Tag Archives: financial crisis

Connecting the Instability of Markets and Ecosystems – C.S. Holling and Hyman Minsky

Both markets and ecosystems can, and have, been viewed as being shaped by feedback processes that push them towards a steady state – in markets this is the “invisible hand” – in ecology it is “succession.”  However, what has been … Continue reading

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Analysis of impact of recent global crises on development

In the Guardian’s Poverty Matters blog Lawrence Haddad, director of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) in the UK, writes What impact have the global crises had on development thinking? He summarizes some of the findings from an effort at … Continue reading

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The developing world economies rise following financial crisis

From the Economist, the GDP per person has risen rapidly in some developing countries while stagnating in rich countries:

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Three Videos: Fractals, Crisis of Capitalism, and Bottled Water

Three very different videos on fractals, capitalism, and bottled water. 1) A TED talk by the inventor of fractal Benoit Mandelbrot. 2) An animation of the prominent economic geographer David Harvey presenting his view of the global financial crisis. 3) … Continue reading

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Burning and Looting

What caused the financial crisis? Was the it the models, the expectations, correlated risks, non-transparency, dangerous financial innovation, or weak regulations? It was probably all of the above, but recently it has become clear that the banks caused it as … Continue reading

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Planes & Volcanoes vs. Banks & CDOs

P O Neill of Fistful of Euros compares The volcano crisis and the financial crisis: Are the two crises alike? Consider the similarities. In each, an unexpected event in a forgotten part of the system ends up having global ramifications. … Continue reading

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Dubai’s new tower

The world’s tallest building has just been opened in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The Toronto Globe and Mail writes: Soaring 200 storeys and 828 metres into the sky, the world’s tallest structure has opened in Dubai, a monument … Continue reading

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Paradoxes of efficient market theory

Complex systems scientist Cosma Shalizi reviews economic journalist Justin Fox‘s book The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street for American Scientist magazine in the article Twilight of the Efficient Markets: The … Continue reading

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Oil Prices and the Financial Crisis

The Financial Times suggests that the IEA agrees with Herman Daly (at least a little bit), in  Did oil cause the latest recession? IEA weighs into the debate: A feature in the draft executive summary of the IEA’s World Energy … Continue reading

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Minsky’s Financial Instability Hypothesis

Historian Stephen Mihm writes in the Boston Review on Hyman Minsky‘s work on the unstable dynamics of capitalism in Why capitalism fails: Minsky called his idea the “Financial Instability Hypothesis.” In the wake of a depression, he noted, financial institutions … Continue reading

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