HOW TO BUILD AN ECONOMIC MODEL
IN YOUR SPARE TIME
IN YOUR SPARE TIME
This is a little article that I wrote to describe how I work. It contains
the advice that I wish I had received when I was just starting out, and
it is meant to be entertaining as well as instructive.
Most of my work in economics involves constructing theoretical models.
Over the years, I have developed some ways of doing this that may be
worth describing to those who aspire to practice this art. In reality the
process is much more haphazard than my description would suggest—the
model of research that I describe is an idealization of reality, much like the
economic models that I create. But there is probably enough connection
with reality to make the description useful—which I hope is also true for
my economic models.
the advice that I wish I had received when I was just starting out, and
it is meant to be entertaining as well as instructive.
Most of my work in economics involves constructing theoretical models.
Over the years, I have developed some ways of doing this that may be
worth describing to those who aspire to practice this art. In reality the
process is much more haphazard than my description would suggest—the
model of research that I describe is an idealization of reality, much like the
economic models that I create. But there is probably enough connection
with reality to make the description useful—which I hope is also true for
my economic models.