How economists rode maths to become our era's astrologers

https://aeon.co/essays/how-economists-rode-maths-to-become-our-era-s-astrologers

by laurentdc • 6 years ago

6 1 6 years ago

The sciences do not try to explain, they hardly even try to interpret, they mainly make models. By a model is meant a mathematical construct which, with the addition of certain verbal interpretations, describes observed phenomena. The justification of such a mathematical construct is solely and precisely that it is expected to work. - John von Neumann

+ https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gametheory.asp

[..] Game theory is a theoretical framework for conceiving social situations among competing players. In some respects, game theory is the science of strategy, or at least the optimal decision-making of independent and competing actors in a strategic setting. The key pioneers of game theory were mathematician John von Neumann and economist Oskar Morgenstern in the 1940s. Mathematician John Nash is regarded by many as providing the first significant extension of the von Neumann and Morgenstern work.[..]

How economists rode maths to become our era's astrologers

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