Shackle,nihilism, and the subject of economics ∗

Shackle's economic theories have frequently been labelled ‘nihilistic’, and thus of dubious interest to economists. An examination of this charge reveals it to be meaningless. Through focusing on Nietzsche’s diagnosis of nihilism, it is ossible to conclude that mainstream economics, through appealing to models and concepts explicitly acknowledged to be fictitious, itself denies reality and life, and is thus nihilistic. However, desite suggestions, Shackle is ultimately unable to overcome the nihilistic tenencies of mainstream economic theories. Shackle identifies the individual subject as the source of knowledge, yet identifies the subject as analogous to an object, hence replicating the cause of nihilism.     

CONSUMER PREFERENCE FOR PST-SUPPLEMENT PORK

Conjoint measurement was used to determine consumer preference for fresh pork produced with genetically engineered porcine somatotropin (pST). A preference model was constructed based on three pork attributes, degree of fat reduction, price, and production technology, which allowed for interactions between attributes to be estimated. Interview surveys were used to collect data in several shopping centres in three Australian cities. Respondents generally preferred leaner pST-supplemented pork, but only at fat reduction levels greater than those possible with conventionally produced pork, and at competitive prices.     

Burden of venous leg ulcers in the United States

Objective:

To estimate the annual incremental per-patient and overall payer burden (2012USD) of venous leg ulcers (VLU) in the US.

Methods:

Beneficiaries with and without VLU were identified using two de-identified insurance claims databases: aged 65+ from a 5% random sample of Medicare beneficiaries (2007–2010: n?～?2.3 million); and aged 18–64 from a privately-insured population (2007–2011: n?～?8.4 million). The index date was selected as the date of a VLU claim with no other VLU diagnoses in the preceding 12 months for the VLU cohort and as the date of a random medical claim for the non-VLU patients. These groups were matched using propensity scores to account for differences in demographics, comorbidities, resource utilization, and costs in the 12 month pre-index period. Medical resource use and costs incurred during the 12 month follow-up period were calculated for both payers. Drug costs and indirect work-loss due to disability and medically-related absenteeism were estimated for the privately-insured sample only. Annual VLU incidence rates were also estimated for both payers.

Results:

Data for 58,672 matched VLU/non-VLU pairs of Medicare and 22,476 matched pairs of privately-insured patients were analyzed. Relative to matched non-VLU patients, VLU patients used more medical resources and incurred annual incremental medical costs of $6391 in Medicare ($18,986 vs $12,595), and $7030 ($13,653 vs $6623) in private insurance ($7086 including drug costs). Compared with non-VLU patients, privately-insured VLU patients had more days missed from work (14.0 vs 10.0), resulting in 29% higher work-loss costs (comparisons significant at p?Limitations:

Findings did not account for out-of-pocket payments or other indirect costs (e.g., lost productivity), and relied on accuracy of diagnosis and procedure codes contained in claims data.

Conclusion:

These findings suggest an annual US payer burden of $14.9 billion.     

The hidden work of coping: gender and the micro-politics of household consumption in times of austerity

Abstract

This article explores the coping strategies of women in 10 middle-class Italian families facing economic crisis. We investigate food provision revealing the ceaseless extra work that goes into meal preparation. Adopting anthropological theories of thrift and sacrifice, we unpack participants’ micro-coping strategies, observing their tendency to redirect resources towards their loved ones and abnegating their own needs for the greater good of the family. This sacrifice is done out of necessity, reinforcing traditional gender inequalities in the home. However, there is also evidence that women take pride in their coping, developing new competencies and maintaining control over meal provision and thus the wider patterning of family life. We explore the significance of recessionary times for the constitution of female subjectivities at home.     

Dimensions of marketplace exclusion: representations,resistances and responses

ABSTRACT

This positioning paper explains and develops the concept of marketplace exclusion, which has received little attention to date in the field of marketing and consumer research. Essentially the concept refers to the mechanisms through which certain individuals and communities are barred from the resources and opportunities provided by the market. Participation in the market and the accompanying rights and responsibilities that allow individuals to act as legitimate consumers is essential for social cohesion and social relations. However, one consequence of consumer culture has been a shift away from values of community and citizenship towards those of materialism and competition. Marketplace exclusion encompasses big questions of poverty, sexism and racism to individual consequences such as isolation and alienation. The paper examines various causes and types of exclusion and discusses key research questions and methodological issues in studying this topic. Finally, it introduces the papers included in this special issue of CMC.     

Credit contracts in the G.D.R.: Decentralized investment decisions in a planned economy

Conclusion In this paper we have described the process by which an industrial enterprise or kombinat negotiates a contract for credit with which it may finance investment projects as well as the administrative preconditions which are typically required for and the stipulations which are sometimes imposed by means of such contracts. We have shown these preconditions and stipulations serve to shape the material incentives of the enterprise management in favour of more efficient projects and in favour of efficient implementation of planned projects. Our analysis has pointed out that the interest rate cannot be used exclusively to fashion the correct incentive system, and that therefore these administrative controls may in many cases be optimal planning devices. This paper is therefore an important contribution to the western planning literature which has typically presumed that the interest rate should be the preferred rationing mechanism.Our explanation of the role which these preconditions and stipulations in credit contracts play can contribute as well to a deeper understanding of the historical development of the planning system in the GDR. The history of investment financing exhibits a gradual development of the role of enterprise responsibility for initiating and designing projects and this has been parallelled by the development of the system for negotiating credit contracts between economic agents such as bank branches and enterprises and the use of more intricate incentive systems in such negotiations. Socialist authors have emphasized the importance of the development of contracting as a component of the planning system; we have shown in this paper how this development has been used to make the system of investment planning more effective. At the same time, we have identified some of the real bounds against which such a system of administrative incentive structures operate within a socialist economy: the history of the enterprise contribution to financing investment projects has been identified as an important subject for a case study in the history of socialist nations attempting to identify this boundary.I would like to thank the faculty of the Economics Section at Humboldt University in Berlin for the generous assistance which they gave to me during my research visit there in the Autumn of 1983. I am especially grateful to Professor Karlheinz Tannert for the many hours of discussions which guided me in my studies and without whose assistance this work could not have been completed. My thanks extend as well to Professor Stoll and Dr Lemke of the Staatsbank for their co-operation, to the staff of the libraries at the Economics Section of Humboldt University, the Hochschule fur Okonomie—Bruno Leuschner, and the Staatsbibliothek, for their assistance, and to Dr Heidrich for his aid and friendship.This research was supported by a grant jointly funded through the Ministry of Higher Education in the German Democratic Republic and the International Research and Exchanges Board in New York