Peter Bernholz - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Peter Bernholz
Kyklos, 1984
This course addresses the study of three kinds of national economic performance: the growth of gr... more This course addresses the study of three kinds of national economic performance: the growth of gross domestic product, the stabilization of prices and of financial markets, and the distribution of income and wealth. As is elaborated in the schedule of meetings, topics and assignments, the course examines the following questions: Why are some nations rich and others poor? Are financial crises avoidable or inevitable? Does economic growth reduce poverty, increase inequality, or both? What do political and economic institutions have to do with the answers to the above questions? What do geography and culture have to do with them? To what extent are the answers to these questions under human control? What kinds of difference can and do governments make? This class meets 26 times. A list of dates, topics, detailed assignments and supplementary readings is below. Course Requirements: You are expected to do all of the reading assignments, to attend class ready to discuss the assignments, and to write a substantial research paper. Three fifths of your grade will be based on the paper, and two fifths on participation. Participation: You can't participate unless you are in class. You will be given two unexcused absences, and otherwise absence will cut into your participation grade. You are asked to formulate one question or comment on the readings for each class, whether you attend or not, and these questions will be graded as follows: Satisfactory, Marginal, and Unsatisfactory. Not submitting a question will result in an Unsatisfactory grade for that class. You are permitted two grades of U for the semester. After that, one point will be subtracted from your total final grade for each U. I will not be able to respond individually to each question, but if you don't hear from me, you may assume a "Satisfactory." Please aim at about 100 words for your questions. A good question or comment will not be obvious, but will have some subtlety. It may relate the reading at issue to other readings or to general knowledge or conventional wisdom. These questions shall be available to me and to all of the class by 7:00 am on the day of the reading in question. Your participation grade will also be based on the quality and regularity of your oral participation in class. Research paper: You are asked to write a substantial research paper of 5,000 to 7,000 words. (Four double spaced pages of 12 point type comprise about 1,000 words.) You must negotiate your topic with me, and you are asked to pick a general topic by September 12 (meeting 6). We should begin discussing this as soon as possible. A prospectus will be due September 26 (meeting 10). This means a title, a problem or issue statement in a paragraph, and an outline in sentences of how you will address the topic. A first draft will be due October 22 (meeting 17). This first draft will have a title, an abstract, and will flesh out an outline with prose paragraphs. You will make a short presentation to the class on
Routledge Explorations in Economic History, 2007
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2008
The SouthEastern European Monetary History Network (SEEMHN) is a community of financial historian... more The SouthEastern European Monetary History Network (SEEMHN) is a community of financial historians, economists and statisticians, established in April 2006 at the initiation of the Bulgarian National Bank and the Bank of Greece. Its objective is to spread knowledge on the economic history of the region in the context of European experience with a specific focus on financial, monetary and banking history. The First and the Second Annual Conferences were held in Sofia (BNB) in 2006 and in Vienna (OeNB) in 2007. Additionally, the SEEMHN Data Collection Task Force aims at establishing a historical data base with 19 th and 20 th century financial and monetary data for countries in the region. A set of data has already been
Monetary Regimes and Inflation
Forum für osteuropäische Ideen -und Zeitgeschichte, 1997
Ideology, Sects, State and Totalitarianism: A General Theory ' Juan Linz (1975) provides a drawin... more Ideology, Sects, State and Totalitarianism: A General Theory ' Juan Linz (1975) provides a drawing of a political space with three dimensions to locate ideal types of authoritarian regimes. He also uses arrows to indicate their possible movements in time (Fig. 1, p.278).
It is advantageous for a country like Switzerland to hold part of its central bank reserves in go... more It is advantageous for a country like Switzerland to hold part of its central bank reserves in gold, even given a discretionary monetary regime with flexible exchange rates. This in spite of the fact, that the return on gold reserves is usually lower than that on foreign exchange reserves. Reasons are first, the greater security of gold reserves kept at home. For foreign exchange reserves are claims against foreign banks and authorities, which can be blocked any time for political reason. Second, short and especially long-term movements of exchange rates are often more important than that of the gold price. Finally, the selling of gold reserves in favor of political authorities or purposes implies political struggle for the distribution of the proceeds as witnessed by recent events in Switzerland. Finally, in comparing the return on gold and foreign exchange reserves not only the respective nominal returns, but also the long-term development of the prices of gold and the respective ...
