Continuing on the theme of yesterday’s post: could future economic research be conducted in Medical schools rather than Economics departments? A growing branch of economics is neuroeconomics (click here for its learned society), which is where neural scientists and economists study the human brain in attempt to get a handle on economic behaviour. Robert Shiller, a leading behavioural economist, believes that the future of economics lies in a better understanding of how Keynes’s idea of animal spirits (our emotions and our less-than-rational psychological make-up) affects our behaviour. You can read an op-ed piece by Shiller here and his co-authored book with George Akerlof is here.
According to Robert Shiller , speaking at Davos, Bitcoin is a perfect example of a bubble - story here . Shiller sees Bitcoin as a backwards step in the evolution of money. George Selgin , a free banker, takes an opposing view - click here . Although he doesn't believe that Bitcoin is money, he sees its development as a fascinating turn in the evolution of money. In particular, he lauds the fact that Bitcoin production is constrained and cannot be infinite. There is a short video below where Bitcoin explain how it works.