Probably one of the strongest things ever when we talk about democracy and “legimitation by procedure” – the recent decision in Brazil. And there is so much damage that will be done in the time to come.
Categoria: general
Off to class …
… the same dingdong …, teaching economics. Funnily enough (well, not really funny at all) the schedule should start with an “Introduction into Economics” – after learning English during the first year. No propaedeutics in the true meaning of introducing into academic thinking.
Still, looking at the requirements and standards sent from the British “mother university”, there seems to be some change. Work should now follow the CORE Project, i.e. the Curriculum in Open-Access Resources in Economics, elaborated by the Institute for New Economic Thinking. At first glance, the idea is surely laudable – as the website advertises:
Teaching economics as if the last three decades had happened.
Still, looking closely at the proposal there are some flaws. For instance from a heterodox perspective, as we brought forward by the World Economics Association, the following is contended:
The CORE project in particular seems to neglect to teach:
• that economics can be defined in different ways;• that an economic problem can be looked at from different theoretical perspectives;• that economists constructively disagree;• that economists can be in error;• that economic ideas can be dangerous if uncontested; and• that there is more to teaching economics in a historical context than simply a narrative and some data.
And part of the story is that “teaching economics as if the last three decades had happened” has to consider from where exactly the economy and economic developed and not least it requires
Teaching economics as if there is a future that can be shaped and will be shaped by and for people
Admittedly high aspirations. And paradoxically they are going well hand in hand with the “Keynesian plea for modesty” laid down in the “Essays“:
‘But, chiefly, do not let us overestimate the importance of the economic problem, or sacrifice to its supposed necessities other matters of greater and more permanent significance. It should be a matter for specialists—like dentistry. If economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, competent people, on a level with dentists, that would be splendid!’
(Keynes, J., 1932: Essays in Persuasion; New York: Harcourt Brace: 373)
Well, that is what I am trying to follow – beginning by … coming to the core of academic education: propaedeutics, dealing with the questions of meaning. And not least, aiming on teaching that we – as economists – may do something for the set of teeth, but the biting takes place outside of the setting of the surgery.
Myths
Myths — looking at the debt-crisis and the question of reparations in the context of Greece is surely important in terms of the pure and immediate calculation – it had been an issue that had been frequently brought forward in the recent months in connection with the “Greek case” which is more a “German case” or a case of the European hegemonic power centres. However, doing so should also go beyond the crude equation, i.e. the amount of money Germany owes.
A historically wider perspective may remind us that this “deal”, stroke in London (London Agreement on German External Debt) in 1953, was part of a complex strategy. This agreement can be seen as foundation of the German politico-economic success, that makes it today a superpower again.
And looking at “Mutti Merkel” we should never forget the small step of the Germans, emerging from the
Volk der Dichter und Denker
(People of poets and thinkers)
to the
Volk of Richter and Henker
(People of judges and hangmen).
An instructive documentation is provided in the film
Die Lüge vom Wirtschaftswunder
Sure, in about 43 minutes there may be some contestable details, or there may be a lack of details as missing statistics etc.- so the complains of some commentators. However, looking today at history, we should think more about the wrong evidence, permanently distributed in the spirit of the well-known fact that history is always written as history of the ruling classes. – This film obviously unveils more truth in the short time than the history books of the 67 years.
Questions, not only asked when writing about Bärlach, Gastmann and Tschanz (German film – German Audiobook).
The other dimension
The other day I was sitting together with a friend, chatting about human and artificial intelligence and the calculability of everything. We talked about Her and life emerging Ex Machina. Emotions – they play a role, and we have, can, should simply enjoy them. That moment, I could not agree more, did not want to think about rationalising every single step, did not want to stop enjoying the moments, loving the people when they are lovable and showing the anger when anger is appropriate … – Isn’t it finally true?: Wer denkt, ist nicht wütend. Here for the first part of the Docu in Theodor W Adorno, Der Bürger als Revolutionär.
The less revolutionary version coming to mind is the one we know from Einstein:
Falling in love is not at all the most stupid thing that people do — but gravitation cannot be held responsible for it.
wisely popularised as “You can’t blame gravity for falling in love”.
Love or show anger …, carpe diem and give the answer …
****
Anyway, a few days later a headline hits the news, informing that a
Tesla driver dies in first fatal crash while using autopilot mode
Surely a sad occurrence, but what makes it remarkable for me here is a sentence I find in the article, saying that
America’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an inquiry into the accident.
