The World in the Model

The World in the Model : The Model in the World

For at least the last two hundred years modeling
has been the principle activity of the economist.
A casual observer might think that the economist's
mania is focused on quantifying experience but the
game goes deeper than that. Quantification on its
own merely describes what already exists, the aim
of the economist is to visualize the future and
there by give it shape.

In this class, we will be looking at economic
models from the last 200 years from across the
ideological spectrum. We will be paying close
attention to how they employ a basic unit of
analysis. Are there people in the models (or
nations, cultures or societies)? Are these
"agents" realistic? How is human agency dealt with
in these models? Do they imply ethical
obligations? How is value conceived and how is it
measured in each model? How is time dealt with in
the model? do things happen instantaneously or is
a time period implied at all? What (and who) is
left out of the schema. What is cooked in?

The representations that economists use animate
the way they see the world, how they understand
events, and recommend action. The real task of the
economist is to represent the world as it is, as
it might be, and critically as one might like it
to be. Once an economic schema is selected some
aspects of experience stand out, while others are
cast aside. A world comes into focus. Approached
from this angle artists are well suited to do the
work of economists. Artists are skilled at
observing the world and representing it in
insightful ways. Modeling is a creative action and
too important to be left to the economist. This
course will elide the roadblocks of economic
jargon towards the generation of new, personal,
creative economic models.

As we study these models and discuss what they are
designed for we may be surprised to find ourselves
taking their insights to heart. But, we can not
forget that economics is sometimes a form of
brainwashing. There is a robust literature that
demonstrates that taking economics classes makes
students more likely to behave in the ways that
the models they study say they should. Study a
model, behave as such. Study a different model, a
different way of being emerges.

In this class, we will begin to liberate economics
from the economists.