Carl Christian von Weizsäcker – författare

Traditional welfare economics works with the assumption of the fully rational economic agent (homo economicus) whose preferences are fixed: that is, they are not influenced by their economic environment. To the contrary, this book presents a theory of welfare economics that maintains the principles of normative individualism while allowing for adaptive or changeable preferences.Why do economists talk of preferences? In this book, Carl Christian von Weizsäcker shows that the concept is intimately related to freedom of action. The concept of preferences is the mode by which normative economics introduces the idea of freedom or liberty into its theory of human interaction. Moreover, the economic research of recent decades has provided a large amount of experimental and other empirical findings – e.g. the work on bounded rationality – which contradicts the assumption of fixed preferences. This book argues that this large body of findings is consistent with the hypothesis of adaptive preferences. This, together with the proposition that adaptive preferences allow a generalization of traditional welfare economics, has implications for policy applications of behavioral economics based on “normative individualism”. Normative individualism is an approach which intrinsically connects with the value of liberty or freedom. It is argued that normative individualism is indispensable for a society of free citizens, thus providing the foundations of civil liberty.This book will be of great interest to readers of welfare economics, behavioral economics and economic theory.The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license. Any third party material in this book is not included in the OA Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. Please direct any permissions enquiries to the original rightsholder.

Traditional welfare economics works with the assumption of the fully rational economic agent (homo economicus) whose preferences are fixed: that is, they are not influenced by their economic environment. To the contrary, this book presents a theory of welfare economics that maintains the principles of normative individualism while allowing for adaptive or changeable preferences.Why do economists talk of preferences? In this book, Carl Christian von Weizsäcker shows that the concept is intimately related to freedom of action. The concept of preferences is the mode by which normative economics introduces the idea of freedom or liberty into its theory of human interaction. Moreover, the economic research of recent decades has provided a large amount of experimental and other empirical findings – e.g. the work on bounded rationality – which contradicts the assumption of fixed preferences. This book argues that this large body of findings is consistent with the hypothesis of adaptive preferences. This, together with the proposition that adaptive preferences allow a generalization of traditional welfare economics, has implications for policy applications of behavioral economics based on “normative individualism”. Normative individualism is an approach which intrinsically connects with the value of liberty or freedom. It is argued that normative individualism is indispensable for a society of free citizens, thus providing the foundations of civil liberty.This book will be of great interest to readers of welfare economics, behavioral economics and economic theory.The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license. Any third party material in this book is not included in the OA Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. Please direct any permissions enquiries to the original rightsholder.

The economy of the 21st century in the OECD countries and in China, is characterized by a new phenomenon: the structural surplus of private savings in relation to private investment. This is true even in a situation of prosperity and very low interest rates. On the one hand, this excess saving is due to people's increasing inclination to save in light of rising life expectancy, driven by the desire to have sufficient assets in old age. On the other hand, the demand for capital is not increasing to the same extent, so that investment is not keeping pace with the rising desire to save. The resulting gap between the private desire for wealth and private investment can only be closed by increasing public debt.  This open access book offers a new, capital-theoretical perspective on the macroeconomic relationship between desired wealth and investment, and it presents new empirical data on private wealth and its composition in the OECD plus China area. The authors arguethat a free economic and social order can only be stabilized if the wealth aspirations of individuals are met under conditions of price stability. This is not possible without substantial net public debt. A new way of thinking about the economy as a whole is required. By way of an in-depth theoretical and empirical analysis, the book demonstrates this new way of thinking and describes the current challenges facing economic policy. It will appeal to economists and students of economics who are interested in macroeconomic theory and its economic policy implications.An impressive, and convincing theoretical dive into the fundamentals behind secular stagnation, with very strong implications for actual debt policy. Public debt may be needed to improve welfare.- Olivier Blanchard, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Professor of Economics Emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund from 2008 to 2015.Saving and Investment in the Twenty-First Century gives a wholly new perspective on macroeconomics. (...) Weiz­säcker and Krämer describe a simple, practical solution to the underemployment that has plagued Southern Europe for more than a decade.- George Akerlof, Nobel Laureate in Economics, 2001. Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University and Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley.This is a profound and original contribution that can help us to understand and act on the great issues of our times.- Nicholas Stern, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics. Author of the Stern Review Report on the Economics of Climate Change. Chief Economist at the World Bank from 2000 to 2003.

