Starting A Blog: A Forum to Debate "Policy Entrepreneurship"

As a trained economist, it is natural for me to regularly publish short essays on economic policy. Such essays often reflect current events, mainly in the macro-international economics sphere, that have implications on economic performance and business decisions. Many of my essays are motivated by debates amongst commentators - usually characterised more by conventional thinking as the driver of varied positions than by analytical rigour that is mad to persuade conclusions.


Admittedly, a good debate is one where it is not necessary the loudest that carry the day but the most logical. But that is the ideal world. In the real world, the loud voices often carry the day. In the economics arena, such voices  arena sometimes fit the definition of what Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman calls "policy entrepreneurs" - "intellectually dishonest self-proclaimed experts who tell politicians what they want to hear".


The type of "policy entrepreneurship" that we commonly see thrives on emotions. A case in point is the excitement that has characterised the recent signing of the East African Community Monetary Union Protocol. Such excitement is usually whipped by a one dimensional look at the issue. My essay on this subject  that calls for careful consideration of the move has been seen in some quarters not to be representing a call for caution but to be epitomising timidity. While not necessarily looking to be vindicated, I seem to be in good company on this subject.


Another case is the emotional argument that China's becoming systemically important is necessarily at the expense of the US - and consequently the possibility of the US dollar being replaced by the renminbi as the dominant global reserve currency. As I have argued before, we may be conditioned by the political class to "look East"; but let's not take leave of the fact that a multi-polar global reserve currency regime is the most likely outcome in the long-run and the East - China in this case - needs to work harder on financial reform if they have to join that league any time soon.


All in all, it is clear that there is abundant room for an engaging debate on some of these issues beyond what we have now. That is my motivation for starting a blog. I consider my views as fairly mainstream - informed by recent research and aligned to the progressive agenda of logic based inferences.

But I also know that what is mainstream and what is not may be unclear even amongst my fellow economists. But I intend to have a debate that is accessible beyond colleagues of my persuasion. Let the discussion commence, initially on a weekly basis, and subsequently on an increasing frequency as we go along.