World Bank, more than a “Knowledge” bank, a “Besserwisser” bank, be the “Wisdom” bank I know you could be; or, if that sounds too haughty, at least aspire to be “The Common Sense” bank.

A “Knowledge” bank might think that assets perceived as risky could be risky for banks. A “Wisdom” bank understands that what could be especially risky for banks, and for bank systems, is what is perceived as safe.

A “Knowledge” bank might think that it is great for banks to avoid taking risks.

A “Wisdom” bank knows that the most important function for banks is to take intelligent risks on behalf of society.

A “Knowledge” bank might agree with the Basel Committee’s bank capital requirements based on perceived risks.

A “Wisdom” bank would think much more in terms of not distorting credit allocation, and, if that’s not possible, in terms of capital requirements for banks with a purpose, like on perceived chances of fostering human and natural capital wealth

A “Knowledge” bank, if it has to distort the allocation of bank credit, might agree with bank capital requirements against sovereigns based on credit ratings.

A “Wisdom” bank, in such a case, would much more prefer to base the bank capital requirements on a good governance index.

A “Knowledge” bank might say: “We know it all”. A “Wisdom” bank, would understand “We know Jack shit!”

Or, if aspiring to becoming the “Wisdom bank” sounds too haughty, the World Bank it should at least aspire to be “The Common Sense” bank.

"God make us daring!"

Blekinge Museum: A museum... of my times gone by

About a month ago I had the chance to visit a wonderful small regional museum in Sweden, the Blekinge Museum. It lies very close to my recently deceased mother’s family house, in which I spent a lot of time in my youth. It was a shocking and a humbling experience. It was not a museum of very old times gone by; it was a museum of so much of, since 1950, my times gone by.

Images of heavy horses pulling carriages full of hay, Olivetti accounting machines, telephone exchanges with hundreds of cables, old bicycles, wrinkled by rough seas rowing boats, and hundred similar items that I have lived with, but that mostly no longer exists, and are much less used, shouted out… “Per, what on earth do you know about tomorrow… what does anyone know?”

Coming out of the museum, more than ever, I felt like praying “God make us daring”; or at least God make my children, grandchildren and their descendants daring, so that they are not among the so many to be left behind… doomed (by automation and robots) to end up like the heavy horses of my time. God let them live free, and faraway from the high priests of complacency.

And as for me, as an economist, as a citizen, as a parent and grandparent, if I only look back, and do not do our utmost to imagine what lies around the corners of tomorrow then, like old soldiers (and heavy horses) I might perhaps just better fade away.

Does all what we older have lived not mean anything for the young? Of course, it should signify a lot… but much more in terms of wisdom, than in terms of knowledge.

The sad fact that my mother had passed away just weeks earlier, on February 10, clearly made me reflect on our intergenerational responsibilities.

PS. Since 2023, blessed by in my lifetime being able to dialogue with AI, ChatGPT so as to get a glimpse of the future, more questions arise daily. E.g., whether if driving instructors will be among the many Heavy Horses of tomorrow.

@PerKurowski

If knowledge suffices then wisdom is superfluos

The least I seek here is to try to transmit wisdom, since I am too well aware of how correct Hermann Hesse was when in Siddhartha he wrote 'Wisdom is not communicable. The wisdom which a wise man tries to communicate always sounds foolish...Knowledge can be conveyed, but not wisdom."

And much less do I seek to transmit something as a wise man, since I recognize well the impossibility of being one; something clearly summarized by Socrates arguing that the only possible human wisdom is to know oneself not wise, or only possessing wisdom absolutely devoid of value.

But both you and I, perhaps not in our minds, but definitely in our hearts, nonetheless know, or intuit, or want to believe, there is someone who is wiser than other. Where? We do not know, surely not among the besserwisser. Where then? Assuming it has to do with God is a good start.

I say this because in a world with so much information and so much knowledge, time after time we face the dilemma of if knowledge is enough, then wisdom is superfluous and worthless; and I fear that those words contain the danger that we will get bogged down forever in a knowledge dictatorship.

With no doubt our society is being increasingly cornered by producers and worshipers of information and knowledge, who do not leave space enough for questioners to put their information and knowledge in a more correct perspective.

The above occurs in all fields. For example, in the financial area that is the only possible explanation for why our financial regulators so ingenuously assigned so much power of decision over the financial flows to some few and humanly fallible credit rating agencies.

What a pity that nobody read to regulators from the Apology of Plato, where speaking as Socrates says. "Artisans have real knowledge of their arts, but take that to mean that they are most wise with respect to the most important matters”. As I see it this hubris filled petulance spoils all their knowledge. 

And how do we rid ourselves of that knowledge dictatorship without having, like some of our primitives, resort to that remedy worse than the disease that is the cult of dis-information and ignorance? 

That’s not easy, but at least I think we have a better chance of doing so if we can prevent the configuration of incestuous technocratic majorities in our decision-making bodies. Multidisciplinary teams, with great variety of experience and lots of humility, are the ones that should configure our boards and ministries.

I introduce the factor of humility, because one of the main reasons the world is going through current financial turbulence, is because many expert professionals simply did not know, or did not dare to recognize, as Socrates did, that they did not understand anything of what they were approving.

Friends, let us remember that not understanding what happens, not necessarily make us less aware of what is happening.

Translated from “Si el conocimiento basta la sabiduría sobra” published in El Universal