WE need contributions from ALL EXPERTS / PROFESSIONS

Utility value theory has vanished classical political economy out of mainstream economics in the turn to the 20th century as economic science became influenced by the socialist movement. Piero Sraffa initiated a critique of marginal value theory in the 1960s but his perspective could not destroy neoclassical economics. Oskar Lange had a different approach to the marginalist revolution and tried not to destroy it, but to make a political use of it. Whose approach is superior considering the standpoint of the communist movement?

Given the existence of different schools of thought within social science-at times complementary and at times contradictory-the debate over the way in which this relationship should be conceptualized and analyzed is a hotly contested one.

I am working on my masters dissertation for which the topic is Role of foreign aid in shaping the political economy of the state: A case study of Pakistan from cold war to war on terror (1948-2008)

This thesis aims to add to the literature of International Relations (IR) and debates in foreign aid by examining that how the determinants of foreign aid can be an influential factor in shaping the political economy of the state. By using Pakistan-US relations as a case, I intend to assess factors that regulated the aid allocation of the US to Pakistan. This research first explores that whether, the US foreign policy towards aid allocation has been determined by its commitment towards democracy and development, or have there been strategic and tactical goals at the heart of aid flows.

Can anyone please suggest me an appropriate theoretical framework to look into for this project. I have been considering Critical Theory (Strategic action) but need some guidance. 

I'm applying some of Jacques Rancière’s concepts to (cross-border) anti-sweatshop campaigns, and I'm wondering if anyone else has done this before. I'm aware that his work is sometimes used to look at social struggles concerning undocumented migrants, but I'm not aware of any study applying Rancière’s to anti-sweatshop struggles (or other trans-national campaigns). Suggestions are welcome. 

Before the First World War, an English firm made an attempt to quarry marble in the Arctic. It did not succeed, but the reasons could be many. Any data on the global marble market at the time will help. Who were the producers, who were the buyers, what were the going costs and prices, and did these crash during or after the war?

There is a new trend in local governance in Nigeria. State governments are recently creating local council development areas (LCDAs), with Lagos setting the pace in 2003. Though, initially contentious but has come to stay, after a court ruling by the Supreme court in favour of Lagos state. Judgement declared the LCDAs inchoate, until the consequent listing in the constitution by the national assembly.

This is 14 years after and yet no consequent listing by the national assembly. But the LCDAs are been run smoothly in Lagos state, with other state copying their model.

So how then do this LCDAs differ from LGAs.

I attended an alumni family outing for Yale graduates the other day. As is generally the case with these types of gatherings, it is a time to catch up on the new jobs and/or career moves of fellow alumni. For several of those job changers, new jobs or careers meant relocating to a different area in the Tri-State area (NY/NJ/CT). It surprised me to learn that none of the job changers – all of whom had young children – intended to buy a house in the new area, rather they intended to rent. Since the jobs that they had been lured to were all high-end, well-paying jobs within professions that appeared to offer relative job security, I wondered why these young parents (with two-income households) possessing first-hand experience with the value of good schools would not want to BUY homes in the new area; i.e., to settle down in good communities with good school systems. My reasoning was that they would want to give their children firm roots in solid communities. I expressed this view and -- to a person-- the job changers told me that at most one should expect to remain at the same job for a period of 3-5 years and given the volatile housing market, that it would be foolish to invest in a home for this short period. In other words, one might have to sell in a weak housing market and that weighed heavier as a decision-making factor than the fact that one can find some real bargains on homes in upscale neighborhoods at the present time. Will this phenomenon of “portable” families have a negative impact on the children that are raised in this environment of “Have Talent, Will Travel”? Isn’t there something inherently wrong with letting economics be the overriding consideration in what values one will impart to one’s children and whether these children will have a sense of stability while growing up?

I want to explain why integration into the formal economy results in food scarcity in the Amazon when the rural poor are converted into semi-urban poor. I'd be especially interested in a study that compares rural settlements independent of urban centers, vs. rural settlements that were drawn into feudalistic relationships with the state. I know there's stuff out there but I haven't studied biology since the 90s and I'm rusty.

The strategy discipline has established itself in academics since its start in the 1950s/1960s. However, it is not clear whether it is a sub-field of political economy, neoclassical economics or business management. It begs an understanding of the difference between enterprise as praxis and economics as theory.