Max A(n)dy s.t. g(l)=o(v)e^r

Might as well give an update...

2008-07-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

... I passed my field prelims- trade and labor. Not that they have much overlap, but I knew I could pass them the first try, so now I can spend the rest of the summer starting my third year paper. Time is flying.

Since some people still poke around here...

2007-10-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

I also passed macro. Minnesota is usually a high-pass school, but our class was creamed, so I'm pretty psyched.

Also, the dept. got another Nobel prize, so everyone was pretty excited.

How are things going with you guys?

2007-09-27T19:49:00.001-07:00

News today- passed the micro prelim! Only waiting for macro now.

... he shouts into the silence.

2007-03-03T21:57:00.000-08:00

www.bsu.edu/onesmallproject

This is the website for a Virginia Ball Center program that Kat is doing. By me linking above, I have increased the number of sites linking to their pages by infinity%!!!

Update on Grad School

2006-10-10T17:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm taking a sort of usual Minnesota sequence of courses it seems. I'm in micro, macro, and probability with measure in the math dept. From other people on Testmagic, this seems like a lighter course load (no metrics for example). But, Minnesota is a little different I think, as nobody is taking more than three classes at once. Maybe this is why the pass rate on the prelims is quite high.

In other news, I think my loyal reader (Adam) will be happy to find that investing heavily in math as an undergrad pays off big time. I know that last semester of topology especially has made it so that math doesn't phase me. I'm sure that measure will do the same for you.

On a side note... the econ-blogging community has gone through some insane changes over the past three years! Chris is an accountant, Kerry is a professional, and Passey is something new every few days. Seeing as I have never been an especially productive blogger, I think I will officially put this thing to rest. I'll still keep up with everyone elses, and one day maybe my website will have useful stuff:
www.tc.umn.edu/~glove029

Later.

Grocery Store Misadventures

2006-08-08T07:21:00.000-07:00

It is surprising how minor things become very difficult without a car. Yesterday I decided to get some groceries, so I found a Cub Foods about a mile from my apartment. I walked to the store (beautiful day here), and bought a load of groceries (5 bags and a gallon of milk). I figured that this amount of baggage was doable on the bus, if I got off at the exact stop. Well, to cut it short (class starts in ten), I got off waaay to early, and because of the bus route, ended up walking more than the original mile. It took about 3 hours to get groceries in the end, and my arms got a better workout than I can ever remember. Moral: I need a car.

Now at Minnesota

2006-08-07T14:27:00.000-07:00

Long week- drove up to Minneapolis from Muncie on Friday/Saturday (12 hours in car maybe)
Ran around Minneapolis in extreme heat from Saturday until Wednesday
Drove back down to Muncie on Wednesday and Thursday
Hung out at the Heorot, went to reception on Friday and Saturday
Took train back up to Minneapolis on Sunday (Traveling started at 6:15AM, ended at around midnight... including an extra hour due to time change)
Today: having fun at math camp and finding a grocery store close to my house

New Website

2006-04-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

This is my Minnesota website:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~glove029

I'm going to try to keep it up to date with notes and stuff. I've gotten pretty good with Latex, so hopefully I can find time to type up my hand written notes. This helps me to understand material a lot better, so if I do this, I will put them on the website.

Minnesota

2006-04-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

After the visitation weekend, I am 99.99% certain that I will be at Minnesota next year. For those who are interested, here is why:
1. Students do a lot of research in later years, so they do well on the job market.
2. Attrition is really low. Only 1/25 students from two years ago have left the program! So it is true when they say on the website that the quals are not used to weed people out.
3. They do macro extremely well, and the fed is like a second department for them, so this really matches my current interests. The downside is that if I decided that I liked econometrics, I would be screwed... but I don't foresee that happening.
4. The city is much cooler than most people think. And to me, it is awesome.
5. The department got us drunk both nights we were there.

So, I am really to the point that I don't think anything less than a full fellowship from UCLA would change my decision. And I am sure that I won't be getting one of those. So, I will be a Golden Gopher... don't eat me Paul.

So... I Guess the Hard Part is (Mostly) Over!

2006-03-17T16:50:00.000-08:00

And now... a recap:

In:
Ohio State (Fellowship)
Maryland (Fellowship)
IU (TA/Fellowship)
Minnesota (TA/Fellowship)
UCLA (Funding TBD)
UCSD (No Money At All)

Out:
Northwestern (Assuming)
Brown
Michigan

And it looks like it is becoming more and more clear that UCLA or Minnesota will be the way to go. I will still visit Maryland, because they have such an advantage in being close to DC, but if UCLA gives me money, I think the decision will be made. So, I can finally say that I am on the other side of the fence: I have survived the application process, now I have to make it through the actually hard part!

I Hope I Don't Get Mistaken For Too Many Movie Stars...

2006-03-16T15:59:00.000-08:00

I GOT IN AT UCLA! Financial aid is pending, but I am told that I have been placed high on the fellowship waiting list. I had to try very hard not to write back, PLEEEASE GIVE ME A FELLOWSHIP. I am freaking out... and I still have to do topology homework... but all I want to do is freak out!

Update on Aid

2006-03-13T12:16:00.000-08:00

So, my aid picture looks like this right now:

OSU: Fellowship (unsure on details)
Maryland: Fellowship (15k+tuit+insur)
IU-Bloomington: Fellowship/TA
UCSD- No $, so I had to decline the offer

So it is probably between OSU and Maryland at the moment, although I'm going to drive down to IU at some point this week to see what the atmosphere is like. I am scheduled to visit Maryland on the 27th and then OSU on the 31st, so I won't exactly be attending classes that week!

More to come, and hopefully it will be good!

Northwestern

2006-03-08T18:36:00.000-08:00

Things do not bode well for me at NWU. Tons of people posting acceptances and waitlists. I'm guessing this means I am neither. Oh well, both of the private schools are now off my list. Looks like I'm a public school kinda guy.

Another Update!

2006-03-03T14:50:00.000-08:00

In at Maryland! w00t! X2!

Man, good couple of days in Andyland.

Update

2006-03-03T12:18:00.000-08:00

In at IU! w00tz0r!

I don't know if this complicates things much... but Bloomington is a really beautiful city, and I would only be a few hours from home. I'm trying to keep my opinions open until aid is announced everywhere.

Update II

2006-03-02T15:29:00.000-08:00

In at UCSD! No word on aid in the email... something tells me I won't be getting any, or not enough at any rate. This complicates my decision...

Update

2006-03-02T09:13:00.000-08:00

The folks at Brown didn't want a piece. That's alright, I think I would have been too intense for them anyway. Plus, what football team would I have watched at Brown?

Sooo....

2006-02-28T16:36:00.000-08:00

...I guess the admission committees decided not to meet this year. That's cool.

Other Fields

2006-02-18T21:51:00.000-08:00

I know I need to get over this, but I feel this sort of disbelief/fascination with some of the fields people are studying. I mean, I am not the sort of person who does things for "the greater good", but I do like to think that some piece of my work may one day help shape a helpful policy. It probably won't, but at least there is the possibility! Maybe I'm showing my inner Philistine here, but what good can you do with a PhD in ancient philosophy?

The Greatest Artist Alive!

2006-02-03T14:01:00.000-08:00

This guy is great:
www.brandonbird.com

His masterpiece:
http://brandonbird.com/lazysunday.html

Minnesota News Over at TM

2006-02-03T11:50:00.000-08:00

So, somebody has gotten in to Minnesota over at TM, but it seems like this is an exceptional case. At any rate, when I first read his post I sat and stared at my email for half an hour, clicking refresh frantically. Because of this, I think I claimed that I can relax now because of OSU too soon.