It leaves me with a silly question. As sociologist I know that that NHTSA is an institution, following administrative and juridical rules, without “human intelligence”, reflecting law that is without consideration of right. As driver of a car I know that there is no point in asking the truck and trailer; and the sky …, it does have as many answers as it lacks having limits. So, at the end it may then be the driver of the truck who may be be blamed for being, for taking the freedom of being in the way of artificial rules …
****
Part of the limitations of artificial intelligence, in its excess child of bourgeois enlightenment, is surely that it established a certain inability to think unity as matter of contradiction. To take it from Adorno’s Dialectic of Enlightenment
Bourgeois society is ruled by equivalence. It makes the dissimilar comparable by reducing it to abstract quantities. To the enlightenment, that which does not reduce to numbers, and ultimately to the one, becomes illusion.
There is surely some Madness of Sincerity of which I learned again – finally
Men are never convinced of your reasons, of your sincerity, of the seriousness of your sufferings, except by your death. So long as you are alive, your case is doubtful; you have a right only to their skepticism.”
It may then be that The Fall comes before The Stranger.
… and frequently overlooked
After saying yesterday Easily Condemned, it may be time to think about what is easily overlooked, especially while sliding apparently elegantly on the surface.
The title in the Huffington Post says
Deutsche Bank è maggior fonte di rischi sistemici al mondo
and A FT-briefing tells us
Deutsche Bank hit by IMF hazard warning A report has branded the German lender as the riskiest globally significant bank on the back of its failure to pass another US Federal Reserve stress test.
Sure, there are good reasons to distrust these rankings and stress tests. But on the other hand, what comes to mind is the obvious failure of German (misled EU-) policy of externalisation. The exsanguination especially of Greece (though we should not forget Ireland, Portugal, Spain) is not a limited strategy against one (or a few countries), but it is part of a systematic bloc-building: strengthening the centre in order to establish and tighten a fortress that finally culminates in a complex network of systematically fostered “unequal development” (in line with TISA etc.). Andre Gunder Frank’s thesis of the “Development of Underdevelopment” finds a new confirmation, now on the changed global scale.
What Britain actually did is not so different from the EU- and German strategy: a strategy of externalisation, aiming on limiting the cost (which had been very small when considering the increasing strangulation of arms of social EUrope), while redistributing the resources as it already started, considering (so the FT-briefing) that
companies with overseas earnings or in haven sectors have benefited most, while others have announced job cuts and profit warnings
and the chancellor announcing a new easing, while Cameron now pleads for “looking beyond”, aiming on big business for big business: China, India, US and Commonwealth as fields for new harvest.
– And it still is the old story: never tidy up your own places as long as there are fields that can be devastated, i.e. fields that allow you to dump your waste. Will it work? Well, coming back to the article in the Huffington Post it is remarkable to see that
Secondo l’istituto di Washington, inoltre, il sistema bancario tedesco pone il maggior grado di rischi di contagio esterni in proporzione ai rischi interni (seguono Francia, Regno Unito e Usa).
In other words, the supposedly strong economies are not only the culprits in terms of being a danger to solidarity, but they are also the real hazard when it comes to global economic disintegration. An interesting measure that is different, seemingly of national scope only, can be found in India:
India’s 10m civil servants The government has approved a 23 per cent rise in salaries, allowances and pensions for current and former civil servants. The once-in-a-decade increase will cost about $15bn and is aimed at boosting private consumption.
Such step is likely to be globally more responsible than the European and British and American fortress building.
The Next Round?
I just heard/read the news from Istanbul. Sounds like another terrible round …, and still it is the old story? So they write:
— Ataturk Airport is “one of the most secure airports in the world,” CNN senior law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes says. But the airport has been “very overwhelmed for several decades with terrorism from PKK.”
— The White House issued a statement: “Ataturk International Airport, like Brussels Airport which was attacked earlier this year, is a symbol of international connections and the ties that bind us together.
It is difficult to make any “negative” comments in face of what is just a human tragedy. But still I am wondering if what I read should be easily translated into:
White House and Erdogan together against PKK and the others … – it is a worrying constellation and is a worrying constellation looking at it in the wider perspective of BREXIT, and some “progressives” now claiming we should habe more exits, return to localism …
And we in academia follow, pretending excellence, striving for rankings and serving leisure interests?
BREXIT – is that actually the real topic
I was just approached by Yang Yuhan, asking for my opinion on the results in the UK.
I mentioned in a brief note some of the problems, e.g. that the result may be just the date of preparing a new referendum (as it happened so often), that the claimed economic strength by the “leavers” may be just another illusion but also that it is a strategy of one country to look for advantage on the back of others.
And then I said, “as it had been the case with (in particular) the German-Greek relationship.
