JSTOR, Springer Verlag & Columbia U all want $10-$40 each, to read ~20 year old William Vickrey articles.
See this list at http://findingaids.cul.columbia.edu/ead/nnc-rb/ldpd_5455879/dsc/3/
Does anyone have links to existing copies of these articles?
It's a complete travesty. How are we supposed to have an "informed electorate" when basic information is subject to this kind of gate keeping?
This problem is biblical in scope, and reminscent of the Prodigal Son story, rephrased as the PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL INSIGHTS. In that parable, all of our best minds labor in public service. Yet when they go away and leave their insights to us, do we distribute those insights far and wide, as fast as possible - so that they can be put to work for the general welfare of the public? NO! We let some idiots lock them up and charge a fee to anyone wanting to access publicly owned knowledge. @#$%^&! Talk about a cruel, pious fraud!*
It's no surprise that there are so many gold-bugs and Deficit Terrorists in a supposedly educated, 21st Century USA, when such useful information as Vickrey's many essays are so thoroughly banned from public access!
Every highschool kid in the USA - nay, every single voter - should have free & timely access to this and similar papers. They should all be in Wikipedia or similar archives.
Is Columbia University purposely going out of it's way to limit or deny public access to these articles? Does this constitute racketeering between CU and publishers such as JSTOR and Springer-Verlag? Personally, I think they should all be brought up on charges of High Treason against the USA, for preventing distribution of insights and arguments which would obviously alter public policy.
I called the Columbia U Rare Book Library, and was offered the alternative of having a copy of each paper copied "for my personal use only" for the price of ... get this ... $50 for the first (30?) pages, and $12 for each (10?) pages after that.
Aside from the price, it was the "personal use only" claim that stood out to me.
Was William Vickrey's research funded by US Government grants? Is it a gross perversion of public purpose to purposely shield and otherwise limit a Nobel prize winning economist's published work from public access?
If you feel the same, please register your suggestions with the Columbia U rare book library. http://findingaids.cul.columbia.edu/contact/nnc-rb
ps: Specific articles I'd like to be able to read, at will, whenever needed, are as follows.
All That Anguish Over a Phony Number, letter to editor, 12 Dec. 1995
(which editor, at which journal or news outlet?)
Averting Unemployment and Inflation in Transition to Market Economy, paper, 1992
Balanced Budget is Not the Answer, paper, 2 June 1992
Balancing the Budget is a Recipe for Economic Disaster, paper, Feb-May 1995
* Budget Balancing: A Cruel, Pious Fraud, letter to editor, undated
Chock-full Employment without Increased Inflation, paper, Jan. 1991
[For presentation at session entitled "Achieving High Employment without Inflation", New Orleans, 4 Jan. 1991.]
Debt Limits Throttle the Economy, essay, 14 Nov. 1995
Debts, Deficits, and Delusions, paper, 14 Dec. 1990
Effective Fiscal Policy, paper, 23 May 1993
Fifteen Fatal Fallacies of Financial Fundamentalism, paper, 7 Sept. 1995
(note that this one escaped the censors somehow, and is online; http://www.columbia.edu/dlc/wp/econ/vickrey.html)
(Note further: in another ironic twist, I called the CU Economics dept, which displays this page; they had forgotten about it, and said that if anyone knew, they'd probably take it down. So please, copy the text and archive it yourself, while you can.)
Is Columbia University purposely going out of it's way to limit or deny public access to these articles? Does this constitute racketeering between CU and publishers such as JSTOR and Springer-Verlag? Personally, I think they should all be brought up on charges of High Treason against the USA, for preventing distribution of insights and arguments which would obviously alter public policy.
I called the Columbia U Rare Book Library, and was offered the alternative of having a copy of each paper copied "for my personal use only" for the price of ... get this ... $50 for the first (30?) pages, and $12 for each (10?) pages after that.
Aside from the price, it was the "personal use only" claim that stood out to me.
Was William Vickrey's research funded by US Government grants? Is it a gross perversion of public purpose to purposely shield and otherwise limit a Nobel prize winning economist's published work from public access?
If you feel the same, please register your suggestions with the Columbia U rare book library. http://findingaids.cul.columbia.edu/contact/nnc-rb
ps: Specific articles I'd like to be able to read, at will, whenever needed, are as follows.
