Hyman Minsky, the Fantastic Four and the search of the Invisible Woman

2 PM, Seminar room, first floor, Department of Economics and Management

Speaker: Anna Maria Variato, Università di Bergamo

Abstract

The seminar builds upon the idea to create a connection among the characters in the title. Obviously there is an hidden metaphor enabling the transposition of relevant economic events into a fantastic world. Who are the Fantastic Four in this peculiar plot? Why does the Invisible Woman seem to have disappeared? Ad how does all this representation connect to Hyman Minsky? The first part of argument stands on the observation of a fact. Hyman Minsky communication strategy, his “pedagogy”, often used this kind of expedient. The second part of the argument focuses on a substantial element. Though the minskian view is intrinsically complete, for most part of the world (even the academic one), the knowledge of Minsky’s ideas is at best partial, and, especially in these days, related to some kind of “popularized version” of the Financial Instability Hypothesis. In general there is little or no knowledge at all of a fundamental part of reflection that entertained Minsky even before the full development of the Financial Instability Hypothesis. This reflection links macroeconomic dynamics to the existence of public policies explicitly addressed to the targets of full employment and defeat of poverty. Hence the third part of the argument urges the rediscovery of this component of Minky’s theoretical contribution, while maintaining its crucial role in the passage from a world of Financial Instability towards a world of Financial Sustainability.