For a triumphant few years, mainstream economists had blindly met the word “economy” with incessant and certain optimism. They were quick to champion ‘bullet-proof’ economic models that promised global financial prosperity. In 2008, this changed; the word now induced hesitant apologies and reluctant explanations. Mainstream economists had been hit by a “Black Swan”; the financial crisis was dismissed as a freak event that no-one could have predicted.
Yet somehow, there were those who had known what was coming, the ones we call “Economic Prophets”. These are the minority who had looked far beyond the outer layer of the economy: the GDP, unemployment, inflation and interest rate figures. They looked at what was actually happening within households and markets, and they found a deep rooted crack concerning housing bubbles and sub-prime lending. Many publicly warned of impending crisis but were largely ignored by government and financial experts who had a set blueprint of the way things were to be.
Of course, when the financial crisis came to light, it was these economists who had the answers to everyone’s questions. The whole way through the post-crash commentary, many turned to the quote “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste”, meaning that we must learn from it and improve. The crash has been the perfect opportunity to accelerate the rethinking of economic thought; the focus now is not just on maintenance, but on reshaping and refining the economy from its roots, to limit future damage and increase all round opulence.
As the next generation of economists, financial experts, and government, it is up to us assure this; to prevent and deal with crises as dismantling as of 2008 better than before. It is for this purpose that we present to you a new optional module:
BUBBLES, PANICS AND CRASHES: AN INTRODUCTION TO ALTERNATIVE THEORIES OF ECONOMIC CRISIS
Dr Sakir Yilmaz
Starts Monday 7th October, 6-8pm, University Place 4.206
For further information :https://www.facebook.com/events/172681749592069/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular
Dr Yilmaz will present a broad and detailed analyses of the vital financial bubbles and crashes the world has experienced, engaging critical theory and reflection from a range of economic perspectives including the Austrian and Hyman Minsky-Post-Keynesian schools. He will explore the details of what exactly happened, why it happened, policy outcomes and significantly, what we should learn from these. Integrating this vastness of theory into our knowledge can only consolidate our economic competency, providing a basis for us all to be exponentially more innovative in our economic thought and analyses; and in the long haul, “get it right”.