Mitchell, B. (2014) “Still sinning … a German economist who cannot face facts“, Bill Mitchell Blog: Modern Monetary Theory… Macroeconomic Reality, 23 Οκτωβρίου.
German economist Hans-Werner Sinn, who has been implacably opposed to the Eurozone bailouts and so-called debt mutualisation is at it again with an article in the UK Guardian yesterday (October 22, 2014) – Europe can learn from the US and make each state liable for its own debt – calling for Eurozone states to be forced to take responsibility for their own public debt and became bankrupt if that responsibility leads private creditors to cease providing funds to these states. Like all these vehement (and often German) perspectives on the Eurozone crisis, his solution based on a comparison with the federal arrangements in the US, leaves out the crucial element that renders the comparison invalid – the lack of a federal fiscal function in the Eurozone (compared to the US). Further, his solution would have led to the Eurozone breaking up in 2010 had it been implemented at that time. It’s what happens when one is blinkered by an ideology that does not permit evidence and experience to modify its more extreme dimensions. I have discussed the ideas of Hans-Werner Sinn previously in these blogs – Rescue packages and iron boots and Defaulting on public debt as a way to progress and Selective versions of history, driven by a blinkered ideology, always fail.
It seems that Dr Sinn is not an adaptive creature who learns from his mistakes.
Back in 2012, Dr Sinn appeared before the German Constitutional Court which was considering whether the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is “compatible with Germany’s constitution”. In this regard, there was an interesting article on German economist Hans-Werner Sinn in Der Spiegel (July 1, 2012) – Professor Propaganda Is German Economist Exacerbating Euro Crisis?.
Σχετικές αναρτήσεις:
- Mitchell, B. (2014) “The German experiment has failed“, Mainly Macro Blog, 07 Οκτωβρίου.
- The European Magazine: Conversations, Interview with Philippe Legrain, “Germany is undermining future growth”, 20 Σεπτεμβρίου 2014.
- Daveri, F. (2014) “The German surplus and the Eurosceptics“, VoxEU Organisation, 28 Μαΐου.