In a side note- my girlfriend (Kat) has a shirt that has a moose on it and says Minnesota across the chest. Apart from being hot, I long ago decided that it was good luck. I'm trying to convince her to wear it nonstop until I hear something... she doesn't like that idea.

Update (Happy)

2006-01-29T19:22:00.000-08:00

Just got word that I'm in at Ohio State and I'm being nominated for the University Fellowship. The director sounded very enthused about my SOP, so hopefully I'll have more good news filtering in, although I wouldn't be too awfully depressed if I didn't get in anywhere else (though, of course I would like to!). w00t!

Update

2006-01-27T11:45:00.000-08:00

The apps are away. I finished the last one, Washington, today. So, I continue to wait for notification... it looks like UCSD and Minnesota told people in early February last year, so maybe I'll get the first word soon. Really, I want to just get SOME piece of info on my apps! Testmagic's forums are awful for me, but I can't stop checking them. I should have just not taken classes this semester while I wait, because it is damn near impossible to focus. Alright, I'll keep this updated with acceptances/rejections.

Hahahah!

2005-12-13T21:56:00.000-08:00

I meant to link to www.stfd.net, not .com! This may still be confusing though.

My final list looks like this:

1. Northwestern
2. UCLA
3. UC-San Diego
4. Michigan
5. Minnesota
6. Maryland
7. Brown
8. Ohio State
9. Indiana
10. Washington

Maybe Cornell, too. Also applying to IUPUI masters program if I don't get in to any of these. My top choices are Northwestern, UCLA, and Minnesota... I have them by rank here instead.

First Two Apps Away

2005-12-13T13:44:00.000-08:00

I sent in the applications for UCLA and Michigan today. At this point, I really have no ability to assess my chances of getting in to either of them... or anywhere, really. I bounce from being hopeful that I'll get in to a couple of top 20 schools to doubting that I will get in to a the masters program I have chosen as my back-up. Other than that, only one more semester of undergrad... so at least I have that to cheer me up!

Anyways, check out this link, it is great. I first saw it more than a year ago, but I still feel good whenever I look at it:

www.stfd.com

Christmas

2005-12-09T11:42:00.000-08:00

I keep reading/hearing people complain about companies being too politically correct when it comes to Christmas. It is true that you see a lot of avoidance of using the word, but you know, it doesn't bother me at all. As long as it is a market response, there is no injustice here. You may be annoyed, but you can always go to a Christian book-store or something to get very religious Christmas stuff. Or, just call it a Christmas tree, scribble out Happy Seasons on your cards... you know, get creative.

Two Posts in One Day!

2005-12-03T14:04:00.000-08:00

This is incredible:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4489792.stm

Putnam

2005-12-03T13:27:00.000-08:00

I just finished (er... stopped writing down bs) the Putnam. Nothing like an incredibly hard test to make you feel stupid!

Quick Update

2005-11-21T07:22:00.000-08:00

I just saw that Adam hit 100 posts, so I felt like I should put something on this page! I'll just do a run down of what the application process is like:

1. My letter-writers are working on their letters. I made the mistake of printing tons of paper forms for them to fill out, which took forever, since I had to put a lot of info on each one. Then one of the profs told me he liked the online form better, so I switched to that one for just about every letter.

2. My statement of purpose is almost done. I will alter it for each school, of course, but the basic ideas will stay the same.

3. I finished my presentation on dynamic programming in the math dept. I wanted to do a lot of interesting proofs, but I barely had enough time to get through the basic ideas and one example! I am presenting it again for the econ dept. where I will include some discussion of the Howard Improvement Algorithm, etc.

4. I'm working on my senior thesis. I want to have the basic model and conclusions finished to send in with my application. I have the model worked out (labor responses to terrorist threat), from which I am able to draw a handful of seemingly obvious conclusions, but nothing exciting. I think my expanded model will be more interesting (include capital, two countries), but I have no idea how to approach solving it. I will try to get the thing done and somehow posted on here.

How go get a nobel prize...

2005-11-02T15:45:00.000-08:00

So, as we college students know (or are told if you are as geeky as me), college bars hold wet t-shirt and jello wrestling contests. At these contests, girls drink a lot of beer and eventually, if things go as planned, show their breasts. They may even touch another girl's breast (once again, so I am told). So, here is where the problem comes in:

1. The girls are not paid, per se. Alcohol is usually free, and there is sometimes a small prize for "winning," but the financial gain seems small. If I am wrong about this, please let me know.
2. The men there get a lot of value. They would get more value if they could take pictures and look at them later. Maybe sell them, but at least share them with friends and look at them.
3. Camera phones have made it possible to do this quite easily. Just look at collegehumor.com.

So, here is the problem. Does the spread of these pictures deter girls from showing off in the future? If so, then it would seem sub-optimal to allow camera phones into the bars, but I don't know of this happening. What if a bar was to have a "camera phone photographer" who took pictures, then sold them to the men at the bar that night, then distribute the money to the girls. Would this increase the displays (supply slope up) or decrease (changes the good to prostitution)? How about this: is it possible that the promise of becoming an internet "star" brings out MORE girls? Maybe the exhibitionists are drawn out so that the proportion of ex-ante "breast revealers" increases?

I tell you this: the person who solves this problem will win the Nobel Prize in economics, maybe even the peace prize, in thirty years!

Question

2005-09-24T15:30:00.000-07:00

Are test scores lower at big schools when the test is taken on a Monday after a home football/basketball game? I would imagine so. I went to IU last Saturday and it was incredible. We walked around campus for three hours and didn't see more than a handful of students. Then we drove past the stadium... found them! I would also suspect that football season does more to hurt the scores than basketball due to tailgating. Any other opinions or anecdotes?

Marshall Continued

2005-09-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

Made the BSU cut, sending the application to the regional office. If I get that interview, life will become VERY interesting (as in, mock interviews twice a week, interesting).

Marshall Meeting

2005-09-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

This was the easiest interview and I am wrecked. If I make it past this round, it only gets worse. Fun stuff.

The Curse of High Dimensions

2005-09-11T15:57:00.000-07:00

Every time one of my professors is working and we get a problem that needs more than three dimensions, I can see a flash of defeat on their face. They have all of this abstract knowledge, but our puny three dimensions keep them back!

In related news, I think this is impossible to draw:

X is a generic set, with d(x,y) = 1 if x!=y and d(x,y)=0 if x=y for all x and y in X. My brain can only get up to 3-D and see that it could not work. In two dimensions, I can get it so that four points are one unit apart, but it seems impossible to get any more.

And, finally, Tucher Hefeweizen this weekend. I love the spicy flavor of dark hefeweizens. I like Franziskaner's much more (my favorite in the style), but Tucher was OK. I think I'm gonna make some pumkin bread and drink a Franziskaner at some point this fall... mmm, pumpkin and beer.

Hmmm

2005-09-04T22:42:00.000-07:00

I realized that I say that this blog is about beer as well as econ, but I haven't mentioned beer in a while. This is because my roommates from the last few years are gone (the problem with being a 5th year senior... your drinking friends don't stay around!)

Anyway, I have been drinking a lot of Anchor Porter. I love the stuff. I bought a case and I usually have one with dinner every night. I wish I could make one appear for everybody to try when they visit this site.

I never got around to brewing my third batch of beer and I think the ingredients are bad now. That is kind of depressing, but I will find time for it some day. Soon, I hope. Ok, I'm off.

Busy

2005-09-02T17:42:00.000-07:00

The Marshall Scholarship application takes a lot of work. I feel like I'm going to pass out... but I'm almost done, only this weekend to go!

