Essays & News

Behavioral scientists have observed that man as a species has developed an ability to ignore threatening or negative information. We tend not to look closely at bank statements showing debt or disturbing results of medical tests. Surprisingly, people with higher IQs are even more prone to this mental displacement than the less gifted. Such behavior […]

Trumponomics is worth a second look | The public perception of President Donald Trump’s economic program is that it is a chaotic mix of protectionist measures, tax relief for rich people, uncoordinated increases in infrastructure spending and antisocial cuts in healthcare benefits. However, it may be worth taking a closer look at the administration’s agenda […]

Originally published on asiasentinel.com The problem of debt in China is not the bursting of a bubble. It is much worse. As the Middle Kingdom approaches the worldwide record of accumulated debt, productivity losses are becoming increasingly apparent. That is very bad news. Every economy relies of a certain amount of debt. That is an […]

Österreichisch oder Austrian? Im Dunstkreis Wiens ereignete sich zwischen den Jahren 1880 und 1930 ein Big Bang moderner Wissenschaft. Kein Wunder: Jene Stadt war das kosmopolitische Zentrum nicht nur der österreichisch-ungarischen Monarchie. Am Donauufer wurde ernsthafte Wissenschaft im Diskurs mit der Realität betrieben. Zum Vergleich: Deutsche Universitäten stilisierten sich in ewiger Wiederholung historischer Ideen oder […]

In June 2016, Switzerland held a referendum on whether to introduce a guaranteed basic income (GBI) for all. Under such a system, governments regularly pay out a sum that would cover subsistence to each individual over the course of their entire lives. It was argued that since work was increasingly automated, fewer jobs were available. […]