[P2P-F] Fw: [HEN-EUROPE] Heterodox Economics Newsletter 176

Tue Feb 17 00:20:12 CET 2015

A revealing insight into Greece's minister of finance...

Roberto

Begin forwarded message:

Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2015 18:31:55 +0100 (CET)
From: Heterodox Economics Newsletter <heterodoxnews at gmail.com>
To: HEN-Europe at listserv.buffalostate.edu
Subject: [HEN-EUROPE] Heterodox Economics Newsletter 176

Heterodox Economics Newsletter

Issue 176 February 16, 2015 web pdf Heterodox Economics Directory

It is interesting to note that in the course of the Eurozone-Crisis and
the related debate on how to remedy Greece's plight, a heterodox
economist has risen to great prominence within European media
discourse. This development has been largely unnoticed by media
commentators themselves, who are interested in Yanis Varoufakis
primarily as Greece's newly appointed minister of finance and obviously
have a hard time in adequately characterizing Varoufakis' economic and
political approach. Especially in the German-speaking media he is
rather crudely portrayed as some "good-looking Marxist" coming up with
somehow dubious and unconventional political suggestions.

While such superficiality is regrettable, the underlying question -
what motivates somebody to first go into economics and then into
politics - is surely legitimate. I am proud to state that I know Yanis
Varoufakis' answers to these questions. This is not because I know
Yanis, but rather because he stated his answers very clearly on his
blog. Since I think his answers are very good ones, I wanted to share
with you the one on going into economics:

"My initial urge was to study physics but I soon came to the conclusion
that the lingua franca of political discourse was economics. Thus, I
enrolled at the University of Essex to study the dismal science.
However, within weeks of lectures I was aghast at the content of my
textbooks and the inane musings of my lecturers. Quite clearly
economics was only interested in putting together simplistic
mathematical models. Worse still, the mathematics utilised were third
rate and, consequently, the economic thinking that emanated from it was
atrocious. In short shrift I changed my enrolment from the economics to
the mathematics school, thinking that if I am going to be reading
mathematics I might as well read proper mathematics.

After graduating from Essex, I moved to the University of Birmingham
where I read toward an MSc in Mathematical Statistics. By that stage I
was convinced that my escape from economics had been clean and
irreversible. How deluded that conviction was! While looking for a
thesis topic, I stumbled upon a piece of econometrics (a statistical
test of some economic model of industrial disputes) that angered me so
much with its methodological sloppiness (which was hidden behind a
certain mathematical sophistication) that I set out to demolish it.
That was the trap and I fell right into it! From that moment onwards, a
series of anti-economic treatises followed, a Phd in… Economics and,
naturally, a career in exclusively Economics Departments, in every one
of which I enjoyed debunking that which my colleagues considered to be
legitimate ‘science’. At the price, that is, of a life which can only
be compared to that of an atheist theologian ensconced in a Middle Ages
monastery."

So far for his motivation to enter economics - his path to politics is
slightly more dramatic and shortly described here.

All the Best,

Jakob

© public domain
Table of contents
Call for Papers
12th International Conference on "Developments in Economic Theory and
Policy" (Bilbao, 2015) 17th Annual Conference of the Association of
Heterodox Economics (Southampton, 2015) 6th Annual Conference in
Political Economy: "Rethinking Economics: Pluralism,
Interdisciplinarity and Activism" (Leeds, 2015) 8th International Marx
& Engels Colloquium of the Marxist Studies Centre (Campinas, 2015) ECPR
Panel on "Frankenstein or Machiavelli? The European Elite-Driven Forced
March Towards Austerity" (Montréal, 2015) Journal of Heterodox
Economics: Special Issue on "Sustainable development: an institutional
and cultural integrative process. A heterodox perspective" Review of
Keynesian Economics: Special Issue on "Innovations in Economic
Education" The 2015 Institute on Culture and Society (ICS) Conference
on "Marx’s Capital: The Basement Tapes" (Washington DC, 2015) The 63th
Annual Conference of the Japan Society of Political Economy (Tokyo,
2015) Union for Radical Political Economics (URPE) calls for Proposals
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The Looming Corporate Calamity: Restoring Corporate Legitimacy
Capitalism v. Democracy: Money in Politics and the Free Market
Constitution Contending Perspectives In Economics: A Guide to
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Crisis of the State Creativity and Humour in Occupy Movements:
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