As Yang said she would not know about Germany-Greece-relationships
I answered in a nutshell – more is barely possible via QQ:
Perhaps we meet at some stage again, and we can chat. Too much to write …: Germany forced Greece to take loans, knowing that they would not be able to repay. Germany also kept the economy of Greece down, not allowing them to develop – we talked about world-systems, center-periphery etc. in the workshop. After a while the Germans said: now you have to return the money. And because you cannot do it “easily”, we dictate the conditions under which you do it. In consequnece, for instance, the social security systems had been dismantled (people getting 60 % of the retirement they expected, and it must in many cases serve the entire family; the health system is deteriorating; children cannot go to school, or they cannot concentrate because they are hungry …), the ariports had been “bought” by the German FRAPORT (Frankfurt airport), without proper pay …
Of course, the Germans could rely o their “European supporters” and the IMF and the World Bank but still they had been the main drivers.
And I directed her to things I wrote earlier – about Two Dreams and One Nightmare, there looking in particular at the second dream. Indeed, many things had been not known to the public, they had been veiled in populist disguises, hiding the
And so we may even take up on people like Churchill who said, in a different context:
This is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end, but it is perhaps the end of the beginning.
And as Henry added in the mail he sent a few minutes ago:
the beginning of the complete disintegration of the EU….
Cunning of unreason – including the unreason of populist movements back in the other home? There was one star in Bethlehem, now there are five in Rome …
Just received another mail . actually taking up on the point I alluded to in the blog entry:
“The triumph of malign populism and a betrayal of the younger generation.”
Yes, there had been some betrayal, and my generation is guilty, if not directly betraying, allowing those others they dirty business …
Seeing all this in a wider context, I just feel miserable, actually since a couple of days already, the BREXIT is only a small part. It is about “us” – the elderly, the Europeans, the “better Europeans” … all these … “superiors” who claim to know everything and know everything better, and in which way ever, it is differ difficult to “escape”, difficult to remain sane and honest, and the only thing ome can do is to talk to some students, encouraging them …, to do what we cannot do anymore to the extent to which we want: move on and be honest …. – but also considered, not following the populist tendencies that lurk around everywhere, making education to a fun-park.
Un manifiesto de 177 economistas pide el voto para Unidos Podemos
Un manifiesto de 177 economistas pide el voto para Unidos Podemos
Académicos como Thomas Piketty o Vicenç Navarro apoyan el texto
[… y también algunas luces más pequeñas ;-)]
Un total de 177 economistas de universidades españolas e internacionales ha suscrito un manifiesto que reclama el fin de las políticas de austeridad en España y en Europa, y pide el voto para la candidatura de Unidos Podemos a las elecciones generales del próximo 26 de junio. El texto —que firman expertos como Thomas Piketty, de la Escuela de Economía de París; Viçenc Navarro, de la Universidad Pompeu Fabra (ambos asesoraron a Podemos con su programa); o Ann Pettifor, asesora del líder laborista Jeremy Corbyn— asegura que el programa de la coalición “servirá para poner punto final a las políticas de austeridad en España y, con ello, servirá también para abrir un nuevo tiempo en Europa”. ….
班戈学院Peter Herrmann教授接受湖南日报记者专访
(for the original see here – credit for the photos: 熊雨晴; Weibo:@大象在拍照; scroll down for the English version)
日前，我院德国籍经济学教授、欧洲基金会顾问彼得·赫尔曼（Peter Herrmann）先生接受了湖南日报记者柏润的专访。访谈全文如下：
记者：
Herrmann教授，你好，您在班戈学院工作的第一年已接近尾声，能和我们的读者谈谈您这一年的感受吗？
Peter:
当然，能在班戈学院工作是我的荣幸。可以说这一年是风平浪静的一年。虽然班戈学院是一所新成立的中外合作办学机构，但是学院各项工作都开展的很顺利。这种合作办学方式对中英两校来说不仅是新的办学模式，更是两校从未跨入过的一个新领域。这一片崭新的土地上原本是很容易困难丛生的，然而所有参与其中的人都以出色的工作、极大的耐心和充分的相互理解克服了重重困难。班戈学院的成功都根植于所有教职员工和学生的付出中。
记者:
您是说学生吗? 但是我听说您和您的同事偶尔也会对学生颇有抱怨？是这样吗？
Peter:
当然，我们也会有抱怨。抱怨可以说是教师天性中的一小部分。但是说实话，我们的学生面对的是巨大的挑战，他们要面对全新的课题。开始学术学习就像学习一门新的语言，需要完全转变过去的思维方式。而且，班戈学院的学生接受的是全英文教学，上课和作业都是使用英文，所以你也可以认为他们在进行学术学习的同时也在学习语言。能够面对这样挑战的孩子是值得我们尊重的。
记者:
原本您和班戈学院只签了一年的合同，现在您又决定再续签一年，是这样吗？是什么使您改变主意留下来呢？
Peter:
原因有很多。我一生在不同的机构工作过：既曾在多所大学教书，也有幸受邀在科研机构工作，最近一次是在杭州担任外国高级专家。我曾经有过一些非常难得的机会，能够进入现有条件相当不错的机构工作，我本是不想放弃的。我在国际化环境中工作了30多年，这是我人生的主要组成部分。但是，在班戈学院工作是更加令我兴奋的挑战，能够为两所高校的合作办学贡献力量是一种全新的经历。并且，我的教育范围是非常广泛的，从经济学、社会学到哲学、政治学，还包括一些法律。我的工作范围也涵盖了教学，研究和政治。在班戈学院，我有一个夙愿，希望能够从一个更加广泛的角度进行经济学教学，不仅仅局限于各种方程式，而是使经济学成为人们的实际生活当中能够运用的规则。从而帮助每一个人理解经济学，运用经济学，而不是只有小部分人能使用它。
