rational - ESSA

rational

A collection of 7 posts

Dostoevsky to those who want to change the world: Part 2 of 2

Dostoevsky to those who want to change the world: Part 2 of 2

Continues from Part 1 What happens when we DO get to change the world? Dostoevsky’s opinion on the Russian political atmosphere solidified after writing “Notes from Underground”, as he continues to encapsulate the human condition in finer detail in his subsequent novel, “Crime and Punishment”. This book follows the

The boy who cried wolf

The boy who cried wolf

Once upon a time, a boy decides that his microeconomics class taught by Jeff Borland isn’t worth his time and instead, settles on a career as a shepherd. However, his career choice is monotonous and he finds happiness in fooling the local village into believing there is a wolf

Banking on luck: are prize-linked bank accounts the perfect product for non-savers?

Banking on luck: are prize-linked bank accounts the perfect product for non-savers?

If you needed $2,000 in a week, would you have enough savings? This scenario could easily become reality. For example, an emergency ambulance or a family’s flights, say for a funeral, could cost more. Yet according to the BT Financial Health Index, about a third of Australian households

The irrationality of the ‘rationality’ assumption

The irrationality of the ‘rationality’ assumption

Historically, the term ‘rationality’ has been ascribed various meanings within the sphere of economics. Typically, rationality has been expressed in terms of the idea that consumers attempt to maximise utility by arriving at an optimal decision in light of a complete set of information relating to the market in which

Gold Class Animal Spirits

Gold Class Animal Spirits

In his 1936 book ‘The General Theory of Employment Interest and Money’ John Maynard Keynes outlined how rather than being independently rational, investors were often prone to erratic herd-like behaviour. He argued that macroeconomic stability is inherently vulnerable to the ‘animal spirits’ of speculators. The recent deflation of the post

A hell of an incentive for murder: a rationalist’s guide to suicide

A hell of an incentive for murder: a rationalist’s guide to suicide

Republished from The Conversation By Mike Pottenger, University of Melbourne The Holy Roman Empire, 1704: Agnes Catherina Schickin slits the throat of a seven-year-old boy. 1746: Johanna Martauschin smashes the skull of a small child. 1753: Sophia Charlotte Krügerin cuts the throat of a nine-year-old boy. 1761: Eva Lizlfelnerin steals

Irrational Strategies: Dealing with an Altruistic Prisoner

homo economicus

Irrational Strategies: Dealing with an Altruistic Prisoner

So you are presented with the following prisoner’s dilemma game. What is your choice? Most economics freshmen will have learnt that when presented with the choices of cooperation or finking, finking is the dominant strategy, and an all-fink nightmare is the only pure strategy Nash equilibrium. Against homo economicus,