For more than a decade, University of Illinois-Chicago Professor Richard Jensen has been peddling a very strange historical thesis with a surprising amount of success in academic journals. Jensen argues that the “No Irish Need Apply” slogan – the infamous discriminatory display against Irish immigrants to the United States in the 19th century – is largely […]
In a previous post I criticized a number of Alexander Hamilton’s modern biographers for attempting to reinvent him as an “abolitionist,” or at least a staunch and principled antislavery man. The evidence for this claim is exceedingly weak, although Hamilton, who handled numerous financial transactions involving the sale and purchase of slaves for his wife’s extended
One of the most common complaints from the adjuncting world essentially boils down to the Labor Theory of Value (LTOV), i.e. beleaguered adjuncts complain that they are not paid for the out-of-classroom obligations of their jobs such as preparing lectures, grading papers, answering student emails, and even commuting to work. If these tasks were included
Adjunct Pay & the Labor Theory of Value: a thought experiment Read More »
Dr Sir Mrs. Renselaaer has requested me to write to you concerning a negro, Ben, formerly belonging to Mrs. Carter who was sold for a term of years to Major Jackson. Mrs. Church has written to her sister that she is very desirous of having him back again; and you are requested if Major Jackson will part with
Historian Allen C. Guelzo, with whom I have tangled repeatedly on the subject of Abraham Lincoln and colonization, inserted another jab at my 2011 book Colonization after Emancipation (co-authored with Sebastian Page) in the latest issue of the American Historical Review. This one appears as a comment in his review of Robert E. May’s book Slavery, Race, and Conquest in the American
Guelzo/Lincoln/Colonization challenge: can you spot the problem? Read More »
My new article in the Journal of the History of Economic Thought explores the intersection between 19th century economic theory and the colonization movement, including its substantial effect on the antislavery views of Abraham Lincoln. Abstract: “From 1816 through to the end of the Civil War, the colonization of emancipated slaves in Africa and the
The American System and the Political Economy of Colonization Read More »
I’ve been blogging quite a bit recently about the controversies of the adjunct professor market. The topic interests me for a number of reasons. I regularly work with grad students who are on the academic career path, meaning employment concerns in a weak and increasingly adjunctified job market are a recurring theme. On a more
Empirical evidence of adjunct hours and expectations Read More »
This morning I came across the following passage from an article that F.A. Hayek published in 1956, entitled “Progressive Taxation Reconsidered.” Their content struck me as particularly prescient, as they directly anticipated both the punitive dimensions of Piketty’s wealth tax proposal, and the vulnerability of progressive income taxation to political capture. As Hayek writes: “With scales
My previous post on the “Myth of the Minimum Wage Adjunct” stirred up an unusual amount of discussion of the issue, including additional commentary on the nature of the adjuncting job market. It warrants reiteration that I in no way believe that adjuncting is a route to wealth, but neither is it necessarily a path to
The plight of beleaguered adjunct professors is back in the news, following a national “adjunct walk-out day” event last month and extensive discussions ever since. At issue is the pay level of adjunct professors, or contract university faculty who get paid per course taught. In addition to substantially lower compensation levels, adjuncts generally lack the