Comments on: Don Quixote Acts

By: Rover

Rover — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:06:52 +0000

BVN,
Insanity, however unsettling, ejects inertia and that is only use.

By: Nikhil Narayanan

Nikhil Narayanan — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:31:02 +0000

@BVN
LOL! Unfortunately,I have read some writings by Nassim Taleb and had fortunately met Jay sometime back.
Nassim is a famous guy man!
Basically, Jay is much much well read than me, I figured.
Pinne avanum maayi odakkan pondallo!

-Nikhil

By: BVN

BVN — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:30:56 +0000

Nikhil,

“Agreed, Nassim Taleb is a must read.” I dont think so. I haven’t even heard of this guy, and if I havent heard – it pretty much means he is NOT important! Cmon man I thought I was the biggest intellectual snob here

Jay, some good comparisons there man! then again as Nikhil said, Krugmans writing style though skewed is pretty lively and makes economics a light read, thats why i like him. yeah when Paul won, it was like the guy next door! Sen is on some pedestal – and may be i dont like him that much because he is old.

Ajay,
“do I detect a certain helplessness ” yes you do…ninte aa thirontharathe flat pandaramadangi 10 lakhshathinu vittu povumbo njanum parayam

By: Nikhil Narayanan

Nikhil Narayanan — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:33:54 +0000

Jay,
Pardon my ignorance. My scale is me knowing someone. I was not following Amartya then may be. May be Paul is like the guy next door, thanks to The Hindu.

Generic writing, Amartya does not write for the lay reader. Krugman writes for the normal NY Times reader.

-Nikhil

By: jay

jay — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:30:02 +0000

Nikhil –
reg prize – agree. We can’t judge by his (bloviating) colmns . Tatz wat I said too. I just think his generic writing is nothin’ that great.

Amartya was obscure? I cannot disagree more. He was perhaps the biggest economics celebrity even before he got the prize.

Also, his generic writing is about three light years ahead of Krugmans. His work stands on its own as a philosopher, social scientist, ethicist.

By: Nikhil Narayanan

Nikhil Narayanan — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:25:48 +0000

Jay,

Krugman was not awarded the prize for his columns,right?Those are just what he felt like writing and never a research paper.
How can we judge him by his NY T columns?

Agreed, Nassim Taleb is a must read.
Amartya Sen is miles ahead, true.And he was an obscure guy before the prize unlike Krugman.

-Nikhil

By: jay

jay — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:16:47 +0000

Bvn & Nikhil,

If there is an economics thinker I wish people would read, it is Nassim Taleb. He deals with what you have talked about in his books. The below link is a good intro to his works.

http://www.gladwell.com/2002/2002_04_29_a_blowingup.htm

Krugman seems to have done a lot of technical work and his peers seem to agree he deserves the prize. But a lot of his NYTimes columns have been pulled out of his backside. Some are so bad, they are laughable.

He is no Amartya Sen by a mile.

I wish the Hindu would syndicate David Brooks rather than Krugman.

t c.

By: Ajay

Ajay — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:02:44 +0000

Lol….do I detect a certain helplessness over the Category 10 storm raging in the financial markets?

I would like to say that it can’t get any worse, but with the market about as predictable or logical as the Mad Hatter, I won’t!

Good muse!

By: Nikhil Narayanan

Nikhil Narayanan — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 05:22:59 +0000

Damn! Comments with hyperlinks are not posted. Nonsensical way to find spam, stupid WP.
http://snipurl.com/4c9us
Trying again.

-Nikhil

By: Nikhil Narayanan

Nikhil Narayanan — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 05:21:41 +0000

Brahma,
(Tried commenting last night, did not work, delete if duplicate)
Paul winning the prize was like someone next door winning, such a familiar face, thanks to the Hindu.
Plus, check his blog post when he won the prize,too much!
Speaks volumes on him. Superb!

-Nikhil