Thursday, November 20, 2014

Aristides Hatzis: The Economic Crisis and the Economic Science

ELIAMEP
Crisis Observatory

November 19, 2014

Aristides N. Hatzis, Associate Professor at the University of Athens (Department of Methodology, History & Theory of Science), answers the following questions of the Crisis Observatory, concerning Economics and the way it is being taught since the beginning of the crisis.

Question 1: In the wake of both the financial crisis and the economic crisis that ensued (and continues to cause problems, especially to the European economy), Economics came under harsh criticism. This criticism involved its failure to foretell the crisis, but also the validity of its established models and approaches in general, as well as their capacity to correctly diagnose economic problems and to offer appropriate policies therefore. In your opinion, is this criticism justified and, if so, what do you think are the lessons that Economics should draw from the recent crisis?

Question 2: Based on your previous response, what do you think that ought to change in the way Economics is being taught in universities, considering that the economic policy makers of tomorrow are today's the students of Economics?

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Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Why Do Investors Make Bad Choices?

by Cass Sunstein

Bloomberg

April 9, 2014

For many years, I have studied human behavior, including the mistakes occasionally made by fallible people, including investors.

But a few years ago, I made a really dumb investment decision. In a single day, I hit the trifecta, committing at least three classic behavioral mistakes.

The year was 2011. The stock market was recovering well from its terrible collapse during the Great Recession, but over a short period it had a series of stumbles. I got nervous. What if it collapsed again?

At the time, I was working in the federal government, with a daughter in college, a 2-year-old boy and a new child on the way. Could I afford to lose a lot of money? Wouldn’t it make sense to sell equities and to put the money into a safe, reliable certificate of deposit?

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