mathematica symposium lecture sept 15 2008
TRANSCRIPT
The Mathematics of Modern Growth Theory using Mathematica
Stephen KinsellaDepartment of EconomicsKemmy Business School,University of [email protected]
Plan
What is Growth?ImportanceTheories of GrowthMathematica and Growth TheoryDemonstrations
What is Growth?
Year on Year increase in productive capacity
Measured by change in Gross Domestic Product: Output of goods and services in a
yearGrowth is
(GDP (today) - GDP (yesterday))/GDP (yesterday)
Measure is not without its problems
Robert Kennedy on GDP
“It measures everything but that which makes life
worthwhile”–Robert Kennedy
But Growth is Vital
Growth leads to increased living standards
It lifts nations out of poverty.
Robert Lucas on Growth:
“When you start to think about it, it’s very hard to think about
anything else”
Theories of Growth
Smith (1776)Malthus (1798)Von Neumann (1937)Solow (1956)Romer (1985) Neoclassical Synthesis (1980s)
Tools
RatiosGeometric/Arithmetic SeriesFix Point TheoremsODESN-ODESDynamic Programming
1970 1980 1990 2000
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
1980 1990 2000
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
Mathematica makes obtaining and displaying economic data easy.DateListPlot[CountryData["Ireland", {{"GDPPerCapita"}, {1970, 2006}}]]
Mathematica
Growth matters.Mathematica can show students data, theory, and mathematics of growth theory.Demonstrations are the way forward.
Message