Thursday, November 18, 2010

Stein's Law, Lachman, and the Euro

Desmond Lachman apparently discovers, in The American that “Europe Confronts Stein’s Law”, meaning by that the aphorism of the late Herbert Stein: if something cannot go on forever, it will stop. And this appears particularly apt for the current eurozone, he concludes.

I agree of course since this is precisely the analysis and comparison that I presented at the “Convention Debout la République” at the French National Assembly, April 10, 2010.

My conclusion, in French, was:

“ Herbert Stein, ancien président du Council of Economic Advisers, avait formulé une « loi » qui s’énonçait : ‘lorsqu’une chose ne peut pas durer indéfiniment, elle cesse’. Cela me semble s’appliquer plutôt bien à ce que sera sans aucun doute le sort de l’Euro.”

Or, in English : Herbert Stein’s law seems to prefigure rather well what is going to happen, without any doubt, to the euro.

The whole paper was posted at the time on my homepage.

My comment: ideas do travel, but seven months to cross the Atlantic is much too long. Is the market for ideas that inefficient?

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