Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Akerlof and Shiller on animal spirits

The housing market touched on all aspects of the animal spirits identified by Keynes — confidence, fairness, corruption, storytelling, and money illusion. It's clear, in this market and many others, that those animal spirits help drive the economy and that, to steer it safely, economists and policy makers will have to study such behaviors further and take careful account of them in devising new incentives and reforms.

From The Chronical Review, Vol.55, Issues 32, ppB6