From the American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Daniel Sutter (UTPA): The Market, the Firm, and the Economics Profession; and Wilfred Dolfsma (Groningen) and Patrick J. Welch (SLU): Paradigms and Novelty in Economics: The History of Economic Thought as a Source of Enlightenment. From THES, a review of Economists and Societies: Discipline and Profession in the United States, Britain, and France, 1890s to 1990s by Marion Fourcade. David Warsh on Paul Samuelson’s legacy. Justin Lahart on secrets of the economist's trade: First, purchase a piggy bank. How economics managed to make amends: Economists may have failed to see the financial crisis coming but they have been vindicated by policies that averted another Great Depression. Daniel Gross on the surprising reason why banks are suddenly repaying their TARP funds. How should we tax the bankers? A Financial Transactions Tax is a good idea, just not now. What’s a bailed-out banker really worth? Kenneth Feinberg, Washington’s pay czar, has grappled more than anyone with the question of how much to pay executives at failed companies (and more). Why market sentiment has no credibility: The same markets that so wounded the banking system that it had to be rescued by the taxpayer are now demanding fiscal consolidation as the price of their continued support for governments whose fiscal troubles they have largely caused. It seemed as if the banks and other firms got a $700 billion bonanza and the American taxpayer got the shaft — but along came straight-shooting Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren (and an interview). Brad DeLong on the fairness of financial rescue.
