Macewan, Arthur 1942-

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MacEWAN, Arthur 1942-

PERSONAL:

Born April 7, 1942. Education: Harvard University, Ph.D.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Economics Department, University of Massachusetts-Boston, Wheatley 5-032, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125-0315. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Economist, educator, and author. University of Massachusetts, Boston, professor of economics, 1975—, interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, 2001-02.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Wells Prize, Harvard University Department of Economics, 1969, for Development Alternatives in Pakistan: A Multisectorial and Regional Analysis of Planning Problems; best books citation, Village Voice, 1989, for Debt and Disorder: International Economic Instability and U.S. Imperial Decline.

WRITINGS:

(With Azizur Rahman Khan) Regional Current Input Output Tables for the East and West Pakistan Economies, 1962/63, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (Karachi, Pakistan), 1967.

(Editor, with Thomas E. Weisskopf) Perspectives on the Economic Problem: A Book of Readings in Political Economy, Prentice-Hall (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1970.

Development Alternatives in Pakistan: A Multisectorial and Regional Analysis of Planning Problems, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA), 1971.

(With others) Crisis capitalista contemporánea, covimiento obrero y perspectivas del desarrollo latinoamericano, Maestría en Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero (Chilpancingo, Mexico), 1981.

Revolution and Economic Development in Cuba, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1981.

(Editor, with William K. Tabb) Instability and Change in the World Economy, Monthly Review Press (New York, NY), 1989.

Debt and Disorder: International Economic Instability and U.S. Imperial Decline, Monthly Review Press (New York, NY), 1990.

Neo-liberalism or Democracy? Economic Strategy, Markets, and Alternatives for the Twenty-first Century, Zed Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Regular contributor, Dollars & Sense magazine; also contributor to the Radical Teacher and NACLA Report on the Americas.

SIDELIGHTS:

Arthur MacEwan was referred to as "Dr. Dollar himself" by Chris Tilly of Dollars & Sense magazine when he recommended MacEwan's Neoliberalism or Democracy? Economic Strategy, Markets, and Alternatives for the Twenty-first Century as one of the "Ten Must-Read Economics Books" of 2001. J. Raman of Choice called the book a "welcome and refreshing addition to the discourse on economic development." Of Debt and Disorder: International Economic Instability and U.S. Imperial Decline, Chronis Polychroniou wrote in Kyklos, "Highly illuminating … truly a gem," and of Instability and Change in the World Economy, Polychroniou commented: "[An] unparalleled comprehensive treatment and analysis on international capitalist economic and political affairs. Indeed, I know of no comparable work of similar sweep."

As coeditor of Instability and Change in the World Economy, MacEwan gathered eighteen original and provocative essays written from what Polychroniou called "the perspective of radical international political economy." The volume is divided into three sections: the role of the state within the international system; labor and production reorganization; and the meaning and impact of economic restructuring. Polychroniou noted that Instability and Change in the World Economy is "certainly a book that seeks to redefine the dimensions of the changes in the world economy as well as to offer valuable suggestions for improvement."

Reviewing Debt and Disorder in the Journal of Economic Literature, David Felix commented, "Most of this book elaborates the thesis that the Third World debt crisis, deepening U.S. foreign indebtedness, and the rising income inequalities and macroeconomic disorder of the past two decades are joint products of Pax Americana in economic distress." Felix concluded that, overall, MacEwan's analysis of the world's debt is accurate and valid, although he disagreed with MacEwan's analysis of Latin America. "Nevertheless," Felix noted, "the book is well written, technical concepts are explained clearly, and opposing views fairly presented."

In Neo-liberalism or Democracy?, MacEwan argues against the popular belief in the neo-liberal ideology of free trade, which posits that markets will self-regulate and that governments should remain largely hands-off in their approach to economic management. He states that free trade has not produced successful economic growth in Third World countries (with the exception, perhaps, of Hong Kong). He disagrees with the contention that a greater degree of economic inequality promotes a greater degree of development. In fact, he suggests quite the opposite: that greater levels of inequality work against incentives toward development, while relative equality often provides a solid basis for economic growth.

Raman wrote that MacEwan provides a "convincing argument detailing why the mainstream [economic] analysis is flawed and lacks applicability to developing nations." Reviewing the book in the Times Literary Supplement, Andrew Gamble noted: "The universalist promise of liberal capitalism has only been fulfilled in theory, not in practice. [MacEwan's] book is an impassioned plea for a return to strategies of economic development that would be made possible by democracy regaining control over markets."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice, July-August, 2002, J. Raman, review of Neoliberalism or Democracy? Economic Strategy, Markets, and Alternatives for the Twenty-first Century, p. 2023.

Dollars & Sense, November-December, 2001, Chris Tilly, review of Neo-liberalism or Democracy?, p. 44.

Journal of Economic Literature, September, 1991, David Felix, review of Debt and Disorder: International Economic Instability and U.S. Imperial Decline, p. 1188.

Kyklos, Volume 44, issue 1, 1991, Chronis Polychroniou, review of Instability and Change in the World Economy, p. 109, and review of Debt and Disorder, p. 111.

Times Literary Supplement, April 28, 2000, Andrew Gamble, "Longing for a World Which Isn't Capitalist."