chinese and Anglo worlds of Canada. At the time, most Chinese could not vote and many ...
More
This work traces several generations of Chinese “brokers,” ethnic leaders who acted as intermediaries between the Chinese and Anglo worlds of Canada. At the time, most Chinese could not vote and many were illegal immigrants, so brokers played informal but necessary roles as representatives to the larger society. Brokers’ work reveals the changing boundaries between Chinese and Anglo worlds and how tensions among Chinese shaped them. By reinserting Chinese back into mainstream politics, this book alters common understandings of how legally “alien” groups helped create modern immigrant nations. Over several generations, brokers deeply embedded Chinese immigrants in the larger Canadian, U.S., and Chinese politics of their time. On the nineteenth-century Western frontier, Chinese businessmen competed with each other to represent their community. By the early 1920s, a new generation of brokers based in social movements challenged traditional brokers, shifting the power dynamic within the Chinese community. During the Second World War, social movements helped reconfigure both brokerage and race relations. Based on new Chinese language evidence, this book recounts history from the “middle,” a view that is neither bottom up nor top down. Through brokerage, Chinese wielded considerable influence, navigating a period of anti-Asian sentiment and exclusion throughout society. Consequently, Chinese immigrants became significant players in race relations, influencing policies that affected all Canadians and Americans.Less
This work traces several generations of Chinese “brokers,” ethnic leaders who acted as intermediaries between the Chinese and Anglo worlds of Canada. At the time, most Chinese could not vote and many were illegal immigrants, so brokers played informal but necessary roles as representatives to the larger society. Brokers’ work reveals the changing boundaries between Chinese and Anglo worlds and how tensions among Chinese shaped them. By reinserting Chinese back into mainstream politics, this book alters common understandings of how legally “alien” groups helped create modern immigrant nations. Over several generations, brokers deeply embedded Chinese immigrants in the larger Canadian, U.S., and Chinese politics of their time. On the nineteenth-century Western frontier, Chinese businessmen competed with each other to represent their community. By the early 1920s, a new generation of brokers based in social movements challenged traditional brokers, shifting the power dynamic within the Chinese community. During the Second World War, social movements helped reconfigure both brokerage and race relations. Based on new Chinese language evidence, this book recounts history from the “middle,” a view that is neither bottom up nor top down. Through brokerage, Chinese wielded considerable influence, navigating a period of anti-Asian sentiment and exclusion throughout society. Consequently, Chinese immigrants became significant players in race relations, influencing policies that affected all Canadians and Americans.
F. M. Scherer
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195372823
- eISBN:
- 9780199871773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372823.003.0004
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Behavioural Economics
This paper observes that antitrust analysis has moved sharply to the conservative side and emphasizes the complexity of issues. First, it notes that the move toward less enforcement does not reflect ...
More
This paper observes that antitrust analysis has moved sharply to the conservative side and emphasizes the complexity of issues. First, it notes that the move toward less enforcement does not reflect just the influence of economists but also of lawyers, enforcement officials, and judges who believe in the precept that government is the problem and not the solution. Second, it observes that conservative approaches avoiding government intervention is not a consistent view of the Chicago School. It has advocated vigorous antitrust enforcement in the area of price-fixing among direct rivals (cartel policy) and occasionally advocated limits on the size of corporations. However, in recent years, extreme Chicago views have influenced enforcement, particularly during Republican administrations. Illustrations include declining enforcement efforts with respect to predatory pricing, concentrated (i.e., oligopoly) markets, and mergers. As an example of scholarship that argues that market forces will solve all problems, the paper cites an article by J. McGee to the effect that with the exception of industries where the state blocks entry “[t]here is the strongest presumption that the existing structure [of industry] is the efficient structure.” In a concluding section, the paper takes on a specific issue that has been advocated as a result of conservative economic analysis and has achieved substantial support. That view, virtually a consensus in terms of conservative economic analysis, is that government regulation of intellectual property—particularly mandatory licensing of patents as a remedy for wrong-doing—will reduce investments in innovation and, in the long run, injure consumers. That conclusion is inconsistent with a body of empirical evidence that antitrust enforcement had little adverse impact on investments in innovation.Less
