VŠE awarded an honorary doctorate to Professor Hans-Werner Sinn
On Thursday, 23rd February, 2017, the German economist, Hans-Werner Sinn, was conferred with the honorary degree of “Doctor Oeconomiae Honoris Causa” from the Rector of the University of Economics (VŠE), Prof. Hana Machková.
The degree of Doctor Honoris Causa is awarded by the VŠE to those people who have made particularly important contributions to science, both theoretically and practically, especially in the sphere of economics. In the field of economic research, Professor Sinn is a general macroeconomist. In recent years, his research has been focused on the areas of social systems, economic aspects of climate change, and in particular on the topics of European economic integration and the common European currency. One of his main achievements was the uncovering of the mechanisms behind the Eurozone crisis, which he sees in the excessive deficit in the current account of the balance of payments. His book ‘Ist Deutschland noch zu Retten? “(2003) intervened significantly in public debate about the direction taken by German economic policy, as well as the government’s Agenda 2020.
The Scientific Council of the VŠE decided to award the honorary degree of “Doctor Oeconomiae Honoris Causa” to Professor Sinn on foot of a proposal by the Scientific Council of the Faculty of Economics of the VŠE. The ceremony was attended by almost 400 guests, rectors, vice-rectors and representatives of Czech and Slovak universities. Among the important guests were, for instance, the former president of the Czech Republic Václav Klaus and the current Czech National Bank Governor Jiří Rusnok.
During the conferral ceremony Hans-Werner Sinn gave a speech on the topic ‘Brexit and the Euro Crisis: Which Type of Union do we Want?’. During the speech he mentioned that: ‘We are having a difficult time in Europe. There is Brexit and at the same time the Eurozone is in a deep Euro Crisis.’ He said that Brexit destroys the equilibrium which Western Europe so far has had and he warned of redistributive Europe where decisions are based on majority. ‘Such Europe will not evolve because it might happen winners will get less than losers will lose.’
Macroeconomics
Macroeconomics is the study of economic theory, which examines the economic system as a whole. It monitors the relationship between aggregate variables such as gross domestic product, aggregate supply, aggregate demand, inflation, unemployment, interest rate and exchange rate. In the field of economic research prof. Sinn is a general macroeconomist. At the beginning of his research career, he focused on the theory of risk. His doctoral thesis “Ökonomische Entscheidungen bei Ungewissheit” (1980) received great response, published in English, with numerous follow-up articles in leading journals.
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