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more on my studies |
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economics continued... |
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Also included in my study of Economics is a relatively new area known as Game Theory. Game Theory is more or less the study of how people or actors interact and, based upon payoffs to their actions, reach a specific outcome. Game Theory was invented, so to speak, in the 1940s by Jon Von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern who discussed the classic and most popular Prisoner's Dilemma as well as several other games that describe real life situations. Mathematicians/economists John Nash, Reinhard Selten, and John Harsanyi were all recently awarded the noble prize for their groundbreaking work in Game Theory. From Game Theory we can understand how firms behave in competition, how countries behave when on the brink of an international war, or how people negotiate even when information is concealed. It's very good stuff that I encourage all people to study. Right when I moved in here, August 2000, John C. Harsanyi, who was a member of the Berkeley Faculty, passed away. An extremely unfortunate loss to the community. He will certainly live on and his techniques and ideas will be studied for years. From what I heard he was very respectable and will be missed. This year also, Daniel L. McFadden, also a Professor of Economics at Berkeley was co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics for what is called Discrete Choice theory which was applied to Econometric models (that is, statistical models from economic data). The presence of such brilliant minds further adds to the fact that Berkeley's faculty is truly a special one. We consider ourselves lucky.
So what do we want? We want the most optimal outcomes given our resources. How do we get there? That's why we study economics. We want steady, stable economic growth across all countries. We want low inflation and low unemployment. Right now, we more or less have that in the United States. We want what is socially optimal and beneficial. We want progress to increase our standard of living. From economic theory we get some good ideas on how to get there. That's why I believe it is worth giving notice to. |
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"Inflation is the root of all evil!"
- Paul Volcker |
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Courses I've Taken |
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Economics 1: Introduction to Economics
(Fall 1998)
Professor Kenneth Train |
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Economics 100B: MacroEconomic Analysis
(Fall 1999)
Professor Peter Orszag |
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Economics 110: Game Theory in the Social Sciences (Fall 1999)
Professor Robert Powell |
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Economics 101A: MicroEconomic Theory
(Spring 2000)
Professor Joseph Farrell |
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Economics 115: The World Economy in the 20th Century
(Fall 2000)
Professor Barry Eichengreen |
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Economics 161: Economic Systems
(Fall 2000)
Professor Mario Ferrero |
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Legal Studies 145: Law and Economics I
(Spring 2001)
Professor Robert Cooter |
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Economics 182: International Monetary Theory
(Spring 2001)
Professor Jay C. Shambaugh |
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Economics 141: Economic Statistics and Econometrics
(Spring 2002)
Professor Bronwyn H. Hall |
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My Endeavors in History |
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Back Home |
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Last Modified: 14 June 2002 |
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