Monday, June 21, 2010

Economics and Math

I am pursuing my PhD in Mathematics but I am working with an Economist this summer. It has been an interesting experience so far because I am seeing first hand how this other groups of academics (Economists) are using and abusing math.

I've met several Economics grad students because they sat in on one of my Real Analysis courses. But I have had little opportunity to speak with them about math or find out much about their mathematical knowledge. I also have several friends in the Humanities whose fields currently place a large emphasis on statistical analysis.

Currently, I'm reading about Optimal Control Theory. In particular this book. On first glance the material is quite deep. I wonder what depth of mathematical exposure the typical Economics student has but I think that most don't have enough to appreciate the material. The papers I'm reading seem to confirm my suspicions. The "math" part of said papers usually read like this, "Solution to the [constraints] is gauranteed by the treatment in [author, author year]".

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Goals

I have several goals for the summer not in a particular order:

1) Simply my life, mostly by minimizing my possessions.
2) Prepare for and then pass my qualifying exams that are coming up .
3) Ride my bike a lot.
4) Perform well as a research assistant.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Another Year...

El hombre debe caminar con la cara al sol.