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Published 16 August 2014

Faces – Young Scientist Profile: Marius Zoican

You may already have read his articles on the blog, but today Marius Zoican enters the fray on Faces.

In Faces we portray the young scientists of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings and give them an open forum to talk about their research and everything else that is important to them. Everybody should feel encouraged to also share their own thoughts and stories.

faces_zoican_-profile

On his research interests:

“I study the optimal design of financial markets. How should we think about better banking regulation? Securities exchanges? Trade settlement infrastructures? My last paper focuses on the optimal design of the proposed European banking union. How should it be structured to limit risk taking by large, systemically important banks? This aspect is crucial to promote financial stability in the European Union and to avoid a new crisis.”

 

On the challenges of an economist’s life:

“If I had to choose one, it would probably be moving to a new country and cultural environment to enrol in a top European PhD program in economics.”

 

What makes a good economist? (Watch the video)

“A good economist understands the need to balance interesting questions with their immediate relevance. As my mentor Albert Menkveld put it, the first question one should ask when entertaining a new idea is “Why should we care?” Good economists are always in touch with policymakers, the industry, and more generally the “real economy” outside academia. While mathematical techniques are crucial, a good economist is able to look beyond mathematical elegance and focus on the importance of the underlying question.”

 

What are the challenges for the next generation? (Watch the video)

“The greatest two challenges, in my opinion, are abandoning the neoclassical cornerstone of rational agents and introducing complexity in a useful way (that generates new insights). The past few decades saw a paradigm shift towards information and contract theory, which offered many new insights. Fields such as network theory, prospect theory, or complex dynamical systems are not part of the mainstream research areas. The next generation will, more likely than not, exploit them to complement and expand the existing knowledge.”

 

On his expectations on the Lindau Meeting on Economic Sciences:

“I am looking forward to meet William Sharpe and Robert Merton, two of the academics that shaped most of our current understanding of the financial systems. I am also keen to meet fellow young researchers with similar backgrounds and interests, discuss my ideas with them, and think of new joint projects!”

More Info on William Sharpe and Robert Merton can be found at the Lindau Mediatheque.

To join the debates and reach out to other participants use the Twitter Hashtag: #LindauEcon14.