Robert Vienneau: Thoughts Economics

This post states a mathematical conjecture. Consider a model of prices of production in which a choice of technique exists. The parameters of model consist of coefficients of production for each technique and given ratios for the rates of profits among industries. The choice of technique can be analyzed based on wage curves. A point that lies simultaneously on the outer envelope of all wage curves and the wage curves for two techniques (for non-negative wages and rates of profits not...

Table 1: Distribution of Votes Among Parties and Districts DistrictToriesWhigsTotalI5149100II5149100III3367100Total1351653001.0 Introduction This post, amazingly enough, is on current events. Stephanopoulos and McGhee have developed a formula, the efficiency gap, that measures the partisanship of the lines drawn for legislative districts. In this post, I present a numerical illustration of this formula and connect it to current events. I conclude with some questions. 2.0 Numerical Example...

I have organized a series of my posts together into a working paper, titled Bifurcations and Switch Points. Here is the abstract: This article analyzes structural instabilities, in a model of prices of production, associated with variations in coefficients of production, in industrial organization, and in the steady-state rate of growth. Numerical examples are provided, with illustrations, demonstrating that technological improvements or the creation of differential rates of profits can...

Figure 1: Bifurcation Diagram I have presented a model of prices of production in which the the rate of profits differs among industries. Such persistent differential rates of profits may be maintained because of perceptions by investors of different levels of risk among industries. Or they may reflect the ability of firms to maintain barriers to entry in different industries. In the latter case, the model is one of oligopoly. This post is based on a specific numeric example for...

Figure 1: Bifurcation Diagram This post is a continuation of the analysis in this reswitching example. That post presents an example of reswitching in a model of the production of commodities by means of commodities. The example is one of an economy in which two commodities, iron and corn, are produced. Managers of firms know of two processes for producing iron and one process for producing corn. The definition of technology results in a choice between two techniques of production. The...

1.0 Introduction Consider a partial equilibrium model in which: Consumers demand to buy a certain quantity of a commodity, given its price. Firms produce (supply) a certain quantity of that commodity, given its price. This is a model of perfect competition, since the consumers and producers take the price as given. In this post, I try to present a model of the supply curve in which the managers of firms do not make systematic mistakes. This post is almost purely exposition. The...

Figure 1: Price Wicksell Effects in Example1.0 Introduction This post presents another example from my on-going simulation experiments. I am still focusing on simple models without the choice of technique. The example illustrates an economy in which price Wicksell effects are positive, for some ranges of the rate of profits, and negative for another range. 2.0 Technology I used my implementation of the Monte-Carlo method to generate 20,000 viable, random economies in which three...

Ian Wright has had a blog for about six months. Scott Carter announces that Sraffa's notes for are now available online. (The announcement is good for linking to Carter's paper explaining the arrangement of the notes.) David Glasner has been thinking about intertemporal equilibrium. Brian Romanchuk questions the use of models of infinitesimal agents in economics. (Some at ejmr say he is totally wrong, but others cannot make any sense of such models, either. I am not sure if my use of a...

Figure 1: Blowup of Distribution of Maximum Distance of Frontier from Straight Line1.0 Introduction This post is the third in a series. Here is the first, and here is the second. In this post, I am concerned with the probability that price Wicksell effects for a given technique are negative, positive, or both (for different rates of profits). A price Wicksell effect shows the change in the value of capital goods, for different rates of profits, for a technique. If a (non-zero) price...

For the purposes of this very simplified and schematic post, I present the CCC as having two sides. Views and achievements of Cambridge (UK) critics: Joan Robinson's argument for models set in historical time, not logical time. Mathematical results in comparing long-run positions: Reswitching. Capital reversing. Empirical results and applications. Rediscovery of the logic of the Classical theory of value and distribution. Arguments about the role that a given quantity of capital plays in...