BTW, I endorse Barkley's defense of Jamie Galbraith. I disagree with him all the time, but he's an honest guy and a careful scholar. His new book, CREATED UNEQUAL, is interesting and a source of useful knowledge, even if I disagree with some of his most important assumptions. (I don't know about calling him a "social democrat," though. It's a matter of definition, so I don't see any point in arguing about it.)
BTW2, unless we're in a revolutionary crisis, in which workers are marching in the streets demanding justice, political opinions are polarized, the class lines are being drawn more and more clearly, etc., I don't understand the point in moralistically denouncing liberals and social democrats (Jamie) or "centrists" (Doug). It's completely different if someone is so stupid to deny the fact of an upcoming revolution and refuses to take sides than if someone refuses to take sides when there's no revolution on the horizon (here in the US or in a large number of countries elsewhere). Someone who says we're in a revolutionary situation right now seems to be doing nothing but undermining his (or her) own credibility. It sounds like headlines in WORKERS' VANGUARD or THE MILITANT.
Jim Devine jdevine at popmail.lmu.edu & http://clawww.lmu.edu/Departments/ECON/jdevine.html "It takes a busload of faith to get by." -- Lou Reed.