For many years I have had the impression that among all the departments of economics, the one at University of Massachusetts Amherst is something special. This feeling is not based on any deep knowledge of its workings. It is an outsider view, based on vague feelings that part of academic reputation sometimes consists of.

When visiting UMass Amherst many years ago, mostly its sociology department invited by Agustin Lao-Montes , I remember one of the meetings was held in a hall that belonged to the economics department. The hall had one of those plaques that mentions the year of construction and other relevant details. Typically, the relevant details mentioned in that kind of commemorative inscription are the name of the architect or the rector or the mayor or some similar authority. The plaque, however, made visible the names of all the workers who had built it.

I was wondering about whether it might be a standard practice in campus buildings more generally. Nevertheless, I somehow connected this minor detail with the democratic legacy of some of the economists I knew had been or still were teaching there. Continue reading →