N. Emrah Aydınonat

Economics Made Fun in the Face of the Crisis: Program

N. Emrah Aydınonat — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:40:31 +0000

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

N. Emrah Aydınonat — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 12:03:25 +0000

Interesting article: “Economics is Hard. Don’t Let Bloggers Tell You Otherwise” http://tinyurl.com/2vwd2qo
Seinfeld Economics! Avinash Dixit’s paper about nothing! http://www.princeton.edu/~dixitak/home/Elaine.pdf
Homo economicus – or more like Homer Simpson? http://www.dbresearch.com[...].pdf

Economics Made Fun: Reviews

N. Emrah Aydınonat — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 11:59:59 +0000

Review Articles

Vromen, Jack (2009) “The booming economics-made-fun genre: more than having fun, but less than economics imperialism“, Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics, 2 (1), Summer 2009, pp. 70-99. Online: http://ejpe.org/pdf/2-1-art-5.pdf
Vromen, Jack (2008) “Economics and Philosophy: More than having fun and making fun“, 28.11.20008 Erasmus University Rotterdam, inaugral speech.

Book Reviews:

Reviews of Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (2007)
- Critical Review by Ariel Rubinstein:Freak-Freakonomics
- Critical Reviews of Freakonomics by John DiNardo
  - Freakonomics: Scholarship in the Service of Storytelling American Law and Economics Review, Volume 8, Number 3, Pp. 615-626
  - Draft of Interesting Questions in Freakonomics Journal of Economic Literature Volume 45, Number 4, December 2007 , pp. 973-1000(28). The published versions can be obtained here or here
  - A Review of Freakonomics online at “No Apparent Motive”.
- Scheiber, Noam, 2007, “Freaks and geeks: how Freakonomics is ruining the dismal
  science“, The New Republic, Apr/02/2007: 27-31.
- Review by Steven Malanga: Where Freakonomics Errs

Reviews of SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (2009)
- Reviews (hat tip: Emre Sevinç)
- Comments on drunk driving and walking (and cycling)
  - The “All Else Equal” Fallacy, again
  - Drunk cycling
  - Drunk driving – by S. Levitt

Economics Made Fun Books

N. Emrah Aydınonat — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 11:58:15 +0000

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

1993

The Armchair Economist: Economics and Everyday Life by Steven E. Landsburg (1993)

1996

Hidden Order by David D. Friedman (1996)

2002

Naked Economics – Undressing the Dismal Science by Burton G. Malkiel (2002)

2004

Everlasting Light Bulbs: How Economics Illuminates the World by John Kay (2004)

2006

The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford (2006)

2007

More Sex is Safer Sex: The Unconventional Wisdom of Economics by Steven E. Landsburg (2007)
Soulful Science What Economic Really Do and Why It Matters by Diane Coyle (2007)
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (2007)

2008

The Economic Naturalist: Why Economics Explains Almost Everything by Robert H. Frank (2008)
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely (2008)
The Logic of Life by Tim Harford (2008)
Free Lunch: Easily Digestible Economics by David Smith (2008)
Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist, Tyler Cowen (2008)

2009

SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (2009)
The Economic Naturalist’s Field Guide: Common Sense Principles for Troubled Times, Robert H. Frank (2009)
The Return of The Economic Naturalist: How Economics Helps Make Sense of Your World, Robert H. Frank (2009)
Dear Undercover Economist, Tim Harford (2009)

Models: Tools or Toys?

N. Emrah Aydınonat — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:00:30 +0000

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

N. Emrah Aydınonat — Wed, 26 May 2010 09:02:00 +0000

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

N. Emrah Aydınonat — Sun, 23 May 2010 21:10:45 +0000

Institutions, Geography, and Growth – Roberto Rigobon

N. Emrah Aydınonat — Sun, 23 May 2010 20:51:29 +0000

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

Good talk!

Yet another review of The Invisible Hand in Economics

N. Emrah Aydınonat — Wed, 12 May 2010 18:38:22 +0000

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

N. Emrah Aydınonat — Wed, 12 May 2010 15:19:33 +0000

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