Mars van Grunsven

Samples

FIGHTING ECONOMIC DOCTRINES – November 2, 2016
James Galbraith’s ideas fit well within the intellectual tradition of his father, the famous economist Galbraith, once a trusted adviser to JFK. Yet the son is considered a leftist outsider. “The current doctrines are absurd.”
Groene – James Galbraith (Dutch)

THE NEXT AMERICAN REVOLUTION
— April 22, 2015
For economic change, Gar Alperovitz stopped looking at the American political system a long time ago. Instead he puts his hopes on the rise of a “democratized” economy.
Groene – The cooperative economy (Dutch)

“YOU, YOU, SOFT-MARXIST!” — May 27, 2014
Thomas Piketty’s historic-economical study of income inequality in western democracies has – who knew? – led to some introspection on both ends of the ideological spectrum.
Groene – Piketty-debat (PDF, Dutch)

LOOK, A NAKED BANKER — March 13, 2013
Let us not be fooled by the false arguments bankers use against reform, write the economists Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig: stronger equity requirements for banks would lead to a safer financial system.
NRC – The Bankers’ New Clothes (PDF, Dutch)

“RESTORE THE LABEL MADE IN AMERICA”
— November 3, 2012
The activist Harry Moser makes the case for reshoring. “If we can bring the production of frisbees back from China to an expensive state like California, anything is possible.”
NRC – Reshoring Initiative (PDF, Dutch)

THE END OF GROWTH — June 9, 2011
Economic policies in developed economies are still dominated by a stubborn pursuit of economic growth, while ignoring huge inequalities and damages to the biosphere. Our political and academic elites don’t seem to notice.
Groene – Essay Growth (PDF, Dutch)

“POLITICIANS SUFFER FROM POST LEHMAN TRAUMA”
— May 10, 2011
As the big banks report results as if it’s 2006 again, the economist Simon Johnson steps up his criticism of the financial sector. “The incentives to take big risks are bigger than ever.”
NRC – Interview Johnson (PDF, Dutch)

GOOGLE ISN’T NEUTRAL, EITHER — April 28, 2011
The current debate about net neutrality—the principle that each internet user should have equal access to any website or application—has come too late: the big corporations have already won.
Groene – Net Neutrality (PDF, Dutch)

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL — May 5, 2011
In the Berkshires one can pay both in dollars and in BerkShares, the local currency. Its objective: to increase local production and build a sustainable economy.
NRC – Local Currency in the Berkshires (PDF, Dutch)

“OUR CAPITALISM IS SO SHORT-TERM FOCUSED”
— February 25, 2011
Governments all over the world should prepare for the effects of climate change, warns Mark Hertsgaard. He worries about the US. “Social context determines if a country is ready for what’s coming.”
NRC – HOT (PDF, Dutch)

“AMERICANS WILL NOT MODERATE UNTIL THE DOLLAR COLLAPSES” — January 18, 2011
The US is addicted to debt. As long as the nation’s trading partners want to finance this addiction, Americans will continue to live beyond their means, predicts investment banker Christopher Whalen.
NRC – Addicted to Debt (PDF, Dutch)

SCRAP METAL AS LAST HOPE — December 24, 2010
In Camden, the nation’s poorest and most dangerous city, a humanitarian and ecological disaster is unfolding. “When desperate, people do horrendous things to each other.”
NRC – The Forgotten People of Camden (PDF, Dutch)

THE BEAUTY OF HEDGE FUNDS — September 9, 2010
Hedge funds are the future of finance, argues Sebastian Mallaby in More Money than God. “When hedge funds collapse, it doesn’t cost the taxpayer a dime.”
Groene – Interview Sebastian Mallaby (PDF, Dutch)

LAISSEZ-FAIRE NO LONGER GOES — July 21, 2010
The destructive effects of the financial crises have forced our economists to do some profound introspection. Even the hard-boiled free-market ideologists of the Chicago School of Economists can’t escape it.
Groene – Chicago Economics (PDF, Dutch)

“LENDING IS RISKIER THAN CREATING NEW BUBBLES” — June 16, 2010
Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz gives his grim outlook for the global economy.
Tages-Anzeiger – Interview Stiglitz (German)

“ELITES HAVE ALWAYS PROTECTED THEMSELVES”
— August 8, 2009
Gillian Tett’s new book, Fool’s Gold, offers an anthropologist’s perspective to the financial sector, whose tribal instincts Tett holds responsible for the collapse of the global economy.
Daily Beast – An Anthropologist’s View on Banking