Conventional wisdom has that peripheral economies had to “play by the rules of the game” under th... more Conventional wisdom has that peripheral economies had to “play by the rules of the game” under the Classical Gold Standard (1870s–1914), while core countries could get away with frequent violations. Drawing on the experience of three core economies (England, France, Germany) and seven peripheral economies (AustriaHungary, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Norway, Serbia, Sweden), this paper argues for a more nuanced perspective on the European periphery. Our findings, based on a VAR model and impulse response functions, suggest that the average gold drain differed substantially across peripheral economies, with Austria-Hungary and Italy playing in a league with Germany and France rather than with the other peripheral economies. We also show that some of the peripheral economies, most notably Austria-Hungary, always enjoyed enough “pulling power” via discount rate policy to reverse quickly any such gold outflow. In sum, while the experience of some peripheral economies under gold was poor and...
The macroeconomic monetary approach is widely used to explain periods of high inflation. It combi... more The macroeconomic monetary approach is widely used to explain periods of high inflation. It combines traditional money demand functions with perfect foresight and the creation of money to finance a budget deficit. By confronting the results of this approach with the empirical characteristics of inflationary processes, it is shown that the respective models are, on the whole, inadequate
We have shown that Ideocracies, that is Totalitarian Regimes and Mature Ideocracies are political... more We have shown that Ideocracies, that is Totalitarian Regimes and Mature Ideocracies are political regimes.
Procesos De Mercado Revista Europea De Economia Politica, 2014
Rabels Zeitschrift Fuer Auslaendisches Und Internationales Privatrecht, 1986
Hacienda Publica Espanola, 1993
International Studies in Economics and Econometrics, 1987
The fundamental problem of rational calculation in a socialist economy was stated as early as 187... more The fundamental problem of rational calculation in a socialist economy was stated as early as 1874 by the German economist Albert Schaffle in his The Quintessence of Socialism: Without the introduction of use value into social accounting, i.e., without analogous imitation of all value-determining processes of the present market, it would be unthinkable that some supreme board of the integrated production system could keep the demand for labor and goods quantitively and in kind in agreement with the stocks of labor and goods; i.e., could maintain the economic equilibrium of labor and use which is nowadays brought about from day to day … under the influence of market prices responding also to changing use values (demands).
Ordnungstheorie und Ordnungspolitik, 1991
Die gegenwartige — im Jahr 1914 einsetzende — Periode diskretionarer Wahrungspolitik hat sich als... more Die gegenwartige — im Jahr 1914 einsetzende — Periode diskretionarer Wahrungspolitik hat sich als eine Zeit standiger Inflation erwiesen. Die Inflationsraten reichten von niedrig und gemasigt bis zu hyperinflationar, waren aber fast nirgends und fast nur wahrend der Grosen Depression ganz verschwunden. Lander mit ziemlich unahhangigen Zentralbanken besasen zwar niedrigere Inflationsraten (Parkin und Bade, 1978), doch selbst dort waren die Langzeitwirkungen betrachtlich.
