We are starting to work on this right now, and as usual will use the blog as a platform for discussion. Some background for the workshop is to be found in the post “Starting a GSS reading list”, and there in particular the paper “Algorithms, Games and the Internet” by Papadimitriou. The internet – which includes the users! – is a paradigmatic example of a global system, and studying it by means of iterated games in large populations with randomized matches between players – which include computers ! – turns out to be a very fruitful approach. Remarkably, the same approach makes a lot of sense when studying markets, including the marketplaces that play an essential role in the dynamics of the global urban system.
Some pointers regarding Tuesday AM discussion (posted by SB)
– Discussion about how shocks can get amplified in a network economy
Bak, P., Chen, K., Scheinkman, J., Woodford, M., 1993. Aggregate fluctuations from independent sectoral shocks: self-organized criticality in a model of production and inventory dynamics. Ricerche
Economiche 47, 3–30.
– Related to this. Is there any cascade model of how the subprime was able to trigger the financial crisis? One argument is the following: the subprime market volume was very small compared to the overall global financial assets. However, there has been a building up of instability due the fact that risk associated with all mortgages related securities had been underestimated. The default of subprime mortgages triggered a shift of beliefs in the market players regarding a much larger portion of the market.