{"id":1114,"date":"2012-12-01T12:53:29","date_gmt":"2012-12-01T12:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.projet-decroissance.net\/?p=1114"},"modified":"2013-07-07T08:10:23","modified_gmt":"2013-07-07T08:10:23","slug":"a-degrowth-project-economically-out-of-whack-in-france-net-info-by-vincent-liegey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.projet-decroissance.net\/?p=1114","title":{"rendered":"A Degrowth Project: Economically out of whack – In France Net info – By Vincent Liegey"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"France<\/a>While the country is in recession and is\u00a0desperately seeking some growth, one rubric is not in crisis: the wacky interview! Let\u2019s
\nenjoy it and let\u2019s seriously ponder the discipline calling the shots between countries: the\u00a0economy.
\nTo learn more about it, let\u2019s talk with Vincent Liegey<\/a>, a PHD student at University of Economics of Budapest.<\/p>\n

Economy with a difference<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong>FranceNetInfo<\/strong>: \u201c Hi, in order to follow\u00a0our protocol, could you please start\u00a0with a launching phrase: \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Vincent Liegey<\/strong>: <\/em><\/em><\/em>\u201cI quite like Bernard\u00a0Maris\u2019 phrase from his \u201cAnti-Manuel\u00a0d\u2019\u00c9conomie<\/em>\u201d, where he says that an\u00a0economist is the guy who spends his all life to explain the day after why he got it wrong the day before. This sentence is\u00a0even more edifying because we are still building our societies on such economists\u2019\u00a0theories.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0\u2026 The choice is all ours: \u201cDegrowth or Barbary? …<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

FNI<\/strong>: \u201c With this ongoing debate as to whether economics are a soft or a hard\u00a0science, don\u2019t you think economists look like perverse intellectuals?\u201d<\/p>\n

VL<\/strong>: \u201c Economists\u2019 perversion stems from the fact that they neglect preliminaries. To build\u00a0economic models, we need to start to take into account that we live on a planet with\u00a0limited resources. Regardless of the energy they put in, economists will only produce\u00a0unsatisfactory results.<\/p>\n

\"Une<\/a><\/p>\n

FNI<\/strong>: \u201c Students are not attracted to\u00a0Economics studies.<\/p>\n

Why not using slogans such as:\u00a0\u201d Economics, hard science for the wrist\u201d or\u00a0when targeting female students: \u201cWith you,\u00a0economics won\u2019t ever be a soft science!\u201d\u00a0This should attract students to practicals,\u00a0don\u2019t you think!<\/p>\n

VL<\/strong>: \u2018That\u2019s right. Economists seem to have mastered wrist-power practices. They excel\u00a0in creating gas factories they present in an incomprehensible manner\u2026 Since it is the\u00a0sole practice, it won\u2019t attract female students\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2026An economist is a potentially dangerous madman\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Vincent<\/p>\n

FNI<\/strong>: \u201c Our actual economic model is\u00a0solely based on growth. But given\u00a0today\u2019s context, wouldn\u2019t it be simpler\u00a0to add a prefix to growth? Why not\u00a0\u201cde\u201d for degrowth?\u201d<\/p>\n

VL<\/strong>: For the last few years, the economy has been resorting to much nonsense in trying to\u00a0prove its usefulness. Green growth, Sustainable Development, some even dare say:\u201d A\u00a0little growth pollutes; a lot of growth, de-pollutes\u201d! Green-washing knows no bounds!
\nUnder such conditions the future of growth is Barbary. It is up to us to choose: Degrowth\u00a0or Barbary?\u201d<\/p>\n

FNI<\/strong>: Isn\u2019t being an economist a bit dangerous psychologically? Always thinking in\u00a0the abstract, don\u2019t they become abstract themselves?<\/p>\n

VL<\/strong>: Yes, by thinking that we can develop models without taking physical, energy and\u00a0ecologic realities into account. Kenneth Boulding said: \u00ab\u00a0Anyone who believes in indefinite\u00a0growth in a finite world, is either mad or an economist.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

FNI<\/strong>: To prove that all economists aren\u2019t bald and never smile on TV, could you tell\u00a0us an economist\u2019s joke?<\/p>\n

VL<\/strong>: \u201cI am going to cite Paul Samuelson, Economics Nobel Prize: \u201c An economist, a\u00a0chemist and a physician are stranded on a deserted island with only tinned food to\u00a0survive, but no can opener. The chemist says: \u201cWe just have to put the tins in water and
\nwait until the oxydation does its job. The physician suggests: We leave them under a coconut\u00a0tree and we wait for the coconuts to fall and break them open\u201c. Finally the economist
\nasserts with confidence: \u201cFirst, let\u2019s start with the following hypothesis: we have a can\u00a0opener\u201d…
\nOr: \u201cWhy did God create the economy? So that weather forecasts can be taken\u00a0seriously. No need to add anything\u2026.\u201d.<\/p>\n

Interview by Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Verschaeve from Labo21dk for FranceNetInfo.<\/em><\/p>\n

This time, it is serious, so if you want to know more on the subject: here are some useful\u00a0links:
\nVincent Liegey\u2019s book’s A Degrowth Project<\/em> page<\/a>.
\nVideos interviews<\/a>.
\nThe origin of degrowth: documentary about Nicolas Georgescu-Roegen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A big thank to Vincent Liegey for his good humour and disponibility !<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While the country is in recession and is\u00a0desperately seeking some growth, one rubric is not in crisis: the wacky interview! Let\u2019s enjoy it and let\u2019s seriously ponder the discipline calling the shots between countries: the\u00a0economy. To learn more about it, … Continuer la lecture →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-degrowth-project"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.projet-decroissance.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.projet-decroissance.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.projet-decroissance.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.projet-decroissance.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.projet-decroissance.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1114"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.projet-decroissance.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1174,"href":"http:\/\/www.projet-decroissance.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114\/revisions\/1174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.projet-decroissance.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.projet-decroissance.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.projet-decroissance.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}