Ordnungstheorie und Ordnungspolitik, 1991
Die Evolution hat dem Menschen nicht nur korperliches, sondern auch geistiges Sehvermogen, Gedach... more Die Evolution hat dem Menschen nicht nur korperliches, sondern auch geistiges Sehvermogen, Gedachtnis und Phantasie gegeben. Im Gegensatz zu den Tieren ist der Mensch damit fahig, sich Bilder von der objektiven Welt zu machen. Er kann sich eine mogliche Zukunft vorstellen und sich ausmalen, welche Folgen sein Verhalten sowie das anderer Menschen haben konnte. Nach diesen Erwagungen kann er entscheiden, ob die erwarteten positiven Ergebnisse seiner eigenen Anstrengungen die damit verbundenen Kosten und Risiken wert sein konnten. Wenn er sich die moglichen Konsequenzen des Verhaltens anderer ausgemalt hat, kann er seinerseits Gegenmasnahmen ergreifen oder zumindest versuchen, sich den erwarteten Folgen zu entziehen. Weil die Menschen, wie Karl Popper es nennt, die »zweite Welt« der Vorstellung besitzen, sind sie in der Lage, ihre Ideen stellvertretend fur sich sterben zu lassen, anstatt Besitz, Gesundheit und womoglich Leben im direkten Konflikt mit der realen »ersten Welt« aufs Spiel zu setzen (Popper 1972).
Public Choice, 2006
Terrorism is becoming a weapon of ever increasing importance to reach certain ends, given the pot... more Terrorism is becoming a weapon of ever increasing importance to reach certain ends, given the potential of mass destruction available to leading international powers and the rise of one superpower dominating the international system. In most cases terrorism is driven by an ideology comprising a world view with supreme values. Since these values are absolutely true to believers, they have to be preferred to everything, so that terrorists are required to sacrifice not only the lives of others but also their own. It is therefore difficult to prevent this kind of terrorism. But the threatening damages can be mitigated by economic, technological and political decentralization. In the long run, it is even more important to win the spiritual fight. This can be done by starting from the fact that believers in ideologies whose supreme values are conflicting, can only live together peacefully, if they accept that each individual has the right to choose his or her own belief. A corresponding education has to prevent fundamentalist instruction and to inculcate the basic rules of a free society.
Procesos De Mercado Revista Europea De Economia Politica, 2013
This paper has already been published as a little bit shorter version in CESifo Forum, vol. 14, n... more This paper has already been published as a little bit shorter version in CESifo Forum, vol. 14, n.º 2, Summer 2013, pp. 61-74. I am grateful to Christoph Bauer for helpful cri tical comments.
Kyklos, 1984
This course addresses the study of three kinds of national economic performance: the growth of gr... more This course addresses the study of three kinds of national economic performance: the growth of gross domestic product, the stabilization of prices and of financial markets, and the distribution of income and wealth. As is elaborated in the schedule of meetings, topics and assignments, the course examines the following questions: Why are some nations rich and others poor? Are financial crises avoidable or inevitable? Does economic growth reduce poverty, increase inequality, or both? What do political and economic institutions have to do with the answers to the above questions? What do geography and culture have to do with them? To what extent are the answers to these questions under human control? What kinds of difference can and do governments make? This class meets 26 times. A list of dates, topics, detailed assignments and supplementary readings is below. Course Requirements: You are expected to do all of the reading assignments, to attend class ready to discuss the assignments, and to write a substantial research paper. Three fifths of your grade will be based on the paper, and two fifths on participation. Participation: You can't participate unless you are in class. You will be given two unexcused absences, and otherwise absence will cut into your participation grade. You are asked to formulate one question or comment on the readings for each class, whether you attend or not, and these questions will be graded as follows: Satisfactory, Marginal, and Unsatisfactory. Not submitting a question will result in an Unsatisfactory grade for that class. You are permitted two grades of U for the semester. After that, one point will be subtracted from your total final grade for each U. I will not be able to respond individually to each question, but if you don't hear from me, you may assume a "Satisfactory." Please aim at about 100 words for your questions. A good question or comment will not be obvious, but will have some subtlety. It may relate the reading at issue to other readings or to general knowledge or conventional wisdom. These questions shall be available to me and to all of the class by 7:00 am on the day of the reading in question. Your participation grade will also be based on the quality and regularity of your oral participation in class. Research paper: You are asked to write a substantial research paper of 5,000 to 7,000 words. (Four double spaced pages of 12 point type comprise about 1,000 words.) You must negotiate your topic with me, and you are asked to pick a general topic by September 12 (meeting 6). We should begin discussing this as soon as possible. A prospectus will be due September 26 (meeting 10). This means a title, a problem or issue statement in a paragraph, and an outline in sentences of how you will address the topic. A first draft will be due October 22 (meeting 17). This first draft will have a title, an abstract, and will flesh out an outline with prose paragraphs. You will make a short presentation to the class on
