Monthly Archives: November 2015
Is Two the new Zero? Why Divine Coincidence failed
Speculative, as Tyler Cowen would say. When people play the Dictator Game Ultimatum Game [thanks Alex] they don't play the way economists would predict. The Nash Equilibrium is for the first player to propose a 99:1 division of the pie take-it-or-leave-it offer, and the second player to accept. Because 1% is better than nothing, so […]
Is it time to kill the traditional student presentation?
The traditional student presentation format – ten minutes of powerpoint, two minutes of questions – rarely works well. After three or four presentations, a good chunk of the audience zones out. Getting a good discussion going is hard – and there isn't time for an extended conversation anyways. Then there are the logistical challenges – […]
Some very basic non-Walrasian economics
If we had one central market, with a Walrasian auctioneer, where all goods are traded simultaneously for each other, none of this would matter. But we don't; so it does. Partial equilibrium theorists don't need to know this stuff. People who believe prices are always at market-clearing levels don't need to know this stuff. Everyone […]
Innovation Central-Bank Style: Engaging with the Research Community
This post was written by Carolyn Wilkins, Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada. During the Great Depression, John Maynard Keynes wrote “It’s astonishing what foolish things one can temporarily believe if one thinks too long alone, particularly in economics.” Today, this is truer than ever, and it’s a principle the Bank of Canada […]
My macro framework
FWIW. Since everyone else seems to be doing this. 1. There are n different types on labour. 2. Each individual has an endowment of one type of labour, and wants to trade some of it for some of the other types of labour. 3. But (double) coincidence of wants is rare, so they use money […]
Vortigern’s immigration policy
Economists aren't exactly noted for their expertise in Cultural Studies (I think that's what I'm doing here), but I'm going to give it a go. The fact that the Arthurian legend still resonates 1,500 years later tells us something about people, their hopes and fears. According to legend, Arthur was the British resistance leader who […]
Robots and the Core
I don't do micro. Can somebody please find me some simple accessible link that explains "the core" and its relation to competitive equilibrium? Thanks. This one (pdf) looks good but has got too much math for me to understand. [Update: here's Aumann (pdf). First couple of pages are readable. Thanks notsneaky.] Suppose you have an […]
A modest proposal for renewed imperialism
I hear that a lot of people want to migrate to…Finland. I'm pretty sure it's not because they like Finland's climate, or scenery. I don't think it's got anything to do with the physical geography of Finland. I think that they want to move to Finland because they like Finland's political, legal, and social institutions, […]
“Drop your shovels NOW!” On ending fiscal policy in NK models
I've been trying to get my head around this over the last few days. Still not sure I'm there yet. But anyway: It seems to me that the effect of fiscal policy at the Zero Lower Bound in New Keynesian models is extremely sensitive to timing the exit. This isn't about finding "shovel ready" projects […]
Business cycle theory vs growth theory
Macroeconomics is divided into (short run) business cycle theory and (long run) growth theory. Those of us who do business cycle theory have a bit of an inferiority complex (though you might not know it from listening to us argue). Because growth theory seems to be so much more important. Where would you rather live: […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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