On Steve Keen & Friends Livestream

I will be on the Steve Keen & Friend Livestream tomorrow (May 20) at 12 noon Eastern Standard Time. (Link to the stream above.) There is no set topic, but I guess there will be a discussion of the state of macro theory.

Video On econ_platform Usage

Video of using the econ_platform, including grabbing data from the new Jordà-Schularick-Taylor Macrohistory Database.

(Of course, Excel refused to cooperate...)

Video: sfc_models Installation

A video that covers the initial installation steps (in Windows). It covers two installation techniques, and how to run Python scripts, for those new to Python.

Video: sfc_models Equation Solver

Video running through some of the technical issues in the equation solver that is embedded in the Python sfc_models framework. The solver used is the standard iterative search used in fixed point theorems, with a small tweak that allows convergence even when the equations are poorly conditioned for the algorithm. In the example, the equation that determines how the central bank cancels gold flows in my gold standard model is the source of ill conditioning.

Video: Gold Standard And Austerity

Video explaining how austerity works in a Gold Standard model, as described in my previous post.

The Robots Are Coming For Your Equations!

A visual demonstration of how the sfc_models generates SFC model equations with algorithms. I demonstrate Model REG, from Chapter 6 of Godley and Lavoie's Monetary Economics. The model is regional, with a North and South region (in the same currency zone). The example shows the effect of an increase of the propensity to import.

The model ends up with over 100 equations (although some of those are initial condition specifications, and includes constant parameters).

I made a few mistakes in the commentary; I kept saying "propensity to consume" instead of "propensity to import". The code descriptions are correct...

Video: Steady State In SFC Models

A video discussing what "steady state" means in the context of Stock-Flow Consistent models.

It uses a tool that allows users to examine the time series created by the sfc_models package. It's not yet incorporated into sfc_models; the code used in the video currently will not run unless you install the latest source code from GitHub. The GUI is in the brianr747/sfc_gui repository.

sfc_models Usage Video

This is a video showing how to run some code using sfc_models from within the PyCharm development environment.

To emulate, you need to:

1. Install Python.
2. Install PyCharm.
3. The video explains how to install sfc_models from within PyCharm.

Video: Debt Ceiling Simulation

I have created a video on Youtube of what happens if a debt limit is enforced in a modern economy (spoiler: bad things). It is based on a simple Stock-Flow Consistent model.

The Youtube URL in case the above embedded video does not work: http://youtu.be/928QLfMlBvM

This video is a bit of a technology test on my part.

A longer explanation of what is happening within the model (including simplifications made) is given in this blog post:

http://www.bondeconomics.com/2013/10/why-hard-debt-limit-is-very-bad-idea.html

as well as here:

http://www.bondeconomics.com/2013/10/some-further-comments-on-my-debt.html


Also: I have just set up a Twitter account; @RomanchukBrian (widget to follow my account on the right).

(c) Brian Romanchuk 2014