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Showing posts with the label economics teaching

Decision Making as Output and Bounded Rationality

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  The classical economics theories proceed on the assumption of rational agents. Rationality implies the economic agents undertake actions or exercise choices based on the cost-benefit analysis they undertake. The assumption further posits that there exists no information asymmetry and thus the agent is aware of all the costs and benefits associated with the choice he or she has exercised. The behavioral school contested the decision stating the decisions in practice are often irrational. Implied there is a continuous departure from rationality. Rationality in the views of the behavioral school is more an exception to the norm rather a rule. The past posts have discussed the limitations of this view by the behavioral school. Economics has often posited rationality in the context in which the choices are exercised rather than theoretical abstract view of rational action. Rational action in theory seems to be grounded in zero restraint situation yet in practice, there are numerous restra
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Teaching Economics: Complement Rather Than Compartmentalize

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  To students of economics, it might prove to very interesting subject. Yet to many others economics evokes a phobia, a phobia of those graphs and calculations and theories and assertions often contradicting and often supplementing and what not. Irrespective of the context, there is always the other hand which would forecast very differently. This is something a puzzle to the outsiders or what they might call an economist’s hedge but to economists it is about viewing things in different perspective and the manner in which the outcome would differ following the change in any of the variables. Teaching economics therefore is a challenge in the sense of convincing the students of the validity of the theories without evoking the boredom associated with the ingraining of the theoretical contours.   Economics teaching at many a level especially down the elite grade is all about stereotyping. It is about regurgitation of the text books. Text books themselves would be a compendium of exist
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Teaching Economics: Some Observations

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  Economics is something very interesting yet at the same time sounds drab and abstract. Perhaps this has to do with the way economics evolved. From the beginning, there seems to be something disconnected between economics theory and its applications. While Adam Smith built up his foundations of economics through the learnings he inculcated in his decades long observation of human life and behaviour, yet with passage of time, economics moved away from reality into a world of geometry and algebra and what not. Mathematical formulations intensified dragging economics away from reality. It might be a case of prisoner’s dilemma wherein the world was away with collectively being worse off because the objective seemed to be individually getting better off relative to others. The zero sum games turned economics into something dull and drab with no connection to reality. It naturally spilled over to economics teaching. Text books barring some exceptions focused on theory rather than the eviden
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