About

[UPDATE: I have decided to continue writing this blog in German, under a new address: Skeptische Ökonomie. Feel free to follow the new blog. The Sceptical Economist will remain online, but it is unlikely that I will publish any new posts here.]

What’s this blog (about)?

I began writing this blog in 2010, then under the name Green Mycelium. From the beginning, it was meant to be a platform to think about and discuss issues related to the notion of sustainability. My original focus was on climate change. However, my attention and interest have gradually shifted towards such themes as post-growth and, more generally, the role economics plays in these sustainability contexts. This is the area of my “expertise”, i.e., what I am dealing with professionally. Nonetheless, I believe that one needn’t be an expert in every topic one expresses one’s opinion on. Thus, I also discuss here issues only loosely connected to the blog’s primarily focus on sustainability and economics.

The blog’s name, The Sceptical Economist (it was Green Mycelium until 13/08/04), is an allusion to Bjørn Lomborg, who has called himself a skeptical environmentalist, and about whom I have written more than once  At the same time, the name reflects the basic premise of my writings: I attempt to be sceptical and rational, not only but particularly towards my own profession, economics.

New posts are published rather irregularly, depending on inspiration, free-time resources, weather and diverse other factors.

Who is ZielonyGrzyb, this blog’s author?

My real name is not essential here, but can be easily found out, if one really wants to know it. I was born in Poland and have Polish and German citizenships. I studied cultural studies (bachelor’s) and economics (master’s). Currently, I am doing my PhD at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig, where I am fellow of the Helmholtz Research School ESCALATE.

I consider myself a pragmatic, sceptical rationalist. As a trained economist, I have a specific, “economic” perspective on the world surrounding me. I hope that this be excused. Also, I have an insatiable desire for knowledge – both in terms of facts (including useless ones) and in terms of better understanding the world around us. As a consequence of that desire my knowledge is quite diverse, but also quite often rather fragmentary. Nonetheless, I think that even if I do not know everything about a subject, a blog is the proper place to dare having an opinion and let others who know more refute it if necessary. Feel invited to do that.