Nancy Folbre
Defining “Alternative Systems”
The topic “alternative economic systems” is generally construed as “economic alternatives to capitalism.” This presumes we agree on what “capitalism” is. I don’t think we do.
Heroine of the Noisy Revolution
This post is based on my presentation at the session “Inequality, Public Policy, and the Future of Economics: In Memory of Barbara Bergmann,” organized by Diana Strassmann, at the meetings of the American Economic Association in San Francisco, CA, January 5, 2016.
Make Time for Overtime
You have an important opportunity between now and September 4 to weigh in on a proposed U.S. Department of Labor rule change that would offer more overtime protection to salaried workers. This may seem like a somewhat indirect, even bureaucratic, way to stick up for workers rights, but it will matter. Consider it a contribution to a long and venerable political struggle.
Work for Profit (or Not)
Most introductory economics texts assume that most of the work performed in the U.S. takes place in profit-maximizing firms. One important exception is Understanding Capitalism.
The Rape of the Yezidi
Rape is often a conspicuous feature of the conduct and aftermath of violent collective conflict. But seldom, if ever, has it been explicitly organized and religiously justified on a scale comparable to the ISIS sexual enslavement of non-Muslim Yezidi women.
The Opt-Out Elite
Hersch’s research does explain why trends at the very top are not representative even of the college-educated, much less the majority of the population of working mothers.
Options Other than Opting Out
Joan Williams of the Hastings College of the Law at the University of California has some very specific advice for lawyers considering career “pause”
In Defense of Valuation
I think that estimates of the market value of non-market work are a worthwhile exercise (as my last two posts suggest) as long as they are done carefully and presented as an approximate lower-bound. But conceptual resistance to valuation remains remarkably fierce–which is a big reason we don’t see more of it.
The Dollar Value of Grown-Up Care
Work is no less valuable if it’s fun (I’m working for fun right now).
Elect for Child Care
What can policy researchers do to help shape the upcoming U.S. debate? I can think of a lot of interesting possibilities
Bargaining up to $15
home care workers joined the national Fight for $15 about a year ago, forming a political coalition with other low-wage workers.