Economics Hub

Contents:

  • Repository for Economic Data
  • Links to Relevant Websites for Economics and Finance
  • Recommended Reading
  • Assorted blog posts
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Open Research Questions

A list of open research questions. These are of varying depth of thought; some might be personal interest questions, while others might be open for research.

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Unhinged Cognitive Science Doodles

My favorite motto is: Become the person you would otherwise be envious of. That is, use the envy as an emotional for how you emotionally want to direct your life, especially when you don’t know yourself very well (for whom none of us really do).

Below is a list of unhinged cognitive science doodles and hot takes about cognition and learning. I plan to organize these with more exposition, but for now am listing them together here.

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Perspective Papers on EconCS

There are five different conceptual levels in computational social choice:

  • Interpersonal Comparisons of Utility: One of the fundamental problems in economics is how to evaluate trade-offs across individuals. In the Trolly Problem, is it just to sacrifice one in favor of many? We cannot evaluate this trade-off without appealing to a greater ethic, such as utilitarianism. See Sen (1998) [Link].
  • How do people know their own values? This is a self-valuation problem since individuals have to ask themselves how good some alternative is. In finance, prices are set by the relative value of goods and services with respect to each other. Still, value is inherently subjective, as food is worth more than gold in a deserted island.
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Kant's Categorical Imperative

Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.

Kant, 1785

In layman’s terms, Kant’s Categorical Imperative states that a moral priciple is justified only if everyone could abide by those maxims and society would be better-off. While people often apply this imperative toward moral principles such as deception, theft, and suicide, I find a particular homage toward it through my research in computational social choice and multiagent systems.

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The Farmers' Market Muse

Thunder claps in the distance as the storm passes. It’s hot. 87 degrees Fahrenheit with 70% humidity. Oh yeah, that type of muggy morning. There will be more rain later in the day, but for now the sun seems to have broken through. A gust of cool air every now-and-then keeps things bearable. One of the dividends of life, in my view, is staying walking-distance from a vibrant small downtown.

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On Counterparty Risk

They say that there’s no such thing as a deal without Counterparty Risk. Investopedia defines this as:

the likelihood or probability that one of those involved in a transaction might default on its contractual obligation.
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Interesting Questions

A small collection of interesting (boundary breaker) questions you can ask people instead of making small talk with “What do you do for a living?” This list is motivated, in part, by this lecture by David Goodhart (Big Think, 2017). Enjoy!

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