3 ms·
It's starting to be done [1], but by physicists. Among their basic conclusions from their simplified models: - A free market naturally tends toward an exponent
by drjesusphd 11y ago
It's starting to be done [1], but by physicists. Among their basic conclusions from their simplified models:
- A free market naturally tends toward an exponential distribution of wealth.
- When debt is allowed in the model, the rich get richer, even without considering that interest is paid from the poor to the rich.
- The U.S. clearly has a two-class structure.
[1] http://physics.umd.edu/~yakovenk/econophysics/ http://physics.umd.edu/~yakovenk/econophysics/
- pash 11y agoEconophysics enjoyed a brief vogue in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but the field has mostly dried up. Much of what the econophysicsts "learned" turned out either to restate things economists already knew (this time in physics-speak) or to be results that were very sensitive to modeling assumptions. But mostly the physicists gave up because they discovered that problems in economics are much harder than problems in physics; everything is a heterogeneous n-body problem with endogenously determined rules governing interactions.
- innguest 11y agoRight, that's why they gave up. 'Cause you know, physicists are known for giving up on hard problems... /s