The economic discipline has a long tradition on micro- and macroeconomics which aid the policy debates regarding contemporary issues. These days, besides governments having to deal with rising inflation, increasing wealth inequality or high levels of unemployment, the...
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Past, Current and Future Macroeconomic Models
The Great Recession after the financial crisis gave rise to a lot of criticism of contemporary macroeconomic models. The standard modeling assumptions were severely challenged by scholars and policy makers, as they could not account for frictions in the financial...
A crash course in general equilibrium theory
I have always had a weakness for history lessons. Although very different from the standard optimal control problems and differential equations I am solving in my studies, I find that the lessons we can learn from great previous minds are both insightful and...
Eating your cake the right way
For some reason I always have a hard time making inter-temporal decisions. Should I drink a few more beers tonight, taking into account that I have a lecture at 9 am tomorrow? Should I buy that new piece of clothing or save to accumulate some (possibly negative)...
Rising inflation and the Taylor Rule
I recently noticed that in the last few months, my favorite pack of oatmeal went up in price by 40%, from 50 cents to a whopping 70. Not only that, but the beers at the ‘Negende Cirkel’ have probably increased as well (I have to check it when I am sober, though)....
The economics of discounting climate change
Environmental economics is a study at the intersection of both ecological and economic processes. After all, one of the reasons the earth is warming is because of the continuing growth of our economy and our reliance on fossil fuels. Although numerous efforts have...
The Legacy of Frank Ramsey
In history, there have been numerous influential scholars in the field of economics and econometrics. Think for instance of John Maynard Keynes, who is known for his influence in macroeconomics through the Keynesian School. Or think of Adam Smith, who introduced the...
The winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics 2021
On the 11th of October the Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to David Card, Joshua Angrist and Guido Imbens “for their methodological contributions to the analysis of causal relationships”. Loosely speaking, these researchers are looking at ways to address several...
How Game Theory can help in environmental treaties
The bank robbery that you planned with your best friend, Llyod Shapley, did not go as successfully as you both expected. Multiple things were working against you after you hid the stolen money and as a result you both ended up in the police station. Both taken to a...
The influence of the Austrian School in Economics
If you are a student in Econometrics or Economics, the concept of marginal utility should ring a bell. From your first-year course in microeconomics to the more advanced courses later in your bachelor, the concept plays an important role in understanding...