International Macroeconomics
-
The GameStop Frenzy Showed How Desperately We Need A Narrative Finance
In January 2021 GameStop, a brick-and-mortar games vendor, saw its stock rise 1,700 percent. Institutional investors like the hedge fund Melvin Capital had approximately shorted 140 percent of GameStop’s public float, which some retail investors on Reddit took note of. Redditors also believed that the stock was undervalued and in January the situation reached its…
-
Alternatives to ESG
With the 13th of the UN Sustainable Development Goals aiming to take urgent action to combat climate change, many countries turned their attention to the reduction of emission to achieve net- zero by 2025. As a result, investments in low-carbon solutions are increasingly gaining importance and it poses the question of the role of the…
-
The Economics of Bitcoin and Digital Assets
Just recently, Bitcoin was able to surpass a market capitalization of 1 Trillion US-Dollars. What is driving this exponential price move, and what are the fundamental economic mechanisms behind it? This piece examines some of the micro- and macroeconomic phenomena surrounding the new asset class of cryptocurrencies.
-
Universal Basic Income – Utopia or Realism?
Free money for everyone. A proposal, which sounds like a utopia has existed for centuries and has even been promoted by the founders of the ne- oliberal thought, Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek. It’s the talk of an universal basic income, a fixed amount, transferred every month by the state to the citizens, independent of…
-
Ergodicity Economics – Valid Criticism of Traditional Economic Theory or an Imprudent Diatribe?
Ergodicity Economics is a recent field that allegedly contests traditional economic theory. This piece introduces the claims of ergodicity economics and discusses whether and to which extent they are justified.
-
Average Inflation Targeting
After years of unsuccessful inflation target policy, the Fed announced a drastic change to its policy on the 27th August 2020: The average inflation target- ing. In contrast to inflation targeting, this policy measure allows inflation to run higher than the 2% target, having further effects on future expectations and unemployment levels. In the New…
-
Interview with Jean-Pierre Roth
Jean-Pierre Roth was Chairman of the Swiss National Bank’s Governing Board from 2001 to 2009, during which time he also served as the Swiss Governor of the International Monetary Fund. From 2006 to 2009, he was also Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank of International Settlements in Basel. Jean-Pierre Roth was elected…
-
Curbing the Patent Application Overflow in the US – A Basic Policy Proposal
The United States Patent and Trademark Office is facing an overflow of applications. Scholars in the field of innovation have already put forth a plethora of suggestions to improve a patent system that they perceive to be broken. Building on an idea by Risch (2010) and drawing from the literature on cognitive bias, this proposal…