tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post4574119520023873126..comments2024-03-14T11:09:32.759-05:00Comments on Falkenblog: Song Lyrics Aren't PoetryEric Falkensteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07243687157322033496noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-7423386206315107072010-08-20T16:25:10.806-05:002010-08-20T16:25:10.806-05:00Sometimes you get both in bollywood http://www.you...Sometimes you get both in bollywood http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L7IOh2J0cs&feature=search or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOYN9qNXmAw&feature=search.<br /><br />And sometimes (though rarely agreed) in economics. There must be some. I'm not a pro, but I was quite impressed with Black Scholes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-91146232146635510482010-08-20T13:24:12.098-05:002010-08-20T13:24:12.098-05:00Mr. Falken...your bone to pick with Krugman is alm...Mr. Falken...your bone to pick with Krugman is almost bordering on obsessive and for what it's worth, it seems to cloud your judgement in a way which does not let you clarify and project your own thoughts (as opposed to simply criticizing others)...<br /><br />Everytime you level an argument against Krugman about the physics envy of Economics, I think you'd fine more times than not he'd agree with you. <br /><br />Quite interestingly Kartik Athreya leveled the very OPPOSITE critique of Krugman (saying he was <i>not</i> mathematical or rigorous enough) so it is interesting that you choose Krugman (most likely because he is most visible, and you have some bone to pick with him, I dunno, maybe he punked you in grad school) to argue against.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-48691159194680649562010-08-19T11:41:52.075-05:002010-08-19T11:41:52.075-05:00There are some exceptions. There have been real po...There are some exceptions. There have been real poets who have written song lyrics. In fact, arguably the greatest poet of the 20th Century (W.H. Auden) wrote some (e.g., "Underneath the Abject Willow"). But it's true that the majority of song lyrics don't stand on their own as poetry.Davehttp://steamcatapult.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-6493417661156422822010-08-19T07:55:23.396-05:002010-08-19T07:55:23.396-05:00Agree with you that lyrics aren't poetry.
Th...Agree with you that lyrics aren't poetry. <br /><br />Though the closest you can come to that is in the songs of Cole Porter and the great American song book.<br /><br />Also remember that many of the great classical songs are poems set to music; Schubert, Schumann come to mind. But I guess you wouldn't classify the words of those lieder as "lyrics".Mark Knoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-48574855015911962082010-08-18T16:51:03.394-05:002010-08-18T16:51:03.394-05:00Personally, I find the math speeds up the rate at ...Personally, I find the math speeds up the rate at which I understand ideas. Granted you have to first learn the mathematical formalism, but that is more about patience than overall difficulty.Dan in Eurolandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-65619070545269598382010-08-18T15:51:02.785-05:002010-08-18T15:51:02.785-05:00"Math helps ideas when it isolates the relati..."Math helps ideas when it isolates the relationships or implications with greater parsimony or precision."<br /><br />Interestingly, Krugman said something similar:<br /><br />"And the mathematical grinding served an essential function — that of clarifying thought. In the economic geography stuff, for example, I started with some vague ideas; it wasn’t until I’d managed to write down full models that the ideas came clear. After the math I was able to express most of those ideas in plain English, but it really took the math to get there, and you still can’t quite get it all without the equations."<br />...<br />"What I objected to in the mag article was the tendency to identify good math with good work. CAPM is a beautiful model; that doesn’t mean it’s right."<br /><br />http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/11/mathematics-and-economics/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-6125288692961644112010-08-18T15:30:35.423-05:002010-08-18T15:30:35.423-05:00As much as I agree with you that Samuelson's m...As much as I agree with you that Samuelson's methodology was flawed, he was a very productive and insightful economist. He came up with the concepts revealed preference, factor price equalization theory, public goods, as well as advancements in capital and macroeconomic theory. You could argue that the damage he did in methodology outweighed the gains from his other work, but his other work was still significant.<br /><br />The assumtion I find most unrealistic about Ricardo is his assumption that factors of production can be reallocated. In his original story, he assumes that English wine makers can switch to producing wool and Portugese shepherds can switch to making wine. Such an assumption might ring hallow to an unemployed working in an industry on the wrong side of comparative advantage.azmythhttp://azmyth.wetpaint.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-58476266217516505572010-08-18T13:23:12.981-05:002010-08-18T13:23:12.981-05:00anon: so, some generalizations are not true...ther...anon: so, some generalizations are not true...therefore no generalizations are true (except that one)?Eric Falkensteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07243687157322033496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-5859571398564199132010-08-18T12:44:48.170-05:002010-08-18T12:44:48.170-05:00Also video games aren't art, science fiction i...Also video games aren't art, science fiction isn't literature and ignorant people will always trump their opinions as fact.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-47062621118975923392010-08-18T12:29:06.822-05:002010-08-18T12:29:06.822-05:00Increasing returns to scale is the big one, but ex...Increasing returns to scale is the big one, but externalities and asymmetric information can work too.Eric Falkensteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07243687157322033496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-38233214146908729182010-08-18T12:07:01.558-05:002010-08-18T12:07:01.558-05:00I'm curious, what kinds of assumptions do you ...I'm curious, what kinds of assumptions do you have in mind that can be taken in order to invalidate comparative advantage? I admit my ignorance here...just looking for some better understanding.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05431036725490947171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-85340125510196671612010-08-18T10:07:16.774-05:002010-08-18T10:07:16.774-05:00Bohemian Rapsody makes perfect sense after you see...Bohemian Rapsody makes perfect sense after you see "I'll rock you" show in London. It is about Freddy Mercury. Take the kids. British theater scene is something.Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05676167615981895061noreply@blogger.com