On the blogs

On Ajit Sinha On Sraffa -- by Robert Vienneau; I also recommend the reply by Heinz Kurz to Sinha available here (subscription required). In particular, Kurz takes issue with how much of the early equations Sraffa developed were influenced by Marx's schemes of reproduction, and also with the notion that Sraffa didn't deal with counterfactuals, although I would use the term ideal types for what he discusses there

Infrastructure Delusions -- Paul Krugman, who predicted before a run on the dollar (his famous phrase was "it seems likely that there will be a Wile E. Coyote moment when investors realize that the dollar’s value doesn’t make sense, and that value plunges"), predicts that there will be no fiscal expansion (to be seen). The main reason? He asks: "who really believes that this crew is going to come up with a serious plan?" Yeah, who would predict this crew would win the election, right? Hope he keeps his prediction track record intact

The Calico Acts: Was British cotton made possible by infant industry protection from Indian competition? -- Pseudoerasmus on, well, the title gives it away. I disagree with the notion, implicit, that some degree of protection was not instrumental for industrialization, but he raises interesting points about the Calico Acts and their relevance for the mechanization of the cotton industry. At any rate, an informed post worth reading