The Passing of Alain Parguez

 I have just learned from Louis-Philippe Rochon that Alain Parguez has died.  He was a French economist long based at the University of Besancon before he retired some years ago.  He was long perhspa the main leader of the "circuitist" school of monetary economics, a distinctively French approach that never really caught on in the US, although it has had adherents in Canada.  It is a sort of kissing cousin of the MMT approach, but with more of a Marxist bent to it.  Ironically for a quasi-Marxist I was told by somebody, not Alain himself, that apparently he had pretty serious aristocratic ancestry.

He used to fairly regularly attend the Eastern Economic Association meetings, and I also encountered him in France as well on several occasions, where I used to spend more time than I do anymore. He was a fascinating personality, quite a distinctive character, with a highly distinctive way of speaking that would command one's attention, even if one did not necessarily agree with what he was saying.  I always enjoyed his company.  Our daughter, Sasha, now a successful standup comedian, found him much more interesting than almost any other of my economics colleagues that she ever observed.

As it is, I have mixed feelings about circuitism, which is an intellectually challenging view.  But I confess to having some frustration with it as well, as with some other views it sort of running in circles on itself as it were. But then I guess that is appropriate for a school of thought called circuitism. Anyway, RIP to Alain.

Barkley Rosser