Lars P. Syll

‘È una farfalla che muore sbattendo le ali’ [embedded content]Twentyfive years ago I met this wonderful lady. As always, for you, Jeanette. “Though I speak with the tongues of angels, If I have not love… My words would resound with but a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy​… And understand all mysteries… and all knowledge… And though I have all faith So that I could remove mountains, If I have not love… I am nothing.”...

Brothers and sisters of mine This one is for you — all you brothers and sisters struggling to survive in civil wars or forced to flee your homes and risking your lives. [embedded content] Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’...

Neoclassical economics and the severity of the coronavirus crisis. This training in economics makes politicians and bureaucrats incapable of understanding a crisis like this. They are, however, very susceptible to the advice of economists. They therefore enacted policies that reduced our capacity to cope with a pandemic, crafted systems of production and distribution that drastically amplified its damaging impact when it did arrive, and ridiculed warnings...

Development economists have been using randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for the best part of two decades, and economists working on welfare policies in the US have been doing so for much longer. The years of experience have made the discussions richer and more nuanced, and both proponents and critics have learned from one another, at least to an extent. In this essay, I do not attempt to reconstruct the full range of questions that I have written about elsewhere. Instead, I...

Why we need Big Theories  [embedded content]

Nights in white satin  [embedded content] Moody Blues classic that still — after more than 50 years — gives me goose pimples every time I listen to it.

Statsskulden är vårt minsta problem nu Den största risken är att vi precis som 2008 underskattar nedgången … Men Magdalena Andersson verkar fast i sin metafor att hon sparat duktigt och därför kan vi använda lite av det hon ”sparat i ladan”. Men metaforen är fel, för en regering måste skydda sin befolkning även när ”ladan är tom”. I stora kriser som krig och pandemier ställs de vanliga reglerna på ända. Precis allt måste göras för att besegra viruset och...

How money is created Everything we know is not just wrong – it’s backwards. When banks make loans, they create money. This is because money is really just an IOU. The role of the central bank is to preside over a legal order that effectively grants banks the exclusive right to create IOUs of a certain kind, ones that the government will recognise as legal tender by its willingness to accept them in payment of taxes. There’s really no limit on how much...

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Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone  [embedded content] Acclaimed soul singer behind hit Ain’t No Sunshine, Bill Withers, has died from heart complications aged 81. RIP.