John Jay Economics

Since then, the elected governor from the pro-statehood party Jennifer González, who is a Trumpian Republican, has slowly lost support within various sectors of her party and those of a local capitalist class that needs the electricity question to be successfully addressed. Earlier this year, González had made what so far has been an empty promise to cancel the contract with the private monopoly that distributes electricity, while also promising more federal funds from the United States. This last promise came crashing down with Donald Trump’s second term and the cuts in federal spending, some of which have applied to Puerto Rico in crucial areas (e.g., cuts in education of $400 million and cuts by the Environmental and Protection Agency of $60 million). Add to that the uncertainty surrounding the tariff wars, the potential inflationary effects, the expected increase in electrical tariffs, and what you have is an explosive cocktail ready to detonate at any moment.

Professor Ian Seda speaks about the increasingly catastrophic situation in Puerto Rico. mronline.org/2025/06/16/a...

The MA Program in Economics at John Jay We're a radical economics program at a public university, and we are taking applications for Fall 2025

The John jay MA program in economics is still taking applications for 2025. I just put up a post about the program, and why people might want to join. If you know anyone who is thinking about graduate school in the social sciences, please forward it to them!

jwmason.substack.com/p/the-ma-pro...

At some point we're all going to embrace professionals voting for center-left parties. It would be nice if we did it sooner.

Coming up this May 17: The second annual John Jay Economics Spring BBQ, with great bands and speakers. It's from 2pm-8pm at The People's Garden in Bushwick. If you're a friend of the department, or would like to become one, stop by!

Jamee Moudud was at John Jay the other day, speaking about his new book, Legal and Political Foundations of Capitalism: The End of Laissez-Faire?

With @nathantankus.bsky.social at his new office space.

John Jay Professor J. W. Mason on Trump's tariffs.

"China getting wealthier is not a bad thing. It has made trillions in goods available at a lower cost, raising living standards globally. We could have structured our trade with China differently so that it didn't have as negative an effect on the working class here, but that was our policy choice."

Here is a long blog post by professor J. W. Mason, on whether professional employees like teachers should be thought of as workers. (The answer is Yes.) jwmason.org/slackwire/te...

Player | KPFA

‪Professor J. W. Mason was on the radio show Up Front on KPFA recently, speaking about the tariffs and the stock market. The segment with him begins 34 minutes in. @jwmason.bsky.social kpfa.org/player/?audi...

Professor Ian Seda-Irizarry of @johnjayeconomics.bsky.social on the issues facing Puerto Rico with @profwolff.bsky.social on an episode of #EconomicUpdate! Listen to the rest on our youtube channel! #economics #debt #austerity #history #latinamerica #puertorico #politics #imperialism

This Thursday, April 24, John Jay will be hosting labor historian Michael Hillard coming to talk as part of our Economic Justice Speaker Series. He'll be speaking in room L2.84 from 4 to 6pm on "Confronting America's Capitalist Class Exceptionalism." Everyone is welcome.

Enhanced Geothermal Consortium for the Mountain West Read the full report here. Next-generation geothermal technologies are at the frontier of energy development in the United States. Drawing on drilling techniques developed during the shale boom, en...

In brighter news CPE is going to keep fighting for public policy action until the bitter end. A new initiative we’re launching:

publicenterprise.org/report/enhan...

John Jay student @phedreen.bsky.social on the real scandal of Signalgate. fair.org/home/the-rea...

April 21 at the CUNY Grad Center: Luc Melenchon, founder of La France Insoumise, in conversation with Bhaskar Sunkara. www.eventbrite.com/e/jean-luc-m.... Free, but tickets are limited.

John Jay student Conor Smyth on the economic effects of mass deportations.

What Would Reducing the Federal Workforce Look Like for America? This summary examines what would happen to local unemployment rates throughout the US if the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) were to cut 75 percent of the federal workforce.

Having worked in rural NY for years, I'm not surprised by findings here - that the Trump-Musk agenda to reduce the federal workforce will impact local labor markets across the U.S. and hit small cities the hardest. Check it (+ cool maps) out @urbaninstitute.bsky.social www.urban.org/urban-wire/i...

John Jay econ alum @pewilliams.bsky.social makes the case that to bring down housing costs, we have to address supply.

New article:

Decolonizing Development Economics: A Critique of the Late Neoclassical Reason

Yahya Madra, Bengi Akbulut and Fikret Adaman

World Development

to be included in a special issue on Decolonizing Development.

Free access until Feb. 4

kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...

Happy Rent Guidelines Board Opening Day to all who celebrate

On April 7, the John Jay economics department will be hosting a talk by Vamsi Vakulabharanam on his book on economic development, class and inequality in China and India.

Andrej Markovčič (John Jay MA alumnus) interviewed Arthur MacEwan and Zoe Sherman, editors of Dollars & Sense magazine on the history of “popular economics” for Jacobin Magazine. jacobin.com/2024/12/left...

III Encontro Internacional de Pesquisadores Marxistas (09/08/2024 - 9h) YouTube video by UCDB Oficial

Professor Lygia Sabbag-Fares participates in a panel on ” Value Theory and Social Reproduction of Capital” at the 3rd International Conference of Marxist Researchers at the Universidade Católica Dom Bosco, Campo Grande, Brazil. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIWw...

In Barron's, professor J. W. Mason argues that there may be good reason for voters' unhappiness with the economy under Biden. www.barrons.com/articles/eco...

‪In New Politics, professor Ian Seda-Irizarry writes about new developments in Puerto Rico's struggle for survival and self-determination. newpol.org/redefining-t...

Admissions to the John Jay economics MA program are now open for fall 2025. johnjayeconomics.org/how-to-apply/

New review of Capital City by Samuel Stein in the Review of Radical Political Economy, by John Jay's Kathryn Loeb. journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1...