Economics Made Fun in the Face of the Crisis: Program

Here is the provisional program of the Econ-Fun Symposium (10-11 December 2010, Rotterdam):

10.12.2010 Friday

09:00 – 09:30 Welcome
09:30 – 10:30 Diane Coyle (keynote): “Who’s laughing now at the dismal science?”

10:30 – 10:45 Break: Coffee etc.

10:45 – 11:30 Uskali Mäki: “On the philosophy of the new kiosk economics of everything”
11:30 – 12:15 N. Emrah Aydinonat: “The two images of economics: Why the fun disappears when important questions are at stake?”

12:15 – 13:30 Lunch

13:30 – 14:15 Jack Vromen: “Finding the Right Levers; Introducing Fines in Kindergartens and All That…”
14:15 – 15:00 Peter M. Spiegler: “The Unbearable Lightness of the Economics-Made-Fun Genre”

15:00 – 15:15 Break: Coffee etc.

15:15 – 16:00 Björn Frank: “Economic Page Turners”
16:00 – 16:45 Paul Teule & Erwin Dekker: “Economics made fun, and made fun of”

16:45 – 17:00 Break: Coffee etc.

17:00 – 18:00 Robert H. Frank (keynote): “The Economic Naturalist Writing Assignment”

19:00 Conference Dinner

11.12.2010 Saturday

10:30 Coffee

10:45 – 11:30 Jean Baptiste Fleury: “The Evolving Notion of Relevance: An Historical Perspective to the “Economics-Made-Fun” movement”
11:30 – 12:15 Edward Nik-Khah and Rob Van Horn: “Inland Empire: Economics Imperialism as an Imperative of Chicago Neoliberalism”

12:15 – 13:30 Lunch

13:30 – 14:15 Roger Backhouse: “Economics is a serious (and difficult) subject”
14:15 – 15:15 Ariel Rubinstein (keynote): “Are economists economic agents?”
15:15 – 15:30 Closing

For more information visit: http://www.eur.nl[...]economics_made_fun/

Econ-Fun: Links

Economics Made Fun: Reviews

Review Articles

Book Reviews:

Economics Made Fun Books

Here is a list of books that make economics fun (in chronological order):

1993

1996

2002

2004

2006

2007

2008

2009

Models: Tools or Toys?

Here is another look at the role of models and simulations in social sciences:

Tools of Toys? On Specific Challenges for Modeling and the Epistemology of Models and Computer Simulations in the Social Sciences by Eckhart Arnold. Available online, here!

Extended Deadline: 15 June 2010, Economics Made Fun Symposium

The deadline for abstracts for the Economics Made Fun Symposium is now 15 June 2010. More info at: http://www.eur.nl/fw/english/eipe/conferences/economics_made_fun/

Elinor Ostrom on Institutions

Institutions, Geography, and Growth – Roberto Rigobon

Institutions, Geography, and Growth – Roberto Rigobon, June 5, 2004, Running Time: 57:19

Good talk!

Yet another review of The Invisible Hand in Economics

Warren J. Samuels’ review of The Invisible Hand in Economics kindly starts with the following sentence:

This study by a sensitive and imaginative intellect is a substantive contribution to the literature  developing  the  meaning  of  the  concept  of  ‘‘the  invisible  hand’’  while simultaneously attempting to establish how interpretation can be structured to convey ‘‘understanding’’ albeit not ‘‘truth.’’

However, Samuels review is the most critical review I have recieved so far. You may read the full review here.

If you are interested in reading  other reviews of The Invisible Hand in Economics, click here.

Notes on Economics and the Future of Quantitative Social Science

Notes on Economics and the Future of Quantitative Social Science

Andrew J. Oswald (University of Warwick)

Abstract
This brief paper is written for a meeting in Cambridge-Mass in May 2010. It offers speculations on the scientific future of economics (and some of the quantitative parts of social science). It is closer to guesswork than science and is not designed to be a careful, full study. As an aid to anyone interested in possible trends, it provides data on the most-referenced journal articles in modern economics.
Read the full article here (pdf)
!

HT: Tyler Cowen

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