Brian Arthur talks about complexity economics.
04 July 2015
18 September 2014
Cultural migration and the Scottish independence referendum
Maximilian Schich has created a video showing patterns in cultural migration across hundreds of years by showing the places of birth and death of notable individuals. Places of birth are shown in blue while places of death are shown in red.
The commentary for the video indicates that migration in France has been towards a single hub (Paris) whereas migration in Germany has been to several competing hubs (see around 2:00 in the video). The UK is not mentioned in the commentary but London is clearly shown as the dominant migration hub in the UK.
This level of centralisation can become unhealthy both for the rest of the country and for the hub itself. It is normally the young and energetic who look most widely for better opportunities. For the rest of the country, the continuous loss of economic energy can lead to alienation from the hub and even, as in Scotland today, to referenda on independence from the hub. For the hub itself, it can lead to problems of success such as overcrowding. For example, the ten most overcrowded train services in England and Wales all involve journeys to or through London.
The relative success of Germany compared with France and the UK might suggest at least the possibility that a country dominated by a single migration mega-hub is far from the optimal design.
The commentary for the video indicates that migration in France has been towards a single hub (Paris) whereas migration in Germany has been to several competing hubs (see around 2:00 in the video). The UK is not mentioned in the commentary but London is clearly shown as the dominant migration hub in the UK.
This level of centralisation can become unhealthy both for the rest of the country and for the hub itself. It is normally the young and energetic who look most widely for better opportunities. For the rest of the country, the continuous loss of economic energy can lead to alienation from the hub and even, as in Scotland today, to referenda on independence from the hub. For the hub itself, it can lead to problems of success such as overcrowding. For example, the ten most overcrowded train services in England and Wales all involve journeys to or through London.
The relative success of Germany compared with France and the UK might suggest at least the possibility that a country dominated by a single migration mega-hub is far from the optimal design.
07 August 2014
15 February 2014
Home for the holidays
An economics student talks to his mother about what he has learned on his course.
20 December 2013
22 August 2013
31 July 2013
Debt: The good, the bad, and the ugly
Dirk Bezemer has an excellent series of four videos on debt. The videos are a great example of high-quality accessible academic economics! Watch the first episode below and the others after the jump.
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