Category Archives: Economics

Basic Open Research and Failed Institutions – Imagine

Posted on February 12, 2009 by

Imagine if in the last ten years before the collapse, the huge failed financial and insurance institutions had had independent research units devoted to doing basic, open, and critical research on matters of relevance to the business, ethics, and future of these institutions. Might it have made a small … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Rationality | Tagged | 5 Comments

The Hex-Voting-Rule (Not Recommended)

Posted on February 3, 2009 by

Blue wins – if there is a right to left continuous path of blue regions Red wins – if there is north to south continuous path of red regions (A region is red or blue according to the majority of … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Games | 12 Comments

Malawi

Posted on October 30, 2008 by

   Malawi Here are two additional sectionettes from my ”Notices of the AMS” book review entitled ”Economic and Common Sense” on Steven Landsburg’s book “More Sex is Safe Sex – the unconventional wisdom of economics”.  Both sectionettes deal with Government intervention in economics. The first is about fertilizer … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Prisoner’s Dilemma, Sympathy, and Yaari’s Challenge

Posted on September 3, 2008 by

Correlation and Cooperation In our spring school devoted to Arrow’s economics, Menahem Yaari gave a talk  entitled “correlation and cooperation.” It was about games as a model of people’s behavior, and Yaari made the following points: It is an empirical fact … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Games, Philosophy, Rationality | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Arrow’s Economics 1

Posted on July 15, 2008 by

The annual Summer School in Economics at HU was directed until last year by Kenneth Arrow, along with Eyal Winter. Arrow decided this year to step down as a director and Eric Maskin is replacing him. The 2008 Summer School was … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Open problems | Tagged , | 12 Comments

What do Firms Want?

Posted on June 6, 2008 by

Here is another little sectionette from my book review  ”Economics and Common Sense” on Steven Landsburg’s book “More sex is Safe Sex: The Unconventional Wisdom of Economics”, that just appeared on the AMS Notices site. Of course this topic can lead to a lovely … Continue reading →

Posted in Book review, Economics | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Is More Sex Safe? A book review.

Posted on May 29, 2008 by

I was asked by the Notices of the AMS to review the book “More Sex is Safe Sex: The Unconventional Wisdom  of Econmics” by Steven E. Landsburg.  My review entitled “Economics and Common Sense”, will appeared in the June/July issue of the Notices and … Continue reading →

Posted in Book review, Economics | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Rationality, Economics and Games

Posted on May 14, 2008 by

1. The “Center for Rationality” “Founded in 1991, the Hebrew University’s Center for the Study of Rationality  [at first it was simply called "Center for Rationality"] is a unique venture in which faculty, students, and guests join forces to explore the … Continue reading →

Posted in Controversies and debates, Economics, Rationality | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments