[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/sci/ - Science & Math

View post   
File: 66 KB, 475x355, lie.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4863820 No.4863820 [Reply] [Original]

Hey /sci/, economist here and I want some of your thoughts on this.

Of course there is special jargon used by specific areas of study and laymen use these words as well, but they mean different things. For example when I say "cost" I mean something very specific, and when I say "price" it means something totally different.

Give me list of jargon that scientists use that have a different meaning in everyday society. I'll start at least with some econ jargon:

cost-the labor it took to make a commodity+opportunity cost to make something else

price-how much a consumer pays for a product+opportunity cost to buy something else

efficiency-if it works as expected without any possibility of doing it better, it's efficient. Else, it's not efficient.

fairness- strictly equal costs

money-anything used in trade

utility-satisfaction gained after an action taken

weak -actually in econ weak means "preferable" weird eh?

>> No.4863826

What immediately comes to mind:

Theory: an explanation on a natural phenomenon supported by vasts amount of evidence
Hypothesis: an idea to be further researched in order to determine its validity

>> No.4863829

>>4863820

>economist here

What qualifies you to be an Economist? Do you have a Masters/Phd? Are you an economic consultant?

>> No.4863837

>>4863829

No I don't have my PhD, but I've finished my master's literally just a month ago. I work for a think tank... why do you question? It really doesn't matter if I am or not. If you don't want to share your opinion then don't.

>> No.4863849

>>4863837

cuz I its funny when 1st year freshman come here and call themselves "chemists" or "economists" or whatever...after doing an intro course

it implies a sort of expertise that they lack and its cute

but your definitions don't really sound robust enough, I doubt you're at the Msc level :D

>> No.4863854

Hmm, I have never heard a definition of cost like that, although I guess I dont disagree. I just think its weird when we equate stuff to labor. Because labor is a resource as scarce as any other, so its inappropriate to distinguish it like it special.

Thats at least what I am thinking.

I think its interesting that economists and accountants have different working definitions of "profit."

Economists say:

Profit = Option - next best alternative

While the accountancy definition is:

Profit = revenue - costs

But, I think the two definitions might be an artificial dichotomy.

>>4863837

Where do you work?

I am in my undergrad.

>> No.4863858

>>4863820
>weak means preferable
what, as in the WARP? i'm pretty sure the term "weak" here is borrowed from mathematics, as in "weakly greater than" or "weakly inclusive."

where does "weak" mean "preferable"?

>utility
I'd say utility is much weirder than this. It's not just how much satisfaction you get out of an item. It's a function of and *not* the cause of the agent's preference ordering. If that's not counterintuitive and field-specific then I don't know what is.

>> No.4863861

>>4863854
i always knew you were an undergrad. quit posing, change your username.

>> No.4863865

>>4863858

I have never heard "weak" mean preferable either.

I have heard stuff like "weakly dominated."

>> No.4863871

work - the energy required to move something a certain distance (W= FDcos(theta))

energy - the ability to do work

^^ these concepts are foreign the the layman.

----------------------------------------------

sorta science homonyms:

potential energy
potential difference
electric potential
electric potential energy

>> No.4863867

>>4863849

Look man, of course they aren't robust. Do you want me to write a paper on the exact meanings and mathematical substance of them? I could but the purpose was to be generally brief and light of heart. Yeah I know that price is equivalent to the marginal cost and marginal costs is the derivative of the firms cost structure function and that if the cost structure isn't strategically elastic then prices will always be lower than the monopolistic price. I know how to prove budget set are compact and that tangent utility curve is monotonic and negative everywhere except in corners.

tlder; i know my shit.

>> No.4863880

>>4863865
>>4863858

Where are you in your econ studies? If not at master's or phd level, then weak really doesn't mean anything. In advanced micro, the weak set is the preferable set.

It's not weak as in weak action in game theory if that is what you are thinking.

>>4863854
Brookings Institute.

>> No.4863885

Yeah, the idea of electric potential and the waterfall analogy kinda messed me up in E&M in high school.

>>4863867
What exactly do you do for the think tank?

>> No.4863898

>>4863880
What's the "weak set" then? Obviously I'm no expert but I haven't seen it in any of my classes, Debreu, or anything I've read for the work I'm doing this summer.

