Co-winner of the Nobel prize in economics

October 21, 2005 10:13 AM

Co-winner of the Nobel prize in economicsRobert Aumann of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem gave a very interesting interview about how he became interested in economics, math, and the "topology of bagels." How he applied logic from the Talmud to bankruptcy and other economic events was described nicely at Slate here.
posted by Adamchik (4 comments total)

An earlier post.
posted by daksya at 10:31 AM on October 21, 2005

Whoa long interview -- getting started now. See you in a day or two for some comments.
posted by zpousman at 10:37 AM on October 21, 2005

Great post. I read the short interview. I thought it was interesting all the balloons of areas of study share some overlap with Game Theory, except for Chemistry, and . . .

I'm not sure what the overlap should be with biology. Obviously economics and math and comp sci are really tightly knit with it. But to argue that there must be some overlap between Chemistry and Game theory, I would give two hypothetical scenarios.

Company A is researching pharmaceuticals, as is Company B. The odds that A will find a new patentable drug this year is 5%. The odds that noted scientist Smith, who works at B, will find a new drug are 3%. Should company A try to hire Smith? Should company A spy on Smith?

The government of Country A is tracking the movements of dissident Jones. It may be possible to keep Jones from walking down a certain path by releasing some noxious fumes in the area as Jones arrives. Jones has gathered a group of supporters and they intend to march on the capital. They are of a minority. Should Government A poison the water supply such that their group and many others become unable to march?

In the first scenario, the decisions made might vary based on the pharmaceuticals, similarly in case 2 it might vary based on the toxins available. Without any discussion on the balloons I don't know if the other ones, e.g. Biology, have a much greater common ground.
posted by nervousfritz at 11:27 AM on October 21, 2005

About those bagels O
posted by hortense at 12:04 PM on October 21, 2005