Economics Through Play
I started learning some basic economics through Khan Academy over the summer, and I really enjoyed this strange union of very rigid mathematical analysis and complex, irrational human behavior. My economics study varied greatly from the traditional high school economics course. I'm a computer programmer who loves games, so most of my work was centered around learning a concept, then creating interactive content to more fully explore that idea.
You'll find two types of projects below: experiments, which try to answer questions that I have through simulated tests, and explanations, which try to answer questions that other people have with a bit of extra interactivity. Have fun!
You'll find two types of projects below: experiments, which try to answer questions that I have through simulated tests, and explanations, which try to answer questions that other people have with a bit of extra interactivity. Have fun!
Experiments
Stock StrategiesThis idea began after my stock market explanation, when I was wondering if I could test some simple investment strategies without having to actually buy any stocks. So I tested 5 different investment strategies on 2019 stock data for 47 of the Dow Jones Global Titans 50, measured how profitable they were, and wrote a simple scientific paper to show my findings.
Scientific Paper Notes & Preparation Source Code |
Distributing Wealth & Diminishing Marginal ReturnsCreating the stock strategies experiment, while fun, was very labor-intensive, so I built this more laid-back, theoretical model just to play around with the law of diminishing marginal returns, and how it affects resource allocation, and I got some interesting results that suggest further opportunities to explore.
Code & Full Explanation Notes |
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Supply & DemandThe YouTube channel Primer was one of my key inspirations for building simulations, so one week I decided it'd be fun to try and rebuild a simple version of their simulation of supply and demand. If you want to understand the simulation, I recommend you watch the original video.
Original Video by Primer Notes Source Code |
Game TheoryOne of my key inspirations for building these simulations is Nicky Case's "The Evolution of Trust," a game exploring game theory and the cooperate/cheat conundrum in the prisoner's dilemma. For two weeks, I researched game theory and built a prototype of a spin on Case's work that adds mutation to the strategies when they replicate.
Notes More notes (connecting to climate change) Original Game: The Evolution of Trust An early prototype of my version: The Natural Selection of Trust |
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The Natural Selection of TrustAfter my previous game theory work went so well, I learned some more about machine learning architecture that gave me the idea for a better implementation of my system. It worked out so well, I started writing a paper about it. The code is also linked in a folder below, but most people won't need to look at the code -- they'll want to just read the paper instead.
Paper Source Code |
Explanations
The Stock MarketThis explanation of the stock market was my first project, after I realized that I had no conceptual understanding of what a "stock" really was, and I should probably fix that. There's a little game embedded in this article, too!
Game, Code, & Explanation Notes |
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Specialization & TradeA lot of people believe, consciously or not, that economics is a zero-sum game, where your success means my failure. And it can be sometimes, but there are also situations where interacting in a market can leave everyone better off. This slideshow about specialization of labor explains how this is achieved through trade.
Full Slideshow Notes |
Cognitive Bias & Behavioral EconA lot of this other work has been very theoretical, so I wanted to take some time to explore how the actual biases, emotions, and imperfections of people affect their decision-making. I researched cognitive biases and behavioral economics, focusing on note taking. I also designed a card game to teach people about confirmation bias and misinformation!
Notes Card Game: Connections |