The economy of the 21st century in the OECD countries and in China, is characterized by a new phenomenon: the structural surplus of private savings in relation to private investment. This is true even in a situation of prosperity and very low interest rates. On the one hand, this excess saving is due to people's increasing inclination to save in light of rising life expectancy, driven by the desire to have sufficient assets in old age. On the other hand, the demand for capital is not increasing to the same extent, so that investment is not keeping pace with the rising desire to save. The resulting gap between the private desire for wealth and private investment can only be closed by increasing public debt.  This open access book offers a new, capital-theoretical perspective on the macroeconomic relationship between desired wealth and investment, and it presents new empirical data on private wealth and its composition in the OECD plus China area. The authors arguethat a free economic and social order can only be stabilized if the wealth aspirations of individuals are met under conditions of price stability. This is not possible without substantial net public debt. A new way of thinking about the economy as a whole is required. By way of an in-depth theoretical and empirical analysis, the book demonstrates this new way of thinking and describes the current challenges facing economic policy. It will appeal to economists and students of economics who are interested in macroeconomic theory and its economic policy implications.An impressive, and convincing theoretical dive into the fundamentals behind secular stagnation, with very strong implications for actual debt policy. Public debt may be needed to improve welfare.- Olivier Blanchard, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Professor of Economics Emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund from 2008 to 2015.Saving and Investment in the Twenty-First Century gives a wholly new perspective on macroeconomics. (...) Weiz­säcker and Krämer describe a simple, practical solution to the underemployment that has plagued Southern Europe for more than a decade.- George Akerlof, Nobel Laureate in Economics, 2001. Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University and Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley.This is a profound and original contribution that can help us to understand and act on the great issues of our times.- Nicholas Stern, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics. Author of the Stern Review Report on the Economics of Climate Change. Chief Economist at the World Bank from 2000 to 2003.

Dieses Buch fasst eine aktuelle Auswahl wissenschaftlich fundierter Analysen, wie sie seit mehr als 30 Jahren in der Zeitschrift für Energiewirtschaft publiziert werden, für die Praxis zusammen.Die wichtigsten Elemente der Systementwicklung für wirtschaftliche und zuverlässige Elektrizitätssysteme werden herausgearbeitet und auch für Studierende verständlich präsentiert. Ein umfassendes Portfolio an Planungsmethoden ist theoretisch und anhand praktischer Beispiele vorgestellt.

Die Wirtschaft des 21. Jahrhunderts ist geprägt von einem neuen Phänomen: dem strukturellen Überschuss des privaten Sparwillens im Verhältnis zum privaten Investitionswillen. Dies gilt auch bei Prosperität und niedrigen Zinsen. Das ist einerseits vom Wunsch getrieben, im Alter über ein ausreichendes Vermögen zu verfügen. Andererseits nimmt die Nachfrage nach Kapital im ungleichen Umfang zu, sodass Investitionen nicht mit dem steigenden Sparwillen Schritt halten. Die entstehende Lücke zwischen privatem Vermögenswunsch und der privaten Vermögensanlage kann nur durch eine zunehmende Verschuldung des Staates geschlossen werden. Die Kernthese des Buches lautet daher, dass eine freiheitliche Wirtschafts- und Gesellschaftsordnung nur stabilisiert werden kann, wenn dem Vermögenswunsch des Einzelnen unter Bedingungen der Preisstabilität stattgegeben wird. Dies ist ohne eine erhebliche Nettoschuld des Staates nicht möglich. Ein neues Denken über die Gesamtwirtschaft ist erforderlich.Das Buch begründet diese neuartige Sichtweise und beschreibt die aktuellen Herausforderungen der Wirtschaftspolitik. Eine intensive Debatte über diesen Vorstoß in volkswirtschaftliches Neuland ist zu erwarten.Hinweis: Die Softcover-Printversion ist in s/w, die Hardcover-Printversion in Farbe erhältlich.