Lars P. Syll

How central banks create money Have you ever asked yourself how central banks create money? BBC Radio gives the answer. Advertisements

The limits of probabilistic reasoning Probabilistic reasoning in science — especially Bayesianism — reduces questions of rationality to questions of internal consistency (coherence) of beliefs, but, even granted this questionable reductionism, it’s not self-evident that rational agents really have to be probabilistically consistent. There is no strong warrant for believing so. Rather, there is strong evidence for us encountering huge problems if we let...

New Classical macroeconomists — people having their heads fuddled with nonsense McNees documented the radical break between the 1960s and 1970s. The question is: what are the possible responses that economists and economics can make to those events? One possible response is that of Professors Lucas and Sargent. They describe what happened in the 1970s in a very strong way with a polemical vocabulary reminiscent of Spiro Agnew. Let me quote some phrases that...

Hierarchical models​ and clustered residuals (student stuff)  [embedded content] Advertisements

Exaggerated and unjustified statistical​ claims  [embedded content] Advertisements

And here’s another very stable GOP genius  [embedded content] Advertisements

Economath — a device designed to fool the feebleminded Many American undergraduates in Economics interested in doing a Ph.D. are surprised to learn that the first year of an Econ Ph.D. feels much more like entering a Ph.D. in solving mathematical models by hand than it does with learning economics. Typically, there is very little reading or writing involved, but loads and loads of fast algebra is required. Why is it like this? The first reason is that...

The flawed premises of mainstream​ economic theory You know, and I know, that we do not live in a world of Econs. We live in a world of Humans. And since most economists are also human, they also know that they do not live in a world of Econs … Nevertheless, this model of economic behavior based on a population consisting only of Econs has flourished, raising economics to that pinnacle of influence on which it now rests. Critiques over the years have been...

Paul Ryan’s ‘eat cake’ moment​​ In his now infamous deleted tweet Paul Ryan defended the new corporate tax cuts by noting that not only corporations benefitted, but also ordinary workers that now may increase their wages by $1.50 — per week. Makes yours truly come to think of one of the most famous quotes in history, where French queen Marie-Antoinette in 1789 told the hungering masses that if they didn’t have enough bread, well “eat cake” …...

28 Jahre, zwei Monate und 27 Tage  [embedded content] Am 5. Februar gibt es die Mauer genauso lange nicht mehr, wie sie einst existierte. Das ist das Ende einer Epoche. Und auch ein Anfang … Wenn ich heute die Bilder von damals sehe, merke ich: Gefühle lassen sich nicht nur nicht messen, sie haben auch kein Alter. Gefühle werden nicht alt. Ich bin oft noch zu Tränen gerührt und schäme mich trotzdem dafür. Ich müsste längst abgeklärter sein. Doch jenes...