Lars P. Syll

Vinstdrivna friskolor? Nej tack! Min gamla kollega från tiden vid nationalekonomiska institutionen i Lund, Anne-Marie Pålsson, förklarar varför det här med vinstdrivna friskolor kanske inte är en särskilt begåvad idé. Bra rutet Anne-Marie! [embedded content] [h/t Jan Wiklund]

The ‘New Keynesian’ Monetarist fantasy is finally over Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard recently argued that fiscal stabilization policy “is far too politicized to substitute consistently for modern independent technocratic central banks.” But instead of considering how this defect might be overcome, Rogoff sees no alternative to continuing with the prevailing monetary-policy regime – despite the overwhelming evidence that central banks are unable to play their...

I Sydsvenskan skrev för ett par veckor sedan tidningens politiske chefredaktör Heidi Avellan apropå friskolor följande: Friskolor … infördes 1992. Blev det bra? Det finns mycket att invända mot. Forskningen visar att det fria skolvalet och fler friskolor är viktiga förklaringar till skolsegregation, det är framför allt resursstarka föräldrar med god ekonomi och hög utbildning som väljer. Lägg till misstanke om betygsinflation och övervinster. Det är klart att det inte är bra....

 [embedded content] I sing in the language of the heart, It’s an invented language that I’ve had for a very long time. I believe I started singing in it when I was about 12. Roughly that time. And I believed that I was speaking to God when I sang in that language.

On randomization and regression (wonkish) Randomization does not justify the regression model, so that bias can be expected, and the usual formulas do not give the right variances. Moreover, regression need not improve precision … What is the source of the bias when regression models are applied to experimental data? In brief, the regression model assumes linear additive effects. Given the assignments, the response is taken to be a linear combina- tion of...

Workshop on causal graphs (student stuff)  [embedded content]

Adorno und die rechte Propaganda – AfD philosophisch betrachtet  [embedded content]

Endogeneity bias — fiction in a fictitious world (wonkish) The bivariate model base and its a priori closure destines ‘endogeneity bias’ to a fictitious existence. That existence, in turn, confines applied research in a fictitious world. The concept loses its grip in empirical studies whose findings rely heavily on forecasting accuracy, e.g. a wide range of macro-modelling research as mentioned before. It remains thriving in areas where empirical results...

The one and only genius I listen to every day  [embedded content]

My favourite statistics books Mathematical statistician David Freedman‘s Statistical Models and Causal Inference (Cambridge University Press, 2010)  and Statistical Models: Theory and Practice (Cambridge University Press, 2009) are marvellous books. They ought to be mandatory reading for every serious social scientist — including economists and econometricians — who doesn’t want to succumb to ad hoc assumptions and unsupported statistical conclusions! How...