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The exciting thing about this idea is if you can correlate, say, economics with the works of ML, that means a computer program which you can run, revise and alt
by lubujackson 2y ago
The exciting thing about this idea is if you can correlate, say, economics with the works of ML, that means a computer program which you can run, revise and alter can directly give you measurable data about these complex system interactions that mostly have existed as a platonic idea since reality is too nuanced and multiple to validate concepts formally.
With the idea that there is some subset of logic that sits below economics that is provable and exact. That is a powerful idea worth pursuing!
- nerdponx 2y agoThis idea has been pursued several times in the past, and it always ends up producing lots of interesting academic results and no practical conclusions. It's certainly an interesting perspective on the development of complex systems. The idea that an economy can be somehow overfitted to its own incentives and constraints I don't think is entirely new, cf the Beer Game. But as a general concept, it's certainly not something that usually finds its way into policy discussion, beyond some very specific talk about reshoring of certain critical industries. However, I think the most important benefit of this perspective is going to be providing yet another counterargument against the Austrian economics death cult.
- ahartmetz 2y agoIt seems to me that something similar to Adam Smith happened to the Austrians: their ideas have been cherry-picked. According to German Wikipedia, their main things were / are a focus on individual preferences, marginal utility, and a rejection of mathematical modeling(!) There was also something about lower state expenditures (...taxes...) giving better results for the people - that's the one that seems to be very popular with rich people for some reason. Go figure.
- jampekka 2y agoAustrian economics also rejects empirical assesment of its claims. Instead, universal thruths are derived "logically" (formal logic banned though) from "obviously true" axioms using a method called praxeology. It seems a lot like Scientology: the more you learn about it, the more bizarre it gets. And of course it's used to extract a lot of money for few benefactors.
- naasking 2y agoUnlike scientology, Austrian economics made some important contributions to mainstream economic understanding.
- triceratops 2y agoTo be fair, Scientology never claimed to make any predictions about economics. (AFAIK, I don't know any Scientology)
- amelius 2y agoWell if you can turn chatgpt into an intelligent actor in a simulated economy, and are able to run it at scale, I bet you can get some valuable insights.