This paper observes that antitrust analysis has moved sharply to the conservative side and emphasizes the complexity of issues. First, it notes that the move toward less enforcement does not reflect just the influence of economists but also of lawyers, enforcement officials, and judges who believe in the precept that government is the problem and not the solution. Second, it observes that conservative approaches avoiding government intervention is not a consistent view of the Chicago School. It has advocated vigorous antitrust enforcement in the area of price-fixing among direct rivals (cartel policy) and occasionally advocated limits on the size of corporations. However, in recent years, extreme Chicago views have influenced enforcement, particularly during Republican administrations. Illustrations include declining enforcement efforts with respect to predatory pricing, concentrated (i.e., oligopoly) markets, and mergers. As an example of scholarship that argues that market forces will solve all problems, the paper cites an article by J. McGee to the effect that with the exception of industries where the state blocks entry “[t]here is the strongest presumption that the existing structure [of industry] is the efficient structure.” In a concluding section, the paper takes on a specific issue that has been advocated as a result of conservative economic analysis and has achieved substantial support. That view, virtually a consensus in terms of conservative economic analysis, is that government regulation of intellectual property—particularly mandatory licensing of patents as a remedy for wrong-doing—will reduce investments in innovation and, in the long run, injure consumers. That conclusion is inconsistent with a body of empirical evidence that antitrust enforcement had little adverse impact on investments in innovation.
John B. Kirkwood and Robert H. Lande
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195372823
- eISBN:
- 9780199871773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372823.003.0008
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Behavioural Economics
This paper demonstrates that the Chicago School is wrong, as to both congressional intent and to recent case law. It begins by demonstrating that the wealth transfer concern is the primary reason for ...
More
This paper demonstrates that the Chicago School is wrong, as to both congressional intent and to recent case law. It begins by demonstrating that the wealth transfer concern is the primary reason for the passage of the antitrust laws and is a far more plausible explanation than the efficiency goal. It then analyzes the treatment of these issues in recent antitrust cases. It shows how these cases can be best explained in terms of a concern with wealth transfers, as opposed to a concern with efficiency. It is argued that the foundation of the Chicago School is flawed, and that the correct path of antitrust policy should not be determined by the view that increasing efficiency is more important than protecting consumers.Less
This paper demonstrates that the Chicago School is wrong, as to both congressional intent and to recent case law. It begins by demonstrating that the wealth transfer concern is the primary reason for the passage of the antitrust laws and is a far more plausible explanation than the efficiency goal. It then analyzes the treatment of these issues in recent antitrust cases. It shows how these cases can be best explained in terms of a concern with wealth transfers, as opposed to a concern with efficiency. It is argued that the foundation of the Chicago School is flawed, and that the correct path of antitrust policy should not be determined by the view that increasing efficiency is more important than protecting consumers.
Steven C. Salop
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195372823
- eISBN:
- 9780199871773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372823.003.0011
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Behavioural Economics
This chapter presents two papers that take issue with Chicago School thinking at the most basic levels, rejecting the ideas that vertical arrangements rarely if ever can harm consumers, exclusionary ...
More
This chapter presents two papers that take issue with Chicago School thinking at the most basic levels, rejecting the ideas that vertical arrangements rarely if ever can harm consumers, exclusionary vertical conduct is either benign or procompetitive, and that predatory pricing (pricing below some appropriate level of cost) “is rarely attempted and even more rarely succeeds.” The first paper also rejects the idea that vertical arrangements can almost never hurt consumers or competition. The second paper focuses on case law concerning vertical arrangements and exclusive dealing law.Less
This chapter presents two papers that take issue with Chicago School thinking at the most basic levels, rejecting the ideas that vertical arrangements rarely if ever can harm consumers, exclusionary vertical conduct is either benign or procompetitive, and that predatory pricing (pricing below some appropriate level of cost) “is rarely attempted and even more rarely succeeds.” The first paper also rejects the idea that vertical arrangements can almost never hurt consumers or competition. The second paper focuses on case law concerning vertical arrangements and exclusive dealing law.
