helper of its professor is a historian political economist activist and author he's currently the lionel r. ballman professor of political economy at the university of maryland and a former guest scholar at the brookings institution the other of several critically acclaimed books on the atomic bomb and atomic diplomacy as articles appeared in leading american public ations including the new york times washington post the l.a. times the nation magazine and the atlantic and he's frequently featured guest on major cable news programs after completing his ph d. from cambridge university professor alfred's served as a legislative director in both houses of congress and as a special assistant in the state department he's also the president of the national center for economic and security alternatives and is a founding principle of the democracy collaborative a research institute in institution excuse me focused on initiatives that promote the democratization of wealth and most recently he's the author of america beyond capitalism a book that has been described as one of the most important books of the de