Robert Meister is the author of the new book Justice is an Option: A Democratic Theory of Finance for the Twenty-First Century and a Professor of Social and Political Thought in the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California Santa Cruz. So, now I've developed a way of talking about revolution as an... Continue Reading →
Justice is an Option
Justice is an Option Rarely do I read a book that leads me to think differently about economics, but Robert Meister’s effort to quantify the price of historical justice has done exactly that. His latest book, Justice is an Option, builds on the debates surrounding distributive justice. It builds on the work of John Rawls,... Continue Reading →
The Human Rights Regime: A Podcast Primer
The Human Rights Regime This week’s podcast focuses on China and the international human rights regime with Rana Siu Inboden. The poor state of human rights in China is widely known. The tragedy at Tiananmen is just one of many chapters in a long story of disrespect for human rights. When I was younger, people... Continue Reading →
John Rawls – A Theory of Justice
As the Economists’ Hour has come to an end, the philosophy of Rawls offers a tempting philosophy to guide public policy. Rawls wrote A Theory of Justice before the emergence of neoliberalism, but his ideas anticipate its arrival. The aim of his theory is to offer an alternative to utilitarian or consequentialist philosophy. Utilitarianism is... Continue Reading →