Talk:Original sin (economics)

Latest comment: 3 years ago by DeepNorth in topic Near Tautology is confusing

Near Tautology is confusing edit

"A high measure of original sin indicates that a country suffers from high level of original sin." This is kind of a nonsense sentence that appears to say something like 'more=more'. I believe from the context that what they mean is on a scale of 0 to 1 a higher number indicates a more severe sin. I'm not conversant enough with this to jump in and change it. People more expert should not be shy about editing this even if their name is in references or whatever. I really could use some work. If someone editing is worried about conflict of interest, I think it should be sufficient to make a note here on the talk page. DeepNorth (talk) 07:00, 23 November 2020 (UTC)Reply

Dr. Morduch's comment on this article edit

Dr. Morduch has reviewed this Wikipedia page, and provided us with the following comments to improve its quality:


- The article starts by saying that "Original sin is a commonly used metaphor in economics literature." That is wrong. It is not a common metaphor. Nor is this a common term in economics at all. Instead it is a somewhat clever name for a specific problem of international finance, albeit one faced by a fairly large group of countries. The branding of "original sin" is a clever communications device used by the authors of a set of research studies to amplify their own work. I don't fault them, but the wikipedia article should provide an independent view that does the service of placing the research in context. That context would minimize this particular issue relative to larger issues in international finance.

- The article fails to do the most important job: to tell readers why they should care about this problem. - The article does not clarify till half-way through that this is not a real problem for "the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland (financial centers), and Euroland countries." [Euroland is jargon and it's not clear what that really means.] - the article describes ways that the original sin hypothesis has changed over time, but fails to explain why or what the changes imply.

- Overall, the article goes deep into the weeds on a particular research line, but it fails to put it in perspective. Wikipedia's strength is usually to offer balance and an independent take on issues. This article does a good job of digesting technical papers but does a poor job in stepping back from the specifics to answer the most fundamental question for readers: why does this matter? why should we care? is this something worth paying attention to?


We hope Wikipedians on this talk page can take advantage of these comments and improve the quality of the article accordingly.

Dr. Morduch has published scholarly research which seems to be relevant to this Wikipedia article:


  • Reference : Cull, Robert & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Morduch, Jonathan, 2008. "Microfinance meets the market," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4630, The World Bank.

ExpertIdeasBot (talk) 18:01, 27 June 2016 (UTC)Reply

Thanks for this assessment. I tweaked the intro to avoid the claim that this term is common, and "Euroland" is no longer used by the article. The larger conceptual problems I'll have to leave to someone who has more time to learn about this in-depth. -- Beland (talk) 05:36, 5 January 2017 (UTC)Reply

Dr. Schmukler's comment on this article edit

Dr. Schmukler has reviewed this Wikipedia page, and provided us with the following comments to improve its quality:


- Most of the references need updated. Many of the papers cited already have been published already.

- My name is misspelled. It is “Schmukler” instead of “Schmikler”

- As additional reading, perhaps you could add: Claessens, Stijn, Klingebiel, Daniela, and Schmukler, Sergio, 2007. “Government Bonds in Domestic and Foreign Currency: The Role of Institutional and Macroeconomic Factors,” Review of International Economics, 15:2, 370-413.


We hope Wikipedians on this talk page can take advantage of these comments and improve the quality of the article accordingly.

We believe Dr. Schmukler has expertise on the topic of this article, since he has published relevant scholarly research:


  • Reference : Didier, Tatiana & Schmukler, Sergio L., 2013. "Financial development in Latin America and the Caribbean : stylized facts and the road ahead," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6582, The World Bank.

ExpertIdeasBot (talk) 11:12, 22 December 2016 (UTC)Reply

Oh dear, I've corrected that terrible spelling mistake. Thanks for your assessment! -- Beland (talk) 05:36, 5 January 2017 (UTC)Reply