Tag: JM Keynes

On the impact of economic ideas

Yesterday Noah Smith discussed whether economists’ ideas and arguments have much of an influence on policy and practice. He used an edited version of a famous quote from Keynes as his jumping off point. He then considered whether we can credibly claim that any living economist has significant […]

Name a book that changed your life

Earlier this evening Umair Haque tweeted: Name a book that changed your life. — umair haque (@umairh) February 4, 2013   My response was: Michael Stewart’s “Keynes and after” > RT @umairh: Name a book that changed your life. — Alex Marsh (@ShodanAlexM) February 4, 2013 If anyone […]

Looking to the past on expectations of the future

The way in which economic agents form expectations about the future is one of the most important issues in economics. All economic theory has to take a position on the matter, whether it is discussed explicitly or the treatment is left implicit. For three decades now the rational […]

The maths question in economics

Over at Noahpinion last week a post on the role of maths in economics generated plenty of comment.* This followed the award of the “Nobel Prize” in Economics to Shapley and Roth for work that is, in almost anyone’s book, highly mathematical. Noah Smith identified a number of […]

On the wisdom of free capital markets

With the discussions over the future of the Eurozone at a critical phase, David Cameron yesterday started to make helpful noises about exercising a veto if British interests were not protected. And when he says British interests, it seems he primarily means protecting the status of the City […]