Wolandia is dedicated to documenting, commenting on, and occasionally trying to make some sense of the current and future oddities, non-linearities, and so-called “black swan” events that define the global economy. Our brains and models usually look to the future by extrapolating on the past, and it would be great if that worked very well. Unfortunately, events in the global economy unfold more like a series of visits from the chaos-sowing demon Woland in Bulgarkov’s The Master and Margarita. Future events will doubtless follow the pattern of past booms, busts, shocks, and shifts, evolving only indirectly and chaotically from the present. Have a look around the site.
The Unusual and Unpredictable in the Global Economy
Blog and Scenarios
Links to both the occasional blog, and various files and musings on often unlikely and sometimes bordering on obvious scenarios that may (or more likely, may not) play out in the global economy. Of particular interest are both statistically rare and unanticipated events, and how certain trends largely outside the field of economics can collide with the global economy, both directly and as a result of policy actions
The Book
Released September 2017 by Rowman and Littlefield, Inside the Global Economy: A Practical Guide is designed for current and future practitioners in the global economy, i.e. in investment and finance, international business, consulting, policy making, and journalism. Starting from economic fundamentals, the book integrates insights from investment finance, decision theory, economic and social history, behavioral psychology and finance, and accounting.
The Course
Click on the button below to go to the course site for the global economics class at UCSB extension. The course is pragmatically focused and mainly for upper-class students in and outside the field of economics who anticipate a career where the global economy matters to them (pretty much everyone). Access to course materials requires registration, as some of the materials are copyrighted. Contact me for more information.