Routledge Explorations in Economic History, 2007
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2008
The SouthEastern European Monetary History Network (SEEMHN) is a community of financial historian... more The SouthEastern European Monetary History Network (SEEMHN) is a community of financial historians, economists and statisticians, established in April 2006 at the initiation of the Bulgarian National Bank and the Bank of Greece. Its objective is to spread knowledge on the economic history of the region in the context of European experience with a specific focus on financial, monetary and banking history. The First and the Second Annual Conferences were held in Sofia (BNB) in 2006 and in Vienna (OeNB) in 2007. Additionally, the SEEMHN Data Collection Task Force aims at establishing a historical data base with 19 th and 20 th century financial and monetary data for countries in the region. A set of data has already been
Monetary Regimes and Inflation
Forum für osteuropäische Ideen -und Zeitgeschichte, 1997
Ideology, Sects, State and Totalitarianism: A General Theory ' Juan Linz (1975) provides a drawin... more Ideology, Sects, State and Totalitarianism: A General Theory ' Juan Linz (1975) provides a drawing of a political space with three dimensions to locate ideal types of authoritarian regimes. He also uses arrows to indicate their possible movements in time (Fig. 1, p.278).
It is advantageous for a country like Switzerland to hold part of its central bank reserves in go... more It is advantageous for a country like Switzerland to hold part of its central bank reserves in gold, even given a discretionary monetary regime with flexible exchange rates. This in spite of the fact, that the return on gold reserves is usually lower than that on foreign exchange reserves. Reasons are first, the greater security of gold reserves kept at home. For foreign exchange reserves are claims against foreign banks and authorities, which can be blocked any time for political reason. Second, short and especially long-term movements of exchange rates are often more important than that of the gold price. Finally, the selling of gold reserves in favor of political authorities or purposes implies political struggle for the distribution of the proceeds as witnessed by recent events in Switzerland. Finally, in comparing the return on gold and foreign exchange reserves not only the respective nominal returns, but also the long-term development of the prices of gold and the respective ...
Conventional wisdom has that peripheral economies had to “play by the rules of the game” under th... more Conventional wisdom has that peripheral economies had to “play by the rules of the game” under the Classical Gold Standard (1870s–1914), while core countries could get away with frequent violations. Drawing on the experience of three core economies (England, France, Germany) and seven peripheral economies (AustriaHungary, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Norway, Serbia, Sweden), this paper argues for a more nuanced perspective on the European periphery. Our findings, based on a VAR model and impulse response functions, suggest that the average gold drain differed substantially across peripheral economies, with Austria-Hungary and Italy playing in a league with Germany and France rather than with the other peripheral economies. We also show that some of the peripheral economies, most notably Austria-Hungary, always enjoyed enough “pulling power” via discount rate policy to reverse quickly any such gold outflow. In sum, while the experience of some peripheral economies under gold was poor and...
The macroeconomic monetary approach is widely used to explain periods of high inflation. It combi... more The macroeconomic monetary approach is widely used to explain periods of high inflation. It combines traditional money demand functions with perfect foresight and the creation of money to finance a budget deficit. By confronting the results of this approach with the empirical characteristics of inflationary processes, it is shown that the respective models are, on the whole, inadequate
We have shown that Ideocracies, that is Totalitarian Regimes and Mature Ideocracies are political... more We have shown that Ideocracies, that is Totalitarian Regimes and Mature Ideocracies are political regimes.