I have to revise the article I submitted to the undergrad math magazine. I expected as much, I honestly was not happy with it.

Finally, by the triangle inequality, we have d(UGRAD,PHD) <= d(UGRAD,MSC) + d(MSC,PHD), but I will gladly undertake the Msc at LSE (love the acronyms) if I can get funding!

One Hurdle Behind Me

2005-08-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

I took the GRE today, got the 800 quant (it was much easier than I expected from practice tests, which was a nice feeling). Only a 600 verbal, but I felt pretty confident about the writing portion (although this may mean that I actually blew it and I am just that clueless...) So, on with the show (and by show, I mean complex and real analysis, probability, etc). I'll keep in touch and g'luck to everyone else taking it.

What I'm Up To

2005-08-17T12:04:00.000-07:00

1. Working on applications for the Fulbright and Marshall Scholarships

2. Studying for the GRE and getting a headstart on Real Analysis

3. Moving in to my new apartment

4. Finalizing the list of grad schools (assuming I do as well on the GRE as I have been doing on practice exams... right now I would like to go to Yale above all else, but my top realistic choice is Ohio State)

5. Freaking out about the idea that I might not get in to grad school at all and thinking of contingencies (actuarial science looks like option B right now)

6. Not keeping up with the econ blog community because it stresses me out

More to come

Andy Angry

2005-06-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

This just in: Supreme Court makes 22 year old college student's head explode from raw anger. Read about it here:
http://nytimes.com/2005/06/23/politics/23wire-scotus.html?hp&ex=1119585600&en=5036788eb4cc9d17&ei=5094&partner=homepage

One of the sane justices:
"Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random," O'Connor wrote. "The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms."

Tic-Tac-Toe

2005-06-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

Can Tic-Tac-Toe be thought of as a dynamic programming problem? I think so. Let the board be numbered from the top left corner with numbers 1-9. Let the state vector of variables be a 9x1 vector such that:

If your symbol is in square i, a 1 is in the i'th row of vector x
If no symbol is in square i, a 0 is in the i'th row of vector x
If your opponent's symbol is in square i, a -1 is in the ith row of vector x

Now, x(0) is simply <0,0....>. Let the choice vector, u, be such that if you want to put your symbol in the j'th position, there is a 1 in the j'th column of a vector of zeroes. Then the transition function is simply:

x(s+1) = x(s) + u(s) + p(s)

the p(s) is what I am not sure about. It would be your opponent's play... as a baseline, this could be just a random placement of a -1 in an open row in a vector of zeroes, so that you are playing against an opponent with no strategy.

I think this would work... but I'm not sure. And I am not even trying to come up with how to describe the function which a player would wish to optimize or how this would be done, just if the game could be thought of as a DP problem.

Principle of Optimality

2005-06-21T22:40:00.000-07:00

I was working on writing the theorems from De La Fuente's dynamic programming chapter. I noticed after a few minutes that my acronym for the Principle of Optimality was P.o.O. I found this funny, Kat... not so much.

"Fatness" of a Number

2005-06-12T18:09:00.000-07:00

My girlfriend was being goofy and said that prime numbers were fat. I got to thinking and decided that she is wrong. Let an integer n be fatter than an integer m mean that n has more factors than m. Furthermore, let a number's "weight" or "fatness" be the number of positive factors of that number. For example:

30 is fatter than 15 since 30 has 8 factors and 15 only has 4. So:

1. What is the fattest number? How fat is it?
2. What is the skinniest number? How fat is it?

Ok, time to watch basketball.

Primal Economics

2005-06-11T16:12:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/05/magazine/05FREAK.html?pagewanted=all

I got this link from Marginal Revolution. I love this kind of stuff. My friend and I were talking and we would like to see some more experiments:

1. Build a machine that has some sort of task attached. Whenever a monkey completes the task, a coin is dispensed. Some interesting things might happen:
I. We could get an idea of their consumption/liesure tradeoff
II. We might see the beginnings of monkey income disparity and see what happens.
III. More inter-monkey commerce, like the monkey prostitution, might take place.

2. Run a centipede experiment with the monkeys. Start with one coin, give two monkeys buzzers, double the amount of coins ever n seconds. You get the idea.

3. Inflation shocks, if 1. is effective... lots of things could be done if 1 above is effective.

This is really interesting stuff.

The Most Confusing Question To Ask Your Algebra Student

2005-06-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

You know that both pi and the square root of two are irrational, but which one is more irrational?

I almost asked this the other day while tutoring just to see if the client really understood what irrational meant, but I decided it wasn't worth seeming like a total nerd. On here, however, I have no worries about my nerdiness.

Calc II Tutoring

2005-06-06T13:06:00.000-07:00

I just tutored two people at calc II for the first time in forever. I love tutoring that class. Every integral is like a little puzzle to be solved! Seriously, after figuring out little tricks to problems like x^5*e^(x^3)dx I get an adrenaline rush. I love it.

In other news, I have had some interesting experience with music recently. Kat got an Ipod and we've been downloading Itunes songs right and left. Having Itunes has increased my music consumption ten-fold. It isn't only the fact that music is more readily available, I actually feel like I have started to enjoy it more. Why? I think it is because finding new bands has become a sort of hobby, something that I have always enjoyed (I can be a bit of a music snob) that has become much more rewarding since I got the pod.

Newest group that I like: Art Brut, a neo-art-punk band from London. Coolest track: "My Little Brother" with lyrics like: "My little brother just discovered rock and roll, he's got a noise in his head and he's out of control!" Great, irreverent punk music!

Orange Juice

2005-05-24T22:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, I may have talked about this before, but why does orange juice still come in paper cartons with the screw cap on them? I mean, the original purpose of the carton was obviously that it could be opened and resealed, now with the screw cap, the paper carton is obsolete. And juice has been sold in the plastic cartons for years, so it isn't that the alternative technology isn't there. I have some possible explanations:

I. Some people would be confused if the orange juice was no longer in the paper carton. These people would likely have been weeded out by natural selection by now.

II. The carton has an aesthetic quality that people like. Nostalgia maybe.

III. The carton imparts an added flavor that is part of the orange juice for those who are used to it.

Ok, I really feel like I have talked about this before. I know I have talked to my girlfriend about it... lucky girl, huh?

Sailer Vs. Levitt

2005-05-17T11:24:00.000-07:00

I've been reading all of the arguments of these two back and forth. I won't pipe in on my opinion, but I will say that Sailer misrepresents Levitt on his blog without linking to the original Freakonomics post, whereas Levitt, whenever he quotes Sailer, links to the original debate. What the hell kind of arguing is that?

Ipods, PC's, Video Games

2005-05-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

I was talking with some guys at work today about how our generation and younger (25 yrs and below) will probably play video games for the rest of our lives. I then came home to find that my roommate had modified his x-box so that old super nintendo games could be downloaded and played. My other three roommates are hard to find nowadays, because of a new massively multiplayer online game called Guild Wars.

So I'm thinking: has the marginal utility of leisure increased as technology has made entertainment so much cheaper and better? None of my roommates (including myself) have full time jobs and two of them are no longer students. We could certainly be much more productive, and perhaps a few generations ago we would have entered the work force by now. If technological progress and human capital drive growth, then how do we train engineers to create proper infrastructure if it is much more enjoyable to fight hordes of undead in cyberspace?

I probably sound more worried about this than I really am. I doubt that everyone is as much of a slacker as the lot of us are- somebody has to be winning these achievement scholarships to the Ivy Leagues.

How Had I Not Read This Before?

