Original scientific paper
Autor: Roger Claessens
Summary: Most economists of the last quarter of the century have focused their attention on the consumers. Indeed, the economy is deeply dependent upon the moods of the consumers and the matching answers of the producers. Both are influenced by the actions of governments and the central bank. On the economic front, a key discussion for the time being is the very existence of the Euro currency. Few economists have spent so much time studying the decision making process of consumers as Nobel Prize Winning Economist Daniel Kahneman. He came to the conclusion that our decision making process is based on two systems, the intuitive and the analytical system. In this paper we attempted to extrapolate Kahneman's views on this subject into the discussion that is going on related to the Euro, and not unlike the author came to the conclusion that a long term view is needed. In this case we are not talking about irrational perseverance as is too often the case in the history of humanity. Dr Kahneman often underlines that although we might think we are rational and smart, we are not. He concludes after three decades of study that, often good decisions are the result of a happy coincidence. We should be modest in the face of success. We should recognise our own ignorance and not let intuition taking the upper hand over analysis with an open mind, especially in times where we face challenges for which experience is absent. This is precisely the case for the Euro issue!