Thursday , November 21 2024
Home / Mike Norman Economics / Lars P. Syll — Game theory and the shaping of neoliberal capitalism

Lars P. Syll — Game theory and the shaping of neoliberal capitalism

Summary:
When criticising game theory you often get the rather uninformative and vacuous answer that we all have to remember that game theory — as is mainstream neoclassical theory at large — is nothing but ‘as-if-theory’ built on ‘as-if-rationality.’ As Ariel Rubinstein has it, however, this only shows that “the phrase ‘as if’ is a way to avoid taking responsibility for the strong assumptions upon which economic models are founded” … It's bad enough when game theory is applied uncritically to economics, but when game theory is applied uncritically to military policy and strategy, as it is in nuclear deterrence based on mutual assured destruction, it becomes madness, as in "the mad scientist." Lars P. Syll’s BlogGame theory and the shaping of neoliberal capitalism Lars P. Syll | Professor,

Topics:
Mike Norman considers the following as important: ,

This could be interesting, too:

Chris Blattman writes Every war has both psychological and strategic roots, and we don’t need to choose just one explanation

Mike Norman writes On socially influenced preferences — Chris Dillow

Mike Norman writes Paul Robinson — The use of force

Mike Norman writes Andrew Gelman — A quick rule of thumb is that when someone seems to be acting like a jerk, an economist will defend the behavior as being the essence of morality, but when someone seems to be doing something nice, an economist will raise the bar and argue that he’s not being nice at all.

When criticising game theory you often get the rather uninformative and vacuous answer that we all have to remember that game theory — as is mainstream neoclassical theory at large — is nothing but ‘as-if-theory’ built on ‘as-if-rationality.’ As Ariel Rubinstein has it, however, this only shows that “the phrase ‘as if’ is a way to avoid taking responsibility for the strong assumptions upon which economic models are founded” …
It's bad enough when game theory is applied uncritically to economics, but when game theory is applied uncritically to military policy and strategy, as it is in nuclear deterrence based on mutual assured destruction, it becomes madness, as in "the mad scientist."

Lars P. Syll’s Blog
Game theory and the shaping of neoliberal capitalism
Lars P. Syll | Professor, Malmo University

This is not to say that formal approaches are useless, ill-advised, to be avoided, etc. Andrew Gelman sums it up.

Being a good person and not being a good scientist can lead to error through ignorance or inadvertence. Being a good scientist and a bad person can lead to disaster.

 The goal is to be a good person and a good scientist. The need is for good people that are very careful with their thinking, too.

Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science
It’s not enough to be a good person and to be conscientious. You also need good measurement. Cargo-cult science done very conscientiously doesn’t become good science, it just falls apart from its own contradictions.

Andrew Gelman | Professor of Statistics and Political Science and Director of the Applied Statistics Center, Columbia University
Mike Norman
Mike Norman is an economist and veteran trader whose career has spanned over 30 years on Wall Street. He is a former member and trader on the CME, NYMEX, COMEX and NYFE and he managed money for one of the largest hedge funds and ran a prop trading desk for Credit Suisse.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *