Kai Gehring Profile picture
Prof Political Economy & Sustainable Development @Unibern @Wyss_for_Nature @ifo_Institut . Also dad of two great kids, big sports and fantasy fan.
Nov 22, 2023 25 tweets 5 min read
Not sure I can fully recommend this, but it can be interesting to understand both the merit and flaws of arguments by people ishifting blame for the Ukraine war on US and NATO instead of Putin and Russia.
Let me explain some arguments 1/n

open.spotify.com/episode/79jUT2… Mearshheimer begins very scholarly, explaining different international relation theories quite well. He explains how his school of thought, offensive realism, thinks that nation states live in a system of anarchy that forces them to strive for power to survive.
Apr 4, 2022 14 tweets 5 min read
Was interessiert einen Diktator wie Putin?
1.) Machterhalt
2.) Vermögen maximieren, eigenes, nicht das des Volkes
3.) Platz in den Geschichtsbüchern

Alle drei würde bedroht wenn wir Russland der Einnahmen aus dem Öl- & Gassektor berauben.

Eine polit-ökonomische Einschätzung Der Krieg ist für ihn ein Mittel zum Zweck um diese Ziele zu erreichen. Die Eroberung der Ukraine wichtig für den Platz in den Geschichtsbüchern, aber er würde nie Ziel 1 und 2 ganz ignorieren. Sein Machterhalt basiert darauf das er genügend Leute reich macht &die Masse dumm hält
Jan 16, 2022 21 tweets 4 min read
Liebe @beyond_ideology ,

ich würde gerne ein paar Fragen stellen und Anmerkungen machen zu Ihrer Aussage über produktive (Produktion) und unproduktive Arbeit (Handel, Finanzen).

Ein Thread mit überlegungen inwiefern eine so grobe Unterscheidung schwierig ist. 1/n Erstmal finde ich es gut, solche Gedanken aufzugreifen. Viele Leute beschäftigt das, ökonomische Forschung tut es ev. ein wenig vorschnell ab. Früher, z.b. bei Adam Smith wurde das mehr diskutiert.
Daher die folgenden Anmerkungen im Sinne einer wertschätzenden Kommunikation.
Dec 15, 2021 22 tweets 11 min read
Why is it the case that so many publications/concepts about sustainable development/climate change by non-economists start with a bashing of economics and economists?

Thread with some ideas and hypotheses, curious what people from all backgrounds think One example of what I mean, but when like me you start reading more interdisciplinary stuff you will find many in the area of sustainable development and climate research

wbcsd.org/Programs/Redef…
Oct 14, 2021 4 tweets 6 min read
Longish thread on whether degrowth is a desirable, politically feasible and useful goal
(hint, I think it is not)

@GrimmVeronika @BachmannRudi @makro_philip @D_Langenmayr @ProfEnergyHuber @PHuenermund @schnellenbachj @Lars_Feld @GFelbermayr @SDullien @OdendahlC @SilvaAtTwitta For those interested in more information, similar opinions expressed by @GFelbermayr here. In addition he makes the good point that economics institutes can help in producing and disseminating further indicators beyond GDP
(in German)

wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/wi…
Oct 13, 2021 25 tweets 5 min read
Attempt to bridge gap between economists and non-economist, and whether degrowth is a useful goal or political approach, part II.
Specifically, addressing a tweet by @ProfSteveKeen. I did not know him before, but try to take his points seriously and link them to my prior points. Here is Steve’s tweet, so everyone can read that as well.

Oct 1, 2021 14 tweets 5 min read
Attempt to clarify the reoccurring confusion where
a.)Non-economists, esp. natural scientist state: “on a planet with finite resources, infinite growth is logically impossible”
b.)Economists take this as sign of mere ignorance about economics

So who is right? When economists say growth, they usually refer to the output of an economy in a broad sense. GDP is the most common, imperfect, measure of output

GDP is defined as the value of all goods and services produced in a country in a certain year

(quantity times price)
Jan 20, 2021 22 tweets 5 min read
Liebe @AnnaReisch1,

ich kann gerne versuchen eine Einschätzung zur Debatte und einem möglichen Weg in die Zukunft machen.
Erstmal vielen Dank an @PluralEcon, dich und alle die diese Debatte angestoßen haben. Es ist klar, dass bei den Pluralos viele sehr engagierte Leute sind Zur Einstufung für andere:
Ich schreibe das als jemand, der Makro Einführung unterrichtet hat mit dem Mankiw Buch. Ich finde aber auch viele Aspekte im Buch von @PeterBofinger sehr gelungen.

Außerdem bin ich auch der Meinung, das wir etwas ändern müssen bei VWL Einführungskursen
Jan 20, 2021 4 tweets 2 min read
I am not sure what type of research she is doing or what conferences and seminars she attends?

The ones I attend are becoming more and more applied and directly related to real processes. Pure theory papers (which have their merit!) constitute a cont. decreasing share of pubs. This seems very odd to me, @CKemfert, aren't you at DIW? Are the seminars there and the workshops you attend so formalized and detached? If yes, is sth. maybe wrong at DIW?

As with so many critics, this is simply not reflecting real research, incl. top "mainstream" deps
Mar 6, 2020 20 tweets 12 min read
Russian invasion in Crimea 🡺 Russian threat for Eastern EU states ⇑

DiD design comparing EU states with higher vs. lower risk

External threat ⇑ 🡺 stronger EU identity

Higher trust in EU institutions & higher willingness to cooperate at EU level

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf… Research question: Can external threats really create a joint identity and foster cooperation? This is a key question in social psychology, that is also relevant for economics and political science, as identity influences political preferences &decision-making in federal systems?
Sep 23, 2019 21 tweets 9 min read
- Historical negative exposure to actions of nation-states affects attitudes towards EU
-Leasds to stronger EU support, less Eurosceptism
-Socio-economics factors can't explain change
-EU identity became stronger, not caused by economic benefits
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf… Cooperation in International organizations is one proposed way to maintain peace between nation-states that were formerly bitter enemies. The European Union is the most ambitious of these attempts, and at least no major conflict among member-states since WW2.
Dec 17, 2018 7 tweets 4 min read
Thoughtful podcast on what was probably the most promising experiment for #communism to ever work.
Many important insights:
1.) If you want an egalitarian society, politics need to be decentralized & units restricted <= ~150 families.
Interesting @nntaleb?
econtalk.org/ran-abramitzky… 2.) Kibbutz were really very close to communist ideals. NO(!) private property, children were largely raised by the community to instill the right spirit, exactly #equal salary for everyone. At their peak, more than 5% of the Israeli population lived in one.