All That Anguish Over a Phony Number, letter to editor, 12 Dec. 1995
(which editor, at which journal or news outlet?)
Averting Unemployment and Inflation in Transition to Market Economy, paper, 1992
Balanced Budget is Not the Answer, paper, 2 June 1992
Balancing the Budget is a Recipe for Economic Disaster, paper, Feb-May 1995
* Budget Balancing: A Cruel, Pious Fraud, letter to editor, undated
Chock-full Employment without Increased Inflation, paper, Jan. 1991
[For presentation at session entitled "Achieving High Employment without Inflation", New Orleans, 4 Jan. 1991.]
Debt Limits Throttle the Economy, essay, 14 Nov. 1995
Debts, Deficits, and Delusions, paper, 14 Dec. 1990
Effective Fiscal Policy, paper, 23 May 1993
Fifteen Fatal Fallacies of Financial Fundamentalism, paper, 7 Sept. 1995
(note that this one escaped the censors somehow, and is online; http://www.columbia.edu/dlc/wp/econ/vickrey.html)
(Note further: in another ironic twist, I called the CU Economics dept, which displays this page; they had forgotten about it, and said that if anyone knew, they'd probably take it down. So please, copy the text and archive it yourself, while you can.)
(Meanwhile, the PNAS version is sometimes available here for free.)
A Growing Debt is a Necessity, not a Threat, letter to the editor, 31 May 1995
The Balanced Budget: DEFENSE AGAINST INFLATION?
A Growing Debt is a Necessity, not a Threat, letter to the editor, 31 May 1995
[Response to letter by Congressman Mark W. Neumann, 24 May 1995.]
(which editor, at which newspaper?)
How Big a "Deficit" Do We Need?, essay, 28 June 1993
How to Get Real Full Employment (Jobs for All), paper, 8 Aug. 1996
Letter to Senator, 1 June 1993
[Discusses government deficit.] (Which Senator?)
Necessary and Optimum Government Debt, paper, March-April 1993
[Discusses optimum government normal economy without capital but with money.]
(only a tease available, here; a very few used print copies at Amzon aren't so expensive, but copyright prevents quick and wide distribution of an electronic copy - go figure!)
Social Pathologies, Unemployment, and the Fatal Obsession with Debt Reduction and Other Fallacies, paper, 14 July 1994
Three Degrees of Separation between Budgets and Reality, paper, 9 March 1996
We Need a Bigger Deficit, paper, Aug-Sept. 1993
Why Balance the Budget?, article, 1959-1960 [Published in Challenge Magazine]
(which editor, at which newspaper?)
How Big a "Deficit" Do We Need?, essay, 28 June 1993
How to Get Real Full Employment (Jobs for All), paper, 8 Aug. 1996
Letter to Senator, 1 June 1993
[Discusses government deficit.] (Which Senator?)
Necessary and Optimum Government Debt, paper, March-April 1993
[Discusses optimum government normal economy without capital but with money.]
(only a tease available, here; a very few used print copies at Amzon aren't so expensive, but copyright prevents quick and wide distribution of an electronic copy - go figure!)
Social Pathologies, Unemployment, and the Fatal Obsession with Debt Reduction and Other Fallacies, paper, 14 July 1994
Three Degrees of Separation between Budgets and Reality, paper, 9 March 1996
We Need a Bigger Deficit, paper, Aug-Sept. 1993
Why Balance the Budget?, article, 1959-1960 [Published in Challenge Magazine]
Challenge, Vol. 8, No. 7 (APRIL, 1960)
This tribute to Vickrey by Rick Arnott mentions Vickrey's use in 1986 of the familiar economic sector equation,
C + S + T = C + I + G , or D[eficit] = G − T = S − I,
and his opposition to a balanced budget amendment.
This tribute to Vickrey by Rick Arnott mentions Vickrey's use in 1986 of the familiar economic sector equation,
C + S + T = C + I + G , or D[eficit] = G − T = S − I,
and his opposition to a balanced budget amendment.
Finally, yet another review asks of Macroeconomics: Was Vickrey Ten Years Ahead? David Colander Challenge, Vol. 41, No. 5 (SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1998)
(again, $30 from JSTOR)
