Lars P. Syll

Paul Krugman — a methodological critique Alex Rosenberg — chair of the philosophy department at Duke University and renowned economic methodologist — has an interesting article on What’s Wrong with Paul Krugman’s Philosophy of Economics in 3:AM Magazine. Writes Rosenberg: Krugman writes: “So how do you do useful economics? In general, what we really do is combine maximization-and-equilibrium as a first cut with a variety of ad hoc modifications reflecting...

Ist jeder Muslim ein Koran auf zwei Beinen?  [embedded content]

[embedded content] Our youngest daughter was into gymnastics for many years, so I’ve seen how much practice and effort it takes to do things like this. Amazing performance!

On the​ emptiness of Bayesian probabilism A major attraction of the personalistic [Bayesian] view is that it aims to address uncertainty that is not directly based on statistical data, in the narrow sense of that term​. Clearly much uncertainty is of this broader kind. Yet when we come to specific issues I believe that a snag in the theory emerges. To take an example that concerns me at the moment: what is the evidence that the signals from mobile...

Keynes on the limits​ of econometric methods Am I right in thinking that the method of multiple correlation analysis essentially depends on the economist having furnished, not merely a list of the significant causes, which is correct so far as it goes, but a complete list? For example, suppose three factors are taken into account, it is not enough that these should be in fact vera causa; there must be no other significant factor. If there is a further...

The emotive power of music  [embedded content] Davida Scheffers has lived her dream of​ winning a contest and the opportunity to play with the Dutch​ Orchestra. Davida suffers from an extremely painful neuromuscular condition that derailed her career, and she thought she would never get to play in a professional orchestra again. The young blond lady is her daughter and turned 18 years old that day.  [embedded content]

Bayesianism — a patently​ absurd approach to science Back in 1991, when yours truly earned his first PhD with a dissertation on decision making and rationality in social choice theory and game theory, I concluded that “repeatedly it seems as though mathematical tractability and elegance — rather than realism and relevance — have been the most applied guidelines for the behavioural assumptions being made. On a political and social level, it is doubtful if...

 [embedded content] Though I speak with the tongues of angels, If I have not love… My words would resound with but a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophesy… And understand all mysteries… and all knowledge… And though I have all faith So that I could remove mountains, If I have not love… I am nothing.

Nationalekonomisk forskning om friskolor och skolkonkurrens På DN:s debattsida kunde man för några år sedan, apropå en Pisarapport, läsa följande: Bara för att det finns ett statistiskt samband behöver det inte finnas ett orsakssamband … Ett exempel på hur fel det kan bli gäller skolvalets och konkurrensens effekter. I Pisarapporten läser vi att det inte finns någon relation mellan länders resultat och andelen elever i fristående skolor. Samma slutsats...

Is ‘modern’ macroeconomics for real? Empirically, far from isolating a microeconomic core, real-business-cycle models, as with other representative-agent models, use macroeconomic aggregates for their testing and estimation. Thus, to the degree that such models are successful in explaining empirical phenomena, they point to the ontological centrality of macroeconomic and not to microeconomic entities … At the empirical level, even the new classical...