OPINION
Page 4 Tuesday, April 5, 1988 The Michigan Daily
Economics dept. explores diversit
By Hal Varian cusations made by Baker and Greer and see profession are selected for publication in First, this is literally untrue. Graduate National Institute of Health. Are these the
what the facts really are. the American Economic Review. courses usually do go further into investi- "conservative" funding sources to which
Baker and Greer's recent article "A manifestation of[these problems] at If one believed Baker and Greer one gating facts about the institutional struc- Baker and Greer object?
"Economics Department Continues our department is the ongoing attack on would expect to see sessions entitled ture of the economy than do undergraduate there is not a single woman with
Purge," (Daily 3/14-15/88), accuses the those fields where any sort of alternative "How to Exploit Minorities" or "How to courses. However, it is true that the mix a 'u tme sontt in e eomics
economics profession in general, and the or critical view is likely to be considered." Help the Rich." But no such sessions of "institutional facts" versus "research a full time appointment in the economics
University of Michigan Economics De- As examples of such fields, Baker and have ever been offered at the AEA meet- methods" is different in graduate courses. department and only one Black .... Fur-
partment in particular, of numerous sins. Greer name Economic History and Politi- ings. The 1986 meetings included sessions In graduate training in economics, as in thermore the department seems to have
According to Greer and Baker, economists cal Economy. Is the Economics Depart- on "Economic Status of Minorities," most academic subjects, the primary em- little concern about taking steps to change
refuse to allow for criticisms of estab- ment really discriminating against these "Continuing Black Poverty," "Gender phasis is on learning research methods, this. Here Baker and Greer are simply
lished orthodoxy, provide ideological sup- fields? Take Economic History, for ex- Differences in Behavior at Home and at including the quantitative tools that Baker trying to mislead the reader. As a matter of
port for racism and sexism, and use ob- ample. Last year the Department granted Work," and "The Economics of and Greer find so objectionable. As the old fact, there are 10 women on the depart-
scure language and methods solely in order tenure to an economic historian, and this Discrimination Thirty Years Later." The saying goes, "give a man a fish and he has ment payroll in teaching or research posi-
to confuse non-economists. In their view, year the Department made an assistant 1985 meetings had sessions on "Supply one meal, teach him how to fish and he . 2 f
economists are all right-wing ogres whose professorship offer to a new Ph.D. in Side Economics: What Remains?", has a lifetime of meals." The aim of a sors within the department, and 2 of
work is simply an extended apology for Economic History. In addition, we have "Occupations and Labor Markets: A Criti- graduate education is to teach students how whom are tenure-track Assistant Profes-
The Establishment. Although they didn't had a distinguished visitor teaching Eco- cal Evaluation," "Welfare Reforms: New they themselves can conduct new research sors. Tee othe w n h int a
actually say that economists eat small nomic History for the last two years and Research and Policy Developments," "Do in economics, not to simply rehash the bpintm tths with other unitsintheaUi-60
children for breakfast, that is certainly the an active seminar series in the area. As for Government Programs Close the Racial institutional details they studied as under- versity but this isardly a stigma;0
impression that one is left with after read- Political Economy, there are several fac- Gap?," "Equity Between the Sexes in graduates. percent of the regular faculty members in
ing their article. ulty members who are actively involved in Economic Participation," and "The conservative nature of most out- the Department have joint appointments
It is unlikely that any sensible person research in this field; this year alone three "Government Policy and Poverty." side funding sources ...act [sic] to reinforce with other units. Furthermore, t e-
would accept the exaggerated picture faculty members received research support Is this the program of a racist and sex- the reluctance within the discipline to re- partment makes tenure-track offers to
painted by Baker and Greer, but it may be from the National Science Foundation for ist organization? Hardly. The economics examine its basic tenets." But Baker and women and minorities nearly every year.
worthwhile to examine their arguments in their work in Political Economy. profession is filled with people who care Greer present no evidence whatsoever that This year, for example, the Department
some detail to see just how wrong they '...the discipline acts to provide ideo- about our society, and who want to work "most" outside funding sources are made a tenure-track offer to a woman and
are. As it happens,economists are more-or- logical support for the status quo, includ- to make it better. Like any other group, "conservative." As a matter of fact, most actively participated with another unit to
less representative of the population at ing the reinforcement of racism and sex- there are people of a variety of political funding for research in economics is pro- make a joint tenure-track offer to a Black.
large in their political attitudes, and the ism both within the discipline and in persuasions, but the economics profession vided by the National Science Foundation, Baker and Greer end their article by en-
Economics Department at Michigan is society at large." In order to assess the is no more right-wing or left-wing than a government organization that goes out couraging readers to view anything written
pretty representative of the economics validity of this claim, let us examine the the population at large. of its way to avoid partisan politics or or said by economists with a healthy
profession. Let's examine the specific ac- program of the annual meeting of the "The emphasis placed on math is so ideological bias. A recent survey of the amount of skepticism. I have no quarrel
American Economics Association, the extensive that an individual taking gradu- Department members indicated research with that; I think people should read ev-
.en i largest organization of professional ate level courses would learn less about support from the N.S.F., the Ford Foun- erything with a healthy amount of skepti-
Hal Varian is a professorMi fneconomics economists. Of the papers presented at this the institutional structure of the economy dation, the State of Michigan, various cism and Baker and Greer's article serves
at the Unversity ofMichigan. meeting, the ones of most interest to the than someone taking an Intro. course. economic development agencies, and the as an excellent case in point.
