NEW SCIENTIST
Finance and Economics
INTRODUCTION
Can science reinvent the economy?
FIXING ECONOMICS
So what's to be done to avoid a repeat of the financial disasters of the past couple of years?
In this special feature, Mark Buchanan looks at some of the creative ideas being explored to tame the markets, not just by economists, but by physicists, engineers, biologists and others.
What does science have to say - and will anyone listen?
1.
Bubble math
Common sense would have suggested that the huge housing bubble would lead to disaster: so why did some financial institutions assess risks with models that ignored the possibility that prices might fall?
2.
The human factor
Purely mathematical approaches to predicting the economy have a big drawback – the irrational behaviour of people
3.
Network solutions
Bubbles are nothing new, but now a bubble in just one country can cause the whole world's economy to collapse – so how do we stop the dominoes toppling?
4.
Predicting the big one
According to classical economics, financial crises don't happen – clearly, then, there is a lot wrong with classical economics
5.
An economy in a computer
Can we pack an entire economy, with all its complex human and political interactions, into a computer? Yes, say experts, as long as we're bold enough about it
6.
Out of kilter
Trying to predict markets in the same way as earthquakes comes with the same limitations – it does not tell us when and where the next cataclysmic event will be
7.
Will it be enough?
For all science can tell us, we might in the end have to accept that we are at the mercy of the markets – and ultimately human nature
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If you want to boost people's performance, don't bank on bonuses
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Banking cheats will always prosper
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Clever schemes to make bankers earn their bonuses look good on paper, but economics proves they won't work, says Mark Buchanan
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15:07 03 February 2011 | 3 comments
Warnings about close coupling in a globalised economy are coming true in Egypt – will the politics of complex systems topple more governments?
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Banks behave much like ecosystems – with similar risk of collapse. Change those risks and we could stave off another crisis
George Soros: Economics needs fixing
INTERVIEW: 15:31 22 December 2010 | 5 comments
Why has the billionaire financier donated $50 million to rethink economics?
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