New Year Gifts
It's still New Year's Day in places, but the world of academia seems to be back to work, and sending me a variety of gifts, some more welcome than others. Coincidentally or otherwise, it's also the day I've moved to semi-retirement, a half-pay position involving only research and public engagement.
Most welcome surprise: an email telling me I've been elected as a Fellow of the Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory. In the way academia works, some friendly colleagues must have proposed this, but I had no idea at all
Most culturally clueless: A request for a referee report, due in three weeks. This is January in Australia - only the most vital jobs get done
Most interesting: An invitation to join the editorial board of Econometrics, an MDPI journal in which I have published an article of which I am quite proud, though of course it has received almost no attention. MDPI is a for-profit open access publisher, which regularly deals with accusations of predatory behaviour. A search reveals that the existing editors have resigned, something which is happening a bit these days.
I'm in n>2 minds about this. I think that journal rejection rates in economics are absurdly high, in a way that damages intellectual progress.
On the other hand, I'm always dubious about the motives of for-profit firms (that includes the "reputable" firms like Elsevier and Wiley).
And on hand #3, I've just semi-retired, and I don't feel like taking on a fight in which I have no dog.
So, I'll probably stick with the plan of spending more time at the beach, working on my triathlon times, and trying not to get too depressed about the state of the world, at least those bits I can do nothing too change.
John,
It’s nice to see someone who has an interest in what’s right, not just what’s profitable for them. I’m 63 and retired and maybe just naive that integrity today seems miles away from what I thought it was 30-40 yrs ago.
Thank you for giving a damn.
Congratulations also. But retirement sounds deadly. Everyone needs to do something to effect change; it might just be something so that things don't become worse.
I'm nobody but will email someone and everyone about issues which are unfair or unjust. The parliamentarian or their assistant still needs to think about a reply to me. It has been suggested that this is the ' butterfly effect'? I can only hope that there are others out there also emailing their disapproval and that it does go further.
If I was an economist, perhaps I would be calculating how the Stage 3 Tax cuts could be effectively spent supporting those on low and low-middle incomes. In the first place, why is it that parliamentarians, in the highest income bracket, can vote themselves a generous tax cut. while not increasing the rate of unemployment benefits so that people who are unemployed can think about getting a job rather than juggling the needs of shelter/food/utilities and health?