Just in time for my Letter to the Editor that was half-published in The Economist, I’ve got a newly redesigned website, courtesy of Outward Focus Design. I hope you like it, and please email me if you find any problems!
Here’s what The Economist published (about their articles on the 2009 crisis in macroeconomic theory):
SIR – Having used my PhD in economics as a stepping stone to the more reputable field of stand-up comedy, it would be easy for me to spend all my time mocking macroeconomists. Consider, for example, that the current head of the Congressional Budget Office co-wrote a paper a few years back titled “Can Financial Innovation Help to Explain the Reduced Volatility of Economic Activity?”.
Here’s what I actually wrote them:
Sir: Having used my PhD in economics as a stepping stone to the more reputable field of stand-up comedy, it would be easy for me to spend all my time mocking macroeconomists—consider, for example, that the head of the Congressional Budget Office co-authored a paper a few years back titled “Can Financial Innovation Help to Explain the Reduced Volatility of Economic Activity?”—but the truth is that my fellow microeconomists must do some soul-searching too. The single-minded devotion to perfect competition in most micro classes means that they skip over topics like principal-agent problems and adverse selection that are at the heart of the current crisis. As in macro, the problem is too much price theory and not enough game theory.
“The problem is too much price theory and not enough game theory.” Good point! I’ll cite it in my paper on NIE!
“The problem is too much price theory and not enough game theory.” Good point! I’ll cite it in my paper on NIE!