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An Economic Perspective on the Ant Colony
Ever since I explored the surrealism around Salvador Dali’s creative universe, I have been fascinated in particular by one of his prevailing iconographic motifs symbolizing death, putrefaction, moral degradation as well as his dark spectrum of sexual desires: the swarming ants. Dali’s artistry largely consisted of exposing his subconscious imagery through these seemingly unobtrusive symbols. Despite this, however, what do we actually know about ants? More
Three “Mister K” and Our Recovery from Eastern European “Kafkian” Absurdum
In Kafka’s novel, Das Schloß [The Castle], there is a gentleman bearing the name “K” who unsuccessfully tries to obtain a hearing with the enigmatic ruler of a bureaucratic citadel dominating, physically and psychically, an alienated village community, to secure a living in that surreal neighbourhood. In Der Prozess [The Trial], a certain Joseph K. gets arrested and accused by an obscure authority for a crime never unveiled, either to him or anyone else (including the millions of readers of the novel). In Amerika [America], the main character, Karl Rossmann, lives a David-Coppefield-ian life within an illusive and deluding “new world”. All three novels are part of the “absurdist literature”, are unfinished and are posthumous. Even though Kafka didn’t experience communism, his novels can be seen as a crude premonition of that epoch. In the present essay we shall speak, however, about three different characters whose names start with the Kafkian effigy “K” and whose professional careers were devoted to the extraction of Eastern Europe from the absurdum of communism: the Polish philosopher and historian of ideas Leszek Kołakowski (1927-2009), the Hungarian economist János Kornai (1928-2021) and the ex-President of the Czech Republic Václav Klaus (b. 1941). More
Social Justice – A Key Tool to Fight Against Social Inequality
By considering that social justice is a principle for generating the basic structure of the society, three such approaches to social justice theory are known in the specialty literature: the approach based on fairness, the approach based on capability and the approach based on entitlement. Some considerations about each type of approach will be presented below. More
The Macroeconomic Dashboard: From Financial to Corona Crisis
Worldwide, economies periodically face cyclical evolutions, economic crises, shocks generated by exogenous factors of the economic system, as is happening right now amid the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The common ground of these developments is the need for policies able to support the economy and to establish the necessary corrections, in accordance with imbalances. Nevertheless, solutions must be accurately identified and adapted to the real causes of crises, otherwise economic treatment will fail. More
The Lords of the Olympic Rings
The idea of sport is associated with peace in an almost reflexive manner. At the same time, prosperity is being called into the arena of sport’s allies. But if we overcome the reflexes and become reflective, we can take into account the counter-opinions to the standard pleadings according to which sports competitions, for example the Olympic Games, both in their original, ancient expression and in modern and contemporary forms, would be, politically, victories against war, and, economically, it would mean triumphs against (of?) waste. More
Requiem for the Forever War
The Biden Administration, contrary to its partisans’ and detractors’ expectations that it would dither or outright renege on the previous Administration’s plans to exit Afghanistan (overtly), pulled the trigger on a ramshackle retreat that created incredibly bad optics and elicited negative reactions from around the world, especially from allies. The problem of whether to take in Afghan refugees and how many is already starting to rear its head in the domestic politics of Western countries, and will assume center stage once all of the countries have removed their nationals from Afghanistan. The latter is an incredible oversight given the transparent nature of the term for American retreat from Afghanistan, and illustrates both the incredulity, up until the last minute, that the Biden Administration would keep to the deal and the shocking nature of the Taliban’s series of victories over the Kabul Government. More
The Lockdown-Quagmire
Economics tells us that every decision comes at a cost, an opportunity cost. In the same period of time that I am writing this article, I could have done other things. Deciding to spend time writing automatically entails missing out, for example, on watching TV, reading a book, or writing other pieces. The missed opportunities are the costs of writing this article. More
New Institutional Economics, the Anthropomorphization of Institutions and Pathologies of Organisations
One of the main weaknesses of New Institutional Economics (NIE), identified by Herbert Alexander Simon (1991), is the inability of NIE to understand organizations, and thus the institutions themselves, on account of the fact that the mechanisms and tools used in this sense had been derived from neoclassical economics and from the market. More