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LETTERS:
Eie m dtgan t Miig
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Vol. XCVIII, No. 125
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board. All other
cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion
of the Daily.
Dems play Reagan's
game
FEARING "deep embarrassment" over
their failure to reach a consensus on
Nicaragua, Congressional lawmakers
voted last Friday to send $48 million in
aid to the contras during the cease-fire
accord, once again playing into the
Reagan administration's manipulative
hands.
Military analysts said publicly last
week that Reagan's deployment of
troops to Honduras was undoubtedly a
contrivance designed to orchestrate
support of an aid proposal. It seems to
have worked. This Democratically
sponsored contra aid bill indicates the
real failure is not lack of consensus but
lack of a position of principled
opposition to anti-Sandinista
operations.
The Democrats have objected to
Reagan's military aid requests on the
grounds that they interfere with the
Arias Peace Plan. While this is true,
such objections miss the bottom line:
any support of a terrorist army is in
violation with domestic and interna-
tional law is unacceptable. The
Democrats have failed to challenge
Reagan's most basic assumption: that
attacks by a foreign-sponsored army
will enhance democracy and civil
liberties in Nicaragua or any other state.
Democratic sponsors of the bill may
be correct in assuming that sending
non-lethal aid to the contras at this time
is more palatable to the U.S. public
than sending U.S. troops - evidenced
by the mass demonstrations and dis-
plays of civil disobedience that the lat-
ter strategy elicited. But the Democratic
members of Congress have failed to
stand up to Reagan and point out that
previous aid packages to the contras
have simply brought about further
clamp-downs in Nicaragua which are
in turn used to justify further aid re-
quests.
Democrats have allowed themselves
to be threatened by the soft-on-
communism label, rather than rejecting
contra aid outright and asserting the
truth - that the role of the contras has
nothing to do either with communism
or democracy and everything to do
with preserving U.S. privilege and
hegemony in this hemisphere through a
policy of terror.
Congress has been strong-armed
into debating the contra issue 65 times.
Over the last six years, $227 million
has been sent to the contras. Military
aid to Honduras has totaled $400 mil-
lion, most of which was earmarked for
anti-Sandinista operations. The new
$48 million "humanitarian" aid package
is just terrorism with a human face.
Bankrolling the contras strengthens
their position and gives them unde-
served leverage in current cease-fire
negotiations.
Having the contras at the bargaining
table is certainly better than having
them in the hills terrorizing the
Nicaraguan populace. But chances are
not minimal that the contras will try to
use their new-found leverage to force
changes in the structure of the
Nicaraguan government, providing the
U.S. an inroad by which to undermine
the Sandinistas at some later date.
The Democratic majority in the
Congress has failed to drive home all
of these points and force a change in
the nature of the contra debate. But
perhaps their greatest failing is in not
insisting that the Reagan administration
explain its stance of sullen belligerence
during this fragile period of cease-fire
negotiation. As one Nicaraguan woman
quoted last week in the New York
Times said, "If you want peace, you
can't behave in a way that makes other
Deonle ao to war."
New Je
To the Daily:
I was not at all surprised to
read the comments written by
Mr. Daniel S. Steinmetz of the
Coordinating Council of Ann
Arbor New "Jewish" Agenda
(NJA), regarding statements
that I made concerning NJA
(Daily, 12/1/87).
Just what is the New
"Jewish" Agenda? New?
Maybe. It's agenda? The es-
pousal of the Far Left and ev-
erything antithetical to Judaism
and the Jewish people. But
Jewish? Most certainly not!
Indeed, it is apparent that it
is Mr. Steinmetz who should
do his homework and offer
corrections. Regardless of what
Steinmetz alleges may have
been the 1982 position NJA,
Jon Weisberger, a prominent
member of the NJA's National
Council and chair of its Disar-
mament Task Force, said all
when he referred to the "leading
role of the Soviet Union in the
struggle for peace" and "the
cunning of the 'Soviet Jewry'
movement in providing a So-
viet anti-Semitism' line tai-
lored to the perspective of dif-
ferent sectors of the American
people."
Weisberger attacked-in his
words- the "so-called cam-
paign for Soviet Jewry." In de-
Shanties not
To the Daily:
Few people dispute the fact
that the University of Michi-
gan has a beautiful campus.
