Minor Updates and "Bandidos"

So BBC Mundo and BBC Caribbean have been added to the wealth of news sources you now see on the left (your right) side of the screen. If I don't have the time or energy to read books in Spanish, then I dang well will read news stories in Spanish. That and I just like the web page setup of BBC. It's easier than navigating the site for El pais or El mundo with all the pop ups.
I had a "duh" moment today when I realized BBC Mundo existed. I've been quietly complaining about how there aren't enough BBC stories on South America, and suddenly I look to the languages section. Oh yeah... BBC Mundo.... say it with me, "Duhhhhhhhhh." I was reading an article on Chavez (so he's finally gotten around to trying to reform the constitution so he can run for indefinite terms... how democratic of him), and K and M come up behind me. "Why are you always reading news on Mexico?" M asked. "You have to ask?" K joked.
Alright... first of all, Mexico and Venezuela are on two different continents with two different cultures. And I know being Indian excuses you from having to know anything about South or Central America (sort of like being American excuses you from knowing anything about India... wait...), but surely if you read the news you can recognize the pictures of Hugo Chavez, and at least remember that Venezuela sounds different from Mexico.
Second of all, I enjoy reading Spanish for the pleasure of the language primarily. Not just for "other" reasons (though one in particular is a very good reason); I have enjoyed Spanish for a long while now, and will continue to enjoy it.
However, I would like to point out (in a minor act of juvenile vengeance for his -true but tacky- insinuation) that K also claimed in his Wednesday presentation (to the sheer sick enjoyment of his advisor and his independent study professor) that "Canada is not a democratic country." You can imagine what followed next.

In micro today we finally got out of Game Theory (sadly. I was digging it. Hm... maybe I should look into industrial organization and micro theory), and started equilibrium, and the ever popular Pareto Efficiency. The only measurement of "morality" within the world of economic thought. That is a frightening concept. This is why economists write papers (very convincing ones as well) on how abortion has a decreasing effect on the crime rate. If you're only moral compass is whether or not something is "most efficient"... that leaves a few things... what was the phrase in that Cusack movie? Open to "certain moral flexibility." See the writings of Jonathon Swift. But as the prof says, "this is where economic thought ends, and everything else beyond is policy, outside the realm of economics." So we got into a small discussion on the differences of policy making and pure economic thought, and the prof. noted to us all that, "There is a difference between micro and macro. Macroeconomists believe that all people are stupid, so you can use policy and it will effect them. Micro assumes that people are at least rational." That got some laughs, and M added, "Macroeconomists are more practical then." One student asked, "So.. what do macroeconomists think of themselves? That just seems silly to think that."

Which brings me to the three laws of humanity as proposed by my brother and his old roommate. I'm not quite sure on the exact wording, but they go like this:
1) People are stupid.
2) People try very hard to be stupid.
3) People are only smart for a small amount of time, then they revert to being stupid.
So economics really does go quite well with these "laws of humanity." Nice. Except for the third. There is a violation with the third. In macro, the assumption is made that over time stupid people's actions tend to trend more towards "Smart." So in the long run, we're smart, but in the short run, we're idiots.
I smell another dissertation topic. I even have a title... "Economics and the Three Laws of Humanity: A New Perspective on Macroeconomic Theory Centered on 'the Jackass Principle'." My new principle of economics (probably not really knew, odds are there's a huge literature on this subject that I'm just not aware of at all*): 'The Jackass Principle' states that even in the long run the general movement of human decision converges toward "stupid" as opposed to "smart" or even "competent." Indeed I believe that it is this very "Jackass" nature of the typical American that drives the US economy. How else can pop music be a multi-billion dollar industry led by the likes of Brittney Spears, J-Lo, and Coldplay? So in answer to my fellow student's question about what economists think of themselves as opposed to the rest of the world... well let's be honest, we're jackasses too. But along with that, we're smartasses, as is evident by about 99% of my posts. Or maybe it's just me. The article will be forthcoming in... 3 to 5 years. It also opens up several questions on the corollary (or fourth law?) that "people find new ways to be stupid." Anyone else know that song "Bandidos" by the Refreshments?

Raoul, if there are any corrections you'd like to make on the three laws (or my horrendous phrasing of them) please let me know. An edit will follow.

