FW: A suggestion related to heterogeneous agents computing

[Nathan Palmer]

Hello everyone, 

I wanted to forward you the email below -- Pablo, Chris Carroll, and I have been campaigning to get economists to participate in the private beta of the newest attempt to get an academic economics version of StackExchange site set up. (More details in email below.)

The quick summary is that the private beta for "Economics StackExchange" will launch sometime over the next couple days. We're  hoping to rally academics to register for it before the window closes in the next few days, then help create (by example) an awesome new economics stackoverflow site. It is simple to register: go to this link, log in (options will automatically be presented if you click 'log in'), and click the green "commit" button. 

Commitment actually has no enforcement mechanism -- none of your other stackoverflow accounts (if you have any) are pinged if you commit and then do nothing.

There are some more details in the email below -- but I'd love to have you join! And certainly pass this along to anyone you think is interested.

Best,

Nathan Palmer

From: Carroll, Christopher 
Sent: Monday, November 17, 2014 7:09 PM
Subject: A suggestion related to heterogeneous agents computing

 

 

We have been working on building the infrastructure for making computational economics more accessible, especially for problems involving heterogeneous agents. 

One of the more challenging puzzles we’ve faced is how to construct a forum for questions and answers on these topics. 

 

Fortuitously, an answer may have fallen into our lap. 

 

You are probably familiar with the website StackOverflow -- a community of computer science experts who collaborate through a simple Q&A system at stackoverflow.com. Anyone can submit a (well-formed) question related to code, programming, or general technical questions. Experts answer these questions and in the process help both new and experienced users. It has been wildly popular and successful in the computer science community, to the extent that it has branched out into a whole network of fields, including mathematics, statistics, and even computational sciences. 

 

Very recently, an effort has arisen to add an academic economics site to the "StackExchange Network."  There is a well-established process by which this happens -- first a potential topic is suggested; with enough user commitment to the topic, it enters a private beta. A successful private beta launches into a full-fledged site.

 

The private beta is the "make or break" foundation for the site -- experts have hopefully been attracted and use the private beta period to establish, by example, the types and quality of questions and answers which should be expected of the community.  

 

Here's where you come in. The Economics topic just reached the "commitment threshold," and will be launching a private beta over the next couple days (exactly when is not posted but generally a few days). This is the final chance for experts to "commit" and join the private beta. 

 

I have just “committed” myself. 

 

I would love to have you join me.

 

This is one of those cases where a bit of coordination can make all the difference – a joint decision of an influential group of players could make a big difference. 

 

A past effort, explicitly targeted at academic economics, floundered because of lack of academic participation. I want to try to help avoid this by jump-starting the academic participation and focus it explicitly on computational economics.

 

To "commit" to the process, you need to do two things:

 

* go to this link 

 

* log in however you'd like (including via a google account; options will be presented to you)

 

* click the green "commit" button on the left of the screen. 

 

* Within a day or few, you should be invited to the private beta. 

 

Note: In violation of the usual economic terminology, committing and then not following through has no ill effects -- to quote the FAQ, the only enforcement mechanism is that you are only allowed to commit to 3 "beta" projects at most, at once, until commitments are fulfilled. (Even you other stackexchange/stckoverflow accounts will not be affected if you commit, then contribute nothing.)

 

For more details on what happens now, see the FAQ here. 

 

Please join me! And please pass along this invitation to colleagues and students -- particularly students you are advising. Posting the types of questions and answers that happen in your natural advising relationships is an easy way to contribute!

 

Best,

 

Chris D. Carroll

[Pablo Winant]

Excellent !  This is a very interesting development. I guess, everybody has stumbled upon stackoverflow or mathoverflow answers, since they are among the first ones to show up on Google. The crucial question will be to see whether there are enough economic questions that qualify for factual and non ambiguous answers. The computational area certainly has a comparative advantage in that respect. Currently there aren't many social sciences represented on the stackexchange platform.

The stack has entered the private beta phase, meaning that it is not  possible anymore to register for the beta. However, it is possible to send invitations, so anyone who is interested can ask here.

Best,

Pablo