Economic thought is formed by different, sometimes competing theories. Of many things that unite them, the assumptions about human nature that make all analysis possible come to the fore. These assumptions evolved along with the progress of knowledge in various disciplines, translating into modifications of theories recognised by scholars along with the displacement of the…
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Subsidies or Cash Transfers. Dilemmas of Global Response to Inflation
23 May 2023 (The Magazine of Warsaw School of Economics) On 16 May 2023, a scientific conference Subsidies or Cash Transfers. Dilemmas of Global Response to Inflation was held at the SGH Warsaw School of Economics. The aim of the conference was to discuss the social aid provided in many countries of the world in…
The Bretton Woods System and Its Legacy: Interview with prof. Zbigniew Polański
On 1 July 1944, a monetary and financial conference began at a hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire (USA), attended by representatives of 44 allied countries. The result of the conference included the creation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), whose main task was to stabilise the exchange rates of national currencies. The main architect…
Młynarski vs Triffin: One or two dilemmas? Part IV (from The Bretton Woods System and Its Legacy. From the Gold to a Digital Standard)
Conclusion Triffin’s dilemma cannot be called Młynarski’s dilemma, because the latter turned out to be a paradox, which means that these concepts are not identical. Triffin’s dilemma is to some extent an extension of this paradox, because it refers to the problems of the threat to the convertibility of the dollar into gold and the…
Młynarski vs Triffin: One or two dilemmas? Part III (from The Bretton Woods System and Its Legacy. From the Gold to a Digital Standard)
Młynarski vs Triffin Although both Młynarski and Triffin considered the GES system a threat to the stability of the international monetary system, they perceived its nature differently. Młynarski was convinced that GES had a built-in inflationary mechanism (Młynarski 1929, p. 87): Having inflationary effects and complicating the process of adjustment of prices, the gold exchange…
Młynarski vs Triffin: One or two dilemmas? Part II (from The Bretton Woods System and Its Legacy. From the Gold to a Digital Standard)
Młynarski’s attitude to the Gold Exchange Standard Triffin’s view on the weaknesses of GES was determined primarily by his knowledge of the specificity of this system in the period of 1922-1931[1], while Młynarski’s attitude (1884-1972) to its defects resulted from his perception of the Polish economist, who considered it as an imperfect substitute for the…
Młynarski vs Triffin: One or two dilemmas? Part I (from The Bretton Woods System and Its Legacy. From the Gold to a Digital Standard)
Economic life, like nature, has its laws but it does not believe in miracles. The reconstruction of the country through printing paper money was an artificial and nervous process. Paper money is like morphine, which excites giving rise to immediate and great but temporary effects, the reaction comes later. Our current crisis is just…
Criticism of the direct calculation and the system of incentives in socialism Part III (from the Janusz Gedymin Zieliński 1931-1979. Portrait of an Economist)
The most important aspect of the centrally planned economy, which was criticised by Zieliński, was the direct calculation connected with the wrong system of incentives. The economic calculation includes all the methods necessary for an economic entity to choose the optimal path to achieve the objective (Juszczyński, 1968, p. 73).The economic calculation in the socialist…
Information asymmetry in the centrally planned and market economy (Part II; from the Janusz Gedymin Zieliński 1931-1979. Portrait of an Economist)
The issue of information asymmetry has always been an important subject of consideration by economists. According to some of them, it is responsible for the market failure and justifies state intervention. Zieliński’s approach to this issue deserves a special attention due to its originality. Zieliński referred to the problem of information asymmetry, referring to the…
Janusz Gedymin Zieliński on the limitations of capitalism and socialism Part I ( from the Janusz Gedymin Zieliński 1931-1979. Portrait of an Economist)
Capitalism and socialism and the problem of monopolisation The monopolisation of the capitalist economy at the turn of the 20th century led to social tensions due to the growing gap between the level of remuneration of the labour factor and the profits from capital. Economists, faced with the increasing role of large companies in manufacturing,…
Introduction to the chapter The Wakar School of Economics
Introduction to the chapter The Wakar School of Economics by Ryszard Bartkowiak (excerpted from Janusz Gedymin Zieliński 1931-1979. Portrait of an economist, Warsaw School of Economics) If a school of scientific thinking is considered to be a circle of researchers who, initially focus on their master and founder, profess and develop a common scientific view,…
Introduction to Janusz Gedymin Zieliński 1931-1979. Portrait of an economist
Introduction to Janusz Gedymin Zieliński 1931-1979. Portrait of an economist by Małgorzata Korczyk This book, devoted to the achievements of Janusz Gedymin Zieliński, is important not only because of the value of the memory of a prominent Polish economist, but also because of the topicality of some of the issues which the author raises. The…
Old Economic Theories And The Present Time
We often wonder whether theories in the field of social sciences created decades or hundreds of years ago can be useful in the analysis of contemporary phenomena. This problem also applies to economic theories, which create the science of economics not by means of the direct accumulation of knowledge and replacement of old concepts with…