2005-05-12T22:56:00.000-07:00

I just happened across this argument (http://www.janegalt.net/blog/archives/005244.html) that gay marriage will weaken marriage in general because of the marginal cases in which individuals don't get married because they find gay marriage wrong. The problem is that Galt (the writer) uses the following examples to illustrate how marginal analysis works:
1. Income taxes decreasing economic activity
2. Welfare benefits leading to more single mothers
3. The relaxation of divorce laws causing increase in divorces

These are all excellent examples of how marginal analysis is needed to fully predict what will happen when a policy is enacted. However, these are all examples where the parties involved have DIRECT financial incentives to change behavior! Marriage, however, is quite different- me getting married does not take away from the total allowed marriages available, thereby raising the cost of you getting married. Therefore, we have less reason to believe that allowing gay marriage will have any where near as large of an effect on marriage as what Galt's examples would at first lead us to believe.

Marginal analysis might still suggest that some people will choose not to get married because of personal prejudices, but I do not worry about this. I have two main reasons:

1. A couple who does not marry when they face absolutely not direct cost must not value marriage very highly. They are therefore more likely to get divorced, which has high costs for both the couple and third parties (potential children, legal system burden, etc.)
2. Setting policy to save one group only psychic costs while inflicting more direct financial costs on another is dangerous. Surely there are some marginal cases where white supremicist couples decided not to marry because interracial marriage is legal, and yet we do not throw out civil rights advances that have surely offset whatever losses are experienced by the racist couple.

As long as I'm talking political about an old comment (how did I not read this before?) I'll go ahead and say my stance- any two consenting adults should be able to sign a contract that allows them legal rights equal to the legal rights given to any other two consenting adults under a similar contract. Legally, marriage should be nothing more than a contract. It is not the government's place to worry about the sanctity of marriage (or anything else). That is the business of religious groups.

Morality/Taboo Quiz

2005-05-10T14:33:00.000-07:00

This thing seems to be all the rage on the econ blogs. I followed the link from MR and got these results:

Results
Your Moralising Quotient is: 0.07.
Your Interference Factor is: 0.00.
Your Universalising Factor is: 0.00.

Take it here: http://www.philosophersmag.com/bw/games/taboo.htm

Krugman's New Article

2005-05-09T21:51:00.000-07:00

Krugman compares the tax cuts for certain incomes (60,000 per year vs. 1 million per year) and he fails to put things in present value terms. I understand his reluctance to lay out a lot of assumptions about interest rates and life expectancies. However, I am getting that such things make a big difference when I calculate- I have a person who invests their entire tax cut at a rate over about 4.2% better off even with the S.S. cuts. We can, of course, argue about whether 4.2% is feasible, but putting things in to present value would help. Here are the numbers:

Person making 60,000, interest at 4.2%, tax cut of 1000 for 40 years (I would like to meet the 25 year old making 60k, but still). This person would get a social security cut of 6500, I assume they live another 25 years from retirement (until 90). I get:
PV of tax cut = (1000/.042)*(1-(1.042)^-40) = 19217 ish
PV of S.S. cut = (6500/.042)*((1-(1.042)^-25)*(1.042^-40) = 19178 ish

So under these assumptions above the person is better off if they invest the 1000. Will they do so? I don't know. Is the person making a million bucks a year even better off under the above interest rate assumptions with the tax cuts and benefit cuts proposed? Of course they are, I don't deny that Bush's policies help rich people a whole lot (look at the guy's background, what do you expect!?!) I just think that Krugman should note that his 1000/yr tax cut vs. 6500/yr S.S. benefit cut does not necessarily mean that the $60k/yr middle income person will end up worse off.

Counter-Intuitive Logic

2005-05-09T21:20:00.000-07:00

I was reading through the first chapter of the topology book I got and it was going over basic logic and set notation. I started thinking back to when I took logic in the philosophy dept. and the things that seemed strange to me:

1. The use of "or" mathematically. In everyday language, "or" almost always means A or B and not both. People usually adapt to this one quickly though.

2. The truth values of if-then statements. My favorite illustration of this is the following statement: "Every single congressman I know has killed at least one prostitute in a coke induced stupor and had to have it cleaned up by the mafia." Logically, this is: "for all x, x being a congressman that I know"-> "there exists a prostitute y such that x has killed y in a coke induced stupor and x has had the mafia clean it up." This is a completely true statement, since I don't know any congressmen, but filling in the right name for x would show up on a blog somewhere.

3. The whole necessary vs. sufficient game. I have to say that I don't like when people use this in a non-mathematical or scholarly situation. Grad school websites love to do it when talking about admissions requirements. Although I would like to see it incorporated into Valentines Day advertisements: "Getting your wife a diamond is a necessary condition for the really freaky business, getting her a Tiffany's diamond is sufficient (assuming, of course, that you ask for the freaky business in a piecewise smooth manner!)"

So anyways, I like logic a lot. If there was a market for logicians, I'd be all over it. Though, really, maybe a federal grant could be found to support logical evaluation of the media and politicians... er... probably not.

I Suck With Websites

2005-05-06T23:34:00.000-07:00

So I wrote this little two page note on a game theory paper called the traveler's paradox, but I don't know how to post it on here. I slipped it under the door of the one game theorist who teaches at BSU, but he hasn't gotten back to me, so I thought maybe somebody who has taken game theory could help me out. First, however, does anybody have suggestions on how to post it?

Also, a great post on torture over at marginal revolution: http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2388722. My question is how do the torturers behave?

Without knowing how much information the prisoner has, how far do you go? It seems to be an optimal stopping problem: you choose the amount of information you want before hand and keep going until you get that info. Notice here that the prisoner could be lying, but you stop once you hear the required words. If this is how a prisoner thinks the captors behave, I would go with MR's first option as being the prisoner's optimum (since this prisoner is a willing confessor).

The above seems like a poor solution, since the captors do not differentiate between good and bad information. Now what if you wish to maximize the ratio of "good" information to "bad" information. Furthermore, suppose that you expect that the probabilities of getting "good" and "bad" information as a function of time are both increasing, but what can you say about their ratio? It seems that here you would get torture even if the captive told the truth right away.

It seems that to discuss the captor behavior one needs to differentiate between different types of prisoners: Cooperative and Uncooperative. Then differentiate between types of information: True or False. Then the problem is to determine probabilities of getting C-Prisoners and U-Prisoners. Then we might assume that P(TrueC-Prisoner)>P(TrueU-Prisoner) and think from there about the above ratio problem... I have all summer to mess around with these things, though, so I'm going to go to bed now.

Stick a Fork In Me!

2005-05-05T13:52:00.000-07:00

Just not in my ear... that would kill me. Seriously though, I am done. I just found out that I got a 96 on my Calc III final, making my final grade a 95.25%. Sounds pretty good, until you consider that the prof was sadistic and required a 95% in order to get an A. Two points the other way and I would be super pissed right now. Ok, I don't like to talk about grades, just that this has been a pretty good semester, in that I had three math classes that I really liked and I appear to have done well in them.

On the economics front, everyone should read Richard Thaler's paper on the NFL draft. It is available on nber.org. My one complaint is that he (and other papers on sports) assume that having good players is the ultimate goal of a team. I would argue that the ultimate goal of a team is to make money. If a team was to attempt to change to a discount hunting strategy they may get better value in their players, but it may also signal to fans that the owner is not serious or a cheapskate, which could spell trouble for ticket sales. Also, when discussing the surplus value of players, his analysis only looks at their on field value. We all know, however, that some players have a celebrity that likely adds to ticket sales. To a certain extent, early drafted players come in to the league with high notoriety. Anyway, I really love football, and it makes me excited when economists talk about it!

Finally, go see Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I saw it last weekend and now I have to read those books this summer!

