Article

There was an article in the New Yorker last week about health care reform in the USA that used the concept of path-dependency to argue for an improvement of existing policies rather than a complete overhaul of the system. It's a very valuable point, especially considering that a complete overhaul could lead to temporary disruption until the new institutions start working properly; and because we are talking about health care, any disruption, even if it is temporary, would literally kill people. On the other hand if the system is dysfunctional it is difficult to argue for simple improvements. Therefore what could be a good solution is to establish a long-term goal of deep reform that would be achieved by small incremental steps, built on the existing path-dependencies. It would still be necessary to respect the US context but on the other hand it would attempt to resolve the fragmentation that leads to such high costs.

Referees

The European Urban and Regional Studies journal is searching for referees. If you are at least Post-doctorate and willing to referee articles for the journal please send your name, institutional affiliation and 6 key words to the journal administrator Kathy Wood at: Eurs.Journal@durham.ac.uk

Geographical visualisations

After a period of inactivity related with the holiday season, I return to suggest a very good blog collecting images, maps, videos and other visual resources to illustrate how geography and human activity interact. I will add a permanent link on the right, under miscellaneous.

Jobs and fellowships

I had been advertising here several jobs and fellowships but it's probably better to indicate the links where they are available so that people can do their own searches. Therefore I have created two new links sections, on the bottom right. There is a list of sites where you can find information about academic positions in different countries. Some of these sites are better than others. For instance Jobs.ac.uk, for jobs in the UK, and the Era Careers websites for other european countries, tend to be very compreensive. On the other hand Higheredjobs.com, specialized in the US, is much less so, since there are many jobs in our field that aren't advertised there. A good alternative is to go to the AAG website where they have a list of geography departments across the US and do an individual search.

If you know any other good alternatives for job searches, especially in other countries, please let me know so that I can add the links.

Article

The new issue of the IMF magazine 'Finance & Development' is out. As you would expect most of it is about the financial sector and the current crisis. But there is also an interesting article called: 'The Economic Geography of Regional Integration'. You can access it here. It's an interesting read and could probably be very usefull as a teaching material, since it summarizes how trade has affected the concentration of economic activity and vice-versa.

Fellowships

Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the Institute for Economic Research on Innovation (IERI)

Faculty of Economics and Finance
Tshwane University of Technology
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/TR028/

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Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Dublin City University Business School

Dublin City University
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/MD515/

Books

Personal Wealth from a Global Perspective
Edited by James B. Davies

This volume looks beyond the distribution of income by examining the assets, debts, and net worth of individuals and households to create a global picture of wealth, its distribution and concentration. Unlike previous studies, this study includes material on a number of transition and developing countries as well as high income OECD countries.

For more details, visit: www.oup.com/uk/catalogue?ci=9780199548897

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Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2009: Overcoming inequality- why governance matters
Co-Published by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Gaping inequalities confront education today. This global report maps the complex and multiple facets of inequality by providing a rich evidence-based assessment of the provision of education globally. Based on specialized commissions, extensive consultations and multiple research sources the report provides an authoritative, comparative reference.

For more details, visit: www.oup.com/uk/catalogue?ci=9780199544196

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Social Economy of the Metropolis: Cognitive-Cultural Capitalism and the Global Resurgence of Cities
Allen J. Scott

This book is about the renaissance of cities in the twenty first century and their increasing role as centers of creative economic activity. Allen Scott is one of the world's foremost thinkers on globalization and the economies of modern cities, and in this book presents a concise introduction to his innovative and insightful perspective.

For more details, visit: www.oup.com/uk/catalogue?ci=9780199549306

Jobs

The University of Houston-Clear Lake invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Human Geography beginning August 2009.

Online App. Form: https://jobs.uhcl.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=51791

More information about the Geography Program and the University can be found at http://www.uhcl.edu/hsh/geography.


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Columbus State Community College: The department invites applicants to teach various Geography and Interdisciplinary Social & Behavioral courses.

Online App. Form: http://jobs.cscc.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=50364

Publishing for begginers

If you feel that you could use some help with the publication process, here is a book that might suit you.

Publishing in Geography

Also you might want to check this article written by Thom Brooks, with some good advice for graduate students. It's broader than the book above because it doesn't focus on one single discipline.

Job

Post-Doctoral Research Assistant
The Centre for Sustainable Urban and Regional Futures (Surf)
University of Salford
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/FJ092/

Job announced through: www.jobs.ac.uk