Below, I’ve embedded a talk given by Tomas Sedlacek at the RSA in London. Sedlacek is a young, Czech economist/historian/philosopher who has written and spoken about the problems of economics in both it’s current & historical context.
Something that is noticeable in Sedlacek’s economic thinking is the moral philosophy aspect. Most economists often speak with a lot of “shoulds”, but very few have any real background in the history or moral philosophy behind economics. In this regard, Sedlacek is a refreshing break from a lot of the economic thinkers who focus too narrowly, or don’t incorporate historical thinking.
In any case, it’s worth checking out.
A few take-aways from Sedlacek’s talk:
- Economics is now a religion – we ask it today, the same questions that we asked Gods in earlier days.
- Compares the dicey relationship of monetary policy & fiscal policy to JRR Tolkien’s Ring in Lord of the Rings. A force that is too powerful to be allowed to exist.
- How interest is analogous to alcohol. Interest & alcohol are similar in that that they allow us to make energy time-travel from the future to the present for the purposes of current consumption (and leverage).
- Talks about the wisdom of Aristotle, the Islamic tradition & the Pharaohs with respect to interest rates & business cycles.
Additional Resources:
Does Economics Trump Ethics? Does it Pay to Be Good? (link)
Thomas Sedlacek’s site