Shite

2005-05-02T12:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I just walked in to take my Calc III final... then someone from my class walked by looking at me like I was stupid. Evidentally the final is tomorrow. And here I worked my ass off all weekend and I'm left with another day. I wish I could just go up to his office and take the stupid thing.

In other news, I am glad that Bush has finally come out and said it: social security will have to be cut and people will have to retire later. Really, in my opinion, the retirement age is the most antiquated part of the program. We need to have a bracketed system in which white collar workers don't get full retirement benefits until later, because so many older people stay productive for much longer than they used to. And of course the distribution of the cuts can be debated... I guess I'm a bit removed from this debate because my parents make about $15,000 per year between them, so as long as dirt ass poor people don't get benefit cuts, that is fine with me.

And did anybody watch Family Guy last night? Holy crap that was funny. It was as if they have been saving all of the events to make fun of over the last couple of years and they tried their best to cram all of the jokes into one episode. Ok, andy out.

People

2005-05-01T11:54:00.000-07:00

So, I ask this kid I tutor what kind of music he likes. He says:
"Keith Urban, Alan Jackson... you know, white people music."

I nearly shat myself. Not because of the racist tone of "white people music", but more because labeling these groups "white people music" implies that white people have such poor taste.

Economics Education

2005-04-10T20:58:00.000-07:00

Why is it a necessity for college students to be able to write research papers, but not understand basic economics?

I was in an honors class a few weeks ago when the discussion turned to organic farming. Everyone agreed that they would rather buy organic (not sure why...) but that it was too expensive. So a girl says, "Well if everybody would switch to organic, that would lower the price and it would become affordable." I should have let this slide and continued to doodle, but I had to say something. I'm sure I came off as an asshole, but honestly, a 1/2 semester seminar in econ should be mandatory (says the person who one day hopes to teach economics... no conflict of interest here!)

Freakonomics

2005-04-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

I can't wait to get this book! Steven Levitt has the most interesting ideas out there and he's finally doing a book for the general audience. I heard him on NPR, so hopefully people pick it up in droves. There is also a website, www.freakonomics.com.

Also, Dr. Tabarrok came to BSU a few weeks back and had lunch with the econ club (turned out to be just me). He discussed a paper that he had about bounty hunters and bail, which was great because bail has been something that interests me for a while now. I read the paper, but I didn't get to see the presentation. I also cannot seem to make impressions on people. I really wanted to come off as intelligent and interesting, but I just can't bring myself to talk, especially when professors are talking. Not a good thing.

We had a pirate party last weekend. It was awesome. I cut my head with my fingernail trying to karate chop my friend and it was in the shape of an integral symbol. Coincidence? I think not.

Would you take a cookie?

2005-03-28T13:29:00.000-08:00

I was walking through a building on my way home from a night class last week when I saw a table set up as if for a reception. It had cookies, punch, and I think a cheese tray. Nobody was around... I had no idea what all of that food was doing there, but I could have walked off with the entire table if I had been so inclined. However, I did not take a single cookie, cheese cube, or sip of punch. Why didn't I? This has me thinking, am I not a utility maximizer? If not, is it because of moral conviction against theft... or was I just afraid of being caught with my hand in the cookie jar? (I was starving at the time, by the way... the class ends at 8:10 and I usually don't eat dinner until afterwards).

To follow my previous post...

2005-03-23T15:02:00.000-08:00

Have you noticed that many departments charge more for international applicants to graduate programs? Is this because it costs more to follow up on references (long distance calls...) or... perhaps this is just a bit of price discrimination. If anybody should be able to figure out optimal price discrimination, it should be econ departments.

Blog

2005-03-23T14:54:00.000-08:00

Why does economics sometimes sound like lame observational humor?

"Have you ever noticed how the bouncers at clubs won't allow a group of five guys in? What is the optimal gender mix for a group of party goers?"

"What is with online news magazines? They give the latest headlines for free but charge for the old news! What kind of crazy pricing scheme is that?"

And so forth...

In other news, one of my profs is writing the coolest paper. The question: what are the factors that determine whether a high school basketball player goes to college or straight to the pros? The economics of sports is extremely cool. See Romer's paper on the NFL for further evidence, or Levitt's paper on sumo wrestling.

Something I just realized

2005-03-14T18:20:00.000-08:00

So, I believe in free markets like most econ folks. I have some very libertarian leanings.

My favorite band, however: The Clash. What the hell is up with that?

Favorite lyric: "They're gonna have to introduce proscription. They're gonna have to take away my prescription." from Career Opportunities. This is a good incentive insight.

Back to School

2005-03-13T10:42:00.000-08:00

Spring break is almost over. Kat (my gf) and I went to Arizona to visit some friends... went to a brewpub (pretty good), bought some California beers (Alesmith, w00t!), hiked up a mountain (friggin awesome). All around, best spring break ever.

Also, why hasn't a taxi company sprung up that hires only sane drivers? Surely there is a market for this... and yet, everytime I get in a taxi, I have two thoughts: this guy is going to get me killed and/or this guy is trying to rip me off.

Update

2005-03-02T19:50:00.000-08:00

Been a while since I posted! Between my most recent PDE assignment (20 hrs work and counting!) and being sick, I have not had a great week. Anyways, some updates:

1. Got De la Fuente. Haven't had a chance to read much yet, but hopefully the dynamic programming section clears up some confusion...

2. Probably going to give an undergraduate lecture on dynamic programming in the math department either this semester or in the fall. Only problem: it is supposed to have an original element, and I don't have the expertise to do that quite yet.

3. My math prof. asked me to write a math article for the school math magazine... and to be the editor for next year. This means I have to learn tEx in the next two weeks or so. For the article, I was thinking of doing an overview of consumer choice theory (quick one) and then introducing this (very primitive) idea I've been working on that I like to call "celebrity" effects. It is pretty much like network effects, but the consumption of one person enters into the utility functions of the other people, while theirs do not enter into the original person. Anyway, I have to iron it out... may not work... I'll post it if it gets done.

4. I need to talk to profs about getting recommendation letters. Does anybody have advice on this: I have two econ profs, maybe three, that could give me good letters. Should I go all econ prof, or would it be good to get a math prof too? So, two econ profs, one math. After this semester, I could possibly even get two math profs.

5. Finally, does anybody know of a solution manual to Rosenlicht's analysis book? The book is Introduction to Analysis. It is a Dover book... so I may be out of luck on the manual.

6. I went to Bell's Brewery this weekend. If anybody is in Kalamazoo, drop by this place. Some of the best beer in the midwest, reasonable prices, free samples, and one hell of an atmosphere. Cheers!

Coffee Club Card

2005-02-23T21:56:00.000-08:00

So, my campus coffee shop has a card. When you buy a coffee, you get a punch. After ten punches, you get a free coffee. So, at the outset when you are about to buy that first coffee, you have a funny supply curve that you face. The price line is at the price of coffee for the first ten, but then it goes down to zero for the eleventh, then the price for the next ten, and so on. This isn't very interesting... just something I was thinking about as I drank my coffee today.

Battle of the Pundit Fans

2005-02-20T17:49:00.000-08:00

Ok, so what is it with political pundits and having catchy phrases and names for their fans. Like, Limbaugh has always had his "ditto-heads" (which is a terrible name) and fans of Sean Hannity have been "hannitized" (also terrible...). So, anyway, I thought that perhaps only conservative pundits got to name their fans, until I saw that fans of Paul Krugman call themselves "Krugmaniacs" (not as many possible negative interpretations, but still silly...). So here is my idea. We rent out a steel cage match from the WWF folks for the pundits on a pay per view special. We warm up with the most vocal members of each sect battling one another in a royal rumble style. This would make millions!

