Wat wij kunnen leren van economen die (bijna) niemand meer leest

• Main Author: van Staveren, Irene
• Format: Book
• Language: Dutch
• Published: Boom Uitgevers 2016
• Subjects: /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/decent_work_and_economic_growth; SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth; /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/reduced_inequalities; SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities; Iceland
• Online Access: https://pure.eur.nl/en/publications/989bdee8-5dee-4691-8d2b-1a7f96cdfea6; https://www.boomfilosofie.nl/product/1429/Wat-wij-kunnen-leren-van-economen-die-bijna-niemand-meer-leest

The book provides a popular, engaging overview of some key ideas of ten economists, ideas that are directly or indirectly related to the causes and consequences of financial crises. Each economist is presented in a chapter. The chapters all have the same structure: "The problem", introducing a particular issue related to the 2007/2008 financial crisis, "The insight", the economist's idea, "The economist" with a short bio story including an anecdote, and "Practices" with two examples of real-world implemented alternatives. Chapter 1 is about Marx and the near-implosion of capitalism when Lehman Brothers went bankrupt and financial markets panicked. His key insight is his characterization of capitalism in two relationships: K hires L and the sequence of M - C - M' - C ' M''. The alternatives that I mention, which do not follow these principles, are cooperative firms and crowdfunding. Chapter 2 is about Minsky and explains the inherent growth of the financial sector, faster than the real economy, which destablizes the real economy due to increasing fragility. Alternatives can be found in limits to growth of banks and more caring forms of finance, as exemplified by some female fund managers, for example in Iceland. Chapter 3 is about Keynes focusing on the debt problem, showing that money is not neutral but has real economic effects. Alternatives are higher loan-to-value ratio's for mortgages and debt cancellation programs. Chapter 4 is about Knight and the fatal confusion he discovered between risk and uncertainty. Alternatives are a split between retail banking and investment banking and higher buffers for banks. Chapter 5 is about feminist economist Barbara Bergmann and the testosteron effect of financial trading, speeding up financial market value until bubbles burst and women are called in to clean up the mess (Lagarde, Yellen, CEO Icelandbanki, etc.). Another alternative is Warren Buffet's investment strategy, which some have referred to as "investing like a girl". Chapter 6 is about inequality based on ...