Sunday, March 20, 2011

Conference on Heterogeneous Expectations and Economic Stability (amv)

Organizers: Ricardo Reis and Michael Woodford

Conventional models in both macroeconomics and finance are based on the hypothesis of rational expectations, under which all agents are assumed to have common expectations, corresponding to the probabilities implied by the economist’s model. The adequacy of this familiar hypothesis has been called into question by recent events, however, notably the instability resulting from the boom and bust in real estate prices. The purpose of this conference is to bring together researchers exploring alternative approaches to modeling the dynamics of expectations, with particular attention to applications in macroeconomics and finance. We have sought to bring together proponents of a variety of approaches, who may not frequently engage one another, in the hope of reaching conclusions about which directions are most promising at this time.
Click here for the papers.

Good stuff ... especially Stanford's Mordecai Kurz and his Rational Belief approach.