My Excuse For Being Rude

2005-02-19T14:31:00.000-08:00

Ok, so we had lunch with Dr. McCloskey with the econ club Thursday. She was a great speaker with some very interesting points about economics and economists. This isn't why I'm writing, however. I'm writing because I have found a serious flaw in my personality.

I get to the table with my food and she has already sat down. I realize that I don't have a soda, so I put my food down, talk a second, then excuse myself to get one. On the way there, I realize that she didn't have a soda either. So now I have a problem. I SHOULD have asked if she would like one. This makes me look like a thoughtful and polite person. But I didn't.
Why didn't I?

I assumed that if she wanted a soda, she would have gotten one for herself.

They were free afterall. It didn't occur to me until I was pouring mine that the machine was kind of out of the way and I had been here before, so I knew where to get the drinks. Anyway, I felt stupid, and I couldn't very well go ahead and get her one, because I didn't know what she wanted. So... I suck.

Ah, Beer!

2005-02-16T14:46:00.000-08:00

Why is it that light beer has taken over the US beer market? I didn't see ANY light beers while in London (3 months) or in Austria (1 month). And, they drank a hell of a lot more of it. Then, I was watching a rerun of Cheers from back in the eighties in which two guys came in and ordered light beers. They were made fun of for ordering such unmanly beer. What happened!?! Why did beer turn in to grass water? Can this shift in taste be reversed?

In comes the modern microbrewery. Micros seem to be picking up more and more of a market. Here in Indiana, Upland Brewery has seen robust growth. There are similar stories elsewhere. I certainly hope a Starbucks sort of thing happens with beer... I would love to be able to get a pint of oatmeal stout at every Applebees... or really, just a beer than isn't served frozen solid would be nice.

In beer news... all of my homebrew is officially gone. The last batch was an intense IPA/IIPA/Strong Ale. We never got the official alchohol content, but it had to top 8%. Took us a while to finish all five gallons off, needless to say.

Also, I had a second bottle of Stone Ruination. Whoah. That is a hoppy freakin' brew. I still think ours was hoppier, but not as balanced. Good stuff. I Love Beer!

Well, this sucks...

2005-02-13T13:00:00.000-08:00

So... I didn't get my Perkins loan this year, thinking that I would need to have room under the cap for next year (since I will need to stay on another year to get more math before grad school). I just hope that I can still get some Perkins next year. You know, it is certainly understandable that my family, which makes about $18,000 a year, should get a funding cut. I just hope this doesn't go through, or else there's still some funding... something.

Dr. Deirdre McCloskey

2005-02-13T12:04:00.000-08:00

Well, it looks like we will have a famous economist coming to little BSU next week! Dr. McCloskey will come to speak for two days and the econ club has been given the chance to have lunch with her. Should be a good experience... if I can just get some more people to attend!

Google Scholar

2005-02-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

I don't know if anybody has used this, but Google Scholar is the best thing ever. Ok... not better than oatmeal stout or IPA... but it kicks sliced bread's ass. Check it out.
http://scholar.google.com

Also, Discrete Systems is my biatch. I tore it up on the last test, 99% A+. Proof by induction, logic, stuff like that. Puzzle:

Let S(n) = Sqrt[2 + Sqrt[S(n-1)]], with S(0) = Sqrt[2]. Show that this screwy thing is increasing. I think I got it.

Idea: Ebay buyer model with price search ala Sargent's Dynamic Macro. I got it written down, but it doesn't look like anything special.

I feel cocky today.

Something I learned today: the definition of a metric space. www.mathworld.com Is an encyclopedia of cool math stuff.

Chris Silvey

2005-02-08T14:11:00.000-08:00

The econ blog world is much poorer today. If you are ever in North Central Indiana (which will make Ithica look like paradise, I'm sure), I will buy you a round of Arrogant Bastard.

Math Kills

2005-02-03T21:26:00.000-08:00

Math has claimed another victim. Jacqueline from Budding Economist has decided against econ because of all of the math. Her blog should still be interesting when I want to argue for a tax on missiles or something of that sort.

Also, I hereby declare that, if I get in to grad school, I will not take Super Smash Brothers with me. That game lies. It says, "I won't take up too much time. Really I won't. Just one game... five minutes at most." Three hours later my fingers are raw and I still haven't finished my PDE homework. This is why I am writing so late (12:37 AM my time).

A (Non-Mathematical) Model For Information Flow

2005-02-01T22:16:00.000-08:00

Imagine you have a cylinder of fluid. You drop a sugar cube in to it. How quickly does the liquid become well mixed? Can you find equations for the composition of the fluid at any point (x,y,z) in the cylinder at any time t? Does this work as a model for how new information flows through society? Or am I just making things up. My thinking:
Imagine that the sugar is a new invention.
The inventor tells somebody about it. The neighborhood about the inventor (the sugar's initial placement) becomes well mixed. Then the second group of people spread the word... and the neighborhood about them becomes well mixed. And so on... this would be a rather dense fluid that we've dropped the cube into... just word of mouth... would take a long time for the entire cylinder to become well mixed... possibly not at all. But what if the inventor had access to cable news? Then things get well mixed very quickly. Like dropping the sugar into water or something with a catalyst or something. I don't have the physical details down very well.

Also, I hate the symbol xi (this thing: ξ). I absolutely hate the damned thing. How do you draw it? I just scribble a bunch and apologize... or replace it with an actual FREAKING letter.

Also, Chris Silvey's site has gotten me addicted to Brad Delong's site. Now I have to check another page at least once a day. I feel like I should drop one so that the addition is online-time neutral. But I can't. Damn it.

Maxwell's Equations

2005-02-01T15:02:00.000-08:00

So... I'm taking Partial Diff Eqs, but I haven't had Calc 3 yet, so I'm not extremely comfortable with some of the operations. I am supposed to show that each component of the electric and magnetic fields in Maxwell's Equations solves the wave equation. I have no idea how to do this. Anybody have a clue?

Grade Inflation

2005-01-29T11:17:00.000-08:00

I've just read the article at Adam Osman's site about Princeton's attempts to stop grade inflation. We have grade inflation problems here as well... I imagine most schools do. The marketing and management departments are especially generous: about 80% of all students in marketing and management classes at BSU get A's or B's. These are also extremely popular majors, which makes sense when scholarships are contingent on GPA's. If you have to maintain a 3.5 to keep 1000 bucks a year, you are more likely to take classes with a Chi-Squared* grade distribution than with one that is normal.

*I guess it doesn't look exactly like the Chi-Squared... but the non-symmetrical look is what I'm talking about.

Partial Diff Eqs

2005-01-29T08:52:00.000-08:00

Ok, so we just finished our third week of class and we are still just looking at theorems, proofs, and classifications of solvable PDE's. We haven't even looked at techniques to solve them, just whether or not a particular problem has a solution and over what interval the solution is valid. We did, however, derive the heat equation in a rod. That was interesting. Anyway, I found this joke:

An Engineer, Physicist, and Mathematician are sleeping in the same hotel. The Engineer smells smoke and finds a fire has started in the hall way. He sees a fire extinguisher on the wall and puts the fire out and goes back to bed.
The Physicist smells smoke and finds a fire in the hall. He sees a sprinkler switch, hits it, puts the fire out, and goes back to bed.
Finally, the Mathematician smells smoke and finds a fire in the hall way. He walks out, looks around, finds a fire hose and says:
"Aha, a solution exists!" and goes back to bed.

