The Economics of Gypsies

Gypsies are not only hot in the Belgian media. Steven Levitt wrote this on the Freakonomics blog:
"My friend Pete Leeson is one of the most original and creative economists I know. First, he wrote about pirate economics (he was even kind enough to write three guest posts on the Freakonomics blog).

Then he tackled “ordeals” –- the medieval method of trial in which one’s guilt was assessed by whether an arm that was plunged into boiling water got burned. His conclusion: it was not a miracle when the accused emerged unscathed from the boiling water treatment. As long as everyone believed that the boiling water would reveal guilt, it made more sense to confess than to have one’s arm get boiled and then be punished for the crime on top of that. So the only people who were willing to go through the ordeal were those who were falsely accused. Consequently, it appears that the people who carried out the ordeals didn’t really boil the water (it’s not clear whether they did this on purpose or accidentally –- I suspect on purpose).

Now, he has moved on to gypsies. Apparently, gypsies believe in all sorts of strange things, like that the lower half of the human body is polluted and non-gypsies are spiritually toxic. These bizarre beliefs, he argues, substitute for traditional institutions of law and order. Like all of Leeson’s best work, when I start reading it I don’t really believe it, but by the end I’m not only convinced, I feel like running out and telling everyone I know about it."

La pauvreté en Belgique

Lisez cette publication dans la Revue économique juin 2010 de la BNB ici.

Un-Freakonomics

"Roth uses the mathematical tools of game theory to find fixes for big, broken systems. Over the last 20 years he has pioneered a branch of economics known as market design. Among Roth's accomplishments: designing networks for kidney donations and creating elegant systems that enable huge urban school districts to optimally place multitudes of students among hundreds of schools." Read the complete article on Forbes here.

'Open Vld vervalste begroting'

Open Vld heeft de begroting vervalst." Tot die conclusie komt John Crombez, de begrotingsspecialist van de sp.a, nu uit een rapport van het monitoringcomité is gebleken dat het begrotingstekort dit jaar oploopt tot 5,2 procent en volgend jaar tot 5,6 procent in plaats van een tekort van respectievelijk 4,8 en 4,1 procent. Dat schrijft De Tijd woensdag. Lees het volledige artikel in De Standaard hier.

What is the growth potential of green innovation? An assessment of EU climate policy options

Read this EC Economic Paper here.

Zijn onze banken echt stressbestendig?

KOEN SCHOORS is blij dat de Europese banken doorgelicht worden, maar stelt zich vragen bij de criteria. We weten immers nog altijd niet of onze banken een liquiditeitscrisis kunnen doorstaan, want daarop zijn ze niet getest. Lees het volledige opiniestuk in De Standaard hier.

The Hidden Future of the US Economy

"Just how bad is the outlook for the United States’ economy?", Martin Feldstein - economics professor at Harvard - wonders. "Unfortunately, you cannot tell from the forecasts." Read the complete opinion article on Project Syndicate here.

Werkloze is nieuwe baan snel weer kwijt

"Zes maanden nadat de werlozen een baan hebben gevonden, is 72 procent van de betrokkenen nog altijd aan het werk. Omgekeerd is na die periode van zes maanden 28 procent opnieuw zonder werk gevallen. Na een periode van twee jaar loopt het aantal werkenden terug tot 48 procent en loopt de groep die in de werkloosheid is hervallen op tot 52 procent. De helft van de Vlaamse werklozen die een baan vinden (al dan niet een uitzendbaan), is die baan dus relatief snel weer kwijt. Vooral wie uit de werkloosheid geraakt door een uitzendbaan aan te nemen, loopt sneller kans om in de werkloosheid te hervallen. Dat is niet onlogisch, want uitzendopdrachten zijn per definitie tijdelijk." Lees het volledige artikel in De Standaard hier.

Future generations will curse us for cutting in a slump

In 1937 Keynes wrote: “The boom, not the slump, is the right time for austerity at the Treasury.” Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, disagrees. Stripped of its jargon, his argument last Friday in the Financial Times is that fiscal retrenchment is needed to “consolidate recovery”. This has become the standard European – though not American – line. “Failure to address the deficit is the greatest danger we face,” said UK Treasury minister Lord Sassoon in the House of Lords on Monday, faithfully echoing the words of his master, chancellor George Osborne. But beyond vaguely referring to the need to restore “confidence”, none of the cutters can explain how reducing public spending when private spending is already depressed will “consolidate recovery”.

Read this article in the FT here.

World economy: Vulnerable to vertigo

Double dip. It is the phrase on everyone’s lips – and it makes many of those lips tremble. With the shock of 2008 fading into memory, the moment of reckoning for the global economy has arrived. Will the bounce back from the nadir become established as a return to sustainable expansion – or will initial relief mutate into the despair of a renewed slowdown?

Read this article in the FT here.