On the Edge of Times

Összefoglaló

The author shares his insights in response to articles published in globally renowned journals by the top economists, scientific experts and opinion leaders of our time. They point the way towards not only long-term sustainable and viable systems, but also a completely new way of thinking. He invites the reader to regard the world economy as a complex living system where cycles, patterns and fractals work together and the rules of the Quantum World are the Power Laws. The author challenges all the extremes of liberal economic thinking in order to accelerate the transition to a sustainable global economy based on new sustainable economics. All his arguments can be summarized in the title of the book: we live on the edge of times, where the "50-year" and "80-year" cycles tend to shape the 2020s, our time.

György Matolcsy has been serving as the Governor of Magyar Nemzeti Bank, the central bank of Hungary, since 2013. He is also a member of the Fiscal Council of Hungary. Prior to that, he was Minister of National Economy between 2010-2013 and Minister of Economic Affairs between 2000-2002. Between 2002-2010 he was director of the Institute for Growth and of the Privatisation Research Institute from 1995 to 2000. He was a member of the Board of Governors at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) representing the Hungarian Government between 1991 and 1993. In 1990, he served as political state secretary and the personal economic advisor to Prime Minister József Antall. He began his career in the Ministry of Finance in 1978, then he joined the Financial Research Institute as scientific researcher in 1985. As the economic and finance minister of the Orbán government, he was instrumental to the turnaround of the Hungarian economy by introducing a tax reform and completing the most successful fiscal consolidation within the EU. As the governor of MNB, he solved the credit crunch of the financial system and also swept out the CHF denominated FX loans of Hungarian households. He graduated at Karl Marx University of Economics in 1977 and obtained his Doctorate degree in 1984. György Matolcsy is a frequent lecturer at top foreign and Hungarian universities. He is honorary member of Fudan Development Institute (FDDI) of Fudan University and of the International Advisory Board of Shanghai Forum, and he is honorary doctor at the University of Debrecen and the University of Kaposvár. György Matolcsy is the author of several hundred articles, studies and books. His latest book, Economic Balance and Growth was published in 2021.