Monday, April 11, 2011

20th Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference This Week

Interesting Economics Conference this week in NYC. Conference agenda here.

20th Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference on the State of the US and World Economies: "Financial Reform and the Real Economy"

April 13–15, 2011
Ford Foundation
320 East 43 Street, New York City

Even if you cannot attend, in the past I believe organizers have published the presentations on-line soon after the conference.


11 comments:

mike norman said...

I just registered. Was there two years ago and will try to attend this one.

Stephan said...

@Matt
I just posted this note to Tom. But it might be of general interest for Mike Norman authors:

Tom. Thanks. I've read the Hudson article before writing this short post. FYI: Here's a challenge for Mike Norman Economics from the always busy letter-writing Don Boudreaux of Cafe Hayek. http://goo.gl/hDVW8 I've my doubts whether any argument can change the mind of a hardcore Austrian. Especially if the argument isn't of vintage 50s or earlier.

Cheers,
Stephan

Matt Franko said...

Stephan,

What the h is going on at George Mason U?

It says that guy is a Professor there....

I'll take a look, in the one comment he reveals that he never read any of the MMT literature, that would be a good place to start for him!

Resp,

mike norman said...

Stephan:

The point I was making was that reserve balances and Treasuries are both dollar denominated liabilities of the Federal Gov't and as such, they're the same, the only difference being the amount of interest they pay, which is a variable that is also controlled by the government through the central bank.

Federal Reserve notes (cash) are also a dollar liability of the government as well.

Why are Treasuries considered debt when reserves, cash, aren't? "Paying off the debt" is simply a matter of switching balances at the Fed from the securities account to the reserve account. That's it. The good professor is the one confused.

Stephan said...

Mike. I did get your point ;-) I'm reading Bill Mitchell now for more than two years almost daily. You don't have to convince me.

Tom Hickey said...

Matt, George Mason U is Koch heaven:

The Economics department of George Mason University has been strongly shaped by tens of millions of dollars of donations by the libertarian Koch Foundations of the billionaire Koch brothers. Most, if not all, of the staff (23 GMU professors on the Mercatus "Scholars" list 5/16/09) is affiliated with the Koch-financed Mercatus Center, a libertarian pro-corporatist think-tank. The result is a propaganda mill with academic credentials.

Notable libertarian ideologues at both include:
• Peter Boettke
• Bryan Caplan
• Tyler Cowan
• Alex Tabarrok
• Robin Hanson
• Peter Leeson

But here's the fun part. All these macho, independent libertarians are sucking at the government tit. George Mason University is a public university, supported by state funds. At least 4 are also enjoying tenure. And they get to double dip at the conservative welfare tit of the Mercatus Center without even having to leave campus. What a splendid position from which to decry unions, living wages, job security, restrictions on competition, and all those other things that keep them from having cheaper servants.

http://world.std.com/~mhuben/mason.html

Matt Franko said...

Tom,

Libertarianism has been a bit more elusive for me to get a handle on than Objectivism.

But you are right GMU looks like a cesspool of Libertarianism.

Tom Hickey said...

There are different strains of LIbertarianism, Matt. Objectivism is an extreme. The GMU profs tend to paint a more moderate picture of it.

Matt Franko said...

Tom,

Prof Robert H Nelson (of 'Economics as Religion' fame) is apparently a Senior Scholar at the Mercatus Center also.

He recently wrote up a view of the SOTU address back in January excerpts:

"Owing to many large failings of our government and business leaders, who put indifference or greed above the national interest, we have recently suffered the worst economic downturn since the great depression. We have sinned again. But today, the president said, we are renouncing our wayward ways; instead, “we are poised for progress.” If we can address the many “challenges that have been decades in the making,” the products of our many past failures as a nation, our future success is assured.

But it will not be easy. We must be committed to remaking ourselves. As President Obama said, “Sustaining the American dream has never been about standing pat. It has required each generation to sacrifice, and struggle, and meet the demands of a new age.” God offers no guarantees.

One of our greatest sins has been the corruption of our national politics by private interests and the forces of greed more broadly. We have lost all fiscal discipline. Deficits have ballooned, “the legacy,” the president said, of out-of-control “deficit spending that began almost a decade ago.” Again, a new national spirit of sacrifice will be required. The president proposed to freeze domestic spending for five years, which “will require painful cuts” for many Americans. We have also sinned against the environment in the recent past. Here again, large sacrifices will be required. “By 2035, 80 percent of America’s electricity will come from clean energy sources.” But here as well, America can reform its ways. We can meet the challenge:"

link_http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2978

I dont know if he is writing this as an academic exercise or if he really believes it?

Tom, what do you think?

He is apparently out of paradigm... I was thinking about going to see him next time he speaks in my area here...

Tom Hickey said...

Out of paradigm. Only the Post Keynesians are in paradigm and not all of them.

Most economists and historians of economics don't know much about monetary economics, finance, or accounting.

If you talk to him, begin with what you liked about his book and then bring up the other stuff. I doubt he will be open to hearing it, although it may be polite. I think that most of the established economists will just have to die off.

Matt Franko said...

Day 1 audio is up:

link_http://www.levyinstitute.org/news/?event=32