Adv Micro 2018

Advanced Microeconomics 1: Based on Hill & Myatt - Economics Anti-Textbook

Homepage for Advanced Microeconomics I Course at PIDE - Please Join Google Group AZ Research Group, to access resources available from links to restricted websites. Next Course: Advanced Microeconomics 2: Experimental Econ

This course is meant as a replacement for conventional Advanced Microeconomics I courses taught as core courses in a Ph.D. Economics. It starts out by explaining why conventional economic theories are wrong, and why they lead to wrong policy decisions. This material is based on

The Economics Anti-Textbook: A Critical Thinker’s Guide to Microeconomics , by Rod Hill and Tony Myatt

There are several reasons why conventional micro theories are wrong. One reason is that they are based on fundamentally wrong assumptions about human behavior. A second reason is because they emerge from a wrong epistemology - theories about the nature of human knowledge. A third reason is that they are designed to serve the interests of the rich and powerful. After explaining why conventional theories are wrong in the first 10 lectures, the remainder of the course is designed to create genuine alternatives.

We start with a lecture on the Islamic approach, which is complex and subtle. We go on to discuss behavioral economics, which provides alternative theories of human behavior, based on actual observations of human behavior. This can be supplemented with Islamic insights regarding the heart and soul of man, and the vast range of possibilities open to man - from the lowest of the low to the highest of the high. Evolutionary Game Theory provides a way to understand emergence and change of behavior in the long run. Some fundamental methodological considerations, regarding how economics should be done, are also discussed. Then we consider the basic supply and demand model in detail, explain why it is deeply flawed, and explain how to develop reasonable alternatives to this theory. The last few lectures provide an outline of basic features of an alternative approach to microeconomics, based on a deeper understanding of human behavior, furnished by Islamic concepts.

The recommended second course, to follow up this one, is Advanced Micro II: Experimental Economics. The idea is that, instead of axiomatizing human behavior, we should study it by OBSERVING human behavior. A good place to do this is via behavioral game theory. This allows us to create reasonable theories of human behavior. Development of a micro theory requires using these theories to predict outcomes in complex situations. This is impossible using conventional mathematics, because outcomes are too complex to be expressed in formulae. The correct way to proceed is via Agent-Based Models, which provide computer simulations to replace the mathematics. This also allows us to discard the two fundamental assumptions on which conventional micro is based -- Human behavior is studied on basis of actual behavior, rather than optimization. System outcomes are obtained via simulations rather than by trying to compute fake equilibria which do not occur in real world situations.

Historical Notes -- This note is meant to provide guidance to a complex tangle of websites created for the Advanced Microeconomics Courses. As of September 2019, this is the latest website for Advanced Microeconomics I - which is meant as an ALTERNATIVE for the first semester of a Ph.D. core two semester sequence in Microeconomics. This website has 30 Lectures - AM01 to AM30. It was meant to serve as the basis for the Adv Micro I course at PIDE from Sept. 2018 to Jan 2019, when the course was taught by Zahid Mughal Siddique. This website was created as a COPY of the original website for Adv Micro I - Sep 2017 which I personally taught in 2017. The materials here are IDENTICAL to those of the previous linked website. It was meant to be enhanced and supplemented by ZMS lectures, but, to the best of my knowledge, these lectures were not recorded. Nonetheless, this website is currently the best available version of my efforts at creating an alternative to conventional Micro I. The previous website (Adv Micro 1 2017 - shortlink bit.do/az4math) is also equivalent, but it ALSO HAS an additional course which is a hybrid of micro and macro taught as Adv Micro II with strong emphasis on Polanyi.

SEE ALSO: Advanced Macroeconomics Course at PIDE: Sep- 2018 to Jan 2019

Before the date of the lecture -- do the work indicated on the lecture page -- see links on the Left Hand Side Panel of this page. SOLVE the Final Exam Questions associated with the lecture at the bottom of the page, and bring solutions to class to form basis for discussion.

Tuesday, 18th Sept: Do: AM02: S&D Models

Thursday, 20th Sept: Do: AM03: Monopoly

Tuesday, 25th Sept: Do AM04: Duopoly

Thursday, 27th Sept: Do AM05: Consumer Theory

======================LINKS for PREVIOUS RELATED COURSES============

See Link for Advanced Micro 1 2017 (based on Hill & Myatt: Anti-Textbook) PIDE in Sep 2017

See Link for Advanced Micro II (based on Polanyi; PIDE Jan-May 2017)

See Link for Advanced Micro II -- Experimental Economics & ABM, Feb-Jun 2018

The MAIN textbook for this course will be Hill Myatt's Economics Anti-Textbook (attached below)

Link to FACEBOOK Group for the course, used in 2017 -- this will not be used regularly but may be used by students for discussions, and for posting related materials.

SHORTLINK to homepage for this course on my personal website: http://bit.ly/2fiXjLP