Disequilibrium,power and economic systems

Summary This is a review article of D.B.J. Schouten's new book Macht en wanorde, Een vergelijking van economische stelsels (Power and Disorder, A Comparison of Economic Systems). After having summarised the book's contents, three points are discussed: (a) does the book offer a comparison of economic systems as its subtitle suggests; (b) how does Schouten's theory relate to disequilibrium analysis and does it give a better understanding of disequilibria than disequilibrium analysis; (c) is Schouten's proposal of a centrally-guided rate of return policy indeed to be preferred above a centrally-guided wage policy in order to overcome the basic problem in capitalist market economies of slow and sometimes perverse adjustments?D.B.J. Schouten,Macht en wanorde, Een vergelijking van economische stelsels, (Power and Disorder, A Comparison of Economic Systems), H.E. Stenfert Kroese b.v., Leiden/Antwerpen, 1980: Pp. 270. Dfl. 47,50.I am indebted to Professor Th. van de Klundert for useful comments.     

Traumberuf oder Verlegenheitslösung?

So far relatively little is known about the situation of Ph.D. students in media and communication research. The main purpose of this study is, therefore, to shed light on the employment and working conditions for young scholars on their way to their doctoral degrees. We conducted a survey of 281 Ph.D. students in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The results show that, on the one hand, young scholars are intrinsically highly motivated to do their jobs. On the other hand, they perceive an academic career as a very uncertain venture with many obstacles. Furthermore, several types of Ph.D. students can be distinguished: idealists, careerists and waverers. It is shown that only the idealists conform to the concept of a productive and interested scholar. The results are discussed in terms of their importance for the future development of the field.     

Robert W. McChesney: Rich Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in Dubious Times

Ohne Zusammenfassung