还有一个原因就是班戈学院的人都非常友善，这是班戈学院“卓越”的一个重要体现。“卓越”这个词现在非常流行，真正的卓越不仅仅是我们能够共同做出一些成绩。有人说我们学者是站在巨人的肩膀上 。但是人们容易忘记，那些“巨人们”在很大程度上也要依靠我们这些“小矮人”——行政人员，教师还有学生。我们需要充分尊重参与学院工作的所有人员，才能保证学院长足的发展。任何一方过于强势都可能造成危机。换句话说，我们要更加重视中英两校的相互学习。
记者:
感谢您参加这次访问。
*****
Peter Herrmann教授正在专心研读
采访英文原稿如下：
Interviewer:
Peter, the first year of your work at BCC is now coming more or less to an end.
Can you tell our readers a little bit about your impressions?
Peter:
Of course, it is actually a pleasure for me. In some way it had been a quiet
year – things went smoothly although the BCC as cooperation between a
Chinese and European university is new: a new experience for the two
participating universities but also in general some new terrain. So, this was
enough new ground for possible problems. However, all, who participated had
been doing a wonderful work and proved by their patience and mutual
understanding that the real value of such project is grounded in people. And
having said“all, who participated” means not least the students.
Interviewer:
The students? But I heard you and your colleagues occasionally complaining a
little bit about the students. Was that a wrong impression?
Peter:
Of course we are complaining – it is a little bit part of the nature of teachers:
complaining. But let us be honest: the students face a tremendous challenge.
They enter a subject that is entirely new to them. Academic studying is a world
of entirely different thinking than we are used to – you may say they learn a new
language. And in the case of BCC, the students have to do this by using a
foreign language – all the work is undertaken in English. So you may say that
they are learning two languages at the same time. Taking up this challenge
deserves huge respect.
Interviewer:
Let me come to another point. Originally you signed a contract for one year –
and now you decided to stay for another year. Is that right? And if so, why did
you change your mind and stay on?
Peter:
There are different reasons – and in some way it is actually very much linked to
the first point. Throughout my life, I worked in different institutions: teaching at
different universities, having been lucky that I had been invited to join research
programmes – the latest was actually the position of Foreign Senior Expert in
Hangzhou. There had been many outstanding opportunities – and they had
been outstanding because I could join into excellent existing settings. I surly do
not want to miss that. However, here in Changsha the exciting challenge is to
be part of developing something that is more or less new: this joint venture
between the two universities. And as I worked for at least 30 years in
international settings, this seems to be a kind of master plan of my life. It is not
just working internationally, but it is also about contributing to shaping this
process. Of course, it is a small project if we look at the overall development of
international education. And my role in it is small tiny – just one of the many
teachers. Still, there are the different points to it. Working in a new project
means having the opportunity to develop something new. Also: my education is
very broad, beginning from economics and sociology, going to philosophy and
political science and including some law; my professional background
consists of teaching, researching and politics. From there I have a little bit the
ambition to mark the beginning of the teaching economics as something that
has to take a broad perspective, being more than areligion of equations. It has
to be a discipline for people’s real life. As such it can help us to
understand things and to make them work for everybody,not a minority. And not
least: people here are nice – and this is surely part of “excellence” – a term that
is so fashionable today. Real excellence is not least the ambition that we can
develop together something that has a small impact. There is a saying that we
as academics are standing of the shoulders as dwarfs: the administrators, the
teachers and not least the students. And we have to make sure that it moves
further by giving full respect to all sides that are involved. Any dominance from
one side would be dangerous. It also means that the process of mutual
learning need to be emphasised more.
Interviewer:
Thank you for the time.
one world – another meaning of globalisationCuba exhorta a afianzar estrategias contra la intervención imperialista en la región
El ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, exhortó a la Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América (Alba-TCP) a afianzar estrategias contra la intervención imperialista. CARACAS.—El Sigue leyendo →
Sorgente: Cuba exhorta a afianzar estrategias contra la intervención imperialista en la región
COMMEDIA DELLA VITA OR PÁNTA RÊI'S FIRM GROUND 