Tough decisions (another long one for all you procrastinators)

So the seminars are finished, the recruitment committee has retreated to their offices and are stonewalling the curious students about who will be hired, if anyone. But gossip in graduate departments diffuses faster than information.
I was being a chatty-cathy with a few students last night at our, "we don't have class tomorrow" celebration/dinner/New-Belgium-Tasting (amazing how Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, and Muslims can all agree on the smooth taste of Fat Tire... wonder if I can sell that to them for marketing), and the topic (among others) came up. K and M agree that Baldy is a shoe-in. His research is impressive, he's well liked by students and faculty, and now I think its up to him. Does he want to spend winters in New York, or have a high of 75 in the middle of February. Tough decision. What we don't agree on is the running for who will fill the second (and dare we say it even third) position openings. M and K feel that because Baldy is really more of an applied economist (though he dabbles very successfully in theory), the woman from Harvard will not be hired since she was heavily into applied (although she showed a deep understanding of Micro theory and Econometrics). They think that the last guy interviewed from New York, who despite a bit of a shaky presentation (I think this was actually his first interview) had some impressive theory work. Extremely impressive. So now the split in our department shows itself. The gurus vs. the badgers. The theoreticians vs. the apply... eticians... moving on. There is however a little birdie who has told the graduate students that there is another option. There is enough in the endowment for perhaps a third (or so the rumor goes). A tantalizing tri-force of top tier candidates... hmmm...
And the rumor mill is also spinning that the Harvard woman was offered a job at John Hopkins. M, K, and I also disagree on which would be better for her. I remember the guy who interviewed from Hopkins. I wasn't impressed. M and K are more complimentary about it, and they say its higher on the rankings. I have yet to check that.
But maybe the profs were not impressed with any of them. Maybe some one will be hired, maybe no one will be hired. We won't know for a month or two, and the committee (despite a few leaks) is appropriately tight lipped on everything.

Last week I opened my e-mail to find an e-vite to the birthday party for the American fourth year student, promising to be the ultimate alcohol related catharsis for all us pour souls trapped in the department. Saturday. Hm... I was faced with a conundrum. Do I go to this birthday party with the promise of kegs and possibly seeing my seniors smashed out of their ever-loving minds (blackmail material for our TA's? Oh yeah...), or... what else was going on that night? Oh yes, my girlfriend's fraternity was having it's XV anniversary.
See the extremely hot girlfriend in a dress vs. drunken Bengalis.
Be a supportive, and happy boyfriend vs. ... drunken Bangladeshis.
Dancing, dinner, and fun with a delightful young woman from Juarez vs. ... drunken Turks.
The ultimate cheese cake vs. ... drunken Chinese.
A good time vs... you get the idea.
I must admit. I was torn. Looking at the e-vite, do I click, "Yes I will attend, and BMOB -bring my own booze-" or do I click, "No, I hate so-and-so and don't want to celebrate his birthday."
Hate is such a strong word. Tough decision. Click.

The anniversary party was pretty fun. Got to see Ardilla get an award (much to her surprise), got to dance a bit, meet a few new people, and in general have some fun. I must admit, she wore me out. By the end of the night all I wanted to do was pass out. My feet hurt, my legs hurt, I was burning up in my suit (which I found out is just a little bit too small. No big deal, but I need new nice, black pants), but it was a heck of a lot of fun. And I took some nice pictures which I sent to my family. It really was a great night, and blogging on it just wouldn't do it justice. So ask me next time you see me.

But, what, you might ask, did I miss that night when I went to the anniversary instead of the party (which is quite on the base level that this blog usually traffics)? A good friend of mine (and second year), getting sloshed and propositioning one of the department girls (no one has admitted to who she was yet though) in front of half the people there. M and K had a good laugh about this (K SHOULD have a good laugh about it), and M continued, "she responded by saying she didn't believe in it!" A little confused I asked what was wrong or funny about a girl refusing a one night stand because she didn't think it was right (seeing as the student in question had no girlfriend, I sort of assumed he meant that), and M replied, "No no no. The proposition wasn't one night stand. It was quite the opposite. It was proper proposition." And the laughing then continued... me included. Nice to know that some of the smartest students on this campus can still have a bit too much to drink, randomly ask one of their classmates to marry them, and have it spread faster in the department then butter on a muffin. Reminds me of middle school really.
Hmm... shenanigans vs. time with the squirrel... I'm facing some serious choices these days.

A few classes, some notes, a professor's birthday, and A and I finding out that three of our friends are actually also our TA's this semester (and they'll pay for hiding it from us... they're gonna get question after question), brings us all back home to the Thursday night gathering. M, K, and a Thai econ grad student met at Tom Thumb to drive over to K's apartment. I got there first, and grabbed a six pack of New Belgium Pilsener Lager to go with K's cooking. When they got there, K and the Thai student said they had one last errand to run in the store. Without me even mentioning New Belgium, these two went straight for the Fat Tire and the Wheat Beer. So we decided to have a tasting with our meal. Which was good considering K put so much saffron, chili powder, curry, and God-only-knows-what else into the lamb and rice he made that I was panting on the floor of his apartment for a good hour after I ate. M had the good sense to get me some bread, and made some mild curry to help soften the blow. There was much laughter at this.
Let me explain something about Indian food real fast if you don't already know. Unlike Latin American or Japanese spices, it doesn't kick and then go away after a short while. The worst of it is always yet to come. You take a bite, it's good. You eat some more. Then after five minutes of eating you feel a slight tingle. Ooh, you think, spicy. Nice. Then ten minutes and a few more mouthfuls pass. The tingling gets worse. You take a break. But the food is so good. You eat a bit more. The next thing you know you can't close your mouth, and you're downing whatever liquid is closest at the time to try and put out the raging inferno that is burning your mouth like a Texahoma wheat field off of 75.

