Lars P. Syll

Is economics — really — a science? As yours truly has reported repeatedly during the last couple of years, university students all over Europe are increasingly beginning to question if the kind of economics they are taught — mainstream economics — really is of any value. Some have even started to question if economics is a science. At least two Nobel laureates in economics have tried to respond. This is Robert Shiller‘s answer: Critics of “economic...

Haben Sie eine Überzeugung, die sich mit den gesellschaftlichen Konventionen nicht verträgt? Ich bin für Kannibalismus. Eat the rich. Könnten Sie jemandem küssen, der aus Ihrer Sicht falsch wählt? Klar, beim Küssen hält er ja den Mund. Nennen Sie ein politischen Buch, dass man gelesen haben muss. Alle Bücher gegen Trump. Rosa von Praunheim/ Die Zeit

Pandemic depression antidote (VIII)  [embedded content] In loving memory of Patrick Gibson. RIP.

Why epidemiological models only scratch the surface of the real world  [embedded content] Yes indeed — the real world is way more complicated than mathematical models of it. And when it comes to choosing policies it is most often our estimations (guesses) of those very complications that decide what actions we take!

Simulating the effect of quarantine vs social distancing  [embedded content]

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Critical realism and Marxism At the juncture of Roy Bhaskar’s refounding of critical realism philosophy of science, postmodernism had spread like a virus across academia with its seductive attack on grand theories or “metanarratives.” Neoliberal policies took advantage of the subsequently lowered intellectual immune systems and “identity politics” squabbling to impose its anti-working class “meta” economic model upon global humanity. Where Bhaskar’s work...

Hur får vi en mer likvärdig skola? Utredningen om en mer likvärdig skola lämnar i dag förslag om ett förändrat skolval och en förändrad resurstilldelning till skolan för att alla elever ska få samma chans. Den övergripande slutsatsen är att staten behöver ta ett större ansvar för att skolan ska bli mer likvärdig … En viktig förklaring till den ökade skolsegregationen är den allt större boendesegregationen men skolvalet och den ökade andelen elever i...

‘One day we shall die. But all the other days we shall be alive.’  [embedded content] Per Olov Enquist, one of Sweden’s most acclaimed authors and intellectuals has died. RIP.

The relationship between logic and truth  [embedded content] To be ‘analytical’ and ‘logical’ is something most people find recommendable. These words have a positive connotation. Scientists think deeper than most other people because they use ‘logical’ and ‘analytical’ methods. In dictionaries, logic is often defined as “reasoning conducted or assessed according to strict principles of validity” and ‘analysis’ as having to do with “breaking something...