Gothic buildings and verdant
courtyards are some of the aes-
thetic qualities of our campus.
Nobody likes to see litter or
graffiti tarnishing this ap-
pealing scenery, and this is
how I used to look at the
shanties on the Diag - as tar-
nishing elements out of place
on such a beautiful campus. I
find now that I was very mis-
taken.
These shanties represent
something - something more
terrible than most people can
fathom. And when people de-
stroy these shanties, they are
destroying much more than
just a construction of plywood
and nails.
Many people are aware that
thn chanties cvmhnli'p the
scribing NJA, Weisbergei
stated, "In an important way,
work in the Jewish community
is a laboratory for our larger
educational work on the Soviet
Union and on the nature of so-
cialism and its promise for the
working people of the world.
We find new and creative ways
of bringing the realities of So-
viet Jewish life,tand of Soviet
life in general, to our readers
and fellow activists." Weis-
berger made all of the above
statements in a party speech
last September, at a dinner
given by the Communist Party
USA's anti-Semitic publica-
tion "Jewish Affairs," which
featured such other guests as
Zehdi Terzi, the PLO's chief
representative at the United
Nations and an empty seat on
the dais for Gen. David Dra-
gunsky, head of the Soviet
Union's Anti-Zionist
Committee.
Creative ways, indeed. This
past summer, at the 1987 Na-
tional Convention of NJA in
California, Weisberger and
many of the other NJA radicals
("NJA radicals" is a redundant
phrase) in attendance repeated
such ludicrous sentiments in
the form of resolutions.
Steinmetz may know what his
just eyesores
- children who are arrested as
adults, beaten as adults, and
killed just as adults. Adults and
children alike are sent to jail
everyday without trial.
The apartheid government
has just recently banned 17
political groups associated with
the anti-apartheid movement.
Demonstrations of all kinds
have been outlawed, even
peaceful ones. The shanties on
the Diag represent this turmoil
and malicious violation of hu-
man rights. And when people
tear down these shanties, they
are supporting the government
that is responsible for such in-
justice - the government that
sends innocent people, even
children, to jail every day,
where they are beaten and often
killed.
These shanties may be
physically transient, but sym-
Aliegations unsupported
organization said in 1982, but
his information is quite
anachronistic. That was then,
this is now.
To the Daily:
The leadership of AFCSME
Local 1583, which represents
service maintenance employees
of The University of Michigan,
has accused the University's
Building Services management
of harassment and discrimina-
tion in its treatment of em-
ployees. Such allegations are
serious and are not taken
lightly by Building Services
management.
AFCSME's allegations are
not supported by the facts. We
are convinced that Building
Services management contin-
ues to supervise the workers
and administer the labor agree-
ment and University policies
and practices in a fair manner-
without regard to non-relevant
characteristics such as race and
sex.
It is unfortunate that certain
AFCSME leaders have chosen
Learn more
To the Daily:
I am responding to your
articles concerning AIDS a few
weeks ago in the Weekend edi-
tion of the Daily. It was an in-
sightful and appreciated piece
done on a still mystifying dis-
ease. The repercussions of this
disease affect not only those
most likely to contract the dis-
ease but also everyone within
society. Fear changes the
habits and lives of everyone.
to air their concerns in public.
Such tactics inflame a sensitive
situation which, we believe,
calls for cooperative efforts of
the union and the University to
resolve differences.
An effective mechanism ex-
ists to resolve issue related to
the employment relationship.
The grievance procedure in the
collective bargaining agreement
is the appropriate mechanism
whenever questions about em-
ployee treatment arise. The
grievance procedure provides an
effective means to debate or
address employment issues.
The AFCSME leadership's
concerns mentioned in recent
articles in The Michigan Daily
are currently being processed
through the grievance proce-
dure.
-James Thiry
Personnel Director
March 19
-Debbie K.
Representative,
Jewish
'.
~wish Agenda misnamed
Schlussel
Campus
National
Coalition
about AIDS
*My only hope is that the gen-
eral public takes the informa-
tion presented, analyzes, and
then applies it to their own
lifestyle. In order to curb the
misunderstanding and spread of
this all-encompassing disease,
everyone must be alerted to the
realistic dangers and medical
actuality. Thank you again for
your information.
-Megan Lewis
March 31
p
Beware of advertisements
To the Daily:
Why the hell did the Dukakis
people advertise so much if
they didn't have enough room
for all the people who wanted
to see him speak? Was it some
cruel trick? Some twist of fate?
Do they like dashing the hopes
of some unsuspecting under-
graduates? .
-Marcus Lien
March 25
AND IN CONCLL
WHERE DID EVERY
'' \\
IJSIONI ?;'.p
e~ooY Go? ~ ?
~..
~
-~ c~*J
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Due to the volume of mail, the Daily cannot print
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