tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38545607.post3950743796831363937..comments2024-03-09T10:26:48.789+00:00Comments on economics, psychology, policy: QSS Blog on Physics and Political ScienceEmma Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11466193733741012673noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38545607.post-67154202944828079882009-10-28T18:51:40.670+00:002009-10-28T18:51:40.670+00:00I have been somewhat skeptical about econophysics ...I have been somewhat skeptical about econophysics without knowing much about it (hey, no one's perfect). There is a long tradition of mathematicians developing techniques which they then decide offer great insights into socio-economic phenomena, usually the stock-market. Catastrophe theory was the new big thing at one point, then chaos theory, then complexity theory. Someone gave a seminar in Geary a few months back in this tradition: I heard it was bunk.<br />Often the work is characterized by a lack of insight into how markets and institutions work.<br />Having said all that, one has to be open to new ideas and techniques and we have been giving and taking them for decades. With my colleague Orla Doyle I have worked on voting (as have an increasing number of economists) so I can't complain.<br />The bottom line has to be: does this new approach provide new results or is it just pretty equations?Kevin Dennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17891633553910348880noreply@blogger.com