“When prices go up, does demand go down?” ” Yes, every other time; “Does GDP measure the wealth of a country? Not really: “Do quotas and taxes distort markets?” ” Yes and no; “Is it possible to work less – 35 instead of 39 hours – and earn more? Yes, but no. In these few entries that punctuate the 27 chapters of the book prefaced by Jean-Marc Daniel, there is no doubt that economics is not a hard science and it is far from being infallible. The author does not pretend to convince us otherwise. However, in this “accessible without prerequisites” exercise where the character of Robinson divides his time between work, leisure and rest, the equations are housed in the body of the text and tend to demonstrate that if Bruno Bensasson denies being an “economist by profession”, he will have largely walked on the plateaus of this honorable community. It is enough to refer to the list of authors cited where their dates of birth, death, key work as well as their striking quotes are scrupulously recalled. As Daniel reminds us, Edgeworth, who was also not an economist, was an unsuccessful lawyer who, in order not to have to pay for his heating, became an avid reader of Laplace and Maxwell, because their books were located on the shelves closest to the British Library’s stove. The economist William Stanley Jevons, having met him by chance, encouraged him to move from physics to economics! Let us bet that the author will not have to suffer too much from the cold to be forced to become an economist at his own expense.
Bruno Bensasson is Executive Director of the EDF Group in charge of the Renewable Energies Division and Chairman and CEO of EDF Renewables. He is a member of the EDF Executive Committee and a director of Luminus and EDF Trading.
Chronicle written by Alain Brunet