Links

2005-01-29T08:42:00.000-08:00

I realized that I am something of a rude blogger. I never link to people. This is actually because I don't know how to work this website stuff, so I can't put permanent links up. Anyway, here are the blogs I enjoy:

1. www.chrissilvey.com/weblog The godfather of econ-student blogging (and soul... no wait, that's James Brown)

2. http://jacquelinepassey.blogs.com/blog/ The most fun place to argue against Libertarian views. Most of my profs are libertarian. I have nothing against the views, but I still like to argue against them just because I don't like to stick to a set of ideas unwaveringly.

3. http://econhopeful.blogspot.com/ The newest undergrad econ hopeful blogger.

That's about it. I look through the links from Chris Silvey's site, but nothing on a regular basis.

I Hate Biology

2005-01-28T08:18:00.000-08:00

Looking at illustrations of cells makes me feel sick. And why can't they normalize shit to zero. Like, why isn't the base PH Balance 0, or 1, instead of 7!?! The formula is:
PH = -log(H) or something, and the base is seven because Hydrogen is 10^7. So why not just subtract 7 in the formula? It bugs me... probably shouldn't.

And the names of things... my lord. I have a quiz over this stuff in a couple of hours and I can't remember how to pronounce any of it, much less spell it. I really hate biology.

Levitt

2005-01-25T19:13:00.000-08:00

If only I thought I could survive it, I would bust my ass to go to UChicago just to study with Steven Levitt. I've been looking for UChicago blogs to see if anybody talks about him, but all I could find was Ngan Dinh's and she doesn't mention him. I talk about his papers with everybody I meet and I have urged everyone from the econ club to read them as well.

Also, in another thought, what explains the quick change in tastes of Americans when it comes to coffee? I mean, ten years ago nobody drank anything better than Folgers, now every town with a human to moose ratio greater than .5 has a Starbucks! I recently had Ethiopian Yergacheffe... it is incredible. What sort of jolt creates such a rapid change in preferences and the ensuing demand increases?

It is like an article I read (Krugman, I think) that described how the English ate unhealthy, unfresh, and unappetizing (to most of the world) well after fresh foods were widely available (and affordable) because England was one of the first countries to industrialize. This caused their palates to grow accustomed to beans and toast. It also makes me think about a lot of these books that worry about American eating habits. Marion Nestle writes a couple... also Fast Food Nation. Would Americans prefer a spinach, mozzarella, and tomato salad with oil and vinegar to iceberg with bacon bits and ranch if so many of us hadn't come from Northern Europe? I think this is as plausible an explanation than advertising and the "big food" bad guys.

Juice Cartons

2005-01-21T14:56:00.000-08:00

I was drinking some juice today from a paper carton, when I realized that there is no reason for it to be made out of paper. The thing has a screw on, circular top. The whole point of the carton is that you open it by pulling apart the top to create an opening by which you can drink the juice. Obviously the new design is more effective at keeping my juice fresh, so why do they still pretend that it has to come in the cardboard container? It must be that people prefer the cardboard container out of habit- juice has always come in the container, so they still want it that way. Or perhaps the paper instills some sort of taste that plastic doesn't, and people have grown to like this taste.

Classes Begin

2005-01-11T11:24:00.000-08:00

Well, classes have started again here at BSU right on time, despite the ice storm that left 70,000+ without electricity. About 90% have gotten power back, but guess who hasn't. And I still have to go to classes. And work. Without shaving. I look like Grizzly Freakin' Adams here.

But, I did get in to Partial Diff EQ's. I really loved Diff EQ's last semester. I'm also in Calc III and Discrete Systems, so this is officially the most math I've had in a single semester. Things just may get hectic!

Here is a diff eq that I am working with to model a demand curve that includes network effects:
dy/dp = [1-f(p)y]g(p) where y is the proportion of the population that has purchased a good and f(p)y < 1 and g(p) < 0. You solve this, then multiply by the population to get a traditional demand curve. Or at least I think this works. I just came up with it after looking at the Riccati Equation I studied last semester.

Problem

2005-01-04T10:47:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I just found out that my university will send two students to the national math problem solving competition this year. I just have to answer a bunch of problems posted on a website to be eligible to go. How cool is that!?! First problem that I worked on:

Solve:
(6^x + 6^-x)/6 = 2

Answer: [ln(6 +/- 35^.5)]/ln(6) = x
w00t! It was an easier problem, but hopefully I can get some of the others right and become a mathlete.

Fellow Blogger

2004-12-27T07:56:00.000-08:00

I have not been able to access Chris Silvey's blog for a while now (over a week). Is it just my computer, or is there something wrong with his blog? Did he recover fully from the appendectimy?

Post Christmas Update

2004-12-26T17:04:00.000-08:00

Well, I got three kick ass books for Christmas this year!

1. Five Golden Rules, this is a math book about the most important mathematical discoveries of the 20th century. Covers the fixed-point theorem, simplex, mini-max... others. I've read the fixed-point stuff and some of the simplex so far. I'm enjoying it.

2. America: The Book, No math, just hilarious.

3. A new collection of Dave Eggers short stories. I loved BWSG and I find him much better in small short story sized doses.

I also posed the following puzzle to my girlfriend's little brother:
Two (non-parallel) lines intersect at a point. Three can intersect at up to three points. How many intersections are possible if you have five lines? Ten? An arbitrary number, "n"? I just came up with this little puzzle, seems kind of neat.

Grades, Beer, Christmas, and Looking Forward

2004-12-21T18:25:00.000-08:00

First, Merry Christmas everybody.

Grades are in tomorrow... The only class that I'm not sure about is diff eqs, it will all come down to whether or not I got the following right:
Prove that [Phi] is a solution to dy/dx = f(x,y) with y(x0)=y0 iff [Phi] solves the equation y(x) = y0 + Integral[f(t,y)dt] from x0 to x. I think I got it right on.

I have a Booneville Winter Solstice Ale that I plan on drinking with pumpkin pie Christmas Day. Should be awesome.

Classes next semester: Calc 3, Discrete Systems, and BS classes. Next Fall things get really fun: Abstract Algebra, Real Analysis 1, Topology, and Probability. I am really starting to love math.

Also, I got a kick ass idea last night. I love when I get econ ideas inspired by Jay-Z songs.

I Can't Believe It...

2004-12-18T08:45:00.000-08:00

Finals are over! After not going to my computer program since the midterm, I stumbled into the room at 7:30 Thursday morning and probably got a B- or so on the test... that would put my grade at around a B+ I think. Stupid programming.

Then today at 7:30 AM I had my math finance final. I am glad that class is over. Four days a week, 8AM... I missed an average of 1.3 classes a week. I think I should end up with a good grade in there.

And finally, the mother of all finals, my differential equations take home. Four problems, 100 points, and 8 hours of work. My hands are cramped from the algebra and my brain is putty from Laplace transforming a bunch of shit. Not fun, my friends, not fun.

So anyways, I hope everybody else had equally enjoyable finals.

Gary Becker Rules

2004-12-13T16:23:00.000-08:00

I really think that Dr. Becker has some of the most interesting ideas I've ever read, about economics or otherwise. A prof at my school has recently written a comment on one of Becker's papers, 1991's A Note on Restaurant Pricing and Other Examples of Social Influences on Price. In the paper, Becker argues that demand curves could conceviably be upward sloping, given the following:

D = Sum[di(p, D)] = F(p, D), given that dF/dp <>0 (I can't make partial derivative symbols on here...)

He then takes the differential of D-F(p,D) = 0 and gets:
dD - dF/dp dp - dF/dD dD = 0, which is rearranged to yield:
dD/dp = [(dF/dp) / (1-dF/dD)] > 0 iff dF/dD > 1

He then looks at what would happen if dF/dD > 1, which yields upward sloping demand curves. Here is my problem with the argument:
If demand is equal to F(p,D), and dF/dp < 0, then how can market demand be upward sloping? In other words, if each individual demand curve is downward sloping, how can the sum of all of these curves be upward sloping? It would seem to me that we have really just found a bound for the df/dD term at 1.