Also I'm asking about the think tank because I'm wondering what the hell I'm going to do when I graduate. Not sure if I want to jump into a PhD.

>> No.4863899

>economics
>science

Please fuck off back to >>>/pol/ and stop making these threads

>> No.4863896

>>4863885
>>4863867

More importantly, how did you get into the think tank?

>> No.4863902

>>4863867

>>4863867


>tfw firms don't actually use economic marginal analysis

>tfw economic models are generally useless in industry, and only valuable in academia for some reason

>> No.4863903

>>4863885

I develop DSGEs (dynamic stochastic general equilbrium) models. Very basically, highly theoretical econometric models that use micro foundations to model macro economies. Very interesting in my view. But then again I'm biased, I'm more of a theorist, application isn't really my thing. But we hope to have them grounded in reality some day.

>> No.4863908

>>4863902

OP here, I understand they don't. But then again, I don't care. I just like theory for theory's sake. I like the mental masturbation of solving complex problems. That's why I do what I do.

>> No.4863913

>>4863899

How about you go fuck yourself and help us get an Economics and Finance board. We don't exclusively belong in pol and we don't exclusively belong in sci.

>> No.4863916

>>4863902

>mfw I'm currently acting as an economic advisor to a small company and it seems I have increased their profit by 20-25%

>> No.4863921

>>4863898

The weak set as opposed to the strong set?

The weak set= the set that the consumer can afford (and therefore preferable)

The strong set=the set that the consumer can afford but is not preferable, i.e, anything below the budget line!

Hope that helped.

Jumping into a phd program isn't a good idea unless you have a solid math background. If you do then go for it, but otherwise find a job to hone your skills, then go to school. The only reason I did my master's is because I majored in math too. Take this advice. If you want to pursue econ, ALL econ grad schools would prefer a math major OVER an econ major. That's just how it is bro.

>> No.4863928
File: 134 KB, 333x500, 1336507963287.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4863928

>Mfw economists

>> No.4863935

>>4863916

Are you a business economist bro?

>> No.4863941

>>4863896

I applied for a position as a researcher. Honestly, it's not hard to get a job there. If there is an opening and you are decently good, it's a cakewalk. What is hard to do is to get senior analyst position or a director position. But researching...easy.

>> No.4863948

>>4863899

Stop whining. Do you sage every time you see a thread that says "OMG how do I study!" or anything retarded like that? If you do, then kudos, but if you don't then STFU.

>> No.4863965

>>4863921
I'm an econ & math major. I'm thinking of going for an econometrics master's first but I only know of maybe 5 schools that specifically offer one. Also a lot will ride on my GRE since my GPA isn't stellar (freshman year, too much drinking, xbox and working out)

I've never heard the weak/strong set thing but it makes sense. Again, weak containment etc.

Also, is there a good textbook out there on modern, upper-level macro? My undergrad book/course was a sad joke and I'd rather not try and teach myself DSGE off of original papers on JSTOR.

>> No.4863984

>>4863965

Any really awesome macro books? No not really. Macroecon is shaky. But I will recommend Charles Jones macroecon for undergrad.

For grad stuff, you gotta search. I won't recommend anything because I don't like any of them out there. And be careful, what economist call modern macro is basically all DSGE stuff. If you want CLASSICAL macro, then any upper level macro book would work. But like I said, I won't recommend them because they are all the same to me, mediocre. It's important you read one, but only for the sake of understanding the general theory of the macroeconomy

>> No.4864214

>>4863880

I am entering my senior year.

I would really like to take advanced micro. I will probably go out of my way to do so. I took intermediate micro over a year ago and I miss it dearly.

Oh! Brookings institute! I think you told me that in another thread. I looked them up and everything.

Cool.

>> No.4864253

Words that have very specific meanings in the physical sciences:

Energy.
Power.
Force.
Dimension.
Precision vs. Accuracy.
Stress and Strain.

>> No.4865008
File: 7 KB, 149x178, Nwabudike_Morgan.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4865008

> In former times the energy monopoly was called "The Power Company"; we intend to give this name an entirely new meaning.

Regards, /v/