Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Some Comments are Worth Repeating From our resident economist This is a comment posted to the entry about Freakenomics. It's worth repeating for all to read: I'll admit off of the top that I have not read 'Freakonomics' so I can't comment on the content. I do, however, disagree with the notion that economics is about number crunching and data analysis. Certainly there are a lot of "Economists" that spend their days combing through spreadsheets and testing models - but that isn't the main focus of Economics. At its core, or heart if you prefer (though I know some people that would argue that Economics has no heart), Economics is about understanding efficienct solutions in complex systems and to difficult problems. I would argue that Economics is (when used well) one of the most forward-thinking disciplines around because it takes emotion and morality out of the analysis to get an unbiased view of the world. Economics allows us to understand what is causing things to go "wrong" - in the sense that things are happening that we, as moral, thinking beings do not like - and identify potential solutions. Many more humanistic studies get so caught up with morality and thinking about what is "right" and what is "wrong" that they do not get around to fully understanding the problem or how to create a viable and lasting solution to the problem. So, I would submit that it is not so much "here are the numbers, take it as you like" as "here is the situation, and here are the potential benefits or costs of taking a certain course of action." Thanks Dunphey 11:10:17 PM  permanent link  Reader Comments []  Google It! Halloween is Catching And Europe Doesn't like it [posted by Troy] Historically, Europe's #1 export to the world (besides small pox) has been it's culture. Since the crusades, European culture in all of its forms has been spread across the globe. Now, some of the culture has mutated and is being returned. Many Europeans are not happy that Halloween has become popular in Europe. European culture wiped out Native American culture, and now, some Europeans are worried that American culture may wipe out European culture. 9:10:42 PM  permanent link  Reader Comments []  Google It! Go White Sox...sort of from NPR [posted by Troy] Some of you probably heard this if you listen to All Things Considered on NPR, but Aaron Freeman wrote this great piece about Cubs fans cheering for the White Sox. I enjoyed it. 8:20:56 PM  permanent link  Reader Comments []  Google It! Falling asleep 14th Inning I promise to never fall aslweep during a world series game again. 8:14:29 AM  permanent link  Reader Comments []  Google It!

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