My professor has a problem with looking at an increase in income's effect on demand. In this case. It leads to an odd situation: income goes up, but in order for this to reflect a higher value for a normal good we have to shift demand to the left. But this would mean that people will buy a smaller quantity at each price. How can this be?

I have begun writing about the following way of incorporating bandwagon effects:
Let y be the proportion of some population that purchases a good or service. Then dy/dp is the change in this proportion with respect to a change in the price. If we wish to allow for bandwagon effects, we can model using the Ricatti Equation:
dy/dp = (1-y)[g(p) + ky]

Here we can alter g(p) to allow for only downward sloping demand curves and still include bandwagon effects, or we can let the demand curves slope upwards over intervals... all kinds of stuff. Anyway, I'm beginning with the simpler: dy/dp = (1-y)[-rp+ky], where r and k are constants.

Idea

2004-11-30T13:02:00.000-08:00

I think I might try to get a grant from the Honors College here at BSU so I can do the following experimental game. If anybody knows what this game is called so I can look up info on it I will give them a beer (if they come to Muncie).

The game goes like this: Player A can either give Player B a dollar or not play. If he gives the dollar, Player B gets five dollars (the other four are why I need to grant). Player B can then give Player A as much of this back as he wants. Then the game is played the other way. Variations could be considered, like letting Player A buy insurance for a quarter or something.

Anyway, if you know the name of this game so I can start researching, tell me and you get a beer... if you come to Muncie to get it. Or just give me the name of the game for free if you can't come to Muncie and I will drink a beer in your honor.

Research Topics

2004-11-23T13:46:00.000-08:00

Whenever any of my friends tell me an interesting topic that they're working on for their senior thesis(pluralize that) I really just want to steal their idea. This is bad, and I've been able to stop myself, but I just want to monopolize every good idea. Example: my friend is currently playing around with an oligopoly model that I had never seen, tweaking the cost curves, changing the number of participants, etc. I just wanted to grab his notes and run. Anybody else ever feel like this? Maybe that is why I don't tell people many of my ideas!

Update-O-Rama

2004-11-22T16:47:00.000-08:00

1. My differential equations professor says something really funny. Whenever he is saying that a function exists on some interval, he says, "This thing lives on some interval." I imagine a function kicking back, smoking a pipe, a little function dog at his foot...

2. I really need to better motivate myself when it comes to my macro independent study. I like dynamic programming, but really just the theory and math stuff. Also, I am playing around with simple two period maximization problems for a lecture I have to give to the prof and I'm trying to get at what would happen if the social security tax was replaced with a mandatory savings...

3. This weekend was beer-ific. I tried Oak Aged Arrogant Bastard- ultra-grapefruit bitterness, kind of smoked tasting, a bit of woodiness coming through, much better than the non Oak Aged version.

Richardson Arms Race Model

2004-11-17T13:05:00.000-08:00

So I'm doing a project for my diff eqs final on the Richardson Arms Race system of differential equations. I honestly never thought I would remember how to find an eigenvalue or eigenvector after linear algebra, but it is all coming back. Has anybody ever dealt with this model in an economics class? I really like these sorts of things and I wonder if it would be a good undergraduate research paper, since it would have plenty of theory.

Math problems...

2004-11-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

I solved the diff eq that was giving me such problems... When I get a math problem after a lot of thought I'm both excited and angry- excited that I figured it out, angry that it took me as long as it did.

An idea from another blogger...

2004-11-13T20:27:00.000-08:00

I was reading Jacqueline Passey's blog about her calculus homework and it reminded me of a problem I've been having in mathematical finance. You see, I have the class at 8 AM four days a week, and while we all love finding yield rates and proving the formula for annuities paid continuously, I just can't make it most of the time. I missed 3 out of 4 classes last week. It sucks.
Anyway, she came up with the following plan for her:
http://jacquelinepassey.blogs.com/blog/2004/11/gandalf_was_rig.html#comments
I am not asking anything like this, since I don't have any readers, but here is what I do:
My friend Paul has the same problem with the class, so we have agreed that he who misses the most classes per week will buy the other a pint of Bell's Two Hearted Ale that friday! This is motivation in liquid form. I suggest this study plan to all!

Why didn't I get this and why can I still not understand?

2004-11-13T19:30:00.000-08:00

Last problem of the diff eqs test:
Show that
x^2[y''(x)] + x y'(x) + y(x) = 0

Is transformed to:
y''(z) + y(z)=0 if one makes the substitution z=ln(x).

I solved the diff eq for z, then resubbed for x to get the answer, but I can NOT figure out the steps to make the first in to the second. It is driving me mad.

Holy Crapola

2004-11-10T11:19:00.000-08:00

Ok, really busy this semester, the first time since I've been in college. Diff Eqs test this Friday, so I have been busting my ass trying to get all of the homework done. Lots of proofs, lots of theorems, man that Euler guy did a lot...

Also, computer programming sucks. The class is sooo boring and is at 9 AM, so I don't make it all that often. This means I have to spend more time that I otherwise would working on the assignments, but man do I love that extra hour of sleep I get when I skip!

Finally, I'm really starting to make progress on Sargent's Dynamic Macro Theory. I got a chalk board up in my office, so I always work the problems on it instead of paper. It just makes me feel cooler doing it. I definitely exhibit some ownership effects when it comes to my value for the chalk board- before it was up, I really could have cared less if I had it. Now that it is, I would shove chalk down anybody's throat who tried to take it from me.

A lighter note...

2004-11-03T21:10:00.000-08:00

Tried two beers last night during the coverage- Lost Coast 8-Ball stout and a Unibroue (can't remember the name...). A lot of people really like Lost Coast brews, especially Old Rasputin, but I just can't get in to any of them. For me the best Imperial Stout is Bell's Expedition and the best stout in general... probably Bell's Kalamazoo or Dogfish Head's Chicory.

On economics news, I think I was able to convince some people to try for a mathematical economics degree today at the department info session! This is good, since I hear a lot of people say they are somewhat interested in grad school and our department sometimes pushes the liberal arts option as a grad prep degree. I've set up a coffee hour every Monday with the econ club (yes, we have one and I'm the president... w00t!) so maybe we'll get more majors through that.

American Conservatism

2004-11-03T20:55:00.000-08:00

A few thoughts:

Why is it that only John Stewart is brave enough to speak of liberalism? This, I think, is one of the signs of just how conservative this country is- only the goofy pseudo political analyst is openly liberal... and he is obviously devastated, rightfully so. When he read the states that passed strict gay marriage bans last night... I really felt ashamed of our country.

There is a lot of discussion about how the democrats can gain power in the "heartland". The democrats must not sacrifice progress or compassion in order to do so. A democratic party that bars homosexual marriage might gain offices, but would essentially turn American politics in to a single fundamentalist party.

Contingency Plans

2004-11-02T11:49:00.000-08:00

Question:

For those of you who are in grad school, were you 100% certain that you would get in? If not, what did you consider as a back up strategy? I have a few, like economic sociology or political science, etc... either way, hopefully econ.

For those who aren't grad students yet, what are you considering if econ doesn't work?

Sorry if this is too pessimistic!

Election Day

2004-11-02T11:40:00.000-08:00

We need to make a national holiday out of Nov. 2, get a snappy mascot (Uncle Sam the Ferret is my vote), and show movies or something at polling stations. Then we would only need to worry about people being knowledgable... crud.