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John McFarlane
Photo: i.telegraph.co.uk
Barclays chairman attacks banking’s bonus culture
The chairman of Barclays, John McFarlane, speaking the Annual International Banking Conference in London on 22 October strongly criticised the bonus system for investment bankers, arguing it encourages people to “cut corners”, noting that eliminating “geared incentives in retail or investment banking” would “remove the temptation to cut corners”.
He further made the comment that the flaws of the bonus system had been exposed by the financial crisis when “most of the returns at investment banks went to employees and not to shareholders and I think that game is over”.
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There is no Nobel Prize in Economics: Then, let us have one
A New Nobel Prize: Economics in the Interest of the Common Good
“The single goal of scientific research should be the discovery of new knowledge, either through correcting past errors or through the discovery of previously unknown truths. Truth, however, does not appear to be a primary concern for the Prize committee in economics… the actual goal of the Prize committee has been to promote skilful research according to the mathematical fashion, whatever its validity.”-Nikolay Gertchev
“A Nobel prize in economics implies that the human world operates much like the physical world: that it can be described and understood in neutral terms, and that it lends itself to modelling, like chemical reactions or the movement of the stars. It creates the impression that economists are not in the business of constructing inherently imperfect theories, but of discovering timeless truths.”-Joris Luyendijk
"The Nobel prizes are awarded to those who have contributed most to the common good in the areas of Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature and Peace." A sixth, for Economics, which is financed by the Swedish Central Bank (Riksbanken), was first awarded in 1969.
Nobel Prizes in Economics to those who have contributed most to the common good: Wow! That is a very tall order!!
"Calling this 'Nobel in Economics' perpetuates the fraud begun in 1969," wrote Christopher L. Simpson in a comment in The New York Times.
"Feeling that the 'science' of economics lacked legitimacy, some Swedish bankers founded this prize and in wholesale commission of fraud named it after Alfred Nobel (who has no connection with economics whatsoever) in order to gain for it the prestige that Nobel in his will, chose to reserve for physics, chemistry, literature, peace, etc.," he wrote.
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“A Nobel prize in economics implies that the human world operates much like the physical world: that it can be described and understood in neutral terms, and that it lends itself to modelling, like chemical reactions or the movement of the stars. It creates the impression that economists are not in the business of constructing inherently imperfect theories, but of discovering timeless truths.”
"The Nobel prizes are awarded to those who have contributed most to the common good in the areas of Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature and Peace." A sixth, for Economics, which is financed by the Swedish Central Bank (Riksbanken), was first awarded in 1969.
However, as noted by many observers with an eye for justice and truth -including many “Recovered and Recovering” economists, neoclassical economics - economics as taught and practised today - “is a mask for power and greed, a construct designed to justify the status quo. Its claim to serve the common good is specious, and its claim to scientific status is fraudulent. The latter is sought mainly by excessive mathematical formalism to the neglect of concrete facts and real values. The mathematical formalism is in imitation of nineteenth century physics (economics viewed as the mechanics of utility and self-interest), but without any empirical basis remotely comparable to physics.”
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