Eric Scheffel's Blog

Wicksell and undergraduate years’ readings

emscheffel — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 19:16:22 +0000

Two useful sources I stumbled upon. The first is a book which I have got sitting on my personal bookshelf since my first undergraduate year (which now seems a remote distance away) and which is called “The Economics of Good Society: The variety of economic arrangements”, by Joseph Berliner. A refreshing read and surprisingly objective, rich and insightful in its description of the variety of economic arrangements which have existed in recent times and continue to exist today (Book’s jacket copied from Amazon).

The other is a quick reader on Wicksell and his theory of the natural real rate of interest, again, published at the St. Louis Federal Reserve in 2005. You can click on the picture of the article below to download the corresponding PDF file.

Fear returns or fizzling fickleness?

emscheffel — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 22:47:03 +0000

Minima moralia – Theodor Adorno (1951)

emscheffel — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 16:43:58 +0000

This is an incredibly powerful and fairly accessible book written by Theodor Adorno – who is commonly associated with the Frankfurt school of philosophy in Germany - which he wrote during his years in exile spent in the U.S. while IIWW was raging predominantly on the other side of the Atlantic. The book clearly conveys a pessimistic view and does not hide this fact by pointing out that it contains “reflections on a damaged life”. A stimulating read with some fascinating parallels between the way Adorno sought to capture the Zeitgeist of his period as he experienced it in an alien country and the way some of us may perceive that of our times.

Click on the book’s jacket to get access to a free online version of this thought-provoking text by Theodor Adorno.

Two interesting books – a synthesis in the (re-)making?

emscheffel — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 00:18:57 +0000

I have accumulated a significant amount of time in the highly institutionalized system of higher education, where towards the end of that period I felt reminded a lot of one book I have read many years ago and another one which I have begun reading recently. I have started asking myself in this context if there is anybody out there who has ever written a book or article which uses ideas touched upon in both books and tailored them to higher education… well, I am sure this sort of literature does exist. I like Alan Bloom’s Great Books approach to education, only recommendable to every student and equally recommendable to faculty staff to encourage their students to take notice of. A good friend of mine who was finishing his PhD around the same time I was trying to finish off mine once told me how his supervisor gave him an important piece of advice: “Fella, don’t let your course work get in the way of your education!” This is is a truly priceless piece of knowledge to be followed by any student who wishes to take away the maximum benefit out of academia, no matter at what level they have been getting in touch with it.

The McDonalisation of Society – George Ritzer (1995)

The Closing of the American Mind – Alan Bloom (1988)

Allan Bloom’s book is available as a pdf ebook for free and can be retrieved by clicking on the above picture of the book’s jacket. Enjoy!

Bankrupt Sheiks, Merkel vs Ackermann & Beer and Bankers

emscheffel — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:44:10 +0000

I am busy preparing a project for the Department for Culture, Media and Sports… but here’s a quick list of what I have picked up from reading British and German news:

1) The Sheiks are bankrupt! I guess I don’t have to elaborate too much on this, it’s all over the news…

2) Angela Merkel, the chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany is quarrelling with the current CEO of Deutsche Bank about who should decide on whether and how to reform the financial markets following the outfall of the credit crunch. Ackermann has lately been in the habit of pointing out with a certain sense of charme that politicians know nothing of complicated financial derivatives and shouldn’t meddle with this issue. Angela Merkel lost her patience this week when Ackermann – besides telling politicians politely to shut up – decided to suggest in public that it would be a good idea to pump more public money into the financial system, beyond what had already been done. So he is essentially telling politicians to be quiet and keep on paying…

3) An advert has surfaced – which is now being shown to cinema goers before any movie release – deriding bankers for their alleged uselessness. The clip is here…

Oh, and by the way, for those who have already forgotten about how the crisis happened, I can only recommend the following brilliant visualized exposition produced by Mr. Jarvis. Take a look…

A quick update on the U.S. economy

emscheffel — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:21:10 +0000

(Broad) Money Matters !

emscheffel — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:11:18 +0000

There is much talk again in the media of a real possibility of seeing green shoots, however fragile they may be. In many countries, following the substantial decline in economic activity observed over the last year or so, a number of indicators have either bottomed out or even appeared to start growing again. The Eurozone and the United States have reported positive growth rates for Q3Y9. This has been interpreted by many as glimmers of hope. Programmes aimed at injecting huge amounts of liquidity into the markets have been tried throughout the globe coupled with serious fiscal measures, such as the “cash for clunkers” initiatives. But what if these measures propping up markets are removed? Two serious and probably broadly underestimated problems remain.

Measures of broad money keep on contracting in the UK, the EU and the US. Also, it appears as if a huge carry-trade piggybacking on the low interest-yielding dollar is underway, which has triggered countries like Brazil - which appears to have taken on the status of international investors’ new darling for now – to tax hot money flows on their way in. (Broad) money matters and so far it has not resumed flowing to households and to the nimble small- and medium-sized companies who are often praised for their innovativeness and capacity to stimulate growth in economies. I am somewhat confounded by the Bank of England’s recent increase of growth projections for 2010 and thereafter. The two oil-price shocks of the 70s gave us stagflation. If the horse doesn’t start drinking soon, we could be in for a time posing a serious policy-making dilemma characterised by stagnation or even a resumption of economic decline coupled with a deflationary spiral.

It’s not the growth rate, it’s the level, stupid !

emscheffel — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:30:51 +0000

Global Warming?

emscheffel — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 09:53:45 +0000

What would a time series model (say, a simple AR2) predict if it was fit to the following graph(s)? That a new ice-age is upon us. But of course we know better, everybody knows it is global warming which is the main problem faced by humanity. And, by the way, the average global temperature has actually fallen since 1998. There is one further factor which needs to be borne in mind, which is that sunspot activity has now reached a natural trough of inactivity, which could counteract any alleged man-made global warming.

Persecution and the Art of Writing – Leo Strauss (1952)

emscheffel — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:10:49 +0000

Leo Strauss (September 20, 1899 – October 18, 1973) was a German-born American political philosopher who specialized in classical political philosophy. He spent most of his career as a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, where he taught several generations of students and published 15 books.

Strauss on reading

In 1952 Strauss published Persecution and the Art of Writing, commonly understood to advance the argument that some philosophers write esoterically in order to avoid persecution by political or religious authorities. A few readers of Strauss suggest esoteric writing may also seek to protect politics from political philosophy – the explosive reasoning of which might well shatter fragile opinions undergirding the political order. Stemming from his study of Maimonides and Al Farabi, and then extended to his reading of Plato (he mentions particularly the discussion of writing in the Phaedrus), Strauss proposed that an esoteric text was the proper type for philosophic learning. Rather than simply outlining the philosopher’s thoughts, the esoteric text forces readers to do their own thinking and learning. As Socrates says in the Phaedrus, writing does not respond when questioned, but invites a dialogue with the reader, thereby reducing the problems of the written word. One political danger Strauss pointed to was students’ too quickly accepting dangerous ideas. This was perhaps also relevant in the trial of Socrates, where his relationship with Alcibiades was used against him.

Persecution and the Art of Writing.

Ultimately, Strauss believed that philosophers offered both an “exoteric” or salutary teaching and an “esoteric” or true teaching, which was concealed from the general reader. For maintaining this distinction, Strauss is often accused of having written esoterically himself. Moreover he also emphasized that writers often left contradictions and other excuses to encourage the more careful examination of the writing.