Great discussion Joan. When I told one of my professors I wanted to study political economy, he told the field does not exist anymore, and besides the term had become a euphemism for Marxism and I would never get a job. I read and rejected Marx's theories, but still kept being told that economics is apolitical and devoid of cultural and institutional variables (all lies of course). And I still had a pretty decent career. But it amazes me how the boogeyman of Marx still keeps political change at bay. Not to mention fascism being ignored. Note: https://medium.com/p/578d8365999b