Benedetto Croce – Liberal, Idealist, Activist (In This Order)
Many people throughout history are known for acts of great courage and grand conquests. Some live by through immortal creations forever bearing their name. Others were examples of irreproachable ethics and conduct, strength of character and Olympian serenity. They are usually separated in men which demonstrated either active or passive involvement in asserting dedication to their ideals, much more rarely both. But even far less are those who showed they had achieved all these signs of distinction during their lifetime, troubled by the fatality of history and hazardous game of eras. In the shade of the dusk of epochs rise strong characters ready to resist the darkness of upcoming times and bring back the light spread by the flame of liberty. After years of spiritual wickedness, ethical scarcity and social cowardice, it is possible that justice be made. If so, those who once took up their role as freedom fighters and tirelessly took action in favour of what they believed to be just shall get their sincere recognition from their admirers. More
Penetrating the Fog of Culture War
Protracted conflict is a historical phenomenon. It attends upon every systemic breakdown and the ensuing quest for a new equilibrium. Every revolutionary movement issues from a position of physical inferiority vis‑a‑vis the defender of the status quo. The revolutionary movement, to assure its final victory, must perforce rely more upon the breadth of its vision than the strength of its arms. Its strategy derives from a superior understanding of the total historic situation; the spectrum of revolutionary conflict techniques is as wide as the entire scale of social change. Within that spectrum, a central intelligence organizes and phases the instruments of conflict ‑‑ political, economic, psychological, technological and military. That central intelligence discerns potential weapons where the defender of the status quo sees only the tools of peace; in short, it turns plowshares into swords.[1] More
The Obese State – A Political Metaphor or a Milestone?
This is not the place and the occasion to deeply discuss the crucial (and endless) issue of the size of the state and its involvement in society (especially in the economy). From the minimal state shaped by the invisible hand (Nozick), to the contractual state instituted on basic principles (Rawls), to the socialist state constituted as the big brother, all of these versions have their pros and cons. However, regarding any of these types of state, a common topic could be of interest: the efficacy and/or efficiency of the works of the state. Regarding the public money, the efficacy of the state intervention (either through regulation/deregulation or through public spending) seems to be of interest (both politically and ethically) – thus, if an objective of common interest must be accomplished, the question of efficiency is not relevant at all; the only relevance is carried by the efficacy of the intervention. I strongly and irremediably believe that the money public should be associated with efficacy only. But is this belief beyond any doubt? Honestly, I have to accept that it is not. The main reason to doubt consists in the very structure of the public sector (nb: the private domain of the state is another issue entirely). I shall provide some considerations in this area. More
Crypto-Kim: Blockchain, Yes; Break Chains, No
The incredible speed with which technology has developed has often left a gap in the regulation of their use. The lack of regulation has become extremely visible in the field of cryptocurrencies, which can be termed as “virtual money” lacking intrinsic value like gold or state backing like fiat currencies. While they are mostly known for their speculative potential, virtual currencies are also used for practical purposes, facilitating e-commerce but also for less orthodox purposes such as illicit trafficking, terrorism, masking illicit earnings and tax evasion. North Korea has taken full advantage of the lax regulations and by using them the Pyongyang government has been able to secure luxury goods that it could not have had access to because of Western economic sanctions. As a determined and sophisticated international player in terms of cybersecurity, in a constant search for financial resources to meet its needs and ambitions, North Korea is expected to continue its efforts to identify ways in which to obtain and spend cryptocurrencies. The prospect of Pyongyang engaging in large-scale operations to avoid sanctions and using virtual currencies as a means of paying for luxury goods and services, or for easing import prohibition, is a risk that could increase in the future and needs to be addressed accordingly. Southeast Asian states are extremely vulnerable to the various types of illicit activities in which North Korea engages using virtual currencies. The ineffective approaches to regulating virtual currencies in the region create a galling systemic risk in the cryptocurrency industry that North Korea will try to make full use of. More
