29th Annual Student Research Conference
Out of the Dustbin of History: the Role of Uncertainty in Economic Institutions and the Next Crisis
Elias J. Garcia
Dr. David Gillette, Faculty Mentor
The Financial Crisis of 2007 struck liberal democracies across the world as irreducible proof that orthodox economics continues to suffer from theoretical blind-spots due to the failure of mainstream economists to predict or account for the crisis. Integrating theories from New Institutional, Post Keynesian, and Austrian economics, this paper attempts to show how the fundamental concept of Uncertainty, as originally defined by Frank Knight and Lord Keynes, played a large role in the Great Recession. Moving forward, this paper addresses how uncertainty remains a confounding variable in institutions on both the macro and micro level of decision making and the hidden implications for decision makers in complex systems. Whereas uncertainty can never be fully removed from the policy creation process, this paper hopes to revitalize the rich neoclassical tradition of analyzing uncertainty for future policy decision makers in an ever uncertain world.
Keywords: Uncertainty, New Institutional Economics, Post Keynesian Economics, Austrian Economics, Complex Systems, Regulation, Frank Knight, John Maynard Keynes
Topic(s):Economics
Political Science
Psychology
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: -1
Location: VH 1328
Time: 8:00