Europe’s Fiscal Pact - or how to make a deal with the devil

The euro area is struggling for survival. If you are still in doubt, listen to all those by now far less self-conscious, far less apodictic pronouncements of leading representatives from politics and economy. At the G20 summit in Los Cabos Jose Manuel Barroso even lost countenance!

Transatlantic pundits

During the twenties of the last century Irving Fisher was an acclaimed economist, comparable only to Paul Samuelson or Joseph Stiglitz in our time. Like virtually all economists of international repute, he tended to be wrong - indeed fundamentally so. As late as October 1929, he reassured investors with his prophecy that their money would be perfectly secure in Wall Street. A few days later the world was horrified by Black Friday. (1)

Stiglitz contra Merkel

Profil (Austrian weekly): The debt brake advocated by Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy is the wrong way?

Stiglitz: Yes, absolutely.

So speaks Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel laureate and former economic advisor to Bill Clinton. The recipe is amazingly simple. If a patient is in danger of dying from hunger or thirst you will provide him with eating and drinking. Obviously we don’t need to be enlightened by a chief economist to find such an advice quite convincing.

Neoliberalism: Death of a pseudo-science

Ten logical objections and empirical arguments against persistently held dogmas in current economics

The principle of neoliberalism may be summarized in the following formula: The best way of guaranteeing a maximum performance for the economy is to keep government entirely out of its sphere. Its role should be confined to ensure the safety of personal property, which it does by using police and justice to this very purpose.

Open letter to Lord Wolfson With reference to the prize winning question of how to get out of the Euro

Dear Lord Wolfson

Please let me enjoy the platonic pleasure of an idealist by presenting my own proposal for your prize riddle even after the deadline has expired two months ago.

Economic decline and the doctrine of free trade

In my opinion the underlying reason for the impending disintegration of Europe is free trade policy as pushed by Germany (see my essay the "The ugly German – a specter is coming back"). I am, of course, aware that this view is diametrically opposed to accepted wisdom as to be found in economic textbooks.

The ugly German - return of a ghost long thought to be dead

Does he really deserve these accusations, this hatred, these comparisons with and incantations of a Fourth Reich? In Greece, Germany has become the enemy Nr. 1, but if you listen to Italian talk shows you will be acquainted with similar insinuations.