Lars P. Syll

Respect is not a gift. It is something you have to earn! Every now and then your truly gets some upset comments from people wondering why I’m not always respectful of people like Eugene Fama, Robert Lucas, Greg Mankiw, Edward Prescott, Thomas Sargent and others of the same ilk. Here’s a good hint at why it might sometimes be quite appropriate to be disrespectful: Why can’t I be serious and respectful? Well, the answer is that we’re not having a serious...

A whiter shade of pale  [embedded content] Covers are as a rule worse than the original. But there are exceptions. This is certainly one of them. Annie Lennox — absolutely fabulous! Advertisements

Me and Jane Austen in Karlsbad A couple of years ago, after a hectic week lecturing in Prague and Vienna, yours truly, of course, could not resist the temptation to make a stopover in Karlsbad (Karlovy Vary). It was like walking right into a novel by Jane Austen. Hopefully,​​ I will get time off for a new visit this summer. Advertisements

Jean Tirole et la police de la pensée économique Partisans de la concurrence non faussée, les économistes dominants la goûtent moins quand on les invite à la faire vivre dans leur profession. Reprenant une promesse de son prédécesseur Benoît Hamon, la ministre de l’éducation nationale Najat Vallaud-Belkacem s’était engagée en décembre 2014 à créer à titre expérimental une seconde section d’économie au sein du Conseil national des universités (CNU),...

Zwischen Freiheit und Unfreiheit gibt es keinen Mittelweg Nun kommt es darauf an, dass der einzelne Migrant sich aus dem Würgegriff des Kollektivs befreit und seinen Weg in die freie Gesellschaft beschreitet. Sonst bleibt es dabei, dass unsere Integration gescheitert ist … Wer das nicht glaubt, sehe sich die Zahlen an: 43 Prozent aller Arbeitslosen haben einen Migrationshintergrund, die Frauenhäuser beherbergen überdurchschnittlich viele Migrantinnen, die...

Going Up The Country  [embedded content] Advertisements

 [embedded content] Bille August’s and Ingmar Bergman’s absolutely marvellous​ masterpiece. With breathtakingly beautiful music by Stefan Nilsson. [embedded content] Advertisements

A couple of years ago, former chairman of the Fed, Alan Greenspan, wrote in an article in the Financial Times, re the increased demands for stronger regulation of banks and finance: Since the devastating Japanese earthquake and, earlier, the global financial tsunami, governments have been pressed to guarantee their populations against virtually all the risks exposed by those extremely low probability events. But should they? Guarantees require the building up of a buffer of...

What we do in life echoes in eternity In science, courage is to follow the motto of enlightenment and Kant’s dictum — Sapere Aude!  To use your own understanding, having the ​courage to think for yourself and question ‘received opinion,’ authority or orthodoxy. In our daily lives, courage is a capability to confront fear, as when in front of the powerful and mighty, not to step back, but stand up for one’s rights not to be humiliated or abused. As when...

MMT — the Wicksell connection Most mainstream economists seem to think the idea behind Modern Monetary Theory is something new that some wild heterodox economic cranks have come up with. New? Cranks? How about reading one of the great founders of neoclassical economics — Knut Wicksell. This is what Wicksell wrote in 1898 on ‘pure credit systems’ in Interest and Prices (Geldzins und Güterpreise): It is possible to go even further. There is no real need for...