In January, there was an interesting post on the Scientific American Observations blog about the “most hated Digg comment.” Commenting on Digg works in much the same way that news stories do. Someone posts the comment, and other users “digg” or “bury” the comment based on whether or not the comment is interesting, […]

In an attempt to create a new television sensation, and hold on to large numbers of viewers, the FOX television network aired a show entitled Unan1mous last spring, directly after its hit American Idol. This show, which borrowed elements from both Big Brother and Deal or No Deal, featured nine contestants who lived together in […]

In class we alluded to the fact that a computer simulation is one method to show that the results of Network Exchange Theory could be replicated from probabilistic behavior rules enacted by computer programs. Not surprisingly there this method of computer simulation can be extended to explore a variety of other social phenomena. […]

Article link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,,2031450,00.html
This article takes stock of the strength of Al-Qaeda on the anniversary of the 3/11 Madrid train bombings. It is interesting to look at the structure of Al-Qaeda, particularly after the war in Afghanistan which was purported to have largely disrupted it. This British report finds that Al-Qaeda is experiencing a resurgence, with […]

Optical fibers are the bedrock of modern communications. Since its invention in the 1970’s over 300 million kilometers of optical fiber have been produced. One fiber has the ability to carry 60 millions simultaneous telephone calls. These amazing properties are being called to service everyday in our global information network. So when a 7.1 Richter […]

http://www.washington.uwc.edu/about/faculty/muryn_j/ECO%20203/16th_edition/wsj101504vengeance.pdf
Most examples of game thoery discussed in class are primarily concerned with players maximizing their payoff; however, what if we were to introduce a new factor in which players had the option of attacking other players based on their actions? This articles addresses the reasons behind the drive for so many individuals to take action […]

M-Dot Strange Finds a Way at Sundance
“M-dot Strange” is a 27 year old from San Jose, CA who has been making a movie titled “We are the Strange”. Before reading the article, the movie and the director had no relevance to me, but as someone who is interested in Sundance, I was introduced to […]

A recent paper by Ross Anderson and Tyler Moore, “The Economics of Information Security: A Survey and Open Questions,” brings together the seemingly disparate fields of security and economics to discuss the reasoning behind security decisions. They provide examples such as why individual PC owners choose to install anti-virus software and why large banks choose […]

I thought that I would supplement the game theory portion of this class with some ideas that I learned in Econ 367. In this class, we have had a brief introduction to game theory. We have covered Nash equilibria in pure and mixed strategies in various games, such as the Prisoner’s Dilemma, Battle […]

Link to article about article:
How the social network shapes the economy 

By Ross Gittins
http://www.theage.com.au/news/Ross-Gittins/How-the-social-network-shapes-the-economy/2005/04/22/1114152322760.html
Link to actual 35 page academic article:
The Impact of Social Structure on Economic Outcomes
By Mark Granovetter
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/soc/newsite/people/faculty/granovetter/documents/JEPGranovetterMay2004version.doc

 
 
In his academic article, Granovetter presents an interdisciplinary approach to economic theory, […]