Economics is not Science

Excerpt from a letter in the Financial Times written by P. A. Stahl of American Astronomical Society, here:

"Sir, I appreciate Katy Delay’s effort (Letters, April 21) to portray economics as a science, but let’s be clear it is not. Economics has never been a science, it only adopts some scientific window dressing, a few of the methods (mostly statistics) and some jargon. But no serious empiricist would regard it as “science”.

For example, economics has no true objects of inquiry, say like physics, nor does it offer any consistent, theoretical models that don’t rely on statistical artefacts. Nor does economics make quality predictions based on said models, like atomic physics. If it had such capabilities, it would have foreseen the 2008 meltdown well in advance and warned everyone!

Even the most rudimentary student of statistics understands that regression models (even multiple) don’t show causality. The quants’ correlation factor (“gamma”) in their Gaussian Copula formula, in fact, helped precipitate the 2008 financial meltdown because they had zero insight into what they were really quantifying! Meanwhile, the illustrious economists – in their naive and incomplete statistical “modelling” – are prepared to ignore an entire raft of variables associated with what they call “externalities”. How very convenient!"

China's Silicon Valley - National Innovation Zone

From colleague Mr. Tony Tsai, Chief Executive Officer – BHG Retail Innovation Institute & Executive VP Operations – The BJ Hualian Hypermarket Co. from China:

"The State Council has reached a decision to back the building of a national independent innovation demonstration zone in the Zhongguancun Science Park (Z-Park) in Beijing, said Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang Friday.  Some Chinese people like to call the Z-Park "China's Silicon Valley".

See details on the innovation center here.

Read about the Zhongguancun Science Park (Z-Park) here.

USA returning to focus on Science and Technology

"Most scientists consider the last eight years a tough era in Washington. But President-elect Barack Obama's reported picks for Secretary of Energy and EPA administrator and the creation of an "energy czar" signal a return to scientific principles in the decision-making process at the federal level."

States the Wired article "Science Born Again in the White House, and Not a Moment Too Soon" here. The new administration coming to the White House has selected a good and balanced set of individuals given their resumes.

Yet one thing should not be over looked that the current administration has pumped (or dumped based on your preference) funding into R&D via the intelligence services. As always the results of these inventions will spring new businesses in years to come when the successful or failed innovations are not a national security concern and can be made public.

USA: Political Changes Impact Science

Here are a few articles that share the extent of funding cuts on education and scientific research in the US in the past few years:

• "Federal budget impact on Fermilab"
• "Cutbacks Impede Climate Studies"
• "Nuclear Waste Funding Slashed..."
• "House Budget Committee" - Report

With the change in the political landscape in the USA, the Science Magazine published an article stating that there is good news for research in science, see here.

Science Magazine's Visualization Challenege 2008

Science Magazine and NSF joined together to conduct The International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge 2008. One of the great achievements of technology in the recent years has been the ability to communicate complex information and ideas through visualization. This effort highlights the progress through the years as you may see in the links to the previous five Visualization Challenges. Here is an excerpt from the site:

"The winners -- in categories including photography, illustration, informational graphics, and multimedia -- captured the crystalline beauty of diatoms, the expanse of the human circulatory system, a fairy tale tea party re-invented, and the dynamic life of a plant cell."

See the visual presentation of the Visualization Challenge 2008 here. I also recommend listening to an interview with Alisa Zapp Machalek here - one of the judges of the Challenge.