Lars P. Syll

Robert Lucas — nonsense on stilts In Michel De Vroey’s version of the history of macroeconomics, Robert Lucas’ declaration of the need for macroeconomics to be pursued only within ‘equilibrium discipline’ and declaring equilibrium to exist as a postulate, is hailed as a ‘Copernican revolution.’ Equilibrium is not to be considered something that characterises real economies, but rather ‘a property of the way we look at things.’ De Vroey  — approvingly —...

La double vie de Véronique  [embedded content] Advertisements

 [embedded content] Tillägnad alla gamla radikala vänner och kollegor som numera glatt traskar patrull och omfamnar allt de en gång i tiden hade modet att våga kritisera och ifrågasätta … Advertisements

Econometrics — still lacking valid ontological foundations Important and far-reaching problems still beset regression analysis and econometrics — many of which basically is a result of unsustainable ontological views. Most econometricians have a nominalist-positivist view of science and models, according to which science can only deal with observable regularity patterns of a more or less lawlike kind. Only data matters and trying to (ontologically) go...

Touring again. Visiting Stockholm and making a guest appearance​​ in the Swedish Parliament. Regular blogging to be resumed during the weekend. Advertisements

The Victims of Game Theory Imagine you and someone you do not know can share $100. It is up to you to propose how to divide the $100 between the two of you, and the other player will need to accept or reject your proposal. If he rejects the proposal, neither of you will receive anything. What sum will you offer the other player? I have data on the choices of about 12,300 people, most of them students, who were asked this question. Nearly half of the...

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He was my brother (personal)  [embedded content] In loving memory of my brother Peter People say time heals all wounds. I wish that was true. But some wounds never heal — you just learn to live with the scars. But in dreams, I can hear your name. And in dreams, We will meet again. When the seas and mountains fall And we come to end of days, In the dark I hear a call Calling me there I will go there And back again. Advertisements...

Trumped-up trickle-down tax cuts Who would have thought that Lafferian supply-side economics and ‘trickle-down’ horseshit would be resurrected? Yours truly, for one, thought we had buried those zombies for good. Trump and the GOP thought otherwise and have now decided to give wealthy business owners and corporate shareholders an early Christmas gift this year … Advertisements

This book reflects my debate with myself​ about economic theory. On the one hand, I am captivated by the charm of formal models: tales emerge from the formal symbols, and these tales have almost miraculous powers over me. On the other hand, I am obsessively occupied with denying any interpretation​ contending that economic models produce conclusions of real value. I feel attracted to economics as a branch of philosophy and as an academic field in which an intelligent...