Lars Jörgen Pålsson Syll (born November 5, 1957) is a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
economist who is a Professor of Social Studies and Associate professor of Economic History at
Malmö University College
Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal popula ...
.
Pålsson Syll has been a prominent contributor to the economic debate in Sweden over the global financial crisis that began in 2008.
Biography
Lars Jörgen Pålsson Syll (born in 1957) received a PhD in economic history in 1991 and a PhD in economics in 1997, both at
Lund University
, motto = Ad utrumque
, mottoeng = Prepared for both
, established =
, type = Public research university
, budget = SEK 9 billion [distributive justice
Distributive justice concerns the socially just allocation of resources. Often contrasted with just process, which is concerned with the administration of law, distributive justice concentrates on outcomes. This subject has been given considera ...]
and
critical realist social science. He also studied under
Hyman Minsky
Hyman Philip Minsky (September 23, 1919 – October 24, 1996) was an American economist, a professor of economics at Washington University in St. Louis, and a distinguished scholar at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College. His research att ...
as a young research stipendiate in the U.S. at the beginning of the 1980s. Lars Pålsson Syll has written several books and many articles in scientific journals.
Views
General
Pålsson Syll believes in a
Post-Keynesian
Post-Keynesian economics is a school of economic thought with its origins in ''The General Theory'' of John Maynard Keynes, with subsequent development influenced to a large degree by Michał Kalecki, Joan Robinson, Nicholas Kaldor, Sidney Wei ...
and
institutional approach to the study of the economy. This theory, notably advanced by
Douglass North
Douglass Cecil North (November 5, 1920 – November 23, 2015) was an American economist known for his work in economic history. He was the co-recipient (with Robert William Fogel) of the 1993 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. In the wor ...
and
Robert Fogel
Robert William Fogel (; July 1, 1926 – June 11, 2013) was an American economic historian and scientist, and winner (with Douglass North) of the 1993 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. As of his death, he was the Charles R. Walgreen D ...
, emphasizes the importance of efficient institutions in achieving economic growth. He has described both
Joseph Schumpeter
Joseph Alois Schumpeter (; February 8, 1883 – January 8, 1950) was an Austrian-born political economist. He served briefly as Finance Minister of German-Austria in 1919. In 1932, he emigrated to the United States to become a professor at Ha ...
and
John Kenneth Galbraith
John Kenneth Galbraith (October 15, 1908 – April 29, 2006), also known as Ken Galbraith, was a Canadian-American economist, diplomat, public official, and intellectual. His books on economic topics were bestsellers from the 1950s through t ...
as "quasi-institutionalists", in the meaning they were "heterodox-economists", influenced by other schools of thought. He is a critical realist and an outspoken opponent of all kinds of
social constructivism
Social constructivism is a sociological theory of knowledge according to which human development is socially situated and knowledge is constructed through interaction with others.
Like social constructionism, social constructivism states th ...
and postmodern
relativism
Relativism is a family of philosophical views which deny claims to objectivity within a particular domain and assert that valuations in that domain are relative to the perspective of an observer or the context in which they are assessed. Ther ...
. He has been strongly influenced by
John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in ...
. In 2011 he was a strong supporter of
Paul Romer
Paul Michael Romer (born November 6, 1955) is an American economist and policy entrepreneur who is a University Professor in Economics at New York University. Romer is best known as the former Chief Economist of the World Bank and for co-recei ...
to be awarded the Nobel prize for economics for his work on how people really behave in the market.
Pålsson Syll is a critic of
neoliberalism
Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
and
market fundamentalism
Market fundamentalism, also known as free-market fundamentalism, is a term applied to a strong belief in the ability of unregulated ''laissez-faire'' or free-market capitalist policies to solve most economic and social problems. It is often used ...
, which he attacked in his 2001 book ''"The dismal science: economics and the neoliberalism crisis"''. He traces today's problems to the mid-1970s, when, according to Syll, economists began to dominate the public welfare discourse, using neo-classical
microeconomic
Microeconomics is a branch of mainstream economics that studies the behavior of individuals and firms in making decisions regarding the allocation of scarce resources and the interactions among these individuals and firms. Microeconomics fo ...
arguments that the public sector should be run in the same way as the private sector. Syll claims that these economists denied that there was any real difference between manufacturing and social services, and felt the recipients of these services should be treated as informed customers. They felt that tax-funded welfare institutions were disincentives to the entrepreneurship that promoted growth. However, Pålsson Syll has argued that greater income equality may in fact foster growth, since a stronger safety net allows individuals to take greater risks. He also thinks that excessive wealth of a few individuals can cause a strain on democracy.
Pålsson Syll's theories have been criticized by right-wing economists such as
Henrik Jordahl,
Andreas Bergh
Deathstars is a Swedish industrial metal band from Strömstad. Formed in 2000, the group are noted for their dark horror-themed lyrics, pessimistic and misanthropic social commentary, distinctive trademark face paint, dark stage uniforms and p ...
and author
Johan Norberg
Johan Norberg (; born 27 August 1973) is a Swedish author and historian of ideas, devoted to promoting economic globalization and what he describes as classical liberal positions. He is arguably most known as the author of '' In Defense of Global ...
.
Global financial crisis
Talking of the
financial crisis of 2007–2008
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...
, Pålsson Syll said capitalism has an inherent tendency to periodically create speculative bubbles in different asset markets. He blames the massive deregulation of the financial markets in the 1980s for both the 1990s crisis and the more recent crisis that began in 2008, and has called for a return to tighter regulation and greater transparency. He sees low interest rates as a risk to the economy. They hurt those dependent on investment income. More important, the central bank loses their main economic stimulation tool. And there is a risk of deflation, which can cause long-term economic contraction. In 2009 he proposed the radical solution of a lottery each year through which the central bank would take back all bank notes with a given final digit in their serial number. This would in effect be a negative interest rate of 10%, reducing the value of money and encouraging consumption, which would kick-start the economy. Although not in favor of protectionism, he has said that if the United States and other European Union countries begin introducing protectionist measures Sweden may be forced to do so too, in a variant of the
prisoner's dilemma
The Prisoner's Dilemma is an example of a game analyzed in game theory. It is also a thought experiment that challenges two completely rational agents to a dilemma: cooperate with their partner for mutual reward, or betray their partner ("defe ...
.
Bibliography
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* ''Amartya Sen on Neo-Liberalism'' (2004), ''The History of Economic Theories'' (in Swedish, fourth ed 2007),
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References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Syll, Lars Palsson
Post-Keynesian economists
Swedish economists
Macroeconomists
Keynesians
Institutional economists
Historians of economic thought
Economic historians
Living people
1957 births
Malmö University faculty