Economics and Economists
The American actor Will Rogers once said (in 1932) that “an economist’s guess is liable to be as good as anybody else’s” (click here for more jokes about economists). More seriously, Paul Krugman (a Nobel Prize winning economist who these days is probably better known for his acerbic columns in the New York Times) wrote, “Economists may make lots of bad predictions, but they do have a method – a systematic way of thinking about the world that is more true than not, that gives them genuine if imperfect expertise. That is also, of course, why lay commentators and other social scientists tend to hate them”. Some of my thoughts about my profession and its practitioners are here.
Excerpt: Modern Monetary Theory
Economic Policies, Economics and Economists, QE & MMT, The Global Economy | 25th August 2021Login or subscribe to view the full video and presentation slides Login Subcribe Some commentators seem to think that ‘QE’ is simply a variant of, or a step along the road to, something called ‘Modern Monetary Theory’ or ‘MMT’. It isn’t: and so in the second part of this series Saul explains what MMT is […]
Video & Presentation Slides: Modern Monetary Theory
Economic Policies, Economics and Economists, The Global Economy | 25th August 2021In this webinar Saul will explain what MMT is (and what it isn’t), what the historical record shows about how it might work in practice, and what some of the results might be if it were implemented in current circumstances.
Video & Presentation Slides: What is ‘QE’, and how does it work?
Economic Policies, Economics and Economists, QE & MMT, The Global Economy | 29th July 2021In this webinar Saul will explain exactly what ‘QE’ is, how its done, why central banks are doing it, what its intended and unintended effects are, and how long central banks might keep doing it for.
Why study economics?
Economics and Economists | 23rd October 2017A short video for the Tasmanian School of Business and Economics, at the University of Tasmania
Choices, Luck and Forecasting
Economics and Economists | 18th May 2015Address to’The Friendly Conference’, hosted by the Friends’ School, Hobart, 18th May 2015
Forecasting is more than just luck
Economics and Economists | 15th November 2014Article published in ‘Management Today’, the magazine of the Australian Institute of Management, November 2014
Reflections on and lessons from a career as an economist
Economics and Economists, Publications | 10th November 2013Article published in ‘Insights’, by the Faculty of Business and Economics, The University of Melbourne, vol 14, Nov 2013, pp.45-51
On the Role of Economists, and Leaving Tasmania
Economics and Economists, Tasmania | 16th December 2012Occasional Address at the University of Tasmania’s Graduation Ceremony for students of the Faculty of Commerce, 16th December 2002