Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why it Matters for Global Capitalism

Conference · Tue Mar 02 04:00:00 EST 2010

OSTI ID:1007961

Shiller, Robert J ^[1]

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1. Yale

In his lecture, Shiller will discuss the premise of his 2009 book, coauthored with the Nobel Prize-winning economist George A. Akerlof. Winner of the getAbstract International Book Award and the 2009 TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award for Outstanding Scholarly Writing on Lifelong Financial Security, the book, which has the same title as Shiller's lecture, discusses how "animal spirits," or human emotions such as confidence, fear, and a concern for fairness, drive financial events, including today's global financial crisis. John Maynard Keynes coined the phrase "animal spirits" to describe the changing psychology that led to the Great Depression and the recovery from it. Like Keynes, Shiller and Akerlof believe that government intervention is necessary to overcome the adverse effects on the economy brought about by unruly and irrational human emotions. In his talk, Shiller will explain how "animal spirits" lead to adverse economic effects, and he will outline his insights on how the global economy can recover from its recent setbacks.

• Research Organization: BNL (Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States))
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC); Brookhaven Science Associates (BSA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-98CH10886
• OSTI ID: 1007961
• Report Number(s): BNL-83266-2010-CP
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
BEHAVIOR
BNL
ECONOMICS
FINANCIAL SECURITY
GLOBAL ASPECTS
HUMAN FACTORS