Procesos De Mercado Revista Europea De Economia Politica, 2014
Rabels Zeitschrift Fuer Auslaendisches Und Internationales Privatrecht, 1986
Hacienda Publica Espanola, 1993
International Studies in Economics and Econometrics, 1987
The fundamental problem of rational calculation in a socialist economy was stated as early as 187... more The fundamental problem of rational calculation in a socialist economy was stated as early as 1874 by the German economist Albert Schaffle in his The Quintessence of Socialism: Without the introduction of use value into social accounting, i.e., without analogous imitation of all value-determining processes of the present market, it would be unthinkable that some supreme board of the integrated production system could keep the demand for labor and goods quantitively and in kind in agreement with the stocks of labor and goods; i.e., could maintain the economic equilibrium of labor and use which is nowadays brought about from day to day … under the influence of market prices responding also to changing use values (demands).
Ordnungstheorie und Ordnungspolitik, 1991
Die gegenwartige — im Jahr 1914 einsetzende — Periode diskretionarer Wahrungspolitik hat sich als... more Die gegenwartige — im Jahr 1914 einsetzende — Periode diskretionarer Wahrungspolitik hat sich als eine Zeit standiger Inflation erwiesen. Die Inflationsraten reichten von niedrig und gemasigt bis zu hyperinflationar, waren aber fast nirgends und fast nur wahrend der Grosen Depression ganz verschwunden. Lander mit ziemlich unahhangigen Zentralbanken besasen zwar niedrigere Inflationsraten (Parkin und Bade, 1978), doch selbst dort waren die Langzeitwirkungen betrachtlich.
Ordnungstheorie und Ordnungspolitik, 1991
Die Evolution hat dem Menschen nicht nur korperliches, sondern auch geistiges Sehvermogen, Gedach... more Die Evolution hat dem Menschen nicht nur korperliches, sondern auch geistiges Sehvermogen, Gedachtnis und Phantasie gegeben. Im Gegensatz zu den Tieren ist der Mensch damit fahig, sich Bilder von der objektiven Welt zu machen. Er kann sich eine mogliche Zukunft vorstellen und sich ausmalen, welche Folgen sein Verhalten sowie das anderer Menschen haben konnte. Nach diesen Erwagungen kann er entscheiden, ob die erwarteten positiven Ergebnisse seiner eigenen Anstrengungen die damit verbundenen Kosten und Risiken wert sein konnten. Wenn er sich die moglichen Konsequenzen des Verhaltens anderer ausgemalt hat, kann er seinerseits Gegenmasnahmen ergreifen oder zumindest versuchen, sich den erwarteten Folgen zu entziehen. Weil die Menschen, wie Karl Popper es nennt, die »zweite Welt« der Vorstellung besitzen, sind sie in der Lage, ihre Ideen stellvertretend fur sich sterben zu lassen, anstatt Besitz, Gesundheit und womoglich Leben im direkten Konflikt mit der realen »ersten Welt« aufs Spiel zu setzen (Popper 1972).
Public Choice, 2006
Terrorism is becoming a weapon of ever increasing importance to reach certain ends, given the pot... more Terrorism is becoming a weapon of ever increasing importance to reach certain ends, given the potential of mass destruction available to leading international powers and the rise of one superpower dominating the international system. In most cases terrorism is driven by an ideology comprising a world view with supreme values. Since these values are absolutely true to believers, they have to be preferred to everything, so that terrorists are required to sacrifice not only the lives of others but also their own. It is therefore difficult to prevent this kind of terrorism. But the threatening damages can be mitigated by economic, technological and political decentralization. In the long run, it is even more important to win the spiritual fight. This can be done by starting from the fact that believers in ideologies whose supreme values are conflicting, can only live together peacefully, if they accept that each individual has the right to choose his or her own belief. A corresponding education has to prevent fundamentalist instruction and to inculcate the basic rules of a free society.
Procesos De Mercado Revista Europea De Economia Politica, 2013
This paper has already been published as a little bit shorter version in CESifo Forum, vol. 14, n... more This paper has already been published as a little bit shorter version in CESifo Forum, vol. 14, n.º 2, Summer 2013, pp. 61-74. I am grateful to Christoph Bauer for helpful cri tical comments.