A Respite In Harvard Economics

The radical school of economics at Harvard seemed destined to suffer a slow death until the Economics Department suddenly this week reversed a three-year-old decision and appointed Herbert M. Gintis, lecturer on Education and a radical economist, to its faculty."

Having denied promotion to four radical economists in the past five years, the Economics Department surprised even Gintis and appointed him an assistant professor for one year and an associate professor for the next three.

Following one month of student protest and charges of political discrimination in hiring practices, the department's action was coldly acknowledged by radical economists not quite so fortunate as Gintis.

Samuel S. Bowles, associate professor of Economics who was denied tenure last month, called the appointment a gesture of "belated tokenism" and Arthur MacEwan, assistant professor of Economics who was not rehired later that month, attributed the Department's decision to the intensity of public reaction.

Senior faculty members in the Economics Department took a different view. James S. Duesenberry, chairman of the Department, denied the influence of public pressure and attributed the Department's hesitation in promoting radicals to its uncertainty about "what our little radical school will come up with."

The little radical school has had difficulty in establishing a stronghold in the Economics field because it is so much harder for the radicals to get teaching positions and financial support. Stephen A. Marglin '59, professor of Economics and the only tenured radical in the department said earlier this week.

Other members of the Department said their doubts about radical economics to are prompted by the interdisciplinary nature of the field. Questioning the very existence of institutions which influence people's choices, radical economics challenges the political and social system orthodox economics take for granted.