REBELLIOUS ECONOMY - 50 YEARS OF RED STOCK MARKET CRASH
Robert Misik in conversation with Jonas Grundnig, Peter Rosner, Therese Guttmann and Wilhelm Hemetsberger
Rebellious economy - 50 YEARS OF ROTER BÖRSENKRACH
The „Rote Börsenkrach“, or RBK for short, is the oldest grassroots group at the University of Vienna, where it represents economics students. It was founded in 1974 by Peter Rosner - then a young doctoral student, later an economics professor at the University of Vienna. However, the „Börsenkrach“ is more than just „a grassroots group“: It is, partly because of the networks it established and the careers that many protagonists made, and because of its influence on unorthodox economic thinking, a minor legend. This year, the RBK is celebrating its 50th birthday. Since its foundation, it has published a student magazine of the same name.
„Every individual should be able to live and study in a self-determined way. This means being able to discuss questions instead of having to mindlessly apply the formal and statistical methods presented to them. Authoritarian behaviour on the part of university staff, sold as expertise, stands in the way of this.“ This is how the RBK defines its task today. It wants to be „a platform for self-determined living and studying. The RBK is emancipatory...“
Despite the suggestive colour in its name, the RBK was never a socialist or communist party organisation. „We were already interested in Marxism, but we didn't feel firmly attached to any ideology,“ says founding father Peter Rosner recently in the STANDARD.
Some of the RBK's members have gone on to have remarkable careers after graduating, such as Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, who made a career as a central banker on the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, or the internationally renowned researcher Ernst Fehr or investment banker Willi Hemetsberger.
Jonas Grundnig, Red stock market crash
Peter Rosner, economist
Therese Guttmann, Institute for Ecological Economics, WU Vienna
Wilhelm Hemetsberger, Chairman of the Board of Directors Ithuba - Capital
Moderation
Robert Misik, Author and journalist