So much conversation, and a few hours later I'm good to go, so I take M home and shuffle sleepily back to my apartment. It's stinking cold. So I got Ardilla a coat, and took it to the library for her. Then shuffled back home to sleep. Dropped from 70-something that day to nearly below freezing that night.

Whew. That wasted quite a bit of time. Good thing this is my day off.... which is to say I start studying when the sun goes down tonight... suck.
Thought I would sleep in until 10, but instead woke up at 8 AM full of life and energy and not able to go back to sleep (how does that happen after basically being incapacitated by evil Indian spice, not able to relax enough to sleep until 2 AM, and then have weird fever dreams about game theory, utility, Slutsky's inequality, and strange economics students "propositioning" me with Arrow's Choice Axiom... dang it... why is it I never dream in Spanish, but suddenly I'm dreaming in Economese?). Was too cold to take my bike out (unlike my short "victory laps" around Bishop Blvd. the past few days) soooo... blogging is it.

Okay now I'm just trying to fill up more time. I've got nothing. Going to go take Ardilla to the airport later today so she can go see her new nephew, and then start studying again. Adios.

Saturn devouring his job candidate...

After two rather successful job candidate seminars (a woman from Harvard with a very impressive paper on school vouchers in Florida, and the beloved visiting Prof. from SUNY who is looking for warmer climates), we (myself, my Indian first year friend, her friend, the Math Turk, the Filipina, the Bulgarian, and a Chinese fourth year student) filed in for what looked to be a promising seminar by a visiting prof. at a prestigious, preppy, private university in St. Louis (which shall here remain nameless), and also a Stanford graduate.

I could tell you how the Micro and International Trade gurus ripped him to shreds in front of everyone. I could even tell you about getting caught passing notes at the back row by the Micro Guru, who instead of punishing me, chuckled (hey, he was the one who started passing notes to other prof's, so it was his influence). I could tell you about how this guy crashed and burned like some junky cosmonaut (name that Cracker tune). But I think instead I will leave you with his introductory "joke", and then a portrait which I think accurately depicts what follows.

Job Candidate: So it's always a bit nerve wracking to be back on the job market -silence-... but uh, I have a good feeling about this one because I had a dream last night -chuckles from the Micro guru- uh... see I gave this presentation to Harry Truman, and he seemed to like it, so I should be okay. -silence. a few chuckles-
International Trade Guru: Yes but Harry Truman is not on the recruiting committee. -nervous laughter from some of the profs, the Micro Guru cackles, our micro prof.'s face contorts into expressions I never knew existed as he is staring intently at the notes he has written ALL OVER this guy's paper, and the grad students in the back row lean forward holding in their laughter... things are about to get good-

If Goya had painted what followed next, I think it would look something like this:

Okay this needs sound effects:
BLALALALALALALKGHGHJHJHGKHGKGHKGJKLSJJDKJGLKHSDLGSLDJGH
AOOOMOMLKGLHGKHLKGHLGHLKJ MMMMMMMMMMM that's good job candidate...

Let me tell you, I haven't seen my micro professor's face that contorted in a look of "WTF" since two days before when one of our classmates found Jesus in a proof for Game Theory and decided to share it with the rest of the class. I guess it's better than a taco.

And now I shall leave you with the notes passed between my Indian friend, her friend, and myself during the presentation, which were announced by the sliding of my Indian friend's planner across the desk, followed by the scratching of the pencil, the sliding of the planner, and several chuckles:
clunk-skshhhhhh-scritchscritch-skshhhhh-hehehe-clunk-skshhhhhhh-scritch....

WHY ARE OUR PROF'S PASSING NOTES? THAT'S A HORRIBLE EXAMPLE FOR THE STUDENTS.
LOOK AT THAT ONE'S FACE.
WHAT ARE THEY WRITING?
I THINK ONE OF THEIR NOTES JUST SAID, "I DON'T THINK THIS GUY UNDERSTANDS MY QUESTIONS". I ALSO SAW, "HE COULD EXPLAIN THIS FOR FIFTY MINUTES AND NOT CONVINCE ME HE KNEW WHAT THE HELL HE WAS TALKING ABOUT."
THIS IS WORSE THAN US.
HOW DID HE GRADUATE FROM STANFORD?
I THINK HE SEES US.

And yes, we realized the irony of passing notes about the horrible example our professors were setting for us as we were passing notes as well.